Matrix Games Forums

Hey all:

Just wanted to help quench your thirst a bit...
We've compiled a few FAQ examples that might help you guys sleep a little better with dreams of calculating your supply costs in 75 Milliseconds. Bet nobody has done that in the board game version ... ???

Enjoy...

Q>How do I see my current supply cost?

A>Right click on the big screen during the land move phase which should bring up the current cost estimate. Clicking on a unit will bring up its current forage chances as well as the area name of the depot that it could also trace supply back to.

Q>I want to see what order the nations are playing this phase in?

A>Place the mouse cursor over the current phase identity in the top of the screen at which point, hint text showing the current order of nations for the current phase should pop up (A must to see where the French chose to go in the land phase and the where the British chose to go in the sea phase).

Q>How do I zoom to my nation's capital?

A>Double click on the nation identity in the top of the screen just next to the current phase and the map should zoom to your nation's capital area.

Q>How do I quickly start a game against all computer players?

A>At the player screen, simply select the nation with your mouse so that this nation has the blue highlight bar then double click this nation. You should see all other nations turn into easy computer players. Now simply hit begin and your done!

Q>How do I eliminate political shading?

A>There is an option in the main option screen OR you can double click the strategic map at the lower right which will toggle the political shading on or off.

Q>I want to play out my battles in a popular miniature combat system?

A>Enable the external combat system option in the options menu. Now, each time you move forces into an area for combat, you will be prompted to either generate a battle file, play the combat on the PC or to cancel. If you choose to create the combat file then a text file will be created with the name of the battle, location, terrain, random weather (based on season and location), morale of corps units, corps unit breakdowns in troops and leaders. When you have completed the battle then simply indicate a winner in the file, update the corps strengths and load it back into the game which will load the results and apply retreats, PP cost, etc.

Thanks all

Hummm, thanks Marshall!!!! [&o]

It looks like it is almost done?!?!? (cross my fingers).

Sounds great.

We "patienly" wait for more [8D]

Regards.

Sleep better? You mean worse? The more I know about the computer version of my favourite board game, the worse I sleep...

The day I see a release date from matrix I will celebrate and be extremly drunk.

Looking good. I can't wait for the release.

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis

Q>I want to play out my battles in a popular miniature combat system?

A>Enable the external combat system option in the options menu. Now, each time you move forces into an area for combat, you will be prompted to either generate a battle file, play the combat on the PC or to cancel. If you choose to create the combat file then a text file will be created with the name of the battle, location, terrain, random weather (based on season and location), morale of corps units, corps unit breakdowns in troops and leaders. When you have completed the battle then simply indicate a winner in the file, update the corps strengths and load it back into the game which will load the results and apply retreats, PP cost, etc.

Thanks all

All the featured topics sound great, but this last cought my attention. I don't play miniatures, but I would still be very pleased to be able to produce this type of the list prior and after the combat. Kind of a record for reading later after the war. Will it be possible to do that, save the combat file but still go with the traditional battle resolution?

P.S. If I was playing Ottoman, my supply cost calculation would mainly be done in under 1 milisecond. I would just pick up the dice and roll for foraging [:D] On the good day, when I did have some money to burn on bread and butter, I would ask Napoleon to do the math, it was his anyway. [:D]

Pfnognoff:

Yes indeed! I must be honest and say that I didn't design it for those reasons BUT what you can do is whenever you're prompted to load the result, simply select the PC Battle option and fight it out in the game which does not affect your file!

Forgot the Feudals BUT don't forget it usually takes a while to starve to death!

Thank you

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis

Pfnognoff:

Yes indeed! I must be honest and say that I didn't design it for those reasons BUT what you can do is whenever you're prompted to load the result, simply select the PC Battle option and fight it out in the game which does not affect your file!

Cool. It's allways nice to be able to keep track of battles and strengths of your opponents. Wargames should produce good logs for players to keep and be able to go through them for later strategy decisions.

Forgot the Feudals BUT don't forget it usually takes a while to starve to death!

As the Ottoman I'm counting on them not starve to death quickly [:D]

With the new screenshots posted (which look great, much better then before) and this FAQ post, I can almost here the sound of guns, and feel confident that we will be marching into battle shotly! Keep up the good work.

That last option is great! Been looking for years to run a campaign for Empire!

Marshall,

Any odds of getting some AARs from the Beta testers? WaW has them going and they are drawing excekkent attention and interest.

