Earthane

Hi Adishee, Thank you for the fast response and for covering some issues point by point. It all makes sense in relationship to what you are seeking to achieve, so it is much appreciated. Glad that some of the feedback has helped you in some small way. Keep up the good work. Earthane

Hi Adishee, I hope all is going well for you. Just to help you with a few issues some players might be having you might find some of my experiments and experience helpful. CSV files on Mac Mac users can obtain a simple piece of software called "Easy CSV Editor". For a very small fee this allows them to change the CSV files in the mod with much greater ease as the Mac has a number of safety features over CSV files. Smoke I have tried a number of options with smoke and have found that the best way to handle it is to keep smoke switched on but instead go to "Expand Smoke" in the historic mod and change it from its current number to 0. This will stop the entire board filling with smoke and if my old Mac Mini can handle it, I am sure many other machines will too. This allows for a small amount of drifting smoke for the firing plumes. It still looks rather nice and it does drift across the battlefield, but will not distract game play like the smoke demonstrated by Gimli. Mod Experience So far I have tried it on BG and MG to Shiloh and really like the feel and pace of the mod. The AI appears much better than normal and appears to probe and interdict better. I actually lost both of my supply wagons at the 1st Bull Run in BG and this was a first, so it was fabulous to witness. Timing has changed too and this gives battles a very different feel. By the time I reached Shiloh I found that my entire playing style had changed. I also found that in the right situation my smoothbores were superior to my rifles because they appear to have much more punch against units in woods and buildings now, so this was very welcomed surprise as I use them for my assault regiments. Likewise I found opposing regiments, probably equipped with precisions muskets too, so much harder to combat with standard 65 or 60 melee rifles. Again this was a welcome surprise. For the first time ever, I even faced problems with running out of troops. Granted I never opted for political in a career choice, but even on Legendary this has never been an issue for me before. So I really like the way the challenges tend to conceal themselves from the players and only slowly creep up over time. This makes the career decisions all the more important. Really like some of the new perks, specially for skirmishers, but I am not too sure everything works quite right just yet, especially spotting modifiers. However you will know more about this as I can only go on observation and experience. For, instance as Confederate, the 1st Bull Run I placed my skirmish unit that had the 100% probe bonus to guard the ford. They could not spot three batteries firing at them at close range just across the river. It has often been a spotting weak point in the game, but I thought the bonus might be enough to give them some better view. The ragtag 30 survivors from a 150 skirmish company stood their ground well, but if they were alive I am sure they would welcome me sharing this with you. I do think you have done the right thing by stopping units from recruiting new experienced troops even if some players might not understand that regiments were rarely reinforced. It is the way I will continue to play even if you change it to meet the requests of other players as it really evens the game up against the AI. Issues for Consideration I never like criticising other people especially when they offer things for others for no personal reward. I prefer to encourage positive behaviour instead, but I offer two following things for your consideration. Brigades could have eight infantry regiments even if the set standard was four plus attached support. I do not know how or if organisation changes within your mod as I have not been able to take it as high as ten, but it might be worth considering raising the number if this is not the case. As you are not doubt aware the fallen in the field appear to be in vanilla scale. It is just cosmetic, but if it is possible to alter this it will offer your mod a more polished visual appearance. As always thanks for all your hard work. Those of us that cannot mod, even if we can modify rulesets, are thankful for those that mod and share their work for others to enjoy. It really is quite an amazing mod and it is a joy to play even though it is still in beta. Earthane

You are very welcome Adishee. I played this scenario of your mod a few times before working it out. It is not the same in vanilla or the J&P mod if I recall, but it is not an issue providing you know about it because they are best charged once they are weak or broken anyway. The difficulty is the batteries are very small, so by the time players might have spent a while shooting the troops on the walls the collateral damage can take the batteries down to two or three guns in BG mode, which is what I am using on my first test. So by the time a player orders regiments to enter the fort, one shot could result in a fracture and a failure. This is why I order all brigades to stop firing, fix bayonets and do a full charge on both batteries once they enter what should be a clear fort. It works quite well for me on a Mac, but it might be different on Windows.

In relationship to the Potomac Fort battle, it is possible to defeat the artillery. In order to do so one has to defeat both batteries through melee, or if you prefer, hand-to-hand combat. So switch the automatic firing off your close regiments to prevent them shooting them by mistake, fix bayonets and charge them. Do this and it will register them with a green tick and grant you victory. If you shoot them, even if they break and fracture, they will not award you with a green tick. Hope this might some other users here that are trying the Confederates and getting stuck on this small glitch.

Hi Adishee, Thank you so much for your kind and informative response. I will go and turn the SmokeEffectsSwitch from true to false and hopefully this will allow me to enjoy the campaign without the flickering until I am able to obtain a new machine and enjoy your mod the way you fully intended with the smoke. It might be worth considered two releases to allow people with machines that would have comfortably ran UGCW when it first came out as that might open your mod up for more potential users. Old machines that can run UGCW will comfortable run the J&P mod, but like I said, there appears to be an issue with the last UGCW patch that your mod avoids. This is why I also find your mod so pleasing to use. There is no lag or, as we Mac users tend to say, "multicoloured pizza wheel of death" that emerges from time to time. Just a little flicker that is clearly smoke related. More troops, better matching, better pace and better performance - bonus! Thanks once again. Earthane

Hi Adishee, Like CajunNavy, I really like the pace of the game with this mod. In fact it reminds me more of John Hills regimental miniatures game Johnny Reb when playing large battles now. If you have never played it take a look at it because you might get a number of good ideas from it. This is the way the game should have been designed right from the start in all truth - regiments rather than brigades. I also like the way you make the irregular regiments lose their command and control during movement, particularly true with cavalry, a fantastic thing to witness because it stops the game being controlled by mouse jockeys. I also like the fact that units now move by column as it really used to annoy me to find different units marching along a road, some in column and others in line. The reduced sprite size also gives the game a much better feel of scale. I feel like I playing with 6mm now rather than 15mm figures, so I can see exactly what you were seeking to strive for here. This is the way I like to play and very few can capture this. So well done as the mod is looking very promising and I am delighted to see where it is going. The only thing I am finding is that while the game now runs much smoother than it did after the last vanilla patch and the J&P mod, I am facing some flicker issues with all the blanket smoke. It can handle everything else but the additional smoke. While I am on a Mac at this time, I will be picking up a meaty PC to handle it, but with emigrating to a new country this year and the Covid-19 issue, it might be a little longer than I would hoped. As the electric voltage differs between the countries buying a new machine would just be a waste. So I was wondering if there is anyway to switch the historical smoke off so it will run on older machines? I have tried to alter a few things in the rebalance historic spreadsheet, but as I have no real idea what I am actually doing, I felt it wiser to ask here just incase it is possible to do. All good things, stay safe, understand Rome was not built in a day, no one lives on the Game-Labs forum and the best things in life are always done in partnership with others. So I will catch your response in good time as there is no rush this end. Earthane