Totally Lost and Confused

[Kim White]

Hi All,
I don't think of myself as a stupid man but after several hours of trying to get to grips with this game I feel lost and confused. I've tried playing the "tutorial". It shows you two moves then sort of says "you are on your own, have a play around".

I don't know what to do or where to go.

I tried loading the campaign game. I cannot even find the main British Fleet and have no idea on how to set anything up. I think the designers are so close to this game that they are assuming WE will just "know" what to do.

If I could, I would let the computer play BOTH sides and just watch, but that choice is not available.

It would even have been good if I could just play the British and let the AI play everything else, until I learned more, but I cannot do that.

So, until AGEOD publishes a PROPER tutorial, if anyone does have a good AAR, please treat us like total idiots and tell us EXACTLY what you did, and how, to play the game.

I don't mind if you do treat me like that, I'm not proud. Just so long as it helps me UNDERSTAND.
Cheers
Kim

[zakblood]

this is why i compared the game to Gary Grigsby’s War in the East, looks great, as both do, but easy of play?, well i've only seen a few vids, and tbh it looked way over my head so until some easy lessons come out i think i stay a bit longer on the fence and not make a purchase, fell for you as i'm in the same boat as you, except you have a paddle and bought the game, i'm just sitting and watching and learning with what others have to say, then will make my mind up, might take a few weeks or months im guessing...

on your point, the only real way to learn anything now days, it sit and make some massive mistakes and try and learn from them, if reading the manual doesn't give you the answers, then keep asking, then at least others will also learn and get a reply, as if this site is good for not only games, it great for advice too. good luck, i feel for you[X(]

[ReviewGameX27]

This game really needs more tool tips ingame that explain and show vital information. Right now u can only guess most important frontage of armies...

[Rekm41]

Very nice AAR here

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.p ... post323627

[NotOneStepBack]

Yes unfortunately our niche of gaming rarely has ease of play walkthroughs. I was able to figure out war in the east with only the manual and many hours of playing around, so it should be doable.

[Rekm41]

And an episode version of EAW here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj9kz94FML4

[wosung]

ORIGINAL: Kim White

Hi All,
I don't think of myself as a stupid man but after several hours of trying to get to grips with this game I feel lost and confused. I've tried playing the "tutorial". It shows you two moves then sort of says "you are on your own, have a play around".

I don't know what to do or where to go.

I tried loading the campaign game. I cannot even find the main British Fleet and have no idea on how to set anything up. I think the designers are so close to this game that they are assuming WE will just "know" what to do.

If I could, I would let the computer play BOTH sides and just watch, but that choice is not available.

It would even have been good if I could just play the British and let the AI play everything else, until I learned more, but I cannot do that.

So, until AGEOD publishes a PROPER tutorial, if anyone does have a good AAR, please treat us like total idiots and tell us EXACTLY what you did, and how, to play the game.

I don't mind if you do treat me like that, I'm not proud. Just so long as it helps me UNDERSTAND.
Cheers
Kim

1. There are 2 campaign games: Historical campaign (Aug 1914-1919) and Grand campaign (July 1914-1919). Click on them and read the description, choose one, then press ok. In the former the war plans (troop disposition, declarations of war) for all are already choosen, the historical ones (like Schlieffen plan: Schwerpunkt in the West, Belgium is declared war on by ze Huns). In the latter one, in the first turn all you can do is choose alternative war plans: F3, Click on the pen to read the description, choose one & press ok.

2. Major parts of the Royal Navy are in Scapa Flow. For handling them (just like other forces) click on the base of the structure (city, fortress) in a region.

Some other hints:

3. Main screen/Options/media: I'd recommend to have regroup armies on and masked battle animation. The former will enforce proper counter stacks on map. The second one will reduce battle resolution time w/o interfering with the battle planner.

4. over-all on-map situation: play around with the map overlays (the globe above the minimap). They contain lots of useful infos. Arguably the supply mode is rather important: It shows the vital depots (supply production centres and relais)

5. F1-F12 contain additional screens with tons of infos, functions & options. So do the 3 circle like buttons on the top left. The regional decisions (dice symbol) have to be moved partly on map regions, partly on the diplomatic interface (the box in the upper right corner of the map)

6. You can move armies (3 star counters) together with corps (2 star counters) simultanious by: clicking on the army counter/toolbar/leftmost yellow icon/synchro movement (the 4 legs). This will move also the corps. But be aware. If you wanna move all stacks in a region by train, you'll have to acticate the move by rail icon (train) in the same toolbar for each counter.

[Gilmer]

Hi all! I'm starting a new AAR for us players who aren't necessarily the experts of the Ageod system. This AAR will be very interactive as in, if you have a question, ask! I know what buttons to push and the minimal things, strategy? Hey, your guess is as good as mine. I'll go with the strategy of "Try not to let the other guy do what he wants to do, and I'll also try to do some of the stuff I want to."

It will be called the "AAR for us, the unknowing, "ungood" players!"

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?36936-To-End-All-Wars-AAR-Western-Entente-against-the-AI-of-Central-Powers!&p=324721#post324721

[Werewolf13]

One wonders if anyone that is confused has actually read the manual?

That said: I don't have EAW yet but am strongly considering getting it. I do have Civil War 2 though and have since a few months after its release. I have read the manual from cover to cover and I'm still learning things about the game - which I guess - makes me confused too. [&:]

Hmmmm...

Never mind. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming. [:D]

[Tac2i]

As one who has never played an ageod game I'm currently reading the manual for this one. For someone who has no ageod game experience, this is a must I believe. Otherwise you'll be dazed and confused or put more simply: totally lost.

[freeboy]

One wonders if anyone that is confused has actually read the manual?

