Mr. Mercanto

I've found if you just reload your autosave you can fix the issue without losing your battle progress.

I've found that if you exit to menu and reload the autosave the magical Rebels lose their invisibility.

The Ghosts of Daniel's Brigade struck me at Oak Ridge on the morning of the second day.

Awesome! The last patch blew me away! I can't believe how well the Johnnies use cover now when they attack me! Its made holding my ground pretty tough! I can't wait to see how much the game changes with the next patch!

Very cool! Will any of these features be coming to the PC versions?

Looking forward to the patch! I'm not sure if this is the right place to repost but I ran into a serious bug and wanted to make sure it was in the right place. So I thought a Christmas round of UGG was in order and was engaged in an excellent fight for Oak Ridge when suddenly Perrin moved his brigade forward. Naturally I turned my guns to Perrin only to find my troops would not fire. Even right beside Perrin's brigade they would not target Perrin, the same was true of my artillery. Perrin, meanwhile, could target. Finally in confusion and desperation I moved my skirmishers forward as an experiment to see if I could charge. My men would not charge Perrin but instead the men behind him. I assumed at least this would cause my men to hit his brigade. Alas, my men ran straight through the Rebels while Perrin's men continued to fire unabated. Needless to say, I broke my rule of no restarts. Has anyone else encountered these Magical Confederates or their Union Counterparts? Happy Holidays!

So I thought a Christmas round of UGG was in order and was engaged in an excellent fight for Oak Ridge when suddenly Perrin moved his brigade forward. Naturally I turned my guns to Perrin only to find my troops would not fire. Even right beside Perrin's brigade they would not target Perrin, the same was true of my artillery. Perrin, meanwhile, could target. Finally in confusion and desperation I moved my skirmishers forward as an experiment to see if I could charge. My men would not charge Perrin but instead the men behind him. I assumed at least this would cause my men to hit his brigade. Alas, my men ran straight through the Rebels while Perrin's men continued to fire unabated. Needless to say, I broke my rule of no restarts. Has anyone else encountered these Magical Confederates or their Union Counterparts? Happy Holidays! PS. I will be reposting this under the Update forum.

Ever since update V 1.03 I have seen a resumption of freezing. Though not as frequent as it was in 1.02, the game occasionally freezes for brief periods (as if stuttering) and occasionally hard freezes.

I'm experiencing freezing in both regular and alternative render. The recent update made the game practically perfect in regards to gameplay, however the freezing is making the game almost unplayable.

Who knows? It would be neat! I wouldn't count on it though. If Game Labs decides to do a early 20th Century war then the Great War seems the most fruitful, given the centennial.

I haven't tried alternate rendering. I'll try it out.

Mine has frozen three times since hotfix. The latest freeze occurred while I was trying to save i order to avoid losing progress because of freezing.....

Wow! I got a comment like by Nick!

