A few questions

[Ostwindflak]

I just got caught up on Rasputitsa's AAR. An intriguing game. I have a few questions for the vets of this game.

1. How well are low supply effects handled? (I did not see anything in Rasputitsa's AAR about the Austrian Army being effected by him capturing a ton of supply)

2. Does Chemkid's mod for counters work with the stock map?

3. How skillful is the AI? (Does it present a challenge in terms of maneuvering and strategy or does it just get handicap bonuses?)

Thanks for any answers.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Ostwindflak

I just got caught up on Rasputitsa's AAR. An intriguing game. I have a few questions for the vets of this game.

1. How well are low supply effects handled? (I did not see anything in Rasputitsa's AAR about the Austrian Army being effected by him capturing a ton of supply)

2. Does Chemkid's mod for counters work with the stock map?

3. How skillful is the AI? (Does it present a challenge in terms of maneuvering and strategy or does it just get handicap bonuses?)

Thanks for any answers.

1. I cannot tell how the Austrian army is affected because of FOW, but lack of supply will make your units vulnerable :

Manual extract

12.7 LACK OF SUPPLY
Divisions that go into combat without supplies fight at a
reduced strength and will surrender if decisively beaten
(i.e. forced to withdraw before darkness falls). Units
without supply suffer increased attrition and less chance of
recovering stragglers.

This is a new version of an older game and has only really been fully playable since v3.03 was issued last month and the AAR is only a limited experience of the game, but I have learnt enough to know that supply is important. You will see from the AAR that I have left supply under computer control, but with the opportunity to add commands of my own, a combination which I find pleasing and realistic. The FOW effects are challenging, as you have limited information on enemy units, but those enemy units that have been cut off from supply have finally surrendered rather than continuing to retreat.

The effects of low supply can be seen in the destruction of Austrian VI corps, cut off on the South bank of the Danube, as after successfully evading Massena for several days, they are brought to combat and starting from post #24 (turns 23-27) you see the disintegration and surrender of the corps units. I have not written up the following turns yet, but the Austrian cavalry fades away unsuccessfully attempting to force a crossing to escape at DEGGENDORF.

I have nearly two game weeks left to play through (waiting for v3.04), before the scenario ends, I will not know how badly affected the Austrian army is, until the final combat commences, and it will depend on how much supply was already stockpiled in PILSEN. Intriguing it certainly is !

2. The maps, counters and town names (banners) are all different components in the graphic folders and can be applied separately. You can take any, or all, of the mods.

3. The AI is behaving as I would expect the Austrian army to behave, it has sometimes been hesitant, sometimes more aggressive, but you soon find that caution is often the best strategy, a rash move could be very costly. Napoleonic armies are easy to break and there is no quick way out, if things start to go wrong.

The AI had a strategy which I think I thwarted, but it has left some of the French corps very tired (some exhausted), with many stragglers, it will be 'a close run thing' to get them back into action for the finale.

The game is not perfect and v3.04 is due out anytime, hopefully with more improvements, Chemkid's mods have improved the 'look' of the game and my personal opinion is very favourable.

Even with the outstanding issues that I have described in the AAR, I have found this a very enjoyable and challenging game.[:)]

[Ostwindflak]

Hi Rasputitsa, thank you for the reply.

When I saw elements of the Austrian's VI Corps surrendering after their battle with Messena's Corps, I was not sure if a lack of supply was playing a part in that or it was a the fact they were beaten bad enough that they just surrendered. Thanks for clearing that up. It would appear it was a combination of lack or supply, soldier fatigue, and superior French tactics and leadership.

So if v3.03 has only recently made the game fully playable, is v3.04 supposed to be the final product for this game that will fix everything wrong with it in it's current state?

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Ostwindflak

Hi Rasputitsa, thank you for the reply.

When I saw elements of the Austrian's VI Corps surrendering after their battle with Messena's Corps, I was not sure if a lack of supply was playing a part in that or it was a the fact they were beaten bad enough that they just surrendered. Thanks for clearing that up. It would appear it was a combination of lack or supply, soldier fatigue, and superior French tactics and leadership.

So if v3.03 has only recently made the game fully playable, is v3.04 supposed to be the final product for this game that will fix everything wrong with it in it's current state?

The biggest issue previously was that the game was displaying some units with the wrong nationality counters and this was fixed with v3.03, which from my point of view made the game playable. Issues still outstanding, are that corps commanders are likely to follow detached units with separate orders, rather than stay with the rest of the corps on the nominated objective.

I have played through the AAR with this and it has been an inconvenience, but not a game breaker, your view may differ.

