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Found an iteresting read on the old talonsoft CD this is just for information only:
TALONSOFT'S WEST FRONT Readme


WARNING!
The program requires you to have the WEST FRONT™ CD in your computer's CD drive in order to be able to play the game (Exception: once you have installed the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™, you will need the BATTLE PACK 1 CD in your drive in order to play.)

To install the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK I™, you need to have a Typical or 'full' (i.e., both options selected) Custom installation of WEST FRONT™ already on your hard drive.

Make sure your monitor display is set for 16-bit color. The game was designed with 16-bit graphics, and displaying at a lower color depth will not give you the detailed graphics you expect. Also, running at a higher color depth could result in the game running much slower than normal.


BEGINNERS
If you are not familiar with the EAST FRONT™ / WEST FRONT™ system, there is a "Beginners Start Here" item in the Program Group. To access it, go:
Start  Program Group  TalonSoft  TalonSoft's West Front  Beginners Start Here.
This will open a document that will explain the basics of the game. You might want to print this document for easy reference.


INSTALLATION SIZES
The following provides a guide to how many MB each type of installation will place on your hard drive.
Compact Install: about 175 MB
Typical Install: about 230 MB
Custom Install: from 5 MB (no options selected) to 525 MB (all options selected)

THE WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ will add about 35 MB to your existing installation.


Uninstalling WEST FRONT
To uninstall the game, use Add/Remove Programs in the Windows® Control Panel. It is highly recommended that you uninstall the game this way. Just deleting the files from your hard drive will not remove important information from your system.


BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING
DirectX6™
This version of TALONSOFT'S WEST FRONT™ uses Microsoft's DirectX6™ application. Make sure that your system hardware (sound card, video card, etc.) has the latest DirectX compatible drivers. Most technical problems can be narrowed down to having a wrong or outdated driver installed.

If you continue to have DirectX errors, you can also try to reinstall DirectX from the game CD. DirectX version 6.1 is located in the DirectX folder on the game CD. To install it, run "dxsetup.exe" and press the "Reinstall DirectX" button.

Virtual Memory
All Windows® applications require a Virtual Memory buffer that Windows® 95/98 will usually create and maintain. This buffer is created from available free hard drive space on your C drive. We strongly recommend that you have a minimum of 100 MB free on your C drive to create this buffer.


The following apply to certain WIN 95 programs/configurations:
We strongly recommend that you obtain and install the "Service
Pack 1" upgrade from Microsoft. To see if your machine has been
upgraded with the Service Pack, open the Control Panel and double-
click on "System". The "General" dialog box should state that your
system is "Microsoft Windows 95 4.00.950a". If the "a" suffix is
missing, you need to install the Service Pack. (If the suffix is a
"b", you do not need to install the Service Pack.)

Due to certain incompatibilities with Microsoft Plus, we strongly
urge you to disable that program's System Agent before running any
TalonSoft game. To disable System Agent hit Ctrl-Alt-Del and close
System Agent.

If you experience an error message that reads "...MGSRV32 caused a
General Protection Fault..." when opening a scenario, be sure to
restart your computer before trying to launch the game again.

The game may not be compatible with certain background tasks such
as virus checkers, so if you have problems try running the game
with these disabled.


Troubleshooting WIN 95 Modem Problems
The following is a suggested solution to the modem problems some
people are having with the Battleground series in Win 95. Just
follow these steps to synchronize the modem with the game.

1-From the main Win95 screen, select START.

2-Highlight TASKBAR and select CONTROL PANEL.

3-When the Control Panel window opens, double-click SYSTEM.

4-From the System window, select the DEVICE MGR Tab.

5-Double Click the appropriate communications port (1 or 2)
NOTE: Choosing COM 4 may cause problems in Win 95.

6-After selecting the appropriate port, apply these choices:
-Bits per second should be 38400
-Flow Control should be HARDWARE

7-Click OK to apply the changes.

This should synchronize the modem with Windows 95.


Problems with the STB 128 Graphics Card & Cards with nVidia Chip Sets
The nVidia chip set based cards have been reported by many of the online magazines to have compatibility problems with DirectX6. The solution is to download the generic nVidia graphics drivers from www.nvidia.com.


