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03663 FIGHTING ST. EX MANUAL 9/21/01 11 - Computer

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6. Playership Turret Explosion Displays a friendly ship when its turret is destroyed in a graphic way Playership on Fire Displays a friendly ship at the moment the fires on board it grow sufficiently to be displayed graphically in the 3D world Playership Hit by Shell Displays a friendly ship when it is hit by shellfire Playership Fires First Time Shows one of your ships firing its main guns when it opens fire on a new target Playership Illuminated Shows a friendly ship when it becomes illuminated by a starshell New Contact Displays an enemy ship when it is first sighted as a Contact Realism Settings The realism settings are displayed in nine rows of two options each For each realism setting only one option can be toggled on highlighted at any given time At the bottom of the screen are four buttons labeled Custom Beginner Intermediate and Advanced If you click on Beginner all settings on the right column are selected the least realistic Clicking on Advanced highlights all options on the left column most realistic The default setting is Intermediate which uses some settings from both columns Custom allows you to change the settings to what you desire Realism settings may not be changed once play has begun but you may review the settings Visibility Realism Restricted Select restricted visibility to play the game with the normal visibility system Unlimited With unlimited visibility selected all
7. REFERENCE 116 Magazine a room where ammunition is stored Main Armament the primary battery of guns on a ship generally designed for engag ing other ships of the same general size Nautical Mile a maritime measure of distance equal to 6 080 feet Port 1 a developed harbor 2 nautical term for the left hand side of a ship Quarter the after part of a ship s side Rangefinder a device optical or electronic designed to determine the distance from one ship to another as an aid to gunnery Salvo a simultaneous discharge of shots from a battery of guns Secondary Armament batteries of guns on a ship of a smaller caliber than the main armament generally designed for engaging smaller craft Spread the distance between projectiles whether shells or torpedoes the wider the spread the greater the likelihood one of the projectiles will hit but the less chance that several will hit together Starboard nautical term for the right hand side of a ship Stern the back end of ship Straddle a salvo whose waterspouts fall on both sides of the target as seen from the firing ship indicating that the guns have found the correct range and deflection Trajectory the arc that a shell follows as it moves through the air Turret an armored gunhouse that swivels Wing Turret a turret placed to one side of the ship s centerline with a matching wing turret on the other side to maintain the ship s balance Bibl
8. Secondary Guns Status Damage Display Green turret icon This display shows one turret each for Fore Aft Port and Starboard secondary guns with a corresponding number representing the remaining secondary gun turrets Secondary gun magazines are not displayed they cannot be destroyed If the ship carries no secondary gun armament the button may not be selected PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 48 45 mU E Torpedo Mounts Status Damage Display Torpedo icon Each warship carries 0 4 torpedo mounts As with gun turrets a torpedo mount is either operable or destroyed A mount cannot reload during battle so once fired it is empty If the ship carries no torpedo mounts the button may not be selected Division Number Structure Damage hull boxes Main Guns Fire s Secondary Guns Flotation Damage Torpedo Mounts Ship Systems Power Propulsion Fire Detectors Searchlights Damage Control Maneuver Bridge Radar Systems Status Damage Display Blue ship icon This displays the other systems not covered under the weapons but tons Systems can be operable damaged or destroyed If a system is damaged the repair time remaining in minutes and seconds appears by its icon For more infor mation see Damage to Ship Systems on page 95 Damage Control repairs damaged systems and puts out fires Power electrical system Weapons Searchlights Radar and Bridge syst
9. WWII torpedoes are dumb weapons that hit anything that gets in their way whether friend or foe Therefore any ship that meets a moving torpedo spread checks to see if it hits The chance of hitting depends on the information level at launch and the ship s aspect to the attack how much of its length it presents to the torpedo spread The greatest probability occurs when the target is perpendicular to the path of the torpedo spread the least probability occurs when the target is parallel to its path the ship is bow or stern on to the torpedo The chance of hitting also depends on the width of the torpedo spread A narrow spread of torpedoes covers a narrower field but has a greater chance of hits when it encounters a ship A wide spread covers a wider field but has less chance of hits when it encounters a ship Finally the torpedo must pass a dud test if you turned on the Torpedo Duds preference or National Characteristics preference The effects of torpedo damage are covered in the Torpedo Damage section see page 97 Dud Rate Even though a torpedo successfully hits there is a chance that it was set too deep exploded prematurely or otherwise malfunctioned If a torpedo is determined to be a dud it inflicts no damage and ends its run at that point Selecting the Torpedo Duds Possible preference sets the dud rate at 20 for each nation However if you select the National Characteristics preference each nation is given its own dud
10. 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL vanna AM Page 1 FIGHTING TEEL 0 SURFACE 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Camera Modes 22 Audio 53 Movement System 75 Getting Started 2 Manual Camera 22 Battle Generator Settings 53 Maximum Speed Dee 76 Look Thru 22 Acceleration and Deceleration 76 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 2 Target Track Camera 23 SHIP VIEWER 53 Changing Course 77 TROUBLESHOOTING 5 Enemy Track 23 pr is Ai BELL LL ie Division Formations 78 AXES tapes Topdown Camera 23 4 ASS 2 VS D CONTACTING TECHNICAL 424 Weapon Data Display Visual Sighting SUPPORT 4 24 Clim Dam ghting Torpedo Attack Plot Camera 24 cesi Em RAD Radar Sighting 81 QUICK START TUTORIAL 6 Camera Transitions 24 CAMPAIGN GAME 55 Target Infor mation Level 222 82 Tutoriali alee est 6 2D Map Screen Overview 25 Campaign Setup Screen 55 Crew Effects on Sighting 82 Tutorial IL acetone od 9 2D Map Control 25 Heat Screen 58 Nighi m Day
11. Friendly ships are arranged according to division except in Division Commander mode when your division appears at the top of your side s list Enemy ships are arranged in the order they were discovered However ships on either side that are out of action or sunk appear at the end of their side s list PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 50 47 BRUT TN F6 Briefing Screen The key or tab brings up the Briefing screen which provides you with informa tion about your side s ships and the scenario you are playing You cannot make changes or alterations to your force on this screen This screen is never updated as ships are lost or detached it only shows the information from the start of the sce nario Environment details appear as a pop up window at the top of the screen when you click on the Environment button Click the Continue button to return to the game Environment Panel Sunrise Sunset and Start times for the scenario are given in military time 24 hour clock The direction the wind is blowing from is given as a compass bearing and its speed is expressed in knots Sea State is rated according to the Beaufort scale Level 1 is calm Level 8 is the high est in the game Radar and Visibility are displayed as percentages of their standard values Radar may be less than 100 due to Ground Clutter see page 81 for an explanation of Ground Clutter Visibility may be less than 100 d
12. The flashes of a ship s guns at night reveal much about its location Flashes can be spotted out to the maximum visibility range The number of guns firing and the size of the guns determine the visibility modifier which is further modified by distance Guns over 11 bore create the most visible flash and guns under 5 9 bore those that fire common ammunition create the least Visible Fires A ship with fires on board is more visible at night Such a ship has a visibility modi fier equal to 10 times the number of fires currently raging on it Fires can be spotted out to the maximum visibility range Weapon Systems The warships presented in FIGHTING STEEL carry two types of weapon systems guns and torpedoes All of the warships carry guns but not all of them carry torpedoes You may also damage a ship by ramming it with your own but that is a tactic not a weapon system and it is not a winning tactic either especially if the rammed ship is larger than your own see Collision Damage on page 97 Naval Guns The game accounts for all sizes of WWII naval guns from the monstrous 18 1 bore weapon shipped on the IJN s Yamato class to light cannon and machineguns carried on most ships for antiaircraft defense Because it is easier to transport heavy objects over water than over land WWII battleships could carry batteries of guns that made the heavy guns of contemporary armies look puny by comparison The largest guns on these ships fire
13. 000 050 0 0 090 040 040 000 050 001 001 000 000 000 000 000 001 001 009 001 0 00 235 NOIL 3LOHd Mallmann Showell P The German Navy World War Two Reference Guide to 000 000 050 090 090 090 090 090 090 090 050 001 001 001 007 007 097 001 002 002 001 001 001 00 001 00711 00 0081 001 0091 0091 the Kriegsmarine 1935 1945 na Morison Samuel Eliot The Struggle for Guadalcanal 1948 Morison Samuel Eliot The Two Ocean War A Short History of the United States Navy 000 000 001 001 00 001 001 001 001 001 001 Sc 005 007 09 ost 00 9 00 007 00 00 00 00 00 006 0041 0071 001 0071 00751 rna in the Second World War 1963 Preston Antony Battleships 1856 1977 1977 0 UON 0 8UON 8UON 9 XIAN 9L XIAN 42 8 9UON 9L XIAN 42 8 9UON 9L XIAN 6X8 9L XIAN tZ X OF 9UON 9L XIAN be X 8 8UON XIAN 42 8 ve XIAN 42 8 8 XIAN 42 8 9UON 9 XIAN 42 9 ce XIAN 42 8 ce XIAN 42 8 ce XIAN be X 9 9UON 96 XIAN be X 9 c XIAN 42 9 9r XIAN 42 9 9 XIAN 42 8 9UON 0 XIAN 42 9 9 9 XIAN abe XZL 9 XIAN XZE 9UON 9 9 XIAN 42 8 UON 96 8UON 9 v9 Sy y X8 821 091 9UON 079 JL YX9 9 8UON 499 s3003d
14. 30 000 ton BB would have a VP value of 300 points However these values are modi fied by several factors Because of their torpedo armament DDs are valued at 12096 of their normal VP value except IJN DDs with their exceptional Long Lance torpedoes are valued at 150 For the same reason IJN cruisers with Long Lances are valued at 125 whereas cruisers without torpedoes are valued at 90 of normal Battlecruisers are also valued at 90 because their high tonnage in part reflects their additional boil ers and extra frame length more than their fighting power Even with these modifiers in place all you need to remember is bigger is better WINNING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 66 63 PUT NE Mission Points Your Mission Points total reflects how well your own ships achieved their specific mis sion goals bombarding evading escorting or tactical transporting See page 73 Battle Types and Missions You may have a negative value in this category Mission Points are based on the VP value of the ship performing the mission Therefore the larger the ship is the more Mission Points it can earn For instance a bombarding BB will earn far more Mission Points than a bombarding DD assuming each has the ammunition and main guns to complete the mission Damage Points Your Damage Points total reflects how much damage you inflicted on enemy ships You score the highest Damage Points for sinking enemy
15. 33 Each Ship Box contains some or all of the following information and icons Type BB BC CA CL DD or TR Name ship s full name Ship Icon matches the ship type Flagship Pennant the division s flagship displays a small flag on the stern Recognition Lights a light icon indicates the ship has its national recognition lights on at night Division Commander mode Speed Limited a red arrow indicates the ship is slowing down its division friendly only Turn Limited a curving orange arrow indicates the ship s rudder is currently jammed Smoke a white cloud indicates the ship is laying a smokescreen Detaching a Ship A ship can be detached from a division voluntarily to become an independent unit A ship is automatically detached if the division makes a turn that it cannot maintain A ship is not detached for reason of speed loss instead the division automatically decel erates to match the speed of the ship so that it remains in formation When a ship detaches and creates a gap in the formation the remaining ships automatically close up as best they can A detached ship forms a single ship division that can never reattach to its parent divi sion or to any other division In multi ship divisions a broken chain icon appears below each ship box To detach a ship from the division click on the ship s broken chain and a pop up window appears Detach Confirmation Click on YES to confirm that you want to detach th
16. Therefore the first salvo at a target suffers a 25 penalty and the second suffers a 10 penalty Subsequent salvos at the same target are unaffected Main and secondary guns operate on separate counts Visibility at Night Firing at night is always less effective than firing during the day The nighttime gunnery modifier varies from 10 best to 80 worst depending on illumination by starshells searchlights recognition lights gun flashes and fires on board the target ship WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 92 89 Radar The base value for the radar modifier depends on the radar s quality good 20 average 10 poor 0 However rain and higher sea states will reduce these radar gunnery benefits but never below 0 Night Fighting Not all ships had similar training or equipment suitable for nighttime operations In particular IJN ships had significant advantages with specialized optical equipment and training techniques that made them much more effective in nighttime battles Crews with little nighttime training were often confused when firing at targets in the dark Night fighting modifiers apply from sunset to sunrise expert 20 good 10 average 0 poor 20 Evasive Maneuvering 20 ignored if firing ship turning Turning If the firing ship is turning its gunfire is modified by 10 If it is an emer gency turn the modifier is 20 If the ship is doing eva
17. and a spread cone is displayed if at least one mount can fire until you hit Fire or change the target PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 46 43 Single Ship Main Guns Panel Instead of issuing firing orders for main guns at the division level you may issue them at the single ship level Bring up the Single Ship Main Guns Panel for the selected ship You may choose up to two targets for your ship s main guns If you want to return the ship s main guns to division control highlight the Division Control button The Single Ship Main Guns Panel also displays the factors that affect your main guns chance to hit and the armor thickness that its shells can penetrate at the current range to the selected target Target List Window Click on the Target List Box to open a window that lists all possible targets for your ship s main guns Select one target from the list Any turrets whose arcs can bear on that target switch fire to that target To deselect turrets you must first highlight the Turrets Selection button see below If you select a second target from the second Target List Box any turrets not firing on the first target attempt to fire at the second However you should keep in mind that splitting your main guns between two targets is often less efficient in terms of chance to hit than aiming them all at a single target Ammo Selection Buttons Highlight the button of the ammo type you
18. but there is 1 chance that the ship s steering Maneuver system will lock in that position until Damage Control repairs it Mistaken Maneuver When the Mistaken Maneuver realism preference is set every time a maneuver order is executed there is a chance based on crew quality and fatigue that a ship will fall out of the division and execute a maneuver other than the one ordered For example it may turn in the wrong direction or continue going straight ahead or execute a simultaneous turn instead of a column turn or vice versa The chance of this happen ing is increased if the maneuver is an emergency turn Also at night the chance of a mistaken maneuver happening is greater and is modified by Night Training abilities The chance of a mistaken maneuver occurring is checked independently for each ship WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS aS F 78 in the division other than the flagship which always performs the maneuver so it could happen to multiple ships in a division on the same maneuver The base chance of a ship missing the maneuver is 1 Modifiers to this are as follows Crew Quality Elite 2 Veteran 1 Average 0 Green 2 Crew Fatigue Fresh 0 Normal 1 Tired 2 Fatigued 4 Nighttime 3 Night Fighting night battles only Expert 2 Good 1 Average 0 Poor 2 Division Speed If division speed is greater that 60 of its original maximum speed the following modifiers ap
19. the division s flagship line formation WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 76 Maximum Speed Ship speed is expressed in knots As a general rule the smaller the ship is the faster it can go However a ship s maximum speed is affected by damage and sea state Damage Engine Propulsion system damage lowers a ship s maximum speed by an equivalent percentage so if the engines are down to 80 the ship s maximum speed is reduced to 80 Flotation point damage also lowers a ship s maximum speed by half of the percentage of flotation point damage see Flotation Points on page 92 For example if the ship s flotation point damage is 50 then its speed is reduced by a quarter to 75 Both factors apply so a ship whose original maximum speed was 30 knots but whose engines were down to 80 and whose flotation point damage was at 50 would have a maximum speed of 30 knots x 80 x 75 18 knots If a ship s engines are destroyed it decelerates until it stops Sea State Sea state is based on the Beaufort scale which defines prevailing weather conditions Invented in the late eighteenth century the Beaufort scale is an internation ally recognized measure of sea state based upon wind speed and wave height The scale is measured in levels from Level 0 Calm no wind no waves to Level 12 Hurricane 109 116 knot winds 16 meter waves In FIGHTING STEEL combat is allowed to take place in sea states up through Beaufort Level 8
20. to bring up the Navigation Panel for Division 2 b Click on the Reform Column button in the bottom left corner of the Navigation Panel and click on the Turn to Port arrow in the middle of the compass ring on the left of the Panel This automatically selects a simultaneous turn that will put Division 2 back into Column Formation on a compass heading of 30 degrees Click the Execute Plot button to lock in this turn QUICK START TUTORIAL 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 14 11 8 Let slight up the scene with starshells Click on 1 in the Division List or press 1 to select Division 1 a Click on the Illumination button or press 1 to bring up the Division Illumination Panel Principle Target Second Target Searchlights Target Filters Targeting Mode Starshells Targeting Mode searchlights starshells b Click on the Starshell button to highlight it c Click on the Battleline targeting mode button Searchlights have a maximum range of 5 000 yards so you don t want to use them yet Starshells are only useful against targets over 4 000 yards distant Press P to unpause the game Watch the horizon for a while and you ll see a starshell explode over the tar get It doesn t look like much at this distance but that starshell will improve the accuracy of your gunfire 9 15 time to spring into action a Start launching torpedoes from your destroyers Be
21. 0 001 000 Scl Oost SZZ 08 LLVL9 8uoN 250 6S X6 0818 00 18 ssl 19 0 09 001 050 509 901 00 9 LL V9 1 8uoN 99 Ev XZL 099 8X8 00281 09 8 1 Jaddiy vo 5 0 009 001 050 089 081 00 LLVZ9 10X8 899 F v X9 689 68X8 829 X9 00091 00982 091 puejuosineq vo 009 005 086 00vL 00v SLEL 08 999 F eX vL 689 68 X cL 869 LL X6 0068 ooze 09 3510112125 98 a 6 007 002 007 06 98 9UON G90 FY X9L 689 68 X cL 179 SL X8 0060S 0066 606 99 E 12 1015405 329 520034901 9 SNn9 Sid 0334 amv ssv19 33 NIV AMVNO23S NIV Xv d RS NOLLO3LOHd SNOdV3M is 9urreurssorry o o e REFERENCE REFERENCE 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 126 RELOAD TIME SECONDS PENETRATION VALUE INCHES DAMAGE FACTOR HIT POINTS MAXIMUM RANGE YARDS United States Navy cont GUN TYPE RELOAD TIME SECONDS PENETRATION VALUE INCHES DAMAGE FACTOR HIT POINTS Gun Data Table MAXIMUM RANGE YARDS Royal Navy GUN TYPE REFERENCE 54 33 13 14500 15920 14590 5 C25 4 C50 35 29 27 26 11 2048 1938 1590 256 200 100 100 39780 33550 38560 30650 21110 25800 20620 24070 16970 16160 20750 19850 16 C45 15 C42 1 C45 8 C50 30 30 1 3 C50 Imperial Japanese Navy 20 7 5 045 6 C50 6 45 31 34 32 32
22. 2 British and 1 German STARTING A GAME 18 Scenario Lists There are two scenario lists to choose from or you may use the Battle Generator to design a new scenario for information about the Battle Generator see page 65 Book and Ship button displays list of historical scenarios that come with the game Pencil and Eraser button displays list of battles you created with the Scenario Editor see page 67 The flags show the nations involved in a given battle with Force A always displayed on the left Numbers under the flags indicate the starting number of warship divisions that side has in the battle If the list is long use the scroll buttons to move through it A description of the highlighted scenario appears in the text panel to the right Preference Settings Click on the Telegraph button to go to the Preference Settings screen see page 49 for a full description of Preference Settings Proceed Click on the Check button to start the game with the highlighted scenario Lobby Area Screen The Lobby Area screen provides more details about the current session and allows players to choose sides and review the game s Preferences set by the host player See Scenario Launch Screen on page 15 for a description of the text information displayed at the top of the Lobby Area Screen When you first enter the Lobby Area screen your player name appears in the Unassigned Players list Click
23. Atlantic and Pacific theaters of operations Each scenario was carefully researched to give you an accurate rendition of the real battle The starting position of the ships and the weather condi tions are based on eyewitness reports If a ship was in need of repair at the start of a battle its damaged condition is reflected in the setup data For a full description of the battles and their actual outcomes see Background to the Historical Scenarios on page 101 However because you make the decisions in the game the outcome of your bat tles may be quite different from the historical ones Atlantic Ocean British vs Germans River Plate December 13 1939 Three Royal Navy cruisers hound the pocket bat tleship Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of South America Norway Encounter April 9 1940 A pair of Kriegsmarine battlecruisers bumps into the Renown with her destroyer escort in bad weather Denmark Straits May 24 1941 Recreates the famous engagement between the Bismarck and the Hood and Prince of Wales Bismarck vs The Destroyers May 26 1941 Five Royal Navy destroyers attempt to torpedo the already damaged Bismarck Planned Rheinubung May 25 1941 hypothetical What if the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had sortied to meet up with the Bismarck as originally planned Barents Sea December 31 1942 an entire battle scenario plus two additional sce narios that cover separate phases of the battle British destroyers and cruis
24. Bar and click on F1 or press Ft The 2D Map screen appears Press P 10 pause the game a You can play the game from the 2D Map or the 3D View or switch between them as you desire However the Auto Plot feature is only available on the 2D Map Your division is currently headed north with three German ships off to the east Let s see where your torpedoes are Click on the Map Display Info button of the Map Control Panel A pop up appears Click on the Torpedo Cones button to display your torpedo cones Enemy torpedo cones are never displayed but they re probably out there so we want to change course at fre quent intervals to avoid their cones QUICK START TUTORIAL 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 12 9 pU E b Click on the Auto Plot button of the Map Control Panel The Navigation Panel appears Navigation orders are always given at the division level Click any where on the 2D map to issue a turn order to your division The projected path of your ships appears If you don t like the path you chose click somewhere else on the map It is best to angle your ships so that all of their guns can train on the enemy Turning directly toward the enemy blocks the fire from your aft guns while turning directly away from the enemy blocks the fire from your for ward guns Ordered Choose Execute Turn Turn Smok Heading Bearing Buttons Cancel Information moKescreen Emergency Turn s r Port Turn But
25. Division Commander mode be as confused as night naval battles were in real life Division Commander Mode Having two game modes Division Commander and Standard came from our basic understanding that there are two types of wargamers in the world The first wants to control everything know everything that any of their units knows and doesn t really want to worry about having their own units shoot at each other For these players we pro vided the Standard mode that along with the ability to pause the game and give orders while playing against the computer gives these players the ability to play FS as if it was a turn based boardgame The second type of wargamer wants the ulti mate in realism without actually seeing blood They want to be surprised by the enemy and don t mind a little confusion among their own ships in order to obtain this realism Using Division Commander mode is the only way to truly capture the confused state of affairs that existed during a night battle I think the most enjoyable way to play FS is to play with four players in a Division Commander mode random night battle You just never know what to expect Ps Command Control Even with Division Commander mode we couldn t simulate all of the confusion that exists during a naval battle and didn t really want to Although we do model the time it takes for information to pass from a lookout or a radar operator to the captain of a ship we still p
26. End Game All Ships Screen 63 Deck Hits EIL 95 Scenario Editor Overview 14 Division Summary Panels 34 2D 63 Damage to Ship Systems 95 Division Orders Panels 36 Fire Points 96 STARTING A GAME 1 4 Division Main Guns Panel 37 CREATING NEW SCENARIOS 65 Torpedo Damage 97 Main Menu 14 Division Secondary Guns Panel 38 Battle Generator 65 Collision Damage 97 Scenario Selection 14 Division Illumination Panel 38 Scenario Editor 67 After Battle Damage 98 Multiplayer Game 16 Navigation Panel 39 Scenario Editor Top Menu Bar 67 Load Saved Game Screen 19 Single Ship Panels otis 41 Menu Bar Tabs VERG ey 68 STARE BRIEFING aoe 99 Single Ship Torpedoes Panel 41 Global Scenario Data Screen 68 Notes on Tactics 99 puc Single Ship Main Guns Panel 43 Create Division Screen 10 ORAE to Historical it lew ocreen E ey 5 ska Clock and Game Speed 20 ZEN Atlantic Battles 1939 1942 101 Camera Control Panel 20 Single Ship Illumination Panel 44 WHAT S BEHIND THE Pacific Battles 106 Close Button 20 ingl
27. Hit Chance the likelihood of hitting target 1 expressed as a percentage Target 2 name of second target for the ship s secondary guns Hit Chance the likelihood of hitting target 42 expressed as a percentage AP COM HE Ammo remaining number of shells for that ship s secondary guns in those types AP is Armor Piercing good against armored targets COM is Common used by guns under 5 9 caliber HE is High Explosive good against unarmored targets Ter Gun Type number and type of tertiary guns Some BBs and BCs carry tertiary guns in addition to secondary guns You do not give orders to tertiary gun systems Instead they automatically engage any target within 5000 yards CCF Close Combat Factor expressed as a number These are the smallest weapons carried by the ship machine guns and small caliber cannon They automatically engage any enemy ship that approaches within 3 000 yards and do slight structural damage based on their number Some ships do not have a CCF PLAYING THE GAME 36 Torpedoes Summary Panel Torpedo Type see the Torpedo Data Table on page 123 for a complete list Not all ships carry torpedo mounts Mount 1 number of torpedoes on that mount ready to fire If fired the countdown in minutes and seconds until the torpedoes reach their estimated interception point with their target If that time elapses without striking the countdown in minutes and sec onds un
28. In any case if you don t sight the enemy within a few minutes this is a bad sign You are either being spotted by the enemy and possibly are being outmaneuvered or you are away from the initial point of contact this could mean your allies are fighting the enemy outnumbered If playing multiplayer chat with your allies to try to figure out as soon as possible who is engaged and who needs to find the battle If you still can t find the enemy then try to complete your mission as best you can Don t Forget Your Mission Keep your mission in mind at all times If you are escorting a convoy find the best way to get the transports out of the battle make smoke scatter while aggressively engag ing the attackers If evading don t let yourself get caught in a slugfest Try to get around your attackers and outrun them Focus on disabling their faster ships if this will allow you to disengage many of your ships Although it is likely you will always have to engage the enemy force in some way in order to complete your mission it is important that you understand your overall objective Be sure to take advantage of any opportunity your opponent gives you to complete your mission Stay Together As is true in almost all military actions concentration of force is one of the keys to vic tory in FIGHTING STEEL Don t scatter your forces or engage the enemy piecemeal Concentrate all of your fighting power on a portion of the enemy force if possible so that
29. Settings You may adjust the volume controls for Sound Effects Voice and Music by click and dragging the setting indicator or you may mute any of the audio features by clicking the On Off button Each player may adjust the audio settings at any time in the game Battle Generator Settings If you are playing a scenario created by the Battle Generator you may view but not change the settings used to create that battle by clicking on the Battle Generator tab See Battle Generator on page 65 for more details about the settings SHIP VIEWER You can access the Ship Viewer screen during play by pressing the key or clicking on the F8 tab of the Functions Bar It is also possible to bring up the viewer by clicking on a ship in the Campaign Game Fleet Management screen The Ship Viewer is organized by ship classes A class of ships consists of one or more ships that are built according to the same design and launched around the same time give or take a year Such ships are called sister ships The Ship Viewer provides information about and 2D and 3D images ofthe nearly one hundred ship classes in the game You view the classes one at a time To return to the game click on the X icon at the top right of the Ship Viewer screen View Window The View Window shows an image of the selected ship class Controls at the bottom of the window allow you to change your view and choose the nation s whose ship classes you wish to view VP Value e
30. Tag remains open until you release the mouse press Similarly if you move your cursor over a Ship Box in the Division and Ship Panel or a Target List Box in any of the Single Ship Panels and hold the right mouse press down a Secondary ID Tag pops up for that ship and disappears when you release the mouse press Like the Primary ID Tag the Secondary ID Tag is strictly for information display There are no buttons or items to select or change on this pop up The Secondary ID Tag provides the following information about the ship if known to your forces Type BB BC CA CL DD or TR Name long names are abbreviated Generic Profile based on Type Other icons might be displayed as well Flagship pennant friendly only Radar contact enemy only Smoke a white cloud indicates that the is ship laying smokescreen Evasive maneuver ship has Evasive Maneuver selected Turn limited an orange arrow indicates the ship s steering is jammed friendly only Speed limited a red arrow indicates the ship is slowing down its division friendly only Recognition lights when turned on at night displays the ship s nationality Division Commander mode only Encumbered ship in Tactical Transport mode friendly only Main Guns current number and bore size of ship s operable main guns Secondary Guns current number and bore size of ship s operable secondary guns Speed ship s current speed current maximum speed expressed in
31. and details to help you make the right decisions in battle The more you know about your ships and crews and the more you understand what drives the game s movement visibility weapons and damage systems then the better commander you will be Your Ships and Crews The database of FIGHTING STEEL includes over 90 classes of ships comprising 1 000 indi vidual ships from the WWII navies of America Germany Great Britain and Japan These ship classes fall into six basic types but each ship class represents a distinct combination of steel in the form of armaments armor plates engines etc The crews of these ships and ultimately you as their commander constitute the fighting ele ment You are responsible for achieving your mission objective in a given scenario which is based on the type of battle being fought Ship Types Ship Types are categorized by two letter designations used by the USN in WWII The game does not include ship types smaller than destroyers nor merchant ship conversions such as the AMC armed merchant cruiser which were not originally designed as warships BB Battleship These capital ships carried the largest naval guns and at the start of the war were con sidered the main fleet units because they could accurately shell targets 20 miles away They were soon eclipsed by the aircraft carrier which could bomb targets 200 miles away Battleships possessed the thickest armor protection of any ship type but
32. appears next to the Division Flag on the Division and Ship Panel while the turn is in progress Smokescreen Toggle Highlight the Smokescreen toggle to turn smokescreens on A pop up appears from which you select the ships in the division you want to generate smoke The selected ships lay smoke until you turn it off Smokescreens interfere with visibility so they are useful for creating cover that other ships such as transports can hide behind Smoke drifts with the wind and dissipates over time The higher the wind speed the sooner the smoke dissipates The Environment Panel on the Briefing screen lists the direction the wind is blowing from and its speed PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 44 41 PUT EN Recognition Lights Toggle Highlight the Recognition Lights toggle to turn recognition lights on at night A pop up appears from which you select the ships in the division you want to turn on lights Recognition lights are only useful in Division Commander mode when unidentified ships might be friendly or enemy When your lights are on you are displaying your ship s nationality to outside observers The lights also make your ship more visible so you should not leave them on for long periods Evasive Maneuvers Toggle Highlight the Evasive Maneuvers toggle to use evasive maneuvers when you are fear ful of enemy gunfire The ship view window does not show your ships evasive paths but your di
33. area under the command of Rear Admiral Willis Lee had two modern battleships and four destroyers Willis also had the latest radar and was expert in its use At 23 00 amid ground clutter from Savo Island and Cape Esperance the Japanese ships were detected on American radar Starshells soon lit up the night and torpedoes traced their paths across the sea The light cruiser Nagara sank the destroyer Preston A second US destroyer Walke was hit by a Long Lance torpedo and sank slowly Benham a third destroyer also was hit by a torpedo and forced to retreat She sank next afternoon en route to the Allied base at Espiritu Santo although the fourth destroyer Gwin rescued her surviving crew The heavyweight American battleships now joined the fight Fire from the Washington disabled the IJN destroyer Ayanami which later sank The South Dakota however suffered a power failure which put her guns out of action Meanwhile the Japanese destroyers fearing these two powerful ships and unaware of South Dakota s disabil ity sped out of the line of fire The two light cruisers Nagara and Sendai remained on station As the American battleships cleared Savo Island they spotted the heavy cruisers Atago Kondo s flagship and Takao with the battlecruiser Kirishima beyond The South Dakota regained power but found herself targeted by the searchlights of the Japanese cruisers Kirishima began firing salvos at a range of five miles an
34. at a time To return to the Main Menu click on the Cancel button To load a highlighted game click on the Load button in the bottom right corner of the screen To select the last save recorded by the auto save feature click on the Auto Save button PLAYING THE GAME When a battle begins the 3D view screen appears You may play the game on either the 3D view screen or the 2D map screen or you may switch back and forth between the two as you desire To switch between 2D and 3D views press the key or click on the first tab under the Function Bar for a description of the Function Bar see page 45 To the right of the 3D view screen is a Camera Control Panel You can make selections here to change your point of view in the 3D world Likewise on the 2D screen a Map Control Menu appears to the right of the 2D map Selections from the Map Control Menu change what appears on the 2D map Across the bottom of both the 2D and 3D screens is the Division and Ship Panel dis play This is where you issue orders to your forces and check on their status PLAYING THE GAME 20 3D View Screen Overview You can switch from 2D to 3D view by pressing the key or by clicking on the first tab of the Function Bar The 3D screen has the same Division and Ship Panel at the bottom of the screen as the 2D screen If you press F2 this panel disappears and the 3D view fills up the entire screen Press again or use the F2 tab of the Func
