Command HQ
Rules of Play


Tutorials

 

 

Familiarization

 

 

Before you take command of the combined world forces of your national alliance, it's a good idea to practice on some set-piece situations to learn about the controls and tactics.  There are two tutorial games included with Command HQ to help introduce you to the game controls.

Before you begin, locate the CHQ Ruleskey; you'll want to be able to pause the simulation while you refer to the manual.

 

Terminology:

When Command HQ was initially published, it was available on several different computer platforms, including the IBM PC and the Apple Macintosh.  In order to write the manual in a way that would be compatible across a wide variety of computers and control mechanisms, a standardized terminology was developed, and is still used throughout this manual today.  Version 2 is currently only available on the PC platform, but can use a variety of controllers.  Therefore, the manual still written using this generic terminology today.

Controller: A two-dimensional control device, normally a mouse, but also could be a joystick or the four-directional cursor keys.  Although not required, a mouse is highly recommended for use as a controller in Command HQ.

Selector #1: The first (normally left) button the the mouse or joystick.  On the keyboard, it is the Enter key.

Selector #2: The second (normally right) button on the mouse or joystick.  On the keyboard, it is the Space Bar.

Keys: Each CHQ Rulesis referred to by an CHQ Rules, which actually refers to a particular keystroke combination or selection with the Controller.  The keystroke combination is defined in the Command Summary Table at the end of the manual, or you can find out the keystroke combination associated with a CHQ Rulesby placing the mouse over the green text, and the definition (for the PC platform) will appear.  It will show the keystroke to press, and (if available) the option from the pull-down menu on the top of the screen to click on, in order to activate the function.  Most pull-down menu functions are available on the primary menu which appears when you place the mouse over the message area along the very top of the screen.  The secondary menu with other options appears when you select CHQ Rules.

Words appearing in Blue Text are hyperlinks.  Click on them to go to the section of the manual that gives more detail about the subject.

 

 


 

Special Keys for

Safe Harbor Games

If you are playing under Safe Harbor Games, you can press the CHQ Rules key to switch the game between Full Screen and Windowed mode. Normally you will want to play Command HQ in full screen mode, but while you are going through this tutorial, you may find it convenient to go into Windowed mode to read a section of this manual, and then pop back into full screen mode to try out what you just read.

Another useful keystroke combination when playing at Safe Harbor Games in Windowed mode is the Ctrl / F10key. This is used if you have the game in a window, and the mouse has been ‘captured’ by that window. That means the mouse is being used by the game, and you can’t seem to get it out of the game window. By pressing this key, the mouse will be ‘released’ from the game window, and will be restored to your normal desktop mouse.

If you accidentally go into the Windows Desktop (perhaps by pressing Ctrl/Esc) and do not see a Command HQ game window, look down in your task bar and click on the item that says “DOSBox”, in order to get back to your Command HQ full screen game.

 


 

 

Starting
Options

Install: See the section on Installation for information on how to install Command HQ on floppy disks or onto a hard drive, or to run it from Safe Habor Games.

Main Options:  After the title screens, you'll find yourself at the Main Options menu.  Select "Resume Saved War" to begin the first tutorial.

Load Game: Choose "Tutorial One" to begin learning Command HQ.


 

Where
You
Start

You begin in control of the blue forces, with a full view of the world situation.  The top section of the screen shows the current status of the game.  The tutorial begins in Pause mode to give you time to look around.

CHQ RulesThe map is a terrain representation of the world.  Types of terrain include sea, plains, forest, jungle, desert, and mountains.  See Color Used in the Game for a list of terrain types and the color associated with each one.

The map also shows the location of all major cities, bases, and oil fields in the world.  Cities and bases are black squares and oil fields are small "+" signs.  The object of any scenario of Command HQ is to capture all of the Capital Cities on the map.  Oil is important in some eras, to keep the machinery of war and commerce running.

The four screens below the map are called Monitors One through Four, numbered from left to right.  Each serves several functions during the course of the game.

