First Impressions?

[Bearcat2]

The first thing that I noticed was no Union Ft. Pickens in the July 61' start; then hitting F8 resulted in an CTD[windowed Vista] then I noticed this in the rules "Border States will generate partisans each turn in regions controlled by the Union player only" huh? no union partisans for confederate occupied border state regions? [or for East Tenn- the main reason for numerous Union campaigns to help the "unionists"]
I like the format; looks great, being an old board gamer of several civil war titles, I understand most of the concepts concerning leaders, supplies, activation etc. I have a few minor quibbles; like particular general historical activation dates-[ex J. Cox, comm 4/61, delayed at start of 61'scenario] but these are small nitpicks that do not detract from the game.
I am very pleased so far.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Termite2
then hitting F8 resulted in an CTD[windowed Vista]

Is that reproducible for you? F8 seems to work fine here (brings up the production screen). Have you updated your Vista drivers for video and audio to the absolute latest?

I then I noticed this in the rules "Border States will generate partisans each turn in regions controlled by the Union player only" huh? no union partisans for confederate occupied border state regions? [or for East Tenn- the main reason for numerous Union campaigns to help the "unionists"

The partisan values take into account the local sympathies. Eastern Tennessee was a favorite project of Lincoln's but any partisan activity there did not, to my recollection, rise to the level of what was in Missouri or other areas. The CSA did not generally find a need to garrison its own territory against partisans, but the Union certainly had to garrison occupied southern territory, this ended up representing a pretty big drain on Union manpower, as it does in the game.

I like the format; looks great, being an old board gamer of several civil war titles, I understand most of the concepts concerning leaders, supplies, activation etc. I have a few minor quibbles; like particular general historical activation dates-[ex J. Cox, comm 4/61, delayed at start of 61'scenario] but these are small nitpicks that do not detract from the game.
I am very pleased so far.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: rroberson
Played about a year with the Damn Rebs. (Let the AI handle my production so I could get use to the combat arms). Didn't win a single battle against the AI, which I assume is a good sign.

Yes, that's to be expected until you get a handle on all the strategies involved in setting yourself up for a victory. I also started by letting the AI run my production, it's a good way to keep from getting overwhelmed at the start. Once you master movement and combat, you can then take over your production as well, if you so choose. The AI does a pretty good job with production though, as long as you want a fairly balanced approach instead of focusing on one particular area.

A few quick tips on winning battles:

1. Always Scout and Raid their rail lines and supplies if possible
2. Good Generals with Initiative and that includes having an Army Commander with initiative
4. Infantry should fight, not Militia
5. Pay attention to terrain and supply lines for their possible reaction/concentration possibilities

Regards,

- Erik

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Termite2
then hitting F8 resulted in an CTD[windowed Vista]

Is that reproducible for you? F8 seems to work fine here (brings up the production screen). Have you updated your Vista drivers for video and audio to the absolute latest?

Just FYI, we couldn't duplicate this on our Vista test system at all, the game is solid as a rock. If this happens to you again, please post in the support sub-forum with a DxDiag file. Thanks!

[Bearcat2]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

ORIGINAL: Termite2
then hitting F8 resulted in an CTD[windowed Vista]

Is that reproducible for you? F8 seems to work fine here (brings up the production screen). Have you updated your Vista drivers for video and audio to the absolute latest?

I then I noticed this in the rules "Border States will generate partisans each turn in regions controlled by the Union player only" huh? no union partisans for confederate occupied border state regions? [or for East Tenn- the main reason for numerous Union campaigns to help the "unionists"

The partisan values take into account the local sympathies. Eastern Tennessee was a favorite project of Lincoln's but any partisan activity there did not, to my recollection, rise to the level of what was in Missouri or other areas. The CSA did not generally find a need to garrison its own territory against partisans, but the Union certainly had to garrison occupied southern territory, this ended up representing a pretty big drain on Union manpower, as it does in the game.

I like the format; looks great, being an old board gamer of several civil war titles, I understand most of the concepts concerning leaders, supplies, activation etc. I have a few minor quibbles; like particular general historical activation dates-[ex J. Cox, comm 4/61, delayed at start of 61'scenario] but these are small nitpicks that do not detract from the game.
I am very pleased so far.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it!

CTD only happened the first time I hit the icon on the toolbar, might have happened because of going from the previous F7 directly to F8; hasn't happened since.
East Tenn produced Union regts from the start of the war{1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 1st Tenn Cav;sept-nov 1861 }; was the scene of heavy partisan activity and the Confederates ruthlessly put down the unionists; not as bad as Missouri, but worse than Ky, Md.

"Knoxville and East Tennessee held a unique position in the Confederacy. Although Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, East Tennessee remained throughout the war staunchly Unionist. To complicate matters, Knoxville was a blend of Union and Confederate supporters. This combination would ensure that Knoxville and East Tennessee saw their share of political and military fighting during the Civil War."-Anne Bridges U.T.K.
The biggest success of the partisans was the burning of the railroad bridges around Knoxville in Nov, 1861; which resulted in a heavy Confederate response.