35. but we didn t want to get bogged down in the detail of any one ship As a division commander the player should not be worrying about actually aiming and firing the guns on his ships Nor did we want to get saddled with having to rely on physics models to recreate the action In many ways it is much more difficult to get a physics model to simulate actual results because all it takes is missing one of the factors to throw the model off With FS we use formulas for all of the impor tant gunnery damage and visibility effects These formulas although obviously simplified lead to fairly accurate results and in many cases they are much more accu rate than previous games that have tried to sim the situation Divisions and How They Maneuver When we first started work on FS we wanted to model the maneuvering capabilities of the different navies in surface battles We had thoughts of allowing many different formations while restricting certain navies from performing various maneuver actions during a battle After studying the problem for several months along with discussions DESIGNERS NOTES 112 with our two technical advisors it became clear that what one can do on the parade ground is much different from what one can do in the face of the enemy Although navies did form scouting lines and were able to move from line of bearing to line abreast it was not something they did once in battle Basically ships either moved in colu
36. control the target list background is graphically different to show this Division Secondary Guns Panel This panel key press S is identical to the Main Guns Panel except it applies to the division s secondary armaments Your secondary guns may fire at different targets than your main guns However a ship s tertiary guns automatically fire at any target within 5000 yards Division Illumination Panel Principle Target Second Target Searchlights f Targeting Mode Starshells Targeting Mode searchlights starshells Target Filters This panel key press 1 is available during night battles only between sunset and sunrise From this panel you may turn on searchlights or fire starshells choosing the targeting mode for each the modes are the same as those used for guns Searchlights Searchlights tend to give away your position to the enemy but they are effective in illuminating targets for your guns within 5 000 yards Highlight the Searchlight button to turn your division s searchlights on then click on a targeting mode These are the same modes as described for guns Starshells Starshells are munitions fired by your ships guns to light up an area of ocean around a target The target must be 4 000 yards away or farther so starshells are most useful for illuminating targets outside searchlight range However while searchlights stay trained on their targets within 5 000 yards targets beneath starshells can move away
37. destroyed there is no damaged state for magazines A penetrating shell hit to the hull deck or weapons may destroy a magazine If the mag azine is struck there is a 5096 chance it will be flooded by the crew to save the ship and there is 50 chance it will cause a massive explosion that tears the ship apart A flooded magazine no longer supplies ammunition to the main guns linked to it Maneuver System Torpedo hits or penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may dam age or destroy the Maneuver system steering and rudder gear If damaged the rudder is jammed to port starboard or centerline so that the ship must move in that direction until the damage is repaired If destroyed the ship uses the worst turning rate which is a 1 600 yard diameter Power System Torpedo hits or penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may damage but never destroy the Power system electrics A damaged Power system goes off line until repaired While off line some other systems that require power are also off line Weapons Searchlights Radar and Bridge Propulsion System Torpedo hits or penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may dam age and eventually destroy the Propulsion system engines Every hit to Propulsion permanently reduces the ship s maximum speed by 5 to 20 Damage Control cannot repair this permanent damage Propulsion is destroyed and the ship slows to a halt when the engine level reaches 0 A hit to Propulsion may also
38. disable the engines temporarily forcing the ship to decelerate until Damage Control repairs it Radar System Shell hits to the superstructure both penetrating and non penetrating may damage or destroy the Radar system If the Power system is damaged Radar is off line until Power is repaired A damaged off line or destroyed Radar system does not permit radar detection or provide a gunnery modifier Searchlight System Non penetrating shell hits to the superstructure may destroy searchlights they are relatively fragile instruments in exposed positions The Searchlight system is also linked to the Power system so if the Power system is dam aged searchlights may not be used until it is repaired BBs and BCs have four searchlight positions that can be destroyed two on the port side and two on the star board side all other ships have two searchlight positions one on each side Weapon System Hits to the different parts of the Weapon system main secondary and tertiary guns close in weapons and torpedo mounts are covered in Weapon Hits on page 94 The Weapon system is also dependent on the Power system If the Power system is damaged all weapons are off line until it is repaired Main guns also require a functioning Magazine system Fire Points Each shell that hits a target can start a fire Shells that penetrate the hull or deck have 10 chance of starting a fire Shells that penetrate the weapons system have a 20 cha
39. division can be viewed in this mode If he target list is empty the camera takes a position behind the current ship division Enemy Track Keys t s 1 next previous target ship Topdown Camera Orange arrow on Camera Selection pop up The camera is positioned above the riendly ship division and pointed straight down at it The camera cannot be pitched up or down and is constrained to move parallel to the water and zoom in out You may not move the camera more than 2 500 yards from a ship in the current divi sion when the Restricted Camera preference is on Topdown Keys move the camera position forward back rotate the camera counter clockwise clockwise u y move the camera position to greater lesser height 0 move camera position PLAYING THE GAME 24 Semi Free Camera Triple green arrows on Camera Selection pop up this is the default setting The camera position is tied to the current ship division but you may adjust the camera offset from the ship division You may also rotate and zoom the camera This works the same as the Manual camera except that the camera s position is constantly updated to maintain its position relative to the current ship division The Previous Next buttons on the Camera Control Panel revolve the camera around its focus point by 45 degree increments You may not move the camera more than 2 500 yards from a ship in the current divi
40. each suffers damage equal to 5 of the other s displacement between 30 and 60 degrees each suffers damage equal to 15 of the other s displacement and between 60 and 90 degrees each suffers damage equal to 30 of the other ship s displacement WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 98 These damage percentages assume 30 knot relative speed of collision If the relative speed is less as when both ships are steaming in nearly the same direction the flota tion point damage is similarly less if the relative speed is more as when both ships are steaming in nearly opposite directions at fast speed the damage is similarly more For example a 60 knot collision does twice the percentage damage listed above After Battle Damage Ships of one or both sides may suffer additional damage at the end of the battle before victory is determined due to the effects of existing fires or Air Sea Control The sce nario s Air Sea Control is listed in the Briefing screen Fe Air Sea Control represents the effects of submarine attacks and air strikes made after the battle to pick off surviving and often damaged ships If one force has Air Sea Control the other side s ships automatically check for additional damage If Air Sea Control is contested both forces ships automatically check For each ship that checks the program picks a random number from 0 100 If the result is less than 40 the ship is attacked and suffers 30 80 hit point dam
41. every campaign all the ships are assigned values for crew quality fatigue and night fighting based on historical values for each navy This value varies over time so that early war values may be higher or lower than late war values depending on the navy because of morale losses in men or materiel or other factors Reinforcements always start at the historical level minus one These assignments use the following formulas Crew Quality and Fatigue Initial Values 2596 are at the historical level plus one 25 are at the historical level 50 are at the historical level minus one Night Fighting Initial Value 2596 are at the historical level plus one 5096 are at the historical level 2596 are at the historical level minus one Fleet Status Panels The bottom third of the Fleet Management screen shows the current status of the fleet summarized in order of importance and divided by type Minimum Ships Required This line displays the minimum number of ships in each type that must be in Ready status in order to prevent being penalized each turn If the minimum is not met a penalty box pops open to display the number of penalty points to be assessed Note The penalty doubles each additional turn that passes 100 points the first turn 200 points the second 400 points the third and so on If the proper minimum number of ships is at Ready status the turn following a penalty the amount of any new penalty resets to 100 points
42. first time the Japanese had been defeated by the USN in a night battle a result they had not expected It would be harder in future to ensure the safety of the ships on the Tokyo Express supply runs This night however while ships were burning and men were dying the destroyers of the Tokyo Express had managed to land their troops and munitions Second Battle of Guadalcanal November 14 15 1942 Following the First Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13 1942 in which a US cruiser force prevented the Japanese from bombarding Henderson Field the Americans were alerted to another attempt by Japanese naval forces to reenter the waters around Guadalcanal Planes from Henderson Field first sighted a Japanese squadron heading STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 112 109 down the Slot at 10 00 on the 14th which was followed by a troop convoy American bombers sent to attack these ships left only four transports and ten destroyers intact The Japanese were ordered to regroup and continue on course despite their losses Allied planes returned to base after sunset and would pose no further threat until dawn Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo was ordered to bombard Henderson Field during the night so that the transports could land their troops at Tassafaronga on Guadalcanal Kondo s force consisted of the battlecruiser Kirishima two heavy cruisers two light cruisers and nine destroyers The American force in the
43. from the illuminated area Furthermore each ship firing starshells allocates one of its gun turrets to do this choosing tertiary before secondary and secondary before main gun so the ship s gunfire is lessened Highlight the Starshell button to activate starshells then click on a targeting mode Illumination Target List The principal and secondary target for each ship s search lights or starshells is listed below the division s Ship Boxes Click on the appropriate filter button Searchlight or Starshell to display the target list for one or the other PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 42 39 MUT TE Navigation Panel Ordered Choose Execute Turn Turn Heading Bearing Buttons Cancel Information Smokescreen Emergency Turn Strategic Map Port Turn Button red Selected Division Starboard Turn Button green Column Turn Button Recognition Lights Maximum Speed Speed Line Turn Ordered Change Button Speed Speed urrent Current Heading Evasive Maneuvers The Navigation Panel key press NJ allows you to issue speed and turning orders to your division or to modify an auto plotted turn You may also turn Smokescreens On Off turn Recognition Lights On Off or order the division to use Evasive Maneuvers How to Change Speed The speed of a division is measured in knots The Speed Window displays three speed markers for the selected division Maximum Speed Highlighted
44. nal directions by clicking on the scroll arrows It is only available if the padlock icon is unlocked The outer gold double arrows let you make big jumps round the map The inner bronze single arrows allow for smaller map jumps If you click on the center x your currently selected division is centered on the screen For continuous scrolling hold down the left hand mouse press instead of clicking Zoom Level zoom in or out on the map click on the Zoom Level button and a popup appears series of icons and ships represents the zoom levels Click to the right of the scale to zoom in and to the left to zoom out Zoom levels differ between night and daytime battles Auto Plot Auto Plot allows you to quickly enter a new course for the currently selected division Auto Plot is only available on the 2D screen When you click on the Auto Plot button the Navigation Panel appears at the bottom of the screen if it is not already open Click on any point on the map that you want to be the new heading for your selected division The new heading automatically appears on the 2D map and on the Navigation Panel but you must still click on the Execute Plot button of the Navigation Panel to implement the maneuver See Navigation Panel on page 39 Auto Plot is unavailable if your selected division is in a turn you cannot set a new maneuver until the lead ship has completed its current maneuver The icon on the panel highlights when it is pos
45. of play These dif ficulty levels affect several factors of a campaign game Selecting the Lieutenant level sets the variables for the conflict at historical levels The higher the difficulty level selected the more battles you are likely to have to fight The difficulty level also adjusts size of any particular engagement in terms of the num ber of ships appearing for both sides based on values for each nationality Royal Navy and Kriegsmarine missions tend towards smaller engagements while US Navy and IJN engagements tend to be larger Mission Sizes Small 2 6 ships Medium 7 12 ships Lares enit 13 20 ships In a fantasy campaign a setting called Battle Size is compared to the Difficulty setting to create the probability for any particular sized mission A high Battle Size setting and a high Difficulty setting is the most likely to generate a large battle Increasing the difficulty level also increases the toughness of the artificial intelligence level of the computer opponent CAMPAIGN GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 60 57 PUT NE Player Nation There are four options to choose from here US Navy Royal Navy Kreigsmarine and Imperial Japanese Navy Choosing one of these navies affects not only the mixture of ships available but sets values for mission mix crew quality fatigue night fighting skill and battle size based on pre set values for each nationality During a Fantas
46. on Manual Camera gives you complete control of the cam era s positioning and view You can move the camera around the 3D world by key press to watch events from almost any vantage However if you have selected Restricted 3D Camera under the Realism Preferences see page 51 then Manual Camera is disabled In Manual Camera mode the other buttons on the Panel are disabled except for Close Panel and the ID Tag Selection Auto Camera Events are ignored while Manual Camera is on See Camera Modes on page 22 for a list of the keys that control the Manual Camera Ship Division View Toggle This toggle changes the way the camera system decides where the center of the scene is positioned The default setting is Division View With this setting the camera is posi tioned in such a way as to show all of the division s ships on the screen If you toggle it to Ship View setting the camera uses the middle of the current friendly ship as the focus of the view The current ship will either be the division s flagship if you are on a Division panel or the selected ship if you are on a Ship panel Camera Selection Button Target Track Look Thru Top Down Enemy Track Semi Free Click on this button to select the current camera mode the default mode is Semi Free A window pops up from which you may select one of five camera modes Click on the arrow of your choice The window automatically closes and the icon on the Camera Selection button shows
47. on any position you want to occupy in the player slots to move your name out of the Unassigned list You can change positions with another player until the game starts All players may review the Preferences that the host chose for the scenario but only the host may change those settings Cancel You may exit the session by clicking on the Cancel button If the host player exits the session ends and all players are dumped back at the Main Menu screen If a non host player exits the session continues A player who exits may return to the ses sion if he retraces his multiplayer choices before the host player launches the session Proceed The host player may launch the game by clicking on the Check button at which point each team s members automatically proceed to their Team Huddle screen Team Huddle Screen The Team Huddle screen works almost identically to the Scenario Launch screen found in single player games see Scenario Launch Screen on page 15 However each divi sion also has a player name When team members enter the screen they are assigned divisions In Standard Mode players may control more than one division To take control of a division click on a ship of the division you want to command Any player may start the game by clicking on the continue button you may have to wait for the other team before loading is complete The division you have highlighted is the division you start the game with STARTING A GAME 036
48. or a 5 chance it will affect two systems A penetrating hit can affect the Bridge Director or Radar system a penetrating hit that affects the Bridge checks against the conning tower armor A non penetrating hit can affect the Radar or Searchlight system Deck Hits A shell hit on the deck must check against the target s deck armor value to determine if it penetrates Any damage inflicted whether penetrating or not counts half as flota tion point damage and half as hit point damage If the shell penetrates there is also a 30 chance it will affect one system or a 10 chance it will affect two systems The systems that can be affected are Damage Control Flotation Point Hit Point Magazine Maneuver Power and Propulsion Damage to Ship Systems Damage to systems represents critical damage on top of hit point and flotation point damage Any hit on a system may damage or destroy that system Most systems are unusable while damaged but Damage Control can repair a damaged system Repair time is randomly determined and may take anywhere from two minutes to an hour Crew quality and fatigue affects how fast the repairs are made A destroyed system is not repairable during the time span of a battle Bridge System Penetrating shell hits to the superstructure may damage but never destroy the ship s Bridge A shell striking the Bridge must penetrate the conning tower armor to damage it When the Bridge is damaged initial Contact reports are d
49. press F1 Division 1 is in Column Formation heading southeast Division 2 is in Line Formation about 3 000 yards ahead of Division 1 Now let s look at what kind of armament your ships are carrying The Summary button should be highlighted We re most interested in Main Guns and Torpedoes Click on the Main Guns button to see a summary of the main guns for the currently selected division b To see the summary for the other division you need to switch divisions To do this click on the 1 or 2 button from the Division List below the Division Flag You can also switch divisions by pressing 1 for Division 1 or 2 for Division 2 etc if you have more divisions After looking at each division s main guns summary click on the Torpedoes button to see the torpedo summaries Notice that your destroyers carry many torpedoes but relatively few and relatively small guns When you re ready press Ft to return to the 3D View Press P to unpause the game If you re not already on Division 2 click 2 on the Division List or press 2 Division 2 is in the lead and will encounter the enemy in about a minute so let s be ready Press when your observers start sighting enemy Contacts This will pause the game giving you time to issue orders a Division 2 is in Line Formation You ll want to be in Column Formation to fire your torpedoes Click on the Navigation button and then the Orders button or press N
50. received from Wayne Hughes and Tom Halwachs two professors at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey California Thanks to a chance purchase of Wayne s book Tactics a must read for anyone interested in naval warfare and the power of the Internet to locate someone we were able to link up with Wayne and Tom early in the development process They were kind enough to give us many hours of their time to discuss the issues that most affected those fighting surface naval battles For this help we will be eternally grateful See You on the Internet So now that FIGHTING STEEL is finally complete we hope to see you somewhere on the Internet and look forward to fighting multiplayer battles with many of you We sin cerely hope you find the game as much fun as we do Joel Billings Producer SSI Roy Gibson Owner Designer Programmer Divide By Zero DESIGNERS NOTES 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 118 115 REFERENCE Glossary Aft toward the back or in the back part of a ship AP armor piercing ammunition designed to break through armored plates before exploding and therefore less effective against unarmored targets Armor Belt a series of hardened steel plates along the side of the ship to protect it from shots striking the side Armor Deck a thick deck of hardened steel to protect the ship from bombs and plung ing fire striking from above Battery a group of guns of the same size us
51. selected either from division or single ship level All ships have unlimited starshells When a starshell burns out another is automatically fired assuming you have a target selected If two or more ships select the same target only one will fire the starshell Starshells burst over the target you have selected Starshell illumination lasts for 200 seconds plus or minus 30 seconds One secondary turret or one main gun turret for ships with no available secondary gun turret is assigned to fire starshells at a single target until you take the ship off that mission one starshell in the game actually rep resents round after round of starshells in real life Starshells cannot be used against ships closer than 4 000 yards unlike regular muni tions the starshells are not fired directly at the target but in high mortar like trajectories WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 84 so they descend on the target thus the maximum degree elevation of the firing tubes lim its how close the target can be If the target is closer than this the program works down the priority list until a suitable ship is found outside the 4 000 yard limit When your ship fires a starshell the firing ship itself receives a visibility modifier depend ing on the size of the gun the same as when it fires other types of ammunition at night Searchlights Searchlights are large lights mounted on the ship that produce narrow cones of light to be focus
52. ships damaging a ship even severe damage does not count as much as putting it on the bottom Furthermore because VP value is based on displacement tonnage you often earn as many VPs for sinking a single BB as you do for sinking ten DDs End Game All Ships Screen Click on the All Ships button at the bottom of the End Game Victory screen to bring up the End Game All Ships screen This screen functions much like the All Ships screen accessible during play except the information shown on the End Game screen is the final outcome including any After Battle Damage caused by fires and Air Sea Control see page 98 for a description of After Battle Damage All ships that were still in the process of sinking are treated as sunk Ships are arranged numerically by divisions on the screen with friendly divisions starting in the left column and enemy divisions starting in the right Damage informa tion is provided for each ship as well as VPs Blue VPs indicate friendly points earned You receive these for damaging or sinking enemy ships and for your own ships achiev ing their specified mission goals Red VPs indicate the points the enemy won for similar reasons Click on the Back button to return to the End Game Victory screen 2D Replay Play Pause J Trail Length Reverse zai Stop Replay Slider Forward Click on the Replay button to activate this feature The 2D map screen appears All replay action occurs on the 2D map Any button on the M
53. ships you want in each division and positioning the divisions on the 2D map Note When you click on a button in the editor that changes a numerical value you can press the e key to scroll through the numerical values Scenario Editor Top Menu Bar File choose from New scenario Load saved scenario Save an edited scenario or Exit the program When you save an edited scenario it is filed under the Editor Scenarios list so be sure to click on that filter button when you go to select the sce nario you want to play When outside of the game you can find your scenario file in the Scenario Folder of the Fighting Steel directory Overview select Global Scenario Data from this menu to open a new screen where you choose the mission and environment settings If you choose a Bombardment or Tactical Transport mission in the Global Scenario Data screen come back to this menu and select Target Circle to place the mission target circle on the map see page 74 for a description of Battle Types and Missions The cursor changes to a cross which you click anywhere on the map to place the box Create Division allows you to create divisions for Force A and Force B CREATING NEW SCENARIOS aaassssssssssssaasssssss l 68 Edit Division allows you to change some of the information you previously input for any division Edit Ship allows you to change the crew and radar ratings of any ship in a division Reposition Divis
54. sion when the Restricted Camera preference is on Semi Free Keys move the camera position forward back rotate camera left right SWB move the camera position to greater lesser height D change the camera s vertical pitch up down i move camera position right left C revolve camera right left around its focus point by 45 degree increments Navigation Plot Camera This mode overrides your current camera mode to facilitate the navigation order entry Upon completion the view is returned to the previous settings This mode is always an Immediate transition The camera pulls back and changes angle to show the maneu ver you have plotted You can disable this mode in the Camera options tab of the Preference Settings screen In Manual camera mode this is disabled Torpedo Attack Plot Camera This mode overrides your current camera mode to facilitate the torpedo attack order entry Upon completion the view is returned to the previous settings This mode is always an Immediate transition When torpedoes are launched the camera moves to view the fir ing sequence and pans in the firing direction to show where the spread is going You can disable this mode in the Camera options tab of the Preference Settings screen In Manual camera mode this is disabled Camera Transitions You can set the camera transitions to Fluid Immediate or Automatic in the Camera options tab of the Preference Settin
55. sure to pick different tar gets for each b Open fire with your guns as well for both divisions If you go to the 2D map screen you ll see a yellow circle or two on the map this indicates the area illuminated by your starshells c You ll probably want to turn Division 1 so that it heads in a north to north easterly direction Your mission objective is actually a Target circle many miles to the southeast but you should deal with the enemy ships first 10 Sometime when you have the game paused click on the F5 tab of the Function Bar or press F5 The All Ships Screen appears This screen displays an overview of each of your ships and all enemy ships that your force has sighted Press any key or click to return to the game 11 Damage to a ship s engines slow it down A slow ship affects the other ships in the division because they decelerate to match the speed of the damaged one You can detach a ship from a division by clicking on the broken chain icon below the Ship Box on the Division and Ship Panel When you detach a ship it forms a sin gle ship division of its own You can now issue orders to it separately You can never reattach a ship to its parent division You have learned enough to finish the battle on your own Good luck and enjoy QUICK START TUTORIAL 12 W GAME OVERVIEW Historical Scenario Overview FIGHTING STEEL includes 12 scenarios from 1939 1942 set in the
56. the British this was a small victory in a botched operation that allowed the Germans to take Norway s ports Pursuit of the Bismarck May 1941 In May 1941 the German cruiser Prinz Eugen and newly commissioned battleship Bismarck went to sea with orders to break out into the Atlantic and attack British con voys They left the port of Gdynia in German occupied Poland steamed through the Skagerrak between Denmark and Norway both German occupied and headed for the STAFF BRIEFING 104 Denmark Straits gap between the ice floes of Greenland and the coast of Iceland Vice Admiral Gunther Lutjens considered by some to be the Kriegsmarine s best fighting admiral commanded the two ships The battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst were originally scheduled to participate in the operation code named Rheinubung Rhine Exercise but they were both undergoing repairs in the harbor of Brest France British forces were quickly sent out to intercept Bismarck and on May 23 the 8 gun cruisers Suffolk and Norfolk sighted the pair of German ships The British cruisers fol lowed Bismarck at a safe distance and waited for reinforcement Meanwhile Prinz Eugen moved to the front of the line to give Bismarck a clear arc of fire astern Weather condi tions were appalling and the British cruisers lost contact with the German ships around midnight during a snowstorm Radar contact was regained about three hours later At 05 37 on the 24th th
57. the night where the drums would be pushed into the sea and hauled to shore by line The first run was scheduled for November 30 1942 Eight destroyers were involved commanded by Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka Four of these would drop drums off Tassafaronga and two others would drop theirs off the mouth of the Umasani River The Americans meanwhile sent Rear Admiral Carleton Wright s Task Force 67 to patrol the area Wright s five cruisers and six destroyers arrived off Tassafaronga at 23 00 on the 30 to implement a surprise attack using radar to spot the enemy The US task force approached Tassafaronga from the east in a line of bearing forma tion to increase sightings At 23 06 the flagship Minneapolis s radar spotted the enemy and the Americans switched to column formation on a northwest bearing There was no moon and clouds made the night very dark The Japanese column steaming on a southeast course prepared to drop the supply drums and slowed to 12 knots At 23 16 however Tanaka instructed his ships to cease preparation as it became clear enemy ships were approaching He ordered all ships to attack The American force began to launch torpedoes at 23 20 followed by shellfire There followed a series of rapid salvos during which the destroyer Takanami closest to the Americans took most of the punishment The rest of the Japanese ships continued on course They blended into the shadows of the coastline and the Japanese made good use o
58. the other modes focus on different ships if you have camera set to Ship or divisions if set to Division You can manipulate the camera in each mode by pressing certain keys The function of a camera key is multiplied if you hold down the 5 or C while pressing the key s key Camera adjustment equals 5 steps of the key press C Ikey Camera adjustment equals 20 steps of the key press Manual Camera Manual mode can be toggled on the Camera Control Panel Manual camera moves only in response to your key presses The highest a Manual Camera will go is 5 000 meters above the sea Its vertical pitch angle can rotate through 360 degrees Manual Camera Keys move the camera position forward back gt rotate camera left right y move the camera position to greater lesser height D change the camera s vertical pitch up down 9 i move camera position Look Thru Camera Yellow arrow on Camera Selection pop up Positions the camera behind the current ship division and points the camera at a target ship of the current ship division The Previous Next buttons on the Camera Control Panel step through the target list for the ship division and change the camera view to the appropriate position A target list is maintained for the current ship division as follows Main Gun Targets Secondary Gun Targets and Torpedo Targets Illumination targets are not included If the target list is emp
59. the right of the map For a description of the Clock and Game Speed setting see page 20 2D Map Control Menu The 2D Map Control Menu bar on the right hand side of the 2D screen contains infor mation about the 2D map The selections you make on this menu determine what is displayed on the map Mapping Mode Padlock A locked or unlocked padlock indicates the current Mapping Mode selection Locked When the Mapping Mode is locked the 2D map is set at the maximum zoom out required to show all ships currently visible or known to you For example if you are playing in Standard mode not Division Commander mode all friendly ships are always shown If the divisions are too widely spaced to appear together on the screen the map centers on the flagship of the currently selected division and shows as many other divisions as possible at the maximum zoom out level Unlocked Click on the locked padlock to unlock it and enable the free mapping mode In free mapping mode you can use the Scroll Compass to move around the map In free mapping mode whenever you shift to a new division the map automatically cen PLAYING THE GAME 26 ters itself over the flagship of the new division Another way you can get to free map ping mode is by clicking on the Zoom Level button and selecting a different zoom level This automatically unlocks the map Scroll Compass The Scroll Compass allows you to move around the 2D map in any of the four cardi
60. to assist ships in sighting the enemy at night Recognition lights gunfire and fires from damage also make a ship more visible at night Except for recognition lights all of these illumination effects are cumulative The program also applies a random factor to recreate a flickering effect Illumination has no effect in daylight nor does it improve the limits of visibility in rainy conditions There were occasions in WWII when aircraft dropped flares and float lights to illuminate enemy ships but these are not used in this game Starshells Starshells are light producing munitions launched high in the air that burn for a lim ited period of time as they descend on a parachute Naval gunners used starshells to help them see their target and partially negate nighttime visibility restrictions Starshells provide a visibility bonus within the area lit by the shell This modifier varies up or down according to range Starshells illuminate a circular area 2 000 yards across the 2D map display uses a yel low circle to show the perimeter of illumination Unlike a searchlight that can follow its target starshells light up a given area Thus the target may move out of the area avoid ing the illumination effects In real life starshells also silhouetted units to a range of 10 000 yards from the center of effect but this is not accounted for in the game When you turn on the starshell function the ship launches a starshell at the target you have
61. turn is displayed and the view reverts to the Fleet Management screen Battle Options Once a battle is to be fought you are presented with the option of playing in Standard mode or Division Commander mode You may also change the preference items Campaign Scoring Once the last turn of the campaign is played your score is tabulated and the High Score screen appears There are ten positions for a high score each of which displays the player s name above the points scored the player s nation the opponent nation and the difficulty level Below that is the scorecard panel which displays the specifics of the campaign you just fought The first line is exactly like the high score lines with name point total opponents and difficulty level This line appears as one of the top ten if enough points were scored to place it there Below that is a tally of the level of victory or defeat the total points scored and the number of battles actually fought This is followed by a tally of the ships sunk for both sides divided by type CAMPAIGN GAME 62 WINNING THE GAME A scenario ends as soon as one of these conditions occurs All of one side s ships are sunk sinking or disengaged The scenario s time limit expires There is a one third chance the scenario will end on the first listed time per the Briefing screen a one third chance it will end 15 minutes after the first time or a one third chance it will end at the
62. want to fire at that target AP Armor Piercing Common HE High Explosive or Auto Select the program selects the type best suited against that target Guns below 5 9 bore size only fire Common Guns of 5 9 bore or greater fire AP or HE If your ship runs out of one ammo type it will auto matically select the other in other words the ship does not stop firing when the selected type is depleted Turret Allocation Diagram Click on the Turret Allocation button to display a diagram of the ship s turret layout Turrets indicated with a 1 are firing at the first target Turrets indicated with a 2 are firing at the second target An X shows a destroyed turret and a star shows a turret that is committed to firing starshells You can select which turrets fire at a given tar get and which turrets hold their fire The currently selected target list box is highlighted Click on a turret to toggle between off and the target s number 1 if the top target list box is selected 2 if the bottom target list box is selected The default value is zero which is hold fire Gunnery Modifiers Display Click on the Gunnery Modifiers Display button to bring up a bar graph showing the effects of different modifiers to your gunfire against the selected target Positive mod ifiers appear as bars raised above the 0 line negative modifiers appear as bars below the 0 line For full information about Gunnery Modifiers see page 88 Gunnery Data Display Click