Important Note for Win98 Users
When starting a campaign game and initially naming and saving the CCL (for Linked CG) or CCD (for Dynamic CG) file, Win98 will frequently default to saving this file into your computer's "My Documents" folder. In order for the game to work properly, the file must be saved into the West Front directory on your hard drive.
When the "Save As" dialog appears, ensure that the path is leading into the West Front directory on your hard drive (by installation default, this is C:\Program Files\Talonsoft\West Front).



WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1

WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ / WEST FRONT™ SCENARIO COMPATIBILITY
• The new (as opposed to revised) scenarios on the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD will not open in older versions of WF (neither in the game nor the editors). For a list of these new scenarios, see "WHAT'S NEW" below.
• In order to play one of the new (as opposed to revised) scenarios on the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD via PBEM/modem/network, all players need to have the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD in their CD drive.
• PBEM/modem/network games started in an older version of WF will be completable with the WF BATTLE PACK 1 upgrade. However, all players need to use the same version of the game (the BATTLE PACK 1 is v1.04) when playing any PBEM/modem/network game.
• Design-your-own scenarios created in an older version of WF will still be playable after upgrading with the WF BATTLE PACK 1.
• Playing a design-your-own PBEM/modem/network scenario that was created after upgrading with the WF BATTLE PACK 1 does not require the other player(s) to have the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD in their CD drive, but all players will need to use the same version of the game (the BATTLE PACK 1 is v1.04).


WHAT'S NEW:
• As noted under "WARNING!" above, once you install the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ you will need to have the BATTLE PACK 1 CD in your CD drive in order to launch the game.
• New units include the German landing barges, PzKpfw "Maus", Panther F and Panther II for "what if?" scenarios, and German naval guns.
• Revised and updated platoon and weapon data.
• Added crews to 3D icons of gun batteries.
• Four new Linked Campaign Games.
• More than fifty brand-new scenarios. They are:



WEST FRONT UPGRADES
The WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD includes upgrades for the US versions of BATTLE OF BRITAIN™, EAST FRONT II™, THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, VOL. I™ and THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, VOL. I BATTLE PACK 1. All follow the same general procedure described below for THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, VOL. I™ upgrade, with a few important exceptions:
If you are installing the EAST FRONT II™ upgrade, before running the upgrade file in the main game directory (Step 5 below), find the file called "Ef.icd" in that directory and delete it. If you do not delete "Ef.icd", the upgrade will fail to work properly. (However, if you installed the game but have not yet run it, "Ef.icd" will not yet exist, in which case you can ignore this exception altogether.)

If you are installing the OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, VOL. I BATTLE PACK 1™ upgrade, before running the upgrade file in the main game directory (Step 5 below), find the files called "Opart.icd" and "Opart300.icd" in that directory and delete both of them. If you do not delete these files, the upgrade will fail to work properly. (However, if you installed the game but have not yet run it, the ".icd" files will not yet exist, in which case you can ignore this exception altogether.)

IMPORTANT: In order for the upgrade to work properly, the original game needs to have been installed using at least a "Typical" installation. If it was not, you must reinstall it before attempting the upgrade. (This caveat does not apply to BATTLE OF BRITAIN™, which has only one type of installation.)

To install THE OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR, VOL. I™ (TOAW I) upgrade you must copy it into the main game directory on your hard drive, change its properties so it is not 'read-only', and then run it. If you're unsure about how to do this, follow these steps:

1. With the WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1™ CD in your CD-ROM drive, click on the Start button in the Taskbar, move the cursor to Programs, and select Windows Explorer.
2. Click on your CD-ROM drive in the Windows Explorer, then double-click on the "West Front" folder. Next, double-click on the "Upgrades" folder, and on the "TOAW I" folder when it appears. Right-click on the file "Toaw107.exe", and select "Copy".
3. Now find the main TOAW I folder on your hard drive (its default location is "C:\Program Files\Talonsoft\Toaw"). Right-click on it, and select "Paste".
4. Once "Toaw107.exe" is done copying, right-click on it in the folder you copied it to and select "Properties". Left-click in the "Read-only" box so that the check-mark disappears, then click "OK".
5. Now double-click on "Toaw107.exe", and the upgrade installation will begin. Once it is finished, you may leave "Toaw107.exe" where it is, move it to another directory, or delete it.

