PBEM Mod release

[Jagger]

There are a couple of minor errors in the mod.

First, river transports for both CSA and Union only have 3 ammo supply instead of 30.

Download the attachment and unzip in your models folder of the gamedata folder. Overwrite the two old files. Or you can open the two files yourself and just change the 3 ammo to 30 ammo for both CSA and Union river transports.

Second, the creation date for the CSA main army in Richmond is set for 05/15/61 instead of 05/01/61. I have no idea how that error snuck into the events file but I have now fixed it. It has been there for quite a long time and I have played several CSA games without realizing the error.

Overwrite the old 1861 April Campaign PBEMPlay file within your events folder with the new zipped file.

These files can be introduced into ongoing games. Restart unnecessary.

The April 23 zipped files at the beginning of the thread will include the changes documented here.

Sorry for the inconvenience of the two bugs...

[Jagger]

All the necessary files you have to download are at the top 4 posts.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thanks Evren!

[Jagger]

I'd say the things that really interest me about this mod include the changes to entrenchment levels...the overhaul of the affect of certain artillery on passing ships....and then I have a slight interest in seeing how the modded Army Command radius plays.

This is some really good looking stuff.

I'm first going to try the entrenchment mod. I get so sick as either Union or confederate in the early war having things grind to a halt.

I disagree however with the reduction in defensive values...but that's a minor issue. I would only agree to a decrease in '61 and '62...but by late '62...the rifled muskets were tearing through armies badly. and if you were on defense...they were even more deadly.

Hopefully, I will be posting all the xls files by this weekend for anyone who wants to mod anything or everything.

My PBEM games show defense as still very powerful even with all the reductions I have made to defense. However by all means, experiment. Nothing is set in stone and everyone has a slightly different perspective on how game mechanics should work. Make changes and find out what feels right to you.

[Jagger]

Wanted to add an update to changes which I forgot to mention in previous posts.

1. The "Hold at all costs" defense has been modded. Originally, a defending unit with "hold at all costs" would never attempt to retreat. This has been modded such that units will not attempt to retreat until the 3rd round of combat. Basically "hold at all costs" is no longer a fight to death, suicide defense but a very stubborn defense. Below are the numbers for "hold at all costs. This change has been in the mod since ROE was introduced but I forgot to document. I use "hold at all costs" often when troops are well dug-in.

// Defensive Posture - First ROE (Defend at all cost)
roeRetreatWill-------------- = 000|000|080|100|100|100
roeRetreatChance---------- = 000|000|080|100|100|100
roeCombatCoeffOwn-------- = 110|110|110|110|110|110
roeCombatCoeffOpp-------- = 110|110|110|110|110|110



2. The VP costs for promotion of a general over another general has been reduced by approximately 2/3. The cost in VP's combined with the extreme slowness of promotion resulted in too great an impact on total VP's due to early promotion, IMO.

[Jagger]

2 more errors found in latest mod version.

1. The names for Iowa Artillery had a mixture of Indiana and Iowa names. Fixed.

Unzip the attached zipped unit file into the units folder and overwrite the old Iowa 12 pdr unit file.

2. There was an incorrect unit ID for Union coastal artillery in the scenario events file. Static Union coastal artillery automatically place in forts at the beginning of the game did not appear. This bug only affected static event provided coastal artillery. Union player recruited coastal artillery was not affected. The attached events file fixes the unit ID.

Unzip the attached events file into your events folder and overwrite the old file.

Lacking the automatically placed Union coastal artillery does not have a major impact on the game unless French and British foreign intervention occurs. If you want an in-game fix for the coastal artillery, I have a fix which can correct the problem in the middle of a game. Send me a private email if you need the fix for an on-going game.

The events and units zipped files at the beginning of the thread dated 27 April include these two fixes.

[Jagger]

Tweaked CSA ship costs. Basically CSA ships cost in dollars is 1.5 times the cost for the same Union ship. Conscript and war supply costs are the same for Union and CSA ships. Also reduced the conscript cost of CSA ocean and river transports to match the conscript cost for Union transports.

