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Soldiers of Empires II

 

SOLDIERS OF EMPIRES

Soldiers of Empires v.1.6 Help

 

Help contents

Basic principles.
Combat logic and principles. Purposes of game.
How the combat algorithm works?
Map modes.
Forming a new unit.
Renewing a unit and merging broken units.
Economy and statistics.
Options.
Saving and loading the game.
Ending the turn.
Help menu.
Last changes. Version 1.6 ( September 12, 2010 ).
System requirements.

 

Basic principles.

   "Soldiers of Empires" is a PC game based upon classic wargame principles. You choose the actions of your own units, which can be to attack an enemy unit, to bombard an enemy unit with artillery fire, to move your unit or to reinforce and renew your unit with more men, tanks or other equipment.  You can also form new units, adjust the rate of production of a particular tank or ordinance and also share a war production amongst your units. After you have finished with your turn you can choose to have your remaining units (with unused actions) to be played by the computer. The opponent can either be a human player or be played by the computer, depending on what option you have chosen at the start of the game.

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Combat logic and principles. Purposes of game.

   Your primary task in the game, describing events on the East Front ( June 22, 1941 - May 9, 1945 ) - is to seize not less than 90% cities, that were controlled by your enemies initially at the start of the game ie the June 22, 1941 - this is a condition of victory in the game.
   Use of principles of maneuverable war ( hint: use tank and motorized units with their armour). You can destroy enemy economy, seize enemies cities ( hint: this reduces your opponents production of war materials).

Power Your units depends on following factors:

Quota of max #/staffing of peoples, transport (cars, horses), combat vehicles, howitzers, guns,... each division/brigade depending on game year has a maximum based on the info supplied for the unit type in the New Unit tab.
High morale and experience.
Ammunition must be > 0
Also small special bonus (view info in window in bottom game screen...):
ADB- air defense bonus (reserved for next version)
DB- defense bonus
AB- attack bonus

for example:
armored units - best to use on plains
infantry units - best to be used in woods and cities
mountain units - has bonus's in mountains

Also: random factor acts in each combat.

Max unit experience = 600 points, max morale = 600 points, unit with exp=200 and morale=200 - is highly experience and highly morale unit.

Can green units be trained before combat? Yes. Without combat, green units can have max experience = 100 (1 day = 1 experience point). Experience over 100 can gained only by participation in combats.

We recommended using small units (brigade's for example) for quick seizure of enemy's cities during a mobile war, they should not use for massive combat.

To compare battle results, right click the mouse button on unit - for fast viewing of the unit state before and after combat.

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How the combat algorithm works?

   Combat algorithms a highly tangled, but its possible describe so ( very simplified description! ):

Order "Attack"

Power of Attack = function ( all combat components of units, their features ) + 3*experience points ( only if experience > 99% ) + 2*morale points ( only if morale > 74% ) + factor of random ( only 22-24/06/1941 ) + factor of   random ( adding to power (-50%) ~ (+150%))

Power of Defend = function ( all combat components of units, their features ) + experience points + morale points + factor of terrain ( terrain bonus )

Result of "Attack" = Power of Attack / Power of Defend

Remark: 40% Power "Attack" - vs tanks, armor cars, assault guns, self-propelled guns and howitzers. 60% Power "Attack" - vs humans, horses, cars, howitzers, guns, AT guns, mortars, AA guns.

Order "Artillery bombard"

Power of Artillery bombard = function ( number of  howitzers and mortars, features of  howitzers and mortars ) + experience points ( only if experience > 99% ) + morale points ( only if morale > 74% ) + factor of   random ( only 22-24/06/1941 ) + factor of  random ( adding to power (-50%) ~ (+150%))

Power of Defend = function ( features of  howitzers and mortars ) + experience points + morale points + factor of terrain ( terrain bonus )

Result of "Artillery bombard" = Power of Artillery bombard / Power of Defend

Remark: 10% Power "Artillery bombard" - vs tanks, armor cars, assault guns, self-propelled guns and howitzers. 90% Power "Artillery bombard" - vs humans, horses, cars, howitzers, guns, AT guns, mortars, AA guns.

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Map modes.

   The game has at present 3 different map modes :

"Soldiers of Empires"

Battlefield mode

Having chosen of one a unit from your coalition, you can see the territory, available for moving and possible actions for your unit. This Your main mode of game.

Range of displacement of unit depends on transport facility correlations, needs for the transport and type of the territory.

"Soldiers of Empires"

Strategic map mode I

Useful for orientation purposes and fast move around the map of Europe and Asia. Also useful for evaluating the strategic position.

"Soldiers of Empires"

Global map mode II

This is full map of the game.

The battlefield mode is your main playing mode, in which you lead your armies to victory, demonstrating your talent as a military leader. In this mode, once you have selected a unit using the mouse,  you can then perform one or several of the following actions:

Attack an enemy unit, which expends "1 action". The enemy unit must be adjacent to your unit and your unit must have ammunition available.
Bombard an enemy unit with artillery fire, which expends "1 action" .The enemy unit must be two squares away and your unit must have howitzers, mortars or rocket batteries with ammunition available.
Displacing a unit which expends "1 action" . Your unit cannot pass through other units or impassable terrain such as sea or marsh.
Renew and reinforce a unit which expends "2 actions".
Creating a new unit. After the formation of a new unit, that unit can only perform actions in the following turns. New unit have: 300 soldiers, experience = 1, ammo = 0.

Remark: Each turn a unit can perform a maximum of 2 actions. For attack or bombard an enemy unit, Your unit must have Ammo  > 0 !