63. will time to time addition al scenarios and maps may also be post to this website suddenly jump to display a German ship that your observers have just sighted Copy Protection at over 15 000 yards range When the Auto Camera event is over the camera returns to your previous view Press P to pause the game at that time In order to play FIGHTING STEEL the game CD must be in the CD ROM drive 8 d Pausing the game to give orders is cheating in our book but you re new at the QUICK START TUTORIAL job so we ll look the other way Click on the Camera Selection button on the it SIRE IDEE ii control panel A pop up appears Click ansthe vellows Lack Th arrow The camera view changes to look over your ship at the enemy ships which are distant contacts on the horizon They re hard to see right now because they re eight miles away This tutorial section is designed to get you playing the game as quickly as possible First we ll walk you through Tutorial I which is a day battle When you ve finished that we ll walk you through Tutorial II which is a night battle To assist you we have underlined all the actions that you should do Ready Let s go Tutorial I 1 When you start the game an introductory sequence begins and the Main Menu appears after that Highlight and click on Play a Scenario from the Main Menu 2 The Scenario Selection screen appears Click on the pag
64. with no more than 14 ships on one side and no more than 10 ships in a given division Add Remove Ships click on this button to open the Add Ships screen see below Change Flagship after you have selected the ships for the division click on the ship you want to make the flagship then click on the Change Flagship button A flag appears next to the selected ship Add Ships Screen A list of ships is displayed on the left which includes all of the ships in the game clas sified by Type Name Class and Navy Use the scroll bars to move through the list and to see more ship data You may add any ship to a force regardless of navy but national characteristics are tied to the ship s historical nationality Click on a ship name to add it to the division list Remove Ship highlight a ship name in the division list that you want to remove from the division then click on Remove Ship Clear removes all ships from the division list Cancel cancels your selections and returns to Create Division screen Sort ON OFF must be On to use the sort filters for the ship database Sort Ships By when sort is On click on Type Name Class or Navy to sort the ship database in that order Ship Search use this to find a specific ship by typing in its name Force Navy Filter choose the specific navy you want displayed in the list or choose Keep These Ships clicking here returns you to the Create Division screen Change Divi
65. with red border The division s maximum speed is linked directly to the maximum speed of the slowest ship in the division Current Speed Highlighted with blue border Ordered Speed Highlighted with green border You may set the ordered speed anywhere from 0 to 40 knots however the division will never exceed its maximum speed There are two ways to change a division s speed click at a desired point on the gold speed bar or click on the down up speed scroll buttons to change speed by 1 knot increments Speed changes do not occur immediately The division accelerates or decelerates gradually until the cur rent speed matches the ordered speed or the maximum speed whichever is less How to Order a Turn You may use the Auto Plot feature on the 2D map to order a turn for the selected divi sion In either view 2D or 3D you may issue turning orders or modify an auto plotted turning order using the Navigation Panel On the left hand side of the panel a compass ring is displayed that surrounds a ship icon representing the lead ship of the selected division The division s current ordered course is highlighted on the ring and may be anything from 0 to 359 degrees The car dinal directions are marked by 0 north 90 east 180 south and 270 west When making a course change there are four decision points You can make these decisions in any order and go back to change a previous decision You can even switch panels or divisions and com
66. xeu es 93 Xd i iiis W FIGHTING STEEL CREDITS Strategic Simulations Inc Joel Billings Producer Steve Murphy Associate Producer George Chastain Production Assistant Technical Advisors Captain Wayne P Hughes Jr USN Ret Commander Thomas E Halwachs USN Ret Historical Research Fionn Kelly Historical Editor The Wargamer Grant Michaud Michael Emmerich Mike Hawkins Richard Wagenet Multimedia Mario Alves Multimedia Maurice Jackson Multimedia and Sound Editing Steve Lam Sound Engineering Art Dave Jensen Screen Art Jacques Hennequet Art Direction Mike Filippoff Additional Art Manual Mark Whisler Manual Editor Localization Programming Philip Wang Testing Jeff Franks Test Manager Alex Marcelo Lead Tester Ben Etheridge Larry W Finch Brian Fitz Jon Johns Charles Kammerer Kurt Maffei Eric David Ribner Testers Voice Talent David Yen Rich Fielder Jan Lindner Ryan Parkinson Charles Kammerer Scenario cinematic sequences by Keyframe Digital Production Inc Darren Cranford Clint Green Janek Czechowicz Kay Darby Richard Dudley Brad Ryan Graphic Design and Layout Louis SAEKow DEsiGN Dave Boudreau and Leedara Zola Bismark and Fletcher 3D models by REM Infografica Divide By Zero Inc Roy B Gibson President Cher Gibson Vice President DIVIDE BY ZERO INC Julia Mepham Operations Officer Game Design and De
67. you select the same nationality for each force they are treated as enemies Start Time Day Night or Random Game Type Historical or Fantasy If you choose Fantasy the program determines all Random variables without reference to historical constraints and all ships are avail able at all times For example the British might encounter the IJN Yamato in the North Atlantic in 1939 If you choose Historical the default setting the program determines all Random variables within historical context and ships are available according to their actual service dates Battle Size Random is the default variable A Small battle consists of 6 ships or less A Medium battle consists of 7 12 ships and a Large battle consists of 13 20 ships not counting transports Battle Type There are five battle types to choose from or use the Random default Meeting Engagement Bombardment Convoy Intercept or Tactical Transport See page 73 Battle Types and Missions for details on the different types Advanced Options i Battle Size Drop Down Menu Cancel Button Continue Button You may adjust other options in the Battle Generator by first clicking on the Advanced Options tag The Advanced Options window then pops up If you want to close it click on the Advanced Options tag again CREATING NEW SCENARIOS 66 Formation Setup Cohesive or Random default setting Cohesive setup places ship divisions in optim
68. 19 45960 42000 38770 32150 29960 22970 21600 20100 16075 18 1 C45 16 C45 14 C45 8 C50 12 15 28 35 20 12 15 12 2249 1485 28 11 80 50 50 55 35 5 25 C50 4 7 C45 47 C40 4 5 C45 4 045 278 123 100 6 1 C60 6 C50 5 5 C50 5 C50 5 C40 AT 045 51 51 Kriegsmarine 45 17500 21300 11800 26 20 12 29 23 11 1764 662 269 100 38800 39890 36680 25150 25700 19030 19360 15 C47 11 C28 8 C60 29 13 3 9 C65 3 C40 25 5 9 C52 5 9 C46 5 045 88 62 Torpedo Data Table SPEED IN KNOTS RANGE IN YARDS DAMAGE FACTOR HIT POINTS NAME 33 4 1 C65 iz 2 nw 5 95 a IS 5 E E gt f 8 E E E 2 i E 2 8 82 m 18 gas E 3 5 ss sss S P 8 S 8 6 S i Szs 8 888 955 2 8 i ARS i i 8 i i ines 8 AL LASS iG ES seas 8 DOE OS 8 H z 1 8 5 BOT X RI sc 25582 SS 5 D SS amp L ers Ses mince 9 515 s 5328 Sit amp Si EGANSKERRS Qi co co co Raat ave seosseeeee e momo todos 88925888 wA NNE n 5 an 2 55568568558 to
69. 2 66 99 2 0091 002 09 0081 95 0 9UON 86 9 02 Sp 9LX6 6 0600 9 ynos gg 0091 002 00 0081 005 ose 0 G29 GX8 189 S XZL Sp bL XZL 66 0012 6 eiuen Asuusd 89 2 0 2 009 00 055 000 850 5 00 Sp 9L X6 0082 8g 0091 00 0081 005 0 0 929 9 8 199 G XZL 099 vL XZL 19198 00 29 898 0091 002 00 0081 009 ose 0 G20 3 8 190 5 8 Sp whl XO 908 0012 889 00 007 009 0081 009 059 091 89 9X8 Sv 9L X8 069 0012 99 05 007 009 0081 09 0 00 9UON 880 15 91 089 abt XZL 0012 6 wuoye 898 19 LOLSdNS 134411 gyn 499 530434801 5419 SNn9 SNn9 14 0334 3 55 19 935 NIVW AuviLu3L AYVONOIIS NIVW XVI NOIL9310Hd HOWHY gt SNOdV3M 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 122 59635 REFERENCE REFERENCE 150 10 ayy se jana aseq Bursn Ajajeledas 51 jana dius 287 10 aSeq si UMOYS 9njeA pall 009 6 09 1903 JPuJON
70. 63 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 22 19 TR Chat You may chat with other players in the Lobby Area and Team Huddle screens and dur ing game play Press Enter to compose a message to your teammates in Team Huddle or game play or to all players in the Lobby Area screen Press Shift Enter to compose a message to all players during game play or Team Huddle After composing a message press Enter to send it Press 7 forward slash to clear a chat message Press period to scroll the chat messages down Press comma to scroll the chat messages up Pause Pausing the game in play pauses the game for all players The game resumes as soon as the player who paused the game presses any key or the mouse No players can enter orders in multiplayer games while the game is paused Load Saved Game Screen You may save a single player game in progress using the Save Game feature If you have the Auto Save preference on the game is automatically saved for you at regular intervals To retrieve a saved game click on the Load Saved Game line of the Main Menu The Load Game screen then appears In the Load Game screen click on the Campaigns button to show a list of Campaign games you have saved or click on the Scenarios button to show a list of the Scenario games you have saved Click on a saved game to select and highlight it Click on the scroll buttons to move up or down through the scenario list a page or line
71. Gale 34 40 knot winds 7 meter waves The Environment Panel on the Briefing screen lists the current sea state level Sea state may limit the maximum speed of ships it also affects gunfire accuracy and reload times Sea State Limits to Maximum Speed in Knots SHIP TYPE SEA STATE BB BC CA 4 35 35 35 35 25 5 32 30 30 30 20 6 29 27 26 25 15 i 24 22 21 20 10 8 20 17 16 15 10 Acceleration and Deceleration The typical WWII warship was powered by steam driven turbines that turned long shafts on the ends of which were huge propellers To move such a massive object as a ship required equally massive power and once momentum was gained it was slow to stop though a ship could reverse its engines to help brake its progress ships may not steam backwards in the game however Each ship class has been assigned an acceleration rate and a deceleration rate expressed in knots per minute based on its basic type BB which includes BC CA which includes CL DD and TR Except for transports each ship class is rated as fast normal or slow within its type Destroyers have the highest acceleration and deceler ation rates followed by cruisers and then battleships Because they can reverse their engines the warships decelerate slightly faster than they accelerate Transports have the lowest rates and decelerate slower than they accelerate Acceleration and deceler ation rates are fixed except that a ship that is changing course
72. Penalties are deducted directly from your victory point total as soon as a turn passes where the minimum is not at sea regardless of whether there is a battle or not There may be times when you must have a fatigued or less than skillful crew put to sea in order to meet this minimum Ready Ships This line displays the number of ships that are at Ready status divided by type CAMPAIGN GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 64 61 mU TE Available Ships The number of ships that are either In Port or at Ready status are listed on this line Repairing Ships This line lists all ships being repaired divided by type Use this line to narrow you search when looking for ships due to return from repair in the database Reinforcement Ships This line lists all ships due as reinforcements Sunk Ships These are all your losses Save Game This button opens a menu where the game can be named and saved Cancel This button exits to the Main Menu Continue This button processes a turn Campaign Game Turn When you left click on the Continue button FIGHTING STEEL checks to see if you have the minimum number of ships at Ready status and penalizes you if you do not Next the game checks to see if a battle is to be fought If there is no battle then crew quality and fatigue ratings are updated and reinforcements and ships in repair are checked for readiness A panel declaring that there is no battle this
73. Scenario Editor STARTING GAME Main Menu The Main Menu screen appears after the opening sequence to skip the sequence press any key From the Main Menu click on a choice to go to that screen Scenario Campaign Multiplayer Scenario Editor or Load Saved Game Click on Exit to quit the game NOTE Any reference to click in the manual refers to using the left mouse button Clicking on the Cancel button from any screen returns you to the Main Menu Scenario Selection Choose Scenario from the Main Menu to start a single player game The Scenario Selection screen then appears There are two scenario lists click on the Book and Ship button to bring up the list of historical scenarios that are included in the game click on the Pencil and Eraser button to bring up the list of scenarios you created through the Scenario Editor Click on the scroll buttons to move through the list by line or page Information about the highlighted scenario appears on the right hand panel The flags indicate the two nations involved in the battle the left hand flag always rep resents Force A the right hand flag represents Force B The number below each flag indicates the number of warship divisions that side has involved in the battle trans port divisions are excluded from this count A division consists of one or more ships To proceed with the highlighted scenario double click on it or click on the Check but ton Otherwise click on the Batt
74. Ships Firing Enemy Ships Firing Torpedo Cones Smokescreens and Ship Names on the 2D map Use the Filters buttons at the bottom of the pop up window to select which ships you want to display this information Click on the X button to close the pop up window Projected Paths Displayed The Projected Paths display shows the predicted paths of the selected ships on the 2D map When the Projected Paths is first toggled on the 15 button is also highlighted and the paths are shown out to 15 minutes into the future Changing the time to 5 or 30 alters the number of minutes into the future the Projected Paths are displayed You can also turn on the Projected Paths by clicking on the 5 15 or 30 minute time indicator buttons Enemy projected path lines follow the current heading of the enemy ships and do not account for turns In real life you cannot predict when an enemy ship will turn Your own ships projected path lines reflect maneuvers in progress Friendly Ships Firing Toggle this button on to show which targets your ships are fir ing at Dashed white lines appear on the 2D map displaying the path of gunfire from each selected friendly ship to each target it is firing at This shows the path of all gun fire from main and secondary guns Use the Filters buttons at the bottom of the pop up to select which ships you want this information for PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 32 29 PEUT TNR Enem
75. TING STEEL the game CD must be in the CD ROM drive PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 130 t 130 131 PLAYING THE GAME PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL vane 1 24 AM Page 132 132 PLAYING THE GAME
76. Y01 sun SNOdvaM Preston Antony Navies of World War II An Illustrated History 1998 Raven Alan amp Roberts John British Battleships of World War Two The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy s Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946 1976 Raven Alan amp Roberts John British Cruisers of World War Two 1980 Silverstone Paul H U S Warships of World War 2 1965 Stephen Martin Eric Grove ed Sea Battles in Close Up World War II 1988 Van der Vat Dan The Pacific Campaign The U S Japanese Naval War 1941 1945 auON auoN 9UON 9UON Sy p X8 90 Xy Sy Sp X8 Sp Sp Xt Xv Xy UON 9UON Sy St X 0c Sy 2 8 Sy 9X vL GVO Sb X 0c 089 9X cL 090 SZS X 9L 9 AUVNO23S 1991 Whitley M J Battleships of World War Two An International Encyclopedia 1998 Whitley M J Cruisers of World War Two An International Encyclopedia 1998 9uoN 9uoN Sy L Y X8 Sy J Y XD Sy y Xv Sy X9 Sy LV X9 SHI LV XY Sy LY XY Sr Sy J vXV 059 9 X cL 059 9X8 059 9X8 059 9 XZL 099 9 XZL 099 679 XOL 059 9X9 059 8X8 059 8X9 Sy GLX9 Sy 9X L Sy 9X9 Sy X8 Sy 9XG 679 SLX9 679 1 8 679 GL X8 bd GL X8 Sy 9L X6 Sy hL XOL SNn9 NIV Whitley M J Destroyers of World War Two An International Encyclopedia 1988 Whitl
77. a Control Panel to the right Pressing when the full screen is up takes you back to the normal half screen 3D view with the bottom Division and Ship Panels visible F3 Camera Control Panel This tab toggles the Camera Control Panel on or off the panel appears at the right side of the 3D map If you are in 2D mode choosing this tab or pressing takes you to 3D mode F4 Preferences Screen Click on this tab or press to bring up a full screen display that allows you to see which options you selected and turned on or off at the start of the game You may change any of your selections except Realism during the game See Preference Settings on page 49 for full details F5 All Ships Display Structure Damage Fire s Enemy Nationality User s Nationality Main Guns Secondary Guns gt Flotation Damage Type Ship Name Current Speed Maximum Speed Clicking on this tab or pressing takes you to a full screen All Ships display of infor mation The All Ships display provides you with current known information about all the ships in the scenario that you are playing Any mouse click or key press returns you to your previous place in the game The All Ships screen displays the same information found on the secondary ID tags including current state of damage A numbered pennant flag indicates a flagship Friendly ships appear on the left side of the screen and enemy on the right the mid dle column is filled last in both cases
78. ach ship in the class has a Victory Point value which is indicated at the top left of the screen Naval Flag represents the navy that ship class belonged to Ship Type based on contemporary USN two letter designations BB battleship BC battlecruiser CA heavy cruiser CL light cruiser DD destroyer TR transport Class Name often the name of the first ship built in that class How to Select Class Four naval flag buttons appear below the view window Click on any or all of them to highlight and select that navy or press the through keys You may not view the classes belonging to a particular navy unless you have that navy s button high lighted You may then page through the ship classes using the Y keys 0 next ship class in list Classes are arranged from largest warship type BB to small est DD with transports TR at the end of the list If you have more than one naval flag highlighted the next nation s ship classes start after you ve paged through the pre vious nation s PREFERENCE SETTINGS 54 Y previous ship class in list For fastest paging select the 2D instead of 3D view You can then change to 3D view after finding the class you want Viewer Controls Click on the 2D or 3D button to highlight and select that view or press the key for 2D view or the key for 3D view You are limited to one view at a time 2D View provides a static side view of the ship This vie
79. actual order to turn In many ways the best advice we can give players is to make 10076 certain that the maneuver you are about to execute is the one you want to do because there s no going back Where Are the Planes and Subs During development we were continually asked by reviewers and beta testers why we had not included subs and planes in FIGHTING STEEL The simple answer is that we were making a game that dealt with surface combat engagements battles that showcased the battleships and cruisers in the kinds of battles they were built to fight Very few surface battles between opposing warships also involved aircraft and or submarines in fact only Leyte Gulf in 1944 comes to mind The biggest impact aircraft had on those fighting surface battles was the threat that air power could catch and sink any crippled ships that could not get out of an enemy controlled area after a surface bat tle This happened repeatedly at Guadalcanal in 1942 and in a way happened to the Bismarck in 1941 We made sure that we included this effect in FS by having Air Sea Control as a scenario variable Why Only 1939 42 Most of the surface actions that occurred during WWII took place prior to the end of 1942 By 1943 the dominance of air power limited the likelihood of large scale surface battles Most ships went through refits to fit additional AA guns onto the ships for pro tection Also by 1943 radar began to be used to its full capabilities making it even hard
80. age and 30 80 flotation point damage The random number is modified by 20 if Air Sea Control is contested The current maximum speed of the ship also modifies the check number the ship s Damage Control has an opportunity to repair a disabled Propulsion system after the battle which would improve the ship s speed However escorts on convoy missions do not receive any positive modifier for speed they are tied to the convoy which makes them more vulnerable to air and submarine attacks Ship Speed Modifier to Air Sea Control Check CURRENT MAX SPEED MODIFIER _ 22 30 knots 40 gt 25 knots 20 Xm 0 0 00 00 cms gt 10 knots 20 dead in the water 60 SHIP SPEED MODIFIER TO AIR SEA CONTROL CHECK 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 102 B STAFF BRIEFING Notes on Tactics Check the Environment When you first start a battle check the environment on the Briefing Screen Pay close attention to whether this is a day or night battle what the visibility and radar condi tions are and check the sea state Remember that at high sea state levels the smaller ships will not be able to keep up with the larger ships and their gunnery will suffer greater penalties as well Also you will want to know what the initial visual detection range is It is always a good idea to turn on the detection range circles on the 2D map so that you can get a sense of whether your radar will be able to see your
81. al by the book formation With a Random setup the divisions are spaced much farther apart Air Sea Control Will there be air attacks after the battle against the survivors of one side or both The default setting is Historical You may also choose None Force A Force B Contested or Random If you select Historical the result can vary but nationality and location settings affect the chances of it being one way or another For example Allied nations are more likely to have Air Sea Control than the Axis See After Battle Damage on page 98 for details on how Air Sea Control may affect the final outcome Visibility Visibility is rated as 11 100 of normal Type in a value and press Enter or let the program choose a Random value by default A night battle must have a visibil ity from 11 40 and a day battle must have a visibility from 41 100 If you enter a number outside of these ranges for example you enter 20 but the battle is randomly determined to be daytime the program inserts an acceptable number when the sce nario is generated The visibility percentages in a Random setting fall within a range based on location and month settings Month Select a particular month or default to Random The month may affect weather conditions sunrise and sunset times and the availability of certain ships see Year below Year Random default or 1939 to 1942 If you choose Random and the game type is Historical the date generated will fall wi
82. alue found in the Environment Panel of the Briefing screen Nearby land creates a radar shadow that inhibits radar transmission and reception If the radar condition value is below 100 ground clutter is present and reduces standard radar detection range by that percentage For example if the radar condition is 25 standard radar detection ranges are only 25 of normal WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 82 Target Information Level When a ship is first spotted it is an unidentified contact It could be friendly or enemy The closer the ship comes to the observer and the longer it is observed the more infor mation is gathered about it There are three information levels Contact Type and Name Information levels are not increased beyond Contact for radar sightings until the ship comes within maximum visual detection range for the current environmental con ditions The target ID tags are updated according to the best information available to your ships as a whole but each ship maintains its own information level data Contact You know the distance bearing relative to your ship and the course and speed of the contacted ship Type After watching a target for a given track time which is 80 seconds modified up or down by range percentage crew quality and crew fatigue values your observers deter mine its general type BB which includes BCs CA which includes CLs DD or TR Name After observing the target for twi
83. amaged her Walrus air craft while another hit B turret Splinter damage from both of these hits killed a number of crewmen The Graf Spee did not go in for the kill but began firing on Ajax and Achilles They received only splinter damage while the damaged Exeter fired tor pedoes at the German ship Graf Spee had been hit several times and with the threat of enemy torpedoes she turned sharply to port in an evasive maneuver German fire fell again on Exeter and hits took out A turret caused a fire and a 7 degree list Despite this serious damage neither the Exeter s engines nor speed were affected Again however instead of pursuing the Exeter to totally put her out of action Graf Spee turned her attention back to Ajax and Achilles With the range closing to 17 000 yards Graf Spee fired on the two cruisers A chase followed until Ajax closed to 11 000 yards and hit the Graf Spee amidships Fire from Graf Spee destroyed Ajax s two after turrets Ajax fired torpedoes then Graf Spee fired torpedoes but none of these hit Graf Spee had suffered damage to her superstructure bow oil purification and water and refrigeration plants Langsdorff decided to head for the neutral port of Montevideo The damaged Exeter was ordered to head for the Falklands Ajax and Achilles followed Graf Spee splitting up as they approached the River Plate with Ajax going to the south of the river s mouth Graf Spee reached the river before midnight after firing a f
84. ame speed Speed selections for the game are Pause Normal Fast Faster and Turbo When visibility is poor or the enemy is at short range you may want to use the Slow setting to give you more play ing time to react to a fast changing situation You may also press the P key to Pause or Unpause the game When paused you may issue orders to your ships in single player games not in multiplayer games and the orders will be executed after unpausing F10 Save Game Screen Clicking on this tab or pressing takes you to the Save Game screen The program knows if you are saving a Campaign or Scenario game and displays the appropriate list The national flags of the forces involved appear to the right of each saved game There is no limit to the number of games you can save as long as you have disc space Type in a name for the game you want to save or highlight an existing saved game or the Auto Save button then click on the Save button The file is saved and the program returns you to the game in progress if you decide not to save click on the Cancel but ton to return to the game If you are overwriting an existing saved game file a prompt appears allowing you to proceed or cancel F11 End Battle To quit the current battle click on this tab and then choose Surrender or Accelerate End After ending a battle the End Game Victory screen appears allowing you to review the battle in Replay see page 64 or return to the Main Menu S
85. ance to degrade for each month spent In Port In cam paigns with weekly turns there is a 8 3 chance Checks to improve or degrade crew quality are made every turn whether weekly or monthly for all ships which are Ready In Port or being repaired Crew Fatigue Crew fatigue has an effect similar to crew quality Fatigue has a four step range Fresh Normal Tired and Fatigued Crew fatigue is likely to degrade while the ship is active and improve while the ship is being repaired or is In Port Crew fatigue degrades one step for each battle the ship takes part in Crew fatigue improves one step each month the ship is In Port In campaigns with weekly turns there is a 25 chance Crew fatigue has a 50 chance to degrade for each monthly turn spent at Ready sta tus In campaings with weekly turns there is a 12 5 chance Checks to improve or degrade fatigue are made every turn whether weekly or monthly for all ships which are Ready In Port or being repaired CAMPAIGN GAME 60 Night Fighting Skill A ship s night fighting rating modifies how well the ship fights at night The higher the rat ing the better the ship will perform Night fighting has a four step range Poor Average Good and Expert Night fighting ability has a 25 chance to increase if it takes part in a night bat tle This ability can never exceed two levels higher than the nation s historical value Initial Values At the beginning of
86. ange at which a unit could be detected it was still necessary to physically observe the unit to obtain positive identification and avoid the friendly fire incidents so common WWII In FIGHTING STEEL weather conditions are determined at the start of the scenario The same weather conditions apply evenly in all directions For example a hazy moonlit night is hazy and moonlit to the same extent no matter where your ship is Visual Sighting If a target comes within your ship s visual detection range which varies depending on the class of observing ship and target ship it is detected The curvature of the earth s surface defines the upper limits of sighting that was as true in WWII as it was in Nelson s day Large ships can spot objects farther away because their observers are placed in higher locations than in small ships Also because large ships are taller than small ones their superstructures can be seen over the horizon sooner These factors are taken into account in the visual detection ranges data Environmental factors such as fog are then applied to lower the base detection ranges for the given scenario to reflect the impact of reduced lighting conditions Standard Visual Detection Ranges in Yards OBSERVER TARGET BB BC CA CL TR DD ETE 3800 EUN _ _ A ship is first sighted at initial visual detection range which is 90 of standard this accounts for the time it takes the observer
87. ap Control Panel that cannot be used during replay is grayed out WINNING THE GAME aS F O 64 The playback shows ships divisions and torpedoes just as in regular 2D play You may also turn on ship trails which shows the paths the ships divisions have taken Messages at the bottom of the screen announce events such as hits torpedo launch ships out of action sinking detached or disengaging In a replay of a multiplayer game you may chat with the other players during the replay Click on the Back button to return to the End Game Victory Screen Replay Controls The clock runs at a fixed rate until the end of the battle Use the replay controls to manipulate the playback flow Play click on this button to start the playback Pause click to pause the playback Stop click to reset the playback to the beginning Forward hold down the left mouse press on this button to fast forward the playback at replay speed x60 Reverse hold down the left mouse press on this button to fast reverse the playback at replay speed x60 Replay Slider You may use the replay slider to the right of the controls to quickly move the playback to any time frame in the game Click and drag the slide indicator to the point you wish playback to begin Replay Map Controls You may use the following Map Control Panel buttons to change the view on the 2D map Mapping Mode Padlock When locked the view zooms out to show all divisions i
88. ass the information from the captain to the division commander instan taneously In reality as at the Battle of Cape Esperance much critical time could be lost before key information was given to the division commander At Cape Esperance the Japanese were spotted on radar for over ten minutes before the contact was reported to the Flag Admiral The Admiral s decision to station himself on a ship that had older radar equipment cost him critical information DESIGNERS NOTES 114 Also the Mistaken Maneuver realism option came about from a quick study of Cape Esperance However even there we have helped the player by making it impossible for the flagship to make a wrong turn Sounds like a safe assumption doesn t it However at Cape Esperance the Flag Admiral issued orders for a column turn Upon executing the order he was surprised to find his flagship which was in the middle of the column executing an immediate simultaneous turn In this way the flagship threw the entire column into confusion and directly led to the sinking of a US destroyer by friendly fire Confusion can be a great gaming element but too much confusion can take the fun out of a game Only you the players can tell us if we got this right Weather and Visibility For FS we decided to keep things simple and this is why we only have one visibility level that exists in the entire battle area and for the length of the battle unless you hit sunrise or sunset We kn
89. atre where they were already spread too thinly STAFF BRIEFING 102 Graf Spee enjoyed success for over three months sinking nine merchant ships in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans Not until the middle of December did the Royal Navy get the opportunity to engage her The Graf Spee had been ordered to return to home waters for an engine overhaul but her captain Hans Langsdorff headed first for the River Plate shipping lanes off the coast of South America where he intended to acquire a few more victories before his return home On December 2 Graf Spee sank the liner Doric Star then on December 6 the SS Tairoa Both ships sent out distress calls thereby alerting the Royal Navy that the German raider was in the area On December 9 the British cruisers Exeter Achilles and Ajax under the command of Commodore Henry Harwood were ordered to proceed to a patrol zone 150 miles east of the River Plate estuary They arrived on the 12th before the Graf Spee At 06 14 on the 13 the British sighted Graf Spee The three British ships deployed into two divisions the 6 gunned cruisers Achilles and Ajax in one division and Exeter with 8 guns in the other The cruisers had an 8 knot speed advantage over Graf Spee whose speed was reduced to 24 knots due to a fouled hull The Graf Spee began firing at 06 22 with Exeter responding first followed by Achilles then Ajax Exeter was hit several times One salvo d
90. b she finally sank Thus ended the first combat sortie of Hitler s first battleship She died gallantly taking with her all but 119 of her crew of over 2 000 Battle of the Barents Sea December 31 1942 On December 22 1942 convoy JW51B sailed from Scotland with fourteen merchant ships laden with war materiel and supplies for the Soviet Union The convoy would have to navigate past the enemy held coast of Norway to reach its destination in north ern Russia A local escort was provided as far as Iceland after which the convoy was guarded by a fleet destroyer escort Force R the cruisers Jamaica and Sheffield left the Russian port of Kola on the 2718 to join the escort Gales and atrocious weather from the 27 to the 29 scattered the convoy and escort ships Only nine merchant ships remained with the destroyers Onslow Orwell Obdurate and Obedient The Jamaica and Sheffield were due south of the convoy but because of confused com munications they believed the convoy was 150 miles east northeast of its true position Meanwhile in Altenfjord Norway German naval forces under the command of Vice Admiral Oskar Kummetz were being readied to implement Operation Regenbogen The plan was to intercept and attack the convoy from both flanks The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper Kummetz s flagship with three destroyers would lure the British escort away from the convoy while the pocket battleship Lutzow previously named Deutschland also with three des
91. bout that system for the division s ships Division Summary Panels Navigation Summary Panel Speed current speed of ship expressed in knots Current Max Speed how fast that ship can go Course division s heading expressed in compass degrees Structure Damage total damage to ship s hull expressed as a percentage At 10096 the ship goes Out of Action and may not operate any of its systems it slows to a halt Flotation Damage how much flooding the ship has taken expressed as a percentage Flotation damage lowers a ship s maximum speed At 100 level the ship is Sinking and cannot operate any of its systems Fire Level how many fires the ship has on board Fires can be very dangerous espe cially as the number of them grows Status Summary Panel Crew Quality Green Average Veteran or Elite Crew quality affects weapons perfor mance sighting and repairs Crew Fatigue Fresh Normal Tired or Fatigued Crew fatigue affects weapons per formance sighting and repairs Night Fighting Poor Average Good or Excellent Night fighting skill affects visual sighting and weapons performance at night Radar None Poor Average or Good Radar is useful for sighting especially under reduced visibility conditions Turn Rate turning diameter expressed in yards An Emergency turn will cut this rate by 25 Acceleration Rate how many knots per minute the ship can increase its speed Deceleration Rate how many knots
92. cannot accelerate while turning Furthermore flotation point damage to the ship also reduces its acceleration and deceleration rates see Flotation Points on page 92 WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 80 77 E Changing Course A division may change its heading expressed in compass degrees by turning in col umn or simultaneously FIGHTING STEEL replicates the actual procedure used by navies to change course The division commander selects a new heading that is announced to all ships in the division by radio something the USN called signal in the air from the days when a signal flag was raised to alert the ships to a course change Each ship in the division confirms the receipt of the order Once all ships have confirmed the receipt the division commander sends a message to execute the order This is the way navies have done it for hundreds of years using flags before radios replaced them and not surprisingly this is the most efficient way we could think of for you to maneu ver your ships In the game once a course is locked in a new course cannot be implemented until the maneuver is complete In reality a course change could be ordered at any time but it would take a while to be implemented especially when ships in the division were try ing to maintain formation in the current maneuver It would also cause considerable confusion to the ships in the division and po