Unzip the attached CSA ship models into your models folder and overwrite old models.

This update can be introduced into ongoing games.

[Widell]

Maybe a stupid question - Is the PBEM mod OK together with 1.10?

[Jagger]

Widell, I haven't downloaded 1.10 yet. It is a huge download and I have a dialup connection. So I am not sure when I will download or even if I will download it.

Just looking at the changes in 1.10, I don't see anything which might prevent the Mod from working. It should work.

Although I am a little concerned about the impact of the reduced supply generation and the 4 ship requirement for river blockades on the scenario balance. Supply generation will probably be OK. Time will tell on supply.

The 4 ship river blockade change will definitely benefit the CSA as the Union will have much more difficulty in forcing the rebs out of the Nashville/Bowling Green area and preventing reb cavalry raids across rivers. The Union will need to devote 4 times their current spending on river gunboat resources to achieve what they achieve now in the mod. I am considering adding more event provided Union gunboats without cost.

The improved attrition should be a big plus.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[Widell]

OK - So it sounds as if it's best to stick with vanilla for a new PBEM under 1.10 until these effects have been evaluated. Thanks for the clarification, and hope to see the PBEM Mod for 1.10 as well eventually. Any chance of it being included as a scenario in the stock game? Not very likely until some kind of ACW 2.0 I guess?

[Montbrun]

Im trying to install this MOD, but I'm apparently doing something wrong.

I reinstalled, and patched to 1.09e

I installed Jabberwock's MOD, using only the graphics files.

I then installed the PBEM MOD, as per the instructions.

The !Main log.txt indicates UID issues.

When I check these in the Models and Units folders, they don't seem to match. For example, UID No. 285 in the Models folder is "285USAFranz Sigel.mdl" but in the Units folder UID No. 285 is "285USARodman Art. (NY).uni."
Are these supposed to match?

Can anyone shed some light on what I am doing wrong?

!Main log .txt attached:

[Jagger]

Im trying to install this MOD, but I'm apparently doing something wrong.

I reinstalled, and patched to 1.09e

I installed Jabberwock's MOD, using only the graphics files.

I then installed the PBEM MOD, as per the instructions.

The !Main log.txt indicates UID issues.

When I check these in the Models and Units folders, they don't seem to match. For example, UID No. 285 in the Models folder is "285USAFranz Sigel.mdl" but in the Units folder UID No. 285 is "285USARodman Art. (NY).uni."
Are these supposed to match?

Can anyone shed some light on what I am doing wrong?

!Main log .txt attached:

Montbrun, the most common error in loading the PBEM mod is forgetting to delete every unit or model file from the unit or model folders before adding the new modded unit/models files. If all units files are not deleted first, the unit folder or model folder ends up with duplicate files which cause a UID problem.

The log indicates the problem is in the unit folder. First, open the unit folder and use "select all" to highlight all unit files. Then delete all unit files. Now unzip the modded PBEM unit file into the unit folder. Once unzipped into the unit folder, you should see unit files numbered from 0-1300. Start up the game and see if it starts properly. That should take care of the problem.

If the problem persists, it could be due to the wrong alias file. Re-install the modded alias file into the aliases folder and overwrite old files. Now try again to start up the game.

If you still have the problem, repost the new error log and I will take another look.

Most likely, all unit files were not deleted before installing the new modded unit files.

Hope that helps!

[Montbrun]

I had deleted the whole Units and Models folders - I did it again. Units are 0-1300, models 0-1000. I also re-installed the new aliases.

Still a no-go.

Bummer.

[Jagger]

I had deleted the whole Units and Models folders - I did it again. Units are 0-1300, models 0-1000. I also re-installed the new aliases.

Still a no-go.

Bummer.

Ok Montbrun, the problem is on my side. The Iowa 12 pdr battery is missing from the unit folder. I am attaching the file here. Just download and unzip into your unit folder. Adding this file will fix the problem.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[Montbrun]

That was it!

