Table of Contents
- Client Interface Options.
- Keyboard and Shortcuts.
- Fog of War.
- Headquarters.
- Resources.
- Victory Points/Control Points.
- Movement.
- Priority Targeting.
- Pursue.
- Card Usage.
- Main Menu Overview.
- Unit Menu Overview.
- Targeting Preference and AI.
- Victory Conditions.
Client Interface Options
- Target Practice - Selecting Target Practice will enter you into a single player game where you can practice building units, setting paths and targets and caturing resources and control points. There are some enemy units here that will shoot at you but won't move and won't fight unless you get into range.
- Find Opponent - When you select Find Opponent Battle Dex will search for others that are waiting to play a game. Once players are found a game will be created and start automatically.
- Private Game - This will allow you to create your own game. You can set the map, number of players, turn time, teams and any other custom game options from here. Use this option when you and a friend or friends want to get a game going. To use this option click on Private Game, enter a game name and click Create. Other players can join by clicking Private game, entering the game name and clicking join. Once all the players are in and the options set the way you want them click start game.
- Tournaments - Upcoming Tournaments
- EXIT - Exits the Battle Dex Client
- Active Games - This box shows any games that you are currently active in. If you have to rejoin a game in progress for any reason you can do it from the Active Games box.
Keyboard and Shortcuts
- T - Hides units and buildings allowing you to easily select otherwise obscured hexes. This can help if you're trying to set a destination to a hex that is occupied by another unit.
- V - Shows paths and orders of all your units.
- G - Toggles board Grid On / Off
- Enter - Chat
- Pg Up / Pg Down - Change camera altitude
- Arrow keys and W A S D keys - move Map
- M - Shows a top down view of the map
Fog of War
Hexes that are in fog of war are darker than normal hexes. This indicates that you can't see what's in these hexes. They will always appear empty but may contain enemy units. Each of your units has a vision range which removes fog of war for the hexes surrounding it.
topHeadquarters
The Headquarters where units are produced and start from. To produce a unit left-click on your Headquarters and select the desired unit from the Purchase menu. The units you cannot afford to build will have their prices grayed out. Once you have selected the unit you wish to build left-click again to place it in one of your starting hexes.
topResources
To capture a resource you must have an infantry unit on the resource hex at the end of a turn. Each resource will produce 25 gold per turn
topVictory Points / Control Points
Victory points are attained by capturing and then holding a Control Point. To capture a Control Point you must have an infantry unit on the Control Point hex at the end of two consecutive turns. Each turn the Control point is held give you one Victory point. Any turns that end with an enemy infantry unit on your control point will not produce any victory points for you.
topMovement
To move a unit first left-click on the unit you want to move to select and then right-click on the desired destination hex. You will see a blue arrow indicating the units' path to its destination. Battle Dex will always select the shortest route between points (although it may not always feel like it).
topPriority Targeting
You can set any enemy unit as a priority target. Setting a priority target has no effect on movement path. To set a priority target you will left-click on the unit you wish to assign a Priority target to, click on the Priority Target option in your main menu at the bottom of the screen and then left-click again on the unit you wish to set as the Priority target. You will see a red arrow indicating the priority target you just set.
topPursue
This will designate your unit to follow and focus any fire on the enemy unit selected to be pursued. To use pursue you will left-click your unit to select it and the right click on the enemy unit to pursue. You will see a yellow arrow pointing to the pursued unit as well as get a text message "Pursuing unit X"
topCard Usage
To see the details of a card simply mouse over it. To play a card you begin by clicking on the card in your Card Panel, depending on the type of card selected you will do one of several things:
- Unit Cards - When playing a card that creates a unit or units, those units will need to be placed in either your starting hex or adjacent to a friendly unit depending on the unit type. The allowed hexes will light up showing where you can place that particular unit. Once you've decided where to place it left-click on that hex. This applies to all Enlist and Hero cards.
- Buff / Debuff / Heal Cards - To use a buff, debuff or heal card left-click the desired card from the Card Panel and then left click the unit you wish to apply that card to . You will see an Icon appear above the unit to let you know the card has been properly applied.
- Airlift - The Airlift card allows you to move mechanized ground units from one point on the board to any other point on the board that is adjacent to a friendly unit. To use an airlift card you will left-click on the card in your card panel and then left click on the unit you wish to airlift and then left-click again on the hex you wish to transport that unit to. This is repeated whatever number of times your airlift card allows up to three units. The units will need to be placed next to a friendly unit. The allowable destination hexes will light up once a unit has been selected for transport.
- Evac - The Evac card allows you to move units from anywhere on the board back to your starting hexes at Headquarters. This is the only card in the game that allows you to transport both mechanized ground units and infantry units. As with the airlift card, left-click on the card in your card panel and then left click on the unit you wish to evac and then left-click again on the hex you wish to transport that unit to.
- Troop Transport - The Troop Transport card allows you to move infantry units from one point on the board to another point on the board. Unlike the Airlift and Evac cards the troop transport card allows you to load your infantry units into a transport vehicle that will then drive them to the destination. While the transport vehicle is much faster than infantry on foot it is not instant like Airlift and Evac cards. To use a Troop Transport card you will left-click on the card in your card panel and then left-click on the infantry unit/s that you wish to load. Once the transport vehicle is loaded you will set a destination as with any other unit. Once the transport vehicle reaches its' destination you can select it with a left-click and then select unload from the unit menu. You can then slect the desired hexes to unload your infantry units to. Available hexes will light up.
Main Menu Overview
This menu is displayed at the bottom of the screen directly above the card panel:
- Submit - Once you have competed entering orders for your turn you will click the Submit button. This sends your turn to the server. Once all players have submitted turns, or the turn clock has run out, the turn will be processed.
- Start Over - Clicking the Start Over button will reset ALL orders you have given for that turn. If you place the wrong unit or use the wrong card you can use the Start Over button to reset your turn.
- Replay - Clicking the Replay button will show a replay of the last turn. Press ESC to exit the replay.
- Surrender - Clicking the Surrender button will allow you to surrender the game. You will get a confirmation asking if you're sure, click Yes and then submit your turn to complete the surrender.
- Buy - The Buy option will bring up the purchase menu just as if you had clicked on your headquarters.
- Exit - This will Exit the Battle Dex client.
Unit Menu Overview
This menu will appear directly above the main menu when a unit is selected
- Priority Target - This will allow you to designate one unit as a priority target for whichever unit you currently have selected. Your unit will then focus all fire on the target until it is destroyed. Once the target is destroyed standard AI targeting rules will apply.
- Clear Orders - This option will clear any previous orders from the selected unit. This includes destination, target, pursue or any other actions you have set.
- Unload (when active) - Use this option to unload infantry units from a transport vehicle once they have reached their destination.
Targeting Preference and AI
The in-game AI will always target the enemy unit with the lowest hit points within range. The one exception is AA halftrack units which will always target the enemy air unit with the lowest hitpoints within range. If no air units are in range it will follow the standard targeting AI rules.
topVictory Conditions
- Destroy enemy Headquarters
- Reach set number of Victory Points first. In the event of a tie the winner will be decided by total gold earned and then a coin toss if needed.