Operation Mercury - Special Features




Manipulating Counters

All Counters have a context-sensitive menu accessed by right-clicking on the counter. Some commands are grouped into sub-menus. Keyboard shortcuts are displayed for each command and can be used instead of using the menus.




General Commands

Movement Submenu

Combat Submenu

Engineering Submenu

Delay Submenu (German units only, in movement submenu)

Artillery Specific Commands




Popup Information Display

Holding the mouse steady over a stack of units activates a popup window showing a 100% zoomed view of the counters in the hex:-



The units are displayed with the bottom unit at the left, in order to the top-most unit at the right. Above the unit display is a line of text showing:- Holding the mouse steady over an empty hex will display the Hex reference and the terrain.


Out Of Command Status and Rating Modifiers

Whenever a counter is selected by clicking on it, or by dragging a box around it, the outline of the counter is highlighted in a thicker black border to show that it is current selected. The counter on the right has been selected:



If the counter is Out of Command when selected, then the counter is instead highlighted in a thick red border with a thin red diagonal:



The "-1" label to the right of the Troop Quality is a reminder that Troop Quality is reduced by -1 whenever a unit is out of command. A negative modifier is displayed in red, a positive modifier in blue and a green zero is displayed if multiple modifiers cancel each other out. The Troop Quality Modifier status takes into account the following modifiers:-
Modifiers to the Fire, Assault and Defence ratings are displayed down the left side of the counter, roughly in line with the ratings printed on the counter. These modifiers take into account all modifiers specified in the Series, Exclusive and Scenario Special rules that currently apply to the counter that are NOT caused by other markers stacked. with the unit (e.g. changes due to terrain, time, special rules). In this case, the unit is subject to a -2 Fire and Assault rating due to it being Night and a -1 Defence modifier for being in Scrub.






Additional Map Markers

Marker
Description
V
Marks a hex referenced in the Victory Conditions
  Various coloured stars mark hexes mentioned in the Scenario Cards.



No Entry Areas



Sections of the map that are out of play to all units are marked with a label and gray cross-hatch shading.


Artillery Park Management



To create an Artillery Park, move the Artillery Park counter from the Divisional holding box and place it on the map in the same hex as an Artillery Counter of the same division, Right-click on the Artillery counter and select Enter Artillery Park. The Artillery unit will be moved to the correct holding box on the Divisional card.
Artillery Units can enter an existing Artillery Park in the same way by moving to the Artillery Park marker on the map and using the Enter Artillery Park command.



To leave an Artillery Park, right-click on an Artillery unit in an Artillery Park holding box and select the Leave Artillery park command. The unit will be moved to the current location of the matching Artillery park marker on the map.



To disband an Artillery Park, right-click on an Artillery Park marker on the map and select the Disband Artillery Park command. The Artillery Park marker will be returned to the matching Artillery Park Holding Box on the Divisional Card and any Artillery units in the holding box will be returned to the map where the marker was located.



To use the Attack Wizard to attack units on the map with Artillery Units in an Artillery Park, use the Attack With command and select the Artillery Unit you wish to attack with from the list of units displayed that are currently in the Artillery Park box on the Division card.



Use the Fired command on an Artillery Park marker to indicate that an Artillery Unit has fired from that park this turn, and the Artillery Park is now subject to Counter-Battery fire. The Fired marker is removed when the Remove Barrage Markers button is clicked at the end of a player turn.


Leaders and Independent Units

  

When a leader unit is activated, a box will appear in the lower right corner containing the unit's activation limit. Use the Activate Independents command to list any non-activated Independent units from the same division within the leaders command range.
Selecting one of the Independent units on the menu will Activate the corresponding unit and reduce the leaders activation count by 1. Black Stripe Independent units can be activated in the same way, but do not reduce the count of remaining Independent activations.


Attack Wizard



The Attack Wizard is a comprehensive Fire Attack calculator that can be used to resolve any combat situation within Operation Mercury. See the separate Help item on the Attack Wizard for more information.