Monitor One initially shows you your oil status, in games that use oil.  In the tutorial, you will notice that your oil situation is critical; your income of oil is less than your total outflow, and your reserves are dropping (the word "oil" flashes red to warn you of this).   The subject of the first tutorial is a blue attack on the red oil fields of the Middle East.

Monitor Two initially shows the flag of the city currently under the cursor (in this case, Washington D.C.).

Monitor Three initially shows the general location of your major capital city.  Depending on the scenario, there may be other friendly capitals that you must also protect.  During a game, as status or crisis messages are displayed, Monitor Three will show you the area of the world the message refers to.

Monitor Four depicts the type of terrain the cursor is currently over.

 

 

Tutorial One - Combat Techniques Training:

In this tutorial, we'll concentrate on the basic game controls and the elements of war; once you know how to maneuver and fight, you've learned 75 per cent of Command HQ.

CHQ Rules


The Field of Battle

 

The Field Of Battle

In a real game of Command HQ, the theater of war can range from a single area like Hawaii to the whole world.  Part of the challenge is knowing which theaters deserve your attention, and which can be left to follow commands previously given.

For this tutorial, we'll concentrate on the Middle East.   Your first step is to take a close-up look at the action.

CHQ RulesUse the CHQ Rulesto position the cursor below the two red units in the Middle East, and press CHQ Rules.  Note that in the zoom view, the oil fields look like little black circles instead of crosses.  If your zoom box does not fill the whole screen, press Tabuntil the zoom box is at its largest.  You see your blue forces poised for an attack on a red position.

Move the cursor around and note the various types of terrain on the map.  To see the terrain underneath the units, press CHQ Rules.   This also shows which side owns the cities and which side owns the oil fields.

As you can see from the arrangement of the blue forces, a combat unit is as large as nine map positions (three squares by three squares) - thus, units can overlap other units in tight formations.  If you want to get a good look at a unit that is obscured by another, put the cursor over it and watch Monitor Four.

The
Combat
Units

Each unit represents an army, fleet, or air wing composed of many thousand soldiers and vehicles.  Each unit actually occupies only the center of its icon on the screen, but different types of units have different combat ranges, giving them different "effective sizes".

Types of units in this tutorial include air, infantry, tank, cruiser, and carrier.

All units except air units have several common features:

Type Icon: Each unit type is recognizable by the icon in the center of the unit.  A summary of icon types appears in the table listing Colors Used in the Game.

Strength Bar: A unit is at full strength when the band of color at the bottom extends all the way across the unit.  As the unit takes damage in combat, the bar recedes.  A unit with no color bar showing is very near destruction.

Background Color: A land unit has a distinctive white background color.  A sea unit has a light blue background color, the same color as the oceans themselves.  When a land unit boards transports and becomes a sea unit, its background color goes from white to blue to note the change.

Infantry Entrenchment:  Infantry armies can "entrench," making them much harder to kill.  An entrenched infantry has an additional green color bar above its strength bar.  If this bar is not there, the infantry is not entrenched, and is therefore more vulnerable.

Simple
Moving
and
Fighting

Time to launch an attack!  Press the Alt-P, or click on 'PAUSE' or 'RESUME'key to take the game out of Pause mode, position the cursor over the blue cruiser unit, and press Left Mouse Button, Joystick Button #1, or the Enter key.   You'll see the message "Setting Unit Destination" at the top of the screen.

Now move the cursor so that it is adjacent, without overlapping, to the red cruiser, and press CHQ Rulesagain.

Put the cursor over the blue cruiser again, and a new message appears: "Unit Path".  Watch for a moment, and the flickering image will follow the unit's new path of movement.  Also note that in Monitor Four, the unit has a message appearing with it, "Moving", to let you know that that unit currently has a destination.

When the opposing units are close enough to each other, they begin to fight.  Hold the cursor over one or the other unit; two new icons appear in Monitor Four.  The small burst symbol denotes that the unit has been hit by enemy fire; the white arrow shows the directional facing of the unit, pointing out (in general terms) with which enemy the unit is engaged.

