STAR TROOPERS

A GAME OF SKILL (and a little luck).

Enemy Situation...
The planet Orbitron has been over run and infested by bugs.
These are not your average ants or roaches, these weigh 300-500
lbs each. The bugs known as Arraxicods are similar in
appearance to a tarantula, build under ground nests like ants,
and have a social structure close to bees. The three classes of
Arraxicods are Queen, Drone and Worker. Being very well
organized the queen is always closely surrounded by 4 drones and
4 workers.
Surrounding the queens sector, will be patterns of 1 drone
and 4 workers burried in various formations. Little is known of
their firepower or range, but it is believed that killing the
queen severely degrades their effectiveness.

Friendly Situation...
You have just returned from a long distance probe mission
with your battalion of 26 men (things have changed in 300 years).
You are looking for a bit of Rest & Relaxation at this real hot
disco (things haven't changed that much though) on planet
Orbitron. Unfortunately the disco was blown away by the bugs
(another story) and the party has been canceled. Too Bad.
Soooo... You decide you have to get even.
As you start to plan you review your troopers.

attack range defense movement
factor factor factor factor

A, B, C Scouts 3 3 6 6

D, E, F Forward 3 3 8 3
Observers

G, H, I Heavy 8 5 12 2
Weapons

J thru Z Infantry 5 3 10 4


Special Capabilities...

Scouts, more than just well trained infantry, the lightly
armored scout moves quickly and has a keen sense of detecting
signs of the enemy for a range of six grids.

Forward Observers, (F.O), these guys really know how to
reach out and touch someone. Each F.O is assigned his own ship-
board phaser and can call it in anywhere within 8 grids of his
location. These phaser do not effect friendlies in target grids.

Heavy Weapons, this is the good stuff. Sacrificing mobility
for firepower and armor these gentlemen can really raise hell.

Infantry, the backbone of any organization. These 17 guys
are the "bayonett in sturnum" type characters you read about in
adventure novels. (I think the Arraxicods have sturnums...)
They will automatically kill any bug in their grid, and still
come up shooting.


Medical and Maintenance Support...
To decrease the tendency of being cowardly, no trooper will be

allowed to beam up to the ship unless his defense factor is 6 or
lower. Troops cannot be healed or refitted within the scope of
the game except under the following rule.

Trooper with a Movement factor of 0 will be beamed up
automatically during the movement phase and given a MF of 1 so
that he may return to the battle if you wish.

You may also redeploy wounded men into battle if necessary (but
how long they will last is another question).


About Winning...
The ships captain is in a bit of a hurry to move on to the next
planet Calizone. You only have 10 turns to inflict the maximum
damage to the Arraxicods with the minimum losses. This will show
up as a ratio. Less than 1 means they are getting the better of
you. 1 to 2 means your breaking even. 2+ means an extremely
successful mission




ORDER OF PHASES (the program wont let you get lost)
Work troops
move search call ship phasers
BUGS pop and shoot you
Ships phasers land where requested by F.O.
Close Combat Phase
Troop Return Fire Phase
Score and start next turn.

How to deploy or move during movement (work) phase.
Select 1 to put you in command mode. Select a troop by typing his
letter in. You will be given a choice of things to do if you have
MP's left.

Select 1 to move: The cursor will locate to the troop in the ship
box in the lower left corner or on the board. Move the cursor to
where you want to move to and hit . If the cursor pops
back to your location, you tried to move too far. To cancel, put
the cursor back on your location and hit the cursor. To beam up,
put the cursor on the ship box (must be heavily wounded).

Select 2 to search: any bugs within 4 of a troop or 7 of a scout
troop will appear.

Select 3 to call ship phasers: only Forward Observers can call in
ship phasers. Each can only call in one phaser. Move the cursor
to the desired target and hit . To cancel, put the cursor
back on your location and hit .

HOW TO SHOOT...

Select 1 for shoot troop menu (command mode).

Select the troop to fire.
Move the cursor to the offending bug and Hit .
If the cursor pops back to your location you are shooting too far.
Put cursor back on your location to cancel.
You get TWO shots per trooper.
Only Infantry can shoot if engaged during Close Combat Phase.

OTHER OPTIONS

2 = STATUS REPORT: Gives status and location of troops.
Use to cycle through 2 screens.

3 = REDRAW MAP: This can be handy to find troops after you stack
and then move one from that grid. You need to do this to see that
troop again, the bugs can se him though. You may also see the
pattern the bugs live in.

4 = Moves you into next phase...no turning back.

Other Things.

Abbreviations used in the game:
AF = Attack Factor. How much punch the gun has.
RF = Range Factor. How far the gun can shoot.
DF = Defense Factor. How much armor his suit has.
MF = Movement Factor. How far he can move in one turn.

BOSS KEY......
The F7 key will put you into a basic Shell command. This will
allow you to clear the screen and look like you are doing
official business. When you want to return type EXIT and hit the
return key. You will be put back into the game where you left
off, but the menu will not be there. Safe keys to hit are the
'A' or '2' this usually give trooper A a message or gives a
status report. If all else fails wait 1 minute and then hit '1'.

To make this game work you will need to have your CAPS LOCK and
NUM LOCK keys in the on position. Be warned that the '1' for the
menu is the '1' for moving the cursor. This is handy for beaming
troopers up though.

If you have any comments or suggestions to making this game
better, or for new scenarios for the battalion, leave a message
on HOME DBA (488-4709)(2400-8-N-1) bulletin board for Tom Durrance.