Battle timers and a few questions

[Gusten Grodslukare]

In the upper right corner there's a timer to show how much time there's left of either a smaller battle or each phase of a larger battle. Instead of having only one timer in large battles, it would be better to also have the time for the whole battle. In Gaines' Mill, when you play for the CSA, there is first the phase until you receive the reserves in your 1st and 2nd Corp (1:59 hours), then another phase until the beginning of the evening (2:29 hours) and finally a phase until the end of the battle (1:59 hours).

When a battle is made up that way with a mission to overtake positions in a first phase we don't know whether there will be another phase or the reserves will come within that phase and whether we'll loose the battle if we don't manage to take the positions within the specified time. When we don't know whether there will be a second phase and how much time we'll might get in a possible second phase, we feel a need to rush to be able to finish the mission in due time so we don't loose.

Of that reason I think it would be good to have not only the timer for each specific phase (Mission Time) but also a timer showing the full length of the battle with all phases added up (Battle Time). That way we don't feel the need to rush our brigades to overtake one position or more, but can stay put for a while and let the rifles and guns do their job to ease up the area a bit before we decide to push forward. If Game Labs want us to rush to take positions within a specific time, they could give the general we're playing some extra reputation points, money or something else if he succeeds with this, which makes it worthwhile to send the brigades on a suicide mission.

It would be great to have the indicator for rifle's and gun's shooting distance in a colour that is possible to see. If the colour is of a kind that might be disturbing for certain people, there could be a hotkey to toggle it on and off.

Some Questions:

Why isn't it possible to turn a brigade with the help of the keyboard, like in Total War games, instead of only by the help of the mouse? It has happened to me several times that I want to turn a brigade a few degrees left or right and the brigade turns around almost 300 degrees instead with the result that they get flanked and routs.

Is there a reason why brigades sometimes don't charge when ordered to do it? Is the refusal to charge sometimes connected to them being in a forest or any other reason except not having enough stamina (condition)?

How come skirmishers often run quicker than cavalry and how come cavalry (except enemy cavalry) is so slow in general?

How come the visibility of some enemy brigades is so bad when it's possible to see enemy brigades not far away from them.

It would be great if it was possible to group brigades and give them a number on the key pad. If I for example have three artillery brigades that I want to shoot on a specific spot, instead of each time holding the Ctrl key and picking each brigade I would be able to choose the number on the keyboard that is dedicated to them and decide where they should shoot.

The field of view should be greater for all brigades. I understand that enemy brigades in a forest or behind a hill sometimes can "disappear", but when they're out in the open the brigades should be able to see them if they're not too far away.

Brigades being blocked from shooting seems a bit out of the blue. It seems that sometimes brigades which have an open field in front of them, but are behind two other brigades with a small part of each flank, get the "Blocked" obstacle and can't shoot. What exactly are the reasons for when they are blocked although they don't seem to be?

Edited May 7, 2017 by Gusten Grodslukare
Remembered something I had forgotten to write down.

[The Soldier]

For the questions:

1. If the unit is Exhausted, meaning 0% Condition, then it cannot do a Charge.  Furthermore, Charges are on a cooldown, so you can't execute a charge right after the last one.

2. Skirmishers and Cavalry move at the same speed (inexplicably).  No idea.  Cavalry can, however, turn on a dime, which is nice.  They're also 50% bigger.

3. Depends on terrain, hills might be blocking vision.  Also depends on the stealth rating of the unit you're trying to spot and what terrain they're in (Heavy Forest gives a healthy boost to stealth, for example).

4. Most of the time you can see brigades from a fair distance away.  Though a lot of people still want further view range (though having infinite view range like in UG:G is a bit bad)

5. Units just can't shoot through each other.  Generally, draw a line from the center of your brigade to the center of the enemy brigade, and if it touches a friendly brigade, it can't shoot that enemy brigade.  Artillery is the exception both ways, to make them easier to use.

[Bobby Fiasco]

I would love to have that kind of battle timer. I've taken unnecessary casualties more than once trying to snag a VP point before the deadline, only to get a whole other phase. The best strategy is to bleed the enemy, and then make a rush for the objectives in the final phase.