As the battle progresses, both units' strength bars begin to dwindle.  When one unit runs out of strength, it is destroyed.  If your cruiser is destroyed, you'll have to bring up the carrier to finish off the enemy.

Select the carrier by positioning the cursor over it and pressing CHQ Rules.  Give it a destination, but this time leave one space between the carrier unit the the enemy cruiser.  Carriers have a longer range than cruisers, and you'll be able to bombard the enemy without taking any return fire at them.

As the carrier moves, you'll see two red infantry appear on the coast of India.  These units were always there, but you had no friendly units close enough to see them.  As your air unit (aboard the carrier) gets closer, the units appear.  See the discussion of Hidden Enemies.

Now take a good look at your oil situation.  All your reserves are gone by now (or soon will be) and the small bar has appeared in your "out" column.  This shows how much oil you will need, as opposed to the solid bar that shows how much you have.  Time to do something about the oil.

 

Game Speed

If things move too slowly for you, press CHQ Rules.  You can push it all the way up to speed 6, but this moves very fast and makes it hard to keep track of what's going on when many units are moving and fighting at the same time.

If things are going too fast for you, press CHQ Rulesto slow the action down.  You can go all the way down to speed 0 in which nothing moves (but you can still give orders) as a kind of alternative pause.   When you're ready with all your orders, increase the speed again.

 

 


Combat Options

 

Goals

Select the topmost infantry unit in the cluster around Jerusalem.  Select the topmost Iraqi oil field as its destination (if you are not sure which one is Iraqi, hold the cursor over the different oil fields for a moment, and eventually you'll see the red, white, and black Iraqi flag appear).

Once the first unit has been given a destination, select the next infantry unit down and give it a destination next to but not overlapping the red infantry unit guarding the oil field in Kuwait.

Attrition

As the two infantry units move, notice that their strength bars go down.  This is due to attrition.  Units that cross hostile types of terrain (desert, polar, and jungle) lose part of their strength each round until they leave that terrain.  Also notice that once the unit begins to move, it loses its "entrenchment" indication.

At some point, you unit will capture the oil field in Iraq (an animation appears in Monitor Two).  This helps the oil situation, but doesn't solve it.  You still need that Kuwaiti field, but the designated unit is too weak to attack, due to attrition losses.  You can also see that land units do not fight when next to each other the way cruisers did.  They have shorter ranges than cruisers, and must overlap to fight.

Repairs

See how the friendly unit that captured the oil field begins to repair its losses!  Units in friendly cities, bases, and oil fields regain part of their strength each round until they are fully repaired.  Send the weakened unit to that oil field for repairs.  Be careful, though - if you give it a direct movement order, its path will take it into combat with the red infantry.  First move it due north.  When it arrives, give it new orders to move east to the oil field.  Note that the unit's losses cease at some point.  Under normal circumstances, a unit cannot be killed by terrain attrition.

You'll quickly find that two units cannot occupy the same position.  Move the unit on the oil field one space to the south (into the plains, where it won't suffer from attrition).  This allows the weakened unit to enter the oil field and repair.

 

Overruns

Now lets experiment with some advanced movement.  Select one of the tank units and give it a direct destination of an unguarded Saudi Arabian oil field.

The first thing you notice is that the tank moves pretty fast.   Depending on the type of terrain, tanks move up to twice as fast as infantry.

As the tank closes with the enemy infantry, they begin to fight - but the tank keeps moving!  This is called an overrun and is one of the most valuable abilities of tanks: they can move "through" enemy infantry (taking losses) and seize objectives in the rear.  Once the tank reaches the oil field, it will stop and begin to repair.

Pinning

Now try the same thing with an infantry unit, and see how the infantry becomes pinned in combat (once it's engaged, hold the cursor over the unit to see the message).  Being pinned means the unit cannot move until the combat is over, or until the unit is given fresh movement orders.  See the section on Movement in the Games Controls chapter.  In general, infantry are far less mobile in combat than tanks.

Meanwhile, send the tank to capture the last unguarded oil field, and watch the oil reserves begin to rise.

