Today is Gustavus Adolphus Day!
My name is Ilja Varha, and I am the designer of the upcoming Pomeranian War DLC for Oliver Keppelmüller's strategy game The Seven Years War (1756-1763). During this November, prior to release, I will introduce you to the DLC and the history behind it.
On this date (according to Julian calendar used in Sweden at the time) Gustavus Adolphus day is celebrated in Sweden and Finland, commemorating the death of the king in battle of Lützen 1632, and all things Swedish.
Stormaktstiden - the era of great power
Sweden emerged as a great European power and forerunner of Protestantism in the 17th century. The battles fought against Russia and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the intervention during the Thirty Years War marked the rise of the small nation into a Nordic empire, a rise that was accomplished mainly militarily.
The reformed Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus was said to be the most modern and best trained in Europe, when the Swedes crushed the Catholic league army in Battle of Breitenfeld, September 1631. For the use of shock tactics, large scale deployment of regimental cannons, drilling the troops to fire close range musket salvos, and fierce charges by the Hakkapeliitta cavalry, Gustavus is commonly acknowledged as one of the fathers of modern combat. He was deeply admired by later great commanders like Napoléon Bonaparte.
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King Gustavus Adolphus and his troops after Breitenfeld (1631).
With such a small population, Sweden used an allotment system to fill the ranks in its army. This way of early conscription provided the needed numbers during war without having to pay for a large standing army. But it had its downside as well: for example as much as one third of Finnish male population died in military service during the 17th century. During wars Sweden also employed local mercenaries, as was the common practice.
The warrior king Adolphus defeated the Catholics also in the daring crossing of river Lech in April 1632, his masterpiece as commander-in-chief. He died in the bloody battle of Lützen, leading a cavalry charge against the Imperial left wing. After the costly victory Swedes were decisively defeated in Nördlingen in 1634, but recovered and went as far as to siege Vienna. When the Thirty Years War ended in the peace of Westphalia 1648, Sweden was among the victors. These peace terms were later to be used as casus belli when Sweden entered the Seven Years War.
Sweden's momentum was maintained in following wars. By 1660s Sweden was at the height of its size and power. During these times Sweden also possessed small colonies in Africa and North America! But by then Sweden had also made a lot of enemies. The end of the era of great power came with the Great Northern War, lasting 21 years in 1700-21. The elite Swedish carolean army, named such for serving kings Charles XI and XII, gained many great victories, like that at Battle of Narva in November 1700, but in the end the opposition was too great. Charles XII died in combat in 1718 and in the end Sweden lost much of its dominions to Prussia, Russia, Hanover, etc. The war saw the rise of Russia as a new great power under Tsar Peter I the Great, while Sweden was diminished into a mere regional power.
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Caroleans assaulting the Saxons in the battle of Düna in 1701, during the Great Northern War.
The Age of Liberty
After the death of Charles XII, power was taken by the Swedish parliament of estates, the Riksdag, and the monarchs were reduced to mere figureheads. As Sweden had been an absolute monarchy since 1680, the new era was called the age of liberty. During this time two main parties were competing for power. At first power was with the Caps party and a general of the Great Northern War, Arvid Horn. The hard line Hats party was in favor of alliance with France, as it had been in the Thirty Years War. The Hats seized power in 1738 and immediately started a campaign to regain Swedish greatness.
Their first campaign was the Hats' Russian War 1741-43 fought in Finland to regain lost territory. During this war it became obvious that the Swedish army was no longer the invincible force of Gustavus Adolphus or Charles XII that struck fear all over Europe. Instead the demoralized and poorly lead army was driven back and Finland was briefly occupied by Russia, a period known as Small Wrath in Finland. When the costly war ended in treaty of Åbo (Finnish Turku), Sweden had to cede eastern part of Finland to Russia, and also promised to elect the next king according to Russian will. But if the Hats were not good at making war, their political cunning would allow them to maintain power even after this catastrophe.
The ceded part of Finland also included all the border fortifications, and work to fortify the new border began. The line of forts running from Sveaborg (Finnish Viapori, later Suomenlinna) in the Gulf of Finland, up the Kymijoki -river was never completed due to lack of funds. This along with the strong Swedish navy was taking biggest part of military spending, and the army was again neglected. At the time Swedish army had so called seniority system in use. Also titles could be sold to highest bidder. These combined meant the average Swedish officer was not the most competent one for the task, but rather the one with the money and service years.
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The fortification of Sveaborg was built to protect the new border of the treaty of Åbo.
Economically Sweden was following policy of mercantilism, a financial protectionism. Some extra revenue was gained by the Swedish East India Company (SOIC), but the domestic production in Sweden and Finland suffered from small population. Increased profits were made selling tar produced in Finland.
