Matrix Games Forums

How do the combat and movement mechanics compare to the games in the HPS/JTS ACW series?

Are there skirmishers or extended formation mechanics? Do units in marching columns suffer from combat penalties? How do horses and horse handlers work when a cavalry unit dismounts to engage in fire combat on foot?

How do supply and ammunition work? Do individual units track supply, or is it more abstracted?

How does morale work? Does the game have contagious routing, so that divisions, corps, or whole sectors of the battle line suddenly see the elephant?

What about command and control? Is every unit equipped with a walkie-talkie, or do units have to be activated to move?

It might come as a surprise, but I have never played any of Tiller's games (though I have of course seen screenshots). The only Civil War computer game I've played is "Forge of Freedom" -- and why would that be different for anyone else?!?[:-]

With that said, infantry units can deploy skirmishers when marching or in line formation, and to extend themselves any unit may be split in two. Marching columns do indeed suffer casualties at a higher rate. Cavalry can mount or dismount, with some loss of strength (25%, I think it is).

I just responded on supply in another thread.

Morale is complicated, but basically, every unit starts with a quality level (using the system we had in "Forge of Freedom"), and when the battle begins that is treated as its morale level as well, and as the battle goes on that level can drop or be raised by various factors, among them what is happening with other units. I don't believe I've seen a whole corps route, but early in the war there were very few battles with corps. (When Matrix releases the manual it will be possible to read all of the morale rules -- far too many for one post!)

Our C&C system is one of our big innovations, and crucial to properly playing. Each brigade/division/corps/army commander has a headquarters unit, and must remain in "command radius" (visible as an overlay if one toggles it on) for commands to go through efficiently, and the same goes for individual units being in range of their brigade commander (or artillery battalion commander). Units, etc. that go out-of-command suffer penalties. These penalties can make it much more challenging to accomplish what one wants -- just as Civil War generals would come up with great plans but then watch as their subordinates failed to execute them in a timely manner. (At the lower levels the penalties are less of an issue.)

ORIGINAL: Philippe at bay

How do the combat and movement mechanics compare to the games in the HPS/JTS ACW series?

Are there skirmishers or extended formation mechanics? Do units in marching columns suffer from combat penalties? How do horses and horse handlers work when a cavalry unit dismounts to engage in fire combat on foot?

How do supply and ammunition work? Do individual units track supply, or is it more abstracted?

How does morale work? Does the game have contagious routing, so that divisions, corps, or whole sectors of the battle line suddenly see the elephant?

What about command and control? Is every unit equipped with a walkie-talkie, or do units have to be activated to move?

[:-]

Really liked the C&C system, in fact is one of the main reasons because I'm interested in BaB!

Thanks! We're quite pleased with it, and think it definitely adds to the historical feel.

Did you use some delay for orders or reports? It is very hard to modeling C&C problems without using time and space (delay) factors

ORIGINAL: Philippe at bay
How do the combat and movement mechanics compare to the games in the HPS/JTS ACW series?

Are there skirmishers or extended formation mechanics? Do units in marching columns suffer from combat penalties? How do horses and horse handlers work when a cavalry unit dismounts to engage in fire combat on foot?

All of these are indeed modeled and more. As someone who played a lot of the Battleground/Tiller games, I believe Brother against Brother compares very favorably in terms of combat and movement mechanics and gives realistic battle results.

How do supply and ammunition work? Do individual units track supply, or is it more abstracted?

Please see our replies in the other thread for more info, but yes supply/ammunition is tracked for each unit.

How does morale work? Does the game have contagious routing, so that divisions, corps, or whole sectors of the battle line suddenly see the elephant?

Each regiment has its own morale level. Whether a regiment is "Fresh", normal or "Fatigued" is also tracked. A regiment in the thick of it can lose morale relatively quickly, but given a chance to rest and recover can also bounce back and march back into the fight, though likely not as eager as it was in the first exchange. Similarly, regiments can also have their morale shattered to the point that they simply rout instead of retreating and it can be hours before they are able to effectively reform.

Brigades are the next level up for morale and if a brigade is in bad enough shape, it can result in the brigade failing morale, which can cause all the regiments to lose morale and be in a much more fragile state until the brigade as a whole recovers. This can lead to an entire brigade becoming ineffective and even routing. If you send a division into a bad spot, you can soon see one brigade after another becoming combat ineffective, with regiments retreating and routing. Given time to rally and reform (assuming the battle is not over) that same division can reassemble its brigades and fight again.

Regards,

- Erik

ORIGINAL: Alex1812
Did you use some delay for orders or reports? It is very hard to modeling C&C problems without using time and space (delay) factors

This is mainly modeled through the fact that brigades and regiments always have a chance of taking longer than you expect to fulfill an order, or can even ignore that order entirely. Such mishaps are minimized if you keep your chain of command in good shape, but while your orders may be fulfilled, a regimental or brigade formation or orders change may still take two turns (40 minutes) instead of one (20 minutes) or less than one depending on how things go.

Regards,

- Erik

I'm reading your booklet about single battles and I'm wondering if you have represented the green status of the belligerents on the C&C system, it will be more difficult to coordinate several unit attacks or for the game balance no more malus has been added?

Yes, green units are more difficult to have execute one's plans. Players who don't like this will be able to play at lower levels or mod the game to raise unit quality.

We've had to create a system that is as realistic for 1st Manassas as for 2nd Manassas, not to mention Gettysburg, and think we have come pretty close to achieving this.