By curiosity, I’ve checked tonight the number of events files I modified since May: 50. Quite a sum.
Archive for August 21, 2011
They will be kept in SVF 2.0
changes to units.
a) until now, I haven’t noticed sufficiently strange battle results to undermine my belief into the unit ratings ( even if from time to time a strange result may occur, no proof such an occurrence comes from erroneous unit stats)
b) battle combat procedure, albeit complex, remains an abstraction. Introducing greatly modified stats, even if more realist in theory, could result in wrong results, simply by being made to a system which doesn’t is a realistic portrayal of battle but a simulation destined to give accurate outcomes. So I have made rather light changes with regards to these 2 considerations. These changes are coming from interesting posts from McNAUGHTON
In short:
- I reduced the number of sharpshooter units, and raised their cost in manpower ( reflecting not the real number of men but the trouble to find elite riflemen in quantity). It should force the player to avoid recruit in mass sharpshooters but let him possibility to do so. The number will increase with years ( see Shock troops of the Confederacy by Fred L. RAY for more details).
– I reworked US cavalry to give CSA a real edge at start. The end of the war will be marked by the contrary. CSA units will cost more at the end of war, to show the lack of horses this side suffered then.
– I modified artillery. Basically, I enforced differences between smoothbores and rifle guns. Smoothbores have short range, rather low attack accuracy, high defense accuracy and reinforced assault values, in order to stress their defensive use in the game system limits. The 6 pdr is cheap but weak, the 12pdr is much better and really versatile gun. Rifled guns on the contrary have greater range and are more accurate than smoothbore in attack , less in defense, making them useful for attack. The 20 parrot is delivering more punch at higher range than the 10. But…never forget most battles are beginning at range 4 or less ( the range of smoothbores)…Lee stated the 12 pdr « Napoleon » to be the best gun not without reasons. The theorical advantage of rifled guns are so challenged . Last, Horse artillery is now representing the 3 inch, rifled gun having the same values than the 10 parrot but with greater accuracy and better reliability ( Parrot hits number being reduced by one). Price is higher too… So, with 5 types having special functions and limits, field artillery is now without « must have « model. 6Pdr is inexpensive but of marginal value, 3 inch is the best rifled gun but is the most difficult to buy, the 20 parrot delivers on attack greatest puch, but is costly and its range isn’t that useful, the 10 parrot remaining so interesting because of its lower cost.
The cohesion value of units was reworked. I’ve reduced too the cohesion value of all units. First, because I think it will made units more prone to rout and so will reduce the number of destroyed regiments, a little too high. Secondly, as cohesion improves with experience, it should enforce the need for players to take attention to experienced units, peculiarly for the Union player, whose replacement penalty could be giving headaches in the last years of the war…Last, the 1861 battles should be shorter and plagued by routing units….as in reality. So all cohesion levels have been reduced by 10. Not only it will give real edge to experienced units, whose cohesion is raised, it will emphazize a bit more National Morale influence. You will need both yet more. Battles will be less costly, shorter, peculiarly in the first months, with troops routing quicker than stubbornly renewing deadly assaults.
Brigades reworked for both sides. Most Federal brigades are made of 3 infantry regiments ( and cavalry or artillery assets sometimes). CSA brigades are larger. New Brigades model will appear for both sides in 1862 with only Infantry units.
Marines and Sailors have no more pontooner ability. Pontoneer ability has ben added to Engineers units, btoh for simplicity and AI…
Ironclad and Monitor have now a random turn of entry, simulating for both sides either the technical difficulties or the lack of interest into armored navy in the first months. CSA ironclads have a very slow construction rate.
I will keep it as is, with some new of course. I don’t rewrite the past.
SPECIAL THANKS Capon, Marecone, Big Muddy, Evren, Brett Schultze, Nikel, Franciscus, Rafiki, Gchristie, Gray_Lansman, oldspec4, Aphrodite May, for the help or their encouragments
The books I’ve read about ACW. Not a sign I’ve understood the contents, howewer 
BIBLIOGRAPHY And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May-June 1864 (Great Campaigns of the Civil War) By: Mark Grimsley (Author) Grant's Lieutenants: From Cairo to Vicksburg (Modern War Studies) By: Steven E. Woodworth (Editor) The Uncivil War: Irregular Warfare In The Upper South, 1861-1865 (Campaigns and Commanders) By: Robert R. Mackey (Author) Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders By: Ezra J. Warner Ploughshares into Swords: Josiah Gorgas and Confederate Ordnance (Texas a & M University Military History Series, No 36) By: Frank E. Vandiver Guns for Cotton: England Arms the Confederacy By: Thomas Boaz Glory Enough for All: Sheridan's Second Raid and the Battle of Trevilian Station By: Eric J. Wittenberg Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War (The American Crisis:Books on the Civil War Era, 15) By: Robert B. Ekelund Jr. The Chessboard of War: Sherman and Hood in the Autumn Campaigns of 1864 (Great Campaigns of the Civil War) By: Anne J. Bailey Lost for the Cause: The Confederate Army in 1864 By: Steven H. Newton Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War (Studies in Maritime History Series) By: Stephen R. Wise Naval Strategies of the Civil War: Confederate Innovations and Federal Opportunism By: Jay W. Simson Cannon Blasts: Civil War Artillery in the Eastern Armies By: L. Vanloan Naisawald Cannons: An Introduction to Civil War Artillery By: Dean S. Thomas Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War, revised edition By: James C. Hazlett The Civil War Source Book By: Philip R. N. Katcher Civil War Artillery At Gettysburg By: Philip , M. Cole A Revolution in Arms: A History of the First Repeating Rifles (Weapons in History) By: Joseph G. Bilby