That said: I don't have EAW yet but am strongly considering getting it. I do have Civil War 2 though and have since a few months after its release. I have read the manual from cover to cover and I'm still learning things about the game - which I guess - makes me confused too.

Hmmmm...

Never mind. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming.


Seriously?
Blame the user? I read the frickin manuel four times looking for info on supply... ITs just too much game to cover without either writing a huge volume, or actually creating web based tutorials... not complex by our grog standards just intricate.. lots of moving parts...

[Aurelian]

The manual talked about Army Groups. I thought "Finally!!! A WW1 game that has the Russian Army Groups." Nope..... Ah well.....


France

The French Army formed a number of Groupe D'Armees during the First World War. The first of these was Army Group North, formed on a provision basis in October 1914. Army Group East and Army Group Centre both followed in 1915 while Army Group Reserve was established in 1917. A Franco-Belgian Army Group Flanders also existed briefly in 1918, under the command of Albert I of Belgium.

Germany

The German Army formed its first two Heeresgruppen in 1915, to control forces on the eastern front. A total of eight Army Groups would ultimately be raised; four for service on each front, with one of the eastern front Army Groups being a multinational German and Austro-Hungarian formation. Originally the Imperial German Army Groups were not separate formations, but instead additional responsibilities granted to certain Army commanders. Crown Prince Wilhelm for instance, was simultaneously commander of the 5th Army and Army Group German Crown Prince from August 1915 to November 1916.

All eight German Army Groups were named after their commanders.

[zakblood]

how to make it easier or harder

[zakblood]

another one,

[zakblood]

seems it may be more of my cup of tea now, as i had no idea it had this level of customizability in it, now i do

this was shared by a friend, the screenshots that is, now i'll buy it

[henri51]

The game ( I have it) clearly supposes that the player has played Civil War II (I have not, but I have played Alea jacta est, another AGEOD game and watched some CWII videos). Some critical parts of the manual are more or less unclear, in particular the parts about organizing armies, synchronizing attacks and other things, and the tutorial is much too short(at the end of the tutorial it says that there are more tutorial hints in the campaigns, but this is no excuse), and the manual was written by someone with a limited knowledge of English (my first language is French too, but that is another story). There is a lot to learn by reading the manual anyway.Knowing something about WW1 helps a bit too, but don't expect most new players to be familiar with the Schlieffen Plan or the abilities of the Austro-Hungarians vs the Serbians (they will have to find out the hard way...).

This is really too bad, because it looks like a very good game. There are a few very good video AARs on Youtube, one by The Historical Gamer and one by Pewpewchewchew, but they are not tutorials, and sometimes the players clearly don't know what they are doing, which is fun for a video, but not for learning the game.

There is an urgent need for a series of tutorial videos and/or AARs explaining the mechanics of the game.

What I did (and recommend) is to keep playing after the end of the tutorial, since the area of operations and forces are limited, just to learn some new angles. Beginners should avoid starting with the Central Forces, since they will have to fight a 3-front war against multiple enemies right from the start.

As far as complexity goes, it is my impression that this game is harder to get into than the most complex wargames(WiTE, WitPAE and HOI3), but that is just my own impression.

Henri

[KNKnight]

People, first know your history of WW 1. Second, read the manual. Third, repeat the first and second again.


BTW, "I tried loading the campaign game. I cannot even find the main British Fleet and have no idea on how to set anything up. I think the designers are so close to this game that they are assuming WE will just "know" what to do." CLICK SCAPA FLOW, you find most of the British fleet there!

and .... please have FUNS.

[ceyan]

If you have a basic understanding of WWI (basic being anything beyond what you'd find in a school text book) then you should be able to work out the key concerns of the game to focus on. From there read the manual once and jump in. It just isn't feasible to build a tutorial that can really break down a game (note, it is possible; the problem comes down to time and money) of this scale and understanding the game to the level needed to enjoy it actually comes pretty quick once you sit down for an hour to actually execute some turns with the manual on hand for reference. Much like other games in the same league (even beyond AGEOD games) you pick up the basics fairly quickly after actually doing some turns although going to the next level is often the actual difficult part once you actually get into the game.

[henri51]

It IS possible (Charles Cummings[spelling?] did a tutorial series for Civil War II on Youtube): for example, videos on the menus, and creating armies and corps, videos on combat, videos on recruitment, and so on. It is "simply" a matter of breaking up the game into pieces. When you begin to learn Physics, even at the University level, you don't begin with General Relativity and Quantum Mechanics.

And BTW, the manual clearly says that there will (or should) be more scenarios and tutorials, which is a tacit admission that there are not enough. And also, after looking through the manual again, it is not so bad. Although there may be a few required improvements, it is well-organized and has over 150 pages. As an example of fuzzy explanation, in the section on organizing armies it says that armies can be spread out to improve defence or attack, and on the same page it warns that if an army is split into different areas, it loses its army status. It probably means that DIFFERENT armies can be spread out to improve attack or defence, but I understood that the sentence applied to a SINGLE army, which is wrong.Fortunately spotting a clear contradiction on the same page warned me that something was wrong, and after reading the section a couple of times, I finally caught the intended meaning (I think).In any case, the question of army , corps and GHQ organization is so subtle that it needs to be explained with examples.

One thing that I find particularly confusing is synchronization:does one have to press the synchronize button for each unit, or do all units in the same army synchronize if the button is pressed and an attack is launched. How about other armies and units in the same stack? Another one: the tutorial shows how to recon with the air unit by moving it to a nearly enemy unit, but the manual says that air reconnaissance is carried out automatically. When I tried to recon by moving the air unit onto an enemy unit later in the tutorial, it was captured by the enemy...

Henri

[zakblood]

ah need to read the manual[&o]

i see now where i'm going wrong[:D]

[;)]