Launch bar

The Devil's Cauldron

The Launch Bar Buttons
Once you have a game up and running, the first thing you notice is a launch bar filled with buttons accross the top of the screen:

Undo The Undo button will undo the previous move you have made, or the previous move you are playing from a log file. CAUTION Pulling Activation chits from the coffee mug and Flak units from the flak stacks do not Undo properly. Best to avoid this.

Step The step button is active when you have opened a Log File. Each click of the Step button will replay the next move in the Log File.

VASSAL Server The Server button opens up the VASSAL online server dialog to access online play against your opponent in real time. See the 'User Guide' under the VASSAL Help menu for more details on how to use this feature.

Game Pieces Opens up the main Cauldron Game Pieces palette. Normally, you will not have to use the Game Piece palette. All of the counters you need to play a scenario will be available either by dragging them from the Scenario Card, or by creating them by a counter menu command. Sometimes, the counter you need will not be available and you will need to drag it from the Game Piece palette. Every counter in the module is available through a logical series of tabbed and pull-down menus. All Units are available from the Units tab, broken down by Army, Division, Formation. The Markers tab contains the non-Unit counters. The options available in the pull-down menu gice you access to:
 * Common - The most common markers you are likely to need.
 * Markers - Useful markers that can be labelled and used to mark places on the map. These markers can also be made Invisible to allow you to make your own annotations on the map. Your opponent cannot see your Invisible markers. NOTE: These markers do not stack with other counters and you must hold the Shift key down when clicking on them to select them.
 * General - All the other markers available in the game (e.g. Step Loss, Supression).
 * Bridges - All of the Bridge counters.
 * Activation Chits - All of the Activation Chits used in the Activation window.
 * Command & Dispatch Markers - All of the markers used in the Command window.

Die Roller Click the button or press the F1 key to get a roll of the die from 0 to 9.

Reference Charts All of the Reference Charts you will need for the game.

Scenario, Private and Hidden Notes The notes window contains Tabs to display three sets of editable Notes that are saved in the log file - Public, Private and Delayed. Public notes are visible to both opponents. These will normally have been filled in with Scenario specific information such as Special Rules and Victory Conditions. Any changes you make to the Public notes will be visible to your opponent. Private notes are visible only to yourself. Anything you type in here will not be visible to your opponent. Delayed notes provide the facility to record a secret note (for example the location of a hidden unit) and then to later reveal this note to your opponent. Your opponent will be able to see that a note is there, but cannot view the text of the note until you reveal it.

Activation Track The Activation window has spaces for manipulating all of the Activation Chits within the game. The Activation Chits you need to start a scenario will aready be loaded, with the first chit in the 'current AM' box. Activation Chits that arrive with reinforcements can be found on the Scenario card stacked near the reinforcement units. The other sections of the track are used for: Individual Chits have right-click menus with useful commands to help move them around: In general, you will not need to use the Flip command. Chits are automagically flipped for you when you move them into the mug, or onto the board.
 * Coffee Mug - A shuffled Deck of chits. Pull an activation chit from the top of the pile and place it in the Current box. The Chits in the Coffee Mug are reshuffled each time you pull a chit out, so it does not matter what order you place Chits into the Mug.
 * Current - A place to put the current Activation Chit.
 * Used AM's - Somehwere to store the Used Activation Chits during a turn.
 * Purchased - A place to put the Formation chits that you have purchased for next turn.
 * Available - A place to keep the Formation chits you have available, but are not using this turn.
 * Refill Mug Button - The refill button refills the coffee cup from the Used AM's. The two Direct Command chits and any Division Chits in the Used area will be place back into the coffee cup. Any Formation Chits in the Used AM area are moved to the Available squares. The Refill button does not move chits from the Purchased squares into the Coffee Mug, you have to do this yourself.

Turn Counter Display the turn counter. Use the + and - buttons to adjust the current turn and have it reported in the chat window. Right-click on the counter to change the font size on the counter, or to directly set the counter to a specific turn.

Command & Dispatch Points Track Keeps track of the current number of Command and Dispatch points available to each Division.

Scenario Card The Scenario card contains all of the units you will need to play a selected scenario. Refer to Scenario notes for full details. Just drag units from the Scenario card onto the main map.

I See Dead People Display the Graveyard map. You do not delete eliminated units in The Devil's Cauldron. When a unit is eliminated, select the Graveyard command on the unit to send the unit to the Graveyard window.

Screen Shot Take a screenshot of the current screen and save it to a file.

Map Overview Show an overview of the entire map with a rectangle indicating the current viewing area. Click on the overview map to move the viewing area.

Line of Sight Thread Click this button, then click and drag to draw a Line of Sight thread on the map. Use in conjunction with the Hide Pieces button to see the terrain clearly.

Zoom In and Out The map has 5 zoom levels, use these buttons to change the magnification.

Hide Pieces Temporarily hide all the pieces on the map so that you can see the terrain underneath. Click it again to bring the pieces back.

Deactivate All Remove the Activation Marker from all units.

Mark all Pieces as Not Moved This button will remove the 'moved' marker from all pieces on the map.