93. card modem and sound card Other Support Options You can also contact Ubi Soft Customer Support by phone and fax When you call please have all of the above mentioned information ready UBI SOFT ENTERTAINMENT Ltd Chantry Court Minorca Road Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DU Tel 44 0 870 800 6160 Fax 44 0 1932 838 274 In Nederland Telefoonnummer 0900 202 6766 50 cpm Tijden maandag tot en met vrijdag van 09 30 tot 18 00 uur E mail techsupport ubisoft nl In Belgie Telefoonnummer 02 73 25 57 7 E mail hotmail ubisoft be Scandinavia Ubi Soft Nordic Support Ubi Soft Nordic offers different possibilities to obtain support On our website http www ubisoft dk If you have a question which is not described on our website please e mail us at support ubisoft dk Other ways of reaching us By telephone or fax please call Telephone 0045 38 32 02 50 Fax 0045 38 33 34 49 CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 8 es _ _ 22222 EE SSI Online right side If the game about which you are inquiring has been out for more than 90 days you ll also Press P to unpause the game Use the Previous Next buttons or Tab Shift Tab Mis x unis n PE pcd oe to change your view of your flagship steaming along good condition In about COMACHDE Oe INGA UPD OEE 5 OCRA A ne COH EO a minute some binocular contact reports will appear and the Auto Camera
94. ce the track time needed to identify its Type your observers identify the ship s name and extent of damage When a Target Goes Out of Sight When a target goes out of sight for instance behind a smokescreen all of the infor mation your observers acquired is not immediately lost However the information so patiently gathered is linked to track time the length of time that the ship has been observed and track time is reduced at three times the rate of gathering it when the target goes out of sight If the target reappears before the accumulated track time value reaches zero your observers re acquire the target at the reduced level Otherwise all information about that target is discarded Crew Effects on Sighting A tired or poorly trained crew lacks efficiency in sighting Therefore the quality and fatigue level of your crewmen affects how long they must observe the target track time before they gain a higher information level about it It also affects how soon they report the initial contact which represents the time it takes to pass the information up the chain of command The base report delay is 40 seconds for visual sighting longer for radar sighting If the ship s Bridge is damaged the delay is increased by 25 sec onds The program then adds the following modifiers Crew Quality Delay Elite 20 seconds veteran 10 average 0 green 20 Crew Fatigue Delay Fresh 0 seconds normal 10 tired 20 fatigued 40 During ni
95. clude several divisions per side In Division Commander mode you and any other human players each control one divi sion of ships divisions not controlled by human players are controlled by the program s AI including any new divisions created during the battle when a ship detaches from its division due to battle damage or player choice Furthermore as a division commander you have little or no information about the whereabouts of other friendly divisions that start outside your detection range In other words that new Contact your observers have sighted in the dark of night might be enemy or it might be friendly Do you hold your fire commander Has he already sighted you Do you risk switching on recognition lights to inform him what side you are on Campaign Game Overview In the Campaign game you manage a pool of ships through a number of turns which are either weekly or monthly depending on the campaign you ve selected You choose the nation navy that you wish to play and the length of the campaign You then receive a limited number of that navy s ships with reinforcements arriving at a fixed schedule From your pool of ships you choose the ones to carry out a given mission each turn You may leave ships behind in port to rest but if you don t have an ade quate force ready for a mission you will lose Victory Points VPs Each campaign turn may or may not result in a battle The enemy side is randomly generated for each battl
96. d shells weighing over a ton each For game purposes gun armament is divided into four classes Main Guns Secondary Guns Tertiary Guns and Close In Weapons You control the main and secondary guns the program automatically handles the tertiary and close in weapons Main and sec ondary guns are identified in the Gun Data Table on page 123 by bore size diameter in inches and by caliber ratio of barrel length to diameter Gun Class Main Guns These are the largest guns carried on your ship They fire the heaviest shells for the longest range Main guns are located in armored turrets one to four guns per turret which are arranged in centerline positions that can fire to either broad side However a few classes such as the USN s Atlanta and the RN s Emerald carry some of their main guns in wing turrets that can fire to only one broadside The ship s superstructure also restricts which main turrets may fire forward or aft Secondary Guns These are the next to largest guns carried on your ship that were used in the antisurface role Destroyers and some cruisers do not have secondary guns Secondary batteries are arranged in port and starboard turrets that provide some protection to their guncrews A few ships like the Yamato also have forward and aft firing secondary turrets Because secondary guns had lower quality rangefind ers and poorer fire control compared to main guns they receive a 40 penalty to their fire see Gunnery Modi
97. d the IJN cruisers launched torpedoes and opened fire Although the torpedoes missed many shells struck South Dakota setting fires in her superstructure Lee s flagship Washington came to the aid of her ally and used radar to find her target Kirishima was soon hit by nine 16 shells and approximately forty 5 shells The battlecruiser was crippled and Kondo s force retreated with Kirishima under escort Lee moved to continue the action with the Washington alone but soon gave up and retired because of the threat of torpedoes from the Japanese destroyers Three hours later Kirishima rolled over and sank The troop transports beached themselves near Tassafaronga their escorting destroyers ran back up the Slot where American planes attacked them next morning STAFF BRIEFING 110 Battle of Tassafaronga November 30 1942 The build up of Allied troops ships and equipment in the Guadalcanal area had put extreme pressures on the Japanese supply chain to the island Japanese troops on Guadalcanal were literally on the edge of starvation as even IJN submarines and small transports found it difficult to carry supplies to them past the Allied air and sea block ade A new method of delivering supplies was suggested Oil drums would be cleaned and half filled with rice Several drums would be fastened together and 200 or more loaded onto each destroyer s deck The destroyers would make a high speed run to arrive off Guadalcanal during
98. daylight battles it is very important that you determine as quickly as possible which side has the more highly armored ships If you can determine a range at which you can engage the enemy and penetrate his armor while not being penetrated in return this is the best place for you to go Obviously if you have the larger ships BBs vs CAs or CAs vs DDs you should keep your distance and allow your bigger guns to destroy the enemy before they can reach you Of course if you don t sight and identify the enemy it is awfully hard to determine a Strategy STAFF BRIEFING 100 Find the Enemy Once the game begins your first priority is to identify where the enemy is coming from and the composition of the enemy force If it is a good visibility daylight battle this is easy If it is a night battle and you have good radar this too can be easy and in fact if you have radar superiority over your opponent this can be a tremendous advantage if used properly In daylight keep your DDs out in front of your main force and at night make sure that your best radar ships are near the front of the formation Do not spread your forces too much at this point If playing a multiplayer Division Commander game try to determine where your allies ships are and try to join up with them so you can identify them as friendly before the fighting starts If this is not possible be wary of shooting at ships before you know that they are in fact the enemy
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100. e but losses are tracked so that sunken ships do not return Any VPs you score in a campaign battle are credited to your campaign score At the end of the campaign you are rated on your accumulated VPs against the enemy s VPs See the Campaign Game description on page 55 for more details Creating New Scenarios Overview You may design your own scenarios from scratch with the Scenario Editor or you may have the program create new scenarios for you with the Battle Generator Battle Generator Overview The Battle Generator creates new scenarios for you based on a series of parameters that you input These parameters influence the type and setting of the battle that is cre GAME OVERVIEW 14 ated but you cannot choose which particular ships are involved or their initial place ments With the Battle Generator you can create surprise encounters that more fully reflect the challenges faced by WWII commanders at sea See the Battle Generator description on page 65 for further information Scenario Editor Overview The Scenario Editor allows you to create new scenarios from scratch or edit existing ones When creating a new scenario you select the ships for each division weather conditions and other settings You choose the starting positions for each division on the Editor s map After saving the new scenario it is ready to load from the Scenario Selection screen See page 67 for more details on the
101. e 53 CAMPAIGN GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 62 59 Ship Status The second column displays the ship s status This button can display one of four leg ends Ready In Port Sunk or a date Ships that are Ready are patrol and available to take part in a battle Ships that are In Port are not available for battle Ships whose status buttons are dark and display a date are reinforcements or are being repaired The date listed is the earliest possible date they may become avail able Placing the cursor over the date causes hot text to appear defining whether the ship is a reinforcement or being repaired Left clicking on Ready or In Port toggles the status of the ship between those states Crew Quality Crew quality has an effect on various aspects of battle such as reload time accuracy damage control Crew quality has a four step range Green Average Veteran and Elite The higher the level of crew quality the better the performance Several things can cause a ship s crew quality to improve or degrade during the course of a campaign although crew quality can never exceed one higher than the nation s historical value Crew quality improves one step for each battle the ship takes part in Crew quality has a 33 396 chance to improve for each monthly turn spent at Ready status In campaigns with weekly turns there is a 8 3 chance Crew quality has a 33 3 ch
102. e British battleship Prince of Wales sighted the German force The flagship Hood a British battlecruiser launched during WWI opened fire at 05 52 Both ships were under the command of Vice Admiral L E Holland In a poor firing position Hood could only bring her forward guns to bear while the German ships fired broadsides Prinz Eugen was firing high explosive ammunition and started a huge blaze on board Hood This gave Bismarck the chance to adjust her range finders At 06 00 an explosion ripped Hood in half and she sank Only three survivors were res cued from a crew of 1 418 The Prince of Wales broke off action at 06 13 after receiving seven hits Bismarck also was damaged in the fight Leaking oil with 1 000 tons of fuel unavail able due to flooded pumping gear and two boilers out of action she was forced to slow to 28 knots With the British in pursuit the pair of German ships headed south That evening Bismarck momentarily turned upon her pursuers and the Prince of Wales and Suffolk had a brief exchange of fire with her but this action allowed Prinz Eugen to escape unnoticed into the Atlantic Near midnight Bismarck was hit by a torpedo from one of nine Swordfish aircraft flown off the carrier Victorious The German bat tleship had to temporarily slow to 16 knots A few hours later however contact with Bismarck was lost when the German ship shaped a new course for Brest France Contact was not regained until the 26th The car
103. e Ship Stat GAME SYSTEMS 71 Manual Camera On Off 21 2 Ein M 2 m 2 e 412 DESIGNERS NOTES 111 Ship Division View Toggle 21 Function 45 Ship 71 REFERENCE 115 Camera Selection Button 21 Event Messages 49 CROWS de mete 72 WII a MD 115 Previous Next Buttons 21 National Characteristics 73 Bibliography 116 Auto Camera On Off 22 PREFERENCE SETTINGS 49 Battle Types and Missions 73 Ship Class Data Table 117 ID Tag Selection 22 Game Settings 49 135 d senings WM Cur y 2 Gun Data Table 123 Realism Settings 51 Torpedo Data Table eas 123 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 4 E INTRODUCTION 0 0 0 0 FIGHTING STEEL recreates spectacular WWII naval gunnery battles from the period 1939 1942 You command warships from the British German Japanese or United States navies in real time 3D action Single or Multiplayer Play Play against up to three other players over the Internet or play solo against the program s AI Artificial Intelligence Modes of Play In Standard mode you control all of the divisions on one side each division consists of one or more ships In Division Commander mode you control only one division and the program s AI commands the others on y
104. e Smokescreen button on to display where smokescreens are in effect on the 2D map the default setting for this button is On Ship Names Displayed Toggle the Alpha button to turn on or off the ship name tags on the 2D map the default setting for this button is On Filter Buttons for Range Circles and Miscellaneous Features Filter buttons appear on both the Range Circles pop up window and the Miscellaneous Features pop up window The information displayed through each of these pop up windows can be filtered for specific ships or divisions by using the Filter buttons The filters have a cumulative effect so you may toggle on more than one at a time From the left the first Filter button toggles on the information for all ships friendly and enemy The second button toggles on the information for your currently selected ship The third button is for your currently selected division The fourth button shows the information for all friendly ships The fifth button filters for all enemy ships and unidentified contacts The filter selection is the same on both pop ups and when changed on one popup it automatically changes on the other pop up so that they display information for the same selected ships When playing in Standard mode you have access to information from all friendly ships However in Division Commander mode you only have access to the informa tion from ships in your division PLAYING THE GAME
105. e back to the turn order later As you enter a turning order it is shown on the compass window on the 2D 3D display and repeated in the boxes to the right of the Cancel button However once you click on Execute Turn the order is locked in and you cannot change or stop it PLAYING THE GAME 40 Turn to port left or starboard right Choose a new bearing 0 to 359 degrees Turn in column every ship follows the leader s path or in line of bearing every ship turns at the same instant Make a normal turn or an Emergency Turn the ships turn in a tighter diameter than normal but risk a jammed rudder Port Starboard Turn The default turn arrow inside the compass is starboard green To select a port turn red click on the left arrow inside the compass to highlight it instead Choose Bearing Click on any point of the compass ring to set the new bearing You may also click on the Turn Scroll buttons to adjust the new bearing by 1 degree increments Your ordered heading appears on the compass ring and on the 2D and 3D view screens In 3D view arrows appear on the sea surface to indicate the curving path of the turn Column or Line Turn Does not apply to single ship divisions or convoy formations which always turn simultaneously Click on the Column Turn button if you want all ships in the division to follow directly in the wake of the lead ship Click on the Line Turn but ton if y
106. e down scroll button You re looking for Tutorial I Click once on Tutorial I to highlight it then read the scenario description on the right hand panel Double click on Tutorial I when you re ready to begin 3 The Player Options screen appears You re going to command the British force at the Lieutenant difficulty level in Standard mode Click on the Check button to proceed 4 Scenario Launch screen appears You have a division of two ships CA heavy cruiser Norfolk and CL light cruiser Sheffield Click on either ship to select the division Norfolk is the flagship of your division Your mission is to destroy the enemy Would you like to change that steel gray camo scheme for your ships Click on the right camo scroll button There are nine camo patterns to choose from so keep clicking till you find the one you think is cool dress for success we say Click on the Check button to proceed 5 3D View screen appears and the game is in Pause mode The camera is posi tioned above and behind your division The Norfolk is visible in the middle distance at the head of the column Let s close the bottom panel and go to a full screen 3D view Move the cursor to the top of the screen The Function Bar drops down from the top Click on the F2 tab or press the F2 key to bring up the full screen view 6 The camera is currently in Semi Free mode so let s experiment with it a Click on the Ship Divisi
107. e leader This formation maximizes the unblocked arcs of fire for weapons guns and torpedoes to either side of the battleline A divisional column is only at a disadvantage if the enemy caps its T by steaming across the column s path in front or behind where most of the column s weapons are blocked from firing WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 82 79 If the division turns in column formation each trailing ship only begins its turn when it arrives at the exact point where the lead ship began the turn A division in column formation may also turn simultaneously in which case the ships turn together and enter line formation However a simultaneous turn of 180 degrees allows the column to quickly reverse course and reform in a new column steaming in the opposite direc tion The previous lead ship is now at the rear and the previous rear ship is now in the lead Line Formation Division in Line r 1 1 1 I 1 L Ships in line formation are steaming on the same bearing on parallel paths Such a for mation increases the likelihood of sighting other ships because it covers a broader front than a column formation The widest front for the division occurs when the line formation is perpendicular to a column formation so that each ship is directly oppo site the next However such a bearing blocks the broadside arcs of fire of the ships in the middle of
108. e players with an opportunity to face the challenges and make the kinds of decisions made by division commanders during WWII surface engagements Having spent much of our lives spread out on the floor fighting with miniature warships we thought it was time to use the computer to pro vide the fun and visual spectacle that we enjoyed playing miniatures From the beginning we were intrigued with the computer s ability to simulate night battles something that miniatures and naval boardgames have always had difficulty in doing Another design goal was to incorporate the confusion between friendly forces that occurred during night actions During the development process a process that took over 18 months there were many issues to deal with Sim vs Wargame While making FIGHTING STEEL we found ourselves constantly coming back to that we always intended FS to be a wargame and not a simulation In fact the phrase we used to best describe FS around the office was that it is a real time wargame in 3D What is the difference between a sim and a wargame As we saw it a sim usually tries to put people in charge of one thing one plane one tank one submarine and sims usually worry about modeling true physics as much as possible Since sims deal with tactical situations small numbers of planes tanks and ships they can be gamed in real time and in 3D With FS we were also dealing with a tactical situation and battles that could be gamed in real time
109. e ship or click on NO to cancel You retain control of the detached ship in Standard mode but it now operates as a single ship division In Division Commander mode the program s AI takes control of the ship and it is no longer part of your division Division Button Box The Division Button Box is located on the right hand side of the Division and Ship Panel The button box includes two filter buttons at the top Orders saluting sailor and Summary clipboard Below these are six system buttons Navigation wheel icon Main Guns blue turret Secondary Guns green turret Torpedoes torpedo Illumination searchlight and Division Ship Status blue ship Orders Button Click on the Orders button to highlight it You now have access to the orders panels for your current division Click on a system button to bring up a panel where you can issue orders for that system for example Main Guns PLAYING THE GAME SS aat 34 If a particular ship in the division has that appropriate system its ship box is high lighted Otherwise it is not For example the ship box of a BB that carries no torpedoes does not highlight when you click on the Torpedoes button There is no orders panel for Division Ship Status this is a summary only button Summary Button Click on the Summary clipboard button to highlight it You now have access to the summary panels for your current division Click on a system button to see the infor mation a
110. e threat values are given below Range is then factored in closer range means more threat as is the torpedo launch capability of the target which also increases the threat level Target Threat Table FIRING SHIP TARGET BB BC CA CL DD BB 8 uic uis 2220 Bt 52 E MEE 5 De WN nee ntti a P LE eee RN UM NC _ 1 1 1 Salvo Fire Reloading When you select a target for your ship the guns must train on the target before they fire In most cases the turrets must rotate to the correct bearing while the gun barrels elevate to achieve an arc that will place the shot where fire control calculates the tar get will be allowing for the flight time of the shells Each gun type is rated for the number of horizontal degrees per second its turrets rotate and the vertical degrees per second its barrels elevate Heavier guns typically take longer to train than lighter guns A battery of guns fires in salvo which allows the shells to fall in a group After firing the guns must reload Each gun type has a base reload time which is its highest rate of fire under ideal practice conditions see the Gun Data Table on page 123 Reload time is increased by 20 across the board to account for the stress of battle Crew quality crew fatigue and sea state also affect reload time so that only an elite fresh crew in good weather will achieve the book rate of fire The smaller the vessel the m
111. ed on a target Searchlights spotlight the current target that you have selected at division or single ship level When the searchlight function is turned on the searchlight sweeps over and locks onto the target This must be a target currently sighted by visual detection or radar The searchlight sweeps horizontally at 10 degrees per second The maximum range of a searchlight is 5 000 yards but its effects can be seen out to 20 000 yards The information level of a target illuminated by searchlights immediately increases to Name level the observers can more easily identify the ship The one problem with using searchlights is that they also make your ship easier to see A visibility modifier which varies up or down according to range is in effect against your ship when its searchlights are on This increases the chance of the enemy sight ing your ship and being able to target it However you gain a visibility modifier against your target that is slightly better than the one applied against your own ship So you must decide whether to risk being spotted in order to improve the chance of a hit against your target Multiple searchlights on the same target have no additional effect Searchlight positions can be destroyed by superstructure hits see Superstructure Hits on page 95 All ships except BBs and BCs have one searchlight position on each side of the ship BBs and BCs have two searchlight positions on each side of the ship The second posit
112. elayed by 25 seconds If the ship s Power system is damaged the Bridge is off line and suf fers the same penalty as if it were damaged Damage Control System Penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may damage but never destroy the Damage Control system If Damage Control is damaged all repair times are doubled and it is harder to put out fires When using the National Characteristics preference USN repair times are reduced by 30 and IJN repair times are increased by 30 Director System Shell hits to the superstructure may damage or destroy the Director System A ship has two directors for its main guns When the first is knocked out the main guns suffer a 10 modifier to their chance to hit If both directors are knocked out the main guns suffer a 50 modifier Flotation Point System Torpedo hits or penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may cause critical damage to the flotation point system Such damage represents collapsed bulkheads It is treated as extra flotation point damage and is not repairable Hit Point System Penetrating shell hits to the hull or deck may cause critical damage to the hit point system Such damage is treated as extra hit point damage and is not repairable WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 96 Magazine System Each ship has two main gun magazines and each main turret is linked to one of those magazines Because of its potentially explosive nature a maga zine is either operating or
113. ems go off line when the power system is damaged Maneuver rudder and steering which affects the ship s turning ability Propulsion engines which affects the ship s speed Bridge can be damaged but not destroyed Fire Directors two per ship affects fire control of the main guns Radar not all ships have radar Searchlights port and starboard BBs and BCs have two searchlights on each side Function Bar Camera All Ships In Game Game Speed and End 2D 3D View Control Panel Display Victory Screen Pause Settings Battle Full Screen Preferences Briefing Screen Ship Viewer Save Game Exit Half Screen Toggle Screen Environment Panel Screen Screen Game When you move your mouse cursor off the top of the 3D or 2D screens the Function Bar appears The Function Bar gives you access a variety of options Click on a tab you want or press the equivalent key on the keyboard 1 2D 3D Option This tab toggles the game between the 2D and 3D screens The 2D view has a Map Control Panel to the right of the screen and interface panels at the bottom of the PLAYING THE GAME F 46 screen The 3D view has the same interface panels with a side panel of Camera Controls The Camera Controls panel defaults to being on screen at the beginning of any battle but may be turned off see below F2 Full Screen Half Screen Option When you click on this tab the game displays the 3D view in the entire screen with Camer
114. enemy ships and friendly ships in Division Commander mode are considered visually sighted by all friendly ships at all times at the maximum level of contact information Visibility modifiers for gunnery are not used 3D Camera Realism Restricted Limits the camera modes that you may use and puts limits on the auto cam The auto cam will not show all events Also Manual camera is not available and PREFERENCE SETTINGS NER CITRUS 52 both Semi Free and Top Down modes are restricted in that you cannot move the cam era more than 2 500 yards away from a ship in the current division Unrestricted You may use all camera modes views and the auto cam shows all events by priority Ammunition Realism Restricted You are limited to each ship s shell supplies and can run out of ammunition Unlimited Ships never use up their gun ammunition Enemy Damage Info Realism Restricted You only get approximate information regarding structure damage flood ing damage fire damage and gun turrets remaining in action on enemy ships Full The displays give you accurate information about damage to enemy ships Victory Points Info Realism Restricted You do not get all VP information displayed during the game getting the full VP information only after the battle Full You know the full and exact VP score throughout the game see Winning the Game on page 62 for further details Mistaken Maneuvers Rea
115. ent one Threat Mode Each ship in the division fires at the target that poses the greatest threat to it The program re evaluates the ships targets every 10 seconds The target ship s type range and torpedo capability determines its threat level to the firing ship Hold Fire The division does not fire until you select another targeting mode Select Ammunition You have four choices for the division s ammunition selection Click on the button to select that choice If any ship in the division does not have that ammo type or runs out of it the ship automatically starts to use whatever type remains for its guns AP Armor piercing Most effective against armored targets Available for guns of 5 9 bore size or larger Common Only type of ammo available for guns below 5 9 bore size HE High explosive Most effective against unarmored targets such as DDs and TRs Available for guns of 5 9 bore size or larger Auto Select Captain s cap The program automatically selects the most suitable type to fire at the given target PLAYING THE GAME 38 Main Gun Target List The principal target for each ship in the division is listed below the Ship Boxes If any main gun turrets on a ship cannot fire at the principal target due to restricted firing angle for instance they will instead fire at the second target listed for that ship s main battery If the firing ship s guns are under local instead of divisional target
116. eom 82 Mapping Mode 25 Campaign Game Turn 61 M aU d A EE GAME OVERVIEW 12 Scroll Compass 26 Campaign Scoring 61 Weapon Systems 85 Historical Scenario Overview 12 Zoom Level 26 RR EIR Re hp Naval Guns 85 Atlantic Ocean PER 26 WINNING THE GAME 62 Torpedoes 90 British vs Germans 12 Range Circles and End Game Victory Screen 62 Damage System MM EATER ANN 92 Pacific Ocean Map Display Info 26 Level of Victory 22222222222 62 Hit Points 92 Americans vs Japanese 12 30 Victory Points 62 Flotation Points 92 Game Mode Overview 13 Ship ID 30 Mission Points 63 Shell Hit Locati n AA 92 Standard Mode 13 Primary ID 30 Damage 63 Armor Penetration 93 Division Commander Mode 13 Secondary ID Tags 31 Ship and Division Awards 63 Hull Hits 94 Campaign Game Overview 13 Division and Ship Panel 32 Campaign Challenge Weapon Hits 94 Creating New Scenarios Overview 13 Division Selection Bar 32 Game Update Message 63 Superstructure Hits 95 Battle Generator Overview 13 Division Button Box 34
117. er for navies deficient in the use of radar like the IJN to compete against those with radar In the end we decided that the amount to be gained by covering the last few years of WWII would not be worth the additional effort required to deal with the items mentioned above The time for even surface battles was over by the beginning of 1943 DESIGNERS NOTES 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 116 113 Where s the Land This was a very difficult issue for us It s hard to deny that land could be a factor in naval battles This was simply a matter of us deciding that it was better to do nothing than to do something poorly To program land into FS we would have needed to spend a lot of time working with the artificial intelligence to ensure it didn t run aground or spend its time weaving around just to avoid land After looking at the time it would take to properly deal with land vs the fact that land actually very rarely directly affected the actions of ships during a battle we decided we had better leave land for the next game in the series If given unlimited time and resources we would have built land into FS however when doing a wargame for what is perceived to be a small niche market resources can be hard to come by In the end there were just too many other things we felt more important than bringing land into the game Also in the end not having land as a reference point was useful in helping our random battles in
118. ers try to stop Kriegsmarine destroyers and cruisers from sinking Arctic Convoy JW 51B Pacific Ocean Americans vs Japanese Savo Island August 9 1942 A Japanese cruiser force attacks a divided and unpre pared Allied cruiser and destroyer patrol line at night Cape Esperance October 11 12 1942 A radar equipped US cruiser and destroyer patrol crosses the T of a smaller Japanese force at night Guadalcanal II November 14 15 1942 Four US destroyers and two modern radar equipped battleships prepare to engage a large Japanese force at night Tassafaronga November 30 1942 Can a Japanese destroyer force armed with deadly Long Lance torpedoes out fight a US cruiser and destroyer force equipped with radar during a night battle GAME OVERVIEW 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 16 13 mU E Game Mode Overview You may play a scenario in one of two modes Standard or Division Commander Standard Mode In single player games Standard mode allows you to control all of the ships on one side You have complete access to those ships and all of the information they have gathered about the enemy In multiplayer games Standard mode allows your team to control all of the ships on one side and you know where your teammates ships are and what information they have gathered about the enemy Division Commander Mode A division consists of one or more ships that operate in a formal group Most scenar ios in
119. et s throw some more metal at the enemy Click on the Secondary Guns but The Division Secondary Guns Panel appears Click on the Range targeting mode button This orders your ships secondary guns to open fire against the closest enemy target Press P to pause the game as soon as you notice that the German CL Konigsberg is within 15 000 yards She s the biggest enemy ship in view and we ll launch tor pedoes at her in a minute but first let s find out more information about her Hold the left mouse press down over Konigsberg s Primary ID Tag or ship graphic on the horizon Her Secondary ID Tag pops up until you release the mouse press Secondary ID Tags provide quick information about a ship including the number and type of guns speed heading and structure and flotation damage It s early in the battle so Konigsberg may not be damaged but this gives you an idea of what you re up against Now let s launch some fish in her direction QUICK START TUTORIAL 10 Click on the Torpedoes button The Torpedoes Summary Panel appears and the Division Summary button highlights instead of the Orders button Each of your cruisers carries two torpedo mounts one on each side of the ship You re going to launch your starboard torpedoes You always launch torpedoes one ship at a time not by division __ ee Target Box Fire Button Torpedo Range Speed Spread Width Mounts Chance to Hit a Click on Norfolk s Sh
120. etting other than Random the program generates crew quality on a ship by ship basis with the level you set as the most likely value but not the absolute The Crew Data Table on page 122 lists the most likely values for a Historical setting Crew Fatigue Historical default setting Fresh Normal Tired Fatigued or Random If you choose a setting other than Random the program generates crew fatigue on a ship by ship basis with the level you set as the most likely value but not the absolute The Crew Data Table on page 122 lists the most likely values for a Historical setting CREATING NEW SCENARIOS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 70 67 per E Night Fighting Historical default setting Poor Average Good Expert or Random If you choose a setting other than Random the program generates night fighting on a ship by ship basis with the level you set as the most likely value but not the absolute The Crew Data Table on page 122 lists the most likely values for a Historical setting Scenario Editor Scale On Off Gun Clrcles Type Name Toggle Visibility Circles Radar Circles Zoom Level Grid Size Line Tool Radar Ranges The FIGHTING STEEL Scenario Editor is accessible from the Main Menu only It allows you to edit existing scenarios or design your own First you should enter the Global Scenario Data mission and environment parameters Then you should create the divisions for each side selecting the
121. ew final salvos at the shadowing cruisers The arrival of the Graf Spee in Montevideo began a series of political wrangles over whether or not she should be allowed to stay in port Finally the Uruguayan govern ment decided she should leave on December 17 British reinforcements were on their way and Langsdorff was left with the choice of trying to reach Argentina where he STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 106 103 might expect more support or of scuttling his ship He decided to scuttle his ship Graf Spee was taken out into the estuary as crowds gathered on the shore line and she was ripped apart by demolition charges at 22 00 Langsdorff took full responsibility for the fate of Graf Spee and shot himself in what he felt was the only honorable end to his career Invasion of Norway April 1940 The Norwegian port of Narvik was important for the German war effort as an ice free winter port where iron ore from Sweden could be loaded on ships bound for Germany The British of course wanted to prevent these supplies from reaching Germany and made several plans that included mine laying operations in the fjords and occupation of certain key Norwegian ports As it turned out the British did not get the chance to put any of these plans into operation before the Germans with their own planned oper ation Weserubung invaded the coast of Norway taking Bergen Oslo Kristiansand and Are