Remark 2: as from version 1.3 images of units with "actions=0" drawing as obscured for best viewing of player.

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Forming a new unit.

"Soldiers of Empires"

The "Select new unit" Screen

Using this mode, you may create a new unit. This list showing all division and brigade of current side (Germany or USSR).

 

Using this mode, you may create a new unit so long as you do not exceed the maximum allowable number of units for that particular country. A new unit can only be placed in an empty city of the same national origin as the unit with no adjacent enemy units. When the unit is first created it will be filled with 300 men from that country's reserve pool. The following turn the unit can be further reinforced by renewing the unit with more men, ammunition, combat vehicles, transport. Each country's units are carefully modeled to reflect historical dates and accurate tables of organization.

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Renewing a unit and merging broken units.

"Soldiers of Empires"

The "Renewing unit" Screen

Using this mode, you may renewing unit. In this menu unit can be further reinforced by renewing the unit with more men, ammunition, combat vehicles, transport.

 

The following conditions must exist for the renewing of a unit:

Unit must not take any actions in the current turn.

To renew and replenish ammunition, the unit must not be totally surrounded by enemy units.

To renew and reinforce a unit with men, combat vehicles and transport within prescribed unit table of organization limits, the unit must be based in a city without enemy contact and the required renewing ordinance must be in available in the warehouse pool.

You may renew unit by itself (click on buttin "+1", "+5", "+10", "+100", "+1000") or entrust this computer AI for fast filling (click on button "MAX").

"Soldiers of Empires"

Also, now player can merge broken units (this is a new feature from "Soldiers of Empires" v1.2 !). How? Select unit and press "S" on keyboard, if in window present next symbols: Q,W,E,A,D,Z,X,C then unit from border cells can be added to base unit. Artillery unit can be added only to artillery unit, Air Defense unit can be added only to Air Defense unit.

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Economy and statistics.

"Soldiers of Empires"

The "Economy and statistics" Screen

This screen will give detailed information on the economy, composition of armed forces, combat vehicles in storehouses and under repair, losses...

 

This very important mode. Aside from detailed information on the condition of your armed forces, in this mode you can adjust combat vehicle and ordinance production. Although there is an amazing amount of detail in of types and models of combat vehicles and ordinance, adjusting production is a quick and painless process. We have avoided the traditional error, in our opinion, of "buying units for conditional money". As in real war, the number of combat vehicles and ordinance produced depends on the real economic potential of a nation, which is quantified by the number of cities it controls.

Remark: as from version 1.3 you can select turn length (1 turn as 1 day or as 4 days).

In this screen You can see a 6 information pages:

   First page of this screen shows total war and economic factors for all countries, which participating in battle on East Front. Here You may see a total number of control cities, amount of human and other reserves.

   Second page of this screen shows vehicles total amount in Your and enemy units. Statistics shows all types of combat machines.

   Third page of this screen shows all types of combat machines, which inhere in country's reserve pool. It should be noted that the game also allows for the use of booty combat vehicles, which are seized during the retreat or capture of enemy units.

   Fourth page of this screen shows all types of combat machines, which inhere in repair plants.

   Fifth page of this screen is page of adjustments of orders on war machines production.

Important! How work war-economic engine of game "Soldiers of Empires"? You need only to choose the type of combat vehicle being produced and select:

"+" - to increase production.

"-" - to reduce production.

"=" - to maintain production at the current level.

   Your production orders will be executed as much as possible,  insofar as the required economic production corresponds with the real economic production. What is up with the economy points, how do they work, how are they calculated? In the real world a translation of industry on the mode of wartime can not be a sovereign by leaps and bounds. As well as in the game, since we tended to the maximum realism. 22/06/1941 each city gives 10 production points, via  90 days - 100 production points (this maximum for each city!), production on each vehicle models can increase in day to one no more than... (max - 255 per day! ). Also, see news about version 1.3!

   Sixth page of this screen shows total amount war losses.

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Options.

"Game timer interval" - for adjusting a scrolling of game map.

"Sectoring battlefields" - game screen sectoring ( elemental cell 20*20 km ).

"View FPS" - You can see Frame per second (depends on "Game timer interval").

"View local time" - You can see local time in game screen.

Remark: as from version 1.3  at this screen drawing information about type of game ( realistic or fast)

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Save and load game.

   The "Save and load game" function is only available with the registered version of the program. Game state (save files) - slot1.sav,...,slot5.sav

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End turn.

"Soldiers of Empires"

The "End turn" Screen

Opposing player turns can be handled either by a human player or by the computer AI.
   If you want, you may take actions with only the units you want and have the computer AI control the remaining unused units thus eliminating much of the repetitive tasks involved in wargaming.
   Regardless, the control production of combat vehicles and ordinance is a human prerogative and the computer will only adjust production for its coalition only. How work computer AI in mode "AI completed Your turn"? You can make actions with important units (50...100...150 on front line), deploying their, to adjust orders on war vehicles production -  other playing for You AI!

   What actions game engine are executed when changing a playing day? Executed orders on combat vehicles production ( on measure of correspondence orders to real economic potential), is repaired part of combat machines, basing in repair, part wounded dies, part wounded is brought back into put on elite reserve, appear new recruits.

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Help menu.

   In this game menu, you may learn of authors of the game and find other small additional instructions and advices.

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Last changes. Version 1.6 ( September 12, 2010 )

Windows Vista and Windows 7 support added

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System requirements:

Pentium-II 333MHz or higher. 
64mb RAM (128mb recommended). 
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/ 7
DirectX 7.0 or higher. 
DirectX-compatible sound.

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Also... If You have any question, see FAQ about "Soldiers of Empires"

 

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