Matrix Games Forums

I've only just bought the game and I'm finding that the movement initiative system is really starting to bug me. Units being unable to move on the strategic map due to "initiative" isn't just unrealistic, it's silly. I've been trying to get an artillery regiment to move from London to Kent for over a year and it won't budge. I've found that transporting units from Britain to Gibraltar can take 5 months or more. It takes 3 months if everything goes perfectly. The fact that in the real world ships of that era used to get there in less than two weeks just didn't occur to the programmers.

Oh and I even tried putting that artillery regiment under the command of a general with good initiative but unfortunately it didn't even have the ability to join with container units.

Can someone please explain to me in which reality did British or any other Napoleonic era regiments require 18 months to go from London to Dover? They obviously needed 2 years notice to stop them missing the 100 days war.

I'll keep reading the patheticly inadequate manual for a few more hours and then this game is being thrown in garbage.

Hi, Just tell the unit to "Auto join" either a HQ (Army/Corps) or a city.

One thing that might be helpful is that "initiative" shouldn't be taken too literally. Many things influence initiative, including weather and terrain. If there is bad weather in a province, that may prevent a unit from moving for several turns. Furthermore, "initiative" also tends to indirectly describe various "real-world" logistical factors that are otherwise not represented. We did design the game with the concept of simulation in mind, but any simulation is by no means exact.

As for the manual, we are in the process of revising it, so we would be further interested in your opinion. What specificall do you find difficult about it? Is it the layout? The organization? The syntax? Etc. Thanks very much for whatever input you can provide.

Fragglerocker,

Given that you just got started, please give it some time. There's definitely a learning curve and a lot of folks have found that the initial investment is well worthwhile.

ORIGINAL: Fragglerocker
Can someone please explain to me in which reality did British or any other Napoleonic era regiments require 18 months to go from London to Dover? They obviously needed 2 years notice to stop them missing the 100 days war.

It's never taken me 18 months to move anything from London to Dover. Initiative can slow things down, but it shouldn't stall you out like that over a long period of time. Can you zip up a save file with your movement order all set and e-mail it to me at erikr@matrixgames.com? I'd like to see how you have it setup, since my initial thought is that you may be doing something wrong rather than just having bad luck.

Regards,

- Erik

That's true; perhaps the units didn't have Auto-Join orders? Move orders are good for only one turn, after which they are terminated.