122. ew that for most people this would be enough and it would make things easier to understand and display In reality visibility is much more com plicated as rainsqualls can obscure one part of the battle area and can come and go quicker than the ships themselves Again given unlimited time and resources we would have tried to tackle this issue as a Preference item for players but instead we opted to leave it for a future game Main Gun and Secondary Gun Targeting We have tried to provide a system for targeting that allows players a lot of flexibility but which requires little input to obtain the desired results We separated targeting for main guns and secondary guns because they most often had different roles Main guns were intended to engage targets of a similar class or larger while secondary guns were almost always used at close range to fire at destroyers that were threatening a torpedo attack Through the proper use of division targeting modes players can quickly gang up on the closest target or biggest threat or spread their fire out among enemy ships In small day battles players have time to use the single ship gunnery orders to split fire between several targets two for main guns and two for secondary guns We felt that the capability to defend against up to four ships simultaneously was more than enough as generally it is advisable to concentrate your fire A Word of Thanks We would like to acknowledge the terrific assistance we
123. ey M J German Destroyers of World War Two 219 edition 1991 Boardgames 00001 00091 6190 090 0 20 90 0 0566 0681 6 00 0061 9181 06121 0516 07 6 05701 16 0589 00 0091 00011 066 4996 0809 090 6009 081 6 00297 OZEE 09796 05417 9007 14 Avalon Bismarck 1979 C in C North Cape 1978 008 0061 0496 0096 00 6 0096 0096 0096 0096 0096 00 0006 0016 006 0616 0076 007 0077 007 0077 0062 0056 0072 0080 00 2 9006 0060 0012 00 vc 0062 0062 03345 001 001 08 06 10 56 9 Ez lt c 66 46 SOL ZEL 69 tL Syl OLL 96 96 09 6 05 vee 10 cee 996 ely ley 3mva yodsuej yodsuel 1504 55810 EQUI 8219 30 8219 40 8219 55810 320 IHD 8219 44 8219 09 8219 gv uojdweyjnos ued Jopuga 1 ia 1 1 esnyjaly quay SUMEH presawg 558100 3151129 2 0 Vieqezi 3 wasnt 105194 A 361099 aaa aaaaa a G O O OG E 1 lt lt lt 0 oo 2 co 55 19 3dAL eAoy 21901 VWA 8501 dus Clash of Arms Games Command at Sea The Rising Sun 1994 Quarterdeck Games ronbottom Sound The Guadalcanal Campaign 1983 Simulations Publications Inc CA 1973 Victory Games Tokyo Ex
124. ey were nothing more than heavy cruisers with six 11 main gun armament CL Light Cruiser These warships were smaller versions of heavy cruisers with less armor protection and carrying main guns of about 6 bore Theoretically the higher rate of fire from a battery of 6 guns would compensate for the lighter shell weight and thereby match the broadside power of an 8 cruiser but in practice the 100 Ib 6 shells lacked both the range and the penetrating power of 250 Ib 8 shells Light cruisers made good scouts and were often used to lead or support destroyer divisions DD Destroyer These warships were the smallest and most numerous fleet units Although faster than cruisers they were not as seaworthy and had limited fuel spaces so their radius of action was often restricted Destroyers were unarmored and weakly gunned compared to other fleet units but their primary offensive role was to deliver torpedo attacks against the enemy battleline Defensively they served as escorts to thwart or break up enemy attacks The Long Lance torpedoes carried by IJN destroyers made them par ticularly lethal combatants TR Transport The TR type in FIGHTING STEEL represents troop transports and merchant ships carrying vital cargoes for the prosecution of the war The game provides two classes of transports slow ones 8 knot of 10 000 ton displacement and fast ones 15 knot of 15 000 ton dis placement Transports are unarmed unarmored and move
125. f hard drive space Note If you exchange a saved game with someone it is important to note which slot it occupied since it can only be played from that position in the save game list Sound and Video Cards FIGHTING STEEL requires Windows 95 DirectX 6 1 compliant sound and video cards If you experience problems with sound or video while playing FIGHTING STEEL please contact the manufacturer of your video or sound card for the latest DirectX 6 1 com pliant drivers If such drivers are not used FIGHTING STEEL may not run properly on your system DirectX 6 1 Setup This game requires DirectX 6 1 If you do not have DirectX 6 1 then it can be installed or reinstalled from the CD Installing DirectX 6 1 is an option when installing the game It can also be installed by exploring the game CD and opening the DIRECTX folder Double click on DXSETUP EXE to start the DirectX 6 1 install Using either the Install DirectX 6 1 button from the Autorun or DXSETUP EXE you install DirectX 6 1 reinstall DirectX 6 1 test your drivers certification or reinstate your previous audio and video driver as described following DirectX Disclaimer FIGHTING STEEL utilizes Microsoft s DirectX sound and video drivers DirectX is pro gramming tool created by Microsoft and the installation of DirectX may cause video problems and system anomalies with computers using video drivers that aren t DirectX compliant DirectX is a Microsoft product and as suc
126. f the darkness to position their ships for optimum use of their Long Lance torpe does Within 10 minutes six Japanese destroyers launched forty four torpedoes total The cruiser Minneapolis was struck by two torpedoes and made a virtual cripple New Orleans became a drifting ball of fire as she too was hit Pensacola was hit after she passed the damaged ships and she also erupted in a mass of flames The last cruiser to be hit was the Northampton Flames and smoke reached skyward as oil and fuel ignited Aware of the close proximity of American destroyers the Japanese abandoned Takanami which finally sank Of the four severely damaged US ships only the Northampton failed to reach harbor She sank at 03 04 The Battle of Tassafaronga was a bitter pill for the Americans who had expected to defeat the enemy destroyer force with their more powerful cruiser guns None of the Japanese supply drums reached Guadalcanal but the Americans paid a high price in men ships and morale However Japanese enthusiasm for Guadalcanal waned due to Japan s own high losses in the campaign The Allies gained final control of the island in February 1943 when the remaining Japanese troops were taken off Guadalcanal The losses to both sides in the campaign had proved much higher than anyone had anticipated STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 114 111 DESIGNERS NOTES Our goal with FIGHTING STEEL was to provid
127. feat since Pearl Harbor losing 993 men killed and 645 wounded while Australia lost 84 killed and 55 wounded The Japanese suffered 58 killed and 71 wounded that night but the USN submarine 5 44 torpedoed and sank the cruiser Kako next morning as it was returning from the mission Battle of Cape Esperance October 11 12 1942 The Japanese needed to retake Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal if they were to pre vent the Allies from expanding their control over the Solomon Islands and surrounding seas To accomplish this it was essential that the Japanese reinforce their troops already stationed on the island Japanese ships made high speed runs to Guadalcanal at night to unload supplies and troops and bombard the US Marine positions and air field Their habitual incursions became known as the Tokyo Express to their opponents STAFF BRIEFING 108 On October 11 Rear Admiral Norman Scott put to sea to try and end the Tokyo Express runs of the Japanese He had under his command a force consisting of two heavy cruisers two light cruisers and five destroyers They were travelling in column with destroyers at front and rear The Japanese also had a cruiser and destroyer force present that night Rear Admiral Arimoto Goto led three heavy cruisers and two destroyers He was tasked with shelling Henderson Field while another force unloaded supplies for the Japanese troops It was to be an unlucky night for the admi
128. fiers on page 88 WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 86 Tertiary Guns Some battleships carry a third level of antisurface guns dual purpose guns actually These guns are arranged in port and starboard batteries that auto matically engage the nearest enemy ship within 5 000 yards Tertiary guns never inflict system hits see page 95 for Damage to Ship Systems Close In Weapons Most guns under 4 bore are treated as close in weapons that automatically engage the nearest enemy ship within 3 000 yards They inflict slight Hit Point damage on the target and do not cause system hits A ship s close in weapons are disabled by a percentage equal to its hit point damage percentage Ammunition Warships carry limited amounts of ammunition approximately 100 rounds per heavy gun and 200 300 rounds for smaller guns the smaller weapons have higher rates of fire Generally the greater the bore size the greater the weight of the shell and the greater the weight of the shell the more likely it will penetrate the armor of its target Also the heavier the shell is the more damage it will do See the Gun Data Table on page 123 for shell weights and base penetration values Each warship in the game has two main gun magazines and each main gun turret is linked to one of those magazines If a main magazine is knocked out it stops the ammunition flow to those turrets assuming a magazine explosion does not sink the ship Secondar
129. final listed time If you press Accelerate End in a single player game the program s AI quickly fin ishes the battle through the time limit the program can rapidly determine the results because it does not update the screen One side Surrenders All ships on the surrendering side are treated as sunk and all ships on the winning side receive Mission Points as if they had completed their missions End Game Victory Screen This screen appears at the end of the scenario and is similar to the In Game Victory screen F7 From this screen you may access the Replay feature Briefing screen and All Ships screen Clicking on the Check button takes you to the Main Menu Level of Victory The level of victory is shown at the top of the screen and is determined by the ratio of the Total Victory Points VPs of the side with the most to the side with the least Each side s VPs are listed for Mission Points and Damage Points If the scenario had a VP Modifier for either side this acts as a multiplier to determine the Total VPs There are three levels of victory for the winning side The ratio of Total VPs winner loser decides the level of victory Decisive 5 1 or higher Major at least 3 1 but less than 5 1 Marginal at least 1 1 but less than 3 1 Victory Points All VPs are based on ship size which is a reflection of a ship s fighting power The nor mal VP value for a ship is 1 100 of its displacement tonnage For example a
130. firing main guns and roll up and down in the water Text Options Message Text On Off Default ON If OFF the text messages writing over the 2D and 3D screens do not appear Auto Save On Off Not available during multiplayer games Select the minute interval between auto saves by clicking on the desired time Camera Settings Automatic ID Tags On Off Default ON When the camera focuses on an auto camera event the ID tag of the ship in focus is displayed even if the ID tags are not turned on in the Camera Buttons Panel In certain camera views this mode also comes into effect PREFERENCE SETTINGS 50 Look Thru Target Track and Enemy Track will all turn on the ID tags of the target ship if they are not already turned on in the Camera Buttons Panel The ID tags only appear while the camera focuses on the target and disappear when the camera moves away Reset Gamespeed On Off Default ON Program resets the gamespeed back to the speed being used prior to showing an auto camera event all auto camera events are shown at normal game speed When OFF the game remains at normal game speed after any auto camera event Navigation Plot Camera On Off Default ON Overrides your current camera mode to track your navigation order entry When finished the camera view returns to its pre vious settings This mode is always an immediate camera transition In Manual camera mode this
131. formation about the contact raising it to the next information level Type Type Level Your observers have now judged the type of ship it is The Primary ID Tags list four types of ships but there are actually six types in the game see Ship Types on page 71 for more details BB battleship the largest warships in a fleet For Type level this includes BCs bat tlecruisers CA heavy cruiser smaller than BBs or BCs but larger than DDs For Type level this includes CLs light cruisers DD destroyers the smallest and fastest warships in a fleet TR transports unarmed merchant and transport ships Your chance of hitting a Type level target with guns or torpedoes is reduced by 25 Name Level Your observers have watched the ship long enough to completely identify it This is the highest information level Your guns and torpedoes are most effective when firing on an enemy Name level target PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 34 31 PUT T E Secondary ID Tags Ship Name Main Guns Secondary Guns Ship Speed Maximum Speed Ship Type x 2 E Structure damage boxes Range mI Bearing NE C zu Flotation damage bos Heading ee s DADO Friendly Ships Engaging Active Weapons Damage Level of Ship If you move your cursor over a ship s graphic or Primary ID Tag in game play and hold the left mouse press down a Secondary ID Tag pops up over the Primary ID Tag The Secondary ID
132. g the first 1 000 yards of their run and after they reach the end of their run Spread Width Choose one of three settings The narrow width increases the chances of hitting assuming the target remains on its current course at its current speed A wide spread covers more sea but reduces the chances of hits Mounts Only centerline mounts or mounts on the side you are firing to may be used Mounts that cannot be used are blocked out All torpedoes in a given mount are fired at the same time There are no torpedo reloads during battle Select highlight a mount to fire it You may fire multiple mounts in the same spread After a mount has fired the number of seconds remaining until its torpedoes reach their calculated inter ception point appears by the icon If this time elapses the number displayed represents the time remaining before the torpedoes reach the end of their run Fire After you have selected mounts to fire a Fire Button appears on the panel A blue cone also appears on the 3D view and 2D map showing the diverging torpedo spread out to the end of its run When you are satisfied with the decisions you have made click on the Fire button to launch the torpedoes the cone then disappears on the 3D view and a spread bar appears in the water indicating the location of the torpedoes You may leave the Torpedo Panel without firing torpedoes If you return to the panel as long as you previously selected a target the target remains selected
133. gation Panel or press You may not launch torpedoes from the division level You must select individual ships for torpedo launch see Single Ship Torpedoes Panel on page 42 PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 40 37 Division Guns Panel Second Target Division Orders Button Auto Principle Detach Selector Division High Explosive Select Target chain Summary Button Current Division Navigation Panel Armor Piercing Main Gun Panel Common Illumination Panel Secondary Gun Panel Battle Line Mode Range Mode Threat Mode Hold Fire Ship Status Panel Torpedo Panel Select Targeting Mode When issuing orders to the division s main gun batteries you have four targeting modes Click on the mode you desire for the division For more information see Division Targeting Modes on page 86 Battleline Mode Each ship in the division targets the closest enemy ship that is not engaged by some other ship in the division Your ships will double up against an enemy target only if there are no other enemy targets available In this way the divi sion spreads its fire over as many enemy ships as possible Targets are re evaluated each time you click on Battleline Range Mode Each ship in the division fires at the enemy ship closest to it The pro gram re evaluates the ships targets every 10 seconds but a ship will not switch fire until a new target is more than 10 closer than the curr
134. ght battles the crew s night fighting ability also affects its visual sighting range A crew with expert night fighting ability has its visual sighting range increased by 20 Good night fighting ability increases the visual sighting range by 10 aver age has no effect and poor night fighting ability reduces the range by 2096 Night vs Day Visibility Current visibility for night or day is set at the start of the battle The program then ran domly generates another visibility setting for day or night whichever is not current This second visibility setting is only used if the sun rises or sets during the battle Day WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 86 83 visibility can be anywhere from 41 to 100 night visibility can be 40 or less The Environment Panel on the Briefing screen lists when the sun rises and sets Visibility decreases at dusk and increases at dawn as follows From 30 minutes before sunset to sunset visibility decreases in equal increments from day setting to 40 From sunset to 30 minutes after sunset visibility decreases in equal increments from 40 to night setting From 30 minutes before sunrise to sunrise visibility increases in equal increments from night setting to 40 From sunrise to 30 minutes after visibility increases in equal increments from 4096 to day setting Illumination Starshells and searchlights produce localized areas of light
135. gs screen A Fluid setting slides the camera in increments from one position to the next An Immediate setting jumps the camera to the new location An Automatic setting always uses fluid transitions when moving less than 4 000 yards otherwise it uses immediate PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 28 25 2D Map Screen Overview Friendly Flagship Enemy Ships Game Clock Game Speed zM Mapping Mode Padlock A Grid Scale Scroll Compass Zoom Level Compass Auto Plot S Map Scale Map Display Camera Location Range Circles Grid The 2D map is oriented with North always at the top In the lower left hand corner of the 2D map a compass is available as an aid to plotting Below the compass is the nau tical miles nm indicator that shows the length by width of the visible map area a nautical mile is 2 000 yards Ships appear on the 2D map as icons the size of the icons depends on the current zoom level Blue icons represent friendly ships or divi sions red icons represent enemy ships or divisions Flags denote division flagships At higher zoomed out levels a single icon represents an entire division A camera icon on the map indicates the location and facing of the camera on the 3D screen Below the map is the Division and Ship Panel display This portion of the screen remains the same when you switch between 2D and 3D views The 2D Map Control Menu appears to
136. h this publisher cannot be responsible for changes that might occur to your computer system due to its instal SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS tice lation For DirectX related problems that cannot be fixed by updating to your video card s latest Windows driver set you must contact either Microsoft or the manufac turer of your video card for further technical support or service Microsoft retains all intellectual property rights to DirectX The user has been granted a limited license to use DirectX with Microsoft operating system products CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT Ubi Technical Support Technical support 0870 800 6160 local rate call Hints and tips hotline service 0960 466 5200 premium rate call On line Support Options Ubi Soft offers several on line support options for their softwareproducts One of these is our website at http www ubisoft co uk support If you have a specific problem that is not addressed on our site you can send your question to us via e mail at techsupport ubisoft co uk Please be as specific as you can be about the problem you are experiencing Also include in the body of your e mail the name of the manufacturer of your computer sys tem the brand and speed of the processor how much RAM you have the version number of Windows you are using if you aren t sure right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties and the manufacturer name and model number of your video
137. has the greater the bonus However any enemy ship in the target circle that is not out of action or sinking cancels the bombardment bonus Furthermore the bombardment force starts with a Mission VP handicap equal to 20 of the total VP value of its ships Both sides receive VPs for destruction of enemy ships Convoy Escorting Force Force A mission Protect the transports and attempt to disengage while minimizing friendly forces and maximizing enemy losses Attacking Force Force B Mission Prevent the transports from disengaging while maximizing enemy losses and minimizing friendly losses The size of the escorting force is approximately 80 of the attacking force s size when created by the Battle Generator The escorting force should try to block the attackers from destroying the transports which are steaming in convoy formation until all transports have disengaged in the direction of the mission s Disengagement Heading as defined in the scenario s Briefing screen F At that time the escorts should also try to disengage The escorting force receives a 50 VP bonus for each transport that disengages and a 25 bonus for each of its escorting warships that disengage The VP WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 78 75 bonus for a ship is based on its own VP value Both sides receive VPs for damaging and sinking enemy ships The challenge for the attackers is to sink
138. he Environmental Controls window click on the OK button Year Month Wind Speed expressed in knots When you select Sea State see below wind speed is randomly calculated for each sea state level and is automatically entered If you change wind speed sea state also changes Sea State you may select sea state 0 8 These levels are based on the Beaufort scale Sea state 0 is a flat calm with a wind speed under 1 knot Sea state 8 is very rough conditions with high seas and a wind speed of 34 40 knots Wind Direction compass bearing 0 359 degrees This is the direction the wind is blowing from Rain On Off Visibility 11 40 in nighttime 41 100 in daytime Radar Conditions 0 100 modifier to radar detection ranges Zero shuts down all radar detection 10096 is normal detection Sunrise select hour and minute Sunset select hour and minute military time Start Time select hour and minute military time Game Length choose from 30 minutes to 3 hours and 30 minutes Location North Atlantic or South Pacific Air Sea Control None Force A puts Force B at risk Force B puts Force A at risk or Contested both sides at risk CREATING NEW SCENARIOS A aat 70 Create Division Screen Go to this menu tab of the Scenario Editor to create divisions for Force A and Force B You may create up to four divisions for each side However the maximum number of ships you may include in a scenario is 20 total
139. he ship moved toward the last fall of shells while the enemy gunners supposedly adjusted their range to land the next salvo farther away if the previous salvo fell short or closer if the previous WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS F 80 salvo fell over Clicking on Evasive Maneuver for your division or ship recreates this effect but there is no graphic display of the maneuver on the screen the program han dles it internally Erratic course changes also threw off the evading ship s aim Therefore your own ship s gunnery chance to hit is reduced 20 but the chance of enemy shells hitting your ship is reduced 30 see Gunnery Modifiers on page 88 To account for the curving path of the maneuver your ship s forward movement is reduced by 20 its speed is unaffected but its movement from point A to B takes longer Visibility System The visibility system simulates the difficulty of spotting targets at extreme ranges In the days before radar ships could only use optical means for detecting enemy units Intelligence gathering capabilities and unit identification similarly depended on what could actually be seen Various environmental factors such as lighting conditions had a great impact on the range at which a unit could be detected on the horizon With the advent of primitive and later advanced shipboard radar systems both ships and aircraft could be detected at ranges greater than optically possible While this extended the r
140. hips by name left clicking on the Name button would sort your ships alpha betically by name In addition there are three buttons in the center of the screen across the top which display the fleet based on one of three criteria All Ships Available Ships Displays all ships remaining in your fleet Displays only those ships which are ready to sail reinforcements Ships that have been sunk or are undergoing repairs are not listed Inactive Ships Displays only ships in repair and reinforcements The six buttons above each column sort the fleet in the following manner oot Displays the fleet alphabetically by type Mame osse Displays the fleet alphabetically by ship name Salus 52202207220 Displays the fleet by status Ready In Port Repair sub divided by type Crew Displays the fleet by Crew Quality rating highest to lowest Displays the fleet by level of Fatigue from lowest to highest Night Fighting Displays the fleet by Night Fighting rating highest to lowest Ship Data Each line of the fleet database displays several pieces of information as described pre viously The ship s type name status crew quality fatigue and night fighting rating Each line has two active functions the Type Name button and the Status button Left clicking on the Type Name button for example BB California displays FIGHTING STERUS ship viewer entry for that ship see Ship Viewer on pag
141. ich is generally thinner Plunging fire at close ranges for example at 25 of the gun s maximum range is less effective because it strikes the target s armor at a shal low angle and tends to ricochet off rather than penetrate the armor Penetration and Damage Against the same thickness of armor an HE shell has 40 of the penetrating power of an AP shell of the same weight A common shell of the same weight has 60 of the penetrating power The shell s weight and whether it penetrates or not determines the amount of damage Non penetrating hits do significantly less damage Damage Multiplier Table TYPE OF HIT SHELL TYPE PENETRATING NON PENETRATING AP 00 10 200 20 Common 000 0 0 898000 88 Punch Through Hits There is such a thing as too much penetration When a ship s armor is thin heavy shells tend to punch through both sides of the ship before exploding so most of their explosive effect is wasted In FIGHTING STEEL punch through hit can occur if the armor is 1 or less and the firing gun size is 8 or greater The heaviest shells such as those fired by battleships are most likely to punch through and AP shells are much more likely to punch through as HE shells If a hit punches through it causes only 5 of its normal damage and does not harm the ship s systems WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS iit 94 Hull Hits A shell hit on the hull must check against the target s armor belt value to determine if i
142. if they are unable to engage the principal target because it is outside their arc of fire For example if the ship s starboard secondary guns have selected an enemy ship in their arc as the principal target the port secondary guns will also fire at an enemy ship in their arc if one is present WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 90 87 BELT NE Battleline Mode Battleline mode is a quick way to spread your ships gunfire The division coordinates its fire to engage the maximum number of targets at the minimum aggregate range the program calculates all the possible combination of ranges from shooting ships to target ships and uses the smallest total Each ship fires at its target until the target becomes invalid for example contact is lost or it sinks When this occurs the ship switches its fire to the closest unengaged target or to the closest tar get if all are engaged Targets are re evaluated each time you click on Battleline Range Mode Each ship in the division fires at the target closest to it Targets are re evaluated every 10 seconds but a ship will not switch fire until a new target is more than 10 6 closer than the current one Threat Mode Each ship in the division fires at the target that poses the greatest threat to it Targets are re evaluated every 10 seconds but the ship will not switch fire unless it perceives a new target to be more than a 25 greater threat The bas
143. ile engaging Bismarck May 27 1941 When Germany invaded Poland in 1939 she was woefully unprepared to fight a major naval war with Great Britain German naval rearmament was on a schedule that called for war to begin in 1946 and in 1939 the German Navy consisted of no more than a handful of battlecruisers cruisers and destroyers The might of the Royal Navy arguably the greatest naval power on earth stood between the Kriegsmarine and the open waters of the Atlantic Given the impossible odds German strategy became one of attempting to interrupt British merchant shipping through the use of raiders that sortied indepen dently Evading the blockading British forces and working in conjunction with supply ships that hid in the vast space of the Atlantic these raiders preyed on lone merchant ships or occasionally gorged themselves on weakly escorted convoys A full fleet com mitment was made during the invasion of Norway in April 1940 but heavy losses forced the Kriegsmarine to revert to its prior strategy which it continued to pursue into 1943 Battle of the River Plate December 13 1939 When war with Britain commenced in early September 1939 the German pocket bat tleship Admiral Graf Spee was already at sea in the Atlantic Her mission was to harass the merchant shipping of Great Britain and France and she set course for the South Atlantic The Germans hoped this action would draw valuable British ships away from the North Atlantic the
144. in convoy formation It takes a relatively long time and much sea room for a convoy to execute a large change of course Transports were valuable targets and it was often the dangerous assignment of warships to escort a slow convoy of transports through unfriendly waters and protect it from harm no matter what the cost to the warships and their crews Crews A WWII warship needed hundreds of trained men to work its engines man its guns run the communications equipment and do the scores of other tasks that kept it in fighting shape Destroyers had crews of around two hundred men while some battle ships had crews of over two thousand WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 76 73 PUT NE The game rates each ship s crew by its Quality experience level ranging from elite to green Fatigue level fresh to fatigued and Night Fighting skills expert to poor Night fighting skills affect a ship s gunnery performance at night and how well the observers detect enemy ships in the dark Crew quality and fatigue affect the accuracy and rate of fire ofthe ship s guns They also affect how soon initial contacts are reported to the Bridge and how long it takes to identify the Type and Name of a visual Contact see Crew Effects on Sighting on page 82 for more details In addition crew quality and fatigue affect how rapidly fires are put out and repairs made to damaged or disabled ship systems Nati
145. inal victory is determined Air Sea Control is defined as None no effects Contested all ships subject to additional damage or one force the other force s ships are subject to additional damage Disengagement Heading To leave the battle disengage from it your ships should head in a direction that falls on or within the Disengagement Heading until they are no longer in contact with enemy ships at which point they automatically disengage Note You cannot disengage during the first 20 minutes of any scenario STARTING A GAME 16 Modifiers Multipliers to Victory Point calculations usually to balance the scenario for victory purposes Some historical scenarios have a set VP modifier for a given side In scenarios created by the Battle Generator the VP modifiers are based on the differ ence in size between the two forces as determined by ship type and number In battles you design with the Scenario Editor you may set the VP modifiers yourself Scenario Launch Screen Mission Text Computer Controlled Division User Controlled Division Camo Scroll Button Divisional Flagship Cancel Go Back to Previous Screen Division Selection The division display at the bottom of the Scenario Launch screen shows all of the war ship divisions available to your side Clicking on any ship in the division will select and highlight that division A pennant flag with the division s number appea
146. instance its rudder is jammed and it cannot turn when the rest of the division is ordered to turn Division Selection Bar To issue orders to or to check on the summary of a division you must first select it on the Division Selection Bar The number in the Division Flag indicates the currently selected division To switch to another division click on another division s number from the list below the flag If you have more than five divisions scroll buttons appear allowing you to page through the division list When playing in Division Commander mode you control only one division and you may not switch divisions When playing a multiplayer game in Standard mode you cannot switch to a division controlled by another player You cannot select such divisions from the division list When the current division is turning a broken green arrow appears by the Division Flag icon to indicate this If the current division has Evasive Maneuver selected a curvy green arrow appears in that location Ships in Current Division The first five ships of the current division are displayed in Ship Boxes to the right of the division flag Ships appear in column order with the leading ship in the left hand box If the division includes over five ships it never includes more than ten scroll but tons appear allowing you to display the second section of ships in the Ship Boxes PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 36
147. iography Boyne Walter J Clash of Titans World War II at Sea 1995 Breyer Siegfried Battleships and Battle Cruisers 1905 1970 1970 Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1906 1921 na Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1922 1946 na Cook Charles The Battle of Cape Esperance 1968 Costello John The Pacific War 1981 Edwards Bernard Salvo Classic Naval Gun Actions 1995 Frank Richard B Guadalcanal The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle 1990 Garzke Jr William amp Robert Dulin Jr Battleships United States Battleships 1935 1992 1976 Gray Edward Hitler s Battleships 1992 REFERENCE 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 120 118 117 Grove Eric Sea Battles in Close Up World War II Vol 2 1993 Hughes Wayne P Fleet Tactics Theory and Practice 1986 000 000 050 050 090 090 090 090 090 090 050 001 001 001 007 00 001 001 052 001 00 001 001 00 009 0001 0021 00711 0001 0071 0091 13 000 000 050 050 090 090 060 060 090 050 050 001 001 001 090 00 090 001 001 001 001 001 001 00 001 002 007 002 00 002 00 1915418 13uuni Magazine 1973 Lacroix Eric Linton Wells II Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War 1997 Isby David C CA Tactical Naval Warfare in the Pacific 1941 43 Strategy amp Tactics 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
148. ion allows you to change the start position of any division Help turns help text on off Menu Bar Tabs An icon menu appears above the 2D map screen Click on an icon to select that fea ture or to access a pop up selection window Grid Size Small Medium or Large The scale of the grid is shown on the map in yards Zoom Level ten different map zoom levels Type Name Toggle there are four settings Ship Type Ship Name Type amp Name or Off Scale On Off turns the grid size label On or Off Visibility Circles On Off turns the ships visibility range circles On or Off Gun Circles On Off turns the ships main gun range circles On or Off Radar Circles On Off turns the ships radar range circles On or Off Line Tool use this tool to measure the distance between ships divisions Click on any point A then move the cursor to any point B and click again The distance between the two points is shown in the Distance A to B box measured in yards Global Scenario Data Screen Click on the Overview tab of the Scenario Editor to call up the Global Scenario Data screen Here is where you input information about your new scenario or change infor mation in a previously saved scenario When you click on New in the File menu the Global Scenario Data screen automati cally opens If you are creating a new scenario input data in the sections by typing in information or by selecting options from drop down menus Scena
149. ion serves as a backup if the first is destroyed it does not provide increased illumination Recognition Lights Recognition lights are colored lights that a ship may turn on to assist in identifying it as friend or foe Recognition lights are useful when playing at the Division Commander mode to avoid being fired on by friendly ships that are not under your command and which have identified your ship as an enemy Contact only While these lights allow your friends to more rapidly recognize your ship they also make it more visible to your enemies Recognition lights can be turned on or off for individual ships or divisions Recognition lights allow you to gain greater intelligence about an unidentified ship s nationality at a greater distance The visibility modifier varies by range and the maximum range the lights can be seen is 10 000 yards They have no effect during daylight When a ship using recognition lights is sighted its nationality is immediately identified in the ID tag This may result in a Contact that lists nationality before either its Type or Name is known Each nationality has a different set of colored lights on its ships These lights are placed one on the bow one on the stern and one on each side of the superstructure USN ships have blue recognition lights RN have white IJN have orange and KM have red WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 88 85 pU ER Gun Flashes
150. ional Characteristics in FIGHTING STEEL and receives no special benefits or penalties The RN s torpedo dud rate is the standard 2096 USN United States Navy The USN placed a high value on the survivability of its ships so US warships had excel lent equipment and procedures for damage control Therefore repair times for USN ships are reduced by 30 and fires are twice as likely to shrink On the negative side USN torpedoes were notoriously ineffective during the first half of the war Therefore the USN s torpedo dud rate is an atrocious 80 in the game Battle Types and Missions The Battle Type of a scenario determines the mission objective for each force involved and its victory conditions There are five battle types in the game Meeting Engagement Bombardment Convoy Intercept and Tactical Transport WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 74 Meeting Engagement Battleline Force A mission Cause more damage to the enemy than you receive Battleline Force B mission Cause more damage to the enemy than you receive This is a classic surface battle one that the naval staffs of each nation planned to fight Destruction of enemy ships is the sole victory condition in a meeting engagement When created by the Battle Generator the two forces are roughly equal in size Bombardment Bombarding Force Force A mission Move your force to a position to bombard your objective while minimizing friendly losses and maxim
