Jugashvili

No it hasn't. The only two casual, real-time Napoleonic games I can think of off the top of my head are Napoleon Total War (which was bad) and Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars, which is really old and had a lot of issues. Other than that there are only turn-based games and obscure, grognard-y niche products (I'm looking at you, Histwar and SoW). Considering the relevance and impact of the Napoleonic Wars (not to mention the wealth of fascinating campaigns and battles) it's amazing that there are so few Napoleonic games out there, and I think Ultimate General could be the first series to do it justice in an accessible and enjoyable manner.

I've been reading and enjoying your contributions to this forum for some time now and it just hit me that I never really got down to thanking you for everything I've learned from your posts. Thanks, Dave, and here's hoping you continue to bless us with your knowledge and common sense!

The balance does feel a bit off, it kind of reminds me of vanilla UGG. I played a few MP games as Reb and as Union and I definitely had a much easier time as Reb, if only for the ability to ravage the opposition with charges, especially as the artillery nerf has greatly reduced the "stopping power" of Union firepower. Maybe it's a question of adapting tactics, but the deck seems to be a bit stacked against the Union player as things stand. One other thing I don't like is the fact that brigades fight on despite ludicrous levels of casualties (80%?). I get that this might have been done to give brigades more "shelf life" in the SP campaign, but it feels really weird in MP.

You just need to "git gud", as they say in gaming parlance. Sticking with the underpowered side will force you to hone your skills, whereas playing the "easy" side will make you become lazy and complacent. When the game first came out, Union sucked, and I mean sucked big time -- they were useless at everything but running away. You couldn't fire in melee, so as soon as the Rebs touched your brigades you could kiss them good bye. And although their arty was good, no limbering severely limited their usefulness. Playing Union was a big game of pressing the Fall Back button, but it was also a ruthless school of UG:G that instilled sound playing principles through tough love. Then a couple patches later, Reb became underpowered. Melee was useless and only made you lose condition. An entire generation of players who had built their success on Column Charges (drawing a long line in the general direction of the enemy and pressing the Run button) massively switched to Union. Most openings in MP games were for Reb then, but it was still viable. The latest patch is the best attempt at balance I've seen so far. Both sides have their strengths and are quite viable. Reb firepower is better, their arty isn't useless, and properly timed charges can be successful; Union morale is better, their firepower is still devastating, but they can hold out in melee long enough to drive back the Rebs if needed. tl;dr: l2p

The game does make a difference between green and crack troops, green troops being one-star brigades and crack troops being three-star brigades. The CSA gets many more 3-star brigades that have better numbers than the Union 3-stars which, apart from the Iron Brigade and Vincent, are usually under 1000 men strong. CSA also gets many more 2-star brigades. These brigades are much more resilient and recover morale and condition much faster than your average Union brigade, which keeps them in the fight longer and provides them with better mobility (ability to run over longer distances with less penalties). Union troops are less mobile and much weaker on the offensive, so as long as you put them in a position in which they must attack (e.g. retaking victory points) you will have the advantage. Key to winning as CSA: - Seize the high ground before the Union does, or dislodge them from it before they have the chance to fortify. Exhaust your troops if necessary for this purpose. - Once you have captured the high ground, sit back and watch as Union troops make futile attempts to retake it. - ??? - Profit!

Feels... different, and not necessarily in a bad way. I guess it's all about getting used to the new balance. I played a game of Devil's Den against a good Reb player; he beat me, but it was a close-run thing. Union still is Union, with its tendency to collapse when low on condition (III and V Corps are quite prone to this with the exception of a few outstanding brigades) and condition seems to run out much faster with movement than in the last patch. Large general radiuses do seem to make boosting troops easier. The Confederate player relied on firepower, keeping up constant pressure and keeping his arty close behind his troops, with occasional demonstrations and attempted charges. All in all, Union troops that did get caught in melee seemed to perform slightly better rather than crumpling up like a paper bag, which hepled prevent the mass killing scenarios that were common pre-patch and that could take place due to a slight lapse in your micro. The reinforcements from Henry "Slow Come" Slocum (XII Corps) seem to arrive a little earlier, which allows them to influence the battle, and it is actually possible to take Big Round Top as Union. Other than that, a few observations: - Confederate arty seems to be less underpowered - Cover is less effective against arty - Solid shot is quite deadly - Confederate arty is more effective in its role of supporting attacks - Union troops seem to have more of a chance when fighting in cover - Union troops are less vulnerable in melee insofar as they will not practically run on contact

1.11 Feels great. Playing Confederates feels less easy, Union seems to have more of a chance in multiplayer. Spamming the fall back button is still necessary to make Union work but I've been surprised to see the boys in blue actually repel a couple of charges, either due to a slight morale buff or the new fire in melee feature, which is a refreshing change. Limbers dramatically improve the usefulness of arty.

Great! So... how would one get an invite to the closed beta?