petdocvmd
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Guidance needed for newbie to BoA2

Thu Oct 10, 2013 4:44 am

Hello All,

I recently purchased BoA2 and am in need of guidance. I am new again to military strategy games, having long ago played 1776, the hex-based bookcase game from Avalon-Hill. So far I have read through dozens of informative posts, pored over the manual several times, and followed the excellent AAR “how-to” by Narwhal and Loki100. Based on advice from several posts, I have played both sides of the short Carolinas and Saratoga scenarios and am currently playing the Northern campaign to gain familiarity with movement, postures, ROE, supply, etc.

As I play the Northern campaign, I find that I am struggling to develop a feel for strategic plans for either side. As the rebel commander, I joined the Northern Army to the Continental Army, sent a force to capture Oswego (with an eye on Niagra as well), and took Newport. When the French appeared I sent them to Philadelphia, which at the time had kind of a light garrison. Despite a breach, I was unable to take it quickly before reinforcements arrived from New York. Currently the armies are hunkering down as December has arrived.

I guess I'm just not sure how to make progress when Spring arrives. Both the British and the Americans have Phila, NY and Albany as objectives. I don't have insight into how to pry open some sort of advantage. How should I be thinking (say as the rebels) in this situation?

As a related question, how do you decide on the command structure, troop constitution, and numbers for expeditionary forces? I feel like my decisions are random e.g. “Mad Anthony Wayne is cool – I think I'll have him and Lafayette take 2,000 men and try to sneak around Howe in NY and join the French in attacking Philadelphia.” That strategy actually seemed to turn out okay – until I got the battle report where Lafayette was killed in action! I guess I'm just wondering how others go about deciding when/where to send troops, what command characteristics and stats are important in leader choices, etc.

I have many more question, but this post is already quite long, so I will save them for a future one. I appreciate any help that might be provided, and am looking forward to improving my skills and experience. Thanks!

Scott

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Durk
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Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:40 am

I am so glad you have found this game. I too loved the AH 1776 game. You will find WiA or BoA2 is an excellent computer extension of this game.

You have, I am sure, examined the objectives in the ledger for specific targets. Against AI you will always find focus and some randomness. I always suggest playing against yourself and then to find a pbem opponent.

Gain advantage by gaining control of the supply situation.

As to commanders, match qualities to missions. You will lose leaders randomly, but if you mostly choose leaders to the needed mission and the need to keep the army at no leader penalty, you will do well.

Post away. You will find many gamers with lots of opinions.

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Dortmund
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Thu Oct 10, 2013 10:37 am

Hello, this is really a good game that will give you some good moments. Here you'll find some advices, but it is a "simple but complex" game and you'll have to try and learn for youlself some things.

I organize my forces according to their role. Basically they are regular forces and irregular or guerrilla forces.

-Guerrilla forces are made to operate in difficult terrain. They are fast and pass easily through rough terrain, but normally they are not professional soldiers and have worst stats than other forces. In offensive duties I form them only with fast units (indians, coureurs, rangers... no wagons or artillery). When defending a structure I usually attach them to regular units to form a stronger force, not two weaker ones.

-Regular forces are made of regular units, professional soldiers that have really good stats. They are usually "expeditions" formed to conquer an important objective. The units included are mixed to give the force some benefits (elite infantry, marines, cavalry, light infantry, supply wagons...).

You’ll have to assign the better leaders according to the role of a force. So leaders with "guerrilla" or "ambush" habilities are logically better used commanding a guerrilla force in difficult terrain.

petdocvmd
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Fri Oct 11, 2013 12:05 am

Thanks for the fast and helpful replies!

Durk, I have indeed been playing both sides, though I also played the Carolinas and Saratoga scenarios against the AI as each side. I am working on trying to learn how to recognize just what missions I should be undertaking ;-)

Dortmund, thanks for the example of organizing forces by role. Hopefully with some thought I can imagine some variations on this theme to fit different situations.

A few more questions, if you don't mind:

When entering a friendly city/fort region for rest or as a waypoint, do you send the entire force in, or leave a small force outside? Hard to word this, but I'm wondering about the trade-off between faster recovery vs. readiness / risk of siege. Am I correct in assuming that a force will regain cohesion, etc. faster within a structure/city vs. outside? But is there a potential penalty if there is a nearby opposing force that might besiege the city (and my force) immediately thereafter?

How in general does entrenchment/depot/fortification come into play? For example, what factors help you determine if you should build depots or forts, or just remain idle to become entrenched (assuming no urgent mission beckons)? I imagine forts/depots are good for captured cities enroute to a more distant objective, but which one when, and are there other situations where they are strategically helpful?

Thanks again!

Scott

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Durk
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Fri Oct 11, 2013 4:19 am

Scott,

You ask really direct and pointed questions. You must have a good understanding of the game.

One thing I like about determining missions is that the victory conditions provide nice targets to think about and attempt to take, but the game rewards the strategy of 'defence of posts,' that is taking cities; but also attacking your opponent's army. So as Dortmund says, 'simple but complex.'

One place I disagree with Dortmund is when organizing forces you need to determine purpose of the force. If you wish to take cities or structures, you need a regular with your irregulars to actually take the region. So I think of it as three force compositions, not two. But the two Dortmund defines are a great way of thinking about the game.

You are correct in how you are thinking about outside/inside. I make this decision upon the grounds you hint about. How deadly would it be to be caught inside a structure? Also, if it is winter, dive inside the structure.

