AAR for beginners (Full Version)

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cragpider -> AAR for beginners (10/15/2007 4:55:44 AM)

Is there anyway any one of you learned gentlemen can be persuaded in posting an AAR of the small scenario, with no options playing in tutorial mode, I've played this scenario several times, but can't seem to understand what to do or the strategy to use,I am from New York so I always play the North and would appreciate it if the posting is from this perspective or both, I really appreciate any help from you guys...[:)]



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/15/2007 5:44:31 AM)

If no one volunteers -- my guess is that more experienced players don't like going back to the small setup -- you can always try to do a new "AAR of Incompetence" and let us critique what you're doing. That might be a good way to learn. (Don't worry, we'll try to spare your feelings.)



sirduke_slith -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/17/2007 3:39:23 AM)

I think that would be a great idea! I really liked reading the AAR of incompetence, it was intresting to see what was going to happen next.



critter -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/21/2007 9:58:16 AM)

I think an aar of the basic game should be done. It seems cold to charge a newbie $75 dollars and dump him into FOF without a tutorial[sm=00000018.gif]. Makes one wonder if you've misspent your $$$



Greyhunterlp -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/21/2007 2:15:32 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: critter

I think an aar of the basic game should be done. It seems cold to charge a newbie $75 dollars and dump him into FOF without a tutorial[sm=00000018.gif]. Makes one wonder if you've misspent your $$$

losing is fun!



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/22/2007 7:02:35 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: critter

I think an aar of the basic game should be done. It seems cold to charge a newbie $75 dollars and dump him into FOF without a tutorial[sm=00000018.gif]. Makes one wonder if you've misspent your $$$



There's definitely a tutorial. It's available from the Matrix "Game Menu." If you're always choosing the "Quick Start" option to load FOF you'd miss it.



cragpider -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/24/2007 3:55:24 PM)

See below, sorry about that just learning how to use forums[&:][:)]



cragpider -> RE: AAR for beginners (10/25/2007 3:08:34 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gil R.


quote:

ORIGINAL: critter

I think an aar of the basic game should be done. It seems cold to charge a newbie $75 dollars and dump him into FOF without a tutorial[sm=00000018.gif]. Makes one wonder if you've misspent your $$$



There's definitely a tutorial. It's available from the Matrix "Game Menu." If you're always choosing the "Quick Start" option to load FOF you'd miss it.


Hi Gil, I've used the tutorial you mentioned, but all it's good for is showing what the various buttons do, what critter and I are looking for, is how the various items are used to effect the outcome of the game, some type of strategy tutorial, such as some of the strategy books put out by Prima, and I'm showing my age here, and Bradygames, of course we don't expect the type of guide you get from these books, but just something that will help flatten the learning curve a bit, and encourage new users to go beyond this small and humble beginning.
I read several AAR's about "Guns of August" which encouraged me to go over the edge and buy this game, I haven't gone past the first scenario in this game, but that was not because of lack of knowledge just a time factor, and so far this game has seen more light on my PC than FOF. So if any of you guys who are well versed in this I think I speak for a majority of us newbies please help us, and maybe FOF will see more play than other titles, I also own "Alexander the Great" and "Birth of America". Thanks a lot Gil you are a very gracious Moderator and I look forward to your entries. [:)][:)]



critter -> RE: AAR for beginners (11/12/2007 7:56:23 AM)

I agree..The tutorial provided with the game is useless. Its easy..when your involved with the developement of the game. Those of us who weren't have questions about what to build, when, where, why?
Whats the difference between a ARMY and a DEPT? What effect do building rail stations have?
Which citys should be changed to maximize resources?
Someone plz take time to run us through the first year or so. Explainig what your doing and why.
I can move the units and fight the combats, but I need help figuring out the economy. The games really kinda sucks after a few turns of stumbling around in the dark.[>:]



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (11/12/2007 8:10:42 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: critter

I agree..The tutorial provided with the game is useless. Its easy..when your involved with the developement of the game. Those of us who weren't have questions about what to build, when, where, why?