If its any comfort I'm in the other camp. I can win as the Rebels on easy difficulty settings but not on harder ones. As the Union, I can whip the Rebels on any difficulty and I have often been able to defeat the Determined AI with grand offensive counter-attacks on the Second Day (which I'm rather proud of as attacking with the Union is a challenge). I think part of it comes down to how you like to fight. I prefer to fight defensively and counter-punch. This makes it easier for me to fight as the Union because that is what you have to do. Lure your enemy into traps and use the ground against them. If you're more of an offensive fighter and want to control the action directly then just stick with the Rebels. Personally, I'm better at adapting to my opponents tactics I then I am to shaping a battle. What I really like about this game is both approaches, Offensive and Defensive, are difficult in their own way. If you really, really want to win as the Union, remember that Union troops are designed to be less effective in hand to hand combat and will not maintain as high a morale as long. That being said, they are better drilled and armed, so prolonged volley exchanges are to their advantage. Avoid enemy charges except when the enemy must charge uphill. Also, when engaged in firefights, use your superior numbers to flank the enemy. This will force them to either exchange volleys (and lose) or retreat (and lose). If they charge, then throughout their charge they will be under repeated fire by your flanking brigade. This all but guarantees victory. Use interior lines. Do you have three brigades engaging one Rebel brigade? If so, then you are wasting a brigade. Unless they are fighting an exceptionally powerful unit (say the Stonewall Brigade or Armistead's brigade) then at least one can be shifted via your interior lines to a different section. Moving troops efficently between your lines will always allow you to flank the Rebels and make their charges suicide. Artillery. Union artillery is superior to Rebel Artillery. Though it is finicky, the artillery system has improved and can prove vital. In an exchange of volley fire, a level 1 Union brigade can beat a level 2 or even level 3 Rebel brigade if it has artillery support. You will lose batteries but you will win battles. Use the "Hold" button carefully. Do not be afraid to give ground. The "don't give an inch" policy is feckless and mythical. Case-in-point, the 20th Maine Regiment of Volunteers who famously held the left flank of Little Round Top retreated and retook their position on the hill more then seven times (at least according to Chamberlains memoirs). Brigades need to have the freedom to readjust and maneuver. Trust your brigade commanders. They will not give ground unless they have to. For what its worth, I usually score "Decisive" and "Triumphant" victories and I never touch that Hold button. I place my brigades where I want them and have lines of retreat ready. Giving ground also refers to hills and even VPs. Sometimes they are not worth keeping. McPherson Ridge will usually be taken Day 1 and I know at times I've lost Seminary Ridge. In my last campaign, I had to give Seminary Ridge to the Rebels when I was becoming overwhelmed. I lost the ridge but I did not lose a single brigade and the Rebels wrecked their Corps attacking Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill. On the second day of battle I captured Benner's Hill, but on the Third Day the Rebels attacked it with overwhelming force. What did I do? I recognized that to much of strength was on the Left at Cemetary Ridge and redeployed my army off of Benner's Hill, losing it to the Confederates. In that time I also lost Culp's Hill. That being said, because I fought a fighting retreat and prepared a stronger defensive astride Cemetary Hill, the Rebels became so exhausted in their second attack that I was able to retake Benner's Hill and was retaking Culp's Hill when the battle ended. In the process I inflicted a casualty ratio of 2:1 in my favour. This is because I was willing to give ground and retake it. Its like military judeo, use the Rebels' strength against them. Let them become exhausted fighting and charging. Then bring up your reserves, flank them, and drive them back. Otherwise simply get on top of a hill with good cover and flanking brigade and let the Rebels try to shake you off. If they do, fall back into reinforcements and smaller interior lines. This smaller defensive will break the Rebels. Then counter attack. If they don't shake you off then you already won. Hopefully you find something useful in that mess of words lol.

Playing as the Union is tough but remember we do have more men. Part of the game comes down to whether you prefer to fight on the tactical offensive or defensive. Personally, I prefer the tactical defensive. This and my general preference for the Union in the actual Civil War makes the Union the perfect choice for me. If you prefer the tactical offensive and have no interest concerning the actual forces in the war, then you may prefer Confederate. Although the Union forces in this game are a bit unrealistically prone to break, it is true that the Confederates had an elan that the Union Army of the Potomac did not yet posses. The Potomac army had many reasons to lack self-confidence and the Rebel army under Lee had just achieved one of its most impressive victories. That being said, I think for the most part the superiority of Rebel troops in this game is really just for the sake of balancing the game. Otherwise the Rebels would lose by sheer weight of numbers. At the end of the day, The Army of the Potomac received and delivered casualties at an astounding level. My advice on whipping Lee and the Rebels as the Union; bring your superior numbers to bear by intelligent flanking and superior lines. Also, always deploy defensively on hills.

What if artillery only highlights in red enemies that it can actually hit. I can't count the number of times that a unit is highlighted in red by my artillery, and the my arty just refuses to fire. If my arty's view is blocked by a tree or brigade or something, then nothing should light up so I know I need to readjust. Also, the rules on firing lines need consistence. Sometimes, I'll have an artillery unit literally inside a brigade firing at the enemy just fine. Other times, I'll have a brigade 100 yards in front and the arty won't fire. Sometimes, I put arty in trees and they fire, other times they won't. Sometimes I'll put artillery on a clear plateau, this usually works but occasionally, even though nothing's blocking them and they can see everything, they just won't shoot. I think it would help if Game-Labs gave us the criteria under which artillery can be used, and perhaps only highlighted potential artillery targets when said unit can fire. Even better, perhaps Game Labs could employ an icon over the heads of artillery units that are blocked so we know they need to be moved.