Should any TalonSoft upgrade fail to run properly, you should uninstall the game, reinstall it using a Typical installation, then repeat the above steps to run the upgrade again.


WEST FRONT BATTLE PACK 1 CREDITS
Chief Creative Officer and Executive Producer: Jim Rose
Producer: Bob McNamara
Programming: John Tiller
Art Director: Stephen Langmead
Assistant Art Director: Tim Kipp
Production Design: John Boettinger-Lang
Game Graphics: Steve Estes, Kurt Miller, and Brian Weber
OOB Research: Joseph Hummel
Communications and Technical Director: Matthew Henning
Production Coordination: John Davidson and Linda Wratchford
Playtest Coordinator: Charles Kibler
Scenario Design: Doug & Denise Bevard, Dave Blackburn, Craig Foster, Tom Herrschaft, Joseph Hummel, Jay Karamales, Bob McNamara, Glenn Saunders, John Schettler, Kenneth Talley, and Christopher Wilson
Linked Campaign Game Design: Bart Gauvin, Tom Herrschaft, and John Schettler
Playtesters: Ernie Berg, Dave Blackburn, Eric Boyle, Patrick Brett, George Chow, Frank Donati, Craig Foster, Bart Gauvin, James Gorman, Carl Grosspietsch II, Tom Herrschaft, Dave Hickman, James W. Johnson, Jay Karamales, Marshall Ladd, Mike Lamb, Mike LaPlante, Byron Odwazny, Keith Ritchie, Glenn Saunders, Fred Schwarz, Shawn Shelton, Michael Shepard, Craig Stewart, Kenneth Talley, Brian Wynott, and Christopher Wilson
Special Thanks to Frederic Marie for allowing us to use his crewed-gun 3D icons for the Americans, British/Commonwealth and Italians

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



VERSION 1.06 5/00

Improved Icons
Many improved icons for both 3D and 2D viewing.

VERSION 1.05 9/99

Artillery Dialog
An artillery unit remains available in this dialog until all of its shots are plotted (even if the dialog is closed and subsequently reopened).

Boat Portage
Infantry portaging boats now use their own Defense Value (instead of the boat’s), thus decreasing their vulnerability.

Bunkers & Pillboxes
Changed their inherent Defense Value to “10” (was “20”).
Non-vehicular engineer units now have their Assault Value doubled (prior to terrain modification) when assaulting bunkers/pillboxes.
Certain vehicles (those designated in the Unit Handbook as mounting a flamethrower) can now assault bunkers/pillboxes. Such vehicles display the following icon in the lower left-hand corner of their Info Box:


Campaign Commanders Screen
The title of the selected saved campaign game file is now displayed in the lower-right window.

HQ Highlighting
“Company HQ” platoons are no longer highlighted if the “Command Control” optional rule is off and “Highlight HQ” is selected.

Unknown Unit Retreat
An unknown unit now loses concealment if it retreats into a hex that an enemy unit has a line of sight to.

Unit Handbook
Added more pictures, and revised some others, for the U.S. and British/Commonwealth.

Unit Changes
Changed British Landing Craft Personnel (LCP) back to an armed unit, with assault value and firing cost of “1” and “35” respectively.
Changed per-SP VPs of US Ranger Infantry Platoon to “3”.
Changed per-SP VPs of US Armored Infantry Platoon to “4”.
Adjusted/corrected attack strengths for the following British units:
• OML 3-inch Mortars (early model)
• OSB 4.2-inch Mortars
• OQF M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzers
• M1918 155mm Howitzers
• Bishop Self-Propelled Artillery
• Priest Self-Propelled Artillery
Adjusted/corrected attack strengths for the following US units:
• M18 GMC Tank Destroyers
• M8 HMC Self-Propelled Howitzer Section
• M8 HMC Self-Propelled Howitzers
• M2 4.2-in. Mortars
• M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer
• M2A1 105mm Howitzer
• M1918 155mm Howitzers
• M1 155mm Howitzers
• T19 HMC 105mm Howitzer Halftracks
• M7 HMC Self-Propelled 105mm Howitzers
• M12 GMC Self-Propelled 155mm Guns
Adjusted/corrected attack strengths for the following Free French units:
• M2A1 105mm Howitzer
• M1 155mm Howitzers
• M8 HMC Self-Propelled 75mm Howitzers
• M7 HMC Self-Propelled 105mm Howitzers



VERSION 1.04a 7/99

Assaults
Passengers affect the assault/defense strength of assaults and counter-assaults only when aboard armored halftracks.

