Bunch of questions (n00b alert)

[Oleg]

OK first post.

Marvellous game! Reviewed it for my magazine and gave it 93% which pretty much says all. Still learning but I hope to be ready for first PBEMs soon. I went thru the manual once, both tutorials and fantastic Wiki strategy guide as well, now, of course, questions.

- During combat animations what, if anything, green and red segments of the semicircle represent? I took it that green segment prevailing over red means my guys are "winning" and vice versa, but apparently it is not so.

- PBEM - is it recommended that CSA player always hosts the game or it does not matter at all?

- Patches and PBEM. From what I see the game gets patched pretty often - how do PBEM games "survive" patching? I take it you can continue the game with new patch with no problems right?

- Helping the adjacent corps ie marching to the sound of the guns. How to maximize the possibility of that happening? Do the adjacent corps need to be put on offensive, deffensive or it does not matter? I assume that corps in "passive" stance will not react, or will they? Where does the army HQ need to be to maximize the possibility of reaction? Does it matter if the army HQ is 1, or 2 or more regions away? Please explain.

- Having said that the role of the army HQ is kinda foggy to me and I have whole bunch of army HQ related questions. I read the manual, the fantastic guide by runyan (dude you ROCK!), I know a thing or two about period warfare, and I think I understand the role of divisional and corps' HQs however armies seem to be altogether different.

- I see that the tutorial and the AI use some sort of minimal army HQs, meaning the general dude, medics and signals if they are available, probably a supply wagon and a small cavalry unit. Runyan's guide suggests to keep army HQ stacks in adjacent "hexes" to corps stacks to help with tactical reactions. What happens if this army HQ menagerie is caught unaware by enemy raiders? They are too weak to defend themselves. Wouldn't it make more sense to keep them ALWAYS in sync with some larger stack (corps)?

- What's the point of having an asset like arty battery in army HQ "menagerie" stack? Wouldn't it be more useful.... well pretty much anywhere else?

- When moving large formations I always pick the army "menagerie", click two arrows (sync moves), then corps, click two arrows, then I move my army menagerie first. I do that even though I am afraid that something bad might happen during turn resolution, like army menagerie arriving a day earlier than corps and getting hammered by... pretty much anything, before others arrive. Can that happen? Should I move my strongest corps first and let the others follow it (sync move order)?

Finally, ephemereal complaint - music files are played randomly right? Some nice songs there. However, after applying the latest patch (1.08d) I never hear my favorite tune, Johhny comes marching home, it never plays.

I am sure I will have many more questions (especially when I start PBEM-ing) but this is it for now, thanks in advance!

Oleg

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[wolflars]

I am sure I will have many more questions (especially when I start PBEM-ing) but this is it for now, thanks in advance!

Oleg

I am also n00b (been playing 3 days now....non-stop it seems) here Oleg so I can't help you and am curious about these exact questions, particularly about what to stack with the army HQ. Furthermore, to your questions does it make sense to keep the medical units with a HQ group or send them to a corps stack?

In regards to your review, how did you find the AI? I am only curious because I was reading some funny posts about AI versus PBEM on the Matrix site...

In fact Oleg, since we are both learning the system, if you want a PBEM match I'd be game. A no harm no foul kinda game where mistakes are expected. I would rather learn the game against a novice than versus an experienced player who just wants another victory at a noob's expense. I would be good for at least a turn per day, don't care which side, and don't care who wins as long as it's not "gamey". We can even make allowances for questions that came up during play...

[Eoghammer]

OK first post.

Marvellous game! Reviewed it for my magazine and gave it 93% which pretty much says all. Still learning but I hope to be ready for first PBEMs soon. I went thru the manual once, both tutorials and fantastic Wiki strategy guide as well, now, of course, questions.

- During combat animations what, if anything, green and red segments of the semicircle represent? I took it that green segment prevailing over red means my guys are "winning" and vice versa, but apparently it is not so.

it is mainly a sort of tactical balance showing which side have the advantage for every hour of combat.

- PBEM - is it recommended that CSA player always hosts the game or it does not matter at all?
- Patches and PBEM. From what I see the game gets patched pretty often - how do PBEM games "survive" patching? I take it you can continue the game with new patch with no problems right?