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis

Hey all:

Just wanted to help quench your thirst a bit...
We've compiled a few FAQ examples that might help you guys sleep a little better with dreams of calculating your supply costs in 75 Milliseconds. Bet nobody has done that in the board game version ... ???

Enjoy.......


......Q>I want to play out my battles in a popular miniature combat system?

A>Enable the external combat system option in the options menu. Now, each time you move forces into an area for combat, you will be prompted to either generate a battle file, play the combat on the PC or to cancel. If you choose to create the combat file then a text file will be created with the name of the battle, location, terrain, random weather (based on season and location), morale of corps units, corps unit breakdowns in troops and leaders. When you have completed the battle then simply indicate a winner in the file, update the corps strengths and load it back into the game which will load the results and apply retreats, PP cost, etc.

Thanks all

So, are you saying that these strengths will only reflect the Corps level strengths and not reflect individual Division, Brigade, or Battalion level strengths? Just troops and leaders?

What miniature rule set(s) can this interface with? I'd like to know.
Thanks.

Le Tondu,

For many years (perhaps a decade or more), miniature players have been using Empires in Arms as a basis for campaign play. I think that they will be able to figure out how to make their specific miniature rules work with the system again.

Instead of trying to change a game that you have no knowledge about and those that do love, try waiting for it to be produced, or better yet, get involved in the boardgame version, and find out why it is such a popular game. I would dare say that the vast majority of players that will end up buying it are ones that are familiar with the boardgame and are looking to get back involved with a great game system. I know that I am one of them.

The only down side to the original game was getting seven players together on a regular basis. This is because as we grow older, life begins to supercede our ability to play games as often. A computer version of Empire in Arms is a dream come true for players like me.

Regards,
Mark

ORIGINAL : Le Tondu

So, are you saying that these strengths will only reflect the Corps level strengths and not reflect individual Division, Brigade, or Battalion level strengths? Just troops and leaders?

What miniature rule set(s) can this interface with? I'd like to know.
Thanks.

ORIGINAL: Mark Breed

Le Tondu,

........Instead of trying to change a game..............
Regards,
Mark

Change? Change what? I'm not trying to change anything.

I only asked some simple questions as to how miniatures will interface with EiA. It obviously has become one of their BIG selling points for the game, so there must be some information available. Someone MUST know. It seems you do, but you won't say?

I'm just seeking clarification.

BTW, is there a miniatures interface for the boardgame?

Take Frank Hunter's game that MG is puts out. He clearly tells the customer which set of rules are supported. (BTW, it tracks Brigade strengths.)

My favorite miniature rule set tracks Battalion strengths. Will EiA help me do that? Will it help someone's favorite rule set that tracks Division or Brigade strengths? Or does EiA only tell you there are so many men and officers in this or that Corps?

I think that they REALLY are fair questions Mark. They are asked in a friendly manner and I believe that the future customers of this game deserve to have some accurate idea of what they will buy before they buy it. Don't they?

Thank you.

Matrix said they had the option. It's capabilities are a fair question, as I am one who will use it and know others who will.

Let the man speak.

ORIGINAL: Le Tondu

ORIGINAL : Le Tondu

So, are you saying that these strengths will only reflect the Corps level strengths and not reflect individual Division, Brigade, or Battalion level strengths? Just troops and leaders?

What miniature rule set(s) can this interface with? I'd like to know.
Thanks.

ORIGINAL: Mark Breed

Le Tondu,

........Instead of trying to change a game..............
Regards,
Mark

Change? Change what? I'm not trying to change anything.

I only asked some simple questions as to how miniatures will interface with EiA. It obviously has become one of their BIG selling points for the game, so there must be some information available. Someone MUST know. It seems you do, but you won't say?

I'm just seeking clarification.

BTW, is there a miniatures interface for the boardgame?

Take Frank Hunter's game that MG is puts out. He clearly tells the customer which set of rules are supported. (BTW, it tracks Brigade strengths.)

My favorite miniature rule set tracks Battalion strengths. Will EiA help me do that? Will it help someone's favorite rule set that tracks Division or Brigade strengths? Or does EiA only tell you there are so many men and officers in this or that Corps?

I think that they REALLY are fair questions Mark. They are asked in a friendly manner and I believe that the future customers of this game deserve to have some accurate idea of what they will buy before they buy it. Don't they?

Thank you.

Hey guys:

We're only exporting the corps strengths as they are in the EiA game (Along with weather ,terrain, leaders, morale, etc.) I must admit that I'm not too familiar with popular miniature systems BUT took a shot at exporting elements available to me that I thought could be easily adapted to a miniature system. We can look at strength conversions BUT honestly this is a low priority UNTIL we get released!