Landing Craft
Changed the attack values and assault value of the British Landing Craft Personnel to "0". It is now an unarmed unit.
Changed the assault value of the British and U.S. Landing Craft Vehicle to "0", and changed their per-SP VP value to "3".
Changed the assault value of the British and U.S. Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel to "2".
Changed the defense value of the Free French Engineer Platoon to "7".

Firing Costs
Increased the firing cost to 100 APs for the following guns:
• Italian Obice da 149/13 150mm Howitzers
• Italian Cannone da 149/35 150mm Guns
• Italian Cannone da 149/40 150mm Guns
• French GPF 155mm Guns
• U.S. M1918M1 155mm Guns
• U.S. M1A1 155mm Guns
• Allied Italian Obice da 149/13 150mm Howitzers
• Free French M1918M1 155mm Guns

Increased the firing cost to 50 APs for the following guns:
• British OBL 4.5-inch Guns
• British OBL 5.5-inch Gun-Howitzers
• British OBL 7.2-inch Howitzers Mk VI
• British OBL 60-Pounder Field Guns
• Norwegian M/09 120mm Howitzers
• Norwegian M/32 120mm Howitzers

Decreased the firing cost to 40 APs for the following guns:
• French mle 06 65mm Mountain Guns
• Yugoslavian M.06 65mm Mountain Guns
• Greek M06 65mm Mountain Guns
• Vichy French mle 06 65mm Mountain Guns
• Free French mle 06 65mm Mountain Guns



VERSION 1.04 6/99

Commanders
When a commander is in a hex with no other friendly unit, his chance of becoming a casualty during an attack is 10% (instead of the normal 2%).

Opportunity Fire
Transport vehicles that have an assault value are now more susceptible to OpFire.

Firing Costs
Adjusted the AP firing cost for a number of vehicles, including the German 251/1 Halftrack, U.S. M26 Pershing Tank, and many British/Commonwealth tanks. The new costs are included in the latest version of the platoon data help file.

Assault/VP Values
Lowered the assault value and/or increased the VP value of certain armed-and-armored transport vehicles such as the German 251/1 Halftrack, U.S. M3 Halftrack and British/Commonwealth Carrier.



VERSION 1.03a 4/99

Assaults
Improved assault reporting. The text in the Assault Status dialog for the assault and corresponding counter-assault now follows the format:
"attack of a (b SP) vs defense of c (d SP)"
• "a" equals the total of the attacker's modified attack value multiplied by the total number of attacking Strength Points;
• "b" equals the total number of attacking Strength Points;
• "c" equals the total of the defender's modified attack value multiplied by the total number of defending Strength Points; and
• "d" equals the total number of defending Strength Points.

Each attack is made once vs each defending unit.

Dynamic Campaign Games
Updated campaign-game map builder.



VERSION 1.03 4/99

Multi-Player
In a multi-player game, a message sent to players of your side only is now preceded by an asterisk.



VERSION 1.02 3/99

Fast Human Player
Added "Fast Human Player" to "Options" pop-down menu.

Assault Odds
Modification to assaults. The program now reports a multiplier for the number of Strength Points (indicating the number of times the attack will occur).

Motorized Leaders
Can now cross low stone wall and hedgerow hexsides.

Miscellaneous
Added the Grossdeutschland Regiment to German OOBs.
Fix for Gateway BIOS compatibility problem.



VERSION 1.01 2/99

Air Support
Added "Available Air Support" to "Status" pop-down dialog.
Improved Air Attack routines.
Added a "document" file (WF Aircraft List.doc) that can be opened in WordPad detailing the various attributes of the different types of Air Strikes.

Engineers
Engineer infantry (only) can now "lay smoke" in their own location. The unit must have enough APs to fire and smoke must be available to that side. To do this, select the unit, while in Fire Mode, right-click in that unit's hex while depressing the ALT key.

Assaults
Halved the Assault Value of units assaulting while being carried by vehicles whose Assault Value is greater than zero.