I'm not a pbem specialist

- Helping the adjacent corps ie marching to the sound of the guns. How to maximize the possibility of that happening? Do the adjacent corps need to be put on offensive, deffensive or it does not matter? I assume that corps in "passive" stance will not react, or will they? Where does the army HQ need to be to maximize the possibility of reaction? Does it matter if the army HQ is 1, or 2 or more regions away? Please explain.

it works better if your corps are close (1 region away) I didn't know for the stance and the HQ location.

- Having said that the role of the army HQ is kinda foggy to me and I have whole bunch of army HQ related questions. I read the manual, the fantastic guide by runyan (dude you ROCK!), I know a thing or two about period warfare, and I think I understand the role of divisional and corps' HQs however armies seem to be altogether different.
- I see that the tutorial and the AI use some sort of minimal army HQs, meaning the general dude, medics and signals if they are available, probably a supply wagon and a small cavalry unit. Runyan's guide suggests to keep army HQ stacks in adjacent "hexes" to corps stacks to help with tactical reactions. What happens if this army HQ menagerie is caught unaware by enemy raiders? They are too weak to defend themselves. Wouldn't it make more sense to keep them ALWAYS in sync with some larger stack (corps)?

In many of my games i use heavy HQ with a few brigade led by low ranked 1* generals or even a few division if i lack 2* general to lead another corps. signals, medics and so on aren't needed if you have only the HQ as signal add CP to the stack and a HQ only use 4 of the 16+ CP provided by the army and medics help the troops to be faster in a better shape after a battle.

- What's the point of having an asset like arty battery in army HQ "menagerie" stack? Wouldn't it be more useful.... well pretty much anywhere else?

there is a question of frontage for the use of artillery... something like more than 4 arty bats aren't usefull in a division as there is only 4 that will be used in the fight... but i'm not an expert in frontage question...
I just try to have near 4 arty element in my 18 elements division (largest brigade often have 1 arty element).

- When moving large formations I always pick the army "menagerie", click two arrows (sync moves), then corps, click two arrows, then I move my army menagerie first. I do that even though I am afraid that something bad might happen during turn resolution, like army menagerie arriving a day earlier than corps and getting hammered by... pretty much anything, before others arrive. Can that happen? Should I move my strongest corps first and let the others follow it (sync move order)?

Finally, ephemereal complaint - music files are played randomly right? Some nice songs there. However, after applying the latest patch (1.08d) I never hear my favorite tune, Johhny comes marching home, it never plays.

I am sure I will have many more questions (especially when I start PBEM-ing) but this is it for now, thanks in advance!

Oleg

I can't reply on this as my army often have 1500 strenght points so there is no way that is may be hammered except when i attack capital city

[runyan99]

- Having said that the role of the army HQ is kinda foggy to me and I have whole bunch of army HQ related questions. I read the manual, the fantastic guide by runyan (dude you ROCK!), I know a thing or two about period warfare, and I think I understand the role of divisional and corps' HQs however armies seem to be altogether different.

- I see that the tutorial and the AI use some sort of minimal army HQs, meaning the general dude, medics and signals if they are available, probably a supply wagon and a small cavalry unit. Runyan's guide suggests to keep army HQ stacks in adjacent "hexes" to corps stacks to help with tactical reactions. What happens if this army HQ menagerie is caught unaware by enemy raiders? They are too weak to defend themselves. Wouldn't it make more sense to keep them ALWAYS in sync with some larger stack (corps)?

You're right, I do rock, but thanks for saying so.

I usually use an army HQ just like any other corps. The army HQ stack has a command point capacity of 15 or more, so use it. I'll put divisions and support units in it as needed. The main reason is that it lets me spread out more. If the army commander is not that great, like McClellan, then I will use his stack to defend while I use another corps to attack somewhere else.

- Helping the adjacent corps ie marching to the sound of the guns. How to maximize the possibility of that happening? Do the adjacent corps need to be put on offensive, deffensive or it does not matter? I assume that corps in "passive" stance will not react, or will they? Where does the army HQ need to be to maximize the possibility of reaction? Does it matter if the army HQ is 1, or 2 or more regions away? Please explain.

Corps in aggressive stance are actually 10% more likely to march to the guns, but defensive stance will usually work fine. I'm not actually sure about a corps in passive stance. I bet it wouldn't react. As far as range, march to guns is always 1 region, or adjacent, only. Corps 2 regions away will not be involved.

[Rafiki]

OK first post.

