AGGRESSOR: A wargame about a wargame.
GAME DESCRIPTION
BREAKDOWN: Thinktank complex, Aggressor scenario, Sector (9-square) module, Partisan option. Game focus= principle of combined arms. Military usage as a MI/ G2 playground during Command Post Exercises using FM30-102/ 103 sources (ref agrG1.txt).
	Aggressor is a tactical scale wargame, whose units represent battalions for the most part, being right on the fringe of tactical/ strategic. Army doctrine still refers to battalion- size combat units as "maneuver battalions"; whereas brigades are viewed more as administrative organizations. For example, a brigade may be noted as having 2 bns in advance & 1 in reserve, but a division wouldn't say the same for its brigades, which are charged with independent responsibilities. A round, during which both sides play, represents close to six hours of real time (after the point when an aggressor side is declared). Play is conducted in alternating turns. During his turn, a player moves and attacks with his units in any order he wishes.

 
	The game map is marked off into locations with each point surrounded by six others; forming a hexagonal network. This hexagonal style is widely practiced by wargaming hobbyists, and was used in the first simple tank battle game designed for the U.S. Army as a mathematical model for use in analytical research studies in 1952 by a Dr. George Gamow. The distance between these points on the Aggressor map represents roughly four kilometers. Terrain on the map may be of two types: either clear or rough, with the possibility of either also being affected by CBR (Chemically/ Biologically/ Radiologically contaminated sites: the more modern usage is NBC as Nuclear/ Biological/ Chemical) conditions. Stacking more than one unit in a single location is not permitted.
	The various unit types in the game are regulated by the values of two attributes assigned to each: Range & Strength. Units suffer combat losses by step- reduction of these attributes. Range generally affects a unit's movement on the map, and Strength generally affects a unit's attack and defense capability.
	With the Observation option in use, the most noticeable feature of the game is its dependence on what's called hidden information representative of "the fog of war". Range then acquires an additional feature. In general, the type and location of the enemy's units are not revealed to a player by the computer unless the player's own units are moved within observation range of the enemy units.
	The object of the game is to occupy & control a major parcel of the land on the game map. For this purpose, the land area is apportioned into sectors representing each side's center, left flank & right flank; plus an initial border dividing the two sides as a DMZ/ no man's land, whose violation determines which side is to be treated as the aggressing player for that game. This border also serves throughout the game to mark off the home territory of each side, which is useful for strategic considerations (mostly non- unit features), for example for purposes of eligibility for partisan contact, probable availability of replacements for friendly units and possibly for intensity of local air defense screens.

GAME RULES 
UNIT TYPES
	Each side will begin the game by choosing 18 units which will constitute its army. The color of the unit symbol indicates to which side it belongs: typically one side will use a dark symbol on a light background, the other will use a light symbol on a dark background.
	Each unit occupies one point on the map (which is referred to as a 'hex'), and units may not be stacked more than one to a hex.
	Six types of units are available from which to choose, and there is no stricture upon the combination of types allowed. The six types are tabularized according to their starting (maximum) attribute values and abilities as follows:
 
Type	Rng	Str	Special Feature		`?Symbol
Airbase	0	3	Recon/Strike msn
Missile	1	1	Missile launch
Artillery	3	2	Indirect fire
Armor	3	3 
Infantry	2	2	Replacement
Support	2	1	Supply & Replacement
 
	Special features noted are explained in detail under the Special Features heading.
 
EXTRA TYPES
	Technical (Msl unit without msls)
	Unidentified (type not observed)
	Nuked (in CBR hex: type not displayed)

 
MAP BOARD
	Initial placement of units on the map, and designation of target locations during play is done using the map's coordinate system. Coordinates are shown by capital letters alphabetically arranged in Column- Row format (left to right, and top to bottom), and can be preceded by the symbol '@'. For example, the bottom righthand hex on the map is @UO.
	The map contains 21 columns and 15 rows. The central column represents the territorial border dividing the two sides and is explained in detail under Movement, & Game Object.
	The Aggressor map uses the most common style of hex numbering; identified as "orthogonal, side up, 1st column odd, low shift." Due to the natural stagger of a hexagonal tessellation, hex row labels down the left side of the map are shifted so as to be on a level with what would be the lower half of hexes in odd columns while being level with the upper half of hexes in even columns. Even at this, identifying row components can be difficult, and it may be convenient to count down or up from the top or bottom to exactly place a hex.
	Rough terrain features are depicted on the map by areas of hexes marked off with "contour" lines. Clear terrain is shown by hexes marked with a dot.

