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Korrigan
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Birth of America - English FAQ

Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:13 pm

[color="Black"]English FAQ[/color]

Warning: Questions in the English FAQ are different from the French one because different questions have been asked by the French speaking community.

1 MANUAL, MAP, DOWNLOAD, SOFTWARE, ETC.
1.1 Will the ability to download the game always remain or will it only be an option until the game is available on CD?
1.2 I have a low spec computer, how can I speed up BoA?
1.3 Any chance you can publish a PDF of the map?
1.4 How do I find the manual? I downloaded the game...and can't seem to find it anywhere...
1.5 Do you plan to release a Mac OSX version?
1.6 Does BoA run on PC emulator on Linux computers?
1.7 Could you give a typical Play by Play on how PBEM is supposed to work?
1.8 Command values for leaders are different in the FAQ than they are in the manual, which one is wrong?

2 SCENARIOS, EVENTS, VICTORY CONDITIONS
2.1 I have taken a rebel city but I don’t get the VP
2.2 Is there a way to sway the various Indian tribes to change sides?
2.3 It is currently January of 1778, why have I not run into some Frenchmen?
2.4 What triggers foreign intervention? Are the arriving forces historical or variable?
2.5 What should I do with the US bateaux in the Greene 1780 scenario?
2.6 On the map there tiny flashing boxes with a number in them next to some towns, cities or forts, usually 1. What do these mean?
2.7 Are you willing to release a scenario editor?
2.8 How are victory points awarded?
2.9 Is there a way to get a victory point tally during the game?

3 ARMIES
3.1 What is the difference between defensive and passive stance?
3.2 What do detection numbers mean? (e.g.: 4/1)
3.3 What does troop quality stand for?
3.4 How can I know how powerful units are?
3.5 Am I correct in assuming that 1 Heart = 25 Men?
3.6 Is there an easy way to group units?
3.7 How useful are Supply Units?
3.8 What does the icon with the scissors on the top of some of my units mean?
3.9 How does the game engine determine where an army will retreat to?
3.10 How can you tell how large of an army a particular region can support?
3.11 What do the little red or green balls at the base of a stack/unit on the game map signify?
3.12 Is there a way to ensure that armies will coordinate an attack?

4 NAVAL UNITS
4.1 Why did I lose all my transported troops as ranged losses and no transports were sunk?
4.2 What is the best use for Bateaux fleets?
4.3 How do I load troops on my ships?
4.4 In cities, is there a trick to load troops onto boats?
4.5 Is there a way to move troops to a city, load the boat, then move the boat during the same turn?
4.6 Is there an easier way of unloading all transports than drag and dropping each icon to the shore?
4.7 Can Bateaux be moved from the St Lawrence River at Montreal via the other river south to Lake Champlain?

5 REINFORCEMENTS, REPLACEMENTS, DISBANDING AND RECRUITMENT
5.1 Is there any way of telling which units will receive replacements?
5.2 Some replacements are available, why do my regiments not recover strength?
5.3 How does militia recruitment work?
5.4 I've noticed that some continentals disband, shouldn't they stick around?

6 SIEGES
6.1 How are sieges taken care of?
6.2 Are naval units taken into account when besieging a fort?
6.3 How to order a sortie against a besieging army?

7 UNITS AND LEADERS STATS
7.1 Can you explain Leader ratings (e.g., 5-4-2)?
7.2 What does “Delayed orders” mean?
7.3 What does the strategic rating of a leader do?
7.4 What is Seniority?
7.5 What is Command Penalty?

8 REGIONS
8.1 How can I gain military control in a region?
8.2 How useful is military control?
8.3 How does region control work affect VPs? Sometimes the region raises your flag and the ledger does not award you VP control…
8.4 The region Winchester has loyalty for Tory 110% and insurgents 10%. Why is this? (bug fixed)

1 Manual, map, download, software, etc.

1.1 Will the ability to download the game always remain or will it only be an option until the game is available on CD?
To be precise, customers who order the box now will receive a bonus free download option. This is valid until March 15th, 2006, as our manufacturing of the CDs has been delayed. Digital download will always be available.