Men at Work and Rallying Counters 

  

The Men at Work and Rallying counters are special markers that record how long a unit has been trying unsuccessfully to complete a task. Use the Increase and Decrease commands to change the value of the marker.


Charts



The various charts required for play are accessible by clicking on the Charts toolbar button.


Notes



Click on the Notes button to open the Notes display. There are four different kinds of notes.
  1. The Scenario notes section is pre-loaded with the complete instructions for the scenario from the Exclusive Rule Book
  2. The Public notes section is empty at the start of the scenario. Players can type notes into this section and they are shared between all players, and saved when the game is saved..
  3. The Private notes section is similar to the Public Notes, except that each player has their own personal copy. The notes are saved with the game, but no other player gets to see your Private Notes.
  4. The Delayed notes section is drop-box for secret information that must be recorded at the start of the game, and then revealed to your opponent at a later time. This feature is not generally used in Operation Mercury, but may be useful for custom games. Click on the New button to create a new Delayed note and give it a name. Click Ok, then Save. The note will be saved along with game and your opponent will be able to see the name of the note, and the time it was created, but cannot see the text of the note until you click on the Reveal button. Once created, a Delayed Note cannot be edited, changed or deleted by either player.


Turn Track



Move the Date and Time markers around the turn track as required. The weather is always Clear in Operation Mercury.


Activation Chits and Activating Units  

 

The Activation window is the core of Operation Mercury. Activation Chits for the various Armies, Divisions and Formations in the scenario are made available for use in the scenario setup, or as reinforcements as the associated troops enter the game. Selected chits are randomized in the Coffee Mug and drawn out one by one to dictate the order of play. The Activation board contains a number of different parts: At the end of a turn, one of the players can click the Refill Mug button to distribute the Used Activation Markers ready for the next turn: As well as manipulating the chits manually, you can use the right-click menu available on each chit
When activated, units belonging to the same formation or division as the chit are clearly marked with a Yellow Highlight:



This allows you to easily see where the currently active units are on the board. The Green highlight indicates an activated unit that has used its Action. Moving a unit, or issuing it commands that represent actions (Such as building an Impoved Position or entering Column Mode) cause the highlight to automatically change from Yellow to Green. If you need to manually may a unit as having done its action, use the 'Mark Action Done' command on the individual counter.

At the end of the Activation, use the Deactivate All button to remove all activation highlights.


Greek Unit Setup Randomisation

 

Some scenarios require the random placement of units (mainly Greek, but some non-Greek units also) accross a number of specified hexes. These units are stored in the Greek Unit Randomisation window at scenario setup. One player must click on the Randomise Greek Units button at the top of the window to randomly allocated the starting hexes from those specified in the rules.
The units must then be manually moved to their correct starting hex before start of play. The larger scenarios may use more than one randomisation display from the smaller scenarios, all displays relevent to the current scenario will appear in this window.


Command and Dispatch Point Tracks



Use the Command and Dispatch markers to track the current level of Command and Dispatch Points for each Division. The Location of each marker on the track represents the number of points currently available. The rate at which the Division gains extra points is indicated on the lower right-hand corner of each marker.

NOTE that in scenarios 1-4, individual Brigades act as divisions and battalions as formations.


Supply Level Tracking



The Supply Level tracking display will be included in the Command/Dispatch window for scenarios that use Special rule S4.0 Supply Determination. Follow rule S4.0 to determine changes to the supply level on a specific map. Right-click on the appropriate Supply marker and select the Reduce Supply or Increase Supply to change the supply level for that Army on that map. For Diminished and Emergency Supply, the appropriate TQ and Fire rating modifiers will be displayed in the Selected Unit display, Combat->Info display and the Attack Wizard.


Allied Morale and Withdrawal Level

The Allied Morale and Withdrawal level display will be included in the Command/Dispatch window for scenarios that use Special rule S5.0 Allied Morale and Allied Withdrawal.



To set the starting Morale or Withdrawal level at the start of a scenario, right-click on the Allied Morale/Withdrawal Level, choose the Set AWL Level command and enter the starting Morale or Withdrawal level.