151. ip Box at the top of the panel to bring up the Single Ship Torpedoes Panel b Click on the Target List Box of the Single Ship Torpedoes Panel c Click on Konigsberg to select her as the target for Norfolk s torpedoes d Click on the starboard torpedo mount icon A Fire button appears Your torpe does should be set to run 15 000 yards at 35 knots with a Normal Spread width Click on the Fire button to launch the torpedoes You re now going to give orders to Sheffield Click on Sheffield s Ship Box or press 2 Norfolk is the first ship in the division so pressing 1 shifts the sin gle ship panel to her Pressing 2 shifts the single ship panel to the second ship in the division etc Select Konigsberg as the target for Sheffield s torpedoes and click on the starboard torpedo mount icon to activate the Fire button f Click on Wide Spread just to be different the torpedo spread will cover wider arc but the chance of hitting a ship within that wide arc is reduced Click on Fire and press P to unpause The torpedoes splash away on their paths You no longer have starboard torpe does because there are no reloads during battle You may sit back and watch events for a while but you should consider changing course and speed if you fired torpedoes at the enemy it s very possible they have done the same against you The quickest way to change course is by Auto Plot Move the cursor to the Function
152. ipment To get the game running on your computer see the installation instructions following SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To play FIGHTING STEEL be sure your system meets the following system requirements Pentium 200 MHz IBM PC or compatible 64 MB of RAM Windows 95 or 98 NOTE This is a Windows 95 game and cannot be played on Windows NT systems Multitasking is not recommended when playing FIGHTING STEEL An Uncompressed hard drive with 175MB free for the Recommended install 4X CD ROM drive or faster A 3D accelerated SVGA video adapter with 4 MB of memory and a Color SVGA Monitor A 100 Microsoft or Logitech compatible mouse Microsoft mouse driver version 9 00 or higher or Logitech mouse driver version 6 24 or higher In addition to the basic system requirements the game requires that DirectX 6 1 be installed to your hard drive The option to install DirectX 6 1 appears during the game installation For network play you need a DirectPlay compatible network adapter In order to play on the internet you will need a 28 8 modem and an account with an inter net service provider Installing the Game You must install FIGHTING STEEL game files to your hard drive and have the FIGHTING STEEL CD in your CD ROM drive to play this game or use the Scenario Builder To install the game insert the CD into the CD ROM drive When the pop up window appears click on the Install option If you have disabled the Windows Autor
153. it can be destroyed in detail If you outnumber your opponent with many smaller ships swarm the enemy with all of your ships firing barrages of torpedoes when you can If you are outnumbered hang back if possible and whittle down the enemy strength don t let them get close enough to take advantage of their numbers Tactics Torpedoes should always be your biggest fear unless the opponent is a USN force with National Characteristics turned on Don t stay on the same course for too long or you will be inviting disaster from enemy torpedoes If steaming in a long column use intermittent simultaneous turns towards or away from the enemy to cut down on the amount of time your broadsides are pre sented as a torpedo target A barrage of torpedoes fired at a long column that is moving perpendicular to the torpedoes will win most battles outright Don t waste ammo firing at ships until they are identified by Name unless you are already very close to the enemy at night Always hold your torpedoes until you have the enemy s ship name identified STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 104 101 Whenever possible maneuver to cross the enemy battleline s T This will minimize return fire by the enemy and also make it difficult for them to fire torpedoes Determine what range is best for you to engage the enemy based on torpedoes and gunnery penetration vs armor and try to stay at that range as long as possib
154. izing enemy losses Defending Force Force B Mission Prevent the enemy from reaching his bombard ment location while maximizing enemy losses and minimizing friendly losses The two forces are roughly equal in size when created by the Battle Generator The bombarding force should attempt to bombard enemy land facilities this was a typical mission for the IJN in the Guadalcanal campaign of 1942 To do so the force must reach a geographic location target circle by the end of the scenario The target circle is 10 000 yards in diameter visible on the 2D map somewhere between 20 and 30 nau tical miles ahead of the force s starting position a nautical mile is 2 000 yards Sinking the defending force on the way to the target circle is also a valid goal but the bom barding force should conserve HE and Common ammunition for the bombardment If all defending ships are sunk or disengaged the remaining bombarding ships automat ically finish their mission you don t have to move them to the target circle yourself The bombarding force receives a VP bonus equal to 40 of the VP value of the bom barding ship for each ship that reaches the target circle by the end of the scenario with at least 60 of its HE Common ammo supply remaining and operable guns The VP bonus scales down from there to 0 bonus if the ship has 10 or less of its HE or Common ammo supply remaining or no operable guns Therefore the larger the ship and the more HE ammo it
155. knots Structure green are undamaged red are damaged Each box represents 2 of the ship s structure When all boxes are damaged the ship goes out of action PLAYING THE GAME 32 Fires level of fire on board ship Flotation each box represents 5 of the ship s Flotation Point system When all boxes are flooded the ship begins to sink Range distance in yards from your ship Bearing direction the ship is from your ship expressed in compass degrees 0 degrees is North 90 degrees is East 180 degrees is South and 270 degrees is West Heading direction the ship is moving expressed in compass degrees Friendly Ships Engaging number of friendly ships in selected division firing main or secondary guns on that target Active Weapons displays whether the ship is firing its main and or secondary guns General Status indicates the general damage level of the ship No damage Light damage Medium damage Heavy damage Out of action Sinking or Sunk Division and Ship Panel The division is the basic fleet unit in FIGHTING STEEL A division may comprise 1 10 ships Each side starts with 1 4 divisions however no side may have more than 14 ships and no scenario can have more than 20 ships total At any time you may detach a ship from a division thus creating a new single ship division In some cases a damaged ship will automatically detach itself from its par ent division and become an independent division for
156. le Use evasive maneuvering especially for DDs whenever you think your gunnery will do less damage to the enemy than the expected return fire DDs should always use evasive maneuvering unless they are trying to move quickly to close the range and fire torpedoes Use smoke liberally to protect transports and crippled ships Don t give away your positions by firing prematurely if you have a visibility advantage Wait until you have all or most of your ships in position to engage the enemy and then illuminate the enemy with starshells If you have a radar contact be sure to pick tar gets for your ships before illuminating the enemy Although your ships cannot fire at a radar target they will train their turrets on the contacts saving precious time when the enemy is visually spotted If playing with the Mistaken Maneuver realism preference it is unwise to travel at speeds over 90 of your ships maximum Also it is asking for trouble to order an emergency turn at night especially when moving fast Background to Historical Scenarios Atlantic Battles 1939 1942 The surface forces are so inferior in numbers and power to those of the British fleet that even at full strength they can do no more than show that they know how to die gallantly Grand Admiral Erich Raeder C in C of the Kriegsmarine September 3 1939 Close the range get closer get close I can t see enough hits Admiral Sir John Tovey to the captain of King George wh
157. le Generator button to go to that screen and have the program create a new scenario for you Player Options Screen After selecting a scenario from the list or creating one with the Battle Generator the Player Options screen appears where you choose the nation you wish to play the diffi culty level and Standard or Division Commander mode Highlight your choices by clicking on the desired icon The flag on the left is Force A while the flag on the right is Force B To proceed click on the Check button You may also access the Preferences Settings from the Player Options screen However it is important to set your realism pref erences before you start a game because you may not change them during the game STARTING A GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 18 15 UT NE Difficulty Level Highlight the button for Ensign one stripe Lieutenant Captain or Admiral four stripes Admiral level is hardest Difficulty level affects your chances to detect and damage the enemy as well as the enemy s chances to detect and damage your ships Game Mode Highlight the Commander s Cap button to play in Division Commander mode or the Ships button to play in Standard mode In Standard mode you command all ofthe ships on one side In Division Commander mode you command only one divi sion and the program s AI controls the others Preference Settings Click on the Telegraph button to go to the Preference Settings screen f
158. lism Mistaken Maneuvers Possible When a turn is executed there is a small chance for each ship except the flagship that it may make a different turn and drop out of the division No Mistaken Maneuvers Ships never make a mistake when ordered to turn However ships with steering damage that cannot perform a given turn automatically detach from the division when the turn is executed Course Changes Realism Limited Pre Contact Course Changes If you select this option you cannot change course until an enemy ship is sighted visually or by radar the enemy could be an unidentified ship on the same side in Division Commander mode Unlimited Course Changes This option imposes no restrictions on changing course Dud Torpedoes Realism Dud Torpedoes Possible Torpedoes have a 20 chance of failing to explode per centage chance differs by nation if National Characteristics preference is active No Dud Torpedoes All torpedoes run straight and true and never dud on impact National Characteristics National Characteristics Active Each navy has some slight differences in Damage Control or gunnery If the Dud Torpedoes Possible setting is also chosen then each navy has different torpedo dud rates See page 73 for full details on National Characteristics No National Characteristics All navies use the same modifiers PREFERENCE SETTINGS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 56 53 Audio
159. ll Damage messages appear for a friendly ship when its damage level in the appropriate category is greater than 25 Medium Flooding and Medium Hull Damage messages indicate greater than 5096 damage and Heavy Flooding and Heavy Hull Damage indicate greater than 75 damage PREFERENCE SETTINGS You may change the game s preference settings for audio camera realism 3D and auto saves before loading a battle Click on the Telegraph button in the Player Options screen single player or Host Create screen multiplayer to access the Preference Settings screen During game play press the key to access Preference Settings but you may not change Realism settings after the battle has loaded The Preference Settings screen is tabbed to show five different sub screens that can be opened one at a time by clicking on the tab Game Camera Realism Audio and Random Battles Most items in the sub screens are toggle items click on an item to switch it Grayed out items are not available Game Settings The game settings are toggled ON or OFF individually Toggling 3D options ON can adversely affect the speed that the game runs on your machine 3D Options Ocean Texture On Off When OFF the ocean is one color Sky Texture On Off Adds clouds to sky when ON Smokestacks On Off Smokestacks belch smoke when ON Sea Swells On Off Ocean surface has a wavy texture when ON Rolling Ships On Off Ships lean when making turns recoil when
160. men who were chosen for their excellent night vision and equipped with nothing more than over sized binoculars STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 110 107 The attacking column of six Japanese cruisers four heavy and two light and a single destroyer was under the command of Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa The IJN ships slid by the Blue undetected and proceeded through the southern entrance The flagship in the van soon sighted the Allied force guarding this channel two cruisers one US and one Australian and two US destroyers Few on board the Allied ships knew what was happening when the Japanese cruisers launched spreads of deadly Long Lance torpe does and opened fire with their guns Massed rain clouds helped obscure the Japanese ships as they sped by leaving death and destruction in their wake The southern force was defeated and left in disarray in only seven minutes Although the Allied ships managed to fire a few shots in return the surprise and darkness hindered them and they scored no substantial hits The Australian cruiser Canberra had to be scuttled next morning and the US cruiser Chicago lost part of her bow to a torpedo hit Her captain who was in charge of the southern force that evening later committed suicide while a USN inquiry into the battle was being conducted Even before Mikawa s ships engaged the southern force they spotted the northern force of US ships consisting of three cruise
161. mn or they turned simultaneously thus going into a line of bearing It was these two formations that we kept along with the box convoy formation It was also almost unheard of during a battle to create a new division or have ships return to a division once detached Basically as a battle wore on the formations got smaller and did not regroup themselves until hours after the battle had concluded In the game there is a definite advantage to the player with only a few divisions ver sus a player forced to control many divisions unless you pause the game against a computer opponent The player with many divisions will have a harder time ordering all of the divisions while the clock continues to tick This was an unintentional but desired outcome as in real life it is more difficult to control multiple divisions of ships Another factor we wanted to simulate was the difficulty of maneuvering a division of multiple ships Locking a player into a turn once ordered was done because this is how navies acted in combat Sending signals to perform a division turn was time consum ing and if rushed or done at the wrong time could lead to ships falling out of line or worse colliding with friendly ships We do give players the benefit of the doubt in allowing them to begin a turn just as quickly as it can be entered into the computer It could take up to a minute to start a turn but we are assuming that some of the leg work is being done in advance of the
162. n the battle Scroll Compass To enable the scroll compass you must first click on the mapping mode padlock to unlock it The scroll compass works the same as in regular 2D play Zoom Level same pop up used in 2D play Map Grid same pop up used in 2D play Trail Length click on the Trail Length button and a pop up appears Click on 5 10 20 On or Off to select the trail length and close the window The numbers represent the length of the ships trails in minutes On will show the trails from the beginning of the battle For example select 10 to display ship trails for the last 10 minutes of battle WINNING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 68 65 pU EN E CREATING NEW SCENARIOS You may design your own scenarios using the Scenario Editor feature or you may have the program create scenarios for you with the Battle Generator Battle Generator The Battle Generator Menu is accessible from the Scenario Selection Menu in single player games or from the Host Create Screen in multiplayer games The default value for every category is Historical or Random To change a value click on the category s label and a pop up window appears Click on the value you desire for that category to select it and close the pop up Force A and Force B Select a nationality for each force or Random RN is Royal Navy British KM is Kriegsmarine German USN is United States Navy and IJN is Imperial Japanese Navy If
163. n a button is toggled on circles of the appropriate color are displayed on the map to show the ranges for the ships you have selected using the Filters buttons at the bot tom of the pop up see Filter Buttons on page 29 Click on the X button to close the pop up window Weapons Ranges Main Gun Max Range white circles Shows the maximum range of the ship s main guns even if all of its main guns are knocked out Secondary Gun Max Range gold circles Shows the maximum range of the secondary guns if the ship carries any even if all of its secondary guns are knocked out Torpedo Max Range aqua circles Shows the maximum range of the torpedo type carried by that ship whether any torpedoes remain on board the ship or not Note These three types of weapons information are only displayed for an enemy ship if the information level you have for it is Name level Initial Contact Ranges Battleship Initial Contact Ranges Visual limit is shown with red circles radar limit with dashed red circles The circles show the ranges that the observing ship will initially detect battleships Battlecruisers are treated as battleships for sighting purposes Cruiser Initial Contact Ranges Visual limit is shown with yellow circles radar limit with dashed yellow circles The circles show the ranges that the observing ship will initially detect cruisers or transports Destroyer Initial Contact Ranges Visual limit is shown with green ci
164. n click on the Check button 3 You wil command the Japanese force in this night battle Click on the Preferences button to open the Preference Settings screen Make any changes you wish You can also access this screen during play by clicking on the F4 tab QUICK START TUTORIAL oe 10 T of the Function Bar or by pressing F4 Click on the Check button to close Preference Settings and return to the Player Options screen Click on the Check button to proceed The Briefing Screen appears You command two divisions Division 1 consists of BC battlecruiser Kongo and CA heavy cruiser Nachi Division 2 consists of three DDs destroyers Your force is on a bombardment mission but you also need to deal with any enemy ships you encounter Click on the Check button to proceed The 3D View screen appears It s dark out there Let s go to the Environment Panel to check on weather conditions Click on the F6 tab of the Function Bar at the top of the screen or press Fe The Briefing Screen appears Click on the Environment button to open the Environment Panel This panel lists the conditions for the battle Current visibility is 40 which is the best it can be at night Radar Condition is 10096 Unfortunately your ships do not carry radar but some US ships do Click on the Back button to return to the 3D View after you are finished Let s see where your ships are on the map Click on the F1 tab of the Function Bar or
165. nS F O 30 Map Grid At the bottom of the Map Control Menu is a Map Grid button Click on this to open a pop up window You may select from the grids on the pop up to place a different sized grid overlay on the 2D map The grid allows you to plot your course with greater pre cision and helps you to see the position of your ships in relation to the enemy The scale of the grid you are using is shown in white figures on the 2D map Ship ID Tags Primary ID Tags Primary ID Identification Tags are displayed whenever you move the mouse cursor over a ship in the 2D or 3D views Moving the cursor away from the ship makes its tag disappear You can also toggle Primary ID Tags on permanently for enemy ships or for all ships on the Camera Control Panel Red ID tags represent enemy or unidentified ships blue tags represent friendly ships A Primary ID Tag displays three pieces of information about the ship The information is based on the Target Information Level of which there are three Contact Type and Name Contact Level This is the first and lowest level of information Your observers have only just sighted the ship either visually binocular icon or by radar radar antenna icon You know nothing more about the ship other than it is a contact at a certain range from your ship distance is indicated in yards Your chance of hitting a contact with guns or torpe does is reduced by 50 As time progresses your observers gain more in
166. nce and shells that penetrate the superstructure have a 5 chance Non penetrat ing hits have only a 1 chance of starting a fire WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 100 97 PEUT TE The program keeps track of the total number of fires on the ship The number of fires can grow on its own for example growing from one to two fires or shrink for exam ple falling from one to zero The higher the total number of fires the greater the chance that the total number will grow instead of shrink and the more damage the fire will do Crew quality and fatigue affects the chance of fires shrinking If the National Characteristics preference is selected the chance of fires shrinking on USN ships is doubled but the chance is halved on IJN ships Fires inflict hit point damage on the ship every minute There is also a small chance every minute that the fires will trigger an explosion A fire induced explosion causes additional damage that is about the equivalent of an 8 penetrating hit At the end of the battle the program increases Damage Control to 20096 of its cur rent level crewmen are taken off the guns to fight fires and make repairs and then determines if the fires eventually sink the ship or are put out This has an impact on final victory Torpedo Damage Torpedoes inflict flotation point damage The extent of damage is based on the tor pedo s warhead weight and is multiplied by a ra
167. ndal Stavanger Baroy Island and Trondheim Narvik fell at 08 00 on 9 April 1940 Due to the mismanagement of information and a belief on the part of the British Admiralty that the German invasion would not take place British ships were not in the best positions to intercept the invasion fleets The British intercept ships were rede ployed after the destroyer Glowworm which had left her formation to search for a man overboard encountered German destroyers and the Admiral Hipper Despite the odds against her and keen to damage the enemy Glowworm rammed Hipper and was sunk While some British ships were sent to assist Glowworm the battlecruiser Renown was ordered towards Vestfjord to intercept any enemy ships heading that way At 03 37 on April 9 in a mixture of snow and rainstorms gale force winds and high seas the Renown with ships of the 214 Flotilla of destroyers met the battlecruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst The German ships were heading north about fifty miles off the coast of Vestfjord Renown s 15 guns belched fire as she closed to 15 000 yards At 04 17 Renown scored a hit on Gneisenau which put out the main gunnery control system The battle now became a chase as the German ships fled the scene Despite only being able to use her forward turrets and in very heavy weather Renown man aged to hit the Gneisenau twice more before losing her and Scharnhorst in snow squalls One of these hits took out a forward turret For
168. ndary Guns number and type rated by bore size in inches and caliber of tube length Number of AP Common and HE shells carried Tertiary Guns number and type rated by bore size in inches and caliber of tube length CCF Close Combat Factor which is a number representing the ship s close in weapons systems typically guns below 4 bore size Mounts number of torpedo mounts on ship which ranges from 0 to 4 Tubes number of torpedo tubes on each mount which ranges from 2 to 5 Type of Fixture if centerline the mounts can fire to either side of the ship Otherwise the mounts can only fire to one side or the other Torpedo Type diameter of torpedo in inches and model designation PREFERENCE SETTINGS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 58 55 pU TE Other Ship Data Speed ship s maximum potential speed Crew number of men on board Tonnage ship s full load displacement in tons Armor maximum armor thickness in inches for Main Gun Turrets Secondary Turrets Armor Deck Armor Belt Superstructure Conning Tower Radar quality of ship s radar for given dates half year periods ranging from late 1939 to late 1942 The more green showing on the bar the better the radar quality none poor average good Hit Points how much structural damage the ship s hit point system can take before the ship goes out of action Flotation Points how much flooding damage the ship s flotation point s
169. ndom factor Torpedoes with larger warheads tend to do exponentially greater damage However the target ship s torpedo defense value may reduce or entirely cancel the damage Each ship in FIGHTING STEEL has a torpedo defense value ranging from 0 to 3 A value of 0 means it has no special defense against underwater damage If the target has a value of 1 it cancels the torpedo hit 10 of the time or if that fails it reduces the tor pedo damage by 20 A rating of 2 cancels the hit 20 of the time or reduces the damage by 30 and a rating of 3 cancels the hit 40 of the time or reduces the dam age by 40 However each torpedo that hits has a 20 chance of reducing the target s torpedo defense value by one level Besides flotation point damage a torpedo hit has a 30 chance of affecting one ship system 5 of affecting two 4 of affecting three and 1 chance of affecting four sys tems 60 chance that it affects none The systems that can be affected are Maneuver Power Propulsion and Flotation Point Collision Damage When two ships collide both suffer flotation point damage The amount of damage is based on the angle of collision relative speed and the size of the other ship If the angle of collision is below 5 degrees the two ships graze one another but cause no damage If the angle is between 5 and 15 degrees each ship suffers flotation point damage equal to 1 of the other ship s displacement size Between 15 and 30 degrees
170. ng is the most likely to generate a large battle High Score The High Score button displays a screen with the ten most recent high scores Each line displays the player name and score the nationality of player and the opponent and the difficulty level of the campaign A version of this screen appears at the end of each campaign for the player to enter their name into their list if the score is high enough Cancel This button exits to the Main Menu Continue This button proceeds with the campaign game you have set up CAMPAIGN GAME 58 Fleet Management Screen The Fleet Management screen is effectively a fleet database for viewing information about ships under your command assigning ships to various duties and evaluating your performance in the campaign so far In the upper left corner are the flags of the opponents with the human player always appearing to the left and the computer player always appearing on the right In the upper right corner is a panel listing the current turn the ending date of the campaign and your victory point total Fleet Database Your pool of ships or fleet appears across the center of the screen in columns and display each ship s type name status crew quality fatigue and night fighting capa bility The legend icon at the top of each column is actually a button that allows you to sort the ships in your fleet by that particular function For example if you wanted to sort your s
171. of campaign you wish to play a Historical Campaign or a Fantasy Campaign CAMPAIGN GAME aie 56 Random Factor This setting adjusts how much of a random factor is applied when the computer deter mines a type of mission for each battle during every campaign When set to 0 there is no deviation from historical percentages of mission type In other words RN missions have the greatest probability of being convoy missions or meeting engagements while the IJN missions have a greater emphasis on bombard ment missions At the highest level of Random Factor setting missions are not weighted historically at all so any type of mission can be assigned at any time The Random Factor setting is changed by left clicking on the button each click increases the degree of change until the maximum is reached when the setting resets to 0 Location The location selection is only available when playing a fantasy campaign since his torical campaigns take place in historical locations The main effect of selecting a particular location is to alter weather conditions which in turn affects lighting and vis ibility during any given battle generated during the campaign Difficulty Difficulty levels can be set to one of four different settings represented by the number of stripes on the sleeve Left clicking on the one stripe button selects the Ensign level of play left clicking on the four stripe button selects the Admiral level
172. of the target s length selecting a wide spread increases it to 200 A narrow spread increases the chances of multiple hits on the tar get but a wide spread is useful if you expect the target to alter course or speed after launch All mounts fired at the same time are included in a single spread Attack Several factors are evaluated at the time of torpedo launch to tell you how good a shot you are taking The program gives you an estimation of the chance to hit assuming the target maintains its current speed and course based on the information that the tor pedo mount crew has about the target The less reliable the information the greater the chance that the crew chooses an inaccurate interception point For the most effec tive chance of a hit you want the run time in seconds to the target to be as short as possible Therefore you should try to close the range and choose a fast speed setting to your torpedoes A target that is dead in the water is a sitting duck whereas a tar get destroyer steaming over 30 knots is going to be much harder to hit One of the most important factors is the information level that the firing ship has on the target at launch the chance of hitting a Contact target is reduced by 50 and the chance of hitting a Type target is reduced by 25 This reduction is applied even if the information level changes before the torpedo reaches its target or if some other ship beside the original target is struck by the spread
173. on Single Ship Torpedoes Panel Torpedo Range Speed Spread Width Mounts Chance to Hit You may only issue torpedo launch orders at the single ship level To access the panel for the currently selected ship by hot key press T There are three decisions to make before you fire a ship s torpedoes choose target choose spread width and choose mounts to fire You must choose the target before you can choose the mounts to fire PLAYING THE GAME mec iN 42 Target A target pop up window appears when you click on the Target List Box which includes all targets even those outside your maximum torpedo range Select one tar get from the list Displayed below the Target List Box are percentage factors that estimate the chance to hit thus providing an idea of how good a shot you are taking These include target aspect target speed and target range The ideal target has a broad aspect slow speed and short range However these chance to hit factors assume that the target maintains its current heading and speed Enemy Ships Player s Ships Targets Torpedo Range Speed Depending on its type a torpedo has one to three range speed settings The program automatically chooses the range speed setting that will reach the estimated interception point with the target which assumes the target maintains its course and speed You may not change the range speed setting Torpedoes are harm less durin
174. on View toggle button or press Z The camera moves in closer to Norfolk because you just switched from a camera view that focuses on the whole division to one that focuses on a single ship b Click twice on the Previous button or press t twice The camera revolves 45 degrees each time so now you have a broadside view of Norfolk s starboard CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT QUICK START TUTORIAL 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 10 7 UT E Would you like to open fire or would you rather wait just kidding Press F2 to bring back the Division Pane at the bottom of the screen This is the panel where you give orders to your division or even to individual ships and check on their status Click on the Main Guns button The Main Guns Summary Panel appears Norfolk is armed with eight 8 main guns while Sheffield carries a dozen 6 main guns Click on the Orders button or press M a The Division Main Guns Panel appears There are two or three targets out there and you ve got two ships in your division Click on the Battleline target ing mode button at the bottom left corner of the panel This orders your ships to fire their main guns at separate targets Highlight the Auto Select Ammo button to let the program select your ammo type or choose your own Press P to unpause the game Watch the main gun turrets on your ships swivel to star board to face the enemy after which they open fire b L
175. on the Gunnery Data Display button for information on the main guns chance to hit and penetrate the target s armor This shows the percentage chance of the shells striking as direct or plunging fire It also lists the armor thickness in inches that the shells can pen PLAYING THE GAME 44 etrate at the current range for direct and plunging fire The base hit percentage is shown and the final hit percentage after all modifiers are applied The current adjusted actual reload time and base reload time for the guns are indicated If the target information is at Name level the target s armor values as shown on the Ship Viewer are also displayed Single Ship Secondary Guns Panel This panel works identically to the Single Ship Main Guns Panel but for secondary guns However some smaller warships do not carry secondary guns Single Ship Illumination Panel Instead of issuing illumination orders at the division level you may issue them at the single ship level Bring up the Illumination Panel for the selected ship You may choose up to two targets each for your ship s starshells and searchlights If you want to return the ship s illumination orders to division control highlight the Division Control button Starshells Highlight the Starshell button to order starshells then click on one of the Target List Boxes A pop up window appears listing all possible targets for your starshells Select one To assign a second targe
176. onal Characteristics The navies represented in FIGHTING STEEL had relative advantages or disadvantages based on their equipment and procedures that had nothing to do with the quality of their crews Click on the National Characteristics preference to enable these charac teristics the torpedo dud rates characteristics are only used if you also select Dud Torpedoes Possible preference IJN Imperial Japanese Navy Because Japanese warrior spirit and training emphasized the offense over the defense IJN ships often neglected damage control procedures and equipment Therefore repair times for IJN ships are increased by 30 and fires on their ships are half as likely to shrink However the IJN did have the most advanced torpedoes of any nation in WWII so its torpedo dud rate is only 1096 KM Kriegsmarine German ships had superior optics for rangefinding and often straddled their targets after a few salvos Therefore KM ships receive a 20 gunnery modifier However KM ammunition had a higher than normal failure rate so the chances of duds for KM shells is 30 as opposed to 10 for other navies Furthermore the KM experienced difficulties with its torpedoes at the start of the war although it made improvements as the war progressed Its torpedo dud rate is 60 in 1939 50 in 1940 40 in 1941 and 3096 in 1942 RN Royal Navy The Royal Navy includes British Australian New Zealand and Canadian ships It serves as the touchstone for Nat
177. onnection is made whether by TCP IP or IPX the Select Session screen appears listing all sessions that are currently open to new players Click on a session to select it then click on the Check button to proceed to that session s Lobby Area screen Host Create Screen To create a new session you must first type in a session name for it Press Enter or click on the Check button to proceed to the Host Create screen Battles Created with Scenario Editor Standard Mode Historical Scenarios L E zum bvision Commander Mode Scenario Description Cancel List of Scenarios NEL Starting Number of Warship Divisions for Force Force B Nationality Start Game Preference Settings Mode In the Host Create screen choose to play in Division Commander mode each player controls one division only or Standard mode by highlighting the Commander s Cap or the Ships button respectively Number of Players Select the number of human players you want for each side The current number selected is highlighted A game may have no more than 4 players total To increase the number of players on one side you may have to decrease the number of players on the other side first The total number of players selected deter mines what scenarios are available on the lists For example if you set the game for 4 players the River Plate scenario will not appear on the historical scenario list because it only has 3 divisions
178. opponent before you or they are likely to make visual contact Know Your Ships and Know Your Enemy When beginning a battle it is important that you know the strengths and weaknesses of your ships First make sure you know which of your ships have torpedoes then decide on a range at which you think they would best be used Japanese torpedoes can be the single most important factor in a battle as they have incredible range seldom are defective and they carry a very destructive warhead If you are playing as the Japanese especially at night your main goal should be to fire off a barrage of torpedoes so wide and dense that the enemy will be unable to avoid them all If you are playing as the USN and using the National Characteristics preference you can almost forget torpedoes as an effective weapon Focus instead on using your radar advantage to maneuver to cross the enemy s T cross in front of the enemy s bow or stern illuminating the enemy with starshells and searchlights once this position has been gained Be careful to turn away from any likely torpedo attack It is much better to sacrifice some gunnery in order to keep your ships from being hit broadside by a spread of Japanese torpedoes For the Germans torpedoes are a possible option especially later in the war but you need to close to within 8 000 yards to consider using them The British with slower torpedoes need to come even closer to their intended victims before firing During