I still think a proper custom mode would be perfect for that. Customize you and your opponent armies, select map and play style, make the time limit as long as you want and just practice away.

I played a friend's copy since then and noticed it wasn't so unfair. Seemed a bit harder then before but not at all unfair.

SO yesterday I finished another two campaigns against the Rebels, one on "Offensive" the other on "Cunning." Both resulted in decisive victories with casualties of 3:1 in my favour. I decided to play a new campaign today and suddenly the Rebels were unstoppable. I watched as Archer and Davis took 40% casualties and literally did not waver. Meanwhile, my supposedly Veteran Brigade under Cutler broke under a few volleys from what should have been an exhausted Davis. It took at least two brigades of equal strength to defeat one of their's, and that was only if mine was in cover. I finally lost my patience when I watched the Iron Brigade, on high ground, flanking Archer, with heavy cover, pour enfilade fire into Archer. Archer took 30% casualties and only then began to waver. Then, for no reason, the Iron Brigade broke, despite taking almost no fire or casualties. At another point, the Rebels somehow captured Seminary Ridge while all of their forces were on McPherson's Ridge and my men were deployed on Seminary Ridge. I have since then tried some scenarios as tests. I found that other scenarios played as I would expect them to for the most part. This issue seems to be most prevalent on the first day. Has anyone else noticed anything?

Ever since the new patch (which is otherwise excellent) the game has reported the cumulative battle casualties as the same as the casualties of the Third Day, as opposed to the casualties of the whole battle.

I just wanted to report that I am finding the artillery far more easy to use. I still can't quite seem to work my will on it 100% of the time but I actually am finding myself relying upon and using them rather then seeing the heavy guns as dead weight.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the "Stonewall Brigade" was the only brigade in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had its sobriquet recognized officially by the Rebel government. For that reason I kind of like the fact that only the Stonewall Brigade has its sobriquet in the game.

Yes, 1st Minnesota lost 82% of its effective fighting force saving the Union Center on the Second Day, reducing its number from 262 to 47. The 1st was ordered by Hancock to charge against Wilcox advancing Rebel brigade which had cleared a path through the center of the Ridge. The regiment was annihilated providing Hancock with the time he needed to save the Union center and the Grand Army of the Potomac. Just to clarify.

Awesome! Thanks for this. As I read this I'm starting to wonder if even Wilder's Brigade had Spencers lol

Lol! Yeah I think "Confused" would be a good option for the Rebels . When I determine Lee to be "Offensive" I do so because the attacks had some sound theory but were not adequately carried. Ie the En Echelon attack on Day 2 and the Box Barrage and Oblique attack of Day 3, coupled with the renewed offensive on Culp's Hill and the cavalry attack in the Union rear. I consider these plans to complex for "Reckless" but not well implemented enough for "Determined." As to Meade's relationship to the battle, this is a matter of debate historically. He certainly had the final say in the defensive action. Recently discovered minutes from his council of war after the first night's action actually prove that, although he was tepid, Meade chose to maintain and rectify his position in the face of Lee's army. General Slocum perhaps he;ped provide him with the moral fortitude to do this, but the decision was his, not Slocum's. It is perhaps a truism to say that because Slocum did not command the Army of the Potomac, he was not in a position to order the army to stay, obviously, only Meade could, and did, make that decisions. So, although Reynold's, Hancock, and Buford all played invaluable roles, it was ultimately Meade's defensive decisions and his victory. Bear in mind that after Meade's foolish decision to expel a reporter unfavourably from the army in 1864, the journalists following the AoP determined to no longer give Meade any positive press. This has created a unfairly negative view of Meade as a commander and greatly effected the historiography of the general. The biased press reporting against Meade has given the impression that he was never responsible for his own victories. Meade wasn't perfect, but I have tended to find that most criticism of him being a poor and un-involved commander have more basis in his bad press then battlefield behaviour.