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Termite2
East Tenn produced Union regts from the start of the war{1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 1st Tenn Cav;sept-nov 1861 }; was the scene of heavy partisan activity and the Confederates ruthlessly put down the unionists; not as bad as Missouri, but worse than Ky, Md.
"Knoxville and East Tennessee held a unique position in the Confederacy. Although Tennessee voted to join the Confederacy, East Tennessee remained throughout the war staunchly Unionist. To complicate matters, Knoxville was a blend of Union and Confederate supporters. This combination would ensure that Knoxville and East Tennessee saw their share of political and military fighting during the Civil War."-Anne Bridges U.T.K.
The biggest success of the partisans was the burning of the railroad bridges around Knoxville in Nov, 1861; which resulted in a heavy Confederate response.

I stand corrected, thanks. I guess I'll let Joel comment on this further since I missed the mark.

Regards,

- Erik

[Joel Billings]

I wasn't aware of the East Tennessee issue. Did the Confederates feel the need to garrison the area with troops (other than local militia)? The border states provide population to both sides in the game (the amounts vary based on the status of the state and are given in the manual), but for simplicity we kept all non-border states pure (100% for their side).

As for Fort Pickens, either Gary was not aware of it or did not think it deserved a space on the map given the gamescale and layout of the area. We could have handled it like the other islands, but we'd need to have a sea zone next to Pensacola that was different from the one off Mobile. I don't think it would have much impact on the game had we included it, but it's interesting to note.

[Bearcat2]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

I wasn't aware of the East Tennessee issue. Did the Confederates feel the need to garrison the area with troops (other than local militia)? The border states provide population to both sides in the game (the amounts vary based on the status of the state and are given in the manual), but for simplicity we kept all non-border states pure (100% for their side).

As for Fort Pickens, either Gary was not aware of it or did not think it deserved a space on the map given the gamescale and layout of the area. We could have handled it like the other islands, but we'd need to have a sea zone next to Pensacola that was different from the one off Mobile. I don't think it would have much impact on the game had we included it, but it's interesting to note.

It was bitter enough that fighting continued for several years after the civil war. A decent book about it:
War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869 by Noel C Fisher
"One of the most divided regions of the Confederacy, East Tennessee was the site of fierce Unionist resistance to secession, Confederate rule, and the Southern war effort. It was also the scene of unrelenting 'irregular,' or guerrilla, warfare between Union and Confederate supporters, a conflict that permanently altered the region's political, economic, and social landscape. In this study, Noel Fisher examines the military and political struggle for control of East Tennessee from the secession crisis through the early years of Reconstruction, focusing particularly on the military and political significance of the region's irregular activity. Fisher portrays in grim detail the brutality and ruthlessness employed not only by partisan bands but also by Confederate and Union troops under constant threat of guerrilla attack and government officials frustrated by unstinting dissent. He demonstrates that, generally, guerrillas were neither the romantic, daring figures of Civil War legend nor mere thieves and murderers, but rather were ordinary men and women who fought to live under a government of their choice and to drive out those who did not share their views." - review from UNC Press.

Ft. Pickens disrupted the trade from Pensacola, the Confederates tried to take it numerous times, but were unsuccessful.

[Feralkoala]

The Confederates stationed sizeable forces there on occasion, mostly to counter Union moves into the area. A rail line from VA ran through the area, so it was considered important for that reason, as well as the perceived benefit the Union might receive from sympathizers that was already mentioned. For example, Kirby Smith commanded there early in the war, and Longstreet's corps was stationed in Knoxville following Chickamauga and the ensuing blockade of Chattanooga.

Whether there would have been a large number of recruits from the area is unknown, but as was pointed out TN did provide a large number of Union regiments even without this area in Union control for most of the war.

[Pford]

Too early for a review. Have to say this is an intricate, deeply thought out project, complex but eventually manageable (I think). It's now apparent, I should have ordered the version with the hard copy manual.[8|]

The single most impressive aspect so far has to be the separate upstream/downstream movement rates for gunboats. Now that's detailing!

[Crimguy]

I did get a CTD on my first outing. Started as CSA and it occurred during the AI's 1st turn as the US. I think I was resizing the window during their move. Running Vista HomePro SP1, 2GB ram.

I'll disregard until I see something more palpable. Vista . . . what was I thinking?

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Just FYI, we couldn't duplicate this on our Vista test system at all, the game is solid as a rock. If this happens to you again, please post in the support sub-forum with a DxDiag file. Thanks!

[rroberson]

ORIGINAL: Crimguy

I did get a CTD on my first outing. Started as CSA and it occurred during the AI's 1st turn as the US. I think I was resizing the window during their move. Running Vista HomePro SP1, 2GB ram.

I'll disregard until I see something more palpable. Vista . . . what was I thinking?

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

Just FYI, we couldn't duplicate this on our Vista test system at all, the game is solid as a rock. If this happens to you again, please post in the support sub-forum with a DxDiag file. Thanks!

