Some questions for Union players

[elxaime]

You're five points off what you need.

The telegraph RGD boosts the region to 80 which is all that is needed to make that region rich.

Also, the demonstration RGDs hit the Union hard and you have little else to play during that time, so they do make a difference. I generally don't play them all at once against another person, but that's my personal bias against what I see as a lack of Union counter-play which might be as effective.

The money cost for Counter-Intelligence seems rather high and the Union has less of these than the CSA demonstrations. Why is this? Also, why wouldn't the Union have its own demonstrations to play?

[Merlin]

The money cost for Counter-Intelligence seems rather high and the Union has less of these than the CSA demonstrations. Why is this? Also, why wouldn't the Union have its own demonstrations to play?

I'm guessing because the Union can play the Habeaus Corpus RGDs almost at will, and the Unionist RGDs are truly potent if you consider what they can do . Thus the balance to the Demonstrations card isn't really the Counterintelligence RGD but the HB itself. It's actually rather elegant, provided a CSA PBEM partner doesn't engage in serious card-play.

[Gray Fox]

I've found no increase in production from a region bcoming "Rich" in tests that I did. The only effect is that units undergo less attrition in a Rich region. The telegraph does add VPs, though. Minipol, do you have some screen shots that Rich increased cash production in a region when NM stayed the same?

[tripax]

While I haven't seen it in the game, here is Pocus on development level and income.

[Gray Fox]

I haven't seen it either. I just ran a test with Northern California, NYC and Philadelphia and there was no change when they became Rich. I ran it a couple of turns thereafter too. I posted the pic in an update to the "Playing your cards right" thread.

[elxaime]

I haven't seen it either. I just ran a test with Northern California, NYC and Philadelphia and there was no change when they became Rich. I ran it a couple of turns thereafter too. I posted the pic in an update to the "Playing your cards right" thread.

There seems a conflict here with Pocus and some testers saying increasing development adds money and some saying their tests show it doesn't. Perhaps an independent laboratory can be hired to find the answer?

[Micah Goodman]

Here
s another question, why can't the Confederates use the suspend Habeous Corpus card? They did it in RL.

[elxaime]

Here
s another question, why can't the Confederates use the suspend Habeous Corpus card? They did it in RL.

I agree, the asymetric nature of the cards strikes me as historically questionable. Both sides had supporters in the areas controlled by the other side and throughout the war tried to stoke this sentiment. This was particularly true in certain regions. Maybe the cards can be tied to being played only in certain regions.

Don't get me wrong....I love these new card play. I just think it needs a sweep of its own, maybe as a focus of a future patch, so as to add flavor and dimensions to the political side of things.

[Gray Fox]

There seems a conflict here with Pocus and some testers saying increasing development adds money and some saying their tests show it doesn't. Perhaps an independent laboratory can be hired to find the answer?

Here's my "evidence". A .jpg is worth a kilobyte of text.
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?34981-Playing-your-cards-right/page2

[ArmChairGeneral]

Though I have no screen shots to back it up, I too find that the telegraph card does almost nothing useful. I have been tinkering with it since the day I bought the game, and cannot find any effect on the game aside from slightly reducing transit times. This might be useful in the Far West, so that supplies flow more consistently, but that is about the only effect I have been able to determine, and I have played this card over and over again, hoping I could get it to do something useful.

I like the current balance of HC vs Demo. The loyalty duel is a fun sub-game, and is the best designed and implemented portion of the RGDs, IMO. Too many of the other cards are either useless, obscure or esoteric in their effects, or downright disadvantageous to play. I suspect that several of them are not working as designed.

[elxaime]

Too many of the other cards are either useless, obscure or esoteric in their effects, or downright disadvantageous to play. I suspect that several of them are not working as designed.

Well said....the rest of the game is wonderful and well-polished but card play needs another look.

[GraniteStater]

Well, at the risk of being seen in a bad light, after having been away for weeks and weeks, I would like to clarify some comments addressed towards me:

* I am not a mod. I don't pretend to be one. My comment above about being germane was couched as politely as I knew how, and I put it in context, my chief concern being clarity for new users.

* I certainly don't know everything about CW2. I play intuitively, and am more interested in exploring the modelling than I am in crunching numbers. As far as the Industrialization goes, going whole hog seems to work for me & my two PbeMs in CW2, as the Union, seemed to be better for it. Maybe eschewing Indy is better, I don't know for a fact, I went very light in my early AI games and ran into issues that were of concern to me - to me. I altered my approach and I like it. That's all I can report.

* I don't believe I issue pronouncements like "Don't build Cav at all," or similar constructions. I try to put things in context and be fair. I am the first to admit I haven't played the CSA enough to give good advice about it - some things, I feel I can, but they are few. I'm much more comfortable giving an opinion about the Union. Again, I try to couch them within limits.

* One reply to my plea said something about "understanding the game". That is my point, which I put as politely as I could - the OP didn't ask to 'understand the game', he was asking Qs about the Union. Threads do digress, sometimes very far afield - I merely was making a plea to address the Qs asked in a thread - then explore to your heart's content.

* As always, these are just my opinions. I try to be polite when expressing them. I try hard not be bombastic nor address issues with individuals (if I have any). Remember - it's just a game.

[khbynum]

Do not feed the troll.

[GraniteStater]

It is hard to see how one can be a troll after having been away for months. Again, I was responding to some points addressed to me - personally. I believe it is improper to engage in ad hominem arguments, something that does not seem to deter some here.

*****

Just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in. RL is beckoning mightily. Hope to check out the new patch and maybe, maybe, have a PbeM again.