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J & P Rebalance Mod by JonnyH13 and Pandakraut 05/06/2023 1.28.4


JonnyH13

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6 hours ago, MikeK said:

Just trying  to DL the last version and play. I miss how to do that  Online, I was accossted by a discord window that wanted info and verification details into and that seems dodgy since IIRC my gameLabs games havr no intercourse with discord unless it mighr be used for voice group exchancewhirolw in UGCW I don/ .  This game ,pd/  Ram omtp a Do .  I did run into an unidenimoxvt recenrt verion.  I ruj  thanks

Did you accidentally click on the link to the mod's discord channel instead of one of the download links?

These are the links for the mod download

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Thank you for the latest updates, continue to enjoy these mods.

 

I have a question, I have been playing several campaigns and have only made it to the Peninsula so far, it seems that on Brig. General difficulty it is starting to be too easy and no longer feels historical if you will. 

However I just started to play on Major General difficulty and cannot win the battle of 1st Manassas as the confederates. I get swept off Mathews hill almost immediately and cannot hold the stone bridge long enough for Jacksons Brigade to show up with reinforcements.

Is there a way to somehow split the difference between these levels ? Should I keep playing on BG difficulty to see if it will get harder or is there any chance MG difficulty might ease up later as the confederates.

I'm sure my tactics are mid skill level, but I do not know what else I can do.

On MG difficulty many of my brigades get wiped off the map by union cavalry and skirmishers if you can imagine. I find myself running for the hills as soon as I see a 300 troop skirmish unit charging me. If I do manage to win my casualties are like Antietam every battle.

Thanks again for the hard work, really enjoy the Mod.

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On 10/19/2020 at 8:58 PM, N. B. Forrest said:

Thank you for the latest updates, continue to enjoy these mods.

 

I have a question, I have been playing several campaigns and have only made it to the Peninsula so far, it seems that on Brig. General difficulty it is starting to be too easy and no longer feels historical if you will. 

However I just started to play on Major General difficulty and cannot win the battle of 1st Manassas as the confederates. I get swept off Mathews hill almost immediately and cannot hold the stone bridge long enough for Jacksons Brigade to show up with reinforcements.

Is there a way to somehow split the difference between these levels ? Should I keep playing on BG difficulty to see if it will get harder or is there any chance MG difficulty might ease up later as the confederates.

I'm sure my tactics are mid skill level, but I do not know what else I can do.

On MG difficulty many of my brigades get wiped off the map by union cavalry and skirmishers if you can imagine. I find myself running for the hills as soon as I see a 300 troop skirmish unit charging me. If I do manage to win my casualties are like Antietam every battle.

Thanks again for the hard work, really enjoy the Mod.

Sounds like you're a similar player to me.  I don't like to game the game (seems kind of pointless to cheat yourself) and I like a difficult but not ridiculous challenge.  You can play MG and change a couple of settings in the AI config file: AI scaling and AI experience something or other.  I've played around with them before (0.75 - 0.85) but never quite hit the sweet spot. Would be interested to see what you come up with.

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On 10/18/2020 at 11:11 PM, Jack_234 said:

Excellent mod!!! In the CSA campaign on BG difficulty, is it better to start raising economy or politics at the beginning?

Either can work. I prefer econ since I tend to play with smaller units and prefer the configuration of other stats I end up with when taking econ.

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On 10/20/2020 at 1:58 PM, Oitaul said:

I was wondering what the best gun and artillery is for late game. I have been struggling to understand the stats and what to pick for my army.

Damage Range: shows the base damage variance of the weapon. Every time it fires the base damage is randomly chosen within the range.
Range Damage Multiplier: How effective the weapon is against a target at a given range.
Fire Rate: how fast a given weapon reloads after a volley. Higher is better. Note that repeaters and revolvers have a slower fire rate because they are able to volley multiple times before reoloading.
Ammuntion: how many times a weapon can fire before the unit needs to be resupplied.
Ammunition Cost: how much supply is removed from the supply wagon for each count of ammunition refilled.

So when comparing weapons you're looking for the highest range you can get, highest damage multiplier at the distance you're expecting to fire at, and then the highest damage range. There are specialty weapons that may be weaker in one category or another as a tradeoff for an advantage elsewhere.

Most weapons in the mod can be effective when used correctly. Muskets for melee or close in firing. Smoothbore cannons for charge breaking, rifled for counterbattery or medium range anti-infantry. Skirmishers can use infantry weapons or carbines for screening and flanking roles, or longer ranged scoped rifles for a much harder hitting but more vulnerable unit. Cavalry require a lot of micro to get the most out of but can be extremely strong when used well. Try to fire off a few revolver shots before charging if using melee cav.

