BATTLE of BRITAIN



SPECTRUM - CBM 64 - AMSTRAD CPC



WARGAMERS SERIES





INSTRUCTION BOOKLET





(C) MCMLXXXV PSS



All rights of the producer, and of the owners of the work being produced 

are reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance 

and broadcasting of this cassette, disk or associated literature is 

prohibited. The publisher accepts noresponsibility for errors, nor 

liability for damage arising from its use.



PSS 452 Stoney Stanton Road, Coventry, CV6 5DG   Tel: 0203 667556





Introduction

------------

Many computer games of the arcade variey can be played by simply loading

the program and getting hold of the joystick. Any rules etc., can be picked

up as you go along. As with the other games in our WARGAMERS SERIES, you 

will learn to play and enjoy Battle of Britain, much more easily if you

read the instructions fully before you start to play.



Battle of Britain has been designed with both the experienced wargamer and

the complete novice in mind. For the experienced player we have included a

campaign game, which as far as possible portrays an accurate representation

of the actual Battle of Britain.



For the novice wargamer we have included both a training game which we hope

will be a suitable initiation and a Blitzkrieg game in which he will find 

many of the elements of an arcade game. Ardent arcade players will also 

find they have not been forgotten. For them we have included optional 

action sequences in which the player can fly a Spitfire in aerial combat or

fire an anti-aircraft gun in ground to air situations.



We hope you enjoy Battle of Britain, and your comments on our products are

always welcome.



Loading

-------

A. AMSTRAD VERSION: For cassette versions, ensure the tape is fully 

rewound. Type CTRL and small ENTER. Press PLAY on the tape player followed 

by ENTER. A loading screen will appear followed by the main menu. For disk

versions type RUN"BOB.



B. CBM 64 VERSION: For cassette versions, ensure the tape is fully rewound.

Type SHIFT and RUNSTOP. Press PLAY on the tape player followed by RETURN. 

The program has loaded when the main menu appears. For disk versions type

LOAD "*",8/RETURN. When the READY prompt appears, type RUN/RETURN. The 

game will now load and run.



C. SPECTRUM VERSION: Load using the normal command - LOAD "". For 128/+2

Spectrums, select "48 Basic" first.



Menu Pages

----------

CBM & Amstrad Versions:

The first screen you will see after loading is the MAIN MENU:



			1. WITH(OUT) ACTION

			2. COLOUR (AMSTRAD ONLY)

			3. CAMPAIGN

			4. TRAINING GAME

			5. BLITZKRIEG



Spectrum Version: The first screen you will see is the JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD 

selection screen, Press 1 or 2 as required. BATTLE OF BRITAIN is compatible

with KEMPSTON/PROTEK/+2 Interfaces. The keyboard controls are as follows:



			Q = UP

			A = DOWN

			I = LEFT

			O = RIGHT

			N = FIRE



After selection you will then see the MAIN MENU:



			TRAINING GAME

			BLITZKRIEG

			CAMPAIGN

			ARCADE SEQUENCE - OFF/ON



By moving the joystick up or down (or via Q/A) you will highlight each game

option in sequence. The ARCADE SEQUENCE can be toggled on or off by 

pressing the fire button (or key N).



Once your selection is made, press the fire button to take you into the 

game.



1. Action Sequence Selection



The first option (1) (last option on the Spectrum) allows you to play 

Battle of Britain either with or without arcade sequences. The programme as

loaded will be set to WITH ACTION. Pressing 1 will change it to	WITHOUT

ACTION, and no arcade sequences will appear. If you select WITH ACTION and

don't wish to fight a particular battle simply press the space bar when 

asked to select "wich battle" (on Spectrum, to avoid fighting press the 

fire button while the cursor is over a "blank" area - eg. no airfields/

squadrons etc).



2. Monochrome/Colour Monitors (Amstrad Only)



By pressing 2 on the main menu you can play the game on either a colour or

"green screen" Amstrad. The default is colour.



3. Game Selection



Options 3, 4 & 5 (2, 3 & 4 for CBM 64) determine which style of game you

play.



