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More on the 1864 start...

Well, I've done some tests and I'm not sure the 1864 start is actually possible to win as the Confederates. Simply because the Union occupies so many towns that CS morale will fall to zero no matter what they do.

Which is kind of accurate I guess. When I set up the NM I calculated it so that if both sides were to perform exactly as they did in real life, the zero point would be the fall of Atlanta (effectively the latest point that there was an even 1% chance of the Union giving in). Which is pretty soon after the 64 scenario starts. But in my latest test, even by retaking most of the ports in the Carolinas and Florida, and launching an invasion near Pittsburgh, the CS morale was still doomed to fall to zero probably around Feb-65.

Perhaps that makes sense. I'm not sure. But it isn't a lot of fun knowing that you're 100% guaranteed to lose. So I've created a variant of the scenario with some NM scripts.

When setting up the game, there are now three NM scripts titled "Turn 1 Adjustment". The first two are for the Union and Confederacy respectively, to account for losses from 1861 until that point. The third is marked Hard Mode and is defined to be off by default. It is an additional script to further reduce CS NM.

"Hard Mode" is the original, with a zero point for Confederate NM set to run out with historical play at Atlanta. The new regular setting instead has Confederate NM set to fall with Appomattox instead (I split the old event in two). There is no difference in units spawned, industrial production or anything like that, and Regular mode is still extremely difficult. But it is at least possible to win. I don't think Hard mode is (but if someone can win in hard mode, I'd love to see an AAR!)

- BNC

There are some options with Confederate NM:

1) Give them a higher starting value
2) Add some NM scripts to stop theirs dropping too fast - either one off events, or a Type= 2 script that fires every turn that they hold a location. Or multiples of both!

This looks stunningly good and I hope the date of release of the mod is rapidly approaching!

Thanks mate!

I'm still cleaning up some of the graphics but hopefully won't be too much longer [:)]

- BNC

Some of the new graphics

As promised, the graphics are finally here! You might recognise the "Napoleon" cannon from the 1870 scenario, which looked cool enough that I decided to put that in here. Everything else is either a brand new drawing (particularly the ships), or a reskin of the WWI figures, both of which were done by my brother Declan (he's a heaps better designer than I'll ever be!). Take a look below! (They look even better in the game without having been jpegged a few times to fit on the forum).

- BNC

It's done!

Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/tj4t11z3t ... W.zip/file

I've included a readme file in the zip that explains stuff about the balancing of scenarios, how to get to 'Hard mode' and a few other things. Installation is pretty easy, just extract the zip and copy the campaign files and their folders (so "1861 AHD.cgn" and "_1861 AHD" for each) into My Documents/My Games/SCWWI Breakthroughs/Campaigns.

I look forward to hearing stories of your successes on the battlefield!

- BNC

Downloaded and began playing the 1863 scenario. It is thus far exceeding my already high expectations!

Also dl'd and am starting my morning out with your kind offering. I am late to the game with all the SC games, bought them all, and think I will start with your work as Civil War is my favorite. Thanks again so very much for your time and craft.

ORIGINAL: michaelspotts

Also dl'd and am starting my morning out with your kind offering. I am late to the game with all the SC games, bought them all, and think I will start with your work as Civil War is my favorite. Thanks again so very much for your time and craft.

Hope you enjoy it [:)]. Be sure to tell us how it goes!

- BNC

Thanks for this mod. I'm starting a House Divided game today.

a couple of questions:

1) I've looked through your notes above and in the WWI manual, but see no special capabilities for marines. They cost double what an infantry division costs, but very much the same stats. Do they have higher morale or something?

2) For upcoming production I see a Union HQ available Jan/Feb '64. Is that correct?

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

Thanks for this mod. I'm starting a House Divided game today.

a couple of questions:

1) I've looked through your notes above and in the WWI manual, but see no special capabilities for marines. They cost double what an infantry division costs, but very much the same stats. Do they have higher morale or something?

2) For upcoming production I see a Union HQ available Jan/Feb '64. Is that correct?

Marines: Marines in the ACW weren't that good for much more than landing at or near harbours and then taking them to deny them from the enemy, so I don't want them to really be a viable front-line unit. In the later scenarios quite a few start on the map (places like Port Royal and New Orleans), and the increased reinforcement costs will hopefully deter from marching them into the heart of the CSA when such an operation wasn't really feasible. In 1861 they're not so relevant.

2: That would be Sherman. Seeing as he is a skill 8 general but spent the first half of the war as a division and then corps commander under Grant, I thought it would be a bit silly to allow the Union to purchase him in 1861/2 (when they should be limited to less skilled people such as McClellan).

Hope you enjoy the mod

- BNC

I won't try to overthink things, but I wonder if a house rule might be necessary to keep from having long front lines, like WW1. Maybe I should require that any corps/div attached to an HQ has to be adjacent to that HQ. Of course the AI won't play that way, but a limited counter set may have the same effect.

ORIGINAL: gwgardner

I won't try to overthink things, but I wonder if a house rule might be necessary to keep from having long front lines, like WW1. Maybe I should require that any corps/div attached to an HQ has to be adjacent to that HQ. Of course the AI won't play that way, but a limited counter set may have the same effect.