Leaders
Reduced the percent chance of a leader's being killed from 4% to 2%.

Campaign Games
Improved the force selection routines in Dynamic Campaign Games.
Updated files for many Linked Campaign Games.
Fixed problem in Kampfgruppe Peiper LCG that would sometimes send you to Mission 12 instead of Mission 22.

Miscellaneous
Changed the AP firing cost of French and Commonwealth machineguns to 35.
Added Commando formations to UK OOBs.



VERSION 1.0a 12/98

Paths
Added enhanced path graphics.

Alt Key
Fixed Alt-key/DirectX incompatibility on some Windows installations. (Thanks, MicroSoft!)

KGP LCG
Changed the core unit from a tank battalion to the entire Kampfgruppe. We recommend that you restart this LCG if playing it when you upgrade to v1.0a.



VERSION 1.0 11/98

Scenario Screen Sort Order
On the "Scenarios" screen, the default sort order is by Complexity.

"File" Menu
The options for "New" and "Open" have been removed from the "File" menu.

"Display" Menu
Choose "Range" from this menu to display the range of the hard (shown in red) and soft (blue) attack limits of the selected unit.
Highlighting Headquarters (Highlight > Headquarters) also highlights Command Post units if the Optional Rule for Command Control is "on".

"Special" Menu
With the removal of the "New" and "Open" items from the "File" menu, the following "Special" menu items can no longer be used: Modem Host, Modem Caller, Play By E-mail, and Two-Player Hot-Seat.

The Multi-Player Dialog (shown above) has been added to the "Special" menu. This dialog is only useful in games with more than two players. The dialog is divided into a top half (listing all Allied players) and bottom half (listing all Axis players). Note that the "Captain" of each side is always listed in bold at the top of the player list for that side. The "host" is always the Captain of his side.
Along the bottom of this dialog are four buttons. Each of these buttons is used by selecting (clicking on) a player's name and then clicking the button. The functions of these buttons, and who can use them, follows:
The Assign button is used to assign an organization to the selected player. Only the Captain of a side may use the Assign button.
The Deassign button is used to take the command of an organization away from the selected player. Only the captain of a side may use the Deassign button.
The Promote button is used to assign a new "captain" to a side. Only the "host" may use the Promote button.
The Switch button is used to change the nationality (side) of a player. Only the "host" may use the Promote button.

"Scroll to View Enemy Action" has also been added to the "Special" menu. This is "off" by default in order to speed up game play. With this enabled, during a multi-player game the computer will scroll the map to display visible enemy actions.

Tool Bar
The order of the buttons on the Tool Bar (as shown on page 17 of the WEST FRONT™ Players Guide) is incorrect. The "End Turn" button is now located on the far right. Five new buttons have been added to the Tool Bar. These additional buttons appear only if your screen resolution is set to 800600 or higher.
The New Tool Bar buttons are:
1) Highlight HQ: This button highlights all levels of HQs—including Company CPs if the optional rule for Command Control is enabled.
2) Display Range of Selected Unit: This button will display the range of the selected unit, showing a red circle to illustrate the limits of the "hard" attack factor and a blue circle to show the limits of the "soft" attack factor. If a unit has the same "hard" and "soft" range, only the red range circle will be displayed.
3) Show Arrived: This button displays the "Arrived Dialog" used to enter reinforcements. Double-left-click on a listed reinforcement to have it placed on the map.
4) Remove Units from Map: This button is used to remove units from the edge of the map. To remove a unit from a map edge hex, select the unit and press this button.
5) Reachable Hexes: To highlight the locations a unit can reach given its remaining Action Points, select the unit and press this button.

Tank Riders
Tanks and other armored vehicles that are allowed to carry "riders" can transport double their amount of SP (e.g., a 3-SP tank platoon can carry a 6-SP infantry platoon, etc.).

Opportunity Fire Settings
Opportunity Fire can be set "globally" (i.e., for all units on your side, as described on page 39 of the Players Guide) or individually on a per-unit basis. To set "OpFire" for an individual unit, select the unit, then press D to display the OpFire dialog. The OpFire dialog that appears applies to the selected unit(s) only. Other setting are grayed out. If more than one unit is selected, the options that are not grayed-out will affect all units selected.
NOTE: The most restrictive OpFire option set for a unit takes precedence; e.g., a globally-set option for a unit type to fire at "short" range will take precedence over an individually-set option for an individual unit of that type to fire at "medium" range.

