A NOTE FROM SPECTRUM HOLOBYTE T A N K is a realistic military simulation of modern land combat. The program is based on a real military simulation network system used by the United States Army for training at Fort Knox. The system is called SIMNET. SIMNET integrates tanks, close air support jets, Apache helicopters, and artillery together on an electronic battlefield. TANK is an accurate recreation of this system. To this technical replication of the military equipment, it adds the individual tactical initiative demanded of the American soldier and the centralized control affecting Soviet tactics. To portray the excitement of armored combat, we have chosen to recreate the "wargames" being played at today's Army War College by pitting the world's two top armies against each other. In World War II, the American and the Soviet armies overcame terrible odds and demonstrated unprecedented dedication and bravery. This tradition of excellence continues in both armies to the present day. At Spectrum HoloByte we hope that the trend in the Soviet Union towards glasnost and perestroika continues. After working with Soviet citizens on T e t r i s and W e l l t r i s , two great computer games, we have come to appreciate the talents, creativity, and pride of the Russian people. While TANK simulates a military confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States, we hope that this battle will take place only on the computer battlefield. We hope that by experiencing TANK, you will appreciate the difficulties and dangers of battle. This game has been designed to present the player with some of the cold hard realities of war. People die in battle; families lose their loved ones; nations lose a generation. At Spectrum HoloByte we hope that there will be a day when the only wars in the world will be fought on computers. This game is dedicated to the children of both the United States and the Soviet Union. May they live in a world of trust and peace and work together to build a better world for all mankind. Gilman G. Louie Spectrum HoloByte TM The M1 Abrams Tank Simulation CREDITS Game Design: R. Anton Widjaja, Gilman Louie, Steve Perrin Programming and Design: Eng An Jio, Billy Sutyono, R. Anton Widjaja, Jinda Pan, Sky Chang Battle Manual Design and Execution: Steve Perrin Package Design: Karen Sherman Package Artwork: Marty Petersen Manual Artwork: Chuck Butler, Matt Carlstrom Program Artwork: Jody Sather, Dan Guerra, Matt Carlstrom Special Thanks to: Les Watts, Kuswara Pranawahadi, Erick Jap, Anthony Chiang, Lawrence Chiu, Steve Hsieh, Ann McCue, Lars Norpchen, Marisa Ong, Joe Scirica, Bob Strobel, and especially Robert K. White and the personnel of the Fort Knox Simnet-T Watfighting Complex and Phil Handley of Perceptronics for their valuable inputs. Some artwork inspired by Modern Land Combat. If you have questions regarding T A N K or any of our other products, contact Spectrum Holobyte(tm) Customer Support at: En Spectrum HoloByte 2490 Mariner Square Loop Alameda, CA 94501 ATTN: Customer Support (510) 522-1164 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Monday through Friday America Online: CompuServe: GEnie: Internet: Prodigy: TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE CREDITS PAGE TABLE OF CONTENTS INSTALLING YOUR TANK GAME USING THIS BOOK I. INTRODUCTION What This Game is About Starting Out Mission Selection Screen Game Configuration Screen Play Level Menu Beginner i-iv 1 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 10 11 12 12 12 13 14 15 16 16 17 17 17 18 19 20 21 22 Intermediate Advanced The Icons Time Setting Menu Players Screen Controls Menu Using a Joystick If You Do Not Have A Number Pad Start Game Menu Armament Screen w Time @ S HOLOBYTE 76004,2144 HOLOBYTE 76004,2144@compuserve.com TKNJ33A TANK Game and Manual 0 1989 by Spectrum HoloByte, Inc. All rights reserved. Modern Land Combat 0 1987 by Salamander Books, Ltd. TANK is a trademark and Spectrum HoloByte is a registered trademark of Spectrum HoloByte,lnc. Abrams is a trademark of the US Army. Head to Head(r) is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. and is used under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. II. HOW TO PLAY How To Play The Colonel Operations Level Game Main Menu and Map [F1 Map Colors Main Menu Tank Info Screen The Captain Move Menu Orders Menu TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED Speed Menu Formation Menu Headquarters Menu Close Air Support Reconnaisance Artillery Intelligence Men Zoom Menu The Lieutenant Platoon Level Game Individual Game The Tank Commander Important Keys Exiting The Game Reading The Colors Damage Status Display Outside Screen [F2 Trailer Screen [F3 Drone Screen [F4 The Gunner Gunner's Screen [F5 Driver's Screen m The Driver Commander's Screens Machine Gun [F7 Cupola m Smoke Grenades and Resupply Turret Topside [F9 Ending the Game Award Scoring Screen 23 24 25 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 32 33 34 34 35 36 38 39 41 42 46 46 52 54 55 56 57 58 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED III. THE MISSIONS How To Pick A Mission Fort Knox Central Europe Middle East Reading The Mission Maps Supply Depots Fort Knox Missions Sudden Death Doom Race The Bridge Close Assault Red Thunder Central European Theater Defender Asgard Val kyrie Bifrost Wild Hunt Middle Eastern Theater The Ass's Jawbone God's Last Acre Expulsion 59 60 60 61 62 63 63 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 Blow The Horns Armageddon TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED IV. PLAYING HINTS Unit Tactics Individual Combat Hints Tanks vs. Tanks and Aircraft Tanks vs. Infantry Troubleshooting Shooting Problems Reality Problems Training, the Antidote to General Confusion V. APPENDICES A. History of Armored Warfare The First Armored Fighting Vehicle Mobile Artillery The First "Tanks" The Development of American Tanks Armored Vehicle Design Theory Whatever Happened to the Heavy Tank Development Of The M / 1 1 Abrams 1M A NATO Armored Warfare Theory Combined Arms Theory B. Glossary C. Tech Specs: Friendly Vehicles D. Tech Specs: The Opposition F. Bibliography G. Index 94 96 97 98 99 101 101 101 102 103 104 104 105 105 106 108 108 109 110 111 112 121 135 143 145 INSTALLING YOUR TANK GAME Hardware Requirements An IBM `AT or compatible or an IBM PS/2 Model 30286 or above or an IBM PC or compatible with 80286 or 80386-based accelerator card 640K RAM A 1.2MB 5.25" disk drive or a 720K 3.5" disk drive EGA (Enhanced Graphics Adapter) Also VGA compatible in EGA mode An EGA monitor or multi-scan monitor A joystick is optional Setup and Loading Information We assume that you are familiar with basic terms and operations of your computer including DOS commands such as formatting and copying disks. If you're using a joystick, we assume you know how it works. If this is the first program you have run on your computer, please refer to the owner's manual and DOS manual to become familiar with its operation. The Disks in this Package There is one 1.2MB 5.25" disk and two 720K 3.5" disks in the TANK package. If you need the game on 360K 5.25" disks for installation on your hard disk, you can either transfer the files yourself or else follow the instructions on the Disk Exchange Coupon. TANK will not run from 360K floppy disk drives. Making a Backup Copy of your T A N K Disk You should immediately make a backup copy of the T A N K disks and use the backup copy for everyday play. Follow the normal conventions for copying disks, but make sure your original disk is write-protected before you make the backup, so you don't accidentally erase the T A N K disk. (Put a write-protect tab over the notch of the 5.25" disk to prevent accidental erasures. Write-protect the 3.5" disks by sliding the tab so the window is open.) Use the LOADING TANK USING THIS BOOK copy when playing the game and make sure it is not write-protected since data is written to the disk during play. backup USING THIS BOOK This battle manual is divided into 5 sections. PART I shows you how to get into the game and select the mission you wish to accomplish. PART II demonstrates how to play the game from every approach, both strategic/operational (pg. 17) and tactical (pg. 32). It describes how to win the game (pg. 57) and displays the victory screens that appear when you finish the game (pg. 58). PART III (pg. 59) describes the missions, both the training missions at Fort Knox and the battle missions in Western Europe and the Middle East. PART IV (pg. 94) is a chapter of helpful hints and troubleshooting suggestions. PART V (pg. 103) is the appendices, which have historical notes on the development of tank warfare, a glossary of terms used in the game and