========================================
              ASW COMMAND
       FLEET MANUAL -- ST EDITION
========================================

(c)2026 John A. Reder
Tactical Neuronics

Ported to the Atari 1040ST from ASW
Command 64. Adapted from Milton
Bradley's 1977 tabletop game SUB SEARCH.


CONTENTS
--------
 1. GETTING UNDERWAY
 2. READING THE SCREEN
 3. TWO WATERS, ONE GRID EACH
 4. YOUR FLEET
 5. HIDING YOUR SUBS AND MINE
 6. MOVING AND DEPTH CHARGES
 7. THE MINE
 8. TORPEDOES
 9. RELOADING
10. WINNING AND LOSING
11. FLEET NOTES
12. COMMAND REFERENCE


1. GETTING UNDERWAY
-------------------
Hide your own 3 submarines and a mine
where the enemy will never find them,
then send your 3 surface ships out to
find theirs first -- while their own
fleet searches yours right back.

This is the Atari ST edition, ASWCMD.PRG
-- a plain TOS program, no GEM window,
nothing to install.

RUNNING IT

On a real 1040ST: copy ASWCMD.PRG to a
floppy or hard disk and double-click it,
or put it in \AUTO\ to run at boot.

In Hatari: point it at a folder with
ASWCMD.PRG and autostart it:

  hatari -d C:\path --auto C:\ASWCMD.PRG

ONE HUNT, START TO FINISH

Press SPACE at the boot badge, then
again at the title screen, read the
briefing, and hide your fleet. From
there, everything is typed: short
commands ending with RETURN. BACKSPACE
corrects a mistake. Upper or lower case
both work.

At the title screen, ESC or Q quits back
to the desktop instead.

First time? Type HELP any time for a
command summary for wherever you
currently are.

WHAT THIS EDITION DOESN'T DO

NO SAVING -- a hunt is played start to
finish in one sitting.

NO SCROLL-BACK -- the screen clears
before every command. MAP and STATUS
redraw what you missed.

A FEW MESSAGES ARE REWORDED -- the
40-column screen has no word-wrap, so a
few lines were reworded (never the
rules) to fit cleanly.


2. READING THE SCREEN
---------------------
Every command clears the screen and
redraws just what it produced, ending in
a prompt. After the badge, title and
briefing, play begins:

ASW COMMAND

TWO FLEETS, TWO HIDDEN WATERS. YOUR 3
SURFACE SHIPS HUNT THE ENEMY'S 3
SUBMARINES AND 1 MINE ACROSS A 6X6
GRID AND 3 DEPTHS -- 100, 200 AND
300 FEET. THE ENEMY'S OWN 3 SHIPS ARE
DOING THE SAME TO YOU, AND THEIR
HIDDEN SUBS CAN TORPEDO YOUR SHIPS
BACK IF YOU WANDER INTO THEIR LINE
OF FIRE.

SINK ALL 3 ENEMY SUBS, OR ALL 3
ENEMY SHIPS, TO WIN.

FIRST, HIDE YOUR OWN 3 SUBS AND 1
MINE WHERE THE ENEMY WILL NEVER SEE
THEM. TYPE HELP AT ANY TIME.

WHAT THE COLORS MEAN

CYAN -- section headers on MAP and
STATUS, and the hunt prompt

RED -- a confirmed hit or your own mine,
on the MAP grids only

YELLOW -- a near miss on MAP; the
briefing's own headings

GREEN -- your own sub markers on the
home-waters grid

GREY -- everything else -- narration,
move/charge results, the enemy's turn

WHAT YOU'LL HEAR

A rising noise burst when a torpedo
launches, a splash on every depth
charge, a low boom on any confirmed hit.
A fanfare on victory, a descending sting
on defeat.

PRESS SPACE, NOT RETURN

After the enemy's turn narrates, only
the space bar dismisses it -- RETURN is
too easy to hit out of habit right after
reading something.


