Theaterwide Biotoxic and Chemical Warfare

Infantry and chemical troops on a six-region front, where an agent released on a region spreads with the wind. Nobody can win: every game ends WINNER: NONE.

Start it

wopr biotoxic

Or log on, type LIST GAMES, and pick number 14 from the list. It also answers to 14, chemical and theaterwide-biotoxic-and-chemical-warfare.

Screenshots

Click or tap a screenshot to see it larger.

The opening: the title art, the rules, and the six-region map, with CHM1 asked for its first order.

After RELEASE 4 the wind turns west. The INDUSTRIAL BELT is at ~~, the RIVER DELTA is at ~, and WOPR’s units sicken.

Turn 3: WOPR released on the FARMLAND, and the wind turned east again. WOPR’s INF2 and CHM1 are destroyed. CONTAMINATED: 4 OF 6 REGIONS.

How to play

There is no winning. The game ends when every region is contaminated, when either side has no units left, or after eight turns. The kill ratios then count the units and civilians each side lost.
Each turn WOPR asks for one order per unit (CHM1 IN FARMLAND:). Then both sides’ orders take effect. Then there is an event card: the wind can turn, or rain can wash some of the agent away. Then the contamination spreads.
You must type RELEASE in full. Only chemical troops (CHM) can release, on a region up to two away. A release raises that region’s contamination by two levels. A region at ~~ or more spreads one region downwind each turn.
DECON cleans the unit’s own region by one level. Units in contaminated ground may lose a step each turn. The map shows each region’s level as ~, ~~ or ~~~ after its name.
Infantry (INF) and chemical troops move one region and attack next door. Name a region by number or by name: MOVE 3, MOVE DELTA, ATTACK 4.

Controls

You type	What it does
`RELEASE 4 or RELEASE INDUSTRIAL`	chemical troops only: put an agent on a region up to two away (type it in full)
`DECON`	clean the unit’s own region by one level
`MOVE 3 or MOVE DELTA`	move to that region, not through the enemy
`ATTACK 4`	attack an enemy next door
`HOLD (or an empty line)`	stay in place
`END (or DONE)`	hold every unit not yet ordered and play the turn
`STATUS (or MAP)`	show the map again
`HELP`	list the orders and the combat results
`Esc, Esc`	leave the game and return to WOPR

Tips for winning

The best move is not to release at all. WOPR releases only after its own half of the front is contaminated. So if you do not release, the ground stays clean unless an event card leaks an agent.
Move units out of contaminated ground. Each turn, a unit there loses a step one time in four for each ~ on its region.
Watch the wind. At first it blows east, toward WOPR. But an event card can turn it west and blow your own agent onto your units.
Civilian losses grow fast. Each turn a region costs its side 1 for ~, 4 for ~~ and 9 for ~~~. DECON the worst region first.

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