Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 I purchased this game on advice from a friend on or around July 4 and below I articulate some thoughts and feedback developers and testers may find beneficial (or not). I have run through seven or eight 3-day contests. Posts like these tend to be lengthy and might unintentionally take on a critical tone so let me begin by saying that I am very impressed with the game and this forum community. Thank you very much for making this game. The map especially is beautifully detailed and terrain mechanics appear to be really good. It is a great game. Also let me say that I have read many posts here and I wish to say 'thank you' to the many of you who are veterans of the armed services. ---- Let us discuss artillery first: - Reload time is a confusing mechanic . I am unsure why cannon does not discharge upon reaching 100% reload. If the intent is to be realistic in the sense that battery operators must needs clear to a safe distance before discharging ,then I agree that should be involved, however that action should be rolled into the reload time to reach 100% . The reason I mention this seemingly minor item is because many people appear to not trust whether artillery is discharging . The time it is 'stuck" at 100% before discharge is at best annoying, at worst could be a contributing factor to this confusion. - Line of sight for artillery is not so confusing as I believe some represent it to be. I think it is more a function of operator errors in identifying line of sight modifiers like buildings and terrain. I am impressed with the line of sight in the game. Suggestion for other players: Click on the unit you wish to attack and your arty will find its way. LoS was frustrating initially however after a week and a half I think it is quite good and works well. --- Next, the initial confrontation. - There are many posts about the opening scenario delivering a wide variety of opinions and suggestions. Here is mine: Limit the range in which skirmishers are allowed to operate. It seems skirmishers are hugely OP in this opening scrap. Their ability to camp in the southwest, praying on CSA batteries, seems to imbalance the match right from the start. --- Skirmishers - In fact if possible I would remove skirmishers from the game entirely. Skirmishers are part of an infantry brigade not a unit unto themselves. They should be tethered to a parent unit, whether it be the cavalry regiment or brigade, the infantry regiment or brigade, or their commanding officer. --- \ Breastworks & Rifle pits at the cost of condition % - This suggestion posits that, unlike SMG where regiments would build works on their own, the player has the option to instruct brigades to deploy forward rifle pits and/or earthworks. Today, the game does a fair job of approximately placing units where they were last left on the field. In instances where this occurs overnight, surely some kind of works should have been developed. Make it so that player can execute this as a command at the cost of recovering condition %. Also as the battle rages in daylight, again I believe works are viable, and should be built with a corresponding trade-off in recovering condition %. --- Is the game is too easy? - Now, this forum has many intellectual and experienced people on it which is likely not representative of the broader gaming populous however, the true mark of a good game is that even the best players cannot win every time on the top difficulty. Is that the case here? - To be clear on this point I play random every time so I do not know how many times (or if at all) I have played against the top difficulty. --- Fog of War - Fog of war is a little different from line of sight. It seems I can still "see" brigades outside of my line of sight. When I scout this area with a general, will I find a brigade there? If the answer is 'sometimes' I am fine with the mechanic the way it is today. if the answer is 'yes', it must needs be changed. --- Start the battle elsewhere - Provide an option not just for one-off skirmishes, but entire campaigns that start elsewhere on the battlefield. Is this possible? Would it reduce AI predictability? --- Commanders - I got used to the difficulty in identifying Corps commanders and solved for it by assigning them as a group number. However I think it should be easier to identify them by using a mechanic similar to that one witnesses when a unit is losing morale and condition (begins to flash). Have 'em flash a different color or something, and/or have it go from left to right instead of right to left, or whatever. Many good suggestions on the forum. --- Cavalry - Many instances where I have encountered new enemy cavalry or provided some of my own. I am not sure what to say about these units. It looks like a disorganized mess of Dorthraki. Just too many horses! --- Topography - I think it is very close. More shadowing / brightness might help better distinguish low ground from high; adding more elevation figures will certainly help. --- That's all for now again thank you developers and forum community for the opportunity for early access to the game and the opportunity to learn from and interact with you. I look forward to multiplayer when I destroy you all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CmdrMctoast Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Nice post with some interesting topics. I agree that arty at times when at 100% for a period of time bugs me a little bit. I also agree with the line of sight being spot on and also click a target at times to let arty adjust position for attack but have noticed sometimes it will traverse a great distance into trouble if not careful. I like the skirmishers in the game but they may need a bit more tweaking and wouldnt want them removed. Breastworks I would love the option to have at the end of the day before exiting a command to tell a unit to implement this option and have a visible representation of this the next morning and agree with a slight % infraction on the troops. I also wouldnt mind having a unit fallback from battle and start to dig in hoping to accomplish a decent dig in for the next battle sequence. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheIronKing Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Agreed with first post good points! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Swept the Yanks off the field they had 35k casualties to my 20k, i had 56k VP to their 12k. "deadlock" cant see how... Also Artillery still seems to bug out flipping between targets sometimes, indecisive on which to choose. AI is tougher in the new patch, kudos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 July 1 after 1500 I have Seminary south to the ridge and the outskirts of town. Capture Culp's, Cemetery ridge, Cemetery Hill, - all VP pts 'battle delayed' as I had just rushed Culp's and won by using III core elements at rear of hill XII Core arrives to save the day... ... game locks up, irrecoverable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 AI is much more difficult when I play as CSA. Used to be able to steamroll the Yankees, now my old methods are less successful. Which is a good thing. Retreat direction of brigades continues to puzzle me. And these Union cavalry units running behind my lines ripping apart my guns... I just dont see how in the opening phase you are supposed to be able to challenge all victory point locations AND not lose all your guns short of moving all units together, tightly packed. Im willing to admit im missing an obvious counter strategy but am puzzled. Game continues to get better and better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Re: cavalry... Again i think these units are confusing, disorganized, and seem to have an interesting ability to avoid my brigades by running through them. Is this intentional? If yes, I am struggling with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husserl Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 And these Union cavalry units running behind my lines ripping apart my guns... I just dont see how in the opening phase you are supposed to be able to challenge all victory point locations AND not lose all your guns short of moving all units together, tightly packed. (...) Im willing to admit im missing an obvious counter strategy but am puzzled. Using a military strategy makes impossible for the CS to capture all VP in phase 1. However, using some tricks of a strategy... game player it comes possible! About arty: the best way is to keep all units together. Until the rest of the Heth's Division arrives, there is no point to advance fast because later you'll be found outnumbered by the Union I Corps. The primary objective here is to secure McPherson Ridge protecting your arty units. When Pettigrew and Brockenbrough arrive you can launch your main attack. Also, when the last arty reinforcements arrive keep a couple of them on Herr Ridge (advancing the rest with the main force), loaded permanently with cannister. Also pull back the Heth Skirms, or even better Archer if the he has suffered heavy casualties. Then just pray that hostile units will do maneuver to attack Herr Ridge, because they will have no chance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don't Escrow Taxes Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 Arty is absolutely vicious in this game on shell or canister. You're right, I should be less aggressive and wait for the rest of the division to get up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.E.B.Blunt Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 Using a military strategy makes impossible for the CS to capture all VP in phase 1. However, using some tricks of a strategy... game player it comes possible! About arty: the best way is to keep all units together. Until the rest of the Heth's Division arrives, there is no point to advance fast because later you'll be found outnumbered by the Union I Corps. The primary objective here is to secure McPherson Ridge protecting your arty units. When Pettigrew and Brockenbrough arrive you can launch your main attack. Also, when the last arty reinforcements arrive keep a couple of them on Herr Ridge (advancing the rest with the main force), loaded permanently with cannister. Also pull back the Heth Skirms, or even better Archer if the he has suffered heavy casualties. Then just pray that hostile units will do maneuver to attack Herr Ridge, because they will have no chance! I like to take my first two Brigades (Archer and Davis) with all the Artillery Batteries and swing north and capture Oak Hill and leave Herr's Tavern Vacant. The Union will rush to take it and be surprised when my other Two Brigades show up and now I have them on two sides. Pushing South with two and East with the other two Its very easy and fun to catch the exhausted Union in a vice and squeeze. I think its far harder to be restrained in my attack and only do limited attacks so I can try and unlock the different scenerios than it is to just crush the enemy as both Hill Billy Yank or Johnny Reb. It also does not help that some of the scenerios you will encounter are NOT the same title as it is in the custom battle screen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husserl Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 R.E.B. has revealed one of these strategies! About the titles: they are different because every battle in campaign carries a title that has a meaning in the sequence of the battles/phases. In custom battles, titles are a bit more generic and autonomous. However there is a good merit in your observation and noted (all texts will be re-visioned and improved if necessary some time in the future). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Fair Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 R.E.B. Blunt - Oak Hill or Oak Ridge? At the rate the artillery moves you have time to move them to Oak Hill then to Oak Ridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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