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On 10/19/2020 at 3:58 PM, N. B. Forrest said:

However I just started to play on Major General difficulty and cannot win the battle of 1st Manassas as the confederates. I get swept off Mathews hill almost immediately and cannot hold the stone bridge long enough for Jacksons Brigade to show up with reinforcements.

I usually don't defend Matthew's Hill at all. I keep all of my starting units at the bridge and the reinforcing AI units usually stay along the bend in the river.

Try not to get too spread out when defending. You want multiple units within range to support each other in case a unit charges. Unit xp, condition, and perks are all very important. Investing in training and/or in better officers so that all your fielded units start with a perk can help a lot.

Difficulty can be adjusted for each battle using the following. In the /Mod/Rebalance/AIConfigFile there is an AIScalingSizeMultiplier and an AIScalingExperienceMultiplier. You can try increasing these values on BG or decreasing them on MG to adjust the challenge to your tastes. Just make sure to save the file, restart the game, and restart the battle after making changes.

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I changed the AIScalingExperienceMultiplier to 0.85 and refought 1st Manassas, I didn't mind the Union having more troops so I left the SizeMultiplier at 1.

 

It was touch and go for about 2 hours, I was able to hold Mathews Hill for about 1 hour and repulsed the unions initial assault with 4 Brigades, once they fell back I realized they would come back and I could not stop them so I fell back to Youngs Branch, however Franklins Brigade decided to charge me down the hill and killed General Bee and routed his brigade. I had to pause the game and take a walk at this point.

Bartow was wounded and he suffered over 300 casualties as well. My Brigade was lead by Colonel Kemper and he was able to retreat into the woods below Mathews Hill and recovered in time to fend off the Unions relentless skirmish attack from 3 different units and saved my Artillery giving them time to make it to Henry House Hill. I got lucky though because earlier the union cavalry foolishly charged my lines at the stone bridge and had to retreat so they were not able to reinforce their attack in time.

I did have to bring up Hamptons Brigade over to cover the crossing at Youngs Branch because I could not get Bee's Brigade across fast enough before the Union Brigades were down the hill. At least I was able to save them from total destruction but he lost over 500 men in the mornings engagement.

At this point Jackson was still 45 minutes away from showing up and I had Sherman & Key's brigades ready to assault the stone bridge, all I had was Archer's & Siegfried's Brigade to hold it along with 18 Guns from Cabell's Battery. Somehow Sherman's Brigade including the Fighting 69th Irish regiment under Colonel Corcoran made it through a frontal artillery barrage and got over the bridge and tried to flank my left, I could not hold and he was able to form up again.

Meanwhile Franklin, Porter, Burnside & Wilcox Brigades were pressing on Henry Hill and I was getting squeezed, they crossed the stream and Bee & Bartow's Brigade barley held in the woods before Jackson finally arrived. Amazingly the Unions Brigades were all still over 2000 men strong and once they attacked it was another desperate struggle to hold Henry House hill even with Jacksons newly arrived regiments. For some reason I didn't see Wilcox brigade sneak over to my left flank and cross the creek undetected with 2700 men and I had to withdrawal to the trees on the right side of the Henry House.

Stuart's Cavalry had not arrived yet and I had one cavalry unit that was trying to neutralize Sherman's Artillery before I totally lost the Stone Bridge. I now had 8 full union Brigades assaulting and charging me in succession all along the front of my lines. I was unable to route any of them like I did on BG difficulty so this was the darkest point of the day.

My only saving grace was I held the village and forest areas giving me excellent cover and Jacksons artillery finally took position and started hammering all across the union front just when they were trying to cross the creek. Time after time they charged across and up Henry Hill just before they were sent reeling back under heavy rifle and canister fire.

At this point Sherman's Brigade had been decimated attacking the stone Bridge and fell back out of view giving my artillery time to retarget to assist Jackson on Henry Hill. I had stopped the union attack and my cavalry along with newly arrived Stuart's unit were successful in destroying all of the union Guns. Once I was able to rest my units and shore up my line before they tried another attack I received Johnston's final reinforcements and finished the victory for the confederacy.

In the end Beauregard suffered 21% casualties, Johnston was at 13%, Jackson 25% and My Corps under Taggert was at 19%.

All in All this was a very good battle and I did not know who would win until the last moment and it felt very close to the historical battle. Also I was happy with the casualties and looks like the small change in the AIConfig file seems to work well for my playing style at least.