Depots are easy, I build them in relation to the number of elements in my force. Is the supply sufficient for all of my elements. If not, I add a depot.

Forts are more challenging. I build one in New York and Philly so they have an extra level of protection. That is, I rarely build forts. But when you need to free an army to move, a fort can be a nice backup.

Sounds like you are ready for pbem.

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Dortmund
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Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:29 pm

" wrote:Dortmund, thanks for the example of organizing forces by role. Hopefully with some thought I can imagine some variations on this theme to fit different situations.


Of course, that was only a basic scheme. As you say there are multiple situations. ;)

The risk of putting a force into a structure is that it can be totally destroyed if it is defeated. I only do it when I really want to hold that region at all costs.

Related to the entrenchment, if you put an artillery unit in a force it can (after some time) improve the entrenchment level of that force to level 2. Also the terrain (type of terrain, river crossing...) and weather are another factors to have in mind.

To know when and where to build a depot depends on your judgement... It's as Durk says. I only build them when is really needed (when I need a force to be static in one region and that region can't feed my troops). You can multiply the supply level of the region by 5 and compare the result with the supply consumption of all the forces in the region. If the supply consumption is higher you need a depot or you'll have problems. I don't remember what number added the depot to the supply level of a region (maybe 5? or it was 10?).

petdocvmd
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Fri Oct 11, 2013 10:06 pm

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the continued advice! Feel like I've got a few handholds to work with now :-)

Naturally, this has caused me to think a bit more and thus new questions have arisen!

I understand your advice regarding depots, but I can't seem to find an explanation in the manual as to determining the supply consumption of a regional force...is this the value in the tooltip shown when you mouse over the “cooking pot” icon in the unit panel e.g. “...your usage is 16/turn” ? If so, then I presume you would add these up for each force in a region, and compare to the calculation you mentioned for supply capacity i.e. Region supply level x 5, right?

Similar to my entrenchment question, how does the level of fortification rise? Adding more artillery and/or supply wagons? Time?

Regarding a besieged army, can the force be brought out to fight, or are you locked in?

Finally, is trying to establish a zone of control a fruitful strategy, and how feasible is it?

Thanks for bearing with me and my million questions :-)

Oh - one more - when I feel ready for PBEM, should I just post a message here in the forum requesting an opponent and suggesting a campaign?

Scott

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Durk
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Sat Oct 12, 2013 3:36 am

So good you are responding and progressing. You are really lucky to have found this game, it is top notch.

Supply in this game has two very different aspects, gaining sufficient supply and having supply to rebuild units. Being in supply is enhanced if you have a wagon with your force. A regional force has supply if its elements are equal or less than the region they are in, plus the value of the surrounding regions. Rebuilding supply only applies to the region you are in with your force. The manual does explain this, but it takes some play to see this.

For the most part, except as Dortmund explains, entrenchment is a a one level unless in a fortress, it might become a 2 with time. Fortification levels do not change, unless you build a fort with a supply and artillery unit. You will see in the ledger options if you qualify.

Yes, simply place your force outside the city or fort. You will know you succeeded because the inside icon will disappear. Then you can attack or simply defend.

You will have a zone of control or not, typically it is not up to you so not something to worry about or try to control.

So, you already know two forum members to whom you can send a pm for game or you can post in the pbem portion of the forum for a game.

Durk

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FENRIS
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Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:32 pm

And don't forget : don't travel in winter or you will find your army with a lonesome general, the banner and the trumpet :feu: :mdr:

Winter in WIA = in your base with a cup of tea or coffee.. or 12year's whisky :innocent:
Supply is the most important question in this game so no operations in winter, snow, blizzard etc...

:thumbsup: :wavey:
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petdocvmd
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Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:17 pm

Appreciate the sage advice. However, can anyone provide a more specific answer to this question I still have:

...determining the supply consumption of a regional force...is this the value in the tooltip shown when you mouse over the “cooking pot” icon in the unit panel e.g. “...your usage is 16/turn” ? If so, then I presume you would add these up for each force in a region, and compare to the calculation you mentioned for supply capacity i.e. Region supply level x 5, right?

Thanks!

Scott

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Dortmund
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Sat Oct 12, 2013 8:24 pm

Right! ;)

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Durk
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Sun Oct 13, 2013 2:42 am

petdocvmd wrote:Appreciate the sage advice. However, can anyone provide a more specific answer to this question I still have:

...determining the supply consumption of a regional force...is this the value in the tooltip shown when you mouse over the “cooking pot” icon in the unit panel e.g. “...your usage is 16/turn” ? If so, then I presume you would add these up for each force in a region, and compare to the calculation you mentioned for supply capacity i.e. Region supply level x 5, right?

Thanks!

Scott


I kind of already gave you one take, I am not certain if this answers your question.

Supply has two very different calculations in this game. I am not exactly sure what you are referencing with the mouse over, but I think you are referring to the icon on the right, that is to the right of the ammo supply icon. This cooking pot tells you your current supply, not your need.

Your need is based upon the number of elements. The supply per element is based upon the supply in your region, plus the supply in adjacent controlled regions.

MrFreeze
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Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:50 am

Hi,
I recently started to play BoA2 too and I found an excellent AAR that teach the basics of this great game:

note: I cant post URL yet but you can find this AAR @ forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?545321-Wars-in-America-A-how-to-AAR

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