How to get introduced and used to Ageod games?

[Fastsnake]

Hello there!
Behind this kinda weird title, there is a little guy who slightly becomes addicted to your games to the whole subcateogry of "grand stategic historical games".
But, if I left the Total War because their lack of complexity annoyed me, I got some trouble to suddenly go into Ageod (or even other Paradox Entrainment) games.

I fell that they're great, they're exactly that I wanted, but I just don't get all what is happening around me, and I eventually always turn out to be the one who lose.

I've read that American Civil War was one of your most complex game (and I'm waiting the gold version to open my World War One Box), so how could I start? Which game do you advise me so as I can be more conversant with these games?

Even though you will of course focus on Ageod games, I'll be pleased to play maybe less tough games to handle at the beginning, no matter who made them (but I understand you want to sell games, which are really good by the way!).

So what are your advises, based on your experience for instance... It's up to you now!

See you soon, on this thread, I hope!

[Franciscus]

Hello. IMHO the best Ageod game, even to a beginner is really AACW. I think it is the one that captures best the "reality" of the portaied conflict, without bothering you so much with attrition/supply as for instance BoA or WiA. Of course the full ACW is difficult. I advise you start with the scenarios. Shiloh specially is great to learn the basics - but not just in one setting, you should play it many times, trying different strategies, force organizations, etc. Then, onward to the campaign. You will loose - probably many times - but loosing in AACW is great !!

Regards

[Pocus]

About the 'I don't get all what is happening to me' part. You have two tools that you should use and abuse as a new player to understand the flow of the game: An option in the Options Window, called 'Focus on Move' and the Replay feature.

As Franciscus says, try first the smaller scenarios. AACW tutorials are based on Shiloh, so play shiloh. And then fire the replay each time you want to be sure why stack X is moving this way or why stack Y is suddenly out of view.

[brucy]

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[Bernadotte]

IMHO the best Ageod game, even to a beginner is really AACW.

Since I own AACW now for a couple of days, I definetly have to agree with Franciscus !
I started with NCP because I like the theme, but had a hard time to understand what was going on.
Then I bought WiA because I slowly got addicted to Ageod games
And a few weeks ago I bought ACCW, just to see/get another Ageod game. And now the curtain to some NCP and WiA oddities got resolved, because AACW is the most polished and less bugiest game of the hole series (I wish NCP would be that polished ! ).

The AACW forum (and wiki) is also a great help to several ageod-engine and gui questions, even for WiA and NCP !!

Regards,
Bernadotte

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[beatoangelico]

I haven't a lot of experience but IMHO the best one to start is BoA or BoA2. While I agree that the smaller scenarios of AACW are very good, the leap from these ones to the full campaign is really big: the map is HUGE, railroads add another big strategic layer which of course is absent in BoA, and you have to manually build most of your army.
BoA not only has smaller scenarios as well, but the full campaigns are definitely simpler: smaller area of operations, less provinces, no need to build your units, no chain of command, and the supply system, while harsher, it's also easier to grasp (as long you understand the difference between "supply chips" and "supply points"! )

[Zap Brannigan]

I am fairly new to the AGEOD games as well - I really like the concepts but I've largely been fumbling around in the dark - thanks for the advice - should be a big help.

[Jim-NC]

I am fairly new to the AGEOD games as well - I really like the concepts but I've largely been fumbling around in the dark - thanks for the advice - should be a big help.

Welcome to the forums. There is a wealth of information for the different AGEOD games.

[Fastsnake]

I knew I wouldn't be the only person to feel kinda lost in this very closed world.

[Jim-NC]

I knew I wouldn't be the only person to feel kinda lost in this very closed world.

And remember that there are many who are willing to help light your way. They also act as world openers.

[Boomer]

AGEOD games teach gamers a bit about history, but most importantly, they teach you PATIENCE.

So many games these days, even strategy games, are click fests. You know, the standard 'look, choose, click, move on' type of responses. Whereas doing that type of thing in an AGEOD game will get you smashed really quick. Checking supply lines, leader abilities, all these abstract things come into play when deciding whether to move forward, retreat, or go all in with reckless abandon. I've spent as much as 20 minutes or more before just plotting out one turn in a game like WIA or AACW.

Very few pieces of software can truly come close to approximating the real world problems and solutions of the scenarios they pretend to replicate, but AGEOD games do an excellent job of showing gamers the fine line between victory and defeat. A click of a division into the wrong direction can mean total failure. Smart moves are well thought out moves, not reactive ones. If anything, AGEOD could be used to un-ADD kids in school. Get them thinking with their minds and hands, not just playing Nintendo pilot with their hair triggers and 1 second reaction times.

Oh, and there's the whole 'history education veiled as entertainment', that can't be all that bad either.