Arsan,
Nice to meet you sir and I must tell you that I love this wonderful game. However, I would like to share my experience of learning this game since I am certain that it illustrates the problems that other newbs may have and may prove enlightening to them if they read this thread. Also, please have the patience to read my sad story as I think it will help enlighten you as to why we poor users find learning this wonderful game to be such an amazingly frustrating experience. I hate to think how many newbs gave up in frustration because they lacked the faith to learn and know that a great game is hidden behind all the complexity and dare I say it, frustrationixity.
First off, let me preface everything by saying that I am not a novice around computers. I probably know more about computers and gaming on them than ANYONE I know except for my couple of computer progamming friends. I have logged COUNTLESS hours playing many different computer games especially CIV, Starcraft, Civil War Generals 2 (CWG2), Railroads, Panzer Generals and all its variants, as well as many other games. I play poker on the internet for a living and a lifetime ago I played nearly every Avalon Hill gaming title worth playing. (Russian Campaign, Third Reich, The Longest Day, Battle of the Bulge, Midway and MANY others they made!) Long story short, I love the complex games, but hate trying to learn new features when they are not literally easy to intuitively figure out. And AACW is has many features that are NOT intuitive. I am a literal person and literal explanation would help the author of the AM mightily!
I logged at least TWO HUNDRED hours playing this game before I found out about the right clicking you referred to! I went back and reread the almighty manual (AM) as I have many times while trying to learn this lovely game. The AM says : Procedure: Go to the "Draft" screen of the ledger...You can switch between the different options...by clicking on the text. Clicking did nothing to change my options! If the AM had said 'right' clicking on the text I would have been saved much frustration! Why I never read the last part of the pop up text that appears when your mouse hovers, I DO NOT KNOW.
![Bonk :bonk:](./images/smilies/bonk.gif)
Call me an idiot but as you said above, I am not the only one that couldn't figure out that feature.
I am a literal person by nature and literalness would help greatly! Early on, I could not figure out how to create divisions. Of course I went to the AM in order to figure this process out. The AM must have been written by gremlins who wished to frustrate those of us who seek learning and functionality by perusing its contents. The AM says the following about creating divisions:
Procedure: To form a division, first select a General and press the 'Enable divisional command' button. Then select the units and the general to be included in the division and click the 'Create Division' Special Order. You can break down a division into its constituent units at any time and without any penalty.
I group the units and general in question together, the general is active (necessary but not mentioned in the text in this place) as I found out was necessary. When active the appropriate 'Enable Divisional Command' button is highlighted and I press it. All the other buttons remain greyed out so I wonder where is the 'Create Division' button referred to in the AM? I refer to the AM and finally find the list of buttons 12 pages away on page 39. I go down the list looking for a ' Create Division' button. If you look on pages 39 and 40 of the AM you will not find such a button and neither did I! A 'combine units' button mysteriously looks to be appropriate, but alas it is not highlighted after pushing the 'enable divisional command' button.
I did see the tutorial about Command Structure and thought, gee, maybe I will learn to create divisions here! I play the tutorial and learn all about Corps and Armies and Independent Corps. The divisions are already neatly made for me and I hope they appear that way in the game. So on to the game I go. I play Shiloh and happily win.
I then go on to the wonderful April Full Campaign. Almost immediately I am overwhelmed by the complexity of options and alas I find I am mightily hindered by my lack of being able to create divisions. I soldier on and learn most of the game aspects but not the elusive division creation process.
In frustration I think to look online for a forum about the game and come here. Wonderful I think, others will have written about this same problem. I read volumes of wonderful information helping me to learn more about this complex beast. I see that others are also affected by the complexity. No mention seemingly of anyone else trying to create divisions. After many hours, I finally stumbled across someone I wish I could now kiss. They mentioned that selecting units and a general while holding down the Ctrl button on the computer was an easy way to make divisions or something to that affect!!!! HOLY MOTHER of all PROGRAMMING GENIUSES! WHY on earth could not the author of the ALMIGHTY MANUAL have written about the damn CTRL button? I immediately open my game and proceed to create my first division at least 200 hours after I started playing this wonderful game! A simple sentence saying to select multiple units and commander while holding the CTRL button will enable the 'Combine Units' button to be highlighted and pressed! But wait, the AM didn't say 'Combine Units' it referred to a still mysterious 'Create Division' button. Alas the plus sign button titled the 'Combine Units' button in the AM works to create divisions just fine and I was once again satisfied with this beast aka AACW!
After your helpful reply above, I went to the AM once again and perused the above mentioned paragraph in detail. I verified that yes everything I claim above is true. Gremlins must have written this procedure, not the all knowing author of the AM!
I also want to protest why the sentence that says: (You can break down a division into its constituent units at any time and without any penalty.) is added to this procedure. Oh author of the AM when I break down a division (using the nifty '-' button), there is no apparent penalty. Not until the next turn when my leader is no longer activated and I cannot reform my division. Not until many turns later when my CO is finally once again activated and I have to pay the costs imposed when I create a division using my new nifty '+' sign button! So why almighty author of the greatly cherished AM, why is this silly sentence appended to an otherwise misleading section of text that leads me to try to find a button that is improperly named or otherwise hidden by the almighty creators of AACW?