Is this the game I should get next?

[dolphin]

I am totally in love with the Civil War game, but I am desperate for a change of flavor to avoid getting burned out.

To that end I have been reading about all the other games all night it seems.

In all fairness I will probably be getting the new King Arthur 2 game at some point down the road, but thats another story and pretty much a totally different genre.

I am sure many of you are very well familiar with the American Civil War game enough to help make the decision on my feeling that ROP is the most likely candidate to feed my appetite for a change of flavor.

A long time ago I played the demo for NCP, but I am a campaign afficianado and NCP just does not have that option.

More importantly I am thinking that this game is much newer in terms of release and is likely much more refined.

P.S. I still have a mint condition Avalon Hill "Frederick the Great" board game I never got to play.

[H Gilmer3]

I have both. I don't know that I can answer your question. I think I like playing RoP better. Why? Because I have had AACW all my life. I'm from the North but live in the South and they relive the War almost every day in discussions. Who should have done this, why did this general do that.

I like RoP for all the different nationalities and the history of it that I learn each day.

Hey, have you read the "Learn to Play RoP" AAR? If you like AARs and have not read it, I'd suggest reading it. It will give you the exact flavor of what playing it is like.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?513080-Learning-from-Prussia-a-Rise-of-Prussia-AAR-against-a-real-player-for-beginners

[dolphin]

I have both. I don't know that I can answer your question. I think I like playing RoP better. Why? Because I have had AACW all my life. I'm from the North but live in the South and they relive the War almost every day in discussions. Who should have done this, why did this general do that.

I like RoP for all the different nationalities and the history of it that I learn each day.

Hey, have you read the "Learn to Play RoP" AAR? If you like AARs and have not read it, I'd suggest reading it. It will give you the exact flavor of what playing it is like.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?513080-Learning-from-Prussia-a-Rise-of-Prussia-AAR-against-a-real-player-for-beginners

Reading it right now. Great link. Thanks.

[OneArmedMexican]

I would recommend RoP over Napoleon as well. It's simply the better game. Besides there are rumours that AGEOD might already be working on Napoleon 2. Another game you might want to consider is RUS. Like RoP it's a fine game and in many ways closer to ACW (more economic options than RoP and mobile warfare due to railroads).

[Matto]

RoP is great ... but forgot railways and winter war ...

[dolphin]

Another game you might want to consider is RUS. Like RoP it's a fine game and in many ways closer to ACW (more economic options than RoP and mobile warfare due to railroads).

Is "Revolution Under Siege" more refined in terms of Patch candidates?

Which of the two is more actively tinkered with to improve it? The more active community and the one that has more available PBM games?

RUS does sound interesting. Just now taking a serious look at it and will probably try the demo for a bit.

The onliest negagtive I have with it is the actual subject matter combined with my (arguably) unpopular perspective on the real world geopolitics of the time, but that sounds more and more like a flimsy argument the more I think about it. After all it does have a campaign that advertises changing history.

[Durk]

Oh my dear, you have had such good advice but did not hear it.
H_Gilmer3, OneArmedMexican and Matto gave you the answer. You did not hear them.
All AEGod games are pretty much in the same patch. Same tinkering, as you say.

Just dive into the era you enjoy, and enjoy.

[dolphin]

Oh my dear, you have had such good advice but did not hear it.

H_Gilmer3, OneArmedMexican and Matto gave you the answer. You did not hear them.

All AEGod games are pretty much in the same patch. Same tinkering, as you say.

Just dive into the era you enjoy, and enjoy.

NCP is not in same patch as the team that designed it is long gone and the AEGEOD team that came after never got arround to putting in the time for it because it was not their baby. Something I can understand.

Unfortunately my favorite era would be NCP, but alas I will have to wait for NCP-2. For me if there is no grand strategic campaign then I am disapointed.

The link to the AAR that Gilmer3 gave me was all I really needed. I am still having fun reading it.

[Durk]

So pick one of the other for eras for play and fun until NCP is our new wonder horse.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

If you want AACW on crack, get RUS. I didn't know anything about the RCW until I bought RUS. Now I can't find enough english language stuff to keep me satisfied. There's the regular vanilla version, which is still getting intermintenly updated. And then there's Clovis's mod, Fatal Years, which is definitely the most comprehensive mod in the AGE engine so far.

The onliest negagtive I have with it is the actual subject matter combined with my (arguably) unpopular perspective on the real world geopolitics of the time, but that sounds more and more like a flimsy argument the more I think about it. After all it does have a campaign that advertises changing history.

I went in playing only the whites, I mean they had to be better than the reds, right? But after much reading, there really isn't a faction with moral high ground in this conflict. If you can overcome that, then it's an infinitely interesting conflict from a strategic standpoint.