Entering mid-18th century, the Hats held power and prepared the country for another war. The past glory of stormaktstiden was still theirs to grasp, or so they believed...
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Mercantilism is one of the 2 new national policies available in Pomeranian War DLC.
The Road to War
Starting the Swedish campaign in 1750 in the Pomeranian War DLC, you can choose whether to follow the historic path into the Pomeranian War, or to try to restore the Swedish holdings in Europe. Either way, there is plenty to do to achieve the goals, and a long and difficult war ahead.
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Swedish Road to War campaign scenario requires occupation of Prussian territory in Pomerania and Brandenburg. This was the historic objective for the Swedes in the war.
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Sweden had lost majority of their mainland holdings in the Great Northern War. Restoring Past Glory -scenario allows you to right this wrong, but do notice the difficulty level!
As The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) has a deep and complex economic system built in it, along with population management, you will be facing the same challenges as Sweden did historically. The population will not be enough to maintain strong industry and a large military at the same time. Your armies are degraded and but a few officers up to task. You can count on the Swedish fleet though, but the coming war will be won or lost on the ground.
The army of Sweden has only a few standing units when the scenario starts, but thanks to the revised allotment (Swedish "Indelta-") system your nation's recruiting potential is high. The Swedish infantry of the time is of mediocre quality, but cavalry has maintained good competence over their foes, and the artillery has good quality cannons. But the main problem will not be the quality of your army, but rather your ability to maintain it in fighting condition! Replenishments are hard to come by, and upkeep and supply costs may prove to be hard to bear, especially so if you choose to engage your arch-enemy Russia in its territory!
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The revised Swedish roster in Pomeranian War DLC.
You have time to prepare your nation to the coming war, so make it count! Along the way you may use the Swedish research potential to gain some leverage. There are also a number of historic dilemmas for you to consider, that may help in the war preparations. But remember, for the Hats only military gains will do!
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Tar is needed to keep the fleets afloat, and demand in Europe is high. Nationalizing the profits will not please the producers in Finland, but they'll get over it, right?
Unleash the Swedes! Pomeranian War DLC will be released November 25th. In the meantime, why not write up a review if you enjoy the game!
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Make Sweden great again! Do you have what it takes?
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PS. Notice anything new in the main menu? Resume -function allows continuing battles too! The game will receive a major free patch prior to release of the Pomeranian War DLC.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/538430/
Looks excellent! O0
I knew I felt different when I woke up this morning. Good luck with this, looks promising :)
Thank you.
This looks very interesting and clearly is a labor of love.
If you want to add many historical battles, there is a book with Orders of Battle for many Thirty Years War engagements.
Battles of the Thirty Years War, by W.P, Guthrie.
I own two Pomeranians who bicker all the time, and I have to say, this thread fails to deliver.
One of my favorite periods, I have the game, and I still have yet to play it. I just don't want to cope with the economic system.
This is a game that I really want to love but I can't even start playing. I don't know why since I have not even touched it to form an opinion. It's one of my favorite historical time periods. I guess maybe because it's more of a country simulator with the economy then it is warfare like An AGEOD game
Quote from: mikeck on November 06, 2016, 04:29:04 PM
This is a game that I really want to love but I can't even start playing. I don't know why since I have not even touched it to form an opinion. It's one of my favorite historical time periods. I guess maybe because it's more of a country simulator with the economy then it is warfare like An AGEOD game
I think exactly the same.
My name is Father Ted and I too own "7 YearsWar", but have yet to play it. I think we need to start a self-help group...
The Battle Pack DLC (£3.99) Might be what you are after.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/485840
About This Content
The Seven Years War (1756-1763) Battle Pack
The Battle Pack enhances the battle experience of "The Seven Years War (1756-1763)". The DLC includes the following features:
- 6 Additional historic battles
- Build your own custom battles
- Weather effects with influence on the troops' conditions
- Order your commanders to take initiative on the battlefield
- New unit: horse artillery
- Additional unit statistics during and at the end of battles
- New quick attack and retreat orders
- Polished battle goals
The new historic battles include:
- Abraham Plains (1759)
- Sainte Foy (1760)
- Zorndorf (1758)
- Carillon (1758)
- Prague (1757)
- Lovositz (1756)
Quote from: Father Ted on November 06, 2016, 05:50:56 PM
My name is Father Ted and I too own "7 YearsWar", but have yet to play it. I think we need to start a self-help group...
Yep, can't wrap my head around it...
