Artillery, not feeling the love :(

[Midknight]

I do like myself a good artillery barrage but not feeling it with UG.

I've yet to fully look into the details but :
 

1)  I feel round shot is useless, it should really hammer morale when hitting from a long distance as huge balls of red hot iron plough through ranks kicking up dirt and stone as fragmentation.
In my experience I don't really get a chance to engage in long shooting because of FOW is too low, plus it's too inaccurate and hardly causes casualties.
I'm play testing as I write and a battery of 4 cannon hitting a mass of 2000 men made 2 casualties, if it makes 1 casualty, the round will by it's nature make many more as it punches through the ranks.

Flank shots with this ammo should be absolutely devastating.
 

2)  Shell is my favourite and I always put my artillery on that setting, sometimes it only kills one or 2 men even though the whole battery hit.

3)  Canister is nice but I find the enemy wildly outflank a battery - it seems to take them an age to actually touch the powder for some reason and they end up wheeling the cannons around in a circle, then routing.
I find myself thinking "for god sake SHOOT !!!"

 

4)  Cannon wheeling is really annoying, as mentioned above the canister shot.
I know I can use the hold command (be nice if the GUI was say, red, when this is selected instead of a slightly lighter grey...) but this micro management of the artillery is frustrating.  When they hit 100% reload they should be ready to fire, instead of a 5 second pause, then shuffle, pause, shuffle - rout.

Keep up the good work, very promising game

[TheCenturion]

Remember that the game calculates hits and casualties behind the scenes, while the visuals are more or less just a graphical representation of the combat. So what might appear like a round going straight through the ranks, in reality might not be. At least, that's the way I've come to understand the game's mechanics. 

 

Personally I prefer the artillery as is. It can't rout forces if used on its own, but can be deadly if used in conjunction with infantry volleys against your opponents morale. In that manner, it works as a support weapon, and I think that's the way it should stay. I also don't think artillery units should be able to cause massive amounts of damage up close 100% of the time- they shouldn't be able to hold out against multiple infantry units. As is, I find canister shot incredibly deadly as is. It's enough to deter straight up unsupported charges, anyway. 

[Teutomatos]

At least it's like historical inaccuracy.

Howether a game is a game.

 

More than an another efficient effect, i've notice that, better issue of arti is an interpose beetween front line brigades.

 Flank are cover, and moral is less worse. Without colatéral damages.

 

 But ... There's a compelling needs, like a position perfectly clear without overlap's side with neibourgh units.

 

 Too much overlaps by the mass move automaticaly the units. But often up or down and not on side. Independantly about the hill's relief context.

 

 An idea in the box :

 As the concept should seems promote the front line battle. 

 It could be more interesting to refine that auto repositionning, in  function of the ( player ) volontary direction, strictly by the side. 

 

 What did you think about ?

 

 PS : and it's a military order : A step on your right !...  right !

[Midknight]

Yes and no, from what I've seen the graphics do represent damage.  When rounds miss they don't cause any casualties, when they hit I generally get an indication.
What is silly is that I'm just doing another play through and my union artillery has been pounding away all day and only scored a fist-full of body count.

Part of my opinion is, I can play and win without artillery, and as a death from afar fan, I find that a little disgruntling.
I find it cumbersome and unwieldy to use and that wasn't the case in history.

 

Part of my drama with canister isnt the damage, more like the fact it cannot be aimed inless the enemy is charging the artillery.  If the enemy charges a unit in the line, to the side of the artillery, then canister cannot be wheeled around and fired quickly enough which is frustrating.

[Teutomatos]

I find it cumbersome and unwieldy to use and that wasn't the case in history.

 

 

 

 It is the case in this particulary part of history. Artillery was releguate to a  secondary weapon and particularity cumbersome and unwieldy to use.

 Please apply an web translation

 http://www.histoire-pour-tous.fr/dossiers/241-la-guerre-de-secession/3797-les-tactiques-de-la-guerre-de-secession-55.html

** Pifométrique = french expression mean "with the nose" .. evalutate a metric distance to smell the parfum of the air 

 It's why, they finish to renounce to plug one Arti Rgt per brigade or one Arti Btl per Division and  gather in a compact dedicated Arti Brigad formation attach to the high level of army corps commander.

 

 Theres anothers reasons like abandon the column in the way of assault. Or the deep of the infantry line to obtain the same artillery effecience like the old past.

 

 Anyway ... A game is a game ... History ends when the game start. And all feeling are valid.

[Husserl]

Please have in mind that the arty target's covering, plays a significant role in the inflicted casualties.

 

Also, the plans of the arty use is needed to be adjusted according to the tactics player has in mind. For example if some arty units are planned to be used for canister shots, they must be preserved fresh and loaded for the critical moment. In this case there is no chance to be overwhelmed by the attacking hostile units.