3. TWO WATERS, ONE GRID EACH
----------------------------
The grid is 6x6, columns 1-6 and rows
A-F, with 3 depths per square: 100, 200,
300 feet. MAP shows one grid or the
other, never both:

MAP ENEMY -- your 3 ships, and your
charge history against the enemy's
hidden fleet

MAP HOME -- enemy ships seen on your
grid, and your own subs/mine

Example, MAP ENEMY, after one charge
dropped at F6:

-- YOUR FLEET --
   1 2 3 4 5 6
A  . . . . . .
B  . . . . . .
C  . . . . . .
D  . . . . . .
E  . . . . . .
F  . . . . . .

-- YOUR HUNT --
       100          200          300
   1 2 3 4 5 6  1 2 3 4 5 6  1 2 3 4 5 6
A  . . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
B  . . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
C  . . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
D  . . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
E  . . . . . .  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
F  . . . . . -  . . . . . .  . . . . . .
X HIT   o NEAR MISS   - MISS   . UNKNOWN

The 3 depth grids sit side by side, so a
whole water column fits on one screen.

NOTHING ABOUT A SHIP'S POSITION IS
SECRET. Only sub and mine locations are
hidden -- surface ships are always
visible to both sides. MAP HOME and
STATUS both tell you exactly where enemy
ships sit.


4. YOUR FLEET
-------------
Three surface ships, each with its own
charges:

Destroyer (D) -- 4 charges
Cruiser   (C) -- 3 charges
Scout     (S) -- 2 charges

All 3 start at Home Port -- off the
grid, along the right edge (column 6).
STATUS (I) shows every ship's position
and charges at any time:

-- YOUR FLEET --
DESTROYER (D): AT F6, CHARGES 3/4
CRUISER (C): HOME PORT, CHARGES 3/3
SCOUT (S): HOME PORT, CHARGES 2/2
-- YOUR HIDDEN WATERS --
SUB AT B2, 200FT: AFLOAT
SUB AT D4, 100FT: AFLOAT
SUB AT F6, 300FT: AFLOAT
MINE AT A1, 100FT: ARMED
-- ENEMY SHIPS SEEN ON YOUR WATERS --
ENEMY DESTROYER: AT B6
ENEMY SUBS REMAINING: 3/3
ENEMY SHIPS REMAINING: 3/3


5. HIDING YOUR SUBS AND MINE
----------------------------
Before the hunt begins, place your own 3
subs and 1 mine -- the enemy does the
same automatically, in secret. Use a map
coordinate, letter then number.

PLACE SUB 1 OF 3 -- PLACE <COORD>
<DEPTH> -- OR RANDOM

1. PLACE coord depth hides one sub, e.g.
   PLACE B2 200. Repeat for all 3. They
   can share a square (different depths)
   or a depth -- no one-per-depth rule.

2. MINE coord hides your mine, always at
   100ft. Not under one of your own
   subs.

3. RANDOM works at either step and fills
   in whatever's left legally and
   instantly.

NO SECOND CHANCES. Once placed, nothing
moves -- not your subs, your mine, or
the enemy's.


6. MOVING AND DEPTH CHARGES
---------------------------
Your turn is one ship's move, 1-3
spaces, any mix of 8 directions
(diagonals included) -- you can bend the
path mid-move:

MOVE D N N E
DESTROYER MOVES TO D5.

MOVE ship dir [dir] [dir] -- e.g. MOVE D
N N E. Directions: N S E W NE NW SE SW.

MOVE ship coord -- only from Home Port,
to deploy onto the grid along the port
edge, e.g. MOVE D F6.

Once moved, fire one depth charge from
wherever it ended up, at any of the 3
depths:

CHARGE D 200
NEAR MISS -- 1 ENEMY SUB(S) CLOSE TO
D5, 200FT.

CHARGE ship depth -- e.g. CHARGE D 200.
Only the ship that just moved may fire;
spends one charge.

WHAT A CHARGE TELLS YOU

DIRECT HIT -- an enemy sub is on that
exact square and depth. Sunk.

NEAR MISS -- an enemy sub is one of 6
spaces away: N/S/E/W at the SAME depth,
or the SAME square one depth up or down.
Tells you how many subs if more than
one.

