TASK FORCE BROADSIDE -------------------- by Robert A. Dalton VERSION 1.12 Copyright (c) 1994 & 1995 SITUATION --------- Raise anchor and full steam ahead to the pacific! The time is the 1940s, the opponents: The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the US Navy (USN). You are the Admiral of a fleet of up to five ships drawn at random from a deck of 54 historic naval vessels encompassing Aircraft Carriers, Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Light Cruisers, and of course destroyers. Your computer opponent also has up to five ships from a different deck of 54 ships drawn at random. Your goal is simple - destroy the other fleet totally while trying to keep that fate from happening to yours and make the Deep Six List. Sound easy - think again! GAME PLAY --------- If the sysop has NOT registered the game you will be UNABLE to play the Imperial Japanese Navy side (IJN) and there will be a small delay on start up of the game. If the sysop HAS registered the game you will be able to play either side in the game and the delay will be removed. Encourage your Sysop to register the game, or better yet do it for the sysop, so that you and everyone else may enjoy the additional fun of playing either side and not have to suffer the game delay. If you need an explanation for ANY of the abbreviated commands in the menu just hit the "shift-?-Enter" combination of keys to get a full help menu which explains the command options. General Flow Of The Game ------------------------ Both sides are initially dealt 5 ships cards at random from their nations Navy Deck of 52, and 5 play cards from a master play deck of 104 cards. The special event cards (Encounter Storms, Receive Reinforcement and Additional Damage) will NOT be among the play cards initially dealt to either side. A coin is flipped to decide who makes the first play. The first menu offers 2 basic play choices; either you Launch an Air Strike (assuming you have at least one aircraft carrier in your hand) or you draw a card. Once you draw a card, and assuming it is not one of the special event cards, you now have to decide if you are going to play the card you drew, play another card, or discard a card. If the card you draw is a Special event card then you are subjected to that action immediately and it is then discarded and that is your play for this turn. The play alternates between each side until either the master play deck runs out of cards OR one side loses all their ships. At that point if you have won and you score is one of the top six that have played the game then your name will be posted to the Deep Six List. Type of Play Cards ------------------ The following cards make up the master play deck: TYPE QUANTITY IN DECK ---- ---------------- Dry-dock Repair Cards 4 Sub Attack Cards 2 Deploy Minefield Cards 2 Land Based Air Support Cards 2 Encounter Storm Cards 2 Receive Reinforcement Cards 2 Secondary Damage Cards 4 Broadside Cards 86 (Random amounts for Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Light Cruisers and destroyers - but always totals 86) Total Cards: 104 Type of Ship Cards ------------------ HIT POINTS TYPE NAVAL ABBREVIATION QUANTITY IN DECK ------ ---- ------------------ ---------------- 10 Aircraft Carriers CV 6 12 Battleships BB 10 8 Heavy Cruisers CA 9 6 Light Cruisers CL 9 4 Destroyers DD 18 Total Cards: 52 WHAT EACH PLAY CARD DOES ------------------------ 1. Dry-dock Repair Card: This card allows you to repair one of your damaged ships and returns it to it's full normal hit point value. Cannot be used if you have no damaged ships. You can hold as one of your 5 play cards until needed or you can discard it. 2. Sub Attack Card: You can launch a sub attack on any one ship in the enemies fleet. There is a 50% chance you will sink it. Can only be used once then is discarded. May be held until needed or you can discard it. 3. Deploy Minefield Card: When you use this card EVERY ship in the enemy fleet can possibly suffer damage or be sunk. Can only be used once then is discarded. May be held until needed or you can discard it. 4. Land Based Air Support: Can be used for a one shot airstrike against any single ship in the enemies fleet. There is 33% chance you will sink it. Can only be used once then is discarded. May be held until needed or you can discard it. 5. Encounter Storm Card: Any ship you have in your hand that is damaged will have a percentage chance of being sunk depending on the amount of damage to the ship. The greater the damage the better the chances it will sink. This card is immediately played, you take your licks, and it is discarded and that is your play. Ouch! 6. Receive Reinforcement Card: Receive one ship taken at random from the remaining ships of your national card deck. This is the only way you can exceed the initial 5 ships cards you were dealt. This card is immediately played, you receive your ship and the card is discarded and that is your play. 7. Secondary Damage Occurs Card: Any ship you have in your hand that is damaged will have a percentage chance of being sunk OR receiving additional damage points depending on the amount of damage to the ship. The greater the damage the better the chances it will sink or receive more damage points. This card is immediately played, you take your licks, and it is discarded and that is your play. Double Ouch!! 8. Broadside Card: This card comes in 4 different flavors, Battleship (BB), Heavy Cruiser (CA), Light Cruiser (CL) and Destroyer (DD). To use this card you must have a ship of the matching type. For example to fire a BB Broadside Card you must have at least one Battleship (BB) still in your hand. BB Broadsides can inflict from 2-12 hit points of damage, CA Broadsides can inflict 2-8 hits points of damage, CL Broadsides can inflict 2-6 hit points of damage and DD Broadsides can inflict 2-4 hit points of damage. Each broadside can only be used once then is discarded. May be held until needed or you can discard it. OTHER RULES ----------- 1. Ships are sunk only when their Hit Points (HP's) are reduced to 0 or below. 2. You can never have more then 5 playing cards in your hand at anyone time. It is possible to have up to 7 ships in your hand at anyone time though. 3. You cannot launch an airstrike unless you have an aircraft carrier. The sole exception to this is if you get lucky enough to draw the Land Based Air Support Card. 4. Launching an airstrike with a aircraft carrier can only be done in place of drawing a card and counts as your play. 5. The aircraft carrier can launch an airstrike against ANY ship in the enemies fleet. There is a 50% chance it will sink that ship outright. 6. Broadsides may NOT be used to attack an aircraft carrier until ALL the other non-aircraft carrier cards are eliminated. Non-Aircraft carrier ships (BB,CA,CL & DD) function as escorts for aircraft carriers. WHEN THE GAME IS OVER --------------------- The game is over when the following occurs: 1. One side has sunk ALL the ships in the opponents hand. When that happens a score is tallied for the winning side. If the human player has won and his score is one of the ALL time 6 highest scores, then that player will be posted to the Deep Six List. 2. All the cards in the master deck are used up. If that happens the strongest ship hand, assuming there is no tie, is declared the winner. Ties are possible and garner you NO points.