 


Advanced Combat

 

Marine
Assaults

Now let's look at some advanced forms of combat.  Select one of the tank armies at sea (note that they are transports, as denoted by the color background) and give it a destination atop the southernmost red infantry in India.  Attacking from the sea in this way is called a marine assault.  The tank, although it can still defeat the infantry, takes heavy losses.  Watch as the tank background turns white to show it has reached the coast.

Navy
Guns

One way to lessen losses against coastal defenders is to soften them up with navy guns.  Move the carrier to just off the coast of Bombay, and watch as it begins to bombard the red infantry.  Meanwhile, let's get ready to attack the red infantry in Kuwait.

We have two infantry nearby to make the attack, and they could probably take the position, but with heavy losses.  We can make things easier with air strikes and a paradrop.

Air
Strikes

Press CHQ Rules, and find the two air wings stationed in Jerusalem.  Select one.  The message "Designating Air Mission" appears.  Place the airplane-shaped cursor over the red infantry defending the Kuwait oil field, and press Left Mouse Button, Joystick Button #1, or the Enter key.  (Note how the naval bombardment at Bombay continues as you do this.)

Air strikes can be unsuccessful, due to ground-based defenses.   If your air strike fails, press CHQ Rulesa few times until the air unit is available once more, then press CHQ Rulesand attack the same target again.

A successful air strike costs the defender half of his current strength.  Quickly, before he begins to repair, attack with your nearby infantry.  To attack, all you have to do is move your unit so the two icons overlap.  As combat is joined, place the cursor over the defending red unit.   You'll see the enemy infantry "turn to face" the attacker, as designated by the arrow that appears in Monitor Four on your screen.

Since the enemy unit is facing north, a flank attack from the west will do additional damage, but sending a unit from Jerusalem over land will be slow, and the unit will suffer attrition.

Airdrops

Instead, let's do an airdrop.  Press CHQ Rulesagain and select an available air unit (unavailable air units are shown in gray, see Air Power).  When the "Designating Air Mission" message appears, select a nearby infantry unit (tanks cannot be paradropped).  Now a new message appears: "Designating Air Transport".   Place the cursor so that it overlaps the enemy, and press CHQ Rules.   The infantry will be dropped in that space.  Your unit's strength is reduced by paradropping because it must leave all of its heavy equipment behind.

Once the enemy is defeated, don't forget to move one of the units onto the oil field, and send the other elsewhere for repairs.  A traffic jam may result in the north; see if you can get everybody to a safe destination (friendly units may move through each other, though they may not stop to occupy the same space at the same time).

Dogfights

Time to capture Bombay.  The enemy unit there is weakened by the bombardment, so select your remaining tank at sea and land it on the coast of India.  Once it's there, send it into the city.

While the tank moves, press CHQ Rulesand select the air unit on board the carrier.  Notice the enemy air unit in Bombay.   Once the airplane-shaped cursor appears, press CHQ Rulesagain and place the cursor over the enemy air unit.  This will cause a dogfight between the two air units.  Depending on how lucky you are, a plane may be shot down, or both planes may go gray.  Either way, you've taken the enemy air power out of the action for a while.

Try to coordinate your air attack with the arrival of your tank.  In a real game, negating your opponent's air unit can be vitally important.

City
Conquest

Now watch as the tank moves into the city.  Do you see it take damage even after the enemy unit is destroyed?  This is because enemy cities have a small militia which defends them from conquest.  This militia in enemy cities is not very potent, but it can kill a weakened unit trying to capture a city.  The militia in neutral cities are more potent, taking away almost half of a unit's maximum strength.

Once you've captured Bombay, press F4, or click on 'AIR'again and note that the enemy air unit was destroyed when you took the city.   Capturing the air strip is the most certain way of destroying enemy air units.

Ending
the
Battle

You've now learned most of the controls you need to play Command HQ.  Try experimenting with various combat tactics on the remaining red unit.  Try air strikes, bombardment, tank overruns, and flanking attacks with paradrops.  If you give a command that doesn't seem to be working properly (for example, you might find yourself stuck with an airplane-shaped cursor), press the Escape key multiple times.