1.2 I have a low spec computer, how can I speed up BoA?
A bit of explanation first: The BoA map is huge, with 876 regions drawn by hand. On computers with 512 MB RAM or lower, they don’t all fit in memory, so BoA use a caching technique: only some of the regions are in memory at a given time. This means that when you first scroll on a new area, or if you un-zoom the map, your video and general RAM have to process new bitmaps. This is the cause for the occasional lag (cursor lag or scrolling lag) you can get at these times.

Here are some tips that may help minimize this lag:
On the system tab for the game options be sure to have these selections checked:
-Textures initialize
-Region pre-caching (but only if you have at least 512 Mb)
-Allow High Mem

Defragmenting the hard drive where BoA is running can really increase performance.

If this is not enough, when you start the game, scroll around the starting area a bit, without de-zooming, so that the regions are loaded.

Playing with a Filter ON demands more CPU power and slow down performance.

Check if your video driver is up to date. An old driver can significantly hamper the game speed.

What will do the most good would be to have 1 GB of motherboard RAM.

1.3 Any chance you can publish a PDF of the map?
http://www.birth-of-america.com/english/gallery.htm

1.4 How do I find the manual? I downloaded the game...and can't seem to find it anywhere...
C:\Program Files\Birth of America\Docs
BoA supports alt-tab without problems, so you can simply launch the PDF manual in parallel with the game and switch between them as you need to.

1.5 Do you plan to release a Mac OSX version?
There is no Mac version planned... it will depend on how many Mac users want the game.

1.6 Does BoA run on PC emulator on Linux computers?
Yes, but configuration is complicated.

1.7 Could you give a typical Play by Play on how PBEM is supposed to work?
1. As the host (arbiter) and player, you create a new game. Rename it to something clear, like MP_Yorktown for instance (MP = MultiPlayers). Quit the game (or just alt-tab), and go to the saves directory, and open the folder named MP_Yorktown.

2. There are 3 files there. The .HST is the master file and you don’t need to send it. There are 2 .TRN files, one for each side. Send the one belonging to your opponent to him. A .TRN ( = turn) file lists all assets a faction has, and what the faction sees of the other faction (accounting for fog of war).

3. Your opponent, when he receives the TRN file, creates a folder in the saves directory (Birth of America\BoA\Saves); let’s call the folder MP_Yorktown, for example. He then puts the .TRN file you sent in it.

4. Now each of you open the game with Load Game, give orders and Save (not End Turn, as this will immediately process the turn, and you still need the .TRN file from your opponent!).

5. There is, in each of your directories, a new file generated: the order file, .ORD ... As a host, you have nothing to do but wait for your opponent. As the opponent, you send the .ORD file to the host. The host then adds this ORD file to the directory where the saved game is. The host should then have 5 files there: the .HST, which has not moved, the 2 .TRN files, and the 2 new .ORD files, generated by the players.

6. The host reloads his turn, and then clicks the end turn button to process the turn. The previous turn is archived into a backup directory and the game is processed. Go to MP_Yorktown, and there are now only 3 files: the HST file, and the 2 new TRN files. Repeat step 2 above, etc…

I hope this is clearer... As a side note, the developers know that its a bit old fashioned to have to move & send the files by yourselves. They are hoping that the next project will let allow the time & money so that Pocus can automate the process a bit, with the functionality retro-added to BoA via patch. It is very important to AGEod to update the games frequently with the improvements such as this.

1.8 Command values for leaders are different in the FAQ than they are in the manual, which one is wrong?
The FAQ shows the right values. The manual is unfortunately not up to date on that. The actual command ratings are 2 for a 1-star leader, 4 for a 2-star leader and 12 for a 3-star leader. These values have been modified a few times during the beta testing to reach the perfect balance... somehow the last version slipped by AGEOD’s attention in English version manual (the French manual is correct).


2 Scenarios, events, victory conditions

2.1 I have taken a rebel city but I don’t get the VP
Historically the British had to garrison the most important towns which led to several raids against them. In the game, a player only get the VP of a town if either:
1. There is a regular regiment in the region.
2. The region's loyalty is 51% or above.

2.2 Is there a way to sway the various Indian tribes to change sides?
In order to stabilize the game, most Indian loyalties are set from the start and won't change, apart from one or two exceptions.