Indirect Fire target marker
Hexes that have been targeted for one or more Indirect Fire attacks are marked with a circled "crosshair" icon. This same symbol is also used to mark hexes targeted for an Air Strike.

Direct-Fire Smoke
British (Commonwealth) A9, A10, and A13 "CS-type" tanks can fire only (unlimited) smoke at ranges > 1 hex.

Air Attacks
Air Attacks are now animated when seen in 3D mode (only), and each different type has its own unique representative 3D icon. Each Air Attack has been individually modeled with unique "hard" and "soft" attack values, as well as an individual defense value. The number of strength points that a given Air Attack represents varies depending upon that plane type.
A plotted Air Attack has a 65% chance of arrival on each turn (and each turn thereafter until it arrives). An arriving Air Attack will not always attack the target you pick; it will "search" for a proper target within a 5 hex radius of its plotted hex. The more targets that there are within the five-hex radius the less likely it is that the Air Attack will hit the plotted location. There is even a slight chance that an Air Attack may make a mistake and attack a "friendly" unit!
If a side has more than one type of air attack assigned to it, the Air Attack that arrives is randomly determined from the "pool" of air attacks for that side (as determined by the scenario designer).

In the Scenario Editor, Air Attacks are set by selecting "Airplanes…" from the "Scenario" pop-down menu. The dialog that appears lists all Air Attacks available, grouped according to nationality. Most nationalities have several Air Attack types to choose from. To add an Air Attack, select the desired type then press the "Add" button to add one Air Attack of that type for that nationality.

Clearing Blocked Hexes
Specialized tanks (such as the British Sherman Crab, the Matilda Scorpion Mine clearing tank, and the American T1E3 and the T4 Mine Exploder) cannot remove "Blocked" hex fortifications.

Beach Obstacles
"Beach Obstacles" are a fortification type (essentially a 1:1-strength Minefield) that can only be placed on Beach terrain. In the scenario editor (with the "Set/Clear Mines" button depressed), left-click once on a beach hex to place a Beach Obstacle. Left-clicking additional times will instead place minefields.

Terrain
The terrain modifier of Vineyard terrain is 0.95 (not 1.0 as listed in the Players Guide).
The morale modifier of Marsh is –1 (not +1 as listed in the Players Guide).


OPTIONAL RULES: Command Control & Command Posts
If the Optional Rule for "Command Control" is enabled, a company-level "Command Post" (CP) is deemed to be inherently present with the first platoon of each company. If the first platoon is eliminated, the benefits of the CP are lost (it would be unrealistic to have the CP duties passed on in the time frame of a typical West Front scenario). A CP unit is denoted by a radio icon displayed in the icon area along the left side of the Info Box. In addition, all friendly CP units are highlighted when you select Highlight HQ.
Units that operate beyond their company CP range (or if their CP is not present on the map) are subject to the following penalties:
a) Less chance of Morale recovery (-1)
b) Less chance of Disruption recovery (-1)

A CP has an effective range (radius) which is about half the range of that side's battalion HQ. A CP's range is highlighted if it's selected when the W hot key is pressed.
NOTE: The radius highlighted by the W hot key is the Limit of company CP control while for battalions it is the 50% chance of re-supply. This in effect means that units slightly beyond the battalion HQ radius can still be re-supplied, but at a rate slightly less than 50%. However, units outside the Company CP radius suffer the penalty as described above.


Dynamic Campaign Game: Setup Mode
At the start of each mission of a "Dynamic Campaign Game" (DCG - only) you are given the opportunity to adjust the initial setup of all friendly units that begin the game set up on the map.
When a new DCG mission begins, the Player Turn appears indicating turn 1. This is followed by a "New Scenario Message" dialog, that says: "Entering Campaign Setup Mode. Select friendly units and right click to move them. Click Next Turn to exit."

To adjust the initial placement of a unit, select that unit, then right-click in the hex you wish to move it to and the unit will be repositioned. There are some areas on the map where the unit cannot be placed. If you attempt to place the unit "out-of-bounds" you will see the message on the status bar: "Unit Placement is out of bounds". When you finished adjusting your units' setup press the "Next Turn" Tool Bar button and the first turn will begin.