Thanks Jagger,

Montbrun

[Jagger]

That was it!

Thanks Jagger,

Montbrun

Great!!

Second most common problem with the mod is me making a dumb error in zipping the files.....

[Jagger]

Here is a text strings update. Adds some missing text and documents old changes in abilities.

-Cavalry ability good in all terrain instead of just clear and prairie
-Quickly angered is a 2CP reduction instead of 4CP
-UnitSkirmisher text added. Units have a greater chance of retreat during the first two hours of combat.
-Overcautious is a 40% reduction in speed instead of the CP loss
-adds text for some Mo/Ky troops raised by event
-Union requirements for the Sioux Uprising clearly defined...must have 3 brigades of troops in Dakota Territory from 1 December 62 through 15 January 63.

Just overwrite the old LocalStrings_ACW in the Settings folder with the new attached file. Can be introduced at any point within a game.

Also here is an update for the abilities file. Just unzip in the abilities folder of the gamedata folder. Overwrite old files. Can be introduced at any point within a game.

[Jagger]

Here is a general guide on the use of the Union and Rebel armies in the PBEM mod.

General

Attacking is very difficult in ACW even in the PBEM mod. In particular, defending troops with level 4 entrenchments and above are almost impossible to defeat unless the attacker has a substantial numerical or qualitative advantage. So first rule, never, never, never attack a large force which is heavily entrenched, whether Union or CSA. If you absolutely have no choice or time forces an attack, you will need a minimum of 2.5-1 but preferably 3-1 numerical advantage. Even then, expect to take heavy casualties. It is even tougher when the defender uses the modded "hold at all costs" defense combined with heavy entrenchments.

Because entrenchments are so powerful, the key to a successful offense or counteroffense is maneuver. Threatening encirclement, enemy supply or other key points will often force enemy troops to abandon their entrenchments and fight in the open. Of course, the attacker is very vulnerable to defender counterattacks during their advance as advancing troops are not entrenched while moving.

The Union:

The Union has several advantages in attack. First advantage is their numbers and second is their strategic mobility. By the end of the war, the Union outnumbers the CSA by more than 2-1 which allows the Union to attack in many locations often with larger armies. With this numerical advantage, the Union can also suffer greater losses than the CSA. The Union has excellent rail, river and sea mobility which can force a dispersal of Reb forces in an attempt to defend everywhere. The Union has many options in choosing where to strike.

However the Union has many disadvantages offsetting their advantages. Union troops do not perform as well as reb troops on the battlefield or on the march. Early war Union cavalry has poor fighting ability, poor detection ratings and is in short supply. Union leadership is atrocious in early war. Even though their leadership improves throughout the war-particularly strategically, Union leadership never matches the CSA offensive/defensive leadership advantage on the battlefield. The Union army, with all their numbers, is never very good on the battlefield...except when heavily entrenched or in strong defensive terrain. The Union needs to maximize their numerical advantage and their mobility by threatening attack in multiple sectors. Multiple advances thin out the rebel defenses. Many advances will be defeated or halted but enough weak points will be found for the Union to advance.

In addition, the large Union armies require and rapidly consume large amounts of supply or they starve. To receive supply, the Union must control the roads or water between their depots and their armies. If the Union loses control of their supply lines, they must quickly take their objective or retreat to avoid starvation. Attacks on depots or the Union supply line can quickly halt a Union advance if they are not accompanied by plentiful supply trains.

To summarize, the Union army is large and strategically mobile. However Union armies are poorly led, do not fight well when unentrenched, lose cohesion rapidly while marching or fighting and have vulnerable supply lines.

To counter a Union advance, rebel armies should attack with powerful, concentrated forces any separate, vulnerable, advancing Union formations quickly before they entrench. A single, good attack can destroy Union divisions/corps quickly with acceptable losses to the rebs. The Union numerical advantage disappears fairly quickly after a couple of divisions or a corps are decimated. If the Union army is too large to attack or heavily entrenched, then focus on their supply lines and/or create situations which tempt the Union to split their force.