Usually, Indians are French-Allied in all French & Indian war scenarios (hence the name). Only the Mohicans are pro-English from the start
Exception #1 - All Indians are pro-British in all revolutionary scenarios.
Exception #2 - The Iroquois nations (6 tribes) are pro-British but neutral in the 1755 campaign. They will activate as British allies when Fort Frontenac falls (or if "unfixed" by British regulars of size 15 or higher). However, if the French take Albany, the Iroquois will "smell" victory and switch allegiance to the French

2.3 It is currently January of 1778, why have I not run into some Frenchmen?
The chance for French Intervention will begin in April 1778 (even if the alliance is signed in February of that year), with roughly a 15% chance of occurring and increasing by 5% each month until it reaches 75%. In addition, for every grand area where the British controls every strategic city, the percentage of intervention drops by 15%.

2.4 What triggers foreign intervention? Are the arriving forces historical or variable?
In the American War of Independence campaigns, French intervention is triggered by a set of events, such as an American victory, Benjamin Franklin signing the alliance, or the date can also be altered by the extent and state of English success or failure in the Colonies (i.e. the more likely the British are to win, the less the French are to intervene early).

Spanish intervention is not included in the game right now but a Don Bernardo Galvez campaign in Florida and Louisiana should be implemented once we have received the proper historical data.

Once the French are in the war, they will send their "Expédition Particulière". Their intervention forces are rather historical to start with. Once France is in the conflict, it will also trigger some variable adjustments (both to French and English forces and fleets) depending partly on the balance of power in the West Indies (crucial for both belligerents).

2.5 What should I do with the US bateaux in the Greene 1780 scenario?
Honestly, they are almost useless but are included for historical accuracy.

2.6 On the map there are sometimes tiny flashing boxes with a number in them, usually 1. What do these mean?
It's the number of armies you have in that structure. Move your mouse cursor on the structure and you can see the tool tip with the exact composition of the garrison.

2.7 Are you willing to release a scenario editor?
The first step will be to give you the tools to write or edit scenarios as we do: you just need Excel and this is quite simple. A full drag & drop in game editor is less sure.

2.8 How victory points are awarded?
Strategic and objective cities give VP. Killing enemy give VP (each unit has an attached custom VP value, kill George Washington for a big boost)

2.9 Is there a way to get a victory point tally during the game?
The VP tally is available thru the ledger (F1 to F4, or click the globe near the mini-map)


3 Armies

3.1 What is the difference between defensive and passive stance [posture]?
Passive is really a passive posture, not just a reserve one. A retreating army switches to passive for example, and passive armies never attack by themselves, even if other friendly armies are attacked in the same region. They will defend themselves if attacked, however, but with severe penalties, and will quit the fight at the first opportunity.

The advantage of the defensive posture is that you benefit from terrain, and entrenchment. Armies in defensive posture on the other hand don’t initiate battle either, but if one defensive army is attacked, all others that are not in passive posture join the fight.

3.2 What do detection numbers mean? (e.g.: 4/1)
The first is the detection rating vs. land units, the second vs. naval units. It is checked against the hide value of the opponent unit (army or fleet). Some bonuses to this hide value are: +1 in very harsh weather (blizzard), +1 in wilderness. No wonder a regular can’t see an Indian 10 meters in front of him! If you have 51% loyalty in your favor in the region, you gain +1 detection point.

3.3 What does TQ stand for?
TQ = Troop Quality. One of its key functions is during fire and assault.
Units which are hit make a test against their TQ: if they fail, they stop firing (i.e. run)...
In addition, during assaults, each unit makes a test against its TQ: if it fails, it stops assaulting. Usually, Militias have low TQ...but if they have proper officers (those with the Militia ability), their TQ increases by +2

3.4 How can I know how powerful units are?
The unit overall strength mainly measures how powerful a regiment is.

When you move the mouse over one of your armies on the main map, or over an enemy army that you have good intelligence on, you will see a number like 18/24 after each combat unit. It means that the current overall combat strength of the regiment is 18 against its potential (undamaged) combat strength of 24. This aggregated “power” value is computed by the game by using as a base the statistics of the unit (offensive fire, defensive fire, range, etc.) times a coefficient which takes into account the actual number of hit points the whole regiment has. The higher the overall power value is, the stronger the unit is in combat. Some common values are: a full strength regiment is around 28 to 32, or 24 for an American militia. An Indian nation unit is around 16, a courier des bois (French skirmisher) around 21, etc.. As a quick reminder you just have to know that a 30 point regiment is very strong at full strength.

