Uncle_Joe
Posts: 1985
Joined: 8/26/2004 Status: offline
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Yep, I played my game out till logical conclusion (I'm not going to bother grinding Paris down - the game is over for all intents and purposes). And yes, the AI still leaves too many units guarding the rear. When things were hanging in the balance in Germany, having those extra 8-10 units might have broken me. But with them splitting up like that, I was able to mass up enough and win at the front. It didnt help that they had some really good units (with leaders) garrisoning cities like Prague for no real reason. Overall, I think the patched AI is a HUGE improvement and the game is a lot of fun to play. I'm hoping with further refinement, the game will be even better. A few suggestions/opinions: 1)I dont think it should take a unit's turn to attach a leader. Leader are already pricey IMO. Losing a turn makes them very questionable. 2) Research seems FAR FAR too slow. The game was effectively decided in 30 turns. In that time, with 3 science points with England and 2 with Russia (and focusing), I made a total of 2 techs. For the cost of the scientists, I think I would be much better off just buying more troops earlier on. The effects just are not that dramatic for the cost and time investment. 3) It DEFINATELY should not take your turn to upgrade units! Good lord. That alone almost makes research not worthwhile IMO. The units that need the help the most cant afford to waste a turn upgrading to get +1 on a stat or so. At the very least, roll the 'rebuild' action in with an upgrade so that you can strengthen the unit AND upgrade it at the same time. Coupled with the above cost, I dont think I would bother to research again in a future game. Perhaps if there was some 'peace time' or something it might work out, but as it stands, time and units in the field are worth a lot more than a few possible upgrades (and the time lost to upgrade the units) IMO. 4) Is there any way to give some help to the naval game? It seems really lackluster. You fight the one big battle at the start (and again, its pretty one-sided) and thats it. From then on I never saw another French ship. The cost and especially the time to build again seem FAR too high for the payoff. With the Coalition, I spanked the French fleet, then just sat in port with all my SoLs. I had my Frigates in blockade positions around France and killed a few Convoys. Beyond that, nothing ever happened at sea again. Perhaps lower the costs and maybe give ships adjacent to a port a defensive bonus? That way maybe the French could survive the first few turns and force the Brits to sit on their ports for a while? 5) Cavalry. They seem a bit fragile for the cost (again, and build time). They dont seem to hit too much harder than Line infantry and they die extremely quickly. Perhaps allow them to move then attack and then move again (even if just 1 hex). Either that or give them a much higher chance to retreat (and/or retreat up to 3 hexes)? Cav seem to get one attack and then be cut down. The support feature is nice, but I dont tend to see too dramatic of results from it. 6) Any way for England to give money/horse to allies? IIRC, England gave a lot of money/arms to nations on the continent to oppose France. In the game, England seems to get a lot of horse convoys which dont mean anything IMO. They have no overwhelming need for horses, but Russia and the other Coalition nations sure do. Allowing them to transfer them even at up to a 50% loss penalty would be a nice option. Anyways, thanks for the patch. It make a world of difference so far. I'm interested to see what you can do with the game now to make it even better.
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