Panzer IV Ausf A

Screen shots: Database Editor Utility

The Main Menu, going to the Vehicle Data Menu, which in turn leads to the Nation List. I've already added a bunch of nations to the five included in the original Yaquinto boardgames, although I haven't added many units for the new nations yet.


The Russian vehicle list. Currently I have 62 Russian vehicles keyed into the database, more than three times the number in the original boardgames. Entering a new vehicle type takes about 15 to 30 minutes, plus the time needed to research the information. If it's very similar to a vehicle type already in the database, you can clone the original and just change the few appropriate details, which only takes a few minutes.


The main screen showing a vehicle unit's information, in this case the Russian T-35.


The gun information for ranges 1 through 20. On these tables, 1 inch (or hex or square or centimeter) equals 50 meters. In the main program setup you'll be able to select any ground scale, and the program will calculate the approriate distances in inches or centimeters.
Move down to the line that says "Display/Edit Next Range Band (21-40)" and you get...


... ranges 21 through 40. Hit it again and you get ranges 41 through 60.


There is so much information in the Armor section (AB or Armor Basis, and HT or To-Hit Percentage) that I couldn't get it to all fit on one screen. I had to break it down to four separate screens, which you select here.


The HT number is your percentage to hit that spot, so all the HT numbers together form the Hit Location Table when this vehicle is the target. The AB (Armor Basis) number is the armor thickness in millimeters, adjusted for angle, divided by five.


More HT and AB stuff.


Still more HT and AB stuff.


The last of the HT/AB screens.


The anti-tank gun unit edit/display screen. Like the vehicle edit/display screen, you hit the "next" line to see range bands 21-40 and 41-60, and there's another screen for defence numbers based on terrain.


The infantry unit edit/display screen. All infantry has the same numbers for defence based on terrain, so that's stored in a separate file.


The aircraft unit edit/display screen. Since this game is focused on tank stuff, aircraft appear mainly as "artillery that you might be able to shoot down."


The object unit edit/display screen. "Objects" in this game means artillery, bunkers, ditches, and pretty much anything else that isn't a vehicle, anti-tank gun, infantry unit, or aircraft.


The Byte-U-Lator.
The Byte-U-Lator is a simple, crude byte editor that I developed for one of my earlier computer-assist wargame projects. Since many of my projects have similar file formats, one main version of the Byte-U-Lator can be used to edit data from a whole slew of my projects, and it's fairly easy and straight-forward to modify the Byte-U-Lator to handle a specific case. It's particularly handy for the early stages of project development before I've had a chance to finish a fully-fleshed-out data editor.
Panzer IV Ausf A has its specific Byte-U-Lator built into the Database Editor program. It's handy for cloning unit types and re-ordering lists.