You can also check the overall combat strength by checking the number in each unit card on the regiment stack window (the panel at the bottom centre of the screen). Finally, the NATO symbol on the regiment panel is shown in red when the regiment is not at full strength. With some practice you should be able to estimate at a glance how powerful your army is.

3.5 Am I correct in assuming that 1 Heart = 25 Men?
Hit points are an abstract figure. A line regiment generally has 8 hit points for each element (for a total of 32) but, in fact, unit size in this era was quite variable. English regiments, at full strength, were around 500 (or less) while French regiments were typically 800-900 and some militias climbed to 1600!

The overall combat strength shown in the tool tip is an aggregated value of the stats of the unit, but its just an approximation. In combat, a regiment won’t be able to use it’s full combat value, but instead each of his company will fire, according to the offensive fire, initiative rating, rate of fire, etc. The battle engine is very precise when computing battles.

3.6 Is there an easy way to group units?
Just drag one tab to the army tab you want to group and they will combine. Tabs ARE in all ways the same as armies. You can also multi-select some units in an army and drag them into the tab of another army. This works for fleets too. If you want to load say 2 regiments of a 3-regs army into the harbored fleet of the region just select those army units and drag one of them to the fleet tab.

3.7 How useful are Supply Units?
See section in the FAQ above for more on this topic.

3.8 What means this icon with scissors on the top of some of my units?
It does the unit is moving to "Merge" with another unit mean. Check out the tutorial for more details.

3.9 How does the game engine determine where an army will retreat to?
This is supposed to be the region with the highest military control, with regions having less than 5% being interdicted [blocked].

3.10 How can you tell how large of an army a particular region can support for supply purposes?
This is a difficult question, as each regiment can provide a different amount of supply. You have to check the numbers in the tool tip of each unit or in the detail window (when you click on a NATO symbol at the far right). Also, a supply chip as reported in the region tool tip is worth 5 supplies and 2 ammo, so no direct relation can be calculated. There is also the supply filter, which is very handy for checking the supply status of a unit or stack: green means the region should provide enough supply, while red means you are in danger of lacking supply. But it’s only an estimate, as adjacent regions can also give supplies to your army. In fact, you don’t know more than the generals of the era knew when they waited for the wagons of food. Only some experience with the game will tell you that the city will be enough, or not...

3.11 What do the little red or green balls at the base of a stack/unit on the game map signify?
This indicates the "size" of the army: the more balls, the more units in it and the color is an indication of the average army state: green = most units are in good condition, orange = some are damaged...and if red...well...you'd better hide your force for a good rest.

3.12 Is there a way to ensure that armies will coordinate an attack?
There is no delay move order, as it would not be realistic. Not only is this a game problem, it was a real life problem too. Coordinating units, especially during the time frame of this game, is an extraordinarily difficult proposition (just ask Burgoyne, or Napoleon and Grouchy at Waterloo). But, if your 2 armies are in the same region, combining them will not add a penalty, if neither had one to begin with, so you should combine them.

Grell
Corporal
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2006 12:15 am
Location: Burlington, ON, Canada

Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:49 pm

Nice stufff Korrigan!

Regards,

Grell

Donan
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Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:11 pm
Location: Seattle, WA. USA

Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:36 pm

Yes it is! And much appreciated. I would of swore I already mention this, but obviously I hadn't. This type of FAQ is just what I need and I definitely appreciate the work to put it out. -Thanks again.

Elmo
Captain
Posts: 153
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:20 pm

Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:03 pm

Nice FAQ. As an aside 2.2. and 2.4 say the same thing.

User avatar
Korrigan
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1982
Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:33 pm
Location: France

Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:48 pm

4 Naval units

4.1 Why did I lose all my transported troops as ranged losses and no transports were sunk?
This is to for the fact that burning sailing ships, even if not sunk, are a living hell for soldiers.

4.2 What is the best use for Bateaux fleets?
The key use is rather simple: in Campaign 55, take an army in NYC and send it by land to Albany...then take the same army, load it on the Hudson bateaux, to Albany again... tip: count days !!

4.3 How do I load troops on my ships?
Drag and drop the unit or units you want to transport onto the bateaux' tab, which is always the one farthest to the left on the present forces display (sticking out above the individual units display you get when you click on the region). It's the same as merging different forces in the same region.