 
MOVEMENT
	A Unit moves on the map by displacing to an adjacent hex. The number of moves a unit can make in a turn is determined by its Range and the type of terrain it moves from. A unit may not move into a hex occupied by any other unit.
	Terrain in a hex is considered to be one of two types, either clear or rough, for movement purposes. Rough terrain hexes are those through which contour lines run. Contour lines have no elevation effect (in the basic game) other than to indicate rough terrain. Besides those hexes marked with a dot as being clear, border hexes are also positioned in clear terrain (in the standard Sector module). CBR hexes (see under Special Features) may be in either clear or rough terrain. A special case applies to a unit moving into a CBR hex (see below).
	A unit's movement allowance for a turn is generally equivalent to its existing Range value. If a unit traces a movement path through only clear hexes, it would be able to move a number of steps up to its Range value. If a unit traces a movement path through only rough hexes, it would be able to move up to half its Range value rounded up.
	What determines specifically whether a unit may move another hex step at a particular time is the relation between: 1) current Range, 2) number of hexes already moved this turn, and 3) type of terrain occupied. While a unit moves, its Range is not changed (unless it enters a CBR hex) but the number of hexes it moves is remembered. When a unit attempts to move, the computer takes its current Range, and divides it by two if the unit is now in a rough terrain hex, rounding up. Then it subtracts from this result the number of hexes the unit had previously moved in that turn: if the remainder is at least one, the unit may move another hex.
	The type of terrain the unit is moving into makes no difference in terms of movement allowance. When a unit enters a CBR hex, it immediately suffers a step loss (see under Combat) which normally reduces Range by one. This will result in any unit which moves into a CBR hex in a rough terrain hex being halted for the rest of the turn; while a unit with a Range of 3 can roll through a CBR hex in clear terrain which it starts next to, stopping in another hex adjacent to the CBR hex since its Range will have been reduced to 2 by the CBR effects.
	A unit which started the game with, or has been reduced to, a range of zero may still attempt to move one step in its turn. When such an attempt is made, there is a 50% chance that the unit will be allowed to perform a one- hex move. If the attempt fails, the computer will display the message: "Immobile" this turn - in which case subsequent special features are disallowed, but it may still make an adjacent attack (see under Combat) if otherwise able.
	A unit which doesn't move during its turn is considered to be "digging in" (constructing defensive positions) and receives certain Emplacement bonuses for & against identification in later Observation and against attackers in Combat until it should again become mobile. Emplaced status isn't lost by attacking or using a special feature in place, only if the unit is moved. Technically, a unit qualifies if it occupies the same hex at the start of the opponent's turn that it occupied at the start of its own turn; so to- and- fro moves won't disqualify one.
	Zone Of Control: One side's units exert some local interference over the bypassing movements of the other side's units. A unit which shifts around an enemy unit (moves directly from one hex adjacent with an enemy unit to another hex adjacent with the same enemy unit) must stay in place for the turn, though still capable of attacking or using a special feature. Even units in CBR hexes exert this control. Technically, they use what has been termed (in SPI's nomenclature) a somewhat elastic, but inactive & permissive zone of control.
	Aside from the ZOC rule of close contact for movements, mandatory engagement with enemy units is not dictated. Indeed, combined with Emplaced effects, it will be seen that units one- on- one just trying to grind each other down for a breakthrough can effectively become involved in prolonged static slugfests.
	In connection with the zone of control concept, a unit that makes a move to a hex inside the opponent's territory before an aggressor side has been declared is also treated as stopped by a ZOC. Further moves will be limited to one step while these conditions pertain.
	Partisans effect: Any unit of the side that began on the map side in which Partisans appear at the start of its turn is subject to their effect. Any such unit in or adjacent to a hex in which partisans are placed loses its ability to move or act for the turn. A partisan- allied unit that happens to be in a Partisan hex can't be attacked on the ground, as attackers moving next to a Partisan hex during the turn suffer the same effect before being able to attack; although it could be attacked with a ranged feature.
 
