Fencible

I've found the game to be well balanced in that I have been equally successful fighting on either side. So far I've fought the 'balanced' AI. Plenty more types to experiment with. For Lannes - I think you do an injustice to the Prussians when you credit their victory in 1870 to their Krupp guns, only. They out-generalled the stodgy French commanders with fresh thinking and by taking advantage of the new-fangled railway train to move their troops about quickly. And while Napoleon was undoubtedly the most spectacular European general since Julius Caesar, both John Churchill (Marlborough), and Wellington went undefeated through their careers, which were admittedly less extensive than old Boney's.

Ultimate General: Gettysburg runs beautifully well on my macbook pro - much better, in fact, than the PC version on my older MS 8.1 gaming PC. Whereas I'm still seeing frequent long 'freezes' on my PC, the mac version runs as smooth as silk, with no observable glitches! When you consider that this is the very first pre-release of this game for the mac, it is doubly impressive that it appears to have NO BUGS! How does he do it? Thanks once again, and congratulations to the magnificent Darth! Fencible

All fine ideas. May I say that a zoomable real-time approach similar to the Hegemony Rome system, but with Darth's incredible battle mechanics and AI, might be ideal for expressing operational level campaigns. Creating the map might be a nightmare, since battles could take place anywhere in the operational theatre, but imagine refighting the whole Gettysburg campaign, hunting for the enemy army with your cavalry scouts while guarding your supply lines and inter corps communications in the vast American landscapes with a game that is zoomable from paper map down to battlefield - perhaps with a corresponding time scale zoom. That would be my ideal. Now supply lines, cavalry screening and scouting, and communications would really mean something.

3rd option for me. When my son comes home for a visit he likes to bliss out on my game machine. He doesn't play games at any other time and does not have a game machine of his own (much more disciplined than his dad) - SO I'd like him to have the freedom to play his own campaign without me having to give up one that I am currently playing.

Hello, Question for Ultimate General: Gettysburg: Is there an option to choose various game speeds (slower - faster, etc)? With very large engagements I like to choose slower movement so that I can keep up with events more easily. If troop movements are to scale with real life (that is real-life speeds), I prefer that, rather than to have accelerated speeds set to accommodate shorter game times. Thanks, Fencible

Delighted to see the first AARs and utterly impressed and dazzled by the whole concept - artwork, scaling, map(!!!), and most of all, the amazing AI!!! Down the road in future, is there a thought to 'zooming out' the game to allow operational modes to support theatre-scale operations (I'm thinking here of something like Napoleon's early Italian campaign, or Jackson's Shenandoah Valley campaign)? Your developing battle system seems to invite this. Maps, of course, could not be so detailed in battle scale, due to the size of an operational theatre. Operational modes would emphasize need for scouting and screening (highlighting the most important roles of light cavalry), manoeuvre, supply/logistics, troop dispersion and concentration. Communication between commanders via courier would take time. Bringing the enemy to battle while simply maintaining and army in the field was, in itself, one of the most demanding skills for an army commander. If anyone could make this work, it would be Darth! Fencible

Agree with #7. Reminds me of the battle illustration maps used in Civil War centenary series of National Geographic in the 1960s that fascinated me as a child. Will resonate with many.

I want it! Now! Will there be scope for campaigns, and perhaps a higher scale operational (that is, pre-battle manoeuvring) scale? Fencible

This map style is just right for me - it is beautiful and inviting. Keep up the great design work! Fencible