                        COLONIAL CONQUEST.

Typed in by BLACKJACK. Edited by PARASITE.


Colonial Conquest is a War Game set in the golden age of warfare in the
late 1800's and early 1900's. The object of the game is to become the
major power throughout the world.

Upon booting up the program the player has  the choice of selecting the
scenario that he wishes to play. The options are as follows:

Standard Game : None Of the Major Countries have any overseas colonies.
1880: Race For The Colonies : The World Of 1880.
1914: Brink Of the War : The World Of 1914 before the outbreak of WW 1.

After the Senario selection is made, the player must now select the
positions of the Major Powers. These may be Active : Player controlled,
Neutral : Acts as a Minor Country and Computer : Computer controlled.
If a Major country is computer controlled, the player also has the
option of selecting a strength for the computer. The default level is
level 0 and may be increased to level 9. The level selects how many
armies and navies a Major country starts off with and does not change
it's playing ability. It is advisable to begin with the computer
players being set to default as level 9 for example in the case of
Russia will give him 9 Million troops to begin with. Once you have
played a few successful games you may then wish to increase the
computer levels to match your own ability.

VICTORY CONDITIONS
After the player selection is complete the final thing to do is to set
the level of victory points required to win the game. this can be set
at 500, 1000, 1500 or Unlimited. In the case of 500 points the game
will only take perhaps 30 minutes to play. I personally recommend 1500
points. You may also select Unlimited in which case the game will
continue until every territory on the map is controlled by one Major
power. I warn you now that this can take a long time, a very long time.

In order to accumilate points, territories must be conquered. Each
territory on the World map has a value of between 13 and 50 points.
These values are randomly generated at the beginning of the game and
are not revealed. Additional points are given if a Major controls all
territories in a given continent. If a territory is conquered by
Subversion (See Subversion Phase) the Major country does not get any
victory points. In addition to receiving points for conquering, a major
also receives points for successful attacks and defenses. For example
suppose England attacks France and he is unsuccessful, England will
lose victory points and France will gain victory points even though
there has been no change on the map.

THE WORLD MAP
The World Map consists of all the territories throughtout the world.
It also shows all the sea areas available. The 6 Major countries
initial territories are coloured in their respective colours. As a
Major expands it's newly conquered territories will change colour to
match it's Major's colour. As well as changing colour the territory
will also show the Major's countries flag to show that a army is
present. You will also notice that some sea area will show a little
ship. This does NOT MEAN that a navy is present at that location.
What it does illustrate is that of all the Major Powers, the Major
power whose fleet symbol is illustrated has more fleets bordering onto
that sea location than any other Major. For example at the offset of
the Standard Scenario, an English fleet symbol is shown in the English
Channel/Bay Of Biscay sea area. This shows that before any movement the
English have more fleets bordering onto this area than anyone else. In
this case the English have 80 Fleets whilst the French can only must 20
in Normandy and 45 in Paris giving a total of 65. In the case of two or
more powers having exactly the same number of fleets, the first country
on the standard movement list will be shown (England - Germany - etc.)

WORLD GEOGRAPHY
As you will know countries all vary on how they are made up
geographically. Some are also flat and some are full of hills and
mountains. Colonial Conquest takes this into account when working out
the results of combat. For example a defending army in Greece which as
we know is almost totally made up of hills and mountains is very
difficult to defeat in view that it is able to use the land to it's
advantage. This position can be further strenghtened by fortification
(See Fortification Phase). Unfortunately room does not permit to list
all the geographic ratings for all the territories.

In addition to this, each territory throughtout the world has a
financial value. This too is randomly determined at the offset of the
game. If a territory is captured all it's wealth is taken by the Major
power. This money may then be used during the Build Phase.

MOVEMENT
Movement in Colonial Conquest is played in the following strict
rotation : England - Germany - France - U.S.A. - Japan - Russia. All
movement is NOT SIMUTANIOUS. Therefore it must be remembered that for
example if France decides to attack Belgium and at the same time
Germany also decides to attack Belgium, the German attack will be
first. If he is successful he will occupy Belgium and then France will
attack Belgium (German controlled) and the result will be shown on the
map. This will result that a state of war will breakout between France
and Germany even though neither country may have wanted it.