Not sure its necessary. Each of the big armies (eg. the Army of North Virginia) moved around quite a bit within their theatre, probably within a space of 4 tiles around a location at any one time. Seeing as the armies also had 2-4 corps in them, that covers the four tiles that the army is covering. Only instead of putting 4 corps on one tile, it displays as 1 corps on four tiles. Battles between several units can be assumed to be taking at one point along the line, even though it displays as being across half a state.

The build limits are low enough to stop a massive line forming from Washington to Memphis, although realistically speaking the map would have to be four times as big to fit everything at a scale that looks right. But then it becomes too easy to just walk around the enemy army and then scatter into a billion different directions grabbing everything that isn't defended.

The current set up is the best I could come up with that isn't horribly exploitable.

- BNC

I played this mod yesterday and today as Union. It is really well done and a lot of fun. Congratulations!

I do have some suggestions. Being able to research to Naval tech Level 5 seems really high for this time period. There is already a nice difference between Monitors and Cruisers. Perhaps limiting Naval Tech to Level 1 or 2 would be better.

In the 1860's, one only traveled by foot, horse, train or ship. Being able to research Mobility Tech seems out of place.

Artillery didn't change very much during the 1860's also. I would suggest limiting Artillery Tech to Level 1. Artillery was very effective defensively, but not this effective on offense.

I wonder if it would be possible to create Union Gunboats. They would attack at range like Armored Trains. Such ships would be fun on the Mississippi River.

Thank you for creating such a wonderful mod.

ORIGINAL: Mithrilotter

I played this mod yesterday and today as Union. It is really well done and a lot of fun. Congratulations!

I do have some suggestions. Being able to research to Naval tech Level 5 seems really high for this time period. There is already a nice difference between Monitors and Cruisers. Perhaps limiting Naval Tech to Level 1 or 2 would be better.

In the 1860's, one only traveled by foot, horse, train or ship. Being able to research Mobility Tech seems out of place.

Artillery didn't change very much during the 1860's also. I would suggest limiting Artillery Tech to Level 1. Artillery was very effective defensively, but not this effective on offense.

I wonder if it would be possible to create Union Gunboats. They would attack at range like Armored Trains. Such ships would be fun on the Mississippi River.

Thank you for creating such a wonderful mod.

First off, thanks for playing the mod and I'm glad you're enjoying it [:)][:)]

As to your suggestions:

Naval tech - never really thought about that other than "iron ships beat wooden ships" and possible improvements in naval organisation, but yeah I totally see the argument. Though I've never seen the AI research it (it has been programmed to but tends to have a lot of other priorities), and I never really bothered with it either in my billion test games, so it is probably not that big of a deal.

Mobility - I've always thought of it as a combination of improved tactics (such as Lee and Forrest running around without the Union knowing about them) and stuff like giving units more horses. Doctrine upgrades, that sort of thing.

Gunboats - you can, that's why the Mississippi and Ohio are navigable: purchase a cruiser or monitor and deploy it at an inland port.

- BNC

Now I played the Confederate side through. I had a lot of fun with that also. This is a really well done mod!

My impression of Mobility Tech is when a nation invests in fossil fuel powered vehicles and develops a military capable truck to enhance the mobility of foot soldiers and replace horse drawn wagons. That development would cost money. Buying those new trucks and integrating them into units would naturally increase the cost of the unit. If Mobility Tech in the 1860's is just tactics, tactics can be passed on for free by word of mouth. No research would be required and there would be no additional expense for the cost of the unit.

A long time ago, I enjoyed playing a great board game by Avalon Hill called 1776. In it, the rebel units (Americans) were given one extra movement point over the government units (British). Being the Confederates generally seemed to move faster than the Union troops, perhaps the Confederate units should just be given one extra movement point and Movement Tech deleted from this 1860's game.

So excited to play this Mod. Stupid question - if I have the game through Steam how exactly do I get the scenarios to show up under Campaigns? I have copied the files into the Campaigns folder in the Local Files , but they don't show up when I load. Is there a different process for Steam? Thanks in advance

ORIGINAL: cbrandonellis

So excited to play this Mod. Stupid question - if I have the game through Steam how exactly do I get the scenarios to show up under Campaigns? I have copied the files into the Campaigns folder in the Local Files , but they don't show up when I load. Is there a different process for Steam? Thanks in advance

I don't have a steam copy of WWI on hand to test with, but I checked with the WWII (Patton Drives East) game and ...\Documents\My Games\Strategic Command Classic WWII - Patton Drives East\Campaigns worked with another campaign I've been working on.

If you're using that directory, make sure you've unzipped the file and that your folder looks like the following:

- BNC

Holy, this is truly a hidden gem. Not much feedback to give or anything to complain about, but I'm enjoying it. Thanks BNC.

This is an excellent mod. Kudos to BNC. I would love to see a Napoleonic mod using this system. Even a small Waterloo campaign with division and brigade level units would be great.