Phases and PBEM

[Bison36]

I just purchased the BGNW and BGACW bundle. I've been playing the CS and several HPS titles by PBEM and thought that these two games would give a broader spectrum of battles to PBEM.

The shock came when I fired up BGNW and realized that the game is played in phase turns and not complete turns (if that makes sense). Not a big deal if I am playing the AI, but how does it work in PBEM? Do you need to conduct a phase, save, send, receive, conduct phase, save, send etc? It seems like a lot of steps to complete one turn. Anyone play this by PBEM and have some feedback about how it plays out?

[Andy Moss]

It's a bit faster than that inasmuch as shooting, charges and melee are conducted as a single phase. So each side has 3 phases per turn. It depends on your turnaround with your opponent but I can usually complete a game in about a couple of months or so maximum. Most battles degenerate into dogfights and rarely go beyond about 20 turns.
HPS does have single phase unless you select MDF, which prevents some of the awful losses in single phase mode.

[simovitch]

in BGCW you can do your whole turn in 1 email if you set defensive fire to automatic before you start the game. I'm finding that it's not so bad because both sides suffer the (sometimes) not so good target selection of the AI.

edit: and what Andy said for Napoleonic.

[Bison36]

I suspect that the factor of unit reduction of 25 can turn the tide of a battle much quicker than the HPS game unit reduction of 1-X men lost. Before I even attempt a PBEM game, I gotta figure out the whole squimisher thing going on in BGNW. They do alot more damage to my in-line infantry than it seems they should.

[Andy Moss]

You may want to have a look at this link
http://battleground-club.de/tricks_mieszko.html

There is a whole subgame you can play with skirmishers. The list above is far from comprehensive, I can dd several more to do with skirmishers. For instance: skirmishers have a facing so melee in flank and they will likely rout. Don't shoot at a skirmisher if you want to melee it. Skirmishers stacked with a formed unit and rotated ninety degrees negate any flank attack bonus of an enemy. Q6 + skirmishers add a defensive bonus to a stack so I often put 25 in a stack of crappy Hanoverians to at least try and give some chance of winning a defensive melee. Etc etc etc.

You can make these games as simple or as complicated as you want. It was the skirmisher issues that made me take to HPS so quickly. To say they are annoying in BG is an understatement.....try Twin Battles unfixed and see how long the Prussians last: check Isolation Rule of course. That killed it for me.

[Bison36]

Thanks Andy. Lots of good information there. I didn't know about the facing of skirmishers, but I still think they are overpowered. Oh well guess its the mechanics of the game.

[Andy Moss]

They are way too overpowered. I hate the things. In HPS they have been toned dpwn somewhat.

The most common gamey tactic is to form superclusters of Guard skirmishers that blast their way through the opponent's lines. Very difficult for cavalry to overrun and impossible if stacked with a supply wagon, which is common practice. Marching up to cavalry is also possible if stacked with supply wagons.

Most people play with the house rule that skirmishers can't participate in zoc kills; can't go more than 2 hexes from formed friendly units and a host of others.

[Bison36]

I play several HPS titles (no nappy series yet) and skirmishers diffenately play differently.   I picked up the BG series to scratch a nappy itch, while I wait for Austerlitz to arrive, and I was expecting more of a Campaign Series gameplay.