The tutorial was designed to tell the player how to play the game in terms of dealing with the user interface. As for how to make sound decisions, that's meant to be part of the challenge.

Whats the difference between a ARMY and a DEPT? What effect do building rail stations have?

Absolutely no difference between armies and departments -- we're just going with their historical names.
Building rail stations is in the manual somewhere. It adds five or six (six, I think) railroad movement points.

Which citys should be changed to maximize resources?

There's no rule for this. It's up to the player to make decisions depending on circumstances. When the game begins, all cities are set to supply what they have the most of, but if you need more of a certain resource, then you have to decide which cities to change so that they're being economically inefficient, but more helpful.

Someone plz take time to run us through the first year or so. Explainig what your doing and why.

They're a bit buried now, but a few months ago someone wrote an excellent thread explaining CSA strategy, and then (I think) another for the USA. Maybe I can find them and bump them up.

I can move the units and fight the combats, but I need help figuring out the economy. The games really kinda sucks after a few turns of stumbling around in the dark.[>:]

The public forum is a great place to get questions answered, if you find yourself flailing around. From the beginning, there have been countless posts by players helping other players. If you encounter a problem, chances are someone will help you out within a matter of minutes, or else hours.





critter -> RE: AAR for beginners (11/14/2007 11:04:22 PM)

Iam thinking about starting an AAR for beginers. But Iam not sure on how to make screen shots. I'd hope to do it in the spirit of getting more players interested in the system and encourage ppl to give the "Wargamer game of the year" a fair shot and not pass on it. I can use and appreceate all the help I can get.



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (11/14/2007 11:40:59 PM)

Critter,
This would be a great idea, and I'm sure that the rest of us would be glad to chime in along the way.

Screenshots are relatively easy to make. I myself use the very basic "Paint" program that most (or all?) PC's come with. The way it works is when I want to take a screenshot, I hit CTRL+PRINTSCREEN, and then I ALT-TAB over to "Paint," where I "paste" the image. I then save the image as a JPEG, because the Matrix forum has a limit of 200KB and that's the smallest type of graphic file. However, "Paint" is not the best program for this. Pixelpusher, who does most of our graphics, strongly recommends a free program called "King Kong." Apparently, one of the best things about this program is that you can take many screenshots before taking the time to paste them, whereas in "Paint" you have to keep going back and forth. (Also, unless I'm mistaken, you can use "King Kong" to shrink the size of images, which might be necessary if your screenshots are too big for the Matrix forum.)

By the way, did you see that I bumped those two threads for you?



kmb -> RE: AAR for beginners (12/5/2007 12:22:56 AM)

I have been reading aars since the beggining.I decided to purchase with the holiday sale and start the game on basic after reading the useless tutorial and just sit there wandering what to do.A simple first few turns of what and were wouldnt be to tough to do even though you already got the sale. I will continue to read the manual and stumble around for a lil while then probally curse you then shelve the game.



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (12/5/2007 12:28:55 AM)

kmb,
Have you watched the new promotional video? Though not intended as a tutorial, it shows a bit of what one needs to do.

What exactly are the problems you're having? Is it about how to move around units, put them in armies, etc.? Is it about the economic part of the game? What specifically?

Doing an AAR for the basic game might help a bit, but it wouldn't teach new players where and how to click, since that's hard to do with screenshots. We do plan to produce some tutorial videos, but these won't be available before January. One of them might simply involve me playing a turn or two and speaking into the microphone to explain what I'm doing. No sexy-voiced seductress or fancy editing, like in our promotional video, but it would certainly ease the learning curve for beginners. So if you do end up shelving the game, check back with us periodically.



Mad Russian -> RE: AAR for beginners (7/24/2008 3:58:17 AM)

While I certainly don't intend on it being a tutorial AAR you might try looking at the, "An Uncivil War" thread.

I explain some of the strategies I'm currently using in the game. It's not detailed as to each key stroke but it's pretty detailed in it's intentions and why I'm doing certain things that involve combat operations, economic builds, and other aspects of running the country and the game.

There will be a pretty good overall view point of the game as we go forward.

