Fri Jul 24, 2015 12:09 am
Though I do not know of any videos for it, I strongly recommend playing the West 1862 Scenario to learn the game rather than a Grand Campaign. There is too much lead time in the Grand Campaigns before any action that you can actually learn from starts happening. In the West scenario your decisions matter right away: it starts with Grant's invasion of Tennessee at Donnelson/Henry, with Confederate Corps at Memphis and Corinth lined up to stop him. Divisions and Corps are already allowed, and all the cool units and leaders are available to play with right off the bat. (Except for Lee. Also, no naval game to speak of, but that is a good thing if you are a beginner). Unlike some of the shorter scenarios, you still have economic and build decisions to make, and since there are fewer VP cities on the map, the action around El Paso actually matters to the outcome. There are fewer stacks to manage compared to a GC, so the 24 turns go by quickly. Both sides have clear and obtainable objectives (no decision paralysis like you get with the GCs) and the scenario is the most balanced of any in the game with both sides able to win.
You could easily play through the whole scenario in the time it takes you just to get to Division formation from an April 61 start, and you will have a lot more experience actually playing the game than you would have had in the same amount of time in a GC.
Expect to lose and lose badly at first. THe game is a fairly detailed model of an extremely large conflict, so there is a lot to learn and a lot to keep track of. Stick with it and play the West scenario a few times and you will start to get the hang of it. If you are losing a lot against the AI, it is probably because you are attacking too often and need a better handle on the supply mechanism (look at the supply primer sticky in the AACW (Civil War I) forum, the supply mechanics have not changed much since the old version and it is still applicable). You want an overwhelming advantage when you have to attack, since the defenders gain advantage from nearly every mechanic in the game. For supplies, have at least one wagon for every two divisions, and stay on rails within five regions of a depot when possible. Once I figured out how to keep my troops in top shape and when NOT to attack the game started to feel quite natural and intuitive. Once you understand what is going on, the mechanics fade into the background.
Good luck and hang in there, AGEOD games are tricky to master but totally worth it if you are into war-games. (As an aside, I didn't get good at CW2 until I played Wars in America a lot, since it had less going on and I could focus on fewer things at a time. AGEOD games all use essentially the same engine and interface, so once you can play one of them you can play all of them.)