Sacrebleu!
...From my despise for Trent War scenario, not rising to the expectation by abysmal historical map situation of Confederacy, weakened UK intervention and magical Union troops keeping those weakened Brits in check...
...And from my appreciation for fun dynamic of 1863 Lee scenario...
...Also some curiosity about totally unused Mexico part of the map...
Arises strange-speaking evil mix of the mentioned scenarios - 1863 Monsieur Lee mod!
I made minor changes to 1863 Lee Rides North scenario, effectively bringing France into the war. All basic game mechanics are unchanged (well I'm considering something about cancer gunboat vs corps, but eh...). There are some changes to make this intervention playable.
There are AI scripts from the standard version, so they should work to some extent, as there are AI scripts Europeans etc. But I would not expect that AI can manage well French amphibious guys (looks like no amphibious scripts for them). I did not test AI, played hotseat. I imagine that game vs AI Union could be ok, vs AI CSA might suck
Link:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/gzjlepj8 ... ee.7z/file
Put the campaign folder and .cgn in your folder Documents/my games/ACW/Campaigns (in Documents, by default, so not in main folder with the game itself).
So what is changed?
- +20-30% French mobilisation increase each turn; this basically means France (and Mexico) enters in 3rd turn, though with 0 MPP, so most of the land forces can move at 4th turn.
- +50k CSA Fighting Spirit, +20k Union FS. No FS changes from French entry.
- +10% French MPPs (industrial modifier).
- Mexico has some chits invested in army tech research, and is allowed to build up to 5 divisions, because come on.
- 2 additional Union brigades on map (coastal cities), 2 ironclads in production queue due in late 1863.
- King Cotton event income set to 100 MPPs for 40 turns for CSA (instead of 400 for 10 turns).
- Slightly increased build limits for Union, CSA and France. Also, Ironclads are built faster, 9->7 months.
- French corps have 4 action points (instead of 3), to make them on par with others. Union in late game still has unique 5 AP corps.
- End date is 31.07.1866. Probably slightly too late, but whatever for now. This makes mod a bit shorter than standard 1861 campaign, realistically.
- Name of French general commanding their first units is changed from Canrobert to Camembert, as it could not be helped.
- Some stupid image popups.
Number of units is basically equal for the starters. French fleet is superior. Union has MPPs advantage, which diminish with loses in Mexico and lack of blockade, but then rises with industrial tech etc.Game looks to be not terribly skewed for any side. Union owns huge areas of map, especially crushing in the west. But Lee rides north, French navy sweeps, then French corps are landing; Mexican cities are falling swiftly. Union has some tech advantage and minor industrial advantage.
When one plays as Union against human, most importantly he should not panic. Do not overload western theaters, maybe be ready to rail some units east. Lee will press, but arriving corps and maybe other reinforcements stop this during summer. French will land anywhere in September+ and Union cannot do much about that, but these are only 4 corps in 1862, can be handled with railing units around. FS cities shall fall, but can be taken back. There is huge reserve pool of FS, and taken CSA cities ticks for Union.
If Union side defends badly, and France can get a couple of surprise attacks, maybe Union can be broken and beaten. But it is not default, maybe 10% chances? If Union survives in good shape, then in 64' industrial and tech advantage start working, allowing them to go more and more on the offensive. I think end date is set pretty liberal, and Union should have time to overpower South again down to <10% FS, in most cases. Anyway, it is pretty dynamic on at least some of the fronts all the time, with the seas, coastal landings, Mexico, Maryland-Virginia, far west, Atlanta, Grant expedition...
So...
I would be glad to try some PBEM games, if files work correctly and there would be some interested players. Can take any side, multiple matches, I guess.
I think CSA+France is harder to play, but not terribly weak even in 64+. If some other pair of players would like to play between each other, of course I would be happy to hear about results. If anyone is interested, just let me know. Of course if link to files or files themselves do not work, also let me know