(i) Training Game: Pressing 3 (2) starts the Training Game. This takes 

place over one fairly light day of the campaign, and has been designed to 

ease you into playing the game proper. It is recommended that you play this 

game a few times and get to know the mechanics of Battle of Britain before

attempting either the Blitzkrieg or Campaign games.



(ii) Blitzkrieg: Key 4 (3) starts the Blitzkrieg game. This once again 

takes place over one day of the campaign, but the Luftwaffe have been 

programmed to give you as hard a time as possible. They will attack all 

your targets and will show no fear. Blitzkrieg is a very fast game and is 

not recommended until you have mastered the controls.



(iii) Campaign Game: Key 5 (4) selects the Campaign game menu. This game is

played over 30 days of the actual battle and has been designed to follow it

as closely as possible in terms of Luftwaffe strategy. In the actual 

campaign the Luftwaffe attacks were split into 5 phases from July 10th to

October 31st. We have condensed this by concentrating on the three main

phases i.e., 2, 3 & 4. Careful study of this period will allow you to 

anticipate the program. We have also shortened the number of days from 54

to 30 and doubled the number of casualties in order to maintain the balance

throughout the game.



The campaign menu once again has five options.



			1. LOAD DAY

			2. SAVE DAY

			3. START/CONTINUE CAMPAIGN

			4. SPEED 1/2/3

			5. RETURN TO MAIN MENU



1/2 LOAD/SAVE A DAY: As the Campaign game is played over such a long 

period, we have incorporated a LOAD/SAVE feature to allow you to stop 

playing at the end of any day and save all the data. You can then go 

straight to the next day the next time you play the game.



To SAVE a day: Press key 2. Ensure there is a blank tape or disk in the

machine and tape player is set to record. Press C if you are saving onto

tape or D if you are using disks. When the day has saved the game returns 

to the Campaign menu.



To LOAD a day: Press key 1 on the Campaign menu, ensure the appropiate disk

or tape is in the machine and it is set to play. Now select C for cassettes

or D for disk. When the day has loaded the game returns to the Campaign 

menu.



Loading & Saving on Spectrum

LOAD a day: Select LOAD, insert your saved game into the tape player, press

the fire button and then press PLAY on your tape player. Once loaded you 

will be presented with the CAMPAIGN MENU. Select START/CONTINUE GAME option 

to begin playing.



SAVE a day: Ensure there is a blank tape in your recorder, set it to 

RECORD, now select the SAVE DAY option and press fire.



3. Starting the Campaign Game



Option 3 either starts a new game or a previously saved day, or continues 

the game if you are midway through a campaign.



4. Speed Selection



On the Campaign game you can adjust the speed using option 4. Press key 4 

to change speed. You can choose from 3 speeds where 1 is slowest. On the 

Spectrum highlight the SPEED option using the joystick or Q/A keys and 

press fire to toggle the speed up or down.



5. Returning to the Main Menu



Key 5 allows you to scape from the Campaign menu and return to the main 

menu to reselect the game option.



			

			Playing Battle of Britain



The Map Screen

--------------   

This is the main screen and is the first one you will see after starting

any game. It represents the southern half of Great Britain and a small 

corner of France.



The top line of the display is used for messages. When these appear they

will be accompanied by an audible warning. Each type of messagge has a

different sound, so after a while you should be able to differentiate the

messages by their tone alone.



The second line of the display is split in two. The left half has two

functions. It will either give an update loss count for both the RAF and

Luftwaffe or if your command box is over something it will display the

relevant name. The right hand half of the line displays the current date

and time of day.



The small white box on the screen is your COMMAND BOX. It is the basic tool

of the game and will get you information and give move orders to your unit.

It is operated by the joystick (port 2 on CBM 64). (Joystick or Keyboard on

Spectrum).



Moving the COMMAND BOX over an airfield, town, unit or radar station will

cause its name and any other information available to be displayed at the

top left of the screen.



Just below the losses line, you will see a box with five pieces of 

information:



			FTR:

			BMB:

			FUE:

			AMO:

			RAD:



Information about both RAF and Luftwaffe units is displayed here when the

COMMAND BOX is placed over them.