 
OBSERVATION
	If the option to use Observation has been selected, the commander of one side will not know the composition & disposition of the other side's forces automatically. Before enemy troops can be detected, one must maneuver his forces within observation range of them.
	The observation phase takes place at the beginning of each side's turn. The results of an observation are revealed only to the side whose turn it is. A player will not know how much the enemy knows.
	Observation is the second utility of a unit's Range attribute. A unit's observation range is equal to its current Range value. This is a normal grid distance whose whole number measurement includes the hex of the observed unit, but not the observer's hex. Any enemy unit within the observation range of a player's unit will be observed by the player. The observing unit's full Range isn't affected by being located in a Rough terrain or CBR hex. Since a unit which had been targeted by missiles doesn't take a step loss until after the observation check phase of its turn, its RNG still pertains for that turn.
	An observed enemy unit may or may not be Identified. An identified unit will show its full unit symbol, but an unidentified unit will only show its color- coded background. Criteria for identification are:
	Observing unit is not in a CBR hex, and
	Observing unit is emplaced/ dug in; or
	Observed unit is not emplaced, in clear terrain hex; or
	Distance to observed unit <= Range/2 rounded up.
	If an enemy unit is identified during a player's turn, that unit will automatically be considered identified for the player's next turn as well. However, if it is not actually within identification range at the start of the ensuing turn, it will be lost to view on following turns until it is under observation again. This does not apply to unidentified units; which must be reacquired in each observation phase, or lost from sight.
	Ranged attackers are allowed to prospect for unobserved target units. As with the launching of missiles, if a hidden unit occupies the target hex of artillery fire or an air strike, it is revealed as unidentified; although in that case its type won't even be momentarily disclosed, only whether its Rng or Str was reduced on a hit. Making one such prospecting attack, hit or miss, causes the attacker to be marked as having used its special feature for the turn, and unable to act further in any manner on that turn. This will not affect an error in targeting when Observation isn't being employed: then it will be noted that no unit is targeted and the attacker can try another target hex. Ground attacks cannot be similarly prospected. Just as ranged features can't be used at a range less than 2 due to the inherent problems of positioning with opponent forces, a unit that moves into a position (typically at the end of its movement Range) without an awareness of a potential target can't be mobilized into attacking out of that position, as can be done against a defender made known by means other than the moved unit's own discovery. This is also reflected in the Ambush combat function.
 
 
COMBAT
	Ground combat is resolved between one attacking unit and one defending unit at a time. The attacking unit must be adjacent to the defending unit and not in a CBR hex in order to attack, and makes the attack by indicating a move into the target unit's hex. A unit can make an attack even after having moved its full MA. A unit can only attack during its side's turn, and can't attack more than once per turn. A unit may not attack if it performed a special feature (qv) earlier in the turn.
	Combat is affected primarily by a unit's current Strength attribute, both in attack and defense. Combat results in either a hit or a miss scored by the attacking unit versus the defending unit. Following is the procedure used to determine the odds for a hit in an attack:
	Base probability for a hit is 50%. The computer rolls a d10 ("dX"= ten- sided die) to check for a hit, needing a roll result less than or equal to the adjusted hit value; with a base value of 5. A roll result of 1 is always a hit regardless of adjustments that may lower the value needed to zero.
	Adjust the base value by adding the remainder (which may be a negative addition) of the attacker's current strength minus the defender's current strength.
	If the defender is in a rough terrain hex or any CBR hex, subtract 1 from the adjusted value.
	If the defender is emplaced, subtract a further 1 from the adjusted value.
	If the defender was unobserved prior to the attack, subtract a further 1 from the adjusted value.
	The attacking unit is unaffected by making an attack. If an attack is resolved as a miss, there is no effect on the defending unit either. If an attack results in a hit, it causes a step loss to the defending unit. 
	A unit which suffers a step loss has its Range attribute reduced by one, unless its Range is already at zero. A unit with a current Range of zero which takes a step loss has its Strength reduced by one instead.
	In addition to this normal Attack, there are two other forms of combat which may be applied; contingent upon the attacker's circumstances.

  
	(1) An attacker that moves more than one hex distant from its starting hex to attack an adjacent target is considered to be making an Assault. The effect of an Assault is a 50% chance on a hit result that the defender's Strength will be reduced by one directly, even if the unit still retains a Range value.

 
	(2) An Emplaced attacker which was not observed in the preceding (opponent's) turn, and makes its attack without moving is considered to be making an Ambush. The effect of an Ambush is two consecutive attack attempts by the attacker against the defending unit instead of the normal one.
	There is no adjustment to combat for attacking an unidentified unit. Although the computer will announce a hit or miss, the type of a defending unidentified unit is not revealed by combat.
	When an attack is made, the type of the attacking unit, the coordinates of the defending unit, the form of attack and the result of the attack are reported to both sides. If the defending unit is emplaced, a Dug indicator is also displayed. If a unit's Strength is reduced to zero by any means, it is removed from the map and irretrievably eliminated from play.
 