*edit* I should clarify that I don't have RoP yet. It's my next AGE purchase for sure though.

[ERISS]

my favorite era would be NCP,

That's why you like AACW which is in the end of Napoleon-like wars? (infantry/cavalry/artillery in uniforms)

RUS does sound interesting.
The onliest negagtive I have with it is the actual subject matter combined with my (arguably) unpopular perspective on the real world geopolitics of the time,

As european-centered, I think AACW was like Roman-republicans(North) vs Greek-democrats(South). Slavery was just a political tool.
Then US America could be as old Russia in the future, and a RUS-like war could happen vs federal overpower, and give birth to a worst one promising freedom for the states.
If you're interested in the future of America, see Russian past
(hey Ageod, you can give me a game for this good advert :neener

[Ilitarist]

RUS is a nice game, but a little bit overwhelming. It has tanks, aircraft, different rebel factions, active foreign intervention, internal politics. The core is similar to other games, but... It's too much anyway.

But it has good scenarios for several turns - Rise of Prussia, for example, lacks it. On the other hand, I find RUS graphics not very good: map, interface, soldier icons and even commanders are all ugly compared to AGEOD games.

It's also very hard to get what's happening. RCW was very messy war with unclear fronts and many events. So if you have little knowledge on the matter it will enlighten you or confuse you, depending on your effort. RoP is pretty simple: Frederic fights Austria, Russia comes from the east, unbelievable political miracle saves Prussia and it's kicking again.

I went in playing only the whites, I mean they had to be better than the reds, right? But after much reading, there really isn't a faction with moral high ground in this conflict. If you can overcome that, then it's an infinitely interesting conflict from a strategic standpoint.

In modern Russia this war is still a big deal, just like WW2. Right now you can't really met a man who thinks reds or whites were any good. Some say that red were more effective and better for country, some say whites would be better, but everybody remembers both sides were sick bastards. It's fun to play as Antonov-Ovseyenko, the man who developed doctrine of killing enemy conscripts' families, isn't it?

[OneArmedMexican]

RUS is a nice game, but a little bit overwhelming. It has tanks, aircraft, different rebel factions, active foreign intervention, internal politics. The core is similar to other games, but... It's too much anyway.

But it has good scenarios for several turns - Rise of Prussia, for example, lacks it.

I wouldn't say RuS is that much more complex than ACW or RoP. RoP has multiple subfactions as well; so has ACW (at least if you get the British, French and Mexicans into the war). The economic system in RUS is about as complex as the one in ACW. Sure there are a lot of options but if you take the time to dive into this game, you will figure them out.

Every AGE game has its flaws. ACW could have used a bigger map and a more realistic entrenchment system, RoP has an over-complex yet insufficient replacement system, RUS has its flaws, too: foreign intervention can occur in unhistorical ways, battles end to often in the annihilation of entire stacks, ...
Of course, other people may perceive other things as flaws than me.

But most importantly both, RoP and RUS have a lot of qualities as well. RoP simulates the maneuver warfare of the time really well. RUS on the other hand is a very dynamic game, it plays along railway lines and key cities. Yes, it is massive but if you have experience with ACW you won't be overwhelmed.

Like Ilitarist said it offers scenario for almost every taste: small campaigns with a limited territorial scope as well as massive scenarios. The fictional Drang Campaign is probably the biggest scenario ever made for an AGE game.

As for patches. It took the SEPRUS team some time but by now the game is well patched (except for the Drang Campaign).

On the other hand, I find RUS graphics not very good: map, interface, soldier icons and even commanders are all ugly compared to AGEOD games.

Personnally, I don't like the leader graphics in RUS very much (yes, I know it's ironic since I modded quite a few of them myself ). The map and unit presentations on the other hand are in the same style as ACW and RoP. And they are just as beautiful. Perhaps even more colourful since a cossack uniform looks a lot more exotic than a rugged Confederate in ACW.

[Ilitarist]

Personnally, I don't like the leader graphics in RUS very much (yes, I know it's ironic since I modded quite a few of them myself ). The map and unit presentations on the other hand are in the same style as ACW and RoP. And they are just as beautiful. Perhaps even more colourful since a cossack uniform looks a lot more exotic than a rugged Confederate in ACW.

It may be cultural thing. For Slav like me who lives somewhere in this map, those fonts, pictures, clothes and everything else looks like parody on reality that I see in soviet movies/photos for all my life.

Of course, I'd recommend taking both games There's also Birth of America 2: Wars in America, which is even better scenario wise, but it's hard to get in my country and it's not on steam so I can't say more till someone gifts me it.