So I just finished my first campaign game, and the "victory" felt so empty. I was actually surprised by it, and considering it was in a small little popup box, it didn't feel like much of an accomplishment. I've never felt so let-down winning a game before.
I played as the Union, and for the first 3 years I got my ass kicked all over the continent. From west to east:
Far West: I lost every battle in Arizona and New Mexico. And then in late 1862, the Rebs either moved their guys east or everyone died, and my California column moved one space east per turn until finishing the war in Laredo.
Rockies: I had Blenker out there with a half-strength division. He got his ass kicked from Oklahoma to Colorado for a year. The second year, there was noone left to fight, so he spent 1863 retaking all the forts he got kicked out of in 1862.
Trans-Mississippi: I 'hid' the crap generals Butler and Halleck out here. I basically conceded Missouri to Polk, and Watie spent a lot of time beating up milita units in Iowa.
West: Grant and Sherman marched right down the Mississippi, before being "captured" by Memphis. If they marched out of the city, they'd either miss the battle or lose a battle, and while marching out they'd lose Memphis. If they stayed in Memphis, Forrest could take his army and gallivant all over West Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas. I spent 1862-3 losing battles and/or hiding
In East Kentucky, I raised a huge army under Buell to move on Nashville. Well, that never happened. I ended up using that army to chase down whatever threat came north- Polk from Missouri to Illinois, Beauregard into Ohio, Forrest into Indiana. I didn't capture middle Kentucky until November 63.
Shenandoah: I raised an army in Pittsburgh, intending to move it down the valley and come out behind Richmond. That plan failed immediately. I got my ass kicked all over West Virginia, and spent 1863 chasing a huge Stonewall Jackson army from West Virginia all the way to Chicago.
East: I did not fight a single battle until 1864. I took "maneuvers of opportunity" and ended up encircling Richmond, but the first battle the army of the Potomac fought was when I conquered Richmond in 1864.
By sea: Landed division in Norfolk. Got wiped out. Landed division south of New Orleans. Got my ass kicked and barely survived in the forts.
Then suddenly the south ran out of troops, and I marched south taking whatever I wanted during the spring of 1864 and won.
tl;dr
Got my ass kicked for 3 years. Fought every battle on my territory. Then the south ran out of troops and I won. Still felt like I lost.
Congratulations!
I kinda know the feeling: http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?37732-I-won!
It sounds like you let McClelland run your war! lol
Out west, the Confederates probably starved during the winter. It's hard to fight with any significant number of troops out there.
I kinda know the feeling: http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?37732-I-won!
It sounds like you let McClelland run your war! lol
Out west, the Confederates probably starved during the winter. It's hard to fight with any significant number of troops out there.
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Captain_Orso
- Posts: 5766
- Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:02 pm
- Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Hi Rod and welcome to the forums 
My first guess--unless you've had extensive experience with the game engine already--is that you have the AI tuned town low.
The thing with playing the Union--even with the AI turned up--is that in the first 2 years you only have a very few good leaders. It's difficult to make and offensive headway, generally best made by having forces ready to sneak around the CS forces and threaten their supply lines.
You have lots of time to build up your armies, and from your description, you can take heavy losses and just rebuild your forces after a few months as if nothing had ever happened. But that's pretty much historical.
Once you start getting good leaders and putting them in charge, the tides can, and often do, change very quickly. And suddenly after all your work putting the best military force in the world together, the South collapses under the weight.
The game is not, and never will be a contest between 2 equal forces, with the better commander winning the field. Resources will win the game every time. Or at least if you don't work your resources, you will hardly have a chance to win. The Union must build his up, and the South must conserve his as much as possible.
If you want to rev Athena--that's what we call our beloved AI around here
--up a bit, you might try these settings:
AI Rank: Lieutenant - above this and Athena will get advantages that let her play like no human player ever would or could. It might be challenging, but you will not learn how to play against a human opponent like this.
Use all behaviors: Yes - let Athena role out all her best moves.
Activation Bonus: +1 - Athena will be a but more active, but not excessively. Anything above this and you're just being silly
.
AI Detect Bonus: low bonus - the more Athena can see behind your lines, the more active she will be.
Aggressiveness: Normal - Athena on "High" aggressiveness is like Athena on crack, with some bath-salts on the side
. Don't do this! You're still young and have your life in front of you 
.
Give AI more time: Yes - them more time you give Athena, the better her plans will be. Here's where you might learn a thing or two about how to play the game.
One more tip, if you can't figure out what Athena just did, you always have the ability to save your moves up to this point and switch temporarily to the opposite side to have a little peek under Athena's robes
. You don't have to go look at everything to the extent that you feel that you're cheating, but you can learn a lot at times by having a clear view of what Athena sees and what forces she's using. This is how I learned the importance of scouting with cavalry.
You can also break out the previous turn--it take some special handling of the saved game files--to see how she plotted her last move.
Hope this helps
My first guess--unless you've had extensive experience with the game engine already--is that you have the AI tuned town low.
The thing with playing the Union--even with the AI turned up--is that in the first 2 years you only have a very few good leaders. It's difficult to make and offensive headway, generally best made by having forces ready to sneak around the CS forces and threaten their supply lines.
You have lots of time to build up your armies, and from your description, you can take heavy losses and just rebuild your forces after a few months as if nothing had ever happened. But that's pretty much historical.
Once you start getting good leaders and putting them in charge, the tides can, and often do, change very quickly. And suddenly after all your work putting the best military force in the world together, the South collapses under the weight.
The game is not, and never will be a contest between 2 equal forces, with the better commander winning the field. Resources will win the game every time. Or at least if you don't work your resources, you will hardly have a chance to win. The Union must build his up, and the South must conserve his as much as possible.
If you want to rev Athena--that's what we call our beloved AI around here
--up a bit, you might try these settings:
AI Rank: Lieutenant - above this and Athena will get advantages that let her play like no human player ever would or could. It might be challenging, but you will not learn how to play against a human opponent like this.
Use all behaviors: Yes - let Athena role out all her best moves.
Activation Bonus: +1 - Athena will be a but more active, but not excessively. Anything above this and you're just being silly
.
AI Detect Bonus: low bonus - the more Athena can see behind your lines, the more active she will be.
Aggressiveness: Normal - Athena on "High" aggressiveness is like Athena on crack, with some bath-salts on the side
. Don't do this! You're still young and have your life in front of you .
Give AI more time: Yes - them more time you give Athena, the better her plans will be. Here's where you might learn a thing or two about how to play the game.
One more tip, if you can't figure out what Athena just did, you always have the ability to save your moves up to this point and switch temporarily to the opposite side to have a little peek under Athena's robes
. You don't have to go look at everything to the extent that you feel that you're cheating, but you can learn a lot at times by having a clear view of what Athena sees and what forces she's using. This is how I learned the importance of scouting with cavalry.
You can also break out the previous turn--it take some special handling of the saved game files--to see how she plotted her last move.
Hope this helps
AI Detect Bonus: low bonus - the more Athena can see behind your lines, the more active she will be.
That's probably it. I had minimal garrisons behind the front lines, so I suspect Athena saw the Northwest wide open and kept invading.
While an invasion is historically accurate, repeatedly force marching armies deep into Illinois from Missouri AND Tennessee AND West Virginia isn't.
Thanks for the tip.
That's probably it. I had minimal garrisons behind the front lines, so I suspect Athena saw the Northwest wide open and kept invading.
While an invasion is historically accurate, repeatedly force marching armies deep into Illinois from Missouri AND Tennessee AND West Virginia isn't.
Thanks for the tip.
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