The Rebels:

The rebel army is very strong on both attack and defense. Their troops are excellent quality and have superb leadership. The primary drawbacks from the CSA perspective is lack of numbers combined with weak and vulnerable transportation lines. Often the rebs cannot be everywhere at the same time and cannot respond quickly to new Union strategic threats.

The rebs must prioritize their defensive objectives. In some sectors, stubborn delaying defense should be employed allowing for the decisive concentrated counterattack in another sector. Against multiple Union offensives, the rebel commander is often tempted to plug every hole leaving their troops too dispersed. In that situation, the rebel armies cannot achieve the local superiorities and decisive victories needed to cripple large Union offenses. Also a dispersed army often takes too long to concentrate their scattered divisions and corps for a counterattack. This is a crucial drawback when quick counterattacks are absolutely necessary before a new Union offensive can entrench in a crucial location. While detachments defend crucial points, the rebels need a concentrated force available for quick counterstrokes.

The rebels should take advantage of their superior cavalry to cut Union supply lines and destroy vulnerable Union garrisions. In particular in Missouri and Kentucky, small cavalry forces, power 100 or so, can devastate small Union garrisons. If the Union does not supplement his MO/Ky garrisons with reconnaisance cavalry, reb cavalry/indian tribes operating in passive mode can roam freely without detection to surprise Union detachments.

The reb army is a very powerful force but can be defeated. Just like Union troops, entrenched reb armies are extraordinarily powerful and difficult to defeat. Unlike the Union armies, the rebel army is also very dangerous outside their entrenchments on offense. Due to Union numbers, the CSA will be forced to fight outside of their entrenchments. The CSA should make certain those battles are at a time and place of their choice. From 61-63, the CSA should capitalize on their strong offensive capabilities to strike hard at advancing Union columns to keep rebel territory free of Union forces. The rebel challenge becomes much more difficult in 64-65 as late war troops become available and the Union numerical advantage becomes more dominant.


Fighting the Reb Army:

The Union should always try to fight the reb armies out of their entrenchments. Flanking maneuvers often will provoke either a counterattack or a counter move by the rebs. Either way, the rebs have been forced out of their entrenchments.

A primary offensive by the Union typically needs concentration and large numbers. Small Union formations are often easily destroyed by quick, concentrated reb counterattacks. When you take a crucial location, halt and entrench. Due to weak Union leadership and lesser troop quality, advances are often slow and halting.

Union detachments are necessary to hold captured ground and ensure supply to your primary army. Detached Union divisions and corps are very tempting targets for concentrated CSA counterattacks. When detached formations are necessary, try to place them in good defensive terrain and maximize entrenchments before leaving them on their own.

At the same time, detached formations often make very good bait for the less cautious rebel commander. If you see a gathering reb counterattack, strong reinforcements railroaded to a threatened detachment can turn easy pickings into a expensive defeat for the rebs. Detached formations can also distract the CSA commander from your actual objective during an offense. If the reb concentrates to destroy a weak formation, your real objective may be weakened enough to fall from a quick attack by your primary force.

A reb counterattack is dangerous, but Union troops fight best on defense. If you are able to force a reb counterattack on your strongest force due to threatening movement, especially if entrenched, welcome the counterattack. Regardless of whether the Union wins or loses, the losses will also be heavy on the confederate side. The Union has much more manpower than the Rebs.

Typically the dangerous, concentrated rebel counterattack is dependent on rapid rail transportation. Railroad lines cut during crucial time frames can allow the freedom for a successful Union advance and entrenchment on important positions. Union cavalry, used in passive mode, is very useful for cutting those railroad lines crucial for successful reb counterstrikes.

Supply is essential for the Union advancing into CSA territory and is a vulnerability as supply lines can easily be cut. Union offenses relying on river or coastal supply are preferable to reliance on land supply as they are harder to cut by the rebs. Always ensure you have adequate supply trains. Depots need to be adequately defended.