Meh I see lots of vista bashing, and frankly it hasnt really caused me much trouble. If you go in and turn everything off...you can kill the resource hog...

[Crimguy]

I don't bash it, but it hasn't been the greatest for me.  Forced upgrade of Office 2000, 5 minute delays by UAC when installing software, and hit or miss performance in games.  Overall, it has been more secure and more stable than XP for me.

[elmo3]

ORIGINAL: Crimguy

I did get a CTD on my first outing. Started as CSA and it occurred during the AI's 1st turn as the US. I think I was resizing the window during their move. Running Vista HomePro SP1, 2GB ram.

I'll disregard until I see something more palpable. Vista . . . what was I thinking?

I had a crash on turn 1 of the Union AI, but I'm running XP. Did you happen to notice if the Lincoln portrait was missing during the reciting of the Gettysburg address? It was for me. I have been unable to duplicate this one time crash again.

[Erik Rutins]

For what it's worth, we haven't seen any issues on Vista on our test systems. It's been running flawlessly for months. However, Vista can be finicky and some Vista hardware drivers (for both graphics and audio) are still bug-filled and unstable. So I can certainly understand why there have been a few Vista issue reports. I would encourage all customers to update to the latest official drivers fairly regularly. If you run into any further issues, please post in our support forum and we'll help you out.

[elmo3]

Yes, sorry for going off topic. My first impression is one of enthusiasm. The game looks more complex than I expected but the 18 video tutorials help clarify a lot of the details.

[tedhealy]

Slightly updated impressions....After struggling a bit with the Union, I started over as the CSA and let the cpu handle my production.  This is easily my favorite ACW game now (amonng AACW and several board games).  It strikes a good balance between minute details and grand strategy.  There's just enough detail to keep you occupied but not so much that my eyes glaze over and turns become a chore.  Combat has produced good results so far without any headturning out of whack numbers.  Once you understand initiative, the uses of army commanders, and how the reaction phase works, anyone with interest in the ACW should enjoy the game.

Currently I'm in march of 1863 as the CSA.  I've stalemated Grant just north of Shiloh and along that line to the east to WV.  Unfortunately this was probably at the cost of not being prepared enough in the east.  The USA was able to expand from Ft. Monroe into New Bern in late 62.  Then in early 63 the AI launched a 2 prong attack into Richmond and into Manassas the same turn thereby dividing my reaction armies in mid Virginia.  I probably should have picked to defend one or the other with all my reaction armies but I split them to defend both and won in Richmond but lost in Manassas.  I've been able to reinforce the east somewhat and I should hold through 63, but sooner or later I'm going to have to pull troops out of the west or give up defending some coastal areas.  I don't think I'll hold too long beyond that, but winning several major engagements in the west was worth it, definite fist pumping moments when you get your first big win.  Oh and last but not least, I got screwed in the east too.  Just when Lee appeared on the scene and was made army commander, he resigned for 12 months [:@]

[PyleDriver]

Ted, OMG, not Lee tell me it's not so...lol...Better tell Davis to just sign the papers now. In 70 games I never seen him take leave. Thats the beauty of this game, their never the same...Learning as the CSA helps you latter to play as the Union, you'll learn their weak spots...Have you read my S&T guide yet? It will help. Yep I wrote it and happy to say I did. Still can't beat Joel, damn...I lost some key battles in our AAR. The final month is coming, it's Joel's turn to post...Stay tuned for this one...

[8D]
Jon

[tedhealy]

Yeah I know I won't last, but I'm hoping to hold out until the election.  I actually have a 300 or so PP lead right now.  It's going to be a balancing act as I'm going to have to move forces to the east to hold on to Richmond.  I think my 2 biggest mistakes early were in the east I did not have enough cav on hand to scout the enemy for weakness and raid and in the west I gave up too much territory without a fight. 

Luckily the AI hasn't landed in NOLA yet.  I see them shuffling transports and forces near there and Mobile every turn, but no landing.  I have 2 small forces and heavy arty there to react so hopefully I can contain any invasion. 

Only my first game, but I'm pretty happy with the AI.  It hasn't done anything I would question and it's able to organize it's forces for defense and attack.   

S&T guide, yeah read it and it's probably the reason I didn't lose at the end of 61 [:D]  The USA made a huge push down the Mississippi and I had to rush troops to the area to hold the flood and keep them from going all the way to Atlanta.  They got down to Shiloh and nearly all of KY and parts of TN including Chatanooga.  I then set up mobile reserves with ACs behind the front lines and reacted to and then pushed back USA assaults.  In 62 I was able to push them back further retaking up to Humboldt and parts of KY but there's just too many of them in the area now to push any further.  At this point I'm preparing for defense and preping Vicksburg with heavy arty. 

[PyleDriver]

Ted, sounds like your learning the game well, fun huh...The CSA can replace an AC quickly unlike the Union. 300 pp's up, you may pull this out. The key is what are the Unions pp's are...

[8D]
Jon