Cannoneers in Gray: The Field Artillery of the Army of Tennessee By: Larry J. Daniel Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg By: Bradley M. Gottfried More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army By: Mark A. Weitz Arms and Equipment of the Civil War By: Jack Coggins Field Armies and Fortifications in the Civil War: The Eastern Campaigns, 1861-1864 (Civil War America) By: Earl J. Hess Trench Warfare under Grant and Lee: Field Fortifications in the Overland Campaign (Civil War America) By: Earl J. Hess Shock Troops of the Confederacy By: Fred L. Ray The Union Cavalry in the Civil War: The War in the West, 1861-1865 (Jules and Frances Landry Award) By: Stephen Z. Starr The Union Cavalry in the Civil War: From Fort Sumter to Gettysburg, 1861-1863 (Jules and Frances Landry Award) By: Stephen Z. Starr The Union Cavalry in the Civil War: The War in the East from Gettysburg to Appomattox, 1863-1865 (Jules and Frances Landry Award) By: Stephen Z. Starr Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West (Modern War Studies) By: Steven E. Woodworth Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns (Great Campaigns of the Civil War) By: Steven E. Woodworth The Bloody Crucible of Courage: Fighting Methods and Combat Experience of the Civil War By: Brent Nosworthy The Antietam Campaign (Military Campaigns of the Civil War) By: Gary W. Gallagher Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West By: William L. Shea (Author), Earl J. Hess (Author) All for the Regiment: The Army of the Ohio, 1861-1862 (Civil War America) By: Gerald J. Prokopowicz (Author) Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee, 1861-1865 By: Steven E. Woodworth Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War (Modern War Studies) By: Craig L. Symonds (Author) Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862 By: Edward Cunningham (Editor), Gary D. Joiner and Timothy B. Smith (Editor) Atlanta Will Fall: Sherman, Joe Johnston, and the Yankee Heavy Battalions (American Crisis Series, No. 3) By: Stephen Davis The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861-1865 (Da Capo Paperback) By: E. B. Long (Author), Barbara Long (Author) The Business of Civil War: Military Mobilization and the State, 1861--1865 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) By: Mark R. Wilson Nathan Bedford Forrest: In Search of the Enigma By: Eddy W. Davison (Author) The Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign, June 3 - July 13, 1863 By: Bradley Gottfried Cavalry Raids of the Civil War (Stackpole Military History Series) By: Robert W. Black How the North Won: A MILITARY HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR By: Herman Hattaway (Author), Archer Jones (Author) Shades of Blue and Gray: An Introductory Military History of the Civil War By: Herman Hattaway Sharpshooters of the American Civil War 1861-65 (Warrior) By: Philip Katcher (Author), Steve Walsh (Illustrator) The Northern Railroads in the Civil War, 1861-1865 By: Thomas Weber Why the North Won the Civil War By: David Herbert Donald Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History By: David Stephen Heidler Civil War High Commands By: John Eicher (Author), David Eicher Commanding the Army of the Potomac (Modern War Studies) By: Stephen R. Taaffe Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay in Confederate Military History By: Richard M. McMurry Lee and His Army in Confederate History (Civil War America) By: Gary W. Gallagher
Now I know Ageod has read this blog ( thanks one more time for them to have helped to reveal its modest existence 
, I may remove the RAFIKI posts. I let the ugly things and the rewrite of history to those having time to such things. After all, indeed, the current traffic on AGEOD board doesn’t necessitate a full-time commitment for moderation and user help.
http://www.ageod.net/agewiki/Special:RecentChanges
Potential havoc, real desert, contradictory posts: one sure thing, I will miss Monty Python on my blog. That was funny And Monty Python were funny because they wanted to be. They were WAD. Others…
Never forget: they don’t need me. They may do what I’ve done. I’ve offered the method and they have my written explanations.Contrary to their way, I don’t regret to have let this behind me, for their use if they wish. My goal is to have an AGE engine game playable. If others will do this huge work rather than me, If then I may enjoy immediatly the game I’ve bought….THE BETTER. I don’t need to be quoted, commended or any open form of recognition. If someone is currently trying to reproduce what I’ve done in the past in the future AGEOD game, good luck and thanks for having never bothered me to get an help. I would have been forced to reply negatively and that would have annoyed me.
Under community claims and exposure of Works in Progress, there is sometimes for some modders just selfish interest. That’s why, when rightly or wrongly upset, they remove their files or their posts from downloads. That’s why too some have just only the desire to be integrated as soon as possible in the official team. The best modders are generally those modding only for their only use. however, to get a more definitive work, you need to have the tools ( I suggested some commands AGEOD created) and some playtest by others, because only this way may allow to test AI against different styles of play or strategies.
RUS is so neglected I’ve been forced to do some propaganda to find such players for test. SVF will need much less, fortunately. I will not have to lose my time to promote my mod for obtaining this minimal level of interest I need to polish it.
And me, I don’t need them If I had, I would have ceased playing AGE engine games. I would play Hannibal: small team, no bugs, excellent AI. Or SSG: small team, excellent AI. Or WiTE: small team, many seasoned and real beta tester, great game playable from the start, even if balancing a WW2 East game is certainly one of the most difficult task in computer wargaming. Or Decisive Campaigns: small team, bug free, real AI. Or BFTB: small team, very complex system, excellent AI. Or Scourge of war: small team, AI present, complex system, without killing bugs from the start…
I could add some other games…I won’t. There is too much pleasure in these games or AGE 2.0 to let AGE 3.0….maturing, if possible.
Back to SVF. Some new posts about this week.