179. option is disabled Torpedo Plot Camera On Off Default ON Overrides your current camera mode to track your torpedo attack order entry If you fire torpedoes the camera moves to view the firing sequence pans to the firing direction and then exits this mode to return to its previous settings This mode is always an immediate camera transition In Manual camera mode this option is disabled Camera Transitions Immediate Fluid Automatic Default Automatic You can tog gle through three options to decide how the camera will move from one location to another You can only select one of these options at one time Fluid transitions move the camera to its new position in a series of incremental steps Immediate transitions move the camera immediately to its new position with no intermediate steps Automatic transitions combine the actions of both Fluid and Immediate using Fluid whenever moving the camera less than 4 000 yards and Intermediate whenever mov ing over 4 000 yards Forced Auto Camera On Off Default ON When switched ON the game view auto matically switches to the 3D display whenever an auto camera event is being shown At the conclusion of the event the game view switches back to the 2D screen if the player had been in 2D mode While an auto camera event is being displayed in 3D you may override it and return immediately to the 2D screen by pressing the key Auto Camera Events Click on this button to open a window that lists the e
180. or complete information about Preference Settings see page 49 Leaving that screen returns you to Player Options Scenario Launch Screen The Scenario Launch screen appears after proceeding from Player Options You may return to Player Options by clicking on the Back button The text display at the top of the screen identifies the scenario s name date and the following information Begins Time of day the scenario starts expressed in 24 hour military time Ends Two ending times are listed The scenario may randomly end at the first time 15 minutes later or at the final listed time which is 30 minutes after the first time Mission Type of mission your side is on which is based on the type of battle being fought Each side also called force has a different mission for any given battle type See page 73 for more information about Battle Types and Missions BATTLE TYPE FORCE A MISSION FORCE B MISSION Meeting Engagement __ Bombardment Bombarding Force Defending Force Convoy Escorting Force Attacking Force Intercept Intercepting Force Evading Force Tactical Transport Transporting Force Patrolling Force Mission Objective What your side should try to accomplish in the battle Location Hemisphere and ocean Air Sea Control Which force controls the waters where the battle occurs Air Sea Control has a significant impact on the survival of ships especially damaged ones after the end of the battle but before f
181. ore the sea state affects its reload time If the fall of shot is over or short of the target the time delay before the next salvo is 1 5x the shell flight time to target or 1 5x the reload time whichever is longer This policy conserves ammunition while fire control adjusts its calculation As soon as a salvo straddles the target the rate of fire immediately increases until it reaches the maximum allowable given the reload time under those crew and sea state conditions WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 88 Changing targets causes delay in being able to fire Your guns will not fire at the new target until they train on it or until twice the reload time has passed modified by crew quality and crew fatigue whichever is longer Blocked Line of Fire A ship will not fire at its target if the line of fire between firing ship and target ship is blocked by another ship An intervening ship friendly or enemy that is within 1 000 yards of the firing ship will block the line of fire Similarly an intervening friendly ship but not enemy that is within 1 000 yards of the target ship will block line of fire Gunnery Modifiers Range to target as a percentage of the gun s maximum range is the base factor in deter mining a firing ship s chance to hit This hit chance is then affected by several other factors which are itemized below as firing ship and target ship modifiers These mod ifiers a
182. ou want all ships in the division to turn at the same time which results in a line of bearing formation instead of a column formation When the selected division is in line of bearing the Column Turn button becomes a Reform Column button Click on this button to order a new course that will return the ships to column formation The divi sion can reform column in one of two directions which are 180 degree opposites Emergency Turn In an emergency situation you may want your ships to turn on a tighter diameter than normal Highlight the Emergency Turn button to order this The division then makes its turn on a diameter that is 75 of normal For example if the division s turning diameter is 600 yards it will turn on a 450 yard diameter instead However there is a 1 chance for each ship in the division that it will jam its steering in that direction until its damage control parties can repair it A ship with jammed steering will very likely fall out of formation Execute Turn or Cancel When you are satisfied with the turning orders you have entered click on the Execute Turn button to begin the turn or click on the Cancel button to erase the orders If you click on Execute Turn a padlock icon appears indicating that you cannot change the order or enter a new one for that division until the lead ship has finished its turn If turning in column you cannot issue a line turn order until all ships have finished the column turn A Turning icon also
183. our side Difficulty Levels Select from four difficulty settings to make the game easier or more challenging The levels range from Ensign beginner to Admiral expert level Unlimited Scenarios The game includes 12 Historical Scenarios plus Campaign games of linked battles in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters You can design your own bat tles with a Scenario Editor that includes over 90 classes of warships 1 000 individual ships or use the game s Battle Generator to create an unlimited number of computer generated scenarios to provide hundreds of hours of non repetitive game play Player Preferences An extensive Preferences list allows you to make changes to real ism effects camera audio and other game settings If you have been waiting for a 3D WWII naval surface game FIGHTING STEEL is it INTRODUCTION _______________ Getting Started If you want to get a quick start refer to the Tutorial section of the manual which begins on page 6 It provides a step by step battle plan to familiarize you with the screens and basic features of a FIGHTING STEEL scenario If however you prefer to familiarize yourself with the game as whole turn to the GameOverview section on page 12 What Comes with this Game Your game box should contain this user manual and a FIGHTING STEEL CD This user manual explains how to play and contains important information on menus scenar ios and unit classes and equ
184. per minute the ship can reduce its speed PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 38 35 pU NE Main Guns Summary Panel Gun Type number and type of main guns See the Gun Data Table on page 123 for a complete list of gun types All warships carry main guns Target 1 name of first target for the ship s main guns Hit Chance the likelihood of hitting target 1 expressed as a percentage Target 42 name of second target for the ship s main guns Hit Chance the likelihood of hitting target 42 expressed as a percentage Director 1 Active Off line Damaged or Destroyed Each warship has two gun direc tors for fire control The accuracy of the ship s guns is seriously reduced if one or worse both directors are not operating normally Active The ship s crew automati cally attempts to repair a damaged director or a damaged electrical system that has knocked the director off line Director 2 see above AP COM HE Ammo0 remaining number of shells for that ship s main guns in those types AP is Armor Piercing good against armored targets COM is Common used by guns under 5 9 caliber HE is High Explosive good against unarmored targets Secondary Guns Summary Panel Sec Gun Type number and type of secondary guns See the Gun Data Table on page 126 for a complete list of gun types Not all ships carry secondary guns Target 1 name of first target for the ship s secondary guns
185. ply 60 70 speed 1 70 80 speed 2 90 100 speed 4 Emergency Turn The percentage chance of a mistaken maneuver after all modifiers have been applied is doubled Division Formations Handling ships in strict division formation may seem rigid or too parade like to some people but a group of WWII warships needed to concentrate in a tight group to pro ject its offensive power to maximum effect Rigid formations also allowed the commander to maintain better control of the group which was essential during bat tle When you gather many ships that are the size of small islands into a limited area and each of them needs extensive room to turn or stop then a rigid formation is the only way to avoid collisions This naval custom of warship formations dates back for millennia and has changed only to accommodate technological improvements in ship propulsion communication and weapon systems The maximum speed of a division is the maximum speed of the slowest ship in it The acceleration rate deceleration rate and turn rate of a division are one level below that of the worst ship in the division to reflect how each ship must make slight adjustments to keep station within the division This rule does not apply to single ship divisions obviously Column Formation Division in Column r I 1 1 1 1 1 I L LAERT yea Ships in column formation are lined up front to back and play follow th
186. press 1988 REFERENCE REFERENCE 120 0 000 00 00 00 000 00 0 00000 008 00 wodsue 0 000 000 00 000 000 000 0 9UON 9UON 9UON 00091 009 00 524 0 050 000 001 050 050 8 1 2 8 089 99 0872 0098 ounb 0 0 00 050 00 001 00 00 z THX 05 5XG 0961 00 6 00 0 050 050 000 050 050 050 z 1 2 9 Sp Srl 00 0 050 50 000 00 050 060 z 309 49 L2 X 9 9UON 9UON Sp 0591 00 02 azeysulN 04 0 050 50 000 060 050 060 0 JEA 49 12 X 9 Sp 00 12 amyuey 00 0 00 50 000 001 00 050 8 TWX 9UON 9UON 05 5 9 00 00 obey 00 0 050 050 000 01 050 050 2 11 72 9 089 96 2081 009 2 meynseH 0 0 050 050 00 001 050 050 z TabeX6 05 5 9 6962 00 9 ad 0 050 000 001 050 050 8 T1 v2x8 9UON 05 6X 9 02 00 ad 0 00 00 00 01 00 oso 8 999 6 X8 00 8 005 95 aa 0 050 050 000 001 0590 050 c 1 2 6 059 9 9 0961 00 62 asov ad 0 oof 60 000 OO 001 0 8 Tex 9UON 9UON 05 55 9 00700 05 06 19 0 qul am QN JEA 49 LZ X 9 070 XZ 089 55 oser 00 70 0 090 050 00 050 001 0 T1 v2x8 9UON 0v XZ 05 56 0014 00 08 mpeg 19 0 060 50 060 51 os
187. radar Advanced radar systems are used to assist in gunnery see Gunnery Modifiers on page 88 However your ships may never fire at radar only tar gets The US Navy did not begin using radar to fire at unseen targets until very late in 1942 Radar directed fire at that time was quite ineffective because they could not see the fall of their shells to adjust the fire accordingly Standard Radar Detection Ranges in Yards OBSERVER TARGET BB BC CA CL TR DD OG NE rc MN CACR re 00 38 250 34 425 32 513 The quality of the radar affects these ranges Good radar produces 90 of the theoretical standard so it achieves initial radar detection at 81 of range 90 for good multiplied by 90 for initial and loses contact if the target exceeds 99 90 for good multiplied by 110 for maximum detection range Average radar produces 60 of the theoretical stan dard and bad radar produces 30 Sea state as measured on the Beaufort Scale affects radar transmission and reception high waves caused interference and the radar aerials were not gyro stabilized Sea states 0 to 2 cause no effect Radar ranges are reduced by 10 in sea state 3 17 in sea state 4 24 in sea state 5 and 30 in sea state 6 Radar is shut off in sea states 7 and higher Furthermore rain reduces radar ranges by 30 Ground Clutter Even though no land is shown in the game effects of land proximity are accounted for in the radar condition v
188. rate Through the period covered in this game 1939 1942 US tor pedoes were notoriously ineffective Therefore the USN s dud rate is 80 The IJN had WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS NENNT 92 the best torpedoes so its dud rate is only 1096 The RN s dud rate 15 20 The Kriegsmarine experienced serious problems with its torpedoes at the start of the war but it made improvements year by year Its rate of duds is 60 in 1939 50 in 1940 4096 in 1941 and 3096 in 1942 Damage System Every successful hit on a target causes some damage A shell causes an amount of damage based directly on its weight For example a US 16 AP shell that penetrates the target s armor inflicts 2 700 damage points Torpedoes inflict damage based on their warhead weights see Torpedo Damage on page 97 for more about how torpedo damage is calculated Damage accumulates as Hit Points structural damage or Flotation Points flotation damage Hits can also start fires and ship systems can be critically affected or destroyed Enough damage or perhaps a catastrophic hit will cause the ship to sink Hit Points Each ship has a hit point value which represents how much structural damage it can take before it is put out of action A ship s hit point value is based on its full load dis placement Thus the Yamato which has a full load displacement of 69 990 tons requires 69 990 hit points to knock it out of action A ship s close in weapon system is
189. rcles radar limit with dashed green circles The circles show the ranges that the observing ship will initially detect destroyers The circles represent initial contact When you are looking for a contact on the hori zon it often takes a while before you can spot anything The contact may be a little nearer than maximum visibility allows for when you actually spot it so the circles rep PLAYING THE GAME F 28 resent 90 of your standard detection range you have spotted contact and know where to look you can still see it even if it moves to the point of maximum range which is 110 of your standard detection range Your ship s radar range depends on type of radar quality and current radar condi tions The enemy s radar ranges are never shown Note An enemy ship s observing ranges are only shown if the information level you have on that ship is Type or Name level During night battles the ranges given for enemy observers assume they have average night fighting ability so their true obser vation range may be more or less Map Display Info Projected Paths Displayed Button Projected Path Based on Time Increments Enemy Ships Firing Torpedo Cones Friendly Ships Firing Smoke Screens Displayed Ship Names Display Button Close Pop Up Window Filter Buttons The second icon an orange arrow opens up the Map Display Info pop up window From this window you can toggle on and off Projected Path Friendly
190. re percentage increases positive or percentage decreases negative of the chance to hit Their effects are cumulative but the total modifier applied to the base chance to hit may never be worse than 80 For example if the base chance to hit with a particular gun at a given range is 5 and the total gunnery modifier to that per centage is 80 then the modified chance to hit is 1 8096 of 5 is 4 and 5 4 1 Firing Ship Gunnery Modifiers Ship Type Larger ships make steadier gun platforms BB 20 BC 15 CA 0 CL 5 DD 10 Secondary Guns A ship s main guns were equipped with the best fire control and its secondary guns were poorly equipped by comparison Therefore secondary guns receive a 40 modifier Main Fire Control Main guns have two Directors When the first is knocked out the main guns suffer a 10 penalty If both directors are knocked out the main guns suffer 50 penalty There is no additional penalty if the ship is firing at more than one target Nationality KM 20 USN RN and 0 Kriegsmarine ships had superior optics for rangefinding and often straddled their targets after a few salvos This modifier only applies when the National Characteristics preference is used Crew Quality Elite 20 veteran 10 average 0 green 20 Crew Fatigue Fresh 0 normal 10 tired 20 fatigued 40 Salvo Count A battery s initial salvos at a new target tend to be off and require adjust ment by fire control
191. reduced by a direct percentage of its hit point damage and its reload time for all guns is increased by a direct percentage of its hit point damage A ship that is out of action 100 hit point damage cannot operate any of its systems or perform any actions If it was moving it decelerates to zero knots and becomes dead in the water Any hit point damage beyond 100 is converted instead to flotation point damage at a 2 1 ratio An out of action ship does not sink until its flotation point damage reaches 10096 Flotation Points Each ship has a flotation point value which represents how much flooding it can take before sinking A ship s flotation point value equals one half of its hit point value For example the Yamato can take 34 995 flotation points of damage before sinking A ship s maximum speed is reduced by a percentage equal to one half of its flotation point damage percentage For example if the ship has suffered 20 flotation point damage its maximum speed is reduced 10 In addition at the 26 flotation damage threshold the ship s turn rate is reduced one level and its acceleration and decelera tion rates are reduced by one level It suffers these same reductions again at the 5096 and 75 damage thresholds At 100 flotation point damage the ship starts to sink Shell Hit Location When a ship is straddled and hit its range and aspect to the firing ship determine the location of the hits The range to the target is compared
192. rents Sea battle ships sunk and damaged men killed and wounded there was a strategic effect for the German surface fleet Hitler totally lost faith in it In the remaining years ofthe war the navy would find itself low down on the priority ladder when it came to sharing out the increasingly short supplies needed to maintain the war effort STAFF BRIEFING 106 Pacific Battles The Guadalcanal Campaign 1942 In the finest tradition of the Imperial Navy we shall engage the enemy in night battle Every man is expected to do his utmost Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa s message to his force before the Battle of Savo Island August 8 1942 O ur entire superiority was due almost entirely to our possession of radar Certainly we have no edge on the Japs in experience skill training or performance of personnel Rear Admiral Willis Lee after the Second Battle of Guadalcanal Bolstered by its stunning carrier victory at Midway in June 1942 the United States has tened to retake some of the Pacific islands that Japan had conquered in the first eight months of war On August 7 the US 15 Marine Division invaded Guadalcanal Island in the Solomons chain occupying an enemy air strip that was nearing completion and which threatened the Allied supply line from America to Australia Thus began an arduous naval air and land campaign for a jungle island heretofore unknown to most Americans and Japanese that would last into early 1943 and resul
193. rier Ark Royal launched a torpedo strike at the Bismarck but the aircraft attacked the friendly cruiser Sheffield by mis take causing no damage A second torpedo strike at 19 10 however resulted in serious hits to Bismarck Her rudder was jammed 12 degrees to port and a previous list made worse Because of her jammed rudder Bismarck was now heading north towards British forces A division of five British destroyers commanded by Captain P L Vian in Cossack was ordered to harass her until the battleship force led by Admiral Sir John Tovey in King George V could attack the next day The destroyers launched 16 torpedoes dur ing the night with perhaps two or three hits resulting disputed while many near misses from the Bismarck s guns troubled the destroyers in return By the time of the final battle on May 27 Bismarck was a wounded bull in a British arena damaged unmaneuverable with an exhausted crew and surrounded by two battleships King George V and Rodney and two cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire Though her gunfire often straddled her enemy targets Bismarck failed to score a direct hit Ship after ship fired on her with guns and torpedoes until at 10 15 STAFF BRIEFING 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 108 105 Bismarck s guns were silent and the action was called off Dorsetshire then fired four torpedoes to finish her and whether the two that hit or the Bismarck s own scuttling charges did the jo
194. rio Title the title you type in is automatically used as the file name when you save the scenario Description you may type in a description for the scenario Mission Type select Meeting Engagement Bombardment Convoy Intercept or Tactical Transport Mission Objective for Force A Force B when you select Mission Type your Mission Objective is automatically entered You cannot alter this Objective as it is linked to the Mission Type You can change which side takes which objective CREATING NEW SCENARIOS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 72 69 ___ Nation select which navy will be force and which will be force B The same navy may fight itself Disengagement Heading Force A Force B choose a compass bearing from 0 359 degrees This is the center point of the disengagement heading for that force The actual disengagement band will be plus and minus 20 degrees from the center point Exceptional Victory Point Modifiers Force A Force B default is 1 but you may input 0 01 to 99 99 That side s Victory Points are multiplied by the value to determine the Final Victory Point Total Environmental Controls Window Click on the Environmental Controls button of the Global Scenario Data screen to pop up a window where you can change the scenario s time settings weather conditions and Air Sea Control To change a setting click on it and a pop down menu appears from which you make your selection To close t
195. rs and two destroyers Rather than pro ceeding on to attack the transports at Lunga Roads the Japanese ships turned northeast to deal with this second cruiser force Again they found the Allied ships unprepared and slow to react but the Japanese organization also became unraveled as the light cruisers followed a different course than the one taken by Mikawa in the van ship Chokai The US northern force failed to receive the few warnings sent it and made wrong assumptions about the flashes of gunfire to the south and the sounds of detonations that traveled through the water Japanese searchlights snapped on illuminating the US ships long enough for the gunners to achieve hits that then set fires on board the tar gets illuminating them further In 30 minutes Japanese torpedoes and gunfire wreaked complete havoc on the northern force The cruisers Quincy and Vincennes sank within an hour while Astoria lingered on until noon After defeating the northern force Mikawa chose to leave the area by the northern channel rather than change course for the transport anchorage He needed time to regroup his scattered ships and he feared US carrier air attacks at dawn He was later censured for retiring from the battle too soon but his victory if not complete was the result of his boldness Japanese training and Allied mismanagement the flag officer and his ship RAN Australia was at Lunga Roads and missed the battle The USN suf fered its worst de
196. rs by the flag ship of each division If the division includes more ships than those shown click on the scroll buttons to move through the list In Division Commander mode the highlighted division always displays the Commander s Cap indicating that you currently control that division while the pro gram controls the others which are indicated by computer monitor icons however you may not select a transport division to command Highlighting a division allows you to change the camouflage scheme of that division s ships Click on the camo scroll buttons to cycle through the swatch list of camo schemes When you click on the Check button you begin play with the division you have high lighted See Playing the Game on page 19 Multiplayer Game From the Main Menu click on Multiplayer to start or join a multiplayer game A mul tiplayer game may accommodate two to four human players Type in your player name in the first screen Press Enter or click the Check button to proceed Select TCP IP Internet to play over the Internet Select IPX to play on a Local Area Network LAN STARTING A GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 20 17 If a connection type is not available it is grayed out Select Create if you want to host a new game Select Join if you want to join someone else s game If you join by way of a TCP IP connection a screen appears for you to enter your Host IP address Once a c
197. rting force contains DD only divisions though IJN divisions may include CLs The transporting ships are encumbered with a cargo of supplies which handicaps their gunnery and damage modifiers To unload its supplies an encumbered ship must first reach the target circle which is 10 000 by 10 000 yard square visible on the 2D map approximately 10 to 15 nautical miles ahead of the force s starting position a nautical mile is 2 000 yards After reaching the target circle the ship must reduce speed to 10 knots or less and not maneuver so as to drop the supplies and become unencumbered The transporting force receives a 5096 VP bonus for each of its ships that becomes unencumbered the bonus is based on the ship s own VP value Both sides receive VPs for the destruction of enemy ships If all patrolling ships are sinking out of action or disengaged the remaining transporting force is automatically considered to finish its task you won t have to move the ships to the target circle yourself Movement System Every ship in FIGHTING STEEL is rated for maximum speed acceleration deceleration and turning but the principal maneuver unit in FIGHTING STEEL is the division A divi sion comprises one or more ships and they can be of different classes or even different types The ships of a division move in synchronization either by following the course of the leading ship in the division column formation or by paralleling the course of
198. s and torpedo mounts automatically penetrate The aspect of the target may limit which guns are hit by direct fire For direct fire hits to main guns only those turrets whose arcs of fire take in the firing ship may be hit Thus if the target s bow faces your firing ship only its forward turrets could be hit and if its stern faces your firing ship only its aft turrets could be hit by direct fire Similarly direct hits to secondary and tertiary turrets can only affect the turrets on the side of the target facing the firing ship Plunging fire is not restricted in this manner A destroyed turret can be hit again and such a hit causes hit point damage but it does not affect other undestroyed turrets In addition to turret destruction and hit point damage there is a 2 chance that pen etrating weapon hit will destroy a main magazine If a main magazine is destroyed the ship has a 50 chance of immediately sinking due to a catastrophic explosion Otherwise the magazine is flooded and can no longer service the turrets linked to it WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 98 95 Superstructure Hits A shell hit on the superstructure must check against the target s superstructure armor value to determine if it penetrates Any damage inflicted whether penetrating or not counts as hit point damage There is also a 15 chance that the hit will affect one of the ship s systems
199. sible to use Auto Plot again Divisions maneuver in such a way as to maintain their current formation when given orders through Auto Plot that is ships in Column Formation plot a column turn while ships in Line Formation plot a simultaneous turn You can override an auto plotted course by making changes on the Navigation Panel providing you haven t already clicked the Execute Plot button When you leave the Navigation Panel for a different one Auto Plot is automatically switched off but it is turned on again if you return to the Navigation Panel If you had set a new heading that heading is still plotted Range Circles and Map Display Info There are two icons in the space below the Auto Plot button a green circle and an orange arrow Click on the green circle icon to open a pop up window for Range Circles click on the orange arrow icon to open a pop up window for Map Display Info PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 30 27 Range Circles Window Secondary Gun Max Range Main Gun Max Range Torpedo Max range Cruiser Initial Contact Ranges Battleship Initial Contact Ranges Current Ship Filter All Ships Filter Button Destroyer Initial Contact Ranges All Enemy Ships and Unidentified Ships Filter Close Pop Up Window Selected Division Filter All Friendly Ships Filter In the Range Circles pop up window click on a button to toggle it on highlight or off Whe
200. sion Data Click on this button of the Create Division screen to edit the following Heading compass bearing 0 359 degrees Formation Column Line of Bearing or Convoy Spacing distance between ships measured in yards Speed starting speed of division measured in knots Positioning a Division Click on the Keep Division button to lock in your selections and return to the map screen The mouse cursor changes to a cross Click anywhere on the map to position your division To relocate a division on the map go to the Reposition Division tab on the top menu and select the division you want to relocate The cursor changes to a cross Click this anywhere on the map to reposition your division CREATING NEW SCENARIOS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 74 7 PUT TE Edit Ship Window To edit a ship s crew and radar ratings pull down the Edit Ship tab on the top menu and select the ship whose ratings you wish to change A ship data window for that ship appears Click on Save or Cancel to close the pop up after making any changes to the crew and radar quality that you desire Crew Quality Green Average Veteran or Elite Crew Fatigue Fresh Normal Tired or Fatigued Night Training Poor Average Good or Expert Radar Quality None Poor Average or Good B WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS The previous sections of the manual describe the basics of playing the game This sec tion provides information
201. sive maneuvers when it turns the turning effect overrides the evasive maneuvering effect When the turn is com pleted the evasive maneuvering effect resumes Sea State Using the Beaufort Scale of sea state there is no effect for sea states 0 or 1 Sea state 2 20 sea state 3 and 4 30 5 40 6 50 and 7 and 8 60 DDs take the full impact of the sea CLs and CAs receive 5 modifier and BCs and BBs receive a 10 modifier these bonuses do not apply for sea states 0 and 1 Target Ship Gunnery Modifiers Size The smaller the target length times beam the harder it is to hit Evasive Maneuvering 30 ignored if target turning Multiple Firing Ships When multiple ships fire at the same target at great distances it is often difficult for fire control spotters to pick out their own ship s salvo splashes from the others Gunfire is therefore modified by 10 for 2 ships 15 for 3 ships 20 for 4 ships and 25 for 5 or more ships firing on the same target Larger shells create larger waterspouts which helps in identifying salvos from different sized guns Therefore guns below 5 9 bore which fire common ammunition only interfere with other guns of that size guns of 11 bore or greater only interfere with other heavy guns and medium guns 5 9 to under 11 only interfere with other medium guns This modifier does not affect a ship firing within 40 of its guns maximum range Aspect A target steaming directly toward or a
202. ssibly result in some ships not executing the order correctly Because of this division commanders were hesitant to interrupt a maneuver in progress with another maneuver so the game does not allow it However it is relatively easy for ships in column formation to play follow the leader so you may issue a new course to the lead ship of a column after it completes a turn even if the tailing ships have not finished the maneuver Turning Rate Each ship class in the game has been assigned a turning rate based on its basic type BB which includes BC CA which includes CL DD and TR Except for transports each ship class is rated as nimble standard or sluggish within its type Destroyers have the best turning rate defined by diameter in yards followed by cruisers Battleships are poor turners by comparison and transports are the worst The speed of the vessel also affects its turn rate with lower speeds permitting a tighter diameter and higher speeds requiring a greater one The percentage of a ship s flotation point damage may increase its turn rate as well see Flotation Points on page 92 For exam ple an undamaged nimble DD steaming at 15 knots may turn 180 degrees along a 500 yard diameter but a sluggish BB with 26 flotation point damage and steaming at 25 knots would complete a 180 degree turn on a 1 500 yard diameter Clicking on the Hard Emergency Turn icon on the Navigation Panel reduces the turning diame ter to 75 of normal
203. t go to the second Target List Box A turret is automatically assigned to fire starshells at each target you select Searchlights Highlight the Searchlight button to activate searchlights then click on one of the Target List Boxes Select one To assign a second target go to the other Target List Box Single Ship Status Damage Panel The Status Damage Panel for single ships provides information only you do not issue orders or change settings on this panel The percent of structure damage is indicated on the structure boxes Each structure box represents 296 of the ship s structure sys tem The percent of flooding damage is indicated on the flotation boxes Each flotation box represents 5 of the ship s flotation system Fire levels are indicated by 0 10 fire icons 10 is the worst fire level The Status Damage Panel also provides damage infor mation about the ship s weapons and other systems To get a detailed display about a particular system click on the Main Guns Secondary Guns Torpedo Mounts or Ship Systems button A pop up appears by the button you click on Main Guns Status Damage Display Blue turret icon This display shows each of the ship s main gun turrets and its two main gun magazines A turret or magazine is either operable or destroyed Icons show the number of barrels in a given turret 1 4 Each turret icon points in the direction of its main arc of fire with the bow of the ship to the left and the stern to the right
204. t in heavy losses to both sides By day Allied aircraft could attack any Japanese ships that ventured too far down the Solomons channel known as The Slot toward Guadalcanal At night how ever only Allied warships could interfere with Japan s attempts to bombard the Marines and reinforce the Japanese troops on the island Consequently many fierce night surface battles occurred for control of Guadalcanal and US sailors soon gave its waters the grim nickname Iron Bottom Sound for all of the ships sunk there Battle of Savo Island August 9 1942 On the rain lashed night of August 8 9 1942 the first naval battle for control of the waters around Guadalcanal took place Eleven US and Australian cruisers and destroy ers patrolled the western approaches to the Lunga Roads anchorage where transports unloaded supplies and material for the Marines The most likely avenue of attack for Japanese surface force was down the Slot from the west and while the Allied ships were adequately stationed to cover that approach their level of preparedness that evening would prove disastrously inadequate Two radar equipped US destroyers Blue and Ralph Talbot formed the first line of defense and warning However the tall mass of nearby Savo Island which divided the western approaches into northern and southern channels interfered with their radar returns Instead of sighting the enemy first with her high tech gear Blue was herself spotted by IJN lookouts
205. t penetrates Whether the hit penetrates or not a percentage of the damage inflicted counts as flotation point damage and the remaining percentage counts as hit point damage according to the following schedule Application of Hull Hit Damage TARGET TYPE WHERE APPLIED BB BC CA CL DD TR Flotation Point 50 60 80 90 100 Hit Point 50 40 20 10 0 TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100 If the shot penetrates there is also a 20 chance it will affect one of the ship s systems or a 10 chance it will affect two systems 70 chance that it affects none The pos sible systems it can harm are Damage Control Flotation Point Hit Point Magazine Maneuver Power and Propulsion See System Damage on page 92 Weapon Hits If the shell hits the weapon system the program determines which weapon type is hit main gun turret secondary gun turret tertiary gun turret or torpedo mount If the ship does not have a given weapon type for example the ship does not carry tertiary guns then the hit goes against a main gun turret Any damage inflicted whether penetrating or not counts as hit point damage A penetrating hit also destroys the turret or mount A hit against the main guns checks against the main turret armor to determine if it penetrates If the fire was plunging it checks against half of this armor value A hit to secondary guns checks against the secondary turret armor half this armor value if plunging and hits to tertiary gun
206. t torpedoes in FIGHTING STEEL are carried on deck swivel mounts placed in center line positions that can fire to either broadside The starboard arc of fire is 30 150 degrees 0 degrees being the heading of the ship and the port arc of fire is 210 330 degrees In the case of larger ships the mounts are placed in wing positions that can only fire to one side Each mount carries two to five torpedoes For game purposes these are fired together you may not fire individual torpedoes from a given mount Some ships carried reloads but reloading was a dangerous procedure at sea not to be undertaken in the midst of battle When you select a target for your torpedoes the program calculates where the torpe does will intercept the target if it maintains its current speed and heading The program automatically chooses the torpedo range speed setting that will reach the interception point at the fastest speed This interception point marks the center of your spread The WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 94 91 UTE launch angles of the torpedoes are then automatically set so that the distance between them at the expected interception point equals the length of the target ship The length of the target ship is known if the information level is either Type or Name level if the target is only at Contact level its length is assumed to be 500 feet Selecting a narrow spread reduces the distance to 5096