To change the Morale or Withdrawal level during a scenarion, right-click on the appropriate counters on the right-side of the display and select the Increase, Decrease, Yes or No commands as required to record the changes. The overall Level will automatically update to show the current Morale or Withdrawal level.



To change from Morale Level to Withdrawal Level when Allied Withdrawal comes into play, right-click on the left-mouse counter and select the appropriate command. Note that the Each Alled Unit Withdrawn is only available in Withdrawal mode.


Victory Point Tracking (Scenario 4)



The VP tracking display is included in the Command/Dispatch window for Scenario 4 which has its own VP mechanism. Right-click on the individual counters and select the Increase, Decrease, Yes or No commands as required to record the changes.


Events



The Events window contains two Decks of Event counters, one each for the Allied and German side. Whenever the Random Event chip for a side is drawn from the mug, drag the top event of the deck and place it in the lower half of the display. Use the Return to Event Deck command to return an Event chit to its appropriate Deck.
Event chits can also be placed on the map where required. The Heroic chit will boost the stats of the unit it is stacked with in the on-board displays and Attack Wizard. The Partisan chit can be used to initiate a Partisan attack using the Attack Wizard on the German units it is stacked with. Similiarly, the Allied Air Strike chit can be used to initiate an Air attack.


Scenario Cards - Variable Setup, Holding Boxes, Reinforcements, Brigade Compositions



The Scenario Card toolbar button opens a window containing the scenario cards. There is one card for each of the 4 Divisions represented in the game, plus one card for each of the 4 Brigades/Regiments that act like divisions in scenarios 1-4. The scenario cards are specific to the particular scenario.

For Divisions that are not deployed in the current scenario, the scenario card is blank and is hidden after the first time you click on any scenario card tab.

For Divisions that are deployed, the card contains all the counters needed to complete the scenario. Cards have seperate sections for :-


Graveyard



Units in Operation Mercury cannot be Deleted directly from the main map board. Use the Movement -> Graveyard (Ctrl-G) command to move destroyed units to the Graveyard map. Once in the Graveyard, units can be deleted if necessary.


Unit Inventory



Display a unit summary inventory. Units are broken down by map, then side, Division, then Formation. Clicking on a unit will scroll the map to show the unit if the map is open. You can right-click on a unit on the inventory screen and issue commands to the unit.


Save Image of Game

Click on the Camera toolbar button and select a file name to save an png image of the current map with all of the counters on it.


Map Overview

The Map Overview button displays a small-scale image of the entire map and draws a rectangle indicating size of the current view screen. Click on the small screen image to move the view screen around. Click on the Map Overview a second time to hide the overview map.


Zoom Map

Click on the Zoom buttons to zoom the current map in and out. The main map has 7 zoom levels defined, and starts at zoom level 3.


Hide Counters

Use the Hide Counters button to temporarily hide all of the counters on map to enable you to examine the map terrain. Click again to make the counters reappear. This has no effect on what your opponent sees.


Deactivate All

The Deactivate button deactivates all units on the map, removing any remaining Yellow (Activated) or Green (Action done) highlights.


Clear Barrage and Artillery Parks

The Clear Barrage button can be used at the end of a players turn to remove all Barrage markers currently on the board and to flip all Fired Artillery Park counters back to their unfired side.


Line of Sight



Clicking on the Line of Sight button causes all counters on the map to become transparent, revealing the terrain beneath. Click and drag from one hex to another to draw a Line of Sight thread from the center of the start hex to the center of hexes that you move the cursor over. The range is displayed near the target hex. The Line of Sight thread will stay visible until you click on the map. Refer to the Line of Sight rules to determine if Line of Sight is blocked between the two hexes.


Moved Marker and Movement Trails



When a unit is moved, it is marked with a small yellow marker in the middle right of the counter. To clear all moved markers on all units, click the button on the toolbar.
To clear the Moved marker on an individual unit, use the Movement -> Mark Moved command.



Use the Movement -> Movement Trail command to display a trail showing where the unit has moved since the last time the was clicked.