SPECIAL FEATURES
	Special features are activities which units may perform outside of their normal functions of movement and combat. Certain special features are restricted to specific unit types and conditions. Performance of any special feature requires that a unit have made no attack during the turn, and denies any further move or activity to the operating unit for the turn. A unit in a CBR hex may not perform any special feature.
	There are two varieties of special feature which may be performed by any type of unit: Partisan Contact and Supply Request to a Support unit.

 
	Partisan Contact is attempted by a unit which begins its turn in the opponent's territory (having crossed the border on a prior turn), while no aggressor side has yet been declared. The chance that a unit will successfully contact a partisan group is generally 10% times the unit type in order of Msl (=1), Air, Aty, Arm, Inf, Spt (=6) plus 10%; but a Tec unit has 50% total. If contact is made, the number of partisans available to the contacting side is increased by one, up to a limit of four. Partisans may interfere with opponent activities in later opponent turns. Each partisan would appear in a random opponent- side column of a random existing opponent unit's row (even an opponent unit that might have crossed the border). Partisan Contact cannot be attempted after the aggressor's side has been declared (see Conduct of Play Turn Sequence for more information).

 
	Supply Request is accomplished by a unit which is adjacent to a friendly Support type unit, and has had one or both of its attributes reduced. When a unit requests supply, by attempting a move into the Support unit's hex, the supporting unit takes a step loss and the supplied unit's Strength is incremented, if below maximum, otherwise its Range is incremented. The action is taken by the requesting unit, and upon being resupplied it can do nothing else in that turn. The Support unit is unaffected in action aside from taking a step loss. One such Support unit can be accessed before or after moving, attacking or attempting to gain Replacements, a number of times just limited by its STR remaining at 1 or more prior to the application.

 
	The remaining special features are available only to certain types of units under certain conditions: Recon/ Strike Air Mission, CBR Missile Launch, Decontamination, Indirect Fire, and Replacement.
	Airbase type units may fly two kinds of missions. In both cases, the player specifies the airbase to fly the mission and the target hex for the mission. In a Recon (period Mohawks), the computer traces a straight line from the base to the target: if any unobserved opponent units lie in any of the hexes traversed, they are revealed to the player as unidentified types. In a Strike (period Skyraiders), the opponent unit at the target coordinates is attacked with the airbase's current Strength. Range is unlimited for both kinds of mission, but the greater the distance to the target, the more chance that the airbase will suffer a step loss (after the mission) due to opponent antiaircraft measures. There's no chance of antiair fire if no opponent unit is overflown; otherwise the probability formula for such a loss is distance to target as a percentage, halved if the target hex is on the Airbase's side of the map, with an up or down modifier for a Strike mission of the differential of the target unit's STR after the attack, minus the Airbase STR.

 
	Missile units may employ the CBR Missile Launch special feature once each during the game. When a missile unit has launched its missiles, it reverts to simply a Technical unit, with the usual attributes but no further missiles. In launching, the unit must specify a target hex. Missiles can't be launched at a target hex adjacent to the Missile unit, and may be launched to a distance of up to 8 hexes from the unit. If any unit is the target of the launch, the unit is attacked with an implied attacker's Strength of 4. If this attack results in a hit of any kind, the target unit is immediately eliminated. CBR missiles launched at any hex cause the terrain in that hex to be marked with a CBR hex. Any unit moving into a CBR hex suffers a step loss. Any unit that begins its turn/ round in a CBR hex other than one it voluntarily entered on its last move suffers a step loss. An unobserved or unidentified target unit's type will be momentarily revealed by the Missile atk readout, but not shown thereafter in the CBR hex.
	A Missile unit that has launched its missiles reverts to the Technical unit type. The Technical unit's special feature is Decontamination. When located adjacent to a CBR hex, if the unit attempts Decon it has a 60% chance once per turn to erase the CBR marker from the object hex. Msl units can't exercise this feature until revised as Tec units.

 
	Artillery units may use Indirect Fire on any turn as a special feature. Indirect fire may be directed against an enemy target out to a distance of the artillery unit's current Range. An attack is resolved versus the target unit using the artillery unit's current Strength.
	A launching or firing unit's effective Range isn't affected by being located in a Rough terrain hex.

 
	Infantry and Support type units only, may attempt to restore their depleted Range & Strength attributes without recourse to the Supply Request feature, by employing the Replacement special feature. When this feature is invoked, there is the probability that the unit's Strength first, or else Range, will be incremented within the limits of the unit's maxima. This probability is 60% while the unit occupies a position within its original home territorial borders, or 40% when it lies within the opponent's territory.
 