Welcome!

- Helping the adjacent corps ie marching to the sound of the guns. How to maximize the possibility of that happening? Do the adjacent corps need to be put on offensive, deffensive or it does not matter? I assume that corps in "passive" stance will not react, or will they? Where does the army HQ need to be to maximize the possibility of reaction? Does it matter if the army HQ is 1, or 2 or more regions away? Please explain.

For info about it, take a look at http://www.ageod.net/aacwwiki/Marching_to_the_sound_of_the_guns

To address some of what you are wondering about:
- The stacks marching have to be in an adjacent region.
- Passively postured stacks won't march, e.g. defensively postured stacks will*
- Placement of the army HQ stack matters
- Higher strategic rating of stack commander => higher chance of marching
- Bad weather/bad terrain => lower chance of marching

* I haven't heard that there is any difference between defensive, offensive and assault postures with regards to marching?

[runyan99]

* I haven't heard that there is any difference between defensive, offensive and assault postures with regards to marching?

You wouldn't have because, like so many other things, it isn't documented. I only know this because I've looked at the exported values for modding in the settings folder, and the base chance is higher in offensive stance.

That's why I get paid the big bucks, Rafiki.

[Rafiki]

Whatever makes your boat float, Runyan

Thanks for pointing it out, though; wiki-page updated.

[Oleg]

In fact Oleg, since we are both learning the system, if you want a PBEM match I'd be game. A no harm no foul kinda game where mistakes are expected. I would rather learn the game against a novice than versus an experienced player who just wants another victory at a noob's expense. I would be good for at least a turn per day, don't care which side, and don't care who wins as long as it's not "gamey". We can even make allowances for questions that came up during play...

OK great stuff thanks for the replies, large and powerful army stacks here I come LOL

I will definitely play PBEM. I have no patience for the AI, no matter whether it's good or bad, I see it only as a training tool. I am that same Oleg from the Matrix AI bashing thread

I suggest we wait till the next patch for the official RR enhancements Gray talks about and then we can play....

[Chris Stavros]

This game is a lot of fun, spent the first year as the union building up an army of the tenn while holding off the rebels near Washington.

It was great fun to make divisions and corps from the troops I raised, putting grant in charge of a corp of Three divisions means the end of the confederates in the west, which is what i was looking for.

[denisonh]

Welcome to the forums Oleg.

If you really want to "go to school", take on Runyan in a PBEM. Go to the AARs to see the "tombstones" for his opponents.....

OK great stuff thanks for the replies, large and powerful army stacks here I come LOL

I will definitely play PBEM. I have no patience for the AI, no matter whether it's good or bad, I see it only as a training tool. I am that same Oleg from the Matrix AI bashing thread

I suggest we wait till the next patch for the official RR enhancements Gray talks about and then we can play....

[Mangudai]

My thinking is that it is better to beef up the corps as much as possible and leave the HQ stack small, for two reasons.

1. The Army HQ generally wont engage until at least one corp is engaged.
2. Generals and HQ move as fast light cavalry.

Using the General and HQ alone with no extra units they should arrive at the battle very fast. If the HQ stack has troops they will act as reserves, and not participate during the first few hours of battle.

3. Also I think the HQ pulls in corp from adjacent regions, faster than corp pull other corp. I could be wrong about this though, I don't know the code.


On a separate point, sometimes independent commands are better than army HQ + corp. Because, an independent command engages more readily than an army HQ. When you reach the limit of CP it's time to make armies with corp.
For example, Grant can handle 3 divisions in his stack without a command penalty (more with a signal company). I use this force aggresively in the Mississippi theatre, better than I could an army with corp.

[Oleg]

Welcome to the forums Oleg.

If you really want to "go to school", take on Runyan in a PBEM. Go to the AARs to see the "tombstones" for his opponents.....

<Darth Vader voice>

Impressive!

</ Darth Vader voice>

Thanks for giving me purpose in life - after couple years training I might feel up to challenging Darth Runyan in PBEM

[Oleg]

Using the General and HQ alone with no extra units they should arrive at the battle very fast. If the HQ stack has troops they will act as reserves, and not participate during the first few hours of battle.

Yeah but why would you want your small Army HQ stack to arrive at all? They have command radius some "hexes" wide, so they don't need to be at the exact hex where the battle is taking place. If they go to that hex, they better bring some firepower with them (that would be my reasoning, however AACW veterans correct me if I am wrong).