At least thats what I'm hoping for.

Good Hunting.

MR



joesbills -> RE: AAR for beginners (2/16/2009 5:46:05 PM)

Gil, a while back you said: " We do plan to produce some tutorial videos, but these won't be available before January. One of them might simply involve me playing a turn or two and speaking into the microphone to explain what I'm doing. No sexy-voiced seductress or fancy editing, like in our promotional video, but it would certainly ease the learning curve for beginners"  
   Has there been any progress on this project to date?     I am new to the game.  Have read the manual twice, have tried  playing the game at the basic level,  but I'm finding I'm doing things "in the dark". 
       I want to love the game, but I need to start seeing a strategy developing.



Gil R. -> RE: AAR for beginners (2/16/2009 5:54:01 PM)

Eric and I spent about two hours one night trying to create a tutorial video of me simply playing, but it was so bad -- mainly because I suck at talking and playing, it turns out -- that it soon became clear that we should abandon the project.

I'm not sure what's causing you trouble, but would suggest starting a thread in the main forum with some of your questions. Also, when our upcoming game "Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition" comes out we'll be releasing a bunch of tutorial videos with it (that I had nothing to do with), and my guess is that watching some of those will help you figure out FOF. (They'll come with the game, but I'm sure we'll put them on YouTube.)



joesbills -> Getting out of the Dark (2/17/2009 4:06:57 PM)

Gil:  "I'm not sure what's causing you trouble, but would suggest starting a thread in the main forum with some of your questions"
 
    Ok,  I have a few items about the game strategy that I need clarified.  Hopefully things will start to click & I'll be able to enjoy the game.  ( It looks great.  As of now,  I'm a bit lost)
 
   1.  Each turn I am to choose what to build.  But I do not see the logic of deciding to build a Factory  or, let's say,  Iron Works.   What should I be looking at to make these decisions?
 
   2.  Each city already has its resource set.    eg  Mobile  :   Money 5,  Labour 4,  Iron 1, Horses 2.     What would cause me to alter these settings?
 
3.   Say I want to increase the amount of artillery for my Southern nation and then send that artillery to a particular army or corps or division or brigade.   What are the steps I need to complete,  to do this?
 
           These are some of my problems at this point.   Any help is greatly appreciated.        Thank   you.
 
            Joe   [&:]
    



Gil R. -> RE: Getting out of the Dark (2/17/2009 6:29:43 PM)

Regarding the economy, Terje439 just started an economic AAR, as you might have seen, that should be helpful, and there are also lots of tips to be found in other parts of the FOF forum. As for your specific questions:

1. As the tooltips indicate, factories produce additional labor each turn and iron works double the amount of iron produced in that city (assuming that you're already set to produce iron there!). You basically have to assess your needs. As the South, you are doing reasonably well in horses but have little iron, so you will want to invest more in getting the few provinces with good amounts of iron (Augusta and Selma, as I recall) to produce even more. The economic system is designed to force the player to make tough decisions -- instead of being able to afford everything you might possibly want, you choose whether to focus more on building artillery (which requires iron and "guns" points) or cavalry (which requires horses), whether your money should pay for diplomacy and blockade-runners to bring in support from foreign powers, or whether your money should be spent instead on building up infrastructure, etc. So, see what you're weakest in and invest early in that. (Playing the South, I usually build a second fleet of runners in the very first turn, so that they can pay for themselves by bringing in more runners goods, and in subsequent turns I start building up my iron infrastructure.)

2. You would alter these city settings if you find that you need more of the other resource. Ideally, you would have each city producing what it is most efficient at producing, but sometimes events dictate that you ramp up production of one type of resource. Basically, look at your stockpiles and try to anticipate your needs.

3. When building artillery you can use the "autojoin" function, or when the unit is finished you select it and move it to the same province as the army/corps/division (ideally using railroad movement for at least part of the way), and once it gets there you add it the usual way. This might take two turns, depending on how far the unit must travel.

I hope this helps. If you have other questions you should post them in the main forum instead of this thread, since people (including me) will see them more quickly.



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