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players manual v5.0 manual v.5 © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved protected under copyright and international treaties no portion of this manual may be reproduced without written permission from matrix games © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved.

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players manual v5.0 contents contents i introduction 1 welcome to steel panthers world at war 1 what comes with this game 1 how to read this manual 1 copy protection 1 operating system and hardware requirements 1 screen resolution 2 scale 2 running sp waw 2 languages 2 installing the game 2 tutorial for steel panthers world at war 3 getting started 3 the selection screen 3 the preferences screen 6 unit information screen 7 the buttons 9 let the battle begin 10 follow me 11 fire 11 experienced players guide 14 general changes 14 unit scales 14 load and save games 14 map changes 14 internet play 14 play-by-email 15 head-to-head versus pbem 15 floating pop-out boxes and info/chat area 15 combat sounds and music 16 game changes 16 preferences screen 21 changes to game play 27 reinforcement request 28 movement 28 weather 29 spotting 29 general combat 29 campaigns 36 changes to the armor combat system 37 armor penetration 37 ammunition effectiveness 37 armored skirts 38 vehicle damage 38 national characteristics 38 new unit classes 39 gliders and transport aircraft 39 commandos and partisans 40 new terrain types 40 jungle terrain 41 rough terrain 41 i© 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved

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players manual v5.0 hilltop placement 41 new battlefield and obstacle effects 42 caves 42 fires 42 mines 42 fording 42 breakdowns 42 buildings 42 long world war ii campaign 43 new countries 43 editor changes 43 date 43 length of battle 43 visibility 43 weather 43 weather values 44 terrain 44 encyclopedia changes 45 detailed player guide 46 the selection screen 46 choosing scenarios and campaigns 46 playing a scenario 47 playing a campaign 49 playing a battle 49 the game editor 49 load and save games 49 preferences screen 49 the battle map toolbar 50 what the numbers mean 52 movement 55 moving entire formations 55 waypoints and objectives 56 limited intelligence 60 recon special ability 60 combat 60 accuracy 61 opportunity fire opfire 63 terrain effects on movement and combat 66 combat results 67 armor damage 69 indirect fire 70 indirect fire missions 71 selecting a target 71 spotting 72 pre-registered targets 72 air support 73 aircraft entry exit spaces and target hexes 73 gliders and paratroops 74 special forces and guerrillas 75 command control and orders 75 entrenchment 79 entrenchment vs in ­ cover 79 ammunition 79 tutorial section 81 tutorial on flanking maneuver in spwaw 82 artillery tutorial 84 ii© 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved

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players manual v5.0 tutorial mine and obstacle removal 89 tutorial assaulting a bunker 92 assaulting mines and bunkers under fire 94 the tiger i tank ­ an overview 101 order of battle editor 105 the basics 105 playing scenarios and campaigns 111 the purchase system 111 battle generator 113 deploy units 115 unit configuration 117 how to setup play by email game 118 pbem ­ automatic program 124 mega campaign 126 scenario editor 133 map controls 135 editor deploy screen 136 build a map 138 multihex industrial buildings 150 tutorial designing your own scenarios 154 step 1 ­ choosing a battle 154 step ii ­ making a map 155 step iii ­ choosing your units 159 step iv ­ placing your units 160 step v ­ placing objectives and units 161 step vi final touches 163 working with waypoints 165 using beach assault river crossing scenario maps in spwaw generated battles 166 how to convert sp1 scenarios into spwaw scenarios 168 tools 168 step by step instructions 168 design your own campaign 172 by paul vebber 172 user campaign editor 174 faq 177 questions about playing the game 177 questions about scenario designing 185 design notes 190 the armor combat system 190 online play with combat net 193 using the game lobby 194 abbreviations 200 glossary 201 hotkeys 202 deploy screen keyboard equivalents 202 hot key only on deploy screen 202 battle map screen keyboard equivalents 202 map editor keyboard equivalents 203 hot key only on map editor screen 204 spwaw game editor-wawed 205 steel panthers world at war map editor 214 printing maps from spwaw 226 credits 229 iii© 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved

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players manual v5.0 iv© 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved

