Theater campaigns?

[Morelyn]

Hello. New to CW2.

The manual mentions being able to play the entire campaign in a single theater and says these would be available on the forums. Could someone please direct me where to find them? I've searched unsuccessfully. Thanks.

[Blood and Thunder Brigade]

What I think you're looking for will be on the opening menu once your game has loaded, under 'New', 4 of 9, 1861: The Civil War (April - Full 2 Theater Campaign).

[Morelyn]

Unless I'm mistaken the scenario you're referring to is a full campaign that takes place in 2 theaters, which I read as both the East and the West.

The manual refers to the ability to play an entire campaign in one theater only, and refers interested parties to the forums. It's those I'm looking for.

Thanks for the reply though.

[Captain_Orso]

Hi Morelyn and welcome to the forum

excluding DLC there is the Western Campaign which isn't the entire war in the west, but starts in Late Feb. '62 and runs 24 turns until late Feb. '63, and Sibley's New Mexico Campaign, which is only the Far West and goes from early Jan. '62 until early Feb. '63 for 26 turns, but I don't know of any campaigns which go the entire war in just one theater.

In the DLC there is the Eastern Campaign, which starts late Feb. '62 and runs until the end of '66, or until one side loses per sudden-death (loss per NM loss or NM win), whichever comes first.

The DLC also contains the '62 Campaign, which runs in the same time-frame, but uses the entire map. There are also the '63 and a '64 Campaigns covering the entire map, plus the Gettysburg and Atlanta Campaigns, which run a limited number of turns.

But I don't know of any campaigns that run the entire war, but only in one theater.

[Morelyn]

Hi Morelyn and welcome to the forum

But I don't know of any campaigns that run the entire war, but only in one theater.

Thanks for the reply and the welcome.

This is from the manual. I guess they never got around to implementing it:

• Theater Campaigns cover the whole duration of the war but only in a specifc
geographical region (available on the forum).

It sounds like I might need to buy the DLC if I get really interested in this game.

[Captain_Orso]

If you're just starting out, the one year theater scenarios might be a good jumping off point if you don't want to take the head long dive into the cold water of the full campaigns.

The advantage would be having half the map to pay attention to while still having enough to get nearly everything under your belt. The only thing missing would be your strategy of balancing East and West, and the full blockade game.

If after playing for example the Western Campaign after 24 turns you find yourself saying, "damn, I don't want to stop playing this scenario", you might think about trying the full campaigns.

Starting in April '61 is less daunting than it sound. Mostly you are just learning the first standard events which always fire and how to organize and build your first armies. Honestly, after a while the April '61 Campaign is like the first 6-7 moves in chess vs a player who nearly always does the same thing. Each of you know what to expect from the other, and the opening turns are generally quickly dispatched. Starting about July '61 things start to get interesting. The the game depends greatly on who is able to make the more aggressive moves, and thus determine where the focus of the game develops.

It's also interesting to see how well you can react to having the enemy suddenly push hard in the East or West, where you didn't expect it, and having to rebalance your forces quickly to prevent a collapse in that theater.

In the end it really depends on what kind of game you want, full concentration in one area, or the full nine yards.