Having a somewhat detailed economic system, mixed in with the military grand strategy, is one reason this is still on my wishlist. That.. and the time period portrayed, which is probably my second favorite as far as grand strategy goes. 8)
Wouldn't mind learning it, if the in-game tooltips, info, and UI are adequate. I actually enjoy figuring games with a steep learning curve out, as long as everything has some basic info easily & readily available in the game. Not really sure if that's the case, here, however. I hope it is, because I'll be doing it at some point.
I gave a battle scenario a try tonight. Got whipped, but liked what I saw. The command scheme makes sense. Graphically, it's a nice depiction of the battlefield and the action. Despite it being real time (or maybe because "real time" in this game seems to be real time unless you use time compression) I didn't feel rushed in trying to order my troops. Pause is available if that becomes an issue.
The environmental effect were particularly nice. No, graphically this isn't a AAA title, but for something resembling a wargame, done by one guy, it ain't bad.
I too like complex and difficult games. I don't mind figuring them out. I'm just completely uninterested in dealing with tech trees and building queues. Frederick the Great did not spend time in the field deciding what people in Prussia were going to research next, what they were going to trade, and what building were going to be built in Berlin during the war. Give me an AGEOD game like Rise of Prussia for the campaign scale any day.
Quote from: panzerde on November 06, 2016, 10:41:49 PM
I too like complex and difficult games. I don't mind figuring them out. I'm just completely uninterested in dealing with tech trees and building queues. Frederick the Great did not spend time in the field deciding what people in Prussia were going to research next, what they were going to trade, and what building were going to be built in Berlin during the war. Give me an AGEOD game like Rise of Prussia for the campaign scale any day.
My thought exactly, its more like a hardcore Total War game (which is a good thing) rather than a focused command simulation (which I prefer, ex: AGEOD games).
I for one welcome our new Swedish overlörden. O0
That made me giggle...
My sister was once bitten by a møøse...
Quote from: panzerde on November 07, 2016, 04:48:23 PM
My sister was once bitten by a møøse...
Better than being bit by a moose knuckle.
And there it is.....
Pomerania is getting closer, till then here's another bigger patch:
A major patch 1.334 released today. Now it's finally possible to save the ongoing battle, and continue later!
To do this, click the retreat/exit button during battle (bottom right) and choose to return to main menu instead of retreating. And in the main menu, click "Resume last game". So take your time and enjoy the battles to the fullest, even if life gets in the way! =)
See the full list of changes at:
http://steamcommunity.com/.../annou.../detail/580230861259683645
Quote from: Nefaro on November 07, 2016, 11:13:53 PM
... a moose knuckle.
I'm guessing that's the same as what we in the Old World call a camel toe?
Quote from: Father Ted on November 13, 2016, 02:32:43 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on November 07, 2016, 11:13:53 PM
... a moose knuckle.
I'm guessing that's the same as what we in the Old World call a camel toe?
Except it's the guy version.
From different kinds of animal body parts back to the DLC, on this anniversary of small battle of Güstow: ;D
This date in 1758 saw another small scale combat of the Pomeranian War, in town of Güstow, between Swedish forces under general von Lingen and Prussian detachment from the army of general von Manteuffel. By then the Swedish campaign, started in spring 1757, was already showing signs of turning into another disappointment.
The Invasion of Prussian Pomerania
During mid-1750s, The power of the Riksdag (Swedish parliament of estates) was being undermined by the Queen of Sweden, Louisa Ulrika. The new king Adolf Frederick was kept under control by the Hats party, but the cunning queen had plans to restore absolute monarchy in Sweden. The attempted coup was revealed in June 22nd 1756 and this tightened the political grip of the Hats party, now under Axel von Fersen. With the gained momentum, the Hats were free to steer Sweden to their liking, even more than ever.
When the Seven Years' War broke out in August 1756, Sweden remained neutral. But as the great alliance against Frederick II seemed to inevitably win, the Swedish ambition to regain the territories lost to Prussia in the Great Northern War was growing in the Hats party. Early 1757 Sweden mobilized the field army and started hastily transporting them to Stralsund, the Swedish outpost in Pomerania. The plan was to gather an army 20.000 strong, and with the backing of French coin attack Prussia while their focus was still in Austria.
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Internal fight for power before the Pomeranian War: Queen Louisa Ulrika, sister of Frederick II of Prussia, and Axel von Fersen the elder, in command of the Hats party. Louisa is said to have been portrayed masculine in the paintings of the time to discredit her.
The army was in no way ready for an operation such as this, and the movement to Pomerania was shadowed by confusion. Regiments from Finland and Sweden reinforced the mainly German garrison army of Pomerania, and the created force was placed under command of marshal Mattias Alexander von Ungern-Sternberg. At the time the army had no magazine, commissariat, pontoon, or light troops, all which would have been needed for a proper military operation to succeed...
