O.O. Howard
Posts: 35
Joined: 3/1/2006
Status: offline
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Heya friends,
I am an old wargame player from the days when avalon hill first made gettysburg with squares instead of hexes...
not much good at computers to the point where I am not sure how to print the manual out. I would put a cartoon smiley face here but i dont even know how to do that. You can understand how i didnt know about this game being out until last weekend since I dont like the internet much, and i am not a good surfer. had to use my wife's email address. right now i want to cut and paste and i dont see how to do it on this 'post new thread' page. just so you understand where i am coming from.
My love is the underdog. the gone and forgotten loser in history. i have been fascinated by Austria-Hungary since 4th grade when i learned about world war one. How could such a huge and ancient nation simply dissapear? and was it really a good thing for all those people? The more i learned the more i wondered. I have even daydreamed a book about how things could come out better for Dual monarchyand for the balkans. So I load up game and spend a long time fighting matrix and my computer to get the download. couldnt get the newest download but i couldnt stand it anymore and started playing. no time for manuals except a cursory browse. Standard everything starting from scratch as austria.
The strategic goal would be to use diplomacy and not the sword. i wanted to buy some time, even surrendering a province or two if need be. I would let metternich have his head and do my 'fighting' for me. i knew the economy would be sub par and i intended to untangle it first. i would jump into a war only if i could predict the winning side and scoop up some of the spoils. Later i would build a lean, tough, war machine.
The struggle begins. Oh NO! i am already at war with france!(it doesnt pay to learn dates in history if you arent even going to look at the dates on the scenario)
So i find metternich and send him to france. I find this option: 'pressure peace' that seems the right idea... i wonder if i could send my other dip to france as well and try to charm at the same time? or will only one work at a time? the manual is in the computer and yet i refuse to turn the game off just to hunt this info down. I send marie to russia instead. "Lets stay the best of friends!" is the extent of her mission there. metternich is going to stop in bavaria on the way, since dips seem to have an espionage ability and i find it strange that i dont see any troops there. Isnt that where napolean will attack from?
I wont have the luxury of any preparation. I decide to keep low morale units in the fortresses, and pack my best divisions to the brim and put my best commander in charge. this process was exhausting since i couldnt figure out how to do it. ah well, i can still manage. charles is going to hold napolean back. no he isnt, he is in venice :( Even so,if there is one thing I am good at its defense, and since austria will be defending maybe i can pull this off. I mean, i dont have to worry about chains of depots or even coordinating movement. all i got to do is shift to the right place and hold on. Charles will move to tyrol with his army on the way to vienna. i will gladly sacrifice venice to keep the heartland. Its the original plan, only first we fight and then make peace and do the diplomacy thing. its almost the same. sorta.
i am not sure how the treaties work but I have faith that the game is a good game, that my plan will work cause it makes sense. this was my method of play, and its success or lack thereof will play a large part in determining whether the game is good or not. unless i screw up.
hmm my first fight... we outnumber the enemy in the province of austria. I go for a detailed battle. Has there ever been a game when that was a bad option? :)
my reaction to the battle system? TOOOO much fun. this is why computers are so great. all the details and complications tracked in the cpu while we get to play! i studied and savored every move. without knowing the rules i was confident that i could use the various arms correctly, and i loved the little forts with the garrisons sprinkled on the map. wondered if i could benefit from putting some guns in there, but no way was i gonna stop playing just to look that up.
i settled on a plan to anchor my line with a fort on one end and to put the guns up on a hill at the other. the enemy would have to come thru some wooded areas and it would break up their lines. I planned to have a significant reserve to use if Nappy angles for my flank. i will send one cav to each flank to watch for that. I nervously try to move a unit. not so bad, easy to figure out. But immediately, and i mean like after i had moved one piece, enemy cavalry was nearby in a place i did not expect. Am i unhappy? not at all! i am pleased that the computer can play so well. And the French horse threatens my supply wagon. i love supply wagon! i dunno how to use it but i have loved them since I was a kid. Save the wagon! I figure there is probably some ZOC rule and try to not only shield it but also stay adjacent to it. Now French infantry is flying at me in column formation. The bad news is that i am not positioned yet. the good news is he is sprinting thru the wooded area and i think i can form up a good line in time. thankfully the interface is intuitive and i get things done pretty much as i want. i leave a niche in the line for the gun to fire thru. i didnt get a chance to move to the ridge but i got em in a good spot. you know what i mean. it was a good spot and the game did not let me down. that artillery fired and fired till they ran outta ammo. supply wagon! i saved you, so save me now... and yeah it was not hard to use it! i loved the game right then and there.