4.4 In cities, is there a trick to load troops onto boats?
If your army is in a region with a harbor, with a fleet in the harbor, then you have 2 ways of loading (if the transport capacity is sufficient):

a) Drop the tab representing the army over the tab representing the fleet.
b) Drop the army sprite over the harbor sprite.

Note that it’s the position of the tip of the mouse cursor that is the relevant hot spot when you drop your army sprite over the harbor. Also, if you are over the harbor icon, then the tool tip should blink.

4.5 Is there a way to move troops to a city, load the boat, then move the boat during the same turn?
No, you can’t move an army and load it the same turn or move the boat and unload the army. We are thinking about extending the game engine on that. There is still some interesting "combo" moves that can be done, for example if you army starts near a coast, it can disembark & move deeper in land the same turn, while your fleet can be ordered to move away (after disembarking!).

4.6 Is there an easier way of unloading all transports than drag and dropping each icon to the shore?
There is no "unload all" command, except if the fleet moves into a harbor, in which case all land units are disembarked. But if you want to unload into a shore, you can ctrl-click each unit you want to disembark. Then when you are satisfied with your selection, then drag and drop one of the selected units on the shore (this is the example given in the tutorial with the English southern fleet)

4.7 Can Bateaux be moved from the St Lawrence River at Montreal via the other river south to Lake Champlain?
Nope, it is not allowed. What you mention is, in reality, the river Richelieu connecting the St Lawrence with the Champlain...but, as in reality, there are rapids at Chambly that made navigation impossible and required a portage... hence we did not allow the connection. The trick is to disembark at Chambly and then board from here onto the Champlain ships (if any)... this will go a bit more smoothly when we have modified the code to allow embarking / disembarking in the same turn


5 Reinforcement, replacement, disbanding and recruitment

5.1 Is there any way of telling which units will receive replacements?
It is a two step process:

First, replacements are received (e.g. men to fill regular companies, coming from the home nation)... and you get the message about it.

Second, (usually the following month, but also later if the need is not immediate), you receive a message saying which unit has received a specific kind of replacement. This is attributed automatically by the engine.

To be eligible, your unit must be in a region with a level 2 or higher town, un-besieged, and in supply. Depot presence and Passive stance increase your chance.

5.2 Some replacements are available, why do my regiment not recover strength?
1) Special units (Black Watch, RM and so on) need special replacements that are more rare...(e.g.: there are not as many Scots willing to get killed in the Americas as English right now). We have started working on a feature for allocating replacements with a bit more of player interaction, but it will come after more crucial changes have been effected.

2) Your regiments don’t need reinforcements, in the BoA sense. Indeed a reinforcement is used to get an element back into the regiment, and your regiment already has 4 companies/battalions/elements/whatever. What you need is to let the 4 elements recover hit points. For that you must be in supply, in a region with a city (target a level 2 city at least), and with an excess in supply points. That being done, you will see that the regiment will gradually recover (will take some months if each element has only 1 hit point remaining) by absorbing replacements from the force pool (these, obviously, must also be available).

5.3 How does militia recruitment work?
The French can only raise militias on the French population of Canada, so even if they occupy all of the South, they won't get any militia. And conversely for the British when they occupy Canada. It is a different story in the American Revolution scenarios. Both Loyalist and Rebel militias may be raised (even simultaneously) in an area. This is mostly influenced by the presence (or not) of British regular units there and their degree of control of strategic towns. The more the Brits control, the less there will be of Continentals/Militias levies. Note that leaders with the ability "Patriot" will increase the levy rate of their side by 25%. Also each region as a maximum pool of militias in the game, if all are on map, no more are raised.

And, last but not least, in December there is a fair to high chance that militias are dismissed and return home (their enlistment has expired and they are disbanded). Here again, a leader who is "Charismatic" may influence the dismissal rate (less 25%).

5.4 I've noticed that some continentals disband, shouldn't they stick around?
No, that was one of the key problems of the early days of the Continental Army: soldiers had enlisted for about 1 year and they tend to leave when the period was over. This was particularly critical end of 1776 and also in 1777, with the serious difficulties encountered while wintering at Valley Forge. If the Continental Army survived this crisis, this is mostly due to G. Washington charisma. This is factored in the game, as George is a "charismatic leader", meaning the dismissal rate of Continental directly under his command is rather low.
Tip: keep George Washington with the largest US army in winter and at end of the year!


