Adam the VIth
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Serious Issues for AWI scenarios

Tue May 30, 2006 2:51 am

Okay, I do love this game, but two major issues have really been ruining the AWI scenarios for me.

1) Movement speed for an army of 10k-20k needs to be dialed back. Armies of this size had to use the slow trains and moved at a snails pace....

The Brit MEGA stack in Worcester, 19 inf regiments, 1 art, 3 supply. led by Gage, just moved from there, to Westminster, where it fought a bloody battle against the main Continental Army, then on to Brattlboro, oh, having crossed the connecticutt river, then on to Hoseck, near Albany. Now, I know that turns are one month, but this seems outrageous.

The Redcoats were notoriously slow in the wilderness......

Also, HUGE issue with this game in terms of garrisons......just moving through an area cannot secure it for you -- you have to leave a garrison. The colonies were revolting for goodness sake.....the Brits have to leave garrisons.....and the size of the garrison should be variable depending upon the size of the city. Otherwise this game in the 1775, 1776 realm loses its flavor for me -- I don't mind running away for 2-3 years as the Continentals, but eventually, the British mega stacks have to settle down and hold the land.

Comments?

Seneca
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Tue May 30, 2006 5:10 am

Yea, the Brits are quite nimble... Perhaps a little too nimble for an army that permitted officers to bring along all the comforts of home - for his ill-fated northern campaign, Burgoyne's personal baggage was something like 30 wagonloads(!)...

Anxious to hear what others say...

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Pocus
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Location: Lyon (France)

Tue May 30, 2006 7:06 am

There is a major, but optional, rule that is being brewed for 1.08: cohesion.

Cohesion will be a new variable attached to units, that will represent... cohesion, but also morale and fatigue.

You will loose cohesion when you move in bad terrain or fight. You will regain it by resting.
Big armies will suffer more from cohesion hits from terrains. Also the game will be tweaked so that the americans regain cohesion faster compared to the Brits, although the Brits lines will have a higher cohesion to start with.

This will need much tests anyway, but stay tuned. As I said, this will be an optional rule, as this will complexify somehow the game.

More generally speaking, we can add the Slow Mover ability to some British leaders, if its felt as needed. To be debated with PhilThib and the betas.
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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PhilThib
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Tue May 30, 2006 10:53 am

Some British leaders are already very slow. We can easily add some slowing factor to them, in two ways:


A - reduce their strategic values: they will activate less often, so moving them while they aren'( will make them dead slow

B - add a "slow mover" ability to some of them. Burgoyne already has it :sourcil:

Ardie
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Tue May 30, 2006 12:44 pm

I usually split the Army of Burgoyne into 2 parts: The Brits with the slow moving buggers move onboard riverboats to Fort Oswego and from there towards Fort Stanwix. Sometimes I get lucky with them but sometimes their low speed (and low strat rating) really hurts.

The 2nd part is composed of the Brunswickers and their General is a fast mover. He's supposed to strike south from Montreal and take Fort Ticonderoga back from the Rebs and possibly hit Albany.

I don't know about how other players here might feel but I usually get unlucky with my Brit commanders. They just don't haul a*s that much so it makes an exciting campaign for me.

Ardie
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Tue May 30, 2006 4:19 pm

Ok, now I understand what Adam the 6th is talking about.

I've started a 75 GC as the Brits and it's summer of 78 now. The rebs have now a very large number of troops and even the French have arrived.

I've managed my campaign pretty good so far as I hold almost the whole of New England, Georgia, SC, New York, Norfolk and 50 % of NC.

Instead of hitting my troops in the New England/New York area the rebs attacked Canada in strenght during the winter of 77. They are all over the place and took Ft Niagara, Detroit with lightning sieges without any artillery and siege experts!! And I mean lightning as the rebel armies move so fast in Michigan, Ohio and Upper Canada territories that I can't catch them. If I send help it is too late when the reinforcements arrive.

Kind of a strange strategy from the AI but it works!

So, the summer of 78 is now the turning point in my campaign as my Brit offensive continues in the south towards Virginia but now I'm totally on the defensive in the North!

It smells that the AI has received somekind of "help" in the latest patch.

Adam the VIth
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Tue May 30, 2006 7:01 pm

Cohesion? Wow, that would be an excellent touch.

BTW, no more help for the AI......despite the issues I mentioned, I continue to play as the rebels and the darn Redcoats are cleaning my clock! Man, I have lost 5-6 armies......sure, I am whittling the enemy down, but just brutal.

However, the Brits still have 3 stacks of 25+ units moving (that I can see) -- and no garrisons anywhere......so I still feel that to hold a town that supports the "other side", you need to leave a unit there (several units in the case of cities). Is that doable for the AI, or will that just confuse the heck out of it?

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Pocus
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Tue May 30, 2006 8:09 pm

the AI prefers to skin you and then garrison, if the 2 choices are there in a given turn. This is how I would play anyway... ;)

But I can tweak it further.

As for the 'help' she received in the 1.07 patch, this was just some slight adjustments of parameters, no cheats... Dunno if Ardie implied that?
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

Ardie
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Tue May 30, 2006 8:34 pm

I just noticed that the AI moves fast (with wagons) and uses a strategy which I've never seen in this game before, conquers my outlying forts very quickly without arty and siege experts while my sieges take a looong time.

Now all this happens in the West and Canada instead where the real danger is, the rebel colonies where I've taken New York, Philly, Springfield and Hartford pretty easily. The AI only seems to care defending Charleston and Albany.

toddtreadway
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Thu Jun 01, 2006 5:55 pm

Adam the VIth wrote:Also, HUGE issue with this game in terms of garrisons......just moving through an area cannot secure it for you -- you have to leave a garrison. The colonies were revolting for goodness sake.....the Brits have to leave garrisons.....and the size of the garrison should be variable depending upon the size of the city. Otherwise this game in the 1775, 1776 realm loses its flavor for me -- I don't mind running away for 2-3 years as the Continentals, but eventually, the British mega stacks have to settle down and hold the land.

Comments?



Shouldn't there be some rule that if a city/fort is ungarrisoned, the city/fort has a chance to revert back to the control of the power with the majority of control? Maybe a formula as simple as [level of control - 50%].

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Pocus
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Thu Jun 01, 2006 6:32 pm

Believe it or not, these blitzkrieg issues (that some of our testers call the "kamftgruppe Washington effect" has been extensively discuted these days. A fix is planned... :)
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Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

Ardie
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Location: Finland

Thu Jun 01, 2006 7:23 pm

I played 2 test games with the latest patch installed: one with the Americans and one with the Brits.

As I was testing I played with the easiest settings and I was soundly beaten. The absolutely 1st friggin' time this has ever happened to me!!! :)

That AI pretty much managed to perform a "strategic surprise" of grand scale. My forces weren't safe anywhere, there weren't any lines of communication as the AI forces roamed freely in the wilderness, mountains, my rear areas even during the winter. My garrisoned towns were assaulted immediately without siege. A brit force of 1 leader, 3 infantry, 1 arty and a supply unit captured 2 level 3 cities in 2 turns by just assaulting them and destroyed their garrisons combined of 6 regiments (both regular and militia). One force even trekked down from Halifax, Nova Scotia to conquer the whole of Maine territory! With wagons and artillery!!

I'd say that something went very wrong with this latest patch as the AI was literally flying.

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