There has been an issue with one of the scenarios (Invasion of Bavaria), where some French units have been placed on non-road hexes and therefore cannot move, a scenario error.

There are some display issues over terrain and the initial counter design sometimes made the number of stragglers invisible, the counter mod fixed the straggler display and the terrain issue is not major, as the game plays on the road and town hexes, and the terrain issue affects both sides equally and is not game beaker.

Most of these issues have been reported on the forum, or direct to the developer (Frank Hunter), who is reported to have delivered v3.04 to Matrix and only the holidays are holding things up.

How much is fixed will be revealed when the update is released, but I will be more than happy with the game if the commander issue is fixed, which has been noted by Frank.

Personal opinion, but I think the value in the game outweighs the few niggles it still has. Things will go awry, but I just see that as the chaos of war, if everything worked perfectly, then it would be too synthetic.[:)]

One point, messages can be intercepted, orders will not get through, units will not respond, was that a bug, or WAD, you will never know, war is hell, but uncertainty is the spark that keeps the game alive.

I doubt if v.304 will be the final version, there will still be issues to fix and hopefully more scenarios added in different threatres.

[Ostwindflak]

Curious that the units can not leave road hexes in the game. I had not noticed that whilst reading your AAR. Looking a the screen shots again, I can see it now. I hadn't expected the units to be stuck on more or less linear paths.

I have to say I do like the look of the game and the level of under the hood complexity. The fact that units can only move through hexes with roads was a curve ball.

[RCHarmon]

The quick run down is that Frank is readying the next game in this series. He took this older game and updated it to the new games engine. This has changed a number of things and has produced some bugs.

I play with version 2.2(I believe) and the newest version. In the old version you can leave the road network, but not in the new version. Old version does not have the right OOB for the scenario 'Crisis on the Danube' the new version does. I believe that there is a problem with supply in the new version that could be fixed by increasing the supply a little and starting off with more supply in some of the forward areas.

The game is a very good game that does have a few quirks. I mainly play the 2.2 version as the newest revisions are not finished yet (more updates coming).

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Ostwindflak
Curious that the units can not leave road hexes in the game. I had not noticed that whilst reading your AAR. Looking a the screen shots again, I can see it now. I hadn't expected the units to be stuck on more or less linear paths.

I have to say I do like the look of the game and the level of under the hood complexity. The fact that units can only move through hexes with roads was a curve ball.

Historically Napoleonic warfare is about lines of communications, river crossings, towns and cities, I was also surprised at first, but after playing the game it does feel right. This is grand strategy over sometimes hundreds of miles, so the route structure is important, the tactical side, the battles are handled internally when you have made your battle stance tactical decisions. There is a selectable 'march to the guns' feature that has units able to join a battle from up to 3 hexes away, depending on the weather conditions, and I am not sure whether that means 3 hexes from any direction, or just along the roads.

You can see from the AAR that the strategic options are varied and can lead to some interesting situations.

The beauty of the game is that the operation is simple, selecting objectives, setting stance (defend/engage), march pace (cautious/forced), retreat points, supply sources, all done with a simple button click. Then considering the battle stance, when combat takes place, monitor the state of your commanders and units, considering how much they can take, organising supply, replacements, etc., but within that framework the possibilities become vast.

It's the von Clausewitz effect, every thing in war is simple, but in war the simplest things become difficult, Frank has hit it just right.

I am biased, because I am a WEGO fan, but I think the concepts in this game work very well and I found the AAR game very immersive, don't be fooled by the apparent simplicity, there is a lot to do, as I have tried to illustrate.

[Ostwindflak]

Is there a "grand campaign" through Austria or is the game all individual scenarios?

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Ostwindflak

Is there a "grand campaign" through Austria or is the game all individual scenarios?

The scenarios vary from several weeks up to 2 months, not a Grand Campaign as such. However, the scenario I am playing :

SCENARIO FOUR: CHARLES’
ORIGINAL PLAN (VARIANT)
In this scenario the Austrian forces are set up roughly
according to the Archduke Charles’ original plan for the
campaign, which was attacking out of Bohemia, crossing
the Danube, and taking the French in the flank and driving
them south, away from their western bases. Is the
Austrian army capable of moving rapidly and cutting the
French off from their supply?

- starts on the 1st. April 1809 and notes an end date of 10th. May 1809, however the reinforcement schedule shows forces arriving on day 84, a good deal longer ??

[Ostwindflak]

Deleted - Found the answer

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Ostwindflak
Is there a "grand campaign" through Austria or is the game all individual scenarios?

I missed this from the Manual [&:], but have not tried this option:

3.3.4 Campaign (Extended)
Select this option to play the entire 1805 Campaign