FORTRESS BERLIN Readme.txt v1.3

Change History
3.0:   Added "tickers" for VP's/Sequence of Play.
       Added "Last Moved" highlighter
       Some keyboard shortcuts modified
2.0:   Added the variant module "On To Berlin!" (Paperwars magazine
       #55)
1.8.1: Added command radius for manuever mode (Alt-R).
1.8:   Added a "Fired" marker that can be removed with a global "remove
       all" button.  HQ's can display their command radius by pressing
       Ctrl-R after selecting one of them.
1.7:   Added "Hide Pieces" button.  Changed Map zoom hotkeys to keypad +/-.
1.6:   Changed map format from .gif (totaling 5.86MB) to .jpg 
       (totaling 2.28MB). The map looks just like the original and 
       the map window scrolls MUCH smoother now. Screenshot below is 
       of the .gif format.

QUICK START GUIDE (from the module):

FORTRESS BERLIN Quick Start Guide

The obvious change from the original game will be the change 
to the counter artwork. I haven’t punched the counters on my 
copy of the game and I still can’t tell which side a counter 
belongs to (except the US). I’ve decided to use “standard” 
nationality colors for the counters, with a different font 
and white highlighting to make them “vassal friendly”. You 
should be able to read them even at zoomed out levels.

I’ve also modified the map a bit, adding a white mask to it 
which I think helps the counters stand out a good bit. The 
grey German counters were a bit hard to see on some of the 
hexes.

EDIT:  Removed the white mask.  It's now a clear, sharp copy
of the original map.  Hex outlines are now a grey color as 
in the original game.  I've reduced the map's filesize from
13mb to 5mb while making it look even better IMHO.

I have movement trails turned on by default, but may make 
this optional, depending on any feedback that I get. For 
now, it’s a cool new feature to me.

EDIT: Movement trails are now controlled by a key command:
Ctrl-T.

Per the game rules for “Limited Intelligence”, the counters 
in a stack aren’t to be inspected (except the top counter 
naturally). To enable this, I’ve added the ability to 
conceal counters. Once concealed, the owning player will see 
a small “?” in the top right corner of the counter. The 
opponent will see a generic counter with the nationality 
symbol. I would assume that the limited intelligence would 
apply to all units if this wasn’t a magazine game and ATO 
had decided to print several “conealment” counters. So as an 
option, I’d say hide all pieces until the are involved in 
combat as per the rules.

Also per the rules, the Germans are to deploy 30 of the 
Volkssturm units, randomly picked. This has been implemented 
here. Clicking on the “VS” button will open the VS draw 
pile. Right click on the stack that is shown, enter “30” as 
the number of random units to draw, and then drag the 
counters initially showing and drop them anywhere in that 
window. 30 randomly drawn VS units should appear in a big 
stack. I suppose for ease of use, you could do 3 draws of 10 
each to make it easier to manage.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT:
I’m playing with adding “private windows” (vassal term) for 
both sides. These would contain all the units layed out in 
order of appearance (as in an OOB chart) and with a global 
button to “conceal all”. This would allow the player to 
first hide all their counters with the press of one button 
before moving them to the main map.

EDIT:  With the "AT_START.sav" file that was created, I think
that private windows with at start units is not neccessary.

Please send any comments/requests about the module to:
gary@garykrockover.com 
subj: Fortress Berlin

Thanks and enjoy!

Fortress Berlin
Designer: John Prados
Publisher: Against the Odds (www.atomagazine.com)