First Impressions

[munited18]

As a casual Matrix customer, I happened on this game a few days ago. I own Forge of Freedom, but had not played it in awhile. I love the history of the ACW and so wanted to take a look at this game. I have been reading the various threads and even printed the manual off at work to read over the weekend. I downloaded the demo and was on my merry way. For the record, this is all I can do until I can convinve the wife to give up the $60, which I find that it would be easier to take Richmond on the first turn!
Any how, I was off and running on the long campaign of the demo and here are some things I noticed:

Man, those cavalry raids of the CSA into Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky are down right frustrating! I loved/hated trying to corral them. The destroyed railways really were a pain, but SO realistic! It HURT so good!

I love the depth of the recruiting and replenshment options

I had trouble with Union manpower. Was creating to many units or is this common? If it is common how difficult is it for the sparsly populated south?

Any shortcuts to identyfying what ship types your deloyed forces are or does it just take time to get used to them? I wanted to use the Navy sense it was an integral part of the war, although most don't give it credit!

I love the complicated force structure. Seems very realistic. I scrambled to find commanders, ANY commanders, to pull troops together instead of having patchwork forces everywhere.

I lost about a dozen units to loss of supply. I had tons of supply stockpiles, but they weren't making it to the front! Any thoughts? Most of these were lost in the wilds of West Virginia.

Inside the LEDGER, I really only focused on the units and replenshment pages. Is there anywhere to get more depth on the other stuff? I saw where you could add industry etc, but I don't think the manual did this area justice.

Awesome game. Depth is amazing. I look forward to the full game and to PBEMs. Thanks in advance.

Semper Fi

[decaro]

ORIGINAL: munited18
As a casual Matrix customer, I happened on this game a few days ago. I own Forge of Freedom, but had not played it in awhile.

Funny, I own AACW, but just received my copy of FoF.

ORIGINAL: munited18
... For the record, this is all I can do until I can convinve the wife to give up the $60,

AACW isn't that expensive; I bought a physical copy new thru CDV for about $30.

ORIGINAL: munited18
... I had trouble with Union manpower. Was creating to many units or is this common? If it is common how difficult is it for the sparsly populated south?

Except for creating some sharpshooters -- which supposedly give stacks an added attack bonus -- there are so many battles that I spend most of my resources in the replacement pool.

ORIGINAL: munited18
... I love the complicated force structure. Seems very realistic. I scrambled to find commanders, ANY commanders, to pull troops together instead of having patchwork forces everywhere.

I can't say I enjoy forming Armies and Corps, and you're supposed to balance divisional elements, but this is never convenient.

ORIGINAL: munited18
... I lost about a dozen units to loss of supply. I had tons of supply stockpiles, but they weren't making it to the front! Any thoughts?

Use the supply filter and check for red zones along your supply lines and repair any "Sherman bowties" along your rail lines. The manual also suggests building depots to help move supplies along to the front.

ORIGINAL: munited18
Inside the LEDGER, I really only focused on the units and replenshment pages. Is there anywhere to get more depth on the other stuff? I saw where you could add industry etc, but I don't think the manual did this area justice.

Politics is important for the Union, and financial/economy ledgers are important to long campaigns, but I'm not sure if they are needed in a short demo. Frankly, I thought the AACW manual and its pictoral pdf tutorial where better than that of FoF.

[munited18]

Joe,

I, too, think that the manuak is great. It was just in that area that I felt it was lacking. Also, I wish there would have been a section PBEM. However, when the time comes to play that way, I am sure my opponent will tell me how to get the turn to him and vice versa..