 

One of my favorite tactics in such cases is this: when I defend, I pick some arty units in my front line and place them in a beautiful line, held and canister loaded. In this way they will not fire solid or shell shots and will be ready... when I'll need them. Additionally I place some infantry brigades just in front of them. This is done for 2 reasons: first to screen hostile fire and, most important, to mislead the AI. If the AI sees infantry brigades in front it will most probably come in a line, (the way I want it to do). If I have my arty exposed in the front, first they will become immediately the target of the hostile artillery and second the AI will probably send its infantry in double and triple brigade groups to disable them (one to get the fire and the next to charge and eliminate them). So holding them hidden, behind of my infantry brigades, I wait for the AI approaching in a good line. After the first volley exchanges, I fall back my infantry brigades. This move usually make the opponent to purse them. But then it falls in the trap, facing suddenly my held in position, fresh batteries that "welcome" them with a devastating, coordinated and lethal cannister barrage! The outcome is easy to be imagined! If a brave hostile brigade keeps advancing after the shock (which almost never happens in a such case), I charge the brigade that is behind the arty unit to finish the job. Then either I repeat this tactic advancing again my brigades in front of the batteries, or I fall back my batteries behind my infantry brigades, depending on the circumstances on the field at that moment.  

[Teutomatos]

 Husserl the Sadistic

 

 Husserl's trap ! Good for a tips and tricks Subject.

 

 It's an usual plan. Mask beetween 2 hills.

 Howether i guess Midknight feeling bad with long range solid impact, as it often observ in common games. Scout watch & arti destroy. Or as the idea he feels or he believes about history.

 Theres the same about cavalry or looses. ( one bullet on 1 000 touch the target ) I ve warn my friends about that aspect, and when the thing is know, people accept and enjoy  it.  I guess UGG"s team could assume proudly their choices to follow, their attempt to catch historical context and spirit in marketing advertising.

 The counter part is to affraid the casual client ...

 It not arrogance, you could be proud about your product.

 

 Finaly the last aspect that seems to be debate, it s the moral attriton and premature disband.

 

 You need to know that we have lost the use of intelligent games and our adaptativ minds. Always neglected in the mud of bullshit game's production since ten years ago ... or more. 

 At least we becomes marketing robot to eat the same fast food. 

 

 Back on the subject. Secession war is a paradoxal and singular period beetween oldest Napoleonic tactics, that it looks like, and the futur european's wars because evolution of firearms technologies. 

It is not known by most of us. If I had not Compulse few articles, I'll also ignored. 

  We better understand the doctrine of uses weapons in its own juice. At least the game design itself.

 

 It's the key.

[GeorgeTheGreat]

I do like myself a good artillery barrage but not feeling it with UG.

I've yet to fully look into the details but :

 

1)  I feel round shot is useless, it should really hammer morale when hitting from a long distance as huge balls of red hot iron plough through ranks kicking up dirt and stone as fragmentation.

In my experience I don't really get a chance to engage in long shooting because of FOW is too low, plus it's too inaccurate and hardly causes casualties.

I'm play testing as I write and a battery of 4 cannon hitting a mass of 2000 men made 2 casualties, if it makes 1 casualty, the round will by it's nature make many more as it punches through the ranks.

Flank shots with this ammo should be absolutely devastating.

 

2)  Shell is my favourite and I always put my artillery on that setting, sometimes it only kills one or 2 men even though the whole battery hit.

3)  Canister is nice but I find the enemy wildly outflank a battery - it seems to take them an age to actually touch the powder for some reason and they end up wheeling the cannons around in a circle, then routing.

I find myself thinking "for god sake SHOOT !!!"

 

4)  Cannon wheeling is really annoying, as mentioned above the canister shot.

I know I can use the hold command (be nice if the GUI was say, red, when this is selected instead of a slightly lighter grey...) but this micro management of the artillery is frustrating.  When they hit 100% reload they should be ready to fire, instead of a 5 second pause, then shuffle, pause, shuffle - rout.

Keep up the good work, very promising game

I agree with what you are trying to convey. Currently there is a round shot, a shell, and a canister. I feel that each of these should have a different effect. Some effects could be decreased speed, charge prevention, reduced reload speed of targeted unit, loss of moral, decrease of condition, and a quantity of casualties.

American Civil War artillery came in 2 main flavors Guns and howitzers 

Gun Cannons Need to be deployed so that they are not directly firing into units; Gun Cannon should be placed in the front of or on the flank of the front lines They should be more accurate but have less range with greater reload speed and quicker aiming, Gun cannon should also be able to use the grapeshot which prevents or hampers charge attempts.

and Howitzer Cannons made to shoot at a angled trajectory; Howitzers should have increased range and decreased accuracy able to shoot over troops and tall obstructions but require time to aim.

Howitzers should also be able to use explosive canister shot where the shrapnel is in the ball and explodes over the target

Gun Howitzers should be mainly for the Union as this would reflect there artillery and technology advantage; Gun Howitzers have the properties of Gun cannon and Howitzers.

These are some  gameplay ideas that with tweaks will add content and another strategy element to the game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_artillery_in_the_American_Civil_War#Smoothbores