Looks Very Interesting

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [Age of Muskets] >> For Liberty! & 1848 >> Looks Very Interesting

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Looks Very Interesting - 11/9/2006 8:56:34 PM

Rugens

Posts: 213
Joined: 9/23/2000
From: Hoosierland
Status: offline

My sincere thanks to Matrix and the designers. It looks like it has the potential to be the first Am. Rev. game at it's level to be really worthwhile. Remembering back to the old 1776 boardgame from AH, this game has every bit as much potential. So far the only disappointing thing I've noticed is that as American units are created, they don't alway relate to the state in which they were raised. The ease of play and simplicity are a very reasonable trade off though. At least on the basis of one very late night, if you enjoy Am. Rev., this is one you may want to check out.

Carl

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Post #: 1

RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/12/2006 7:21:59 PM

blastpop

Posts: 395
Joined: 11/27/2005
From: Connecticut
Status: offline

Has anyone had "quality time" with the Matrix version so far? I would be interested in both the strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. I'm sort of on the fence on this one. Saying it is great or bad won't influence me much one way or the other tho... Concrete observations are requested.

Thanks!

Blastpop

(in reply to Rugens)

Post #: 2

RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/13/2006 1:40:30 AM

AndyfromVA1

Posts: 34
Joined: 7/8/2006
Status: offline

Had my first experience with the demo and I'm impressed. Good graphics, lots of strategic decisions to make and the tactical battles are very interesting. I'm going to be spending lots of time with the demo.

The only downside is that I don't see a political element represented. There was tremendous political pressure on Gen. Washington to undertake certain campaigns and defend certain portions of the colonies. There were similar pressures on the British commanders. This doesn't seem to be a part of "For Liberty".

Also, a big part of the war was the attempt of the colonies to convince France to intervene. This doesn't seem to be represented in "For Liberty" either.

(in reply to blastpop)

Post #: 3

RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/13/2006 3:46:45 PM

Graycompany

Posts: 511
Joined: 8/19/2004
Status: offline

Sounds like something I would like. Would like to Try a demo first.

Question; Is there a Campaign for the Whole Revolutionary War? or is it broken up?

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(in reply to AndyfromVA1)

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RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/13/2006 4:54:53 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: AndyfromVA1
The only downside is that I don't see a political element represented. There was tremendous political pressure on Gen. Washington to undertake certain campaigns and defend certain portions of the colonies. There were similar pressures on the British commanders. This doesn't seem to be a part of "For Liberty".

The ongoing victory conditions do represent this. In your actions, you earn influence and adjust your zeal. The first gives you options such as getting military aid in cannons and weapons from foreign powers and the second adjusts the base morale of your forces. If you don't succeed, you won't get as much help and you may well end up with such a demoralized army and officers that you'll effectively lose the war before the French arrive.

Regards,

- Erik

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(in reply to AndyfromVA1)

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RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/13/2006 5:10:13 PM

Erik Rutins

Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Graycompany
Question; Is there a Campaign for the Whole Revolutionary War? or is it broken up?

Both, actually. There is a full campaign (1775-1783), a 1775-1776 scenario, a 1777-1779 scenario and a 1780-1781 scenario.

Regards,

- Erik

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Erik Rutins
CEO, Matrix Games LLC

For official support, please use our Help Desk: http://www.matrixgames.com/helpdesk/

Freedom is not Free.

(in reply to Graycompany)

Post #: 6

RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/13/2006 5:53:31 PM

Capt Henry_MatrixForum

Posts: 103
Joined: 4/1/2005
Status: offline

I've very much enjoyed the game so far. I probably haven't scratched the surface yet but am eager to do so. I've only had one issue so far, and that was with the tactical battle feature. In one battle I had reinforcements arrive in a situation where the enemy force was between my two forces. This isn't unrealistic, so I slowly moved forward thinking to get around a flank and join forces (the reinforcements were four artillery and one rifle regiment. Unfortunately, I'd barely started moving when British reinforcments arrived at the same spot on the map as mine had and completely destroyed my reinforcements without my being able to fire a shot. One artillery battery didn't rout, but it lost five of six guns. I suppose the way around this is to make sure I get away from map edges as quickly as possible.

I think this game is going to have a home on my hard drive for quite a while.

(in reply to Erik Rutins)

Post #: 7

RE: Looks Very Interesting - 11/14/2006 12:22:39 AM

Rugens

Posts: 213
Joined: 9/23/2000
From: Hoosierland
Status: offline

I've spent quite a bit more time with the game and for better or worse these are my observations to date.

It is a fairly simple straight forward game with some detail flavor. The combination of the way supply is handled along with the possible stances and tactics make it an interesting game of maneuver. This applies if you use computer resolved battles or if you fight the battles out. It is fairly seemless in that regard. The reason I mention that it is a maneuver game is that it seems to address a failing of many pre-Napoleonic games. To be sure the battles are very important but in this period even more so than later, the objective was to maneuver your way to victory without a major battle if possible. With the scope of the game being Canada and the entire east coast there is a lot of room and not nearly enough units to cover everywhere. That being said it does appear that the system allows for larger troop concentrations than historical. Each side has lots of different options because the force structures are very different. The milita being a much more important component of the American side seems to be well done. The Loyalist milita is not overlooked but is not nearly as significant which is as it should be. The map seems to be broken up into several areas and there are a maximum number of milita regiments that each side can raise in those areas. Same concept for the Indians but they seem to be a bit over done vs historical impact.

Each side gets influence points that it can spend on raising milita or indian units in the case of the Brits. They are also used to handle your officers and the forces in their commands. If you want to change out an officer it will cost you points. The points can also be expended on additional men, weapons, readiness, zeal, recon and several other things. Again this allows each side flexibility to approach the game differently.

Most cities on the map also produce recruits for non-milita units (different rates for each side), weapons, cannons, horses, money and supplies. The production system is simple with only 14 different unit types. There are several ways to take advantage of the production system and morale. Though the holes are there it is nothing major. Gamesmanship I suppose.

Both the strategic and tactical interfaces are rough. More clicking to get something done than need be.

The regiments available are mostly historical. You run into things like raising a Virginia regiment in New York. Still lots of flavor with the different unit types and identifications. Also nice to see the Hessian's and French uniformed differently. Real uniform buffs will not be happy. Each type/nationalty has a different image but no difference beyond that.

The tactical battle gets a little bland after awhile and the larger battles are difficult to manage. I still enjoy the small to midsize battles where I am trying to accomplish a specific task. A nice feature is that you flag individual formations for manual combat instead of it being all on or all off.

All in all the game is good. It has even more potential. It looks like it may be a really good engine for 7 Years War and such. Very few bugs and no crash or lock up problems. Lots of flavor for the period. Game allows for short scenarios or the entire war. Single play for both sides. Lots and lots of play options. Seems to me to be a good balance between ease of play and historical feel/accuracy. Seems to represent the campaign better by a long margin than anything I've seen to date. Something that kind of bugs me is that the first worthwhile Strategic American Revolution computer game comes from Europe but they have done a great job and deserve a big thumbs up.

Carl

(in reply to Capt Henry_MatrixForum)

Post #: 8