Northern Papers Howling

[BossGnome]

Hi,

So, playing as the Union, I have gotten hit several times with the "Northern Papers Howl at lack of Offensive" event, with terrible results for morale. The weird thing is that I have actually been launching (against my better judgement) several offensives in Virginia in the hopes of avoiding this event. Let me explain:

So, first year of the war. McDowell decides (despite prodding by me) that assaulting entrenched confederate positions at Manassas would not be a good idea. Northern papers predictably howl, -10 NM for me. OK, fair enough. Then, through some good luck, a lot of fighting goes down at the end of 1861 and I manage to take the Shenandoah valley and Manassas. Hurray, offensives have been made, a little late, but hurray.

Now, imagine my surprise when the "Northern Papers" event fires up again in November of 1862 - and this is after a full year of heavy fighting in 1861, AND over 20,000 union casualties sustained in fighting with the confederates in Virginia in the previous months. No offensive?!? I have been launching nothing but! Of course, since i already hold manassas, I was attacking culpeper, but this should surely register with the system, no? Why am I again losing 10 NM?

Is this a bug, or WAD? If the event is meant to reflect flagging Union morale at not taking Richmond, then the text really should be reworded! It's talking about my "untried" and "untested" troops, where in fact what I have are instead bloodied veterans!


Any idea how to prevent this event from occuring AGAIN in 1863?

[havi]

it is scripted event of the game! In early ciwil war years northern press demanded advance against richmond to supress the rebellion. but in the game u dont have to care about it at all because there are events what balance that NM drop for union. so just forget it and dont make kamikaze attacks against CSA and it better leaders in early war u will just get your troops killed in action.

[BossGnome]

OK well, had I known that... the event text led me to believe that it was an event meant to fire if Northern troops did not at least make an advance towards Richmond. Gary Grigsby's game on the AACW (which I didnt like very much) had such a system to encourage the northern player to at least make some offensive moves in Virginia before 63-64... A little dissapointed, but alright. Will know for next time...

[havi]

yes there are those scripted events what launch every time u play the game and then there is events what launch just sometimes like kentucky joining to great CSA and riots in ST.Louis. but there is patches coming out what mod the game so it can chang still. if u have difficult problem ask Ace or GF they are the gurus especially the Ace is.. (Croatian Oracle)

[havi]

And welcome to forum...

[The Red Baron]

Once the event fires, you must meet specific conditions to avoid the -10NM loss. What came before the event doesn't matter; i.e. your previous attacks and casualties have no bearing. In my GC as the Union, I took it on the chin rather than attack Manassas and squander my green force, but my war plan emphasized capturing other, peripheral CSA objectives to regain the lost NM while building up my VA force; also, other events fired, which raised my NM back to it's original value quickly, but I don't remember what they were.

This event did not fire for me in 1862, so your achievements in the game must influence the probability of its occurrence. It may/may not fire in 1863. The probability of encountering the event a 3rd time could depend on your success up to that point or the event may not be scripted beyond 1862.

Bottom Line: check the event text to determine what conditions you must meet by what time to avoid the NM loss. From your description, everything sounds WAD.

[BossGnome]

Hi,

Yes, the event in 1861 fired as I was expecting it to, but I was very surprised to see the event in 1862 fire. I got the warning that Northern papers were pushing for an offensive, so I declared one - two in fact, one in Culpeper, and one in the region right next to it. Of course, they failed, but imagine my surprise when a few weeks later I get the message that the newspapers were dissapointed at the "lack" of an offensive! No, I launched a very respectable offensive, just it didn't work!

The event text is misleading. If what the northern papers were annoyed at was the lack of a SUCCESSFUL offensive, it should be reworded, no?

[The Red Baron]

I believe the 1862 event is the one that requires the Union player to station 40 combat elements (not quite sure on the exact amount though) within 2 regions of Richmond, VA for 1 month. You don't actually have to attack Richmond, just threaten the city by positioning your forces close enough. Do this and you will satisfy the conditions for an "offensive" and prevent the -10NM loss.

Early in my GC, I had captured Norfolk then advanced to St. Petersburg with 1 division. When the event fired, I moved another division plus some loose cavalry elements across the Rappahannock to capture Fredericksburg, VA and occupy the region of Spotsylvania. The presence of these two forces was sufficient to meet the conditions for the event. Once the 1 month had expired, I re-deployed some of my forces for other duties.

Check the tooltip for scripted events like these. If you hover your cursor over the message icon for the event, it sometimes provides additional, useful information regarding the penalty/benefit of the event or actions you must take. The tooltip text supplements the flavor description you see in the event text.

[Bismarck1940]

How do you determine when you've met the event condition (other than the morale hit if you do not)? The event only appears in the turn it triggers in the list.

[The Red Baron]

Write down the event requirements somewhere. I usually type a few notes into an MS Word file I keep open for this purpose while playing. The game will not inform you when you've met the conditions, so your notes will be your only confirmation if you forget the exact requirements a few turns later.