That's the gist of my Army HQ related questions - I think that the "usual" Army HQ setup, as seen in tutorials, General dude + supply cart and Medic, is very vulnerable for no good reason.

[Hobbes]

Yeah but why would you want your small Army HQ stack to arrive at all? They have command radius some "hexes" wide, so they don't need to be at the exact hex where the battle is taking place. If they go to that hex, they better bring some firepower with them (that would be my reasoning, however AACW veterans correct me if I am wrong).

That's the gist of my Army HQ related questions - I think that the "usual" Army HQ setup, as seen in tutorials, General dude + supply cart and Medic, is very vulnerable for no good reason.

Hi Oleg, that's very true. I normally have at least one division and some artillery with an army HQ.

Cheers, Chris

[Rafiki]

3. Also I think the HQ pulls in corp from adjacent regions, faster than corp pull other corp. I could be wrong about this though, I don't know the code.

Nope, it's the other way round; an army stack is more likely to march than corps stacks. But you do have a point, as an army stack makes it more likely that neighboring corps start marching

Details? Take a look at http://www.ageod.net/aacwwiki/Marching_to_the_sound_of_the_guns

[Mangudai]

Nope, it's the other way round; an army stack is more likely to march than corps stacks. But you do have a point, as an army stack makes it more likely that neighboring corps start marching

Right. I knew that too I guess I forgot to say it. The same argument still holds.

An HQ with no forces gets to the battle faster (because he's light cav) and does two things. He takes command so all his stats and bonuses apply, and he speeds up the other corps.

An HQ with forces still marches faster than a regular corp, but troops slow him down especially if some have poor cohesion. When he gets to the battle his troops don't engage right away. Also, the HQ stack is not the best blocker on defense because he won't engage without other corp, he might even retreat if nobody shows up to help.

The first type is like Grant during the overland campaign. The second type is like Lee at Chancellorsville. Neither system is bad, but its situational which is better.

Yeah but why would you want your small Army HQ stack to arrive at all? They have command radius some "hexes" wide, so they don't need to be at the exact hex where the battle is taking place. If they go to that hex, they better bring some firepower with them (that would be my reasoning, however AACW veterans correct me if I am wrong).

That's the gist of my Army HQ related questions - I think that the "usual" Army HQ setup, as seen in tutorials, General dude + supply cart and Medic, is very vulnerable for no good reason.

The command radius is something different. Corp commanders within the command radius get bonuses to their stats. However battles are commanded by the senior officer in the region where the battle takes place.

The tutorials and the AI like to run HQ by themselves. Have you tried killing them? It's almost impossible. However, their supply carts are easily captured. Also Medic's only serve the stack they are in, a medic at headquarters is not helping troops in other stacks.

Also, it's not always a good idea to use all the army HQ in your force pool. For example, say I want Burnsides to take 2 divisions and capture Knoxville. He will have no support, and is expected to meet light resistance. I have an extra HQ unit and Burnsides is qualified to take it. Should he? ....
... No, because as an army commander he won't engage, and militia will hold him up. As an independent commander he has enough CP for his forces, and he will push militia out of his way just as he should.

[MarkShot]

Oleg,

That's OlegM, right?

Nice that you dropped by and glad to hear that you reviewed it. This is your first AGE Studio game? I would have thought that you would have checked out BOA when everyone at the http://www.wargamer.com was talking about it, since you are usually pretty quick to keep up with the latest in game trends.

If you would be interested in providing reviews of BOA and NCP, we could arrange for promo copies of the games. How do most people buy their games in Croatia? Download or retail? I hope you will tell me that they do actually buy their games.

Well, let me know. Take care.

[jfp3]

Great thread for >this< n00b also. Oleg -- you and I are going to rumble one day in PBEM I'm sure of it

[Oleg]

Yes that's me.

They do buy them if I tell them they're good However it's a really really small market, even though my magazine is being sold in neighboring countries too. As for BOA... I gotta admit, personally I wasn't interested in that game, as I was always of the opinion (now I am afraid I am opening a Pandora's Box ) that the Brits could have wiped the floor with American rebels if only they wanted. The combination of outside factors was such that Brits simply gave up at one point, and I am not entirely sure it was because of military losses. They didn't really care all that much. In other words - if it was India, the Crown Jewel in English colonial crown of the time, there would be bloodbath but US would not be allowed to let go. (As there were bloodbaths pretty much all through Indian history under English.)