FTR: gives you the number of fighters in that Unit, it will only display

the number of Luftwaffe fighters when the unit is over land as the RADAR

could not differentiate between fighters and bombers, only giving the 

number of aircraft in a group.



BMB: displays the number of bombers in a Luftwaffe unit and once again only

works when the unit is over land.



FUE: shows the amount of fuel an RAF unit has. All RAF units start with 115

minutes of flying time and the display reduces in 5 minute intervals. More

fuel is used in combat.



A low fuel warning is given at 30 minutes and the unit loses the centre of

the roundel.



If a unit runs out of fuel over Great Britain, that squadron will be lost 

until the following day. This simulates an emergency landing away from an 

airfield, and although the planes are not lost they are considered out of 

action due to lack of support/supply services. If it runs out over the sea 

or France then the unit is considered lost.



AMO: reads either 1 or 0. If 1 then a unit has not made an attack and has

ammunition. After combat the reading will be 0. Only applicable to RAF 

units.



RAD: displays the number of planes in a Luftwaffe unit whilst over sea and

in a working radar zone.



Towns/Cities

------------

There are 15 towns or cities displayed on the map ranging from Derby in the

north and Folkestone in the South East to Plymouth in the South West.



Radar Stations

--------------

There are 13 radar stations around the U.K. coast. By pressing R you can 

see the radar coverage you have at any time during the game. If a radar 

station has been knocked out, a gap will appear in your coverage and no

Luftwaffe units will be visible in that sector unless an RAF unit is 

adjacent to it.



When knocked out its name will be displayed on a red background while the 

COMMAND BOX is over it.



In designing Battle of Britain we have made the Luftwaffe bombing of the

radar stations more effective than in reality and have also used fewer 

sites than were actually present. We have also combined the high level and 

low lewel radar into one unit.



Airfields

---------

There are 9 airfields at your disposal ranging from COLTISHALL in the north

east to MIDDLE WALLOP just north of Southampton. These represent mainly 

sector airfields and those that were actually involved in the battle. All

airfields used were part of 11 or 12 Group.



As with radar, we have made bombing of airfields more effective than it

actually was because no airfield (with the exception of perhaps MANSTON) 

was ever knocked out - the aircraft could disperse to a field nearby. The

bombing in the game does however simulate the disruption of maintenance 

etc.



If an airfield is non-operational due to fog or attacks, then its name will

be displayed against a red background whilst the COMMAND BOX is over it. If

it appears against a yellow background then the runways are cratered 

following an attack and you are liable to take losses on landing.



Squadrons

---------

We have effectively halved the actual number of aircraft available by 

limiting the number of squadrons to 18, but this was essential to make the

game playable.



The squadron list is as follows:



		Squadron	Type		Location

                --------	----		--------

		   234		Spitfire	Middle Wallop

		   609		Spitfire	Middle Wallop

		    87		Hurricane	Middle Wallop

		   213		Hurricane	Middle wallop

		   602		Spitfire	Tangmere

		    17		Hurricane	Tangmere

		    43		Hurricane	Tangmere

		     1		Hurricane	Northolt

		    79		Hurricane	Biggin Hill

		   501		Hurricane	Biggin Hill

		    54		Spitfire	Hornchurch

		   111		Hurricane	Debden

		   257		Hurricane	Debden

		    19		Spitfire	Duxford

		   310		Hurricane	Duxford

		    66		Spitfire	Coltishall

		    74		Spitfire	Coltishall

		   242		Hurricane	Coltishall



Launching/Moving a Squadron

---------------------------

Move the COMMAND BOX over an airfield and press the fire button. The 

airfield screen will now be displayed.



At the top of the screen is the name of the airfield. Just below it the

current status is displayed - either operational or non-operational. Below

that the squadrons currently on the field are listed together with the 

plane type, number and status - either ready or refuelling.



At the bottom of the screen the runway condition is shown - clear or 

cratered. If cratered then you are liable to losses on landing.



Below this is the weather - if this reads HEAVY RAIN your refuelling time

will be longer. Fog closes the airfield.



