This new FTP module was created by Brian Reynolds. Special thanks to
Game Designer Mark Herman who answered esoteric rules questions
during development, as well as Mark Simonitch from GMT who supplied the hi-res
art from the latest edition of the game. Thanks also to Steve Petras, Knutz
Grunitz, and Judd Vance, along with anyone else who contributed to earlier
versions of the module -- much inspiration was drawn from their excellent work!
The module is presently maintained by Brian
Reynolds - please report any problems to
brian@brianreynolds.net.
Under the "Help" menu you will find a link to the latest Living
Rules version of the For The People rulebook. If you are still
learning how to play
the game itself, several YouTube videos are available online,
including an excellent one by Mark Herman himself.
If you find the
module running too slowly on your computer, go to the "Rules & Preferences"
tab (or Alt+R and turn off "Auto Stack Organization". This
will speed up unit movement at the expense of the automatic organization of
big stacks. You can still manually invoke the reorganizer for a stack with
Ctrl+A.
The side you choose gives you access to its hand of cards--or choose Solitaire
to have access to both (also useful for e.g. local play on one computer, or when
using the ACTS server). For players and competitive events in need of security
for cards and dice rolls, it is recommended to use ACTS (acts.warhorsesim.com)
or a similar server -- the Vassal client may discourage "casual cheating" but by
itself cannot provide meaningful security.
To
reduce window clutter, card decks have been placed on the main map below the
board. Cards can be drawn through several methods, including right-clicking on
the draw pile, or the "Draw" buttons in each player's hand window.
Playing Cards: Select a card in your hand, right click, and
choose from: Play as Event (Ctrl+E) to play as an "EC" or Play
for OPS (Ctrl+O) to play as an OC. There is also a "discard"
option.
Random Discards: In each player hand window
is a button which will cause a single card to be randomly discarded - use when
this is required by an event.
PC Markers, Forts, Armies, Generals,
SP's, and the various map markers are separated into different game piece layers
to prevent accidental movement and stacking. The drawing order from bottom to
top PC Markers, Forts, SPs, Generals, Armies, Status Markers, Cards. Units of
the same exact type placed in a space will stack with other units there (double
click to expand a stack so that individual pieces can be clicked on).
Automatic Stack Organization: By default, groups of
units will auto-organize when placed in the same space, so that the contents
of the space are easier to view. Several organization formats are
automatically switched between, including a "battle mode" when forces from
both players are present in the same space. This auto-organization DOES use
come computation power, and can optionally be turned down or off under the
"Rules and Prefs" button on the toolbar. Even when off, auto-reorg can be
invoked manually using Ctrl+A. Even when auto-organized,
pieces can then be manually readjusted within a space without harm.
If sufficient SP are present in a space,
an army can be created by right-clicking on the General you wish to put in
command and selecting the desired army. Creating an army in this fashion will
automatically manage Strategic Will adjustments; an army can still of course be
"created" manually by dragging its piece to the map and moving appropriate
generals manually to its display area.
Army Counter Stats: The current SP
strength of an army is shown as a large numeral on the lower
right of the counter. The Strategy rating of the army's commander
(or 3 if no commander i.e. "default" commander) is shown on the
left side of the counter. Next to the strategy rating will appear
an asterisk (*) if the army contains at least one cavalry
brigade, or an exclamation point (!) if it is a "Mongol Army"
consisting entirely of cavalry SP and therefore not allowed e.g.
to flip PC markers.
Picking Up and Dropping Off SP's: With an army
selected, using the PGDN key will cause an SP to be dropped
off in the current space, and one point will automatically be deducted from
the army's strength display. Similarly, the PGUP key will
pick up a strength point and add it to the army. Ctrl+PGUP and
Ctrl+PGDN will pickup/dropoff larger groups of strength
points.
Picking Up and Dropping Off Generals and Cavalry:
Armies can similarly drop off and pick up Generals using
Ctrl+G/Alt+G, and they can drop off and pick up Cavalry
using Ctrl+V/Alt+V.
Manually Adjusting Army
Strength: With an army selected, hitting the + and - keys on the
Numpad will manually adjust the army's strength. Or hitting
Ctrl+1 through Ctrl+9 will directly set
the army's strength to a value 1 through 9. Alt+0 through
Alt+5 will set the strength from 10 to 15. The Army SP
marker on the army display can also of course be manually adjusted (or any
of these hotkeys can be used with the Army SP marker selected).
