A True Confession and Some Observations

[GraniteStater]

I am about to reveal perhaps what might be best kept to oneself, but I am told confession is good for the soul. I also am hoping to elicit assistance and ideas.

I must congratulate the designers. I have...*gulp* lost to the AI. And it gets even more dramatic.

As you may see, I have been messing around with AACW since late '08. Sometimes I go long periods of time without playing, but it is a darn good game, in many respects, so it's not a dustbin. It took me quite a while to get supply figured out and not have people starve in the middle of Pennsylvania. I almost always play Union, though I have a very small experience with the CSA.

I am currently playing 1.16rc4a, which is the latest & greatest, apparently. The loss in question was with 1.15, I believe.

The loss was at Very Hard, perhaps a minimal goose to AI Detection, perhaps not, can't recall right now. The start was 1862. Here's what happened: the AI started out by walloping Grant in the neighborhood of Donelson, while I had ordered a movement to take #10. I had my Armies properly organized. I had people all shiny and ready to rock & roll. Nonetheless, A. S. Johnston came boiling up and smacked me silly.

And I never really recovered. All across the map, ungodly huge formations of howling Rebs, 800, 900, 1200 PWR stacks at a time came boiling out of the Southern depths, much like TyrranoSharks up from the depths of a deep ocean. They kicked my epaulets from morn 'til night. I could never stabilize and right the situation. Invasions everywhere.

I must have overlooked something that normally I would have noticed, because in Sept 62, a strong, strong force slipped past my exhausted and bewildered guards and, uh, took Washington, DC.

Game Over. In six months.

I am not a bad player. I think I grasp some subtleties, know the basics and a bit more.

Now for the second act. I d/l'ed RC4a. I noted that Colonel Difficulty explicitly states there are no combat advantages. Fine.

I started anothe 62. Not too bad. Going well enough. Started a 63 start. Fine and dandy. Both are a workout, but not insuperable.

Then I started an April 61 with KY. Now, bear in mind, I try to achieve what the Union did by the late spring of 62 when I play 1861s - possession of Ft. Donelson, Nashville, Island #10, Memphis and New Orleans. Even on a 'regular' Difficulty, even playing field, this is a tall order, at least for me. It's not easy.

But this RC4a on Colonel has me reeling. It is now late 62 and if not at the brink of defeat, I am being pushed to the cliff and fighting for my life. I just now recovered to 80 NM and issued the EP - I had been at 70s NM for about four turns. The Rebs have taken St. Louis, Indianapolis, Louisville, Lexington, Harrisburg, Buffalo, Baltimore, some more than once. Buffalo, fer cryin' out loud! Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Delaware (Delaware!) no longer appear on my Loyalty map. The mobs are howling for the Administration's scalp.

A small glimmer is that I am knocking at Richmond and threaten Nashville. I took N. O., but haven't gotten beyond Iberville parish and the usual CSA Stack O' Doom is frowning next door.

Some observations, at least about RC4a:

* I thought one could not use opposition RRs if MilControl was less than 25%. It seems to me that Johnny Reb gets behind my lines and immediately starts operating my choo-choos with impunity. He just zooms around, always showing up just in time to pull off Victories, sometimes against long odds and seemingly a bit too often.

* Supply questions seem to be affecting him, but not a great deal.

* I am desperately trying to build Brigades and hammer him, gang up, kick him in the knees, but Replacements are consumed like sushi in a sumo's training program - after the usual intital gooses from refreshing Options, I can build but a few Brigades at a time.

* To be clear, I usually don't Fully Mobilize until 63. In this Colonel 61, I chose just Volunteers until 62 and then Partial Mobilization. I went with modest Financials at first, but in 62 went into hock for real.

* 3-1 odds are fast becoming the only hope for a Victory, under any circumstances, even on open ground. Needless to say, getting favorable odds is uncommon, what with entire Corps of mine being destroyed at a time, being bled white, and seeing the ginormous stacks of Rebs that dominate the landscape.

