Mr. Mercanto

I get what you mean, but there a quite a ton of major Civil War battles :P. I'm not sure that would be reasonable lol. I think it would be more fair if there were more clear Union victories included here. As I said before, its all either near victories (Antietam, Gettybsurg) or clear defeats. We do get Malvern Hill, but our fortifications are painfully underpowered :P. Where's Franklin, Nashville, Missionary Ridge, Saylor's Creek, 3rd Petersburg? Et cetera. My Union blue is showing ;P

I guess I'm a mediocre tactician :P. Held until the 3rd, then counterattacked what little was left.

Damn! I thought I had to capture it then. Realistically, Hooker never intended to attack in the battle so I shouldn't have to take it all...but I know changes are made for gameplay reasons.

Do you have to capture the Orange Plank Road and the Turnpike, or can you just defend? I found the defence easy but I took a drubbing trying to organise a counter attack on the 2nd day

Ah! Was this before or after the last patch? I don't recall that hill (the Telegraph Road) being available for attack until after Mayre's Heights in the original version we got. Or am I missing something? Wonderful to hear! Guezlo is an extraordinary scholar, and his lectures are highly profitable, especially those on President Lincoln! If you'd like some more recommendations, just let me know :).

I found Fredricksburg much harder then Antietam. Even when I flanked the rebs they barely took any damage. I mean I still won, but it was a mess.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of this. Fortifications need to be stronger, and while I'm glad that natural cover has been nerfed. its been to nerfed. This is with the exception of Fredricksburg, wherein the fortifications are far to strong. At Stones river, the only advantage the Federals seem have on the first day are the woods, which are almost useless now. On the second day, the Federals are forced to use the fortifications which are practically a death sentence for the brigade posted there. While the brigade enjoys nominal cover, it is nowhere near sufficient to contend with the three or four opposing brigades it will inevitably has to fight. I've actually found that, except where I am forced to, I avoid using fortifications. The cover is to weak, and it leaves the brigade exposed to enemy fire, withering it away. I would love to see this problem ameliorated.

I found Stones River to be rather insanely difficult. It seemed like the Confederates were universally armed with three star brigades, and playing on Colonel difficulty I barely scraped by. Don't know how I'm going to fight Chancellorsville lol

The Spencer was actually a far better combat rifle then the Henry . The Henry's tubular system was very exposed and prone to jaming and malfunction. The firearms parts wore out easily, and while the rifle held twice as many rounds as the Spencer, it was more difficult to load. The Spencer's internal butt stock magazine allowed for easier reloading, and a magazine that was ensconced from environmental damage. Just wanted to spread some Spencer love since the Henry is getting so much attention .

This is probably the nerdiest request possible, but could someone fix the portraits in "camp"? A good deal of the general's portraits look nothing like them, and the a fair number of the rifles are presented with an incorrect portrait (such as the P1853 Enfield). Because the devs clearly don't have enough to do, you know?

Different factors really. For what its worth, The Wilderness did have lots of movement, it was just hard to co-ordinate. Key portions of the Chancellorsville battle were fought in clearings. Also, at Chancellorsville, the command was fractured, which led to a Federal withdrawal (long story lol). At Chancellorsville, Lee wanted to launch a series of vital knockout blows at federal weak points while the Federals were seperated. He then wanted to convert this to an all out attack. At the Wilderness, he wished to attack them in thick of the forest in order to use the environment to mitigate his lower numbers.

Agreed, while the Wilderness did have some tactical movements, it was very much a "soldier's battle." Would kind of suck for this game.

Partly, but despite the thick woods, Jackson's foot cavalry was actually were actually spotted by Federal pickets, and Sickles Corps actually engaged their rear guard at and around Catherine's Furnace. As I recall (and my memory is fuzzy) Sickles believed this was the whole corps, and so, Hooker believed Lee had attacked Sicles, been repusled as planned, and was retreating. Had Sickles been a more able commander, he would have known the danger was far from past. There were many other reasons why Hooker was surprised, and when they initial attack met with such great success. Hooker ordered Howard to entrench, he did not. Hooker ordered the 1st Corps to sidle the army and secure Howard's flank, this order did not reach Reynolds for over a day. Hooker expected Howard to shake out pickets, these pickets were only a few dozen yards ahead of the corps, Howards cavalry detachment did not detach pickets more then a a dozen or so yards either. Finally, Hooker was determined to believe the Rebels were on the retreat, despite their order of march indicating an attack. That being said, Hooker had initially intended to fight a defensive battle. Despite masterful maneouvering, he was denied it by some of the worst luck and worst Corps commander performance of the war (don't get my started on Uncle John Sedgewick in Fredricksburg lol).

Yeah the planned battles are pretty rough for the Union as it is... With the obvious exception of Gettysburg, almost all the battles are near Union wins or outright Confederate victories... Yes, A.P. Hill, WAAAHH!!

The Wilderness and Chancellorsville were actually fought in effectively the same location. In fact, Longstreet was shot by his own men in very nearly the same place Jackson was one year less a day prior! While the events of the fighting were somewhat similar (ie the Confederates essaying an initially successful assault that was eventually halted), the battles are certainly distinct.

It is said that the ravenous hunger of Game Labs can never be sated. May God help us all....

I've never captured any M1861s or Richmond M1862s! I thought they weren't in the game yet or something... Where my muskets at!?

Let's let them finish the base game as promised, first

Have you played Gettysburg 2005? Its ok.

I'd like a button which orders them to keep the enemy in their range, and withdraw as they advance.

Agreed. Or at least, if they only fell back when the enemy advanced, and maintained the enemy in range.

Yeah but those contour lines make me feel all professional and stuff....

Ah! You're mixing up your insignia's! In the United States Army, a Lieutenant-General had three stars, in the Confederate Army, a Colonel had three stars. Hitorishizuka meant a Lt. General, using the Union parlance "3 star general," and, being used to the Confederate forces I presume, you took that to mean Colonel.

As the title suggests, I am wondering if there is a published soundtrack for Ultimate General: Civil War? I absolutely love the music of the game. While there's not enough music to fill a full album, I would love to have what music is here on my iPod! Is there anyway to make that happen?

So I've noticed that in discussions about the game, most people seem to discuss playing as the Confederacy. As a Union re-enactor and as someone who plays as Union forces about 95% of the time, I find myself reminded of Civil War re-enacting where the Confederates usually outnumber us Fake Federals, sometimes by a margin of 2:1. So I'm curious, are there more Confederate players here, or am so used to being outnumbered by Confederates that I just see it everywhere I go? ;P So the question is, who do you usually play as? Union, or Confederate? This doesn't mean all the time (we all go the dark side sometimes ), but I mean usually (I know this is rather vague, think more then 60% of the time, or just which side you feel more familiar using). For bonus points, it might be fun to state why we fight for a certain side in the comments! (let's not get political though, there's already a seven page thread debating the issues around the war, no harm in keeping this thread light ) Thanks for participating!