Confusion in Southern Germany

[Soosh]

18th October

That surely must be it now.

[Soosh]

And the scenario ends with a decisive French victory. Just wondering how Coalition confidence went up to 2 again.

Now that was interesting. Even though it was basically the same game, playing with full FoW is somehow… different. I had weird intelligence reports, units that didn’t want to move, confusion on the battlefield (where the heck is Boney?!), stuff that can also happen in a game with less FoW, but playing with reports only puts an extra layer of uncertainty on top of it.

I’m thinking of playing the scenario again with the same settings, but this time as the Coalition. Call it “The Return of the unfortunate General Mack”.

[Soosh]

And last but not least, here a small animation of the whole scenario:

[chemkid]

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[Soosh]

Cheers. And thank you for the awesome map + counters mod. You, sir, are a genius! [&o]

[Rasputitsa]

Thanks for a nice AAR, playing again as the Coalition is good, as I never felt in danger playing as the French, but it's a different 'feel' playing as the Coalition, not so much confidence. [:)]

[Soosh]

Thanks for reading. [:)] What I noticed when writing my first CotD AAR is that it takes more time to take screenshots and crop pictures than to process a turn. [:D]

And agreed, it feels different when playing as the Coalition. But the thing is, if you play the 1805 scenario as the Coalition, you already know that about half a dozen French corps are on their way to cut you off. And, unlike Mack, you won’t waste precious time and pull out of Ulm immediately. Would be cool if CotD would have an option to slightly randomise the starting positions.

[Franciscus]

Thank you for this AAR ! [&o]

I have also began to play with full FOW and it is an amazing experience.

Great game, I hope more people notice it, with the sale it's a bargain right now !

Regards

[Tejszd]

ORIGINAL: Franciscus

Thank you for this AAR ! [&o]

I have also began to play with full FOW and it is an amazing experience.

Great game, I hope more people notice it, with the sale it's a bargain right now !

Regards

Agreed!

[Tejszd]

ORIGINAL: Soosh

Would be cool if CotD would have an option to slightly randomise the starting positions.

Good idea! A button or buttons that would randomize the following items would add tons of replay value;

- arrival times
- starting locations
- weather

For difficulty the following could be randomized at the start;
- fatigue
- stragglers

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Soosh

Thanks for reading. [:)] What I noticed when writing my first CotD AAR is that it takes more time to take screenshots and crop pictures than to process a turn. [:D]

And agreed, it feels different when playing as the Coalition. But the thing is, if you play the 1805 scenario as the Coalition, you already know that about half a dozen French corps are on their way to cut you off. And, unlike Mack, you won’t waste precious time and pull out of Ulm immediately. Would be cool if CotD would have an option to slightly randomise the starting positions.

The game is very quick to play, but it takes so much time to explain all the depth that is in the game, that the AARs take so long to prepare.

The 1805 Ulm campaign does not give the Coalition much of a chance, however the variations on the 1809 Campaign give more of a opportunity for a challenging game, especially if playing as the Coalition with house rules to replicate the lack of co-ordination and slow movement suffered by the Austrians at the beginning.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Tejszd

ORIGINAL: Soosh

Would be cool if CotD would have an option to slightly randomise the starting positions.

Good idea! A button or buttons that would randomize the following items would add tons of replay value;

- arrival times
- starting locations
- weather

For difficulty the following could be randomized at the start;
- fatigue
- stragglers

Frank said that he used the comments on this forum before issuing the last update, so here's hoping he can note these comments.

However, I have noticed, when re-starting the same scenario, that the AI can use a different strategy with each game, which is good for replay.

[OldSarge]

Thank you, Soosh and Rasputitsa, for very nicely done AARs!

I just picked up CoTD and played through this same scenario without using FOW. Still learning some of the more subtle things like supply,
but these AARs are very helpful in understanding the gameplay. [8D]

[Soosh]

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. [:)]

Still learning some of the more subtle things like supply

I have to admit, I always let the computer handle supply. I think that's the next step I have to master.

Anyhow, I know CotD is on an operational level, but it somehow reminds me of those late 80's / early 90's 3D battlefield simulations where you had to type in commands like:

“Marmont, at stupid o'clock in the morning move 2 infantry divisions up that hill to your left and defend it, while giving support to Bernadotte, who can't be arsed to do the job on his own.” or something like that. [:D]

Btw, does anyone know what Frank Hunter is up to at the moment? Used to play his old ACW game back in the day, own CotD and GoA and thinking of getting PFE before the sale ends. Really like the way his games are designed and I'm curious what his next project might be.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Soosh

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated. [:)]

Still learning some of the more subtle things like supply

I have to admit, I always let the computer handle supply. I think that's the next step I have to master.

Anyhow, I know CotD is on an operational level, but it somehow reminds me of those late 80's / early 90's 3D battlefield simulations where you had to type in commands like:

“Marmont, at stupid o'clock in the morning move 2 infantry divisions up that hill to your left and defend it, while giving support to Bernadotte, who can't be arsed to do the job on his own.” or something like that. [:D]

Btw, does anyone know what Frank Hunter is up to at the moment? Used to play his old ACW game back in the day, own CotD and GoA and thinking of getting PFE before the sale ends. Really like the way his games are designed and I'm curious what his next project might be.

I also leave supply under computer control, because it's so much hassle to do it all and a big possibility that you will miss something vital, but you can still move supply around even under computer control. The computer will keep a reasonable level of supply going to your units and you can send additional supply to towns where you know you will need supply later.

[Soosh]

ORIGINAL: Rasputitsa

The computer will keep a reasonable level of supply going to your units

Indeed, the AI is a quite reliable quartermaster. But some sunny day I’d like to manually control supplies, just to see how it is. And that will be the day where the forces under my command will be doomed.

[Rasputitsa]

ORIGINAL: Soosh

ORIGINAL: Rasputitsa

The computer will keep a reasonable level of supply going to your units

Indeed, the AI is a quite reliable quartermaster. But some sunny day I’d like to manually control supplies, just to see how it is. And that will be the day where the forces under my command will be doomed.

I gave up manual supply control, as I just could not keep up with all the supply movements needed, but hey, it's the privilege of command to have other people doing your work.