Avre 165
Conscript
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:54 pm
Location: Germany

passing the time away in Afghan :)

Wed Nov 30, 2011 6:33 pm

Hi AACW crew!

Been playing about a year now. (for the last two days just read most of the info on here (god there is still so much to learn!!!)
its obvious you lot love this game, i wanna be part of that.........its just soooooooo ninja! what am i missing out on?
i only play as CSA against 'her' and even thou im ok at strategy games i find myself struggling against her on easy settings! (even when she does those mad charges thru VA y'all keep mentioning it still takes me ages to stop her.

why are you all still hooked on this game? what am i not getting?
you all describe tons of fun in your posts but i aint getting it. trying to be strong everywhere just aint happening(and cant) and trying to defend a town with some reb conscripts against the blue horde aint much fun neither.

sod playing against a human if i cant beat 'her' on easy.

hardest strat game ive ever played.

anyhow, its made 4months of my Afghanistan tour fly by already!
love reading your posts/tips.
cheers.

Scotty
Royal Engineers

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Coldsteel
Sergeant
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Location: Saint Louis, Mo

Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:11 pm

Hi Scotty,
First off, thank you for your service sir, it is much appreciated! I hope everything is going as best as possible over there for you.

I know for me personally, it's just a love of the subject that keeps me interested in the game. And the more you keep at it, the more tricks you learn, which will lead you to being better at placing troops here or there for your defenses.

How can you NOT be hooked on this game. . . .it's by far the best American Civil War game that has ever been created. . . and the great thing is that they still have people who listen to us & create upgrades / mods for us. . . . what other gaming company out there can say that? (There may be some, I just don't know).

Good luck, Stay safe.

ColdSteel
Pour it into em boys! Give em the Cold Steel!

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Confederate
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Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:57 pm

How can you NOT be hooked on this game


Sadly, I'm not hooked on this game.

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Confederate
Lieutenant
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Location: USA

Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:45 am

Well, I just took out AACW.

Started it up.

Got ready to resume my campaign from 1862 (I was the Confederates and had persuaded Great Britain and France to join my side, so now the French fleet is attacking Washington, DC).

And it crashed. -_-

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Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne
General of the Army
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Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:07 am

Confederate wrote:Well, I just took out AACW.

Started it up.

Got ready to resume my campaign from 1862 (I was the Confederates and had persuaded Great Britain and France to join my side, so now the French fleet is attacking Washington, DC).

And it crashed. -_-


In the thousands of hours I've put into AACW, I think I've had it crash maybe 10 times. I'm way over the recommended specs though.

As for the op question:

I found the game pretty easy actually. After a few false starts, I took over everything west of Cleveland on my first game on easy. I'm not saying it to brag, I'm saying it because I've seen alot of people say they had trouble with AACW or Ageod games in general. I just don't really understand it so I'm not really sure how to help. Organize your troops with good leaders and no CP penalties, form fronts defending what you need to, and take advantage of AI mistakes. This game may require more long term planning and anticipation, but it's not that different from any other wargame. I've got a fair amount of strat games I never get past easy difficulty on, even after hundreds of hours, so I'm no savant.

Other than that, I would say having a good knowledge of the conflict and the geography of the US would help with staying focused and forming plans of action. Make sure you have the latest patch as well.

I spent a full year just beating up on the AI. Then I discovered PBEM and played for another year. (my first game I ever got into pbem on) Now I've moved on to RUS because of general ACW fatigue. RCW is where it's at! I hope the light snaps on for you.

charlesonmission
Posts: 781
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:55 am
Location: USA (somewhere)

Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:59 am

Hi there Avre,

It's interesting to hear another person playing AACW in Afghanistan!

If you haven't taken a loot at my AAR, I'd recomending doing so. It has an extensive introduction of the game on some, but not all, aspects. Furthermore, it is from the CSA side, so you can see how the CSA can defend against larger Union forces.

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=22871

For me, I'm rather new to computer games after a 10 year break and came back because I'm a lover of history. Regarding this game, have a good understanding of how the ACW was fought and the contraints helps a lot. Some ideas that come out in the AAR above

1. Are you using volunteers and mobilization. Note that you can click through to pay more for volunteers or go to full which bring in more CS.
2. Are you using blockade runners to bring in WS (this was a big deal historically)
3. Forming divisions and using your general's special abilities are very important.
4. Hold objective cities and force the AI to attack you there or attack to get to an objective city.
5. Destroy depots so that the Union has to rebuild to continue to move forward.
6. Many many more ideas, which you will find in the AAR and other AARs. Okay, hope this helps. Good luck! FYI, playing PBEM is really much more fun as humans are more clever than the AI. Give it a try sometime!

Charles



Avre 165 wrote:Hi AACW crew!

