Run5 Free Release = MacArthur Master of Battle

[JSS]

Here's a sneak preview of the next free BII scenario release from Run5. It's the updated MacArthur: Master of Battle

Preview #1 USMC moves off the beaches to rescue the 11th Airborne Division atop Mt. Suro (1 of 5 critical objectives).

[JSS]

Preview #2 Close up of 1st Marine Division as it moves out from the beach.

[JSS]

Preview #3 11 Airborne Division can drop near any of the 5 critical objectives. They are: 1) Mt. Suro Summit, 2 Mt. Hero Summit, 3) West Airfield, 4) Center of Airfield, and 5) East Airfield.

This shot shows a close up of possible drop locations for the 11th Airborne Division (purple shaded hexes cannot be targeted). Red squares indicate good possible drop hexes.

[JSS]

Preview #4 X Corps comes ashore. This shot shows 7th Infantry Division firmly ashore. You can see the follow on amphibious landing wave of 1st Cavalry Division waiting to come ashore this turn.

[JSS]

Preview #5 X Corps Moves Out! This shot shows 1st Cav Division moving out for Mt. Hero Summit while 7th Inf Div heads toward the airfield. 187th Glider Infantry Regiment has airlanded at the opposite end of the airfield to prevent reinforcement by the Japanese forces.

[JSS]

Preview #6 X Corps prepare to takedown the airfield.


In this shot 25th Infantry Division has landed on the Southern side of the island and 43rd Infantry Division has landed on the Eastern side of the island. They move to join 7th Inf Div and secure the airfield (and its three critical objectives).

[JSS]

The MacArthur Master of Battle scenario is now available for free download from Run5.

This version of MacArthur takes advantage of the refined naval movement available in Battles in Italy, as well as, the new combat result tables for bad weather to be a real cliffhanger battle where the Japanese commander tries to hold on and hold out long enough to achieve victory. The American commander has superb forces available but must use them quickly and effectively.

The Axis AI does a respectable job of holding off the American forces (at least until you've figured out what needs to be done!). The American commander may need to capture all five key objectives to activate Battles in Italy's new instant win feature if the initials landings don't go off well!

[Fred98]

Instant win?????

-

[JSS]

ORIGINAL: Joe 98

Instant win?????

-

Capture (and hold) all 5 of the critical objectives at the same time and its an instant win.

[Raukman]

Oooooh, noooooo... now I must buy this game too... I already has too many god games, but the new features makes BiI an interesting game.

I say thanks to all of you who lay down your time and commitment making new scenarios...[:)]

[Fred98]

If you do a word search of the manual, the word "instant" doesn't appear. [&:]

[HercMighty]

"merged" units aren't covered either. I have been sorely dissapointed in the manual this go around. Usually they are so good, but this time the quality fell off.

[JSS]

ORIGINAL: Joe 98

If you do a word search of the manual, the word "instant" doesn't appear. [&:]

This is explained in pretty good detail in Chpt 3 Objectives (Editor Manual). The choices are either a single hex capture can result in a win or holding a group of hexes held at the same time can result in a win.

ORIGINAL: HercMighty

"merged" units aren't covered either. I have been sorely dissapointed in the manual this go around. Usually they are so good, but this time the quality fell off.

This is explained in Chpt 2, Section 4 Edit (Editor Manual)... without the details you're asking about.

Whilst this would have been a great additional section, both Matrix and SSG were pretty upfront in the manuals that anything you had more questions about is fair game for the Matrix/SSG forums. Haven't seen any question not addressed there. I'm a little partial [;)], but I think overall the manual is pretty good for 43 pages... When combined with the Editor Manual and Tutorial the discussion is fairly comprehensive.

[HercMighty]

I just don't understand why you would have to go to the "Editor" manual to learn about "Gameplay". If someone just played the game and didn't know about instant wins how would they know to come to the forums to ask? It's not like the game has a bug that causes a crash to the desktop.

I do like the game and the evolution from Korsun is great. I look forward to future versions. I just hope SSG will look at making the manual just as great. BIN was a 57 page manual, it's in PDF format so printing cost to them is not an issue. We pay good money for the game and I don't think it is un fair to ask for a quality manual.

[JSS]

ORIGINAL: HercMighty

I just don't understand why you would have to go to the "Editor" manual to learn about "Gameplay". If someone just played the game and didn't know about instant wins how would they know to come to the forums to ask? It's not like the game has a bug that causes a crash to the desktop.

There's two issues to look at... one is the new game engine (which your comments apply to here) and the official scenarios released... The official scenarios do not utilize the instant win feature, probably why its only covered in the Editor manual... that is unless you're using the editor the feature would not need to be addressed!

You'll have to address expansion of the Manual to SSG Gregor... seems like a reasonable request to me[:)]

[JSS]

An alternate campaign scenario (Contested Landings) is available for anyone who'd like to try a preview of it.

Main change is that the initial island defenders can be placed by the Japanese player on turn 1... this will create a unique defense for every game!

The file is available at this thread (with install instructions).