The Union should always recruit substantial numbers of cavalry. With the new detection ratings, cavalry is vital for reconnaissance. Your Missouri and Kentucky garrisons will need some supplemental cavalry to find reb cavalry/indians moving in passive mode. Early war Union cavalry may be poor but they are absolutely essential.

To summarize, a successful Union army advance against the rebels is typically slow and methodical with heavy reliance on entrenchments and numbers to balance out the rebel troop and leadership advantage. A Union focus on destroying CSA railroads provides protection against the dreaded CSA counterattack. Simultaneously, the Union must ensure their advancing armies are well supplied with supply trains and have well protected supply lines. The Union has a very challenging task. In ways, much more difficult than the rebs. However the Union does have numbers and can afford mistakes much more than the CSA.

Final note: Over and over, I want to emphasize....Do not attack heavily entrenched troops if you have any choice at all. If you have no choice or time, expect heavy losses.

[Jagger]

After playing several games as both the CSA and Union, the CSA is still a bit too strong in 1862.

I have reduced the CSA conscripts by 200 points in 1862. They receive some additional conscripts in 1864 but overall about a 150 conscript reduction. In addition, the Union receives an increase in event provided replacements to match CSA replacements in 61...about 16 additional Union conscripts. The CSA receives an additional 4 VP's per turn from Atlanta and Richmond totaling approximately 445 VP's over the total game if the CSA holds both Atlanta and Richmond for the entire game. The Union also receives an additional 8 free, event provided gunboats at St Louis in July 61.

Unzip the event zipped file into your event folder and overwrite the old event file. This file should not be introduced into games played past Dec 1861.

[Jabberwock]

post #78 is great advice for vanilla or for any mod, not just yours. It should be on the wiki.

[Rafiki]

It should be on the wiki.

Indeed. Jagger?

[Jagger]

Indeed. Jagger?

You are certainly welcome to post it on wiki.

I think the general principles are applicable to all the scenarios. Probably applicable to all wargames. But some of the specifics only apply to the PBEM mod. The references to 2-1 manpower advantage, the CSA quality advantage and the detection changes probably should be removed as they are specific to the mod. Maneuver is also a lot more difficult in the standard scenario vs the PBEM mod. A little editing might help before posting.

[Jagger]

Here are the upgraded models for 1.10a.

1. Horses and guns added to models. Note artillery batteries, except coastal, siege and fort, have been reduced to 4 or 6 hits to represent 4 and 6gun batteries. As units fire as units this will have no impact on their battlefield performance unless they take losses. They will be more fragile as they cannot take as much damage as previously.

2. DefFire has been reduced overall for early and late war units. Early war regiments have had an approximate -5% reduction and late war regiments have been reduced by approximately 10%. This change will increase offensive capability.

3. Volunteer regiments now upgrade to early war regiments skipping the conscript regiment step. The size of volunteer regiments have been increased to 1000 men from the previous size of 750 men. Only slight differences now exist in combat capabilities between volunteer and conscript regiments. Volunteer regiments take longer to convert to early war infantry than conscript regiments-on average 3 turns longer. Cost of volunteer regiments has been slightly increased but still less than conscript regiments and no war supply cost. Militia regiments continue to upgrade to volunteer regiments.

4. Attrition has been heavily modified. Coefficients remain as per standard but the model attrition values have been modded. Conscript and volunteer regiments suffer heavy attrition until they convert to early war regiments. Expect to lose as many as 200-300 men before the conversion occurs. Early and late war infantry suffer relatively minor attrition compared to conscripts and volunteer regiments. Cavalry has a higher rate of attrition than infantry with conscript cavalry having the worse attrition rate. Movement attrition rates vary with experience as well. Militia, volunteer and conscript regiments suffer significantly more attrition than early and late war regiments.

I have also updated the scenario file and USA events files. The scenario file was updated to reflect the new artillery hits for starting units and reinforcements within the scenario file. The USA events file has slight tweaks to reinforcement pool.