To LAUNCH a squadron, move the arrow (flashing bar highlighting the 

Squadron on Spectrum) on the right hand side of the screen to your chosen

squadron and press the fire button. Its status will now read SCRAMBLED and

you will return to the main map display.



To LAUNCH a squadron, move the arrow on the right hand side of the screen 

to your chosen squadron and press the fire button. Its status will now 

read SCRAMBLED and you will return to the main map display.



If you wish to leave the airfield screen at any time, move the joystick 

left or right.



To MOVE a squadron put the COMMAND BOX over it and press the fire button. 

The COMMAND BOX has now changed to a cross. Move the cross (via the 

joystick) to a point you want the squadron to fly to and press the fire 

button again. The COMMAND BOX will reappear and the squadron will fly to

that point.



If you want to see where you have ordered a squadron to go, simply move 

the COMMAND BOX over the uit and a cross will appear at the destination

point.



Combat

------

The RAF will (if they have ammunition) attack any Luftwaffe unit they are

adjacent to. Both units will flash when in combat. If you have selected to

play the game with action sequences, at this point you will be asked to 

"SELECT WHICH BATTLE?". Move the COMMAND BOX over one of your units in

combat and press the fire button. You will now be flying a Spitfire in

aerial combat. If a Luftwaffe unit is attacking a ground target, it will 

also flash at the time of attack and you will similarly be asked to select

a battle. Move the COMMAND BOX over the flashing Luftwaffe unit, press the

fire button and you will be in control of an anti-aircraft gun (not 

available on Spectrum versions due to memory limitations). These sequences 

directly affect the outcome of any combat.



Landing a Squadron

------------------

To land a squadron move it directly over an airfield and it will 

automatically land there if it can. If the field is unoperational or there

are already 4 squadrons on the airfield it will not land and a message 

will appear. You must move the squadron to another airfield unless you 

command an existing squadron to take off.



End of Day

----------

At the end of a day in any of the 3 games, a score screen is displayed. 

This shows the number of aircraft lost on either side, the number of 

successful Luftwaffe attacks and your command ability in percent.



In addition, on the Campaign game you are given an overall rating for the

game so far.



To leave the score screen press the space bar. In the Campaign game this

will take you to the RESUPPLY SCREEN, in the other games it will take you

back to the main menu.



Resupply Screen (Campaign Game Only)

------------------------------------

This screen is for allocating your overnight reinforcements. At the top is

the new pilots calibre. This will vary from excellent to poor as the 

campaign progresses in an attempt to reflect the loss of experienced 

pilots and their replacements having little or no combat experience. Their

combat effectiveness will obviously decrease.



Below this you will see the list of squadrons, their current number of

aircraft and their location. Those squadrons in red are below full 

strenght, those in blue are at full strenght and the white one is the

position of the cursor. Pressing the fire button will take one from the 

reserve at the top and add it to the "white" squadron. Moving the joystick

up or down moves the cursor correspondingly. You can have a maximum of 15

planes in one squadron.



Press the space bar to leave this screen and return to the campaign menu. 

You will note the date has now changed. Pressing 3 will continue the 

campaign.



Pause

-----

To pause any game press P. PAUSE will appear in the DATE/TIME BOX. The 

COMMAND BOX can still be moved but you will not be allowed to move or 

control a unit. To start playing again, press P again.



To Escape

---------

To return to a menu at any time (except during the action sequences), 

press ESC (Amstrad) or F1 (CBM 64). (Space on Spectrum).



Tactics

-------

There are three main objetives you should keep in mind whilst playing 

Battle of Britain:



1. Maintain the RAF as an effective fighting force.



2. Inflict losses on the Luftwaffe.



3. Defend your cities. The sight of massed bomber raids over your cities 

   in daylight will not endear you to the civilian population.



Special Thanks

--------------

Special thanks must go to Mr. Michael Fopp, ex-curator of the Battle of

Britain museum at Hendon. His help with technical details has been 

invaluable.



Thanks must also go to Steve Fielding for the time and effort he put in 

during the design of the game.