Been playing about a year now. (for the last two days just read most of the info on here (god there is still so much to learn!!!)
its obvious you lot love this game, i wanna be part of that.........its just soooooooo ninja! what am i missing out on?
i only play as CSA against 'her' and even thou im ok at strategy games i find myself struggling against her on easy settings! (even when she does those mad charges thru VA y'all keep mentioning it still takes me ages to stop her.

why are you all still hooked on this game? what am i not getting?
you all describe tons of fun in your posts but i aint getting it. trying to be strong everywhere just aint happening(and cant) and trying to defend a town with some reb conscripts against the blue horde aint much fun neither.

sod playing against a human if i cant beat 'her' on easy.

hardest strat game ive ever played.

anyhow, its made 4months of my Afghanistan tour fly by already!
love reading your posts/tips.
cheers.

Scotty
Royal Engineers

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Citizen X
AGEod Veteran
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Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:13 am

Avre 165 wrote:
trying to be strong everywhere just aint happening(and cant) and trying to defend a town with some reb conscripts against the blue horde aint much fun neither.




If you understood this, then you understood almost everything that there is to understand about the game on the tactical level. This applies to both, offence and defence.
There is no way that you will not have to endure losses, especially as the south. The tricky part is to know, what you must endure, what you can endure and what you mustn't endure and then make "can endure" and "must endure" the same, if you catch my meaning.

Example (highly abstracted!):
Assume the Union has a strong force already at Manassas. There is two ways it can procede. Go directly to Richmond, wich normally makes it nescessary to take Fredericksburg for several reasons, or through the valley to threaten your hinterland. You respond to both threats equally? Normally not. You keep your boys at Fredericksburg because that is a "mustn't-endure-loss" point in this example. It's loss would put your opponent into a turns march away from Richmond. If he goes into Fredericksburg he will get a bloody nose. If he splits forces evenly you can defeat them piecemeal. If he sends a comparativly small detchment into the valley you send an even smaller force to clean up after him and keep in touch with him. Eventually his supply will try and in an ideal scenario his forces will dwindle without a shot fired. If he sends a large force into the valley he thus weakens his defences at Manassas and you push for Washington.


In this example you needed to defend Richmond at all cost and devoted all your troops to this task. The loss of minor towns in Virginia didn't make you nervous.

Example 2 (abstracted too!):
In the early game the Confeds sometimes go for Grafton and even Pittsburg. I must send troops there? Actually not much. Only so many that, should they take the towns at least must pay a price. The loss of Pittsburg, while brutal, is not substantial. Send some troops to make the rebels supply situation difficult and eventually they need to go. Dont let your army be deverted away from the defence of Washington.


The defence is queen here (sorry Mae :neener :) . Make your most crucial spots be defended by your general with the best defencive stats and the best troops available at the theatre. In example one Longstreet would have defended Fredericksburg while the small detachment that checked the Union troops in the valley would have been under well-attacking, fast-moving Jackson.

Think of a medieval warrior. With one hand you hold the shield and with one hand you conduct the sword. More hands you don't have (usually ;) )

Avre 165
Conscript
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:54 pm
Location: Germany

Sat Dec 03, 2011 8:04 pm

cheers lads, some top tips.
ive pushed on and ramped up the settings to hard for 'her'
now i understand PBEM, but am not willing to take the plunge yet! (plus not got that much time off out here...if u know what i mean) but whats RUS?
Also, ive never played as the Feds, is it worth it? i like being the underdog and the 'blue horde' seems quite easy............

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Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne
General of the Army
Posts: 639
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:46 pm
Location: Kentucky

Sat Dec 03, 2011 9:04 pm

Avre 165 wrote:
but whats RUS?


Revolution Under Seige. It's another AGEOD title about the Russian Civil War.

Also, ive never played as the Feds, is it worth it? i like being the underdog and the 'blue horde' seems quite easy............


It may be slightly easier to play as the blues. I love the underdog as well, so I have trouble playing the blues against the AI. I enjoyed playing with them in a pbem after so many games as the rebs though. I'm doing the same thing in RUS. Playing as the underdog whites against the AI, but in PBEM switching over to the Reds.