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players manual v5.0 introduction welcome to steel panthers world at war steel panthers world at war adds a new chapter to the popular steel panthers series from designer gary grigsby and published by strategic simulations inc though sp waw is based largely on steel panthers game system it is far more than a sequel it transforms a classic dos game into a windows format that can be easily played on most computers it richens the tapestry of combat with enhancements to armor infantry and artillery and more faithfully representing ww2 combined arms warfare than previous versions the sound and graphic enhancements add a whole new dimension of immersion into the game so climb into the turret and take command you make the decisions as you command individual tanks guns and squads of infantry your battlefield is the era of world war ii from the japanese invasion of china in 1930 to the hair-trigger standoff between communism and the free world in 1949 choose from the forces of twenty-seven nations as you maneuver over a wide range of terrain from the steppes of russia to the island jungles of the pacific spwaw comes with more than 175 scenarios as well as several long campaigns and a sample mega campaign players may also create their own battles using the game s powerful editor games may be played against the computer face-to-face by e-mail and over the internet what comes with this game sp waw is a stand-alone game you don t need any prior versions of steel panthers the game is available as a download from matrix games or on the spwaw mega campaign cd s also included included is the new military gamer combat net online play software and a set of utilities from fred chlanda for editing scenarios and maps converting scenarios from earlier game versions and for editing the game graphics updates are available through our web site at http www.matrixgames.com check there to ensure you have the most up to date version of the game how to read this manual if you are new to the steel panthers experence proceed step-by-step through the tutorial section of the manual it will familiarize you with the basic controls and concepts of spwaw if you have mastered the tutorial or are already a battle hardened fan of steel panthers you can start with the experenced player guide if you are an experienced steel panthers player but want a refresher on the rules take a look at the detailed player guide a glossary at the end of this manual defines commonly used terms in the game while the latest updates will be reflected in the readme.txt file copy protection there is no copy protection for spwaw operating system and hardware requirements spwaw is now a native windows program that uses direct draw and direct sound it will play on all windows o/s including me millenium windows 2000 and nt players must have direct x 6.1 or better installed on their computers the program has been tested on systems with as little as 32 mb of ram but it was developed on a system with 64 mb so we recommend at least that much ram no hardware graphics acceleration was programmed and on some systems best © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 1

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players manual v5.0 results are obtained turning hardware acceleration off but 3d sound card enhancement is recognized and utilized the game does require a sound card to function screen resolution the screen resolution of the game has been changed from 640x480 to 800x600 this increase in screen space allows for more controls buttons and better spacing it also makes icons appear sharper and allows users to a larger slice of the map in the battle map the game automatically sets this screen resolution you should not need to change screen resolution prior to playing the game scale each terrain tile in the game called a hex is 50 meters or about 50 yards across and each turn represents a few minutes the scale can be changed from hexes to meters to yards by using the key all movement rates sighting routines command and control ranges communications ranges weapon ranges and unit frontages have been adjusted accordingly units are individual vehicles and heavy guns small groups of light mortars and teams or squads of infantry and heavy weapons from 2-20 men strong shots by units typically represent individual rounds or small shot groups for tanks and artillery and bursts of 5-10 rounds for small arms and automatic heavy weapons running sp waw to start the game either double-click on spwaw.exe or use the steel panthers world at war icon found under the windows start and program buttons languages sp waw is available in english finnish polish french german spanish italian and danish other languages will be included in the future installing the game sp waw version 5.0 is available as a very large 400 mb dowload from the internet or from the mega campaign cd s to install click on the setup file and setup will begin this method requires about 800mb free on your computer to install if you have the setup file itself on a cd through a game magazine or some other cd distribution method then you need about 600 mb to install updates are available through our web site at http www.matrixgames.com © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 2

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players manual v5.0 tutorial for steel panthers world at war by wild bill wilder getting started to start the game either double-click on spwaw.exe or use the steel panthers world at war item under the windows start and program buttons the first screen you see after the intro is a screen allowing you to continue or exit online play is for playing multiplayer online while timed play is for playing vs the ai or hotseat under time pressure your turn ends after a preset time period and is automatically saved go ahead and click on solitaire play the selection screen this is where we begin this screen is the selection or main screen of the game it s like a crossroads where you can branch off in various directions if you look on the right side of the screen you ll see a list of scenarios and long campaigns other buttons allow you to create your own scenarios and even peruse through an encyclopedia that offers data on the weapons in spwaw for now click on the scenario button you ll see a long list of the scenarios ­ each an individual battle click on the tutorial scenario in the first slot now you ll see a body of text in the center of the screen this briefs you about the background of the battle the countries involved how long the battle lasts and other details once you have finished reading the background text click on start © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 3