207. the added weight of their armor compromised their speeds In addition they needed wide beams to accommodate their heavy guns and this compromised their maneuverability BC Battlecruiser Conceived before WWI as heavy scouting units battlecruisers carried fewer or smaller heavy guns than battleships and they sacrificed some of the battleship s armor protection for more speed In theory the battlecruiser s greater speed allowed it to escape from enemy battleships while its armor and guns allowed it to defeat enemy cruisers For these reasons battlecruisers were often assigned the role of com WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 72 merce raiding or task force escort but on the whole battlecruisers were a flawed con cept on the way out They were expensive to build and their weaker protection made them too vulnerable in action CA Heavy Cruiser The size of heavy cruisers was limited by naval treaty after WWI although several of the major powers secretly ignored those restrictions Heavy cruisers were consider ably smaller than battlecruisers protected by thinner armor and carried main guns of about 8 bore Their design combination of fast speed seaworthiness and offensive power made them suitable for many missions IJN heavy cruisers were especially dan gerous opponents because of the Long Lance torpedoes they carried The three ships of the KM Deutschland class were referred to as pocket battleships but th
208. the formation A bearing that staggers the ships in echelon is often bet ter The front of the division in echelon is narrower but it opens up the broadside arcs of fire and the division can more rapidly reform into a column formation Ships in line formation always turn simultaneously A division in line can return to col umn formation on one of two headings that are compass opposites clicking on the Reform Column icon of the Navigation Panel automatically selects the one course that is closest to the division s current line of bearing Detachment from Division In FIGHTING STEEL you may detach any ship from its parent division thus creating a new single ship division See Detaching a Ship on page 33 You usually want to do this when a damaged ship is handicapping the speed or turning ability of the entire division You may never attach a ship to another division in battle This is purposeful to dis courage you from detaching ships except for very good reasons In the chaos of battle formations tend to fall apart not coalesce into something better Furthermore the ships of a division were used to working in formation with each other and it would be unrealistic to expect a new ship to fit in smoothly with them or them with it in the middle of a battle Evasive Maneuvers Ships would maneuver evasively make erratic course changes to confuse the enemy s aim This often meant chasing the waterspouts of enemy salvos so that t
209. the transports with out leaving themselves vulnerable to the enemy escorts Intercept Intercepting Force Force A mission Prevent the enemy from disengaging while maximizing enemy losses and minimizing friendly losses Evading Force Force B Mission Disengage from the battle while minimizing friendly losses and maximizing enemy losses The size of the evading force is approximately 80 of the intercepting force s size when created by the Battle Generator In addition the maximum speed of the slowest intercepting ship is at least as fast as the slowest evading ship The evading force should attempt to disengage in the direction of its Disengagement Heading It receives 25 VP bonus for each ship that disengages based on the VP value of that ship Both sides receive VPs for the destruction of enemy ships Tactical Transport Transporting Force Force A mission Move your force to a position to unload its sup plies while minimizing friendly losses and maximizing enemy losses Patrolling Force Force B Mission Prevent the enemy from unloading its supplies while maximizing enemy losses and minimizing friendly losses The size of the transporting force is approximately 80 of the patrolling force s size when created by the Battle Generator This battle type recreates the kind of mission the IJN frequently ran at night to re supply Japan s ground forces at Guadalcanal Americans called these supply runs the Tokyo Express The transpo
210. thin historical limits September 1939 to December 1942 in the North Atlantic and December 1941 to December 1942 in the South Pacific If the game type is Historical not Fantasy the month and year of the battle restricts what ships may be selected Each ship has an in service and an out of service date For example the Bismarck enters service in August 1940 and leaves service in May 1941 when it was historically sunk Location North Atlantic South Pacific or Random default If the game type is Historical a Random setting for location restricts RN KM battles to the North Atlantic and USN IJN battles to the South Pacific Location affects the sea state level rated numerically on the Beaufort scale weather is generally worse in the North Atlantic than in the South Pacific The chance of rain and higher wind speeds increases with the sea state level Location may also affect visibility if the latter is set to Random Location and month determine the sunrise and sunset times In the North Atlantic winter days are shorter than nights and summer days are longer than nights However the data is generalized for the whole North Atlantic and is not realistic for far northern latitudes or those near the equator Similarly the South Pacific battle area uses the same sunrise and sunset data for the whole year because it is close to the equator Crew Quality Historical default setting Green Average Veteran Elite or Random If you choose a s
211. til the torpedoes reach the end of their run time A mount that has expended its torpedoes is empty Mount 2 see above Mount 3 see above Mount 4 see above Illumination Summary Panel Starshell Target 1 name of first target if any Starshell Target 42 name of second target if any Searchlight Target 1 name of first target if any Searchlight Target 2 name of second target if any Searchlight Port 1 Status Normal Off line or Destroyed Each warship has one or two searchlights on each side of the ship port and starboard A searchlight that is off line will return to normal after the crew repairs the damage to the ship s electrical system Searchlight Port 42 see above Searchlight Stbd 1 see above Searchlight Stbd 2 see above Division Orders Panels The Division Orders Panels allow you to coordinate the actions of a division s ships much as a commander on the scene would You may set orders for the division s gun fire illumination night only and navigation Click on the Orders button of the Division Button Box then click on one of the following buttons below it Main Guns blue turret button to bring up the Division Main Guns Panel or press Secondary Guns green turret button to bring up the Division Secondary Guns Panel or press 5 llumination searchlight button to bring up the Division Illumination Panel or press 1 Navigation wheel button to bring up the Division Navi
212. tion Bar to go back to the half screen 3D view Game Clock Game Speed OM Camera Control Panel AN Manual Camera 3 Ship Division View Toggle Camera Selection Button Previous Next Buttons Auto Camera On Off Primary D Tag Secondary 1 0 Tag 1 0 Tag Selection Clock and Game Speed At the top right of the 3D screen are the Clock and Game Speed icons The Clock shows the current time in the scenario As soon as you unpause the battle press P the clock starts ticking Below the Clock the same icons that are used on the F9 tab of the Function Bar show you the current game speed or paused setting To change the game speed setting click on the button and a window pops up Click on the game speed icon you want to select it and close the window Pause anchor you may still issue orders to your ships when the game is paused Normal Fast Faster Turbo Camera Control Panel Below the Game Speed icon is the Camera Control Panel which allows you to control the 3D view To open or close the panel press the key or click on the F3 Function tab You can also open it by moving the mouse to the right hand side of the screen while in 3D view Close Button You may also close the Camera Control Panel by clicking on the X button PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 24 21 Manual Camera On Off Default setting is off When
213. to the firing weapon s maxi mum range to determine whether the hit is direct strikes the ship from a low angle or plunging strikes the ship from a high angle At close ranges hits tend to be direct and at long ranges they tend to be plunging For example if the target is at 20 or less of the gun s maximum range all of the hits are direct At 60 of the gun s range it s an almost even split between direct and plunging fire and at 75 of the gun s range or greater all hits are plunging WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 96 93 NUT E A shell can hit the target s hull weapon system superstructure or deck Hit Location Probability Table TYPE FIRE HIT LOCATION DIRECT PLUNGING _ Hull 40 10 BE MM Ic 2 Structure 25 30 Deck 0 40 TOTAL 10096 100 Armor Penetration Hits that penetrate a ship s armor before exploding cause more damage than those that explode on the armor s face Every shell has a penetration value based on the armor thickness in inches it can penetrate at a range of zero yards The range to the target is compared to the firing weapon s maximum range to determine its penetration value at impact Overall direct fire has greater penetrating power than plunging fire because the shell in the latter case has lost much of its velocity However direct fire strikes the target s vertical armor whereas plunging fire strikes the horizontal armor wh
214. ton red Starboard Tum _ Button green Column Turn Button Strategic Map Selected Division Recognition Lights Maximum d d Line Turn see Ordered Spe Change Button Speed Speed urrent Current Evasive Maneuvers c When you are satisfied with your turn order click on the Execute Plot button to lock it in Once a turn order is locked in you may not change it nor may you issue another turn order until the padlock disappears from the Navigation Panel Press P to unpause the game and watch the action unfold on the 2D map for a while The camera icon on the map displays where the camera is on the 3D View screen d Your ships are currently steaming at 20 knots unless they ve been damaged already Let s increase speed Click on the Speed Bar anywhere above 20 This is the new speed you have ordered Your ships will gradually accelerate to that speed but they will never go faster than the division s maximum speed 11 You know enough to continue fighting the battle on your own The battle will end when one side or the other is destroyed or when the time limit for the scenario expires You may end the battle sooner by going to the F11 tab of the Function Bar or by pressing F11 Good luck commander Tutorial II 1 Play Tutorial II after you have played Tutorial I From the Main Menu highlight and click on Play a Scenario 2 On the Scenario Selection screen scroll down and click on Tutorial the
215. troyers would attack the convoy from the south Poor visibility unreported observations and incorrect position reports plagued both sides but at 09 15 on the 315 Obdurate challenged Hipper s destroyers and was fired on Onslow then spotted the Hipper and began firing Running in and out of snow squalls the Hipper returned fire After a series of exchanges the Onslow was seriously damaged and withdrew to rejoin the convoy The action continued until the opposing forces turned away from each other the British ships having seen the Lutzow and the Hipper coming under fire from Force Jamaica and Sheffield Hipper took several hits before escaping behind a smokescreen laid by her destroyers The Sheffield then attacked the Friedrich Eckholdt one of the destroyers accompanying Hipper The Eckholdt was badly damaged and would later sink unseen in the icy waters of this cru elest of seas The Lutzow despite having had many opportunities to fire on the convoy did not do so until 11 42 and then fired only briefly Forty seven minutes later the Sheffield engaged the Lutzow and came under fire from the Hipper All ships then disengaged The convoy arrived safely in Russia The Lutzow had missed the chance to damage or destroy the convoy Her captain reported poor visibility and bad light as the cause but his instructions to avoid damage to his own ship contributed greatly to his overcau tious approach Apart from the obvious results of the Ba
216. ty the camera takes a position behind the current ship division PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 26 23 pU TE Look Thru Keys t s t next previous target ship Target Track Camera Red arrow on Camera Selection pop up Target Track is essentially the same as the Look Thru mode except that the camera is positioned close to the target ship to max imize the view of the target Consequently your ship division is usually not visible The Previous Next buttons step through the target list for the ship division and change the camera view to the appropriate position A target list is maintained for the current ship division as follows Main Gun Targets Secondary Gun Targets and Torpedo Targets Illumination targets are not included If the target list is empty the camera takes a position behind the current ship division Target Track Keys t s t next previous target ship Enemy Track Camera Purple arrow on Camera Selection pop up Enemy Track mode positions the camera in a revolving orbit close to a visible enemy ship to maximize the view of the target Your own ship division is usually not visible in this view The Previous Next buttons step through the list of enemy ships for the ship division and change the camera view 0 the appropriate position A target list is maintained for the current ship division of all enemy contacts ranked in range order Only ships visible to the ship
217. ually firing together Beam 1 the width of a ship 2 to the side of the ship Bearing the compass direction from one ship to another Bow the front end of a ship Bridge a platform or open compartment above the deck level of a ship from which the vessel is commanded Broadside the use of all main guns on a ship only possible when firing to one side or the other Caliber 1 the diameter of the bore of a gun measured in inches 2 the ratio of bar rel length to diameter Class a set of ships built in quick succession sharing the same basic design Conning Tower an armored pilothouse on a surface vessel Course the direction in which a ship is intended to move Director the station from which a single officer or staff directs the fire of all or a set of the ship s guns Displacement the weight of water a ship displaces used as a measure of the ship s total size although the weight can vary according to the amount of equipment and supplies loaded on the hull Draught the depth of the deepest part of a ship underwater Fire Control a system for controlling the ship s gunfire Forward toward the bow or in the front part of a ship HE high explosive ammunition designed to create a maximum blast effect and there fore most effective against unarmored targets Heading the direction that a ship s bow is pointing Knot a measure of speed in the water based on nautical miles per hour Machinery a ship s engines
218. ue to fog mist etc Visibility at night is 11 40 and visibility during the day is 41 100 The Initial Visual Detection Range table displays the initial visual sighting ranges which are 90 of the standard ranges for the current visibility conditions These val ues are expressed in yards for individual ship types Cross index the observing ship type with the target type to find the range that the target is first observed For further information see Visibility System on page 80 F7 In Game Victory Screen Clicking on this tab or pressing displays the In Game Victory Screen You can see a current update of your VP score vs the enemy s However information may be inac curate or limited depending on your Preference settings Mission Points reflect how well your side has accomplished its goal and may start as a negative total Damage Points reflect VPs of damage your side has inflicted on the enemy The VP Modifier is fixed at the start of the scenario Click on the Back button to return to the game See Winning the Game on page 62 for more information about victory PLAYING THE GAME 48 F8 Ship Viewer Screen Click on this tab or press the key to go to the Ship Viewer screen to see the game s ships in 2D or 3D view plus detailed ship data and special effects See page 53 for a full explanation of the Ship Viewer F9 Game Speed and Pause Settings The F9 tab allows you to pause the game or change the g
219. un or if it does not function Explore the CD and double click on the Setup icon Follow all on screen prompts to complete the installation SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 Page 6 3 mum NR Starting the Game The FIGHTING STEEL Autorun program displays a menu with the options to install the game the Scenario Builder Install Direct X Uninstall the game or view the README RTF file every time the CD ROM drive is closed with the CD in place FIGHTING STEEL can also be started by opening the Start menu selecting Programs and choosing the folder where FIGHTING STEEL was installed and double clicking on the FIGHTING STEEL program item For complete and specific how to play information please refer to the rest of the manual Some changes were made too late to include in this manual Please read the README RTF file in your game directory for more information Uninstalling the Game To uninstall the game select that option from the Autorun menu or choose Settings from the Windows 95 Start Button and select Control Panel In the Control Panel select Add Remove Programs left click on FiGHTING STEEL and click on the Add Remove button The game and all of its components are then removed from your hard drive except for your saved games or edited scenarios Saving Games FIGHTING STEEL requires space on your hard drive for Saved Games and temporary files Each saved game can take up to 1 5 MB o
220. ure right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties and the manufacturer name and model number of your video card modem and sound card Other Support Options You can also contact Ubi Soft Customer Support by phone and fax When you call please have all of the above mentioned information ready UBI SOFT ENTERTAINMENT Ltd Chantry Court Minorca Road Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DU Tel 44 0 870 800 6160 Fax 44 0 1932 838 274 In Nederland Telefoonnummer 0900 202 6766 50 cpm Tijden maandag tot en met vrijdag van 09 30 tot 18 00 uur E mail techsupport ubisoft nl In Belgie Telefoonnummer 02 73 25 57 7 E mail hotmail ubisoft be Scandinavia Ubi Soft Nordic Support Ubi Soft Nordic offers different possibilities to obtain support On our website http www ubisoft dk If you have a question which is not described on our website please e mail us at support ubisoft dk Other ways of reaching us By telephone or fax please call Telephone 0045 38 32 02 50 Fax 0045 38 33 34 49 SSI Online If the game about which you are inquiring has been out for more than 90 days you ll also want to visit out website to be sure you are running the latest version of the game before contacting SSI Technical Support The SSI website is located at www ssionline com From time to time addition al scenarios and maps may also be post to this website 129 Copy Protection In order to play FIGH
221. urrender If you surrender you have admitted defeat and the battle immediately ends even in a multiplayer game of the ships on your side are considered sunk and surviving enemy ships score Mission Points as if they had completed their mission for example ships with a bombarding mission would bombard assuming they had sufficient ammunition to do so see Battle Types and Missions on page 73 Accelerate End If you Accelerate End the program s AI takes control of your ships and attempts to disengage them In Division Commander mode it only tries to disen gage your division other divisions the AI controls continue the battle under normal AI direction However the process runs as quickly as possible and the screen is not updated In this way a game hour can be processed in a few seconds Once triggered this process cannot be undone You cannot Accelerate End in a multiplayer game F12 Exit Fighting Steel Click on this tab or press to exit the game A prompt appears asking you to con firm Confirming returns you to your desktop PLAYING THE GAME 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 52 49 pU E Event Messages Text messages about current game events appear on the screen Some key events are described by voice messages of these messages are self explanatory Some mes sages announce Minor Major or Critical damage to a friendly ship s system Critical is the most severe Light Flooding or Light Hu
222. velopment Roy B Gibson Executive Designer Julia Mepham Producer Programming Tim Ardoin Roy Gibson Brendan McGinnis McGuire Jan Parthemore Jim Synoski Art Michelle R DiPaula Brendan McGinnis McGuire Andrew Koelbl Anim 8 Original Music Elizabeth Wilson Cinematic Voice Bill Gallagher Voice Actor Dave Pace Sound Engineer The 12th Planet recording studio Game Manual Ben Knight with Roy Gibson and Julia Mepham Special Thanks Dan Cermak Jan Lindner Brigham Hausman Karen Conroe Tena Lawry Steven Petersen Sarah Taylor Andrea Akmenkalns Dave Feldman Ray Scully Sam Clifford 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 128 CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT Ubi Technical Support Technical support 0870 800 6160 local rate call Hints and tips hotline service 0960 466 5200 premium rate call On line Support Options Ubi Soft offers several on line support options for their softwareproducts One of these is our website at http www ubisoft co uk support If you have a specific problem that is not addressed on our site you can send your question to us via e mail at techsupport ubisoft co uk Please be as specific as you can be about the problem you are experiencing Also include in the body of your e mail the name of the manufacturer of your computer sys tem the brand and speed of the processor how much RAM you have the version number of Windows you are using if you aren t s
223. vents The auto camera will show all events that are checked Toggle an event off if you do not want the camera to show you that particular event If the scenario contains many ships it is wise to toggle some of these events off so that the auto camera does not interrupt your play too frequently Enemy Sinking Displays the interesting part of an enemy ship sinking or blowing apart Enemy Hit by Torpedoes Displays an enemy ship when it is hit by a torpedo Enemy Turret Explosion Displays an enemy ship when its turret is destroyed in a graphic way Enemy on Fire Displays an enemy ship at the moment the fires on board it grow sufficiently to be displayed graphically in the 3D world Enemy Hit by Shell Displays an enemy ship when it is hit by shellfire PREFERENCE SETTINGS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 54 51 Enemy Fires First Time Shows an enemy ship firing its main guns at ship in your division when your ship is a new target for that enemy s guns Enemy Illuminated Shows an enemy ship when it becomes illuminated by a starshell Shell Cam Shows one of your ships firing its main guns and the camera follows the shells to the target if the salvo straddles the target whether any shell actually hits or not Playership Sinking Displays the interesting part of a friendly ship sinking or blow ing apart Playership Hit by Torpedo Displays a friendly ship when it is hit by a torpedo
224. vision is effectively steaming an erratic course to throw off enemy fire con trol Evasive maneuvers negatively affects the chance of enemy shells hitting your ships but it also reduces the accuracy of your own ships gunfire and it slows your division s forward progress through the water not its speed setting by 20 An Evasive Maneuvers icon appears by the Division Flag on the Division and Ship Panel when you have this tactic enabled Strategic Map A strategic map appears on the right hand side of the Navigation Panel The map dis plays a 2D view centered on the selected division This map is for information only Single Ship Panels To give orders to an individual ship within a division highlight the Main Guns Secondary Guns Illumination Torpedoes or Status button on the Division Button Bar then click on the Ship Box of the ship you want to give those orders to You may not issue navigation orders at the single ship level all navigation occurs at division level Once you have a single ship panel open you can select another ship in the division by clicking its Ship Box or by pressing the 1 0 keys for 15 10 ship in the division going from left to right on the Ship Box display You can switch divisions in the sin gle ship panel by clicking on a division number in the list display beneath the flag on the Division and Ship Selection Bar To return to division panels click on the Divisions Orders or Division Summary butt
225. w also provides the dimen sions for the ship s length beam width and draft depth below waterline expressed in feet The 2D image cannot be altered in the Viewer 3D View provides a 3D view of the ship which also allows you to change the view between day and night alter the camouflage schemes and change the camera position Sun when highlighted the 3D view shows the ship in daylight conditions You can also see this view by pressing F7 Moon highlight this button to change the 3D view to nighttime conditions which also allows you to turn on the ship s lights You can also see this view by pressing F8 Lights highlight this button to see the ship with its recognition lights and searchlights turned on if nighttime view selected Camouflage click on this button to view the ship in a different camo scheme There are nine different schemes Repeated clicking will take you through the entire list or press the 1 9 keys to make your selection click on these icons or press the respective keys to zoom out zoom in Camera Angle click on the up down left right arrow icons to change the camera angle You may also press the arrow keys on the keyboard for the same effect Weapon Data Display The panels below the view window provide data about the ship class guns and torpedoes Main Guns number and type rated by bore size in inches and caliber of tube length Number of AP Common and HE shells carried Seco
226. way from you is more difficult to hit than one that is broadside Speed The faster the target the harder it is to hit The midpoint of the scale is 15 knots 0 modifier with targets steaming above that speed generating a negative mod ifier and those steaming below that speed generating a positive modifier On this scale a dead in the water target 15 10 and a 30 knot target is 10 Turning 20 if target currently turning If the target is doing evasive maneuvers when it turns the turning effect overrides the target s evasive maneuvering effect When the turn is completed the evasive maneuvering effect resumes WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 90 Information Level Effect After applying the above gunnery modifiers the chance to hit is then modified accord ing to the information level available about that target from the firing ship see Target Information Level on page 82 If the target is only a Contact the chance to hit is reduced 50 If the firing ship has identified the target s Type but not its Name the chance to hit is reduced 25 A ship may not fire at a radar only contact Number of Guns Firing The number of guns firing in a salvo affects the chance to hit More is better When possible you should maneuver your ship to bring as many guns of a given battery to bear on the target to increase the chance of hitting Torpedoes Torpedoes posed the single greatest danger to ships in WWII whether launched b
227. who is scanning the horizon to spot the ship after it crosses the threshold The Environment Panel of the Briefing Screen lists the initial visual detection ranges for the scenario you are playing Once sighted contact will not be lost until the ship exceeds maximum visual detection range which 15 110 of standard the observer knows where to look and can keep his eyes on the target WHAT S BEHIND THE GAME SYSTEMS 03663 FIGHTING ST EX MANUAL 9 21 01 11 24 AM Page 84 81 pU NE The highest level of sighting information gathered by the ships under your command is displayed in the ID tags However individual ships maintain their own target infor mation data so what one ship knows about a target may be different from what another ship knows see Target Information Level on page 82 Smokescreens Ships may lay smokescreens to block visual line of sight smoke has no effect on radar sighting Smoke is created in sections with a 10 yard radius The smoke sections drift atthe speed and direction of the wind the Environment Panel on the Briefing screen lists the direction the wind is blowing from and its speed Each section lasts for five minutes before dissipating but wind speeds over 15 knots will dissipate it up to 7596 faster Radar Sighting In FIGHTING STEEL the main effect of radar is to increase the range at which a unit is initially detected Radar allows a target to be tracked once spotted out to the maxi mum range of the
228. who was mortally wounded when American salvos smashed into the bridge of his ship Aoba Although forewarned of the pres ence of the Japanese ships by radar the Americans were caught in the middle of a turn maneuver when the Japanese suddenly appeared from out of a series of rainsqualls Both the turn and the appearance of the enemy caused confu sion in the American force Individual captains were left to make the best of the situation At 23 46 Helena s captain gave the order to open fire and the battle com menced The Aoba was hit as the American cruisers fired their broadsides The destroyer Fubuki was hit first by Boise and San Francisco then by every other American ship in the vicinity She sank in flames One of the unfortunate outcomes of the battle of Cape Esperance was that in the con fusion and due to indiscipline within the American forces there was a lot of damage incurred by friendly fire Both the Fahrenholt and Duncan were damaged this way Duncan so badly that she eventually had to be abandoned Her crew was rescued by the destroyer Gwin who suffered the least damage that night Another American casu alty was Boise who was hit by the cruiser Furutaka Her damage was mild compared to that heaped on the unfortunate Japanese ship which finally sank after taking numerous hits both above and below the waterline A demoralized Japanese force retreated back up the Slot with Kinugasa in the lead followed by Aoba This was the
229. y Campaign a second set of buttons appear for each nation and any combination of oppo nents can be selected except for a nation against itself In other words the Kriegsmarine could fight the IJN but the IJN cannot fight itself Campaign Length There are four possible lengths for a Historical Campaign Mini Short Medium and Long Only the Royal Navy and Kreigsmarine have a mini campaign however Another important difference is that turns in a US vs IJN campaign are weekly while turns in a RN vs KM campaign are monthly Campaign length in a Fantasy Campaign is handled a bit differently When the Fantasy Campaign setting is selected the Campaign Length buttons are replaced with four new options Game Length Start Date Battle Size and End Date Arrow buttons at the end of each setting allow each setting to be changed at will Game Length Start Date and End Date These fields are all linked so that if the value in one is increased beyond the parame ters of the other two they change to match Game Length is measured in turns each turn being equal to one month Fantasy Campaign games can last from ten to forty turns months Start Date can range from September 39 to March 42 End Date ranges from June 40 to December 42 Battle Size This value which ranges from one to ten is compared to the Difficulty setting to create the probability for any particular sized mission A high Battle Size setting and a high Difficulty setti
230. y submarines aircraft or warships Torpedoes struck their targets where it hurt the most below the waterline For passive defense against torpedoes capital ships were fitted with exterior bulges to their hulls as well as interior armored anti torpedo bulk heads to limit the damage caused by a torpedo s warhead The hull spaces of the ships were also divided into many small compartments instead of fewer large ones to limit the flooding caused by an underwater hit For active defense capital ships carried rapid fire secondary and sometimes tertiary guns designed to engage the enemy s fast torpedo carrying craft such as destroyers before they closed to launching range Types Each navy carries its own types of torpedoes See the Torpedo Data Table on page 123 Torpedoes are identified by their diameter in inches and they are rated for weight of explosive charge maximum range and speed Most torpedo types have two or three range settings based on speed A higher speed setting drains the torpedo s power sup ply faster which restricts its range but a fast torpedo will reach the target sooner and thus limit the time that the target has to detect and avoid it although torpedoes travel beneath the sea s surface they leave detectable wakes When a torpedo reaches the end of its run it no longer poses a threat Similarly a torpedo is not primed for the first 1 000 yards of its run and does not pose a threat until after then Launch Mos
231. y Ships Firing Toggle this button on to reveal which enemy ships are firing upon your ships Dashed red lines show the path of gunfire from each firing enemy ship to its target This shows the path of all gunfire from main and secondary guns Use the Filters buttons at the bottom of the pop up to select which ships you want this information for Note When both shooting icons are on a candy cane effect occurs when ships are fir ing at each other Torpedo Cones When toggled on the Torpedo Cones button displays cones for friendly torpedo spreads already in the water arguably friendly torpedo is an oxy moron The cone shows the area that the torpedo spread will cover during its remaining run time The current position of the torpedo spread is represented by a line eating into the cone Cones are displayed for all friendly spreads if you are playing in Standard mode In Division Commander mode only spreads fired by your own division are displayed Enemy torpedo cones are never displayed No matter how the Torpedo Cones button is set when you select a torpedo target for a ship in the Torpedo Panel a cone appears on the 2D map showing the area the torpe does will cover if fired This cone remains displayed as long as one of the ship s torpedo tube mounts is targeted on the panel but will be removed if you leave the Torpedo Panel without firing or fire the torpedoes and the Torpedo Cones button is off Smokescreens Displayed Toggle th
232. y guns are fed from a secondary magazine that cannot be destroyed in the game in reality the secondary guns actually drew from several magazines Guns of 5 9 bore and greater have a choice of armor piercing AP and high explosive HE shells HE shells cause twice as much damage but only penetrate the same thick ness of armor 40 as often as AP shells They are most useful against unarmored targets such as destroyers and transports Shells of 8 bore or greater may punch through thin armor 1 or less with minimum effect see Punch Through Hits on page 94 and AP shells are much more likely to punch through thin armor as HE shells Guns below 5 9 bore carry common ammunition which falls between AP and HE for penetration and damage effects All nationalities suffer from dud ammunition If playing with the optional National Characteristics German ships are three times more likely to have duds Division Targeting Mode When commanding several divisions of ships it is often easier to issue firing orders by division than by individual ship There are four targeting modes for divisions Battleline Mode Range Mode Threat Mode and Hold Fire These modes are available for main and secondary guns Your ships will not fire until you select a mode other than Hold Fire After choosing a firing mode the program selects the principal target for each ship in the division It also selects a second target for the turrets of the ship s battery
233. your current choice See Camera Modes on page 22 for com plete details Look Thru yellow arrow Target Track red arrow Enemy Track purple arrow Topdown orange arrow Semi Free triple green arrows Previous Next Buttons Use these buttons to move the camera between previous and next camera targets or to revolve your camera in 45 degree increments depending on your camera mode see Camera Modes on page 22 for full details Auto Camera On Off Default setting is On When on the Auto Camera moves the camera to display signifi cant events as they occur Text messages also appear to describe the events You may PLAYING THE GAME 22 select the type of events you want the Auto Camera to display by going to the Camera tab of the Preference Settings see Camera Settings on page 49 for exact details Some of the auto camera events are disabled if you chose Restricted 3D Camera under the Realism tab of Preferences ID Tag Selection When you click on this button a window pops up from which you may select one of three ID Tag options See Ship ID Tags on page 30 for a full description of tags D Tags are displayed for both sides ships This is the default setting Only Enemy and Unidentified in Division Commander mode ID Tags are displayed ID Tags are displayed Camera Modes There are eight camera modes you control or activate Manual mode gives you com plete control of the camera
234. ystem can take before the ship begins to sink Ship List lists the names of all the ships in that class and the dates they entered ser vice Click on the scroll icons to move through the list CAMPAIGN GAME The campaign game in FIGHTING STEEL is more than just a series of linked pre written scenarios it is an exercise in fleet management that is far more challenging because each battle is generated randomly FIGHTING STEEL creates scenarios based on specific mission profiles for each nationality and you respond with the forces at your disposal In between battles you must manage your ships and crews to keep your forces in fight ing trim too much time in port can degrade crew ability while too much time at sea causes dangerous levels of fatigue There are two different types of campaign game the historical campaign and the fantasy campaign Historical campaigns feature battles between the navies of two historical opponents the US USN vs the Japanese IJN in the South Pacific or the Royal Navy RN vs the Kreigsmarine KM in the North Atlantic A fantasy campaign can pit histor ical opponents in unusual places for example the USN vs the RN in the South Pacific Playing a campaign game consists of three steps setup fleet management and combat Campaign Setup Screen Campaign Type This is the first choice you should make The Campaign Setup screen provides you with several different settings depending on what type

03663 FIGHTING ST. EX MANUAL 9/21/01 11 - Computer

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