When you're ready, press CHQ Rulesto return to the Main Options menu.

 

 

 

Tutorial Two - Reactive Techniques

 

 

In this tutorial, the enemy troops will be moving.   Although there is no "artificial intelligence" (enemy troops are simply responding to orders previously given, before the tutorial started),  you'll get an idea of what it's like to play in real time, against an opponent who is changing the conditions on the battlefield.


 

Pause
Key

You'll probably want to use Atl-P, or click on 'PAUSE' or 'RESUME'frequently in this tutorial.  We suggest you read a few paragraphs, play, pause, read a few more paragraphs, play, etc.


 

Getting
Started

To begin the second tutorial, return to the Main Options menu, either by pressing CHQ Rulesat the end of the last tutorial, or by beginning the game again.

When you get the Main Options menu, select "Resume Saved War", and choose "Tutorial Two".  The game begins in Pause mode.

 


The Situation

 

 

The purpose of this tutorial is to give you an idea of how the game is played against a live opponent.  There are red units out there, moving, but you can't seem them at the start.

You begin with a large convoy headed for Europe, with the purpose of establishing a beach-head and retaking the captured continent.  This is similar to actions that could occur late in a World War III scenario.


 

Show
Owner

Press CHQ Rulesto see what's been happening in the war so far.  As you can see, the red army has conquered all of Europe and Asia (except South Korea), and a small part of Africa and the Middle East.  They still hold Havana.

Press CHQ Rulesagain to toggle this mode off.


 

Oil

Now check your oil situation.  You can see that your income and outflow are about equal.  Watch your reserves during the course of the battle to see if you are having any problems.

You can also check on your opponent's oil situation (spies and reports keep you abreast of his condition).  Select the CHQ Rulesfor Monitor One, and you'll see a similar readout for your enemy's oil.  He looks like he's doing about as well as you are.


 

Strengths

You can check on how many resource centers you own (cities, oil fields and bases), how many units you have, and your income.  First select the CHQ Rulesfor Monitor Two, and you'll see a comparison of resources owned by you and your opponent.  As you can see, you have a slightly greater number of cities and oil fields.  In a long war, you would probably win.   In the tutorial situation, though, you have very little time.

You can also find out your overall strength.  Press CHQ Rules.  Later we'll discuss actually purchasing new units; for now, look under the COUNT column and see how many of each type of unit you currently have on the board.  The KNOWN column shows how many of each unit you can see on your opponent's side.  At the start of the tutorial, you see none of you opponent's units.   As you progress, call up the Buy Units menu and see how the KNOWN numbers change now.

Press CHQ Rulesagain to remove the menu.

You can also find your relative income by selecting the CHQ Rulesfor Monitor Four.  You'll see you own income in Billions per Round (yours is 1.35), and how many billions you currently have available to use for purchasing units.  Press the key again, and you'll see your opponent's income (or, at least as much income of his that you know about).  His available funds are always hidden from you.

 


Getting Moving

 


 

Initial
Orders

At this point your opponent is probably getting impatient, so press CHQ Rulesand begin the game.  In a real game against another player, you can let your opponent know that you're ready by pressing CHQ Rules- but the game won't start until you both have pressed it.

Now press CHQ Rulesuntil the "Speed 0" message appears at the top of the screen.  In this mode, you can give your units orders and conduct air strikes, but no movement or fighting takes place.  The game does not "progress".  You will probably play most games at speed 4 or 5, but speed 0 is useful for giving lots of orders at the start of a game, or as a way for two players to play at the same computer (for more details about this, see Two Players at One Computer).

For now, give your orders at speed 0.  Your objective is to land your convoy in Europe.  Give your transports and cruisers destinations in either Spain, the west coast of France, or England (or any combination you wish).

You can keep track of which units have already received orders by holding the cursor over the unit for a moment.  The unit icon that appears in Monitor Four will have a "Moving" message printed above it if the unit has already received the orders it needs.