6 Sieges

6.1 How are sieges taken care of?
In BoA, opposing units can be in the same province without fighting. How can it be? This is defined by the posture you give to your armies. For example, taking an historical example, in early 1775, what will become the Continental army was containing the British, in the province of Boston. The British were not inside the walls but were deployed outside. This can be simulated in BoA, by having both armies in defensive posture.

Now, what about the city, fort, whatever? If you decide to put your army "inside the walls" (well a city is un-walled, but you get the idea, you are in the city) and you have an enemy in the province, then a siege occurs.

If the enemy want to storm the city (or fort), then he has to choose the Assault posture, but if he prefers, he can siege it.
The exact mechanic of siege is rather complex, but the possible results of a month of siege are:
1. nothing achieved
2. defenders suffers hits from opposing army bombardment.
3. a breach has been done (can be cumulative with 2)
4. defenders surrenders

On top of that, you have the normal supply/attrition phase, with supply stock being reduced for the defender, etc.
After a given number of breaches, the city/fort does not provide defensive bonus anymore. It is generally the sign that the attacker will assault. Surrender is computed by taking into consideration troops quality and current supply status.

Now, what about artillery and friendly fleet adjacent to a coastal city: these units provide big bonus for the siege result roll. A fleet near New York city for example would surely inflict hits and perhaps breaches each month to a besieged opponent. Naval superiority has some worth

6.2 Are naval units taken into account when besieging a Fort?
For now they can only blockade, we will add the code part dealing with bombarding when more urgent matters are fixed.

6.3 How to order a sortie against a besieging army?
If you want to coordinate with the attack of a relieving army, select the besieged units, and move the mouse over the icon with an arrow getting out of a city. The garrison will wait behind the wall until one of your army with an offensive/assault posture comes in the same region, then they will sortie.

If you want your garrison to sortie and there is no relieving force, you just drag the guys inside the town out in offensive posture and they will attack.


7 Units and Leaders stats

7.1 Can you explain Leaders ratings (for example 5-4-2)?
For leaders, these are the strategic-offensive-defensive ratings.
The British leaders have an average strategic rating (3.5) much lower than the US ones (4.75)...so the British will be a bit more "apathetic"....looks like history

7.2 What does “Delayed orders” mean?
In leader windows and next their icon, the "letter" is a symbol of whether the leader is active or not. When the letter is grayed-out, it means the leader has not opened his mail with instructions and is staying idle. An inactive leader will move at 50% speed, without the possibility of going on the offensive.

7.3 What does the strategic rating of a leader mean?
To simulate correctly some of the issues of the period, each leader has a strategic rating, from 1 (very poor) to 6 (very good). This strategic rating is rolled each turn with a 6 sided dice. If the result is equal or lower than the Strategic Rating, the leader is activated. You always know when you play your turn if the leader is activated (bright envelope) or not (darkened envelope). If the leader was activated the previous turn AND was not ordered to do anything, he gets a +1 bonus.

A non-activated leader can still move (this is to ease game play) but at 50% speed. he cant switch to an assault/offensive posture, and can’t perform special orders (entrenching, force march etc.). Basically he will only be able to move slowly some troops.

An activated leader does not have these restrictions.

Note that it is the leader who is not activated, not the troops under his command. If you detach from the army an activated leader with some troops, they can perform without restrictions.

Some other considerations:
Leaderless troops suffer from the -50% speed penalty and full combat penalty, as soon as one of the units in the army need one command point (see below). Naval leaders or embarked land leaders are always activated. Naval fleets can have a delay in their order depending on how good is the admiral.

7.4 What is Seniority?
The commanding leader of an army is not the best one available; it’s the highest ranked, most senior commander (See Gage in Boston 75 for a bad leader in command), however it is better to have a badly commanded army than an army with a leader and, therefore, a command penalty.

7.5 What is Command Penalty?
Command Penalty is here to ensure that you can’t discard so easily the bad leaders... Because the game rules are set so that it is slightly better (can depends of circumstances true, if you really want to attack e.g.) to have an army with a bad leader, compared to an army with a good leader, under commanded.