Thanks again for the help.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

The flexibility of adjusting config files provides better palayability.  Your notes , Pandakraut, are very helpful.  Fiddling with config files definitely makes for better games with mod 127.1. Am playing Legendary now - and it offers a more satisfying challenge.  Still find the artificially low 'spoils of war' (SOW) percentage to be a barrier.

The rewards are 'capped' by the game and the SOW rate remains arbitrarily low: I can destroy the enemy army of 20,000, retain command of the field, and capture 4000 enemy troops - yet I'll receive only a few hundred rifles and perhaps 10 assorted cannon.  This just doesn't make any sense.

C'mon:  If i capture a s soldier, then of course I also capture their weapon.  If I win possession of the field of battle, then I also earn a large proportion of the weapons lost (by both sides) in that battle.

It 'altered math' of the different difficulty levels (particularly regarding SOW) radically changes my strategy for resource management under Career and Government.  Now I must use invest more in Politics and Economy so that I can buy weapons.

Note: Altho the SOW changes dramatically when between BG and MG levels, there are no changes to Government resources or the Money & Troops earned by winning a battle.  Go figure.

Also: How about a more sensible approach to defeat?  When the enemy has been trounced - or just stymied - It often makes sense for them to retreat from the field and 'cut their losses'.  UGCW insists that we play until an arbitrary time limit against an enemy who remains suicidally aggressive throughout. 

Are there any other methods for adjusting the SOW?  I realize that there are 'balance' issues, combined with the artificiality of fighting a battle within a rectangular, constrained 'playspace'. But- are there any settings, options, or alternatives for moderating the SOW that don't spoil the playability of the game?

 

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12 hours ago, dixiePig said:

Are there any other methods for adjusting the SOW?  I realize that there are 'balance' issues, combined with the artificiality of fighting a battle within a rectangular, constrained 'playspace'. But- are there any settings, options, or alternatives for moderating the SOW that don't spoil the playability of the game?

The only way currently would be to play on a lower difficulty where the recovery rate is higher and use the config options to increase the experience and size of the AI to whatever an appropriate level of challenge is. Adjusting the recovery rates may be made more configurable in the future.

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25 minutes ago, pandakraut said:

The only way currently would be to play on a lower difficulty where the recovery rate is higher and use the config options to increase the experience and size of the AI to whatever an appropriate level of challenge is. Adjusting the recovery rates may be made more configurable in the future.

mmm ... That's what I've been doing up till this point - playing BG-level with jacked-up AI config - based on your excellent v.127.1 update and very helpful notes (thanks again, @pandakraut)

Hard to find that sweet spot.  At BG-level, I already have AI-xp set at 1.6.  Will continue to adjust it, I guess.

Trying to keep the game profile to 'sort of' historical levels.  Your suggested ~1300 infantry size works brilliantly to make ugcw a playable game at tough levels  - and is in line with theHistory.

I try to keep Ranger/Sharpshooter units (ugcw deceptively calls them 'Skirmishers") to a modest minimum in my armies: one or maybe two in a Corps - and limit them to 500 men.

Artillery units: Generally aim for 18 cannons - and use them as safe  'training' vehicles for growing xp on commanders (who are less likely to be killed or wounded)

Cavalry is the one area where I allow myself to have some less-than-strictly-historical fun: I produce a lot of those units (generally 300-500 horses apiece) and use them actively to disrupt the AI, steal Supplies, and destroy vulnerable enemy units. The Confederate "Ambush" Scenario in 1862 is a good object lesson in tactics.  Massed swarming cavalry in the the Major Battles can be devastating.  Although there are not a lot of examples of this in historical Civil War battles, it's quite 'Napoleonic' as a technique.

Would love to see 'recovery' rates become configurable.

Thanks again

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1 minute ago, dixiePig said:

Hard to find that sweet spot.  At BG-level, I already have AI-xp set at 1.6.  Will continue to adjust it, I guess.

In terms of insufficient difficulty, are you not facing large enough units? Are they still not experienced enough? Or do you just have access to enough money/recruits/weapons that losses aren't an issue? I haven't played with this setup myself.

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2 hours ago, pandakraut said:

In terms of insufficient difficulty, are you not facing large enough units? Are they still not experienced enough? Or do you just have access to enough money/recruits/weapons that losses aren't an issue? I haven't played with this setup myself.