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players manual v5.0 player control screen now there s a new screen with two toggle switches that determine which sides are played by human or computer opponents for now leave the buttons as they are in this tutorial you will command a u.s army tank and infantry force while the computer opponent will command the german forces click on continue the us army screen the set-up screen for the u.s forces ­ your forces ­ is now displayed you have several choices including starting the game saving it to be played later quitting orders which skips your turn and lets your opponent move adjusting the advantage given to the computer ai artificial intelligence or exiting the battle completely if you want to continue just click on start turn changing the ai level give the ai increased experience and morale benefits that make it a tougher opponent it does not change how the ai plays its game © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 4

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players manual v5.0 the battle map the battle map is where most of the action will occur it gives you a top-down view of the battlefield as if you were in an airplane overlooking the fighting you can see your troops the enemy forces and the terrain you ll be fighting over take a second to look around the map move the cursor towards any map edge and the screen will scroll in that direction your battlefield here is a section of french countryside during july 1944 a few weeks after the allied armies splashed ashore at d-day you ll find farms a small town and hills on either end of the map a small stream to the left and an open valley in the center of the map notice that some spots the ones marked with an american german or v flag are labeled as objectives those are the locations you must capture to win the game hover the mouse over them and you will note that they award points at game s end there are other ways victory hexes can award points they are described further on in the manual you can zoom in or out using the two buttons marked like magnifying glasses or use the plus and minus keys on your keyboard the button or key will zoom in for a close-up view while the minus will zoom back out there are four zoom levels in the game a quick way to move about the main map is to use the mini-map in the bottom right corner your troops are displayed as white dots the enemy when you spot them will appear as red dots and the victory objectives which you must capture to win are shown as green dots click anywhere on the mini-map and that spot will appear in the center of the main map note the small rectangular buttons on the top and bottom of the mini-map sometimes the battle map is too large to display in a single mini-map in that case the top left and bottom buttons will be green clicking on them will scroll the mini-map if those buttons are red then only a single mini-map is used in either case the top right button will center the mini-map on the current selected unit in the top right corner of the main map you ll see a box labeled battle conditions with a picture of some trees in it which indicates clear weather in bad weather you will see rain fog or snow put the cursor on it and you ll see that you re in the first turn of the game and that you have about 15 turns before the game ends you ll also see the visibility your mission advance on a crucial objective the date and the weather © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 5

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players manual v5.0 to the right of the screen is the rectangular menu bar with a series of buttons this is where you issue orders to your forces placing the cursor over each button will display a text box describing the function of the button note the two arrow buttons at the bottom of the menu bar the top one gives you the option to exit the current game and return to the selection screen where you can restart or exit spwaw the bottom button ends your turn you ll always be given a yes or no option to end the turn or game if you want to pause the game at any time hit alt and tab together and windows will minimize spwaw and take you to another application or the desktop sometimes you will have to hit alt-tab a couple of times before the screen switches to return to the game click on the spwaw button on the task bar now click on a narrow bar below all the buttons called preferences the preferences screen now you ve entered the nerve center of the game where you can customize spwaw to play just the way you wish all of these features are explained in more detail later in the spwaw manual one button that will definitely affect play is the green command control button look for it under realism preferences clicking this button to on will recreate some of the problems that real commanders faced in controlling their forces another is opfire confirm this will allow you choose whether to take advantage of an opfire opportunity or not for now leave this off and let the computer decide for the tutorial make sure command control and opfire confirm clicked off then click on exit to return to the battle map © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 6