Each leader can command x units, that need command (most of the regular regiments, artilleries and supplies). Indians, rangers, partisans, embarked land units, and privateers don’t need command point.

A one star leader provides 2 CP
A two stars leader provides 4 CP
A three stars leader provides 12 CP

If your leader can’t command all the army, then the troops will suffer from a command penalty: a reduction in speed, and an increasing percentage chance in combat to loose 1 Rate of Fire and have their initiative halved (you also keep 1 ROF though). Believe me, these penalties are dire: you fire second, and rarely!


8 Regions

8.1 How can I increase military control in a region?
Each nation can exert military control over the regions of the map. This control can be increased in 2 ways:

a) by having military units in the region, without any enemy. The more the better. Cavalry and irregular are better at this job.

b) by gaining some ground when attacking an enemy in the region. The army must be on offensive stance for this gain to happen (and only if you take less losses compared to your opponent). This seldom happen in BoA, as this is not a front warfare, but the game engine can handle the case (the 2 armies facing each other at Boston can trigger this effect if one beat the other).

8.2 How useful is the military control?
Military control of a region is a rather interesting bonus for a nation:

a) if you have 51% of better, you gain 2 detection points, even without units. You can spot regular units with this value (but don’t think you will see the Indians or rangers)

b) If you lack sufficient control, you will suffer from adverse effects, in special cases.

These special cases are:
1. you can’t retreat into a region with less than 5% military control. Blazing recklessly away in enemy countryside can be lethal if you are defeated at some point of your campaign.
2. If you have 10% or less control, then if you land from a ship you are considered from landing on the beach against the enemy fire. Same thing happen if you cross a river and there is a battle: not enough control means not enough territory controlled, which lead to a small bridgehead on the other side of the river: you will suffer from the crossing penalty.

=> Military control in BoA, with the options given by the various stances and the fact that a city is another compartment in the same province, try to capture the feeling that a region is not a monolithic block and that many things can happen in many way in it...

8.3 How does region control work for VP? Sometimes the region raises your flag and the ledger does not award you VP control…
To control a location for VP purpose, you should either have a regular infantry (NATO infantry symbol, and check of the detail about a company, you have his type regular, irregular etc.) or 51% + loyalty.

8.4 The region Winchester has loyalty for Tory 110% and insurgents 10%, how does it come?
This wasn't Florida was it? (bug fixed 1.04, in BoA at least)

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Korrigan
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Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:35 pm

FAQ updated, March 23rd 2006:
New: 1.7; 1.8; 2.8; 2.9; 3.8; 3.9; 3.10; 3.11; 3.12; 8.3;8.4

Thanks for your appreciations and corrections.

Please do not spam this thread but do not hesitate to send me PM for typo, love letters etc.

Korri

Donan
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Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:03 pm

Thanks much for the FAQ Update!

BobB
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Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:24 pm

Korrigan:

7.5 states that a 1 star can command 2, a 2 star can command 4, and a 3 star can coomand 12. Page 12 of the rule book states that a 2 star can command 6 and a 3 star can command 18. Which is correct?

Also, 7.5 includes supply units in the mix - the rule book excludes this type.

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Korrigan
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Fri Mar 24, 2006 2:41 am

BobB wrote:7.5 states that a 1 star can command 2, a 2 star can command 4, and a 3 star can coomand 12. Page 12 of the rule book states that a 2 star can command 6 and a 3 star can command 18. Which is correct?


Please refer to 1.8
or to: http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=283

BobB wrote:Also, 7.5 includes supply units in the mix - the rule book excludes this type.


a supply unit needs one CP

The FAQ takes in account the patches and the last gameplay balance. Unfortunately of course, the paper manual is less up to date (don't know about the digital version). This FAQ is proof read by Pocus so you can assume that the FAQ is correct compare to the manual.

All:
Please, ask your questions in private, or even better in the general forum, in order to keep this thread clear.

Enjoy! :sourcil:

Korri

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Korrigan
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Location: France

Wed Nov 22, 2006 12:15 pm

FAQ updated, 11/22/06.

Many thanks to Vonkraus for his hard work :cwboy:
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." Mark Twain

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HattoriHanzo
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Thu Oct 30, 2014 9:00 pm

impressive hard work, many thanks !!!

I will immediately copy it in a word-file and I will do the same with the French version.

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