 

at BG and MG level: Recruits and Money aren't a problem

at BG level: Weapons aren't a problem because of (imo) reasonable recovery rate

at MG level: Weapons are a problem (because of critically reduced recovery rate) - and that effects how I can spend my Money

  • aside:  recovery rate should be a constant ("it is what it is" : just a statistical reality).  With the artificial recovery rates I just end up trying to 'game' the system (i.e. It's not worth it to destroy the enemy army if there's little reward for my losses)
  • Levels of play (Col/BG/MG) should effect aggressiveness, skill, xp, and size of AI units - Perhaps also Career advancements, Money&Reinforcements Rewards-per-battle, Barracks, and discretionary Rewards (Government) on my side

I limit enemy troop size in AIconfig in order to conform more closely to historical levels; furthermore - huge enemy troop formations can be overwhelming (with the increased AI aggressiveness of v.1.27)

MG-level automatically increases AI xp - making for a more competitive battle - so perhaps I should try adjusting that in AIconfig as a tradeoff for 'bigger AI units"

My 'cavalry-heavy' strategy appears to be effective in overcoming AI advantages.  I notice that the aggressive AI use of cavalry in 1.27 helps make for a more exciting & challenging game, as well (not just the Infantry Steamroller Effect).  Did you engineer that into the mod?

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8 hours ago, dixiePig said:

My 'cavalry-heavy' strategy appears to be effective in overcoming AI advantages.  I notice that the aggressive AI use of cavalry in 1.27 helps make for a more exciting & challenging game, as well (not just the Infantry Steamroller Effect).  Did you engineer that into the mod?

Cavalry received several improvements in the last patch and is arguably too strong currently.

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21 hours ago, pandakraut said:

Cavalry received several improvements in the last patch and is arguably too strong currently.

"too strong" - Possibly, @pandakraut, though I wouldn't underestimate the potential shock value of melee units - especially when flanking or attacking from rear

BTW:  What's up with the attack dynamic of  'mounted infantry' units? They are often reluctant to charge and are not particularly effective in melee attacks - even tho they have sabers and pistols.  I often wonder if I shouldn't just rush them in close and then dismount them.  Net/net:  Melee cavalry is almost suicidally relentless when attacking (you can't get them to disengage), while 'mounted infantry' are kinda chicken.  Any suggestions?

Was surprised to see enemy (Union) AI cavalry attacking aggressively and penetrating deep behind my lines in 1st Bull Run.  Actually a nice challenge.

imo: Stable, un-routed Infantry units volleying point blank / close range at charging cavalry should do much more damage than I see now.  I would expect close-up rifle fire to have serious impact on both horses and men.

glitch?  When I target enemy cavalry with my artillery, the AI immediately makes them run away - without my even getting a chance to fire a shot.  Are they psychic?

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1 hour ago, dixiePig said:

BTW:  What's up with the attack dynamic of  'mounted infantry' units? They are often reluctant to charge and are not particularly effective in melee attacks - even tho they have sabers and pistols.  I often wonder if I shouldn't just rush them in close and then dismount them.  Net/net:  Melee cavalry is almost suicidally relentless when attacking (you can't get them to disengage), while 'mounted infantry' are kinda chicken.  Any suggestions?

If you want cav to fire their pistols you need to give them a move order to bring them into range of the enemy unit, allow them to fire(hitting space to halt the unit can help), and then give a charge order if you want to melee afterwords.

Sometimes cav can disengage from melee fairly easily, but there are also several bugs where they will get stuck. Not much you can do when they get stuck, just give them a move order away and hope the damage isn't too bad. This seems to be more common against enemy artillery.

Mounted cavalry will skirmish after firing if not given other orders or put under hold position. This means they will fall back until they have reloaded.

1 hour ago, dixiePig said:

glitch?  When I target enemy cavalry with my artillery, the AI immediately makes them run away - without my even getting a chance to fire a shot.  Are they psychic?

This is related to the skirmish logic for cavalry. I haven't been able to figure out why it doesn't affect skirmishers as well. If I manage to find where this is triggering it will get changed.

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@pandakraut Can you have any effect on the 'Government' rewards - or are those fixed?

Particularly:  The Historical Officers

Nice to see them in legacy ugcw, but apparently they are mostly eyeCandy - aside from their usually modest perks. 

  • Would be nice if they (and other major officers) exhibited their Command Perks, as Corps Commanders do (i.e. Command Radius, Speed, Attack Strength, etc.)
  • Their pre-established perks would travel with them and 'trickle down' to the units they command (imo: A weakness of legacy ugcw is that divisions and corps do not maintain their organizational integrity in the field.)
  • Even sweeter if the perks reflected officers'  historical strengths (and weaknesses) ... perhaps displayed in a thumbnail:  "Hood is a fierce & successful attacker, but may incur heavy losses." or "Longstreet is cautious and deliberate - an excellent defender."