 

Movement
Paths

Once you've given orders to all your units, press the CHQ Ruleskey and watch as each unit's path is outlined.  Using this key, you can get an overall sense of where you've ordered units to go at any time during a war.   If you notice a unit has no movement line, check to see if you've given it movement orders.  This key works in zoom mode as well.

You can find an individual unit's movement orders by holding the cursor over that unit for a second or two.  The unit's path appears as a blinking cursor moving across the map.  You can only see the first three moves of an enemy unit.


 

Movement

Waypoints

If you look at a unit’s movement path and it does not follow the path you want or expect, you can specify a more precise path by defining movement waypoints. That is, you can tell the unit to go to point A, then from there to go to point B, and then to point C, and finally to it’s ultimate destination. Up to 4 points can be defined for a unit’s path.

 

To define waypoints, give the first movement order, and after you specify the destination point using Left Mouse Button, Joystick Button #1, or the Enter key, then press it again without moving the cursor. This will re-select the unit and allow you to specify the next destination. Up to 4 destinations can be specified in this manner. Once you move the cursor after specifying a destination, the move order is complete.

 

Using this technique, you can gain finer control for the path a unit will take to get from here to there, by specifying some intermediate points along the way.

 

Note that just like when you specify a single destination, if you capture an enemy or neutral City, Base, or Capital along the way, the unit will be redirected towards the center of the City, and the destinations are forgotten. Oil wells, however, can be taken simply by moving across them, and will not cause subsequent orders to be erased.

 

(The Movement Waypoint feature was added in Version 2.1, so players of the older versions of the game may need to practice this very useful technique.)


 

Move
Out!

Now, get your convoy moving by pressing + (the Plus key)three times.  When you're at speed 3, you'll see your ships start to move across the screen.  As enemy troops appear you can adjust the destinations on the move, to attack the enemy or to avoid him.  For now, keep reading.

 


Hidden Enemies

 


 

Radar
and Air
Recon

Each type of unit has a scanning range.  (For a table listing the scanning ranges of each unit, see the table entitled Firing and Scanning Ranges.)   As your convoy moves toward Europe, enemy units will appear when they are within radar scanning distance of your units.

Your best recon units are your air units.  Their scanning range is very large, as long as the plane is active (not being used for a mission, or recovering from a mission).  If you use all your air units, enemy troops may disappear from the screen until your air units are ready again.

Radar and air recon happen automatically.


 

Satellite
Recon

Your observation satellite shows you all enemy units within its radius (except submarines, which remain hidden).  By moving the satellite, you can get very good reconnaissance on enemy positions.  The down side is that moving the satellite uses fuel, and eventually it will fall from orbit (see the section on Satellites).   In the tutorial there's no need to worry about that, so let's get some reconnaissance.

Press CHQ Rules.  You'll see your satellite (in blue) over the Atlantic, warning you of enemy fleets in the area.  The red satellite is over Europe, where you're hoping to invade.

Select your satellite and give it a destination over Europe.   It will begin to move, and as it does you'll see any enemy troops (except subs) within its observation radius.  Press F9, or click on 'SATL'again to remove the global picture.


 

Submarine
Recon

Submarines are always hidden from air and satellite scanning, and stationary subs can't be spotted on radar.  The only way to find an enemy sub is if it moves within radar range of one of your units, enters one of your cities' dock areas, or if one of your units runs into it.  Transports are fragile when facing subs, so watch out for enemy sub activity in the Atlantic!


 

What
the
Enemy
Sees

Since your units are hidden as well, it's important to know which of your troops the enemy can and can't see.  Your radar detectors and ECM capabilities make it easy for you to find out which of your units are hidden and which are not.

Press CHQ Rules; the message "Show Common" appears at the top of the screen.  So far, your convoy should be well hidden from the red army.


 

Satellite
Combat

When your convoy is halfway across the Atlantic (about round 7-10), you may want to pause.  It's time to knock that enemy satellite out of the sky before it gives away your invasion plans.  Press CHQ Rulesand then CHQ Rules.  Select a Satellite Killer.  This is a satellite that can be set to explode at a certain point in space, destroying any nearby recon satellites.

