THE ANARCHIC KINGDOM

	The old king has died, leaving his young son not yet ready to
	rule the kingdom. The minority of the young king will last
	another year, during which anarchy reigns!

	Eight of the most powerful lords of the kingdom will take
	advantage of this period of anarchy, bolstering their own power
	in order to have the most influence over the young king when he
	takes control.

	Build stout castles, train faithful knights, draft a multitude
	of footmen, and set about your opponents to take as much of
	their land and gold as you can over the next twelve months.

	Good luck!


Installing and Running the Game

	The Anarchic Kingdom requires an IBM PC or compatible machine
	with at least an 8088 processor, and a CGA graphics card. It
	will run nicely under DOSBox and other DOS emulator programs.

	The game is supplied as a ZIP file. To run it, you must unpack
	the contents of the ZIP file into a directory or device of your
	choice. There should be three files: ANARCHIC.EXE, ANARCHIC.DAT
	and this manual. To run the game, navigate to its directory and
	type ANARCHIC to start. For example, if you installed into the
	directory C:\ANARCHIC\ then you can run the game with the
	following commands:

		C:
		CD \ANARCHIC
		ANARCHIC

	If you have a monochrome display, you might find the graphics
	clearer running with the monochrome option:

		ANARCHIC -M

	This launches the game in 640x200 mode, which is black and
	white. If you have a colour monitor, but have trouble with the
	game's colours (or just don't like them), you can use the
	default CGA palette with the following option:

		ANARCHIC -P

	This uses the familiar CGA colour palette of black, cyan,
	magenta and white.


The Title Screen

	The game starts on the title screen, which shows the shields of
	the eight baronies that will be fighting each other in the
	game. Above the shields are the baronies' names. Below the
	shields is the word "Computer." This means that all the baronies
	are set to be computer controlled. Before starting, you need to
	decide how many humans are playing, and which baronies they will
	play.

	Beaumont is initially highlighted with a square cursor. This can
	be moved around with the cursor keys, Pressing SPACE when
	highlighting a barony will flip it from "Computer" to "Human",
	or back again. This is how you will choose which baronies are
	human-controlled. When that is done, the cursor can be moved to
	"Start game," and SPACE will begin the game.


The Introduction

	The first thing players will see is the text that introduces the
	game. This is the same text that introduces this manual, setting
	the scene of the game and telling players what they will be
	doing. The SPACE key will allow the game to begin in earnest and
	take the players either to the Main Menu (in a multiplayer game)
	or to the sole human player's barony (in a single-player game).


The Main Menu

	In a multiplayer game, players will see the Main Menu at the
	start of each turn. Players can take their turn in any order, as
	their attacks and other orders are not put into effect till the
	turn ends. To select who gets to take their turn first, use the
	cursor keys to move the cursor to that player's shield and press
	SPACE. Note that only the human players have their baronies'
	names shown.

	Once that player has taken their turn, the Main Menu will
	reappear for the other players to do likewise. When everyone has
	taken their turn, the last player can move the cursor to "End
	turn" and press SPACE. All the attacks and spending will then
	take place ready for the next turn.


The Barony View

	In a single-player game, the Main Menu will be skipped, and the
	player will be taken straight to their barony. In a multiplayer
	game, each player will begin their turn viewing their
	barony. The Barony View is the screen from which most of the
	game is played.

	At the top of the screen is the hard information about the state
	of the barony. The title banner shows the barony's name. At the
	top left is the current month of the year, and the top right
	shows this barony's position in the rankings. In January, the
	baronies all start in joint first position---things can only go
	downhill from here.

	Immediately left and right of the barony's name are the
	statistics. On the left are the economic statistics, and on the
	right are the military statistics. This would be a good place to
	explain them.

	Land is the most important statistic, and is the number of
	square miles each barony covers. The rankings are by land area,
	and land also influences the number of peasants that a barony
	can support. The aim of the game is to be the barony with the
	most land when December's turn has been processed.

	Peasants are the civilians who pay the taxes that support your
	military. They also provide the people to garrison your castles
	or to fight in your army as footmen. Each unit represents a
	"parish" of about 100 people. If the amount of land exceeds the
	number of peasants, this figure will rise as new peaseants move
	to your barony. If the amount of land falls short, then peasants
	will flee the barony to avoid famine and starvation. If there
	are no peasants, you can gather no tax!

	Gold is the coin which pays for the building of castles and the
	training of knights. It also pays for the upkeep of all military
	units: 10 gold per turn to maintain a castle, 1 gold per turn to
	maintain a knight, and 1 gold per turn to maintain 5 footmen. If
	you haven't enough gold to pay your forces, they will start to
	desert you, so keep an eye on your income and expenditure!