This would provide a little color - and also allows you to select officers based on your needs (not just spending Reputation points)

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Along the lines of what dixiePig has mentioned about The Historical Officers, I was thinking about historical units.  I know you get Forrest's Cavalry and the Iron Brigade W and you can always name a unit what you'd like.  I wish there was a way to spend reputation or money to acquire actual units that had some resemblance to the perks you'd associate with them.

Maybe after Bull Run you could use 7 reputation to acquire The Stonewall Brigade, 2 Star Unit, with -25% fire damage morale received, plus the melee/speed perk. 

I know that's asking a lot.  Given what I've read through this thread, I'm not even sure it's possible.  That said, given the miracles worked by Johnny and Panda with game play mechanics, I'm reluctant to think anything is impossible.

respectfully,

gracchus

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J&P,

I have had this game for a year or so.  Played a bit when I got it.

Reread the manual and played a vanilla battle today.

Then, I applied "RebalanceModV1.27.1a", a replaying the battle.

Just fantastic.  Everything feels right.  Even on slowest before the pace felt off.  Also, the cavalry are really swift as they should be.

Finally, weapons fire although deadly; again does seems appropriate.  ACW studies found many didn't even fire and had multiple balls in their barrels.  WWII studies again showed, many didn't shoot at people.  And modern studies seem show the more lethal firearms become the more rounds fired to kill just one person.  (In the open, people aren't that eager to kill or be killed.  Of course, in CQB, attrition rates can be horrific.

Thanks for a very excellent mod.  It was just the more contemplative strategic feel I was looking for!

Thank you!

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Panda,

Let me first ask an irrelevant question which you needn't answer.  Are you 1/2 Chinese/German? 

我說中文比德文好.  Ich glaube meine Hochchinesisch ist besser.

Well, now that that is out of the way.  I saw an answer you wrote on Steam.

I embarking on my first campaign.  Right now EASY.

AIscalingSizeMultiplier
AIscalingExperienceMultiplier

If it would not be too much trouble, could you suggest 3 incrementing difficulty pairs for EASY and 3 incrementing pairs for NORMAL.

I would really appreciate it, since I would only be guessing.

I do want to stick with your mod, but first grow my skill.

Thank you!  謝謝!  Vielen Dank!

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2 hours ago, MarkShot said:

Panda,

Let me first ask an irrelevant question which you needn't answer.  Are you 1/2 Chinese/German? 

我說中文比德文好.  Ich glaube meine Hochchinesisch ist besser.

Well, now that that is out of the way.  I saw an answer you wrote on Steam.

I embarking on my first campaign.  Right now EASY.

AIscalingSizeMultiplier
AIscalingExperienceMultiplier

If it would not be too much trouble, could you suggest 3 incrementing difficulty pairs for EASY and 3 incrementing pairs for NORMAL.

I would really appreciate it, since I would only be guessing.

I do want to stick with your mod, but first grow my skill.

Thank you!  謝謝!  Vielen Dank!

I'm from the US, lived in Germany for a few years though.

For the values I'd recommend just incrementing by .15 or .25 and see how that goes for you.

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As always, much love to the modders.  I've loved the many evolutions of the game and the mods have lent it much greater lifespan.

I am not the most talented player but I know my way around a Harper's Ferry 1855.  I'm running the 1.27.1a mod on a Major General Union campaign.  I've had some good luck (I only took 4,000 causalities at Malvern Hill) and worked through some unexpected surprises (CSA chewed up my flanking maneuver at Fredericksburg).  I know what usually works for me as a player but I've loved the way the mods have made me adapt (good bye 1000 man skirmisher juggernauts). 

I have, however, stalled at Stones River.  I usually like to pull back and make the CSA attack over open ground where I have better sight and shorter internal lines of support.  Nope, got overrun 2 or three times.  I tried defending the trees in the south and have been torn apart in the center.  Put my best corp in the south?  No dice. 

Of course, the only time I pulled off a successful initial phase, fought off a CSA charge in the middle that almost broke me, and was in the process of mopping up, my game crashed...my joy evaporated. 

I know there is no one strategy and much depends on your particular set up but I'd appreciate any words of wisdom for Stones River.  When I've gone to look through the approach by other people, I can't seem to find anyone playing 1.27 and making videos.  I fear the time has past.

I'd appreciate any help. 

Also, I know this is a bit early, but I can't wait to see if you guys end up making mods for Ultimate General:  American Revolution

https://www.ug1775.com/

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