RichardMcCor

I've been noticing odd messages coming up during the game. The most recent one is Penders 3 brigades are coming on the chambersburg pike. I see no Pender. I see no chambersberg pike. I think historically both exist but from what I see in the game neither exist or are marked on the map?

Agreed, I love it how my units work out what to do on their own within reason. A great feature for the game. I like it how units the enter map with a specific location in mind don't just stop at the first site of the enemy but fight the battle on the way to their target , then reform and carry on. Great stuff.

I'm frustrated about the commanders as well. Some exist and some do not. Some are mentioned when new troops come in and never appear. Sometimes the text says a division and sometimes 3 brigades. I guess if i had an actual order of battle i could interpret the info but i think for a game i need a little more info to allow us folks with little ACW background to understand it all. Like "here comes Early's division , part of IV corp, consisting of 4 brigades commanded by armistad, X, Y and Z"

Thanks Nick. I tried a custom battle today. Chose to be union and set confeds as Dynamic (top right) - should kick my no kick add I think and pickett will win the day. Chose Historical Picketts charge No clicks at all. I still won by doing nothing at all but with AI at max level. bah! Very disapointing. As i watch it i can see what it does wrong. I'm not sure how to tell you though so you can improve the AI. Its almost like the AI thinks its unit morale is more important than the actual game does. i.e. its just too cautious as it's unit morale seems to be the main factor to the AI in what it does. Once a unit is beaten back the AI seems to ignore it and leave it just sitting there with low moral. Perhaps in theory realistic but not what a human player does and so the AI loses. If a human attacks again with a low morale unit the unit does okay and contributes to the battle. The AI seems to keep fiddling with it's battle line. You can see it with your own forces with no clicks. Watch how your own brigades move about to make room. The AI does that a lot and wastes it's own time to little effect. Perhaps tune the AI to be closer to the games current impact of items like morale. Rich

Tried this again last night with latest patch. Even as cautious in the first a.m. scenario i see Davies going for the VP at oak hill (or is it ridge) whereas before he did not so thats a nice change. I still won as union with no clicks at all. In the p.m. I won a epic victory with no clicks after selecting the 3rd scenario option to defend the south ridge. Game then ended at end of day 1 and no more battle for me. I guess the cautious AI was so scared of my no click strategy it did not want to play anymore.

Got back online today and played my normal no click union game. Got a epic victory at p.m. of day 1 and the game ended. Reproduce like this start game as union with confeds as cautious Dont click anything ends a.m. with minor union victory Start p.m. by selecting defend the south hill (or whatever it says) - option 3 Don't click anything EPIC VICTORY Battle ends at end of day 1 .... and i didn't click a thing I must be a great general :-)

Tried in as Union with Dynamic Confeds. The last scenario of protecting the right flank bought Stuarts Cavalry in for the first time. Great stuff to see them charging across the field. HOWEVER They kept on charging up a hill (can't remember the name) and getting routed by union brigade at top and chargin again and getting routed. Must have tried it 10 times or more. Eventually got very low of men and half moved off the map/half on and just sat their for most of rest of scenario unitl one last brigade of Cavalry came into play and then they move again a little but did not attack. What a shame as it was on Dynamic I guess.

When new troops / arty arrive I am asked a question - like should we deploy at seminary or culps (or whatever it asks). Why not make it an actual decision that I can answer with a click vs. it just being a comment. I do actually want to make that decision.

1. Add a mini map as each scenario starts to allow you to choose between them. I can never recall which VP element is where and the descriptions alone are not good enough for me.

I played last night as Union again and set Confed AI to next level up. No clicks at all. This time only a minor victory at the very end of the 3 x scenarios but in the defense of the Oak Hill Baxter got routed, lost the VP. Then got routed again and this time moved back through the confed line and up onto the VP spot to hang in their right to the end. The Confed AI did not seem to realize they lost it after gaining it.

option 3 - i see no need to restrict this side of the game. Makes experimenting less time consuming.

I played today against the lowest AI level (confed) as union and took part in 4 scenarios. I did not click anything just watched for fun,I got a major victory overall. Perhaps even the most conservative confed level should eventually try something. In the last scenario picketts troops arrive, line up and just wait. The scenario ends with my union victory and an overall gettysberg victory. I'll some other AI types and sides to see how far i can go and win. Rich P.S. Did anyone try to win by just double clicking on the corps comanders, i.e. no individual unit controls. I used to do that in SMG back 10 years ago.