Eliminating/Removing Armies: Pressing
Ctrl+E with an Army selected will eliminate that army,
sending generals and cavalry to the appropriate turn on the turn track for
future re-entry. Strategic Will will be adjusted for loss of an Army,
including an additional penalty of the commanding general's political rating
if there is another army in the space.
Newly arriving generals are
available near the turn track at the lower right of the map, each just above
the appropriate turn for that general to arrive.
Randomizing
New Generals: A stack of newly arriving generals can be randomized
by right clicking their stack and selecting the "Randomize Generals"
(Ctrl+R) option. They will be flipped upside down and
randomized. The upside-down tokens can then be dragged to desired locations
to assign them, before flipping them back up to reveal them.
Randomizing General Casualties:
When a general needs to be selected randomly as a casualty, this
can be done by stacking all the generals who qualify to be casualties in a
single stack (including, if applicable, Cavalry Brigades) and then selecting
the "Randomize" option. The General (or Cavalry Brigade) which is randomized
to the top of the stack is the one which should be taken as the casualty.
Generals With Armies: Generals on an army display
will have a right+click option to allow them to be placed on the map with
their army. Likewise Generals on the map in a space with an army will have
an option to send them to the army display. Generals in the "turn track"
region also have several "quick deploy" options to place them with armies or
in common locations on the map.
Cavalry Generals have a
menu option allowing them to form a cavalry brigade when an SP is present
with them on the map (or in the army to which they've been assigned).
Cavalry Strength points will thenceforth register as an SP when present on
an Army display, and will be properly tracked when picked up and dropped
off. Cavalry Brigade pieces have appropriate right+click options when either
the SP or the General need to be taken as casualties. If the "Cavalry
General Replacements" optional rule is in effect, killed Cavalry Generals
will automatically have their substitutes added to the turn track as
appropriate.
There are several ways to adjust Strategic Will (in addition to manually
adjusting it by moving/flipping the counters on the display).
1. The Strategic Will screen (Alt+W) contains
buttons which can be clicked to apply an adjustment -- these will in turn
apply an appropriate "fortunes of war" additional adjustment when the SW
momentum flips between + and -.
2. Playing an Event Card
that includes an SW adjustment will automatically make the
adjustment, including fortunes-of-war bonuses and penalties.
3. Displacing a Capital will automatically apply
the appropriate SW penalty and fortunes of war.
4.
Destroying a Resource Site will automatically apply appropriate SW
adjustments.
5. Controlling a State: When a State
Control marker is placed (or flipped) in the square for a state, appropriate
SW adjustments will be made automatically.
The numbers of PC Markers present in
Border States, and the number of Union PC Markers in Confederate States (and
Confederate PC Markers in Union States) are automatically tracked and displayed
near the state's name. If a Border State becomes Confederate Controlled, only
the Union PC Markers will henceforth be tracked; once a Border State becomes
Union Controlled no further tracking is necessary and the tracking numbers
disappear.
Clicking on an empty space allows access to a
special right+click menu (and special hotkeys) for that space -- for example
SP's can be added directly, or PC Markers, without the need to drag them from
the Markers display (but the Markers display is also available for players who
prefer it). With an empty space selected, Ctrl+1 through
Ctrl+6 will add a Confederate SP marker of the appropriate
value; Alt+1 through Alt+6 will add a Union SP
marker.
To prevent the necessity of repeatedly scrolling to the
left side of the screen to update rail markers while conducting strategic
movement, global hotkeys are provided: CTRL+Numpad+PLUS and
CTRL+Numpad+MINUS will update the Confederate Strategic
Movement (Rail) marker, and ALT+Numpad+PLUS and
ALT+Numpad+MINUS will update the Union Strategic Movement
(Rail) marker. These hotkeys are always available, no matter what unit or marker
is currently selected.
The Rules & Preferences screen, accessed from the
toolbar or Alt+R, allows Optional Rules functionality to be
turned on and off for Cavalry General Replacements and Additional General
Capabilities rules. Automatic Stack Organization can also be turned up or
town. The VASSAL / ACTS preference determines whether the "Draw Specific
Cards" option for the draw pile will reveal the card names.
Movement Trails can be turned on and off for
all units with the button on the toolbar. The movement histories for all
units can be cleared with the adjacent button.
Ctrl+Clicking on any part of the map will briefly place a circular "flare" symbol on the map in that location to call attention to that location. This symbol will appear on the opponent's map in both server and logfile/PBEM play.