Meanwhile my infantry is having some trouble in the center. i get them in line, but french cav runs up and squares them. then his infantry shoots at the square. realistic. he is still completely in column and although there is a lot of firing back and forth he isnt really hurting me that much. my squares are not initiating fire on my turn. . i see some fatigue developing in the ones who are firing away, and in the exchanges i get more damage than him. So i rest them instead. this pleased me, since that is realistic. besides, i like to pace myself. patience for the right moment is a virtue. but while he is squaring and shooting my infantry in the middle i am lining up infantry on that ridge. You are wargamers, you know how it feels. you think to yourself, 'this is gonna hurt them if they will hold still just one more turn'.' His cavalry rushes away, but his infantry is fixed on the middle. some are lined up. I get a nice volley from the ridge and while he doesnt break i am way ahead on casualties now. the cav attacks another line but this time it disorganizes the cavalary. another french horse attacks the little fort on my right. and he keeps at it. My first dissapointment...maybe the computer is stupid after all? We are deciding the battle in the middle but he is firing his artillery and cavalry and throwing his reserves at the fort which although part of my original plan is no factor in the battle. but then again a foundational rule in napoleanics is rout a few units. maybe thats what he wants?
I decide to let the fort go. however, i am going to take my cue from the computer. i am gonna stop taking the best shot with each unit and instead concentrate fire with intent to rout one enemy. I was doing pretty well. Some of my guys are disorganized and i pull them out of line. i am not sure what i have to do with leader to rally them. i dont see a rally button so i just rest them and they do better. As the battle goes on i am not rallying too well. clearly i am winning, but he has disorganized units BEHIND my lines. They are prolly slowing my recovery. before nightfall the french retreat. i switch to column and give chase even in the dark. another huge plus for computer games is the fog of war. suddenly my units are alone. and then a message.. I won! but its a bit confusing how the results of the battle are reported. it sounds like i have lost more troops than the french? and no word who the opposing general was. I sense it wasnt napolean. on the next turn a more reasonable casualty report for the first battle is announced. i am wondering if this game was made in germany or elsewhere in europe since sometimes the reports are so oddly worded.
Verdict? TOOOOO much fun. 3 hours had gone by.
To make a long story short: in 7 hours austria is exhausted and so am i. i captured napolean! Charles died.(which i regret deeply) we havent lost a province but i can see the next wave of french is huge and my units are dissapearing. Depression sets in. i was identifying with Charles and I died out there with him trying to break the french infantry. and the french are laying siege to bohemia. game over.
do i like the game? yes.
My AAR summary:
i realize as i write this that i didnt even give diplomacy a passing thought after the first shot was fired. metternich got booted out of bavaria by tallyrand and i forgot to move him for the rest of the game. and wasnt that my plan? to use the pen and not the sword? i have little idea how to manage the economy because each turn i want to see what the next fight would be like. i didnt once even look at the provinces. At end game i dont know how to access the info for them. I still owned them all, isnt that what matters?! ;)
more WAR! more Battles!
Yes you may criticize that i didnt follow my plan at all. my own plan which i had dreamed since I was a kid. its sad in a way.. But lets face it. i am not an economist, i am not a diplomat, i am at heart... a wargamer! Hoping you all are too :)
i have since read the really helpful guide. also the same writer elsewhere posted how to move troops from one division to the other. i am going to learn this game and really play it. I read that Austria should maybe retreat and save their army. hmmmm. would the diplomacy somehow get a peace that wasnt too humiliating? i would like to know how that worked out for you all. i played another game with economy and diplomacy like a real leader, yet still trying to stand up to french again and the outcome was actually WORSE than my first game. LOL.
Your Obedient Servant,
O.O. Howard
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