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players manual v5.0 unit information screen now that you ve learned something about the game controls it s time to meet the troops you ll be commanding on the battle map you ll see a unit of six tiny infantrymen outlined by a red hexagon outline that s the a0 unit ­ the headquarters for your entire force the a indicates it belongs to formation a while the 0 shows that it s a headquarters unit in a sense you are the a0 unit in command of every american unit on the map but you also have an on-map headquarters unit when a scenario begins the cursor automatically flashes on your a0 unit take care of him ­ he s very important if you are not centered on the a0 don t worry we ll get back to him at the bottom of the battle map you ll see some brief information on the highlighted unit such as stance number of shots it can fire and how far it can move for now right-click on the ao or any other unit this takes you to the unit information screen there s a lot of important information here this screen gives you very specific data about a unit such as the types of weapons it carries the ammunition and whether it is equipped with a radio equally important it displays the morale and experience of the unit as well as the skills of the leader commanding it the higher these numbers are the better the unit will perform in battle note that while vehicles will display different information than personnel units foot soldiers aren t armor-plated your forces © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 7

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players manual v5.0 but just what units do you have click on the notepad button in the center of the buttons on the right this is the unit menu which gives you a quick way to check the status of your forces their current movement and combat capabilities and other vital data note that a m3a1 half-track ­ unit a1 ­ is listed as destroyed don t worry about it or the wrecked and burning half-track on the battle map ­ they re there for show the letter/number label helps determine what formation a unit is part of units with the same letter are in the same platoon with the command and control turned off option keeping formations together can help but is not crucial to success with command and control turned on keeping formations together is critical if the unit name and number are green then the unit is in communication with its formation leader and can be rallied if it is in red it is out of communications click on any of the gray buttons on the left of the screen ­ it will take you to the battle map and highlight in red whatever unit you ve selected you ll notice that at the bottom of the screen are listed a battery of 105-millimeter howitzers and two p-47d fighter-bombers although you decide what targets they shoot at you can t move them they re located in the rear off the map they are assigned targets using the artillery menu only formation leaders those ending in 0 and forward observers can call in artillery now use the unit menu to go back to unit a0 © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 8

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players manual v5.0 the buttons most of the commands you ll issue throughout the game from moving units to calling in artillery and air strikes will be given through the buttons on the menu bar to the right of the battle map you ll notice two things about the menu first hovering the mouse cursor over a button will display a small text box that tells you what the button does second most of the buttons are marked with a small letter that corresponds to a keyboard command to cycle between units for example you can click on the top left button or hit the n key if a button is totally gray then the unit can t perform that action getting ready to fight what are you trying to accomplish in this battle in sp waw you have two goals the first is to destroy the enemy before he destroys you every enemy unit you kill gives you victory points equal to its point cost every unit you lose gives points to your enemy the second goal of every battle is to capture or keep if you already own them various objective areas there several new ways victory hexes award points in this case they are awarded to the side to occupy them at the end of the game go to the preferences screen and click on the green bar in the upper left column marked hex-grid on when you exit back to the battle map you ll see that the map now has an overlay of hexagons each space on the spwaw map is a hexagon hex for short representing about 50 yards of ground in this scenario the map measures 100 hexes from side to side and 80 hexes top to bottom or 5 kilometers by 4 kilometers you can turn the hexagons off again if you want a more aesthetic view of the map the locations you ll need to capture in this battle are several vital crossroads around the village of st lunaire in this battle you ll find objective one at hex 41 24 on the map those numbers are the vertical and horizontal coordinates just like you see on a road map the u.s flag on the objective hex shows that you already control it on the other hand the german flag at objective four at hex 71,22 shows that your opponent already controls that location however the objectives at hexes 62 6 56 24 and 51,33 have white boxes marked with a v this means they are neutral hexes that aren t controlled by other side to win the game you ll have to capture the neutral and german-controlled objectives while retaining control of the one you start with be warned that your computer opponent will be trying to do the same thing to you how much are the objectives worth run the cursor over each one and you ll discover that the three neutral hexes in the middle of the map are worth 900 points apiece while the other two are worth 250 points that tells you right away what your priorities should be as commander you take control of an objective that is not yours by moving through it with one of your units when you do this the flag will immediately change to reflect that it is yours and since it is yours its points belong to you as long as it remains yours till the end of the game if however the enemy retakes it then those points are his unless you take the hex back © 2001 by matrix games all rights reserved 9

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