ARMY MOVEMENT
Armies may move to any adjacent land territory. Upon selecting a
territory to move the computer will show all the territories that
armies within that territory may move to. The player may then move as
many troops as he wishes although he must leave a minimum of 1,000 as a
garrison. A player selects the number of troops to move by using the
arrow selections both to increase numbers with the left arrow icons or
to reduce them with the right arrow icons. Selection is made with the
right mouse button but to increase the speed of selection both mouse
buttons may be held down. After a player is satisfied with the numbers
selected he selects O.K. and then moves on to another territory. Once
he has finished his army moves he must hold down the right hand mouse
button to activate the pull down menu. He may then advance to the next
stage under the Option Menu.

NAVY MOVEMENT
Navy movement is carried out in exactly the same way as army movement
although the number of locations that a player may move to is much
larger in view that he may move to any shore line throughout the world.
A player may also decide to move armies with his fleets. Each single
fleet may move 1,000 men. Therefore to move 50,000 men requires 50
fleets. Of course that number of men must also be available for
movement from the sailing fleets starting point. The world is divided
up into continents. Unfortunatley space does not me to show which
territories belong to which continents but most are obvious. If a
player decides to launch an invasion into the same continent that he is
sailing from (e.g. Paris attacks Prussia) and he is unsuccessful his
fleets and troops are returned to Paris sustaining any casualties that
may have arisen. If however he attacks a territory in a different
continent from his sailing point and he is unsuccessful his fleets will
return but all armies will be automatically lost. It is advisable to
first land at a friendly overseas territory and then expand from there
(See Subversion Phase). A player may also elect to launch a naval
sortie only. That is he may order his fleets to attack a territory
without any of his armies present. Although navies cannot capture a
territory they will attack any foreign fleets that that may be
occupying their destination location. This option can be useful to
reduce an opponents naval strength.

The game is played in four seasonal turns. After the Winter turn the
Build Phase comes into operation :

BUILDING
Army/Navy Costs ($)

          Army (10,000 Men)    Navy (5 Fleets)

England :      600,000             300,000
Germany :      400,000             400,000
France  :      300,000             500,000
U.S.A.  :      300,000             400,000
Japan   :      300,000             500,000
Russia  :      200,000             700,000

In order to build additional forces a player must have control of at
least one of his home supply centres. If he has lost control of all his
own supply centres he is unable to make any builds until such time that
he is control again. All the major countries start with 2 supply
centres except U.S.A. which has 3 and Russia which has only 1. As you
will appreciate it would be a catastrophe for Russia if he was to lose
his supply centre.

FORTIFICATION PHASE
During the fortification phase a player may decide to fortify any
of his chosen territories. A player may fortify a territory only
once, but may fortify it again if he loses and recaptures it. The
effect of fortification is that it doubles the defensive factor of that
territory (50,000 will fight as if 100,000). This defensive measure is
also increased if the territory has a high defensive value (See World
Geography). For example a fortified Norway is a very tough nut to
crack. Supply centres are considered fortified automatically. The cost
of fortification is a standard $1 Million.

ECONOMIC AID PHASE
During the economic phase a player decide to give money to another
country. The effect of this on a Minor country is that the Minor
country will use the money to buy arms and to protect itself. This
option can be useful in an attempt to slow down another Major
countries expansion. Money can also be given to a Major computer
controlled country in an attempt to stop a war between him and you.
No assurance is given that a cease fire will occur but a 'bribe' of
$8 Million will at least assure that he will cease actions against
you for that turn. He may however re-start actions against you the
following turn so it must be advised that this option on a Major
country can often be a big waste of time and money.

ESPIONAGE PHASE
During the espionage phase a player may decide to spy on another
territory. The information given will be a reasonably accurate
estimate of the number of troops that occupy that territory. No
information on naval strengths will be given. The costs of spying
are : Normal Territory - $ 200,000 Fortified Territory - $1,000,000

SUBVERSION PHASE
During the subversion phase a player may decide to attempt to take over
a Minor territory from within by bribery. If a bribe is successful the
country will automatically give 1,000 men as a garrison. THERE IS NO
GUARANTEE THAT A BRIBE WILL WORK. If a bribe is unsuccessful the Minor
country will use the money to build up it's army. This option can be
particularly effective at the beginning of the game to begin your
expansion throughout the world, without the risk of sending conquering
armies (See Navy Movement).

HINTS
At the beginning of every turn check to see who is at war with who.

Don't attack another Major power at the beginning of the game. If
possible wait until you are attacked.

Always take care to defend your supply centres.

If attacking another Major, try all out to capture his supply centres.
Remember you supply centres will be far away from the action.

Fortification is money well spent.

Attempting to bribe a Major into stopping a war against you is a waste
of money.

If you have several overseas colonies ensure that you have sufficient
fleets to transport reinforcements in neccessary.

Personally I find it easier if a player keeps all his fleets together.