in military parlance, technical specifications for friendly and hostile vehicles, a general keyboard layout for the game and a bibliography. Loading TANK onto a hard drive To run TANK from a hard drive, create a directory called "TANK" and copy all the files from the TANK program disk(s) to that directory. Loading the program Turn on your computer and proceed to a DOS prompt. If you're loading TANK from a hard drive, enter: cd TANK or cd\TANK depending on the directory you established for the game. If you're running from a floppy drive, insert your TANK backup in the drive. Then change to that drive (e.g. type if you haven't already done so. A:) If you're running TANK from the floppy drive, leave the dish in the drive while playing because information may need to be accessed from or written to the disk. At the DOS prompt, type: TANK or tank (press [Enter]) A title screen appears after the program is loaded and it's time to play TANK. WHAT THIS GAME IS ABOUT WHAT THIS GAME IS ABOUT TANK is a game of armored warfare in the very near future. There are three levels of game play: the operational level of the battalion or company commander, the tactical level of the platoon commander and the actionoriented, individual combat /eve/ of the individual tank commander or crewman. You can play all three levels in one game; you can plan the strategy of your battalion/company, formulate the tactics of each individual platoon and finally fight each of the tanks in a battle against the enemy of the mission. However, you do not have to fight any level of this game you don't want to. If you just want to plan the strategy and see how effective it is, you can maneuver icons representing your platoons to the selected position, give them their movement orders and let the computer play the game until another strategic or tactical decision needs to be made. Or you can establish a tactics plan for your platoon of tanks and let the tanks fight out the battle without ever getting into an individual tank. However, if you get into the tank, and take the position of tank commander, gunner or driver, you enter a real-time, realistic simulation of tank warfare that puts you on the front line, ready to fight your tank through the greatest challenge you will ever face - the high-tech battlefield of modern armored warfare. The Game of Modern Armored Warfare STARTING OUT When you first boot up the game (see pg. 2 for instructions) you will see a title screen. Hit any key to skip the animation and continue to the Mission Selection Screen, your first step towards playing TANK. I * MISSION SELECTION GAME CONFIGURATION Once you have selected your mission, you proceed to the Game Configuration Screen. The Game Configuration Screen establishes the parameters MISSION SELECTION SCREEN This screen allows you to select your mission for this game. You can select missions from three different areas: Fort Knox (training missions), Germany (European missions) or Israel/Lebanon (Middle East missions). The screen initially gives you a map of the Fort Knox area and a list of the possible Fort Knox missions. Move the highlight to the Fort Knox title at the top of the menu with the up and down arrow keys and hit [Enterl to bring up the map of the Central Europe area and the mission list for that area. To get to the Middle East missions, highlight and choose the Central Europe Title, and so forth. As you highlight a mission, a capsule description of the mission appears at the bottom of the screen. Hit [EnterJ to pick the mission you have highlighted. The missions are described further in Chapter III - Missions. The missions are sequential. If you wish to play an entire campaign (or training regimen), play the missions in the order listed. Your score in the game is strictly mission specific; there is no overall campaign score. of the game you will be playing. Tank icons initially designate the default option for each menu and move to your selected option. The top of the screen display tells you what area you are playing in and what the mission is. Beneath that are five Menus. Use the arrow keys to highlight the menu and selection you wish. Play Level Menu GAME CONFIGURATION SCREEN * GAME DIFFICULTY LEVELS GAME DIFFICULTY LEVELS . . . . . . . . . ..... .. . _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . -Gi& TANK can be played at one of three ...