The Playing Pieces

The square game pieces represent platoon-sized military

units of various types. The tan-coloured pieces represent
Commons forces, while the blue-coloured pieces
represent Liberation forces. The symbol of silhouette
identifies the type of unit represented by a given counter,
while the three numbers represent are called "factors" and
represent the capabilities of the unit in three categories:
attack, defence, and movement.

The identification and description of all unit type symbols

and silhouettes may be found in Appendix B of this rule
set.

General Outline of Play

Instant War: Tank Battles I (TB1 hereafter) is the first in a
series of war games set in the fictional world of the Third
Colonies, a collection of small states that are perpetually
at war with one another. In the period you are playing in,
the Colonies are split into two factions: the Pro-Commons
faction, which favours bringing the Colonies together in a
confederation, and the Liberation forces, which prefer the
loose style of alliances and partnerships that currently
holds.
In TB1, you control the Commons forces as they begin to
mount a counterattack against Liberation, which had
taken possession of several Commons states, including
Estremera, Adrada, and Landete. Each scenario presents
a different battle from this counteroffensive, generally
following the campaign temporally.
Each scenario is played out on a unique map that also
serves as a game board. The player and the computer
take turns moving the pieces allotted to their forces for
that scenario, attacking the opposition when possible and
advantageous. After combat odds are calculated, a
random "roll" of a 6-sided die, plus or minus relevant
modifiers, determines the outcome.
The object of each scenario is to defeat as much of the
enemy force as possible within the allotted turns, while
also protecting one's own units. All scenarios are open to
the player from the outset, so victory is not required; only
desired.

Factor Definitions
Movement Factor (MF) The movement points the unit
is allowed to use each turn. Each plain hex "costs" 1 MF to
move, while others can cost more (such as forest and
swamp) and less (such as roads).
Attack Factor (AF) The offensive power of a given unit.
Defence Factor (DF) The defensive power of a given
unit.

The Map
Each scenario plays out on its own map of an area of the
Colonies under dispute. Most maps connect, so that the
content on the southeastern corner of one map, for
example, will appear in the northwestern corner in the
next scenario. This area of the colonies lives under a
temperate climate, so there should be no surprises in
terms of terrain.

Scenarios
TB1 comes with ten scenarios, each capturing a different
battle in the Pro-Commons counteroffensive. More
scenarios will be available in later editions of Instant War.

Starting TB1

Movement

When TB1 is started up, scenario #1 is loaded, and the

Instant War splash title graphic is displayed. Click
anywhere in the window to remove the graphic.

Terrain Features

Instant War Console

Any business you have with TB1 may be managed via the
Instant War Console. This is the command-line prompt
available at the bottom of the window. Click at the
prompt to begin entering commands.

Console Commands
next Ends the current player turn. The computer will
take its turn, and then the next turn will begin (or the
game will end if all turns have been used up).
new Starts a new game in the current scenario. Player
will be asked to confirm this command.
save Saves the current game using filename supplied by
player (e.g. 'save "game1"').
load Loads a game with the filename supplied by the
player (e.g. 'load "game1"').
scenario Loads a scenario file with the supplied
filename (e.g. 'load "sc2"').
card brings up the scenario card for the current
scenario being played.
score displays the current score
help displays the list of commands, or description of a
command if supplied (e.g. 'help scenario').
quit quits the game.
confirm.

Player will be prompted to

Load Scenario
After TB1 has loaded up, and you have cleared the title
graphic, you may load any scenario you wish to play.
e.g. scenario "sc2"
will load scenario 2 into the system, ready to play. The
scenarios are named sc1 through to sc10.