Hey you asked for it Mark my friend, please don't blame me for the ensuing flame war leure:

In other words, I am not very much interested in BOA as customer because of topic, and as reviewer for my magazine it's really hard for me to justify reviewing a game about conflict most non-British Europeans, lets be honest, don't care one iotta about.

American Civil War is something altogether different, movies, the culture etc. I personally know couple ACW afficionados here in Croatia that could participate in any heavyweight ACW discussion anyone could come up with. Hell I like to read about ACW and consider myself pretty knowledgable for a Euro dude. I find ACW pretty fascinating.

Of course, future and current Ageod games starting with NCP will get proportionally larger (not necessarilly better) reviews because topically they are closer to our readers. I got my promo copy of ACW from Matrix Press site. I will buy the game as I always buy games I actually end up playing after I review them. NCP promo copy would be fine.

[MarkShot]

Yes, Oleg, just from your brutally honest style, I know it is you and could not possibly be an imposter! Well, at least, David Heath is probably happy that you are here instead of there in the CAW Forum for example!

Send me a PM with your current email address and I'll arrange for your review copy of NCP.

Thanks.

[Diggy]

Since this is a thread for Noob questions . . .

1) Can someone tell me how to slow down the display of the 'battle oval' ? I would like to get a longer glimpse of the map and the forces there before the battle results menu shows up. (I sometimes have trouble remembering the places given in the battle results, seeing the map would help alot.)

2) Speaking of 'marching to the sound of cannons' - do we get some kind of an audio or visual clue/display when this happens ?

[arsan]

Since this is a thread for Noob questions . . .

1) Can someone tell me how to slow down the display of the 'battle oval' ? I would like to get a longer glimpse of the map and the forces there before the battle results menu shows up. (I sometimes have trouble remembering the places given in the battle results, seeing the map would help alot.)

2) Speaking of 'marching to the sound of cannons' - do we get some kind of an audio or visual clue/display when this happens ?

1) yes, you can put it with several duration levels on the Options menu. I can't recall now what's the exact name of this option, but reading the tooltip shoud give you a hint

2) No. Just that on the battle report the units and leader will show. Also, on the message log there should be a line telling you about it on the next turn.

Regards

[Spharv2]

Since this is a thread for Noob questions . . .

1) Can someone tell me how to slow down the display of the 'battle oval' ? I would like to get a longer glimpse of the map and the forces there before the battle results menu shows up. (I sometimes have trouble remembering the places given in the battle results, seeing the map would help alot.)

2) Speaking of 'marching to the sound of cannons' - do we get some kind of an audio or visual clue/display when this happens ?

There is an option in the settings menu to slow down the battle resolution thingee...Look for the "Battle Animation" option and figure out which setting works for you. I generally like the highest one since that adds to the drama for me in large battles.

As for the second, you get a visual clue when you watch the swing meter. Generally, when you see a large swing to one side or the other, it's usually because that side just received some reinforcements.

[Diggy]

Thanks for the replies.

1) I once found an option for battles, but after I read up on it, I was lead to believe that this option delayed the onset of a battle in order to increase the possibility of the arrival of additional friendly forces. Guess I'll look at the options menu one more time.

2) OK, thats good if we get a 'marching to the sound of guns' message in the message log. (Would have been nice with a pop-up box announcing it during the battle, though ! Does that sound like something easy to mod ?)

By the way, I have tried without success to copy the messages in the message log. Why aren't these copy-able ? I have also searched in vain after a message-log text file in the game files. Does anybody know if there is a text file which correlates to the message log ? What is it called ?

[arsan]

Thanks for the replies.

1) I once found an option for battles, but after I read up on it, I was lead to believe that this option delayed the onset of a battle in order to increase the possibility of the arrival of additional friendly forces. Guess I'll look at the options menu one more time.

Yes that's another different option.

[jazman]

Finally, ephemereal complaint - music files are played randomly right? Some nice songs there. However, after applying the latest patch (1.08d) I never hear my favorite tune, Johhny comes marching home, it never plays.
Oleg

I've had music turned off. So I start playing with the options as a result of this thread, and I turn on music. First song...wait for it: "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again." I have the magic touch, I canna explain this.