	Castles help to defend your barony against attacks. The more
	castles you have, the smaller the amount of land and gold that
	will be taken from you when your enemies come for you. It takes
	100 gold to build a castle and 100 peasants to provide its
	garrison. A castle has the same fighting power as 10 knights or
	100 footmen.

	Knights are your main attack force. When sent against the other
	baronies, they will conquer land for you, and take control of
	your enemy's castles so you can put them for your own use. It
	takes 10 gold to train a knight, and 10 peasants to provide his
	retinue. Knights do not take part in defence against enemy
	attacks. Ten knights are equivalent to a castle; one knight is
	equivalent to ten footmen in combat.

	Footmen are a versatile force that you can use for attack or
	defence. When kept at home, 100 of them will be equivalent to a
	castle. When sent abroad, they will conquer land, raze enemy
	castles to the ground and carry home the spoils as loot in
	gold. It takes 1 peasant to provide a footman and 1 gold to
	equip hom.  10 footmen are equivalent to a knight in battle.

	Below all these hard numbers is a more graphical representation
	of the barony. The terrain on the horizon is different for each
	barony, to help you recognise them at sight. The capital city
	centred on the horizon varies in size according to the barony's
	position in the ranking. The various icons in the foreground are
	a rough representation of the economic and military state of the
	barony: windmills, trees and fields represent land; villages,
	towns and cities represent the peasants; markets of lesser or
	greater size reflect the gold. Castles, knights and footmen have
	their representation in the landscape too.

	At the bottom of the Barony View is a menu. When viewing your
	own barony, the options are Report, Spend, Previous, Next, Done.

	Report shows you the results of the previous turn's actions. In
	January there will be nothing to report, but in later months you
	will want to check this at the start of your turn to see how
	your attacks went, or if anyone else attacked you.

	Spend allows you to use your resources (gold and peasants) to
	recruit military units. This is what you use to build castles,
	train knights and draft footmen. Spending is discussed in more
	detail later.

	Next and Previous allow you to page through the other baronies
	to see how they are doing, and to select an enemy to attack.

	When you are looking at barony other than your own, the Report
	and Spend options are absent but you see an Attack option
	instead. This allows you to send knights and footmen against the
	barony you are viewing.

	Done ends the turn; in a multiplayer game it returns to the Main
	Menu for someone else to take their turn. In a single player
	game it goes straight to the Turn Processing view.


Spending Your Resources

	When you choose the Spend option from your own Barony View, you
	are taken to another screen showing a table of military units:
	castles, knights and footmen. Here you can order new units to
	join your military in the next turn. The cursor begins by
	highlighting castles, but you can move it up and down with the
	cursor keys to select other units, or the Done option when you
	are finished.

	The table shows how many peasants and/or footmen it takes for
	each unit, and also shows the maximum number that you can
	currently afford. These maximums are updated in real time; when
	you start to order castles, that leaves less gold for training
	knights and fewer peasants from which to draft footmen. The
	final column shows how many of each unit you are ordering; you
	can type the numbers or use the left and right cursor keys to
	increase and decrease the values.

	When you are finished ordering units, moving the cursor down to
	the Done option and pressing SPACE will return to the barony
	view.

	A word of warning: do not spend all your gold and draft all of
	your peasants in the same turn. If you do, you will have no gold
	left to pay for military units, and no peasants left to raise
	any more gold in tax. If you cannot afford to pay your new
	units, they will desert before you get to use them!


Attacking the Enemy

	When you choose to attack an enemy, you will see a table of
	military units. Here you can select the number of knights and
	footmen to send against this enemy. The table shows you the
	maximum in each case. The final column shows the number you are
	actually sending, and a cursor allows you to move up and down to
	select knights, footmen or the Done option.

	To increase the number of knights or footmen you are attacking
	with, you can type the numbers or use the left and right cursor
	keys to increase and decrease the values. There are a few
	reasons why you might not want to send the maximum forces on an
	attack; firstly, you can attack more than one barony per turn,
	so you will keep some forces back to attack someone
	else. Secondly, you might keep some forces back to guarantee you
	have more to send next month. Thirdly, you might want to keep
	footmen back for defence against enemy attack.

	After deciding how many knights and footmen to send against the
	current enemy, selecting the Done option will return to the
	Barony View.


Viewing Reports

	From February onwards you will want to consult the Reports
	option to see the results of any attacks you launched the
	previous month, as well as any news of attacks sent against
	you. You will also want to see confirmation of the delivery of
	units you ordered the previous turn, and also news of population
	migration and tax income.

	The reports view will present you reports on each of these, one
	at a time for easy digestion of the information. SPACE will
	advance through each report, after which the game will return to
	the Barony View. The month's reports can be requested as many
	times as you wish during your turn.