Each scenario map is divided into hexes, each with a

dominant terrain feature. Common features include
forest, road, river, and swamp. Hexes that are pale green
or brown are fields, and are considered to be essentially
"neutral", in that they impose no movement penalties or
benefits.
Generally, forest and swamp hexes will slow units down,
while roads will allow them to travel more quickly. Rivers
are impassable for all but amphibious units.
Terrain may be at three different levels of altitude.
Generally, most hexes are at the lowest. Hexes at the
second altitude level are highlighted in green. Hexes at
the highest level are highlighted in light green.
Changes in altitude affect unit movement to varying
degrees. Generally, moving up in altitude imposes a
movement penalty, while moving down allows the unit to
move faster.

How to Move Units

Each unit may be moved once per turn, but the player
may elect to not move a given piece.
To move a unit, click on its hex. TB1 will calculate all the
potential moves the unit may make, and highlight them
on the map in blue.
Click on any of the highlighted hexes to move the unit to
that hex. Click anywhere else to cancel the move.

Combat
How to Have Combat
Combat is initiated by the player or the computer. A unit
may attack before or after it moves. If it attacks before it
moves, however, it cannot move for that turn.
To attack an enemy unit, click on the hex of the attacking
unit. Enemy units that are in range to attack will be
highlighted in red. Click on the red hex to attack.

Scenario Card

Combat pits the attacker's AF against the defender's DF.

The difference between them is expressed as the ratio
AF/DF, rounded in favour of the defender to match up
with the ratios listed on the Combat Results Table (CRT),
as shown in Appendix A.

Type card to read more about the scenario you have

loaded. The card provides background text, and tells you
the location of the battle, and how many units are given
on each side.

Combat results are decided by the simulated roll of a 6sided die. Modifiers are then applied (see next section),
and the CRT is consulted. There are four possible
outcomes:

No Effect Nothing happens.

Appendix A

Dispersal The defending unit is dispersed. It cannot

move or fight for one turn, and becomes "ghosted"
onscreen. Subsequent attacks on dispersed unit have -2
modifier.

Combat Results Table

Odds Ratios
Roll

1:4

1:3

1:2

1:1

2:1

3:1

4:1

-1

DD

DD

DD

DD

DD

Modifiers

DD

Based on various game situations, modifiers may be

applied to the combat die rolls, as listed below:

DD

DD

DD Special dispersal. If the defending unit is already

dispersed, it will be killed. Otherwise, it is dispersed.
Kill Defending unit is killed, and removed from the
map.

/2: applied when attacking unit is higher altitude

-2: applied when defending unit is dispersed.
-2: applied when defending unit is in town hex and
attacking unit is infantry

Explanation

+2: applied when defending unit is in town hex and

attacking unit is not infantry.

X Unit eliminated
DD Special Dispersal

Playing the Game

Ending a Turn
When you have finished moving your units, and finished
attacking enemy units, you may type next to end your
turn. At this point, the computer will control the enemy
units, moving them and using them to attack your units.
The results of each computer attack will be displayed at
the top-left of the window.

Score
Scoring is quite simple in TB1. You get +1 point for every
enemy unit you kill, while you lose -1 point for every
Commons unit that the enemy kills.

End of Game
Each scenario has a maximum number of turns. At the
end of these turns, your final score will be displayed. The
scenario will end early if either side loses all of their units.

D Dispersal
- No effect

Appendix B
Unit Types
Commons Tank. Slow moving but powerful.
Cannot move on water.
Commons Armoured Truck. Fast and
relatively strong. Cannot move on water.
Commons Amphibious Armoured Truck.
Somewhat fast. Can move on water.
Commons Infantry. Relatively slow and
weak, but strong in urban areas.
Liberation Tank.

Liberation Armoured Truck.

Liberation Amphibious Armoured Truck.

Liberation Infantry.

Appendix C
Terrain Types
Green Field. Easy to move through.

Brown Field. Easy to move through.

Forest. Difficult for vehicles to move through.

Swamp. Difficult for all to move through.

River. Impassable for all except amphibious

vehicles.

Paved Road. Allows for faster movement.

Dirt Road. Allows for faster movement,

except for tanks.
Urban Area. Allows for fast movement.
Difficult to attack in, except for infantry.

Bridge. Treated as a road tile.