To adjust the initial placement of a Block, Improved Position, Trench, Bunker or Pillbox fortification, left-click in the hex with the fortification, hold the Ctrl key down and right-click in the location you want to move it to. Minefields cannot be adjusted.
NOTE: If you move a fortification to a location that none of your units currently have a line of sight to, it will be placed there but will not be visible until a friendly unit has a line of sight to it.

Dynamic Campaign Game: Restore Character button
The "Restore Character" button on the Character Screen can be used to "restore" (bring "back to life") a Dynamic Campaign Game character that was eliminated in a previous scenario.


OOB Editor & British Brigades/Regiments
British brigades and regiments are equivalent in size to 'normal' regiments and battalions respectively. Hence they are classified as the latter in the OOB editor.


West Front TUTORIAL errata
Page 98: In the Tutorial, the default scenario "sort order" on the Scenarios screen is given as "by date". This has been changed to list scenarios by "complexity", with the simplest scenarios appearing at the top. You can easily change the sort order by pressing the button to the right of each field in the "Scenarios" screen. At the top of the list are three short "Bootcamp" scenarios. These are small hypothetical battles with few units to help introduce new players to the game.

Besides the three "Bootcamp" scenarios, that there is another introductory scenario entitled "WF Tutorial – No Time for Training" which has more units and is instructive on many aspects of the game. Consult the copy beginning on page 98 of the Player Guide for step-by-step instructions to be used with this scenario. This is both a good introduction for new players as well as a challenging scenario for veterans of TALONSOFT'S WEST FRONT!

The tutorial copy has several references to Tool Bar button positions (e.g., "3rd from left", etc.) which are no longer valid. This is because the "Next Turn" button was moved to the extreme right and five new buttons were added after the Players Guide went to press (see elsewhere in this Readme text for details on the new Tool Bar buttons). Use the "tool tips" by placing the mouse cursor over a button to determine its function.

Page 103: There is a reference to bringing reinforcements onto the map. The simplest method of doing this is now with the new reinforcements Tool Bar button.

Page 113: There is a reference to Opportunity Fire which states that OpFire setting affects all units of that type. West Front now allows you to set OpFire on an individual-unit basis.


West Front FAQ
Question 27 is invalid with the new ability to set OpFire on an individual basis.


HOT KEYS List
Page 256: Shift Hot Key - Displays Map Labels; also used for Organizational "Echelon" Movement (see page 34 of the Players Guide).
Page 256: Z Hot Key - Toggles display of the selected unit's maximum range


Connecting to an Internet Session of West Front
Once you have the host's "IP" address launch West Front. From the Main Menu screen select "Play Scenario". When the Scenario Type screen appears select "Modem Caller" the select "Start New Game". When the Scenarios screen appears select any scenario and press the OK button. The actual scenario selected does not matter, as the host loads the scenario. The host should also inform you if he wants you to enter the game on his side, or on the other (non-host) side.

When the "Player Dialog" appears type in your name or nickname. Here is also where you choose to play same on the side as the host or not.

Next you'll see the "Connection Dialog". Select "Internet TCP/IP Connection for DirectPlay", then press OK.

Next the "Locate Session" dialog appears. This is where you type in the IP address of the host. Then press OK and the program will try to connect to that IP address. This usually happens flawlessly, but, if not, keep trying a few times. If you get a "no valid sessions" message, perhaps the host got knocked off-line and had to establish a new IP address by re-logging on. Perhaps check your e-mail or Internet chat again for a new IP address.

If you're playing a multi-player game, you will want to open the "Multi-player dialog" from the "Special" pop-down menu. Once the game is up, you can chat with the other players in the "Comm Dialog". If playing a multi-player game check the "Send to my side only" before sending the if you want only players of your side to see the message.


Special Thanks
To Christopher Wilson, Dave Hickman and Robert Waters for their work on the British unit text.

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Uses Smacker Video Technology. Copyright (c) 1994-1998 by RAD Game Tools, Inc.
SmackPlw.exe is Copyright (c) 1994-1998 by RAD Game Tools, Inc.

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http://www.talonsoft.com