[Jagger]

Just finished a PBEM game. If anyone is interested in playing a PBEM Mod game, drop me a private message. I can do a turn a day. I will play either side. We would be using the latest version including the new attrition and models. Game would be semi-test of new features.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[Jagger]

Jagger:

Here's a copy of a version of the new "Cohesion&Attrition.opt" file that might be more suitable for PBEM play... The version that comes out with the latest patches was altered somewhat to make it more suitable for AI play.

Regards.

Thanks Gray!

[Bowman]

Just tried installing the PBEM mod following the instructions but every time I run it I get a critical error, text below:

08:46:15 (Reporting) User: Mark Computer: HOME-PC
08:46:15 (Reporting) Loading general settings
08:46:15 (Reporting) USettings.LoadSettings 310 settings loaded, out of 10 settings files.
08:46:15 (Reporting) Loading Localized Strings
08:46:15 [Warning ] ULocalize.LoadLocalStrings: Alias too short at line 957 need at least 3 chars (ignored): 3 Cavalry in file: F:\AACWPEBM\ACW\Settings\LocalStrings_ACW.csv Can be a key parsed in alias itself! ($Cavalry = Cavalerie would be 3 = Cavalerie ...
08:46:15 [Warning ] ULocalize.LoadLocalStrings: Alias too short at line 1075 need at least 3 chars (ignored): 1 Rebels in file: F:\AACWPEBM\ACW\Settings\LocalStrings_ACW.csv Can be a key parsed in alias itself! ($Cavalry = Cavalerie would be 3 = Cavalerie ...
08:46:15 [Warning ] ULocalize.LoadLocalStrings: Alias too short at line 1145 need at least 3 chars (ignored): 3 Cavalry in file: F:\AACWPEBM\ACW\Settings\LocalStrings_ACW.csv Can be a key parsed in alias itself! ($Cavalry = Cavalerie would be 3 = Cavalerie ...
08:46:19 (Reporting) ULocalize.LoadLocalStrings: System local strings loaded from F:\AACWPEBM\ACW\Settings\LocalStrings__AGE.csv
08:46:19 (Reporting) Loading Display Options
08:46:19 (Reporting) Entering DirectX Initializations
08:46:19 LocalStrings & Settings 3921926.0 µs
08:46:19 Cursors 8129.0 µs
08:47:33 Direct X Initializations 46091.0 µs
08:47:33 Fonts 6240821.8 µs
08:47:33 (Reporting) Loading Terrains Definitions
08:47:33 (Reporting) TTerrainDefs.Create 35 Terrains definitions loaded, out of 35 terrains files.
08:47:33 Terrains Definitions 589653.0 µs
08:47:33 [Error ] TAreas.Create Erroneous UID for record 87 found UID = MN data corrected to 87
08:47:33 Areas & Theaters 168509.0 µs
08:47:33 Particles I 499.0 µs
08:47:33 Populations 535.0 µs
08:47:33 (Reporting) TAbiDefs.Create 77 Abilities loaded, out of 77 abilities files.
08:47:33 Abilities 111419.0 µs
08:47:33 (Reporting) TListModels.Create 1317 models loaded, out of 1317 models files in 7568 ms
08:47:33 [Critical ] TListModels.Get Data container for models definitions has some discrepancies, for UID 78

I'm running 1.10c and the normal game runs fine.

Also I was confused by install point 12, is it an error?

Thanks

[Bowman]

Just tried PBEM and like it, couple of queries:

I don't see any figures for the Victory & Morale points in the top left box, also no figures for the Locomotives or ships in the Economics box. Is this correct?

Also when version updates are released for AACW do you just run them as normal in the AACWPBEM folder?

Thanks
Bowman

[Injun]

Jagger,
When will you be updating your first pages of this post? A lot of changes have taken place.

[Widell]

Also when version updates are released for AACW do you just run them as normal in the AACWPBEM folder?

Have a look at the posts from May 7th and later in this thread and you will see that it is not obvious that the PBEM mod is compliant with the releases of the vanilla game.