* I seem to be very, very, very slowly re-establishing a ghost of a hope to retrieve this, but man, is this discouraging.

* It could be that going Historical with the Options for Finance & Drafts leaves the North too weak against the highest Difficulty.

The North is cut to ribbons, geographically. Many good Yankees lie still in Northern, not Southern, dust.

HAALLPP!

[dolphin]

All I can say is that I just purchased the game about 24 hours ago after playing 3 tutorials and am just now getting ready to start my first 61 campaign using 1.16rc4a.

Your post were words of encouragement that I made the right decision.

I think I will take it down a notch from the Colonel setting.

Curious what setting you had the Spotting on as many veteran players recommend giving the AI a +1 so it better knows where your forces are located and can react better and avoid sending suicide stacks deep into enemy territory where they get cut off, starved, and destroyed?

[Gray_Lensman]

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[Gray_Lensman]

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[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

I've never gone very hard AI before. I'm playing my first hard campaign right now. I do +4 detect and +1 activation, but usually play on normal. I also usually go weak on draft/financials. I like to play without ever calling for a draft or printing money. Just using volunteers and bonds is my goal. I had to draft in 1862 during my hard campaign though...

[GraniteStater]

Do you have a save game showing this? If so, please post it in the v1.16rc4a beta thread.

Yeah, GL, I'll give you the Nov62 savegame.

*Note to audience - late at night, GL opens saves and cackles over them in glee*

DETECTION/AGRESSION: Nope, not in the April61 Campaign. I usually just leave those at vanilla, which is +1 for Activation, I think.

I can't imagine what playing as the CSA on any kind of goose to the Union must be like.

[GraniteStater]

Do you have a save game showing this? If so, please post it in the v1.16rc4a beta thread.

I tried, GL, but I get an "Invalid File" mssg in the pop-up after an attempt. What file(s) do you need again, specifically?

[GraniteStater]

All I can say is that I just purchased the game about 24 hours ago after playing 3 tutorials and am just now getting ready to start my first 61 campaign using 1.16rc4a.

Your post were words of encouragement that I made the right decision.

I think I will take it down a notch from the Colonel setting.

Curious what setting you had the Spotting on as many veteran players recommend giving the AI a +1 so it better knows where your forces are located and can react better and avoid sending suicide stacks deep into enemy territory where they get cut off, starved, and destroyed?

They're not suicide, they're monsters.

"Be bold, but not too bold."

[gchristie]

GS,

Looks like Athena's license plate also reads "Live free or die." If she kicks you out of New Hampshire, your Maine neighbors will take you in .

If we are confessing here, while I've not lost to the CSA AI, I did recently lose to that fiendishly clever Paul Roberts. I was playing CSA, for which I have very little experience, and was doing well until the Union pounced and took Richmond summer of 1862 .

Your post makes me want to take on the AI again, though I'm waiting for Clovis to return from the innards of RUS and release the new SVF for 1.16.

Regards.

[Gray_Lensman]

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[GraniteStater]

OK, what I have is jzip. I'll try that.

What do you need, the .hst or what?

[Gray_Lensman]

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[GraniteStater]

OK, thank you, I'll do what I can.

[GraniteStater]

All the files in the folder and subfolder associated with the turn and the turn before where the RR usage bug? might have been showing itself. Once in the .zip file, you can selectively delete any files with the extension .rpl, they're not needed and might make the Zip file too large to post.

GL:

I'm going to forswear this. First, it's probably not a bug. With further thought, a lotta transpo was occuring in either Confederate colored regions (Athena really ripped the North apart) or, if blue, coulda been over 25%. I'm just starting a PBEM right now (see the AAR right here, folks - spectacular! A film they said couldn't be made!) and shall be focussed on that, but I'm sure I'll reload this Apr61 at some point in the near future.

When I do, I'll keep an eye on things and see if I catch a true violation of the rule. I'll send you anything if I think we have a true bug in the mechanics.

Thanks,
GS

[Pocus]

What a refreshing thread

More NM just went from 115 to 120!!