The cursor becomes a selection point, asking you where to target the killer satellite.  Select a destination very close to the red satellite.   Make sure your own recon satellite isn't too close to the kill point or it will be destroyed too!  If necessary, move it away.

You'll see the satellite killer appear over the central U.S.   It moves quickly across the globe to kill any satellites in its radius of effect; it will go off only when it reaches the designated destination.  If your opponent moves his satellite, you'll have to give your killer a new destination.

For now, get back to the war by pressing F9, or click on 'SATL'again.

 


The Invasion

 


 

Crisis
Messages

Whenever your units engage for the first time, or you spot an enemy, or a unit is destroyed, a crisis message appears at the bottom of the screen, and an animation may appear in Monitor Two.  At the same time, Monitor Three shows the area of the world in which the crisis is taking place.

Put the cursor in Monitor Three and press Right Mouse Button, Joystick Button #2, or the Spacebar, and you will zoom to that area of the world map showing more detail.


 

Combat
Tactics

When enemies appear, fight them as quickly and as economically as possible.  Keep the following tactics in mind.

Attack Ranges: Subs have short attack ranges, Carriers have long ranges.  Use your weapon types to their best advantage.  (See the table on Firing and Scanning Ranges.)

Engagement: An enemy can only fire at one of your units at a time.  Once he's engaged with one of your strong units, you can attack with your weak units without fear of loss (but make sure your timing is right!)

Air Strikes: Practice with air strikes, and remember that you can find out when an air unit will be ready by selecting the unready icon.

Enemy Movement: You can determine the short-term destination of an enemy by holding the cursor over the enemy unit.


 

The
Satellite
Killer
Explodes

At some point you'll see the message that a recon satellite has been killed.  Press CHQ Rulesto see what the situation is.  If your satellite is still alive, try moving it to a different spot (select the satellite, then select the destination) to see what's going on in another part of the world.


 

Deploying
Nukes

When you've taken care of the defending sea units, it's time for a landing.  To demonstrate the power of nuclear weapons, we'll start our invasion with a nuclear strike.

Press CHQ Rulesand select "Use Nukes".   Now the cursor becomes a targeting device.  Pick a spot and select.  Try to place the strike so as to affect the maximum number of enemy units (just south of Madrid is a good choice).  Be careful!  Nuclear weapons have a large radius of effect (they can wipe out a whole city), so keep friendly troops away from ground zero.

Your use of nukes will also cause some cities on the board to change allegiance.  Press CHQ Rulesafter the nuke is dropped to see which of your cities have become neutral.  It is also possible for neutral cities to join the other side after a nuke.


 

Foreign
Aid

Foreign Aid is used mostly in the pre-game and cease-fire portions of Command HQ.  However, foreign aid can be used even during war, where it represents direct shipments of money and personnel, diplomatic missions, support for rebel factions, and propaganda and subversion.

To use foreign aid, press CHQ Rulesand select Foreign Aid.  The cursor becomes a selector, as with nukes, but the target must be a city.   Try giving foreign aid to Birmingham.  You'll have to do it several times (after a few gifts the city becomes neutral, then it joins your side).  Then press CHQ Rulesto see what effects your foreign aid designations had.


 

Buying
New
Units

Press CHQ Rulesand select the type of unit you wish to build (try a tank).  Now you must place that unit in one of your cities or bases.

When placing a unit, each friendly city is highlighted with a colored box.  The box is green if the city is available for building, yellow (or white, see Colorblind Mode) if the city will soon be available, and red if the city will not be available for a long time.   You can find out when an unavailable city will be ready by placing the cursor over the city and pressing CHQ Rules.  A message will appear telling you in what round the city will be ready.  Compare this to the round counter in Monitor Three.

Try building several units and placing them in various areas on the map.


 

Mopping
Up

You can experiment with various tactics and moves, as in the first tutorial.  When you're ready, press Alt-R, or click on 'RESTART'to return to the main menu.

 


Next Chapter: Game Controls