Ending the Turn

	When all players have issued their orders, turn turn ends. The
	players will issue their orders, and then the turn will be
	processed. It might be useful to discuss now the order in which
	the various actions will happen.

	First, gold and peasants required for the recruitments of the
	units the players ordered will be taken from the baronies. The
	units will not be delivered at this stage.

	Then all the attacks will be conducted, simultaneously. This
	ensures that no player will be favoured or disadvantaged by
	their order in the barony list. Reports will be generated for
	all affected players to tell them how the battles went.

	Then the peasants not drafted into the garrisons and armies will
	pay their taxes into the treasury. After the taxes are paid, new
	peasants will arrive, or peasants will flee if the barony cannot
	support them.

	Then, military paid for earlier in the turn sequence will be
	delivered. The payment and delivery are separated like this in
	order that the peasants and gold required are not taken by the
	turn's battles, and that the units ordered do not take part in
	those battles. This helps to keep things somewhat
	predictable---especially in telling the players what units they
	should be able to afford for the next turn.

	Finally, the upkeep of the military units is paid for, if
	possible, with desertion resulting if there are not the funds to
	pay them. This turn sequence tends to be very quick, so an
	artificial delay is introduced to allow players to read the
	"Processing turn..." message before it disappears.

	If the turn being processed is December's turn, then the game
	passes to the End Game view where the players can see the final
	rankings. Otherwise, multiplayer games will return to the Main
	Menu while single-player games will return to the Barony View
	ready for the player's next turn.


The End Game View

	After December's turn is complete, players will see the final
	ranking. The baronies' shields are lined up vertically on the
	screen, with the winner at the top and the other baronies below
	in order of their ranking. A cursor highlights the last barony
	viewed, and can be moved with the cursor keys. Pressing SPACE
	will give a final view of the selected barony.

	If viewing a human-controlled barony, a menu gives the option of
	viewing that barony's final Report. This allows players to see a
	detailed account of what happened on their last turn, if they
	wish. When viewing a computer-controlled barony, pressing SPACE
	returns the the End Game View.


A Complete List of Controls

	The Anarchic Kingdom is completely controlled from the
	keyboard. While the manual has explained the key controls needed
	as it went along, there are some alternatives. Please note that,
	apart from requiring the Esc key to leave the program, the game
	can be played entirely with the directional controls and SPACE
	for fire.

	Esc: the final screen tells you explicitly that you can use Esc
	to quit there. But the key works anywhere in the game, so if you
	need to abort a game you can do so without resetting your
	cmputer.

	1..8: in all screens that present a list of baronies, you can
	press this key to go to the relevant barony. The cursor will
	move there and the barony will be activated as if you had also
	pressed SPACE. Note that on the End Game screen, the keys do not
	correspond to the final rankings (because there can be two or
	more baronies jointly achieving the same position). The keys
	always refer to the baronies in the order they appear on the
	Start Game screen, i.e.

	1: Beaumont	2: Cavendish	3: De la Pole	4: De Vere
	5: Howard	6: Neville	7: Percy 	8: Villiers

	Letters: options in a menu at the bottom of the screen can be
	selected by pressing their initial letter, instead of navigating
	to them with the cursor keys and pressing SPACE. Some options on
	the main screen (e.g. End turn) have letters highlighted to
	indicate you can use that letter to access that option.

	ENTER: in nearly all cases the ENTER key can be used as an
	alternative to SPACE. This includes prompts that say "press
	SPACE to continue." This makes it easier on some keyboards to
	navigate the game using the directional keys alone. On tabular
	screens where a value is being typed, ENTER will move down to
	the following row.


Some Tips on Strategy

	The Anarchic Kingdom, as its name suggests, is a chaotic
	game. Players can plan their activities with care, but long-term
	planning is a waste of time because the state of the game can
	change so quickly. Instead, there is a strategy of "weathering
	the storm," reacting to events in such a way as to improve
	one's position as much as possible from one turn to the next.

	Players should make at least one attack every turn. No number of
	castles can prevent land being taken from you, they can only
	reduce the amount of land taken by a given attack. So in
	addition to defending, players should be making attacks in order
	to reclaim any land taken from them in the same turn as well as
	improving their own position. A barony that tries a purely
	defensive strategy will end up in a disastrous last place at the
	end of the game.

	As mentioned in the section on Spending, it is not a good idea
	to recruit all your peasants and spend all of your gold on the
	same turn. This not only empties your coffers but also prevents
	you from refilling them in the next turn, leaving you with no
	gold to pay your military. So you must always leave something in
	your war chest, or leave some peasants to raise more gold.


Advertisement

	For more news on Anarchic Kingdom, and other interesting games
	by Cyningstan, please visit the web site:

	http://dos.cyningstan.org.uk/