Avre 165
Conscript
Posts: 15
Joined: Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:54 pm
Location: Germany

Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:14 pm

cheers for the advice.
now seems as your in Ky. maybe you could help me/and or other yanks out there could advise me too.
After i finish this tour in Afghan its my intent to take the kids to FL, Do the disney thing. my plan (its very cunning!) is to land in NY or DC and drive down the east coast doing the touristy bit (want them to learn something on the way)
what battlefields if any, on the east should i visit, drag the kids too?
im looking at two weeks stateside, so a week checking out civil war stuff, then the drive down FL for them to enjoy disney for the last week.

any advice/tips/hints greatly recieved :)

Scotty

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lodilefty
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Location: Finger Lakes, NY GMT -5 US Eastern

Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:41 pm

Avre 165 wrote:cheers for the advice.
now seems as your in Ky. maybe you could help me/and or other yanks out there could advise me too.
After i finish this tour in Afghan its my intent to take the kids to FL, Do the disney thing. my plan (its very cunning!) is to land in NY or DC and drive down the east coast doing the touristy bit (want them to learn something on the way)
what battlefields if any, on the east should i visit, drag the kids too?
im looking at two weeks stateside, so a week checking out civil war stuff, then the drive down FL for them to enjoy disney for the last week.

any advice/tips/hints greatly recieved :)

Scotty


The obvious ones that I've visited:
Gettysburg
Antietam
Harpers Ferry
Manassas

Not so obvious is to spend a day in the Shenandoah Valley, following Jackson's trail...
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Longshanks
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Thu Dec 08, 2011 2:01 pm

Monocacy is on the Maryland side in DC.

Manassas is a short drive away, out US I66

Then head south on I 95. Stop at Fredericksburg, or continue on South to visit the battle site where Stonewall died (just a few miles off the interstate and usually sparsely attended).

You might also want to hit Williamsburg VA and the Yorktown area if you are into Rev. stuff.

Thats all an entire trip!

Best wishes!

grimjaw
General
Posts: 506
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:38 am
Location: Arkansas

Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:24 pm

Avre 165, here's yet another guy passing the time with AACW in Afghanistan. ;) I am at FOB Farah in the southwest.

I'd be glad to try out a PBEM with somebody else in theater ...

Gen. Monkey-Bear
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:35 am
Location: The San Francisco Bay Area

Sat Dec 24, 2011 10:55 pm

As far as advice goes for playing the game, I'm sorry to say that I can give very little. I'm not a very experienced player.

But if you are having trouble getting hooked on the game, then I reccommend some historical immersion. When I first started playing the game, I thought it was way too hard and generally not interesting. But then I started reading up a lot on the civil war and found it to be an incredibly captivating subject. No matter how bad I am at the game, I just can't quit because I find civil war history so freakin' cool . So for anybody who can't seem to enjoy the game, go out and buy a few books about the Civil War and then see if you can't get addicted. The best way to love the game is to love history.

michaelincol
Corporal
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 3:02 pm
Location: Colorado

Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:56 am

Any of you serving over there for us back here that would like a late Christmas gift of Shelby Foote's Civil War Trilogy and don't mind the shelf space please PM me your address and I would be happy and honored to send them to you via Amazon. I served in Army 1976-1982 and did two years of peace time duty in Germany - even being overseas in peace had it's bad moments (I got Dear John'ed a year in and had divorce papers waiting for me when I landed state side) so I can't imagine how it is for you brave warriors. God bless you and keep you safe!

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Merry Christmas and please God make it happen that your next one and all the rest are back here safe and sound with your loved ones.

michael

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Doomwalker
Brigadier General
Posts: 449
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Location: Confederate held territory in Afghanistan.

Tue Dec 27, 2011 6:40 pm

I too am currently in Afghanistan, down in the Helmand province. Glad to see that I am not the only one playing AACW over here. I have passed many hours here trying to perfect my game. :w00t:

Michealincol, I wouldn't mind taking you up on that offer. I will PM shortly.
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michaelincol
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Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:14 pm

Got the PM and the set is headed your way via Amazon. Merry late Christmas! May God bless you and keep you safe while you enjoy the books.

michael

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Doomwalker
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Location: Confederate held territory in Afghanistan.

Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:52 pm

michaelincol wrote:Got the PM and the set is headed your way via Amazon. Merry late Christmas! May God bless you and keep you safe while you enjoy the books.

michael


Thank you Michael.
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charlesonmission
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Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:18 am

So, there are at least 3 or 4 of us playing in Afghanistan! Excellent!

Charles

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ERISS
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Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:46 pm

Welcome Afghan people! :indien:

charlesonmission
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Thu Dec 29, 2011 6:38 pm

I'm guessing that all the players in Afghanistan are actually from the USA.

Charles

ERISS wrote:Welcome Afghan people! :indien:

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rattler01
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Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:09 am

Hey doomwalker, where u at in Helmand? I'm in Deleram. Was just thinking of reinstalling AACW to pass by my last 3 months here.
"To fallen comrades. And Winged Warriors; past, present, and future. One team, one fight. Winged Warriors."

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Doomwalker
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Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:40 am

rattler01 wrote:Hey doomwalker, where u at in Helmand? I'm in Deleram. Was just thinking of reinstalling AACW to pass by my last 3 months here.


I am based out of Leatherneck, but work all over the province.
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