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Having at first wondered why I had bought this game I have now become almost addicted!! I have so far played a few games for only a limited numberof months concentrating on the military aspects of the game. I think I have now got a fairly good crasp of manouevre and combat. I now need to work on my economic, development and diplomatic skills.

I have a few questions/comments about combat and apologise if they are answered in other threadsor seem impertinent for a newcomer, I have read and the manual many but have not seen these points raised.

1.What factors determine the quantity of supply available in detailed combat. Sometimes I can have 3 or 4 supply units at others 1 or 2.

2. What are the differences between the different types within the same arm. ie how much more effective in "charge" are heavy cavalry over light etc.

3. I don't know how difficult this would be as I am no programmer but I think it would be helpful that when a unit is selected the other units in the same corps were in some way highlighted so it would be easier to manouevre them together. I think it would also be a interesting addition if units got some sort of bonus if fighting close to or alongside another unit from its own corps, this would give players an incentive to keep corps units together, many games I have played use some sort of "integrity" rule.

4. I think the counters, I cannot play using the 3d symbols, could be a bit more exciting. For instance the french should be a deeper blue with different colours for the details, ie the line infantry with a white cross, light could be red. The British light infantry with a "rifle" green cross Austrian with "grenzer" brown etc. I probably will try and edit them myself if people like the idea I could post what I do. This would give the battlefield a much more colorful and eye-catching look.

As I said earlier I haven't really got too involved in other aspects of the game but am sure I will have a lot more questions!! One other quick suggestion though; when you receive the end of turn reports could it include a link to where certain events have happened which might require a further action, ie when a province is reported as having built something put in link to go to that provinces management screen so you can choose another development. I was sometimes being told 5 or 6 provinces had completed construction in a turn and my ageing brain would forget meaning a lot of searching around the map every turn!

I look forward to replies and hope that after my original negativitycan be forgotten and I can put something back into this game and thriving community.

Those are good UI suggestions.

You can hit the <tab> key in detailed combat to turn on an overlay that shows to which corps divisions belong, but I agree that a subtle highlight of divisions in the same corps is a great idea.

Supply wagons depend on whether there is a depot in the province you are fighting, or simply adjacent (or none...out of supply). Organized Foraging upgrade usually gives you an armada of supply wagons in battle, regardless.

All the special unit types are described in detail in the rules starting on pg 27.

Hitting the 'tab' key in battle is very useful. Not only are corps assignments readily visible, but the morale bar on each unit is invaluable.

Brian,

I'm glad for you and your family that you are merely addicted to COG; for some it is a way of life.

Regarding your question, "2. What are the differences between the different types within the same arm. ie how much more effective in "charge" are heavy cavalry over light etc. ", I encourage you to use what you perceive to be period correct tactics. Your obvious familiarity with period uniforms suggests you are well read on the subject, so indulge your prejudices and try what you think should have work historically.

Basically, period tactics are like "paper, scissors, rock"; nothing works all the time but but everything will work some of the time. As you apparently know: columns to move, lines to attack, force infantry into square and then pound them with firepower, lancers are trump over all infantry in the rain, heavy cavalry defeat light cavalry, irregulars tend to lose heart over time, etc.

Part of the fun of the game is trying to do period things and looking for period correct results. A glass of good cream sherry should smoothe the edges of any perceived inaccuracies.

After you are comfortable with detailed battle, you'll face your enemies outnumbered 3 to 1 with confidence because YOU ARE THE MAN. Armed with such confidence, you can then look to the bigger picture. In grand strategic military, economic and diplomatic games a genuine joy is putting together great combinations and seeing how they work. For example, in my game Russian and Sweden surrendered to France, who conceived the pretty plan of borrowing their fleets for 2 to 3 years to amalgamate them with other future surrendered fleets and use them all to attack the Jack Tars of King George. Where but CoG could you attempt that.

Have fun.

1) Supply wagons depend upon the size of the force engaged. You get one initial wagon plus approx 1 wagon for every 50k troops, so long as your forces are in supply.

2) You can find this information in the manual.

3) Somewhere or other in the manual, it says that there is a corps integrity rule implemented already.

4) Couldn't agree more. I hate the 3d gfx, pretty as they are, since I'm an old paper map and cardboard counters grog. As you say, the 2d images could be spiced up a little. And as I like to play the Turks, I'd love to see a color different from that slush brown they picked. Maybe an option to "pick your own color" is in order. I also like the idea of making the differences among light, heavy, rifle, etc. units a bit more obvious in the 2d battleground.

-- Mal