COMPLETE MISS -- none of the above.
Clear.

Diagonals never count, and a depth
change plus a square change never count
together.


7. THE MINE
-----------
If your ship's move ends exactly on the
enemy's hidden mine, it's destroyed
instantly -- before it can fire a
charge. The mine is spent too.

*** DESTROYER STRUCK A MINE AT C3 ***
AND IS LOST.
No way to detect a mine in advance -- no
near miss, no warning. Open water is
never entirely safe.


8. TORPEDOES
------------
A sub that shares a COLUMN with a
visible enemy ship -- straight up/down
the grid, never a row -- can fire a
torpedo at it, from any depth:

TORPEDO B2 D
TORPEDO AWAY FROM YOUR SUB AT B2,
TARGETING DESTROYER...
*** HIT! DESTROYER IS SUNK! ***
TORPEDO sub ship -- sub is one of your
own living subs' coords, ship an enemy
letter in its column. One per turn,
charge or not.

A hit sinks any ship outright,
Destroyer, Cruiser or Scout alike.

NOT A SURE THING -- roughly 1 hit in 5.
A miss reveals nothing and costs only
the attempt.

The enemy's hidden subs do the same to
you automatically, whenever your ship
sits in their column:

ENEMY TORPEDO FIRES AT YOUR DESTROYER
...
*** HIT! YOUR DESTROYER IS SUNK! ***


9. RELOADING
------------
A ship with 0 charges can still move,
but can't fire. To rearm, get it onto
the Home Port edge (column 6), then
return it:

RETURN D
DESTROYER RETURNS TO HOME PORT AND
RELOADS -- CANNOT REDEPLOY UNTIL THE
TURN AFTER NEXT.
RETURN ship -- only on column 6. Refills
charges immediately, but can't redeploy
until the turn after next -- it sits out
one full turn.

If no ship can act, your turn still
passes -- DONE tells you so rather than
demand a move that doesn't exist:

NO SHIP CAN ACT THIS TURN -- EVERY
SURVIVOR IS STILL RELOADING. PASSING.


10. WINNING AND LOSING
----------------------
VICTORY -- you sink all 3 enemy subs, OR
all 3 enemy ships.

DEFEAT -- the enemy sinks all 3 of yours
first, either way.

*** ALL ENEMY SUBS SUNK. VICTORY! ***
TURNS TAKEN: 11

Both routes to victory count equally. A
short tune plays either way -- a fanfare
for a win, a sting for a loss -- before
QUIT or a fresh look at the title.


11. FLEET NOTES
---------------
- Spreading subs across all 3 depths
  costs the enemy more charges per
  square -- stacking means one lucky hit
  narrows things fast.

- A near miss is real information --
  write it down yourself.

- Column discipline matters for
  torpedoes both ways.

- Reloading costs 2 of your own turns,
  not 1 -- don't run a ship dry far from
  port.

- Deploying is free, but every turn only
  moves one ship -- decide which needs
  to act first.


12. COMMAND REFERENCE
---------------------
SETUP

PLACE coord depth
  Hide one of your 3 subs

MINE coord
  Hide your mine (100ft only)

RANDOM
  Auto-fill what's left

DURING THE HUNT

MOVE ship dir[s]  (M)
  Move 1-3 spaces, e.g. MOVE D N N E

MOVE ship coord
  Deploy from port, e.g. MOVE D F6

CHARGE ship depth  (C)
  Fire a depth charge in place

TORPEDO sub ship  (T)
  Fire at an enemy ship in column

RETURN ship
  Reload at port (must be col. 6)

DONE
  End your turn

MAP ENEMY
  Your fleet and hunt vs enemy

MAP HOME
  Enemy seen, your subs and mine

STATUS  (I)
  Fleets, waters, enemy seen

HELP  (H ?)
  Command list for here

QUIT  (Q)
  End the hunt

========================================
              ASW COMMAND
          ATARI 1040ST EDITION
         (c)2026 JOHN A. REDER
           TACTICAL NEURONICS
========================================