GAME OBJECT
	The object of the game is to gain control of sectors of the map by occupying them with your forces and evicting or eliminating any contesting enemy forces in those sectors. If a player is confident that no opponent will return to intrude upon those sectors he controls, he can move away and still retain control: since the last occupying player is the controlling player. So, if all of one side's units are eliminated, the other side is the (eventual) winner, even if having only one unit remaining.
	The map is partitioned into 9 conceptual sectors. To win the game, a player must control 5 of them (for exact information on sector locations and control check intervals, see Conduct of Play Victory Conditions). These sectors are arranged in a 3x3 square block like a Tic-Tac-Toe board, with one side beginning in control of the 3 leftmost sectors and the other side beginning in control of the 3 rightmost sectors. Down the middle of the central column of sectors runs the border.
	The border is important for determining which side will act in the aggressor role for a game. The first side to attack in any manner a unit which is located on the enemy's side of the border is assigned the role of "aggressor" for the duration of the game. This includes the launch of CBR missiles, `or making of a prospecting ranged attack, even into an unoccupied hex in enemy territory. Becoming the aggressor carries with it one provision for winning the game: the minimum of 5 sectors under the aggressor side's control must include at least one in each of the 3 columns of sectors.
 
CONDUCT OF PLAY
SET UP
	When the program is loaded, the map will be drawn on the screen and the player will be asked to choose which side of the board he wishes to be his territory. If the (E)ast side is chosen, the player will set up his units on the right side of the map; otherwise, the player will be given the left side of the map for his units.
	After choosing sides, the machine proceeds to select and position the units it has decided to play with for this game, without revealing any of this information to the player. Upon completion of its setup, the computer, acting as referee, prompts the player to select and place his own units.
 
TURN SEQUENCE
	A) ACTIVE SIDE DETERMINATION: When the Aggressor game program commences, it randomly chooses which side moves first. Turns thereafter alternate between sides.
	B) MAP PROJECTION: The map is laid out for the player at the start of the game. With the use of Observation in effect, the first thing that happens at the beginning of a turn is a projection of the map board for the player whose turn it is showing that player, alone, what his units can observe in the existing situation. For a person playing against the computer, the board will not appear to change at all on the machine's turn, but the computer will have its memory adjusted to 'see' the current apparent state of affairs from its point of view.
	C) CBR HEX EFFECTS CHECK: At the start of each side's turn, the computer automatically scans the board for any friendly units located in CBR hexes that did not move into them on their last turn, and inflicts a step loss on each one that it finds. Since this follows the Observed Units check, Range reductions here won't have affected a unit's view for the turn.
	D) OPPONENT PARTISAN USE: The computer then will check to see if the opposing side has any partisan forces that it could use. If so, the computer will generate a random location for the partisan activity within the acting side's borders and freeze/disable for one turn all those acting units within 1 hex distance of the spot (these units are considered to be busy suppressing local fighting). They may take no action this turn, and are noted as having made an attack.
	E) UNIT ACTIVITY CYCLE: During a player's turn, each surviving unit on that side will have the opportunity to execute any actions permitted to it, according to the following guidelines: A unit may move and either attack or perform a special feature in that side's turn. 
	The method used to allow each of a player's units an opportunity to act is to select one by touch/ mouse, key input or html link pointer cycling.
	When using keys to control a unit's actions: hitting a number key 1- 6 will cause it to move to the appropriate adjacent hex, if it can. These directions are coded as: 1=hex to upper left, 2=hex to lower left, 3=hex above, 4=hex below, 5=hex to upper right, 6=hex to lower right. Hitting number key 0 will request that the unit perform a special feature. Clicking the Go'g to: opponent side link ends the player's turn.
	If a unit wants to attack an adjacent enemy unit, it can simply hit the key that indicates the direction of the attack. The same applies to a unit that wants to request supply from an adjacent friendly Support type unit. When a special feature is contemplated (key 0), the player may be asked for a target coordinate.
	The computer is able to keep track of every action performed by each side's units. A player need not confine himself to completion of one unit's turn activities before leaving it & moving on to the next unit. It's allowable to move a unit a fraction of its capability, pass to another unit & move it some or perform some action, return to the first unit and complete its move (or not) ... and so on. The computer will remember what's legal at any point.
	F) ENEMY VICTORY CONDITIONS CHECK: At the start of a side's turn, the computer will check to see if the side controls enough territory to win the game. This means that one can only be assigned victory at the end of his opponent's turn. To win, the appropriate side must control 5 of the 9 sectors, and must control at least one in each of the 3 sector columns if that side is in the aggressor role.
	The sectors' vertical boundary lines are between hex columns G/H and N/O. The sectors' horizontal boundary lines are between hex rows E/F and J/K.