Let us crawl before we walk!

I've includeed a sample EiA battle file as the game generates it below:

Battle of Elvas
January, 1805

#System field lines (Lines that EiA for PC read) begin with "~"
#Comment lines begin with "#" and are optional

~aa78
~bb0

#Nation IDs. To indicate winner, use ~w and nation's number ident
#Examples:
#~w0 will enable nation 0 (attacker) to win
#~w1 will enable nation 1 (defender) to win
#~w255 will enable a tie

~0Spain
~1France

#Fill winner in below

~w

Terrain : Normal

Weather : Moderate rain/snow mix, Winds calm, Temp 31f to 36f

#Unit info format:
#~uUnitname with Tactical and Strategic numeric values
#~eNumber of guard factors
#~iNumber of infantry factors
#~mNumber of militia factors
#~cNumber of cavalry factors
#~aNumber of artillery factors
#~hNumber of heavy ships
#~lNumber of light ships
#~tNumber of transports
#Change these numbers to reflect new force levels

# Attacker Forces (Spain) Morale 3.15

~u90Sp IG T:2 S:3
~e1
~i10
~m0
~c2
~a0
~h0
~l0
~t0


~u91Sp I T:2 S:3
~e0
~i12
~m0
~c0
~a0
~h0
~l0
~t0


~u120Sp Blake T:2 S:2
~e0
~i0
~m0
~c0
~a0
~h0
~l0
~t0


# Defender Forces (France) Morale 2.33

~u273Po I Portugal Corps T:2 S:2
~e0
~i2
~m0
~c1
~a0
~h0
~l0
~t0


Enjoy

Thank you

When I would convert factors to miniatures, I would just convert each factor to 12 figures. (4 inf factors would = 48 miniatures and I would add in 5 officers to complete a 'regiment') Each corps would get an arty. battery. (except rus and fra arty corps where each factor would be a gun) I would assign the 'regiments' to corps and losses would be assigned accordingly.

If the battle would become too big, I would just scale down a little more with 2 factors = 12 figures. That way those battles with over 100 inf factors on a side won't become 1,250 miniatures in 25 regiments. (I didn't have that much room)

ok, that's it. I want this game like right now...

Me too...

Also last summer, but they are much closer now...

Very much closer...

[:)][8D][;)]

ORIGINAL: John Umber

Me too...

Also last summer, but they are much closer now...

Very much closer...

[:)][8D][;)]

I know, I know... *looks at my join date at this forum*
Looks like I've been waiting since March 20th 2002...

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis

Hey guys:

We're only exporting the corps strengths as they are in the EiA game (Along with weather ,terrain, leaders, morale, etc.) I must admit that I'm not too familiar with popular miniature systems BUT took a shot at exporting elements available to me that I thought could be easily adapted to a miniature system. We can look at strength conversions BUT honestly this is a low priority UNTIL we get released!....................



..................Enjoy

Thank you

Thank you VERY much Marshall. It seems that until some modifications are made, it is up to the players to have their own conversion rules. I guess it would be important to look at the beginning of a scenario and then compare the values to the historical OOB at that time to see if there is a way to connect them.

You see, my favorite rule set is computer moderated (Carnage and Glory II )
http://home.att.net/~npmarsh/index.htm

It isn't dependent upon how many figures are present as long as each side uses the same basing system. It tracks Battalion strengths by the number of men present , Artillery companies in men and guns, and cavalry by assuming all men have horses. (I use 6mm figures with each company having 6 figures, each section of artillery having one gun figure and each squadron with 4 mounted figures.)

So, with a little research it may be possible to connect the two to some degree. I tried with the example given (The battle of Elvas in 1805) by comparing it to an historical OOB, but wasn't successful. (I thought that France didn't intervene militarily in the Peninsula until 1808.)

Is it possible to get an historical example like the French and Prussian forces at the beginning of the 1806 campaign? Or maybe the Russian (or Austrian) and French forces at the beginning of 1805? Maybe they might be a great place to start. (I'd be happy to share what I learn.) [:)]

Thanks.

Le Tondu:

Realize that my example was a battle between Spain and Portugal. A minor detail is the fact that France became the sponsoring major power of Portugal when Spain declared war on Portugal at which point Portugal became a French Freestate (Notice the forces are Spanish and Portugese). Wasn't meant to be historical in any sense BUT merely and example of what a battle might look like.

Thank you