The initial invasion of Prussian Pomerania in 1757 was aborted by von Ungern-Sternberg and he returned with his army to Stralsund and Rügen, where Prussians laid siege on them. Only an intervention by the Swedish arch-enemy Russia in June 1758 saved the campaign. After this the Swedish commander-in-chief was replaced by Gustaf von Rosen and soon after by general Hamilton. The command would change two more times during the war; such was the crisis in leadership.
The first real success in the war was the capture of fort Peenemünde, guarding the mouth of river Oder, by Augustin Ehrensvärd in July 1758. Later this commander of fortification works in Finland was to become the commander-in-chief in Pomerania. After the limited success, Swedish army tried to march out to support first their Russian, then Austrian allies, but were stopped by Prussians in Brandenburg. After losing battle of Tornow and stopping Prussian advance in Fehrbellin, Hamilton marched back to Stralsund, suffering increasing number of losses to attrition and disease.
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The siege of fort Peenemünde. The fortification was seized by Ehrensvärd in July 27th 1758, after which Hamilton with 16.000 men attempted to march to support the Russians at Küstrin. The same Russians were soon defeated in the battle of Zorndorf.
On November 18th Hamilton was eager to revenge the setbacks. He ordered general von Lingen to attack town of Güstow. The assault was repulsed by a small force of Prussian grenadiers, taking cover behind a stone wall, and the Swedes were forced to withdraw. The Prussian commander general Heinrich von Manteuffel had reserves available in a camp close by and an attack by Prussian dragoons and hussars almost routed the Swedes, before the situation was stabilized with use of canister by Swedish cannons. The battle itself saw no more than a few thousand participants, and the Pomeranian War became increasingly characterized by lot of back and forth movement, sieges, attrition and indecisive engagements. Returning to Swedish Pomerania, Hamilton was forced to resign.
The Final Attempt
Year 1759 started again with the Swedish army retreating back to Stralsund, losing garrisons on the way. Only another intervention by Russia freed Swedish Pomerania, but the Swedes were unable to continue campaigning until fall. The army moved out again towards the main goal, Stettin. Covered by this move, the Swedish coastal fleet Skärgårdsflottan moved up to Oder lagoon and defeated the small Prussian fleet in the battle of Frisches Haff. The Swedish navy once again proved its worth, but the Swedish army was unable to siege Stettin and returned to winter quarters, followed by Manteuffel's Prussians.
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The battle of Frisches Haff in Oder lagoon September 1759. Swedish archipelago fleet (Skärgårdsflottan), specialized in coastal combat in the Gulf of Finland against Russians, defeated the small Prussian fleet.
In January 1760 Manteuffel attacked Swedish Pomerania, but got repulsed and was himself captured. The Swedes saw a chance to exploit the situation, as Prussian attention was elsewhere. But the final attempts to realize the war goals during 1760-62 were to prove unsuccessful, even when the leadership problems started to get solved under Augustin Ehrensvärd, and light troops under Jacob Magnus Sprengtporten, the so called "Sprengtporterna", gained small victories against the Prussians.
When Elizabeth of Russia died and the new Tsar allied himself with Prussia, the Swedish leaders realized all was lost. The war ended in the peace of Hamburg 22nd May 1762, where status quo between Sweden and Prussia was restored: Sweden gained nothing from the war. The combat losses may have been low, only a few thousand, but the total loss of life due to sickness and attrition was far greater. And even more so was the popularity hit on the Hats party, who eventually lost their power in 1765. Swedish Pomerania was later lost during the Napoleonic Wars, along with Finland.
The Pomeranian War
These are the conditions and realities you will find yourself in the later scenarios as Sweden in the Pomeranian War DLC. The 1757 campaign starts with transporting the army to Stralsund, numbering 20.000, and opening the hostilities with Prussia. If you are slow, the Prussians may strike the first blow!
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In March 21st 1757, Sweden enters the Seven Years War, attacking Prussia without a declaration of war. Maintaining army of 20.000 in mainland Europe may seem like an easy task, but with battles and attrition eating away and insufficient replacements available, you need to choose your battles carefully!
Defeating the Prussians in field battle is possible, and you have the numbers to engage in prolonged sieges, but the state of the army and quality of leadership is alarming. This leads to high desertion, especially so if losing battles. The real challenge is resupplying and replacing losses. Go in too aggressively in the beginning and you may find yourself with a combat ineffective skeleton of an army, with the hopes of victory fading. There simply are not enough people to press into service, to fill up gaps left by poor generalship. On the other hand, time is working against you...
But the situation may not be as dire as it may sound. Even though diplomatic relations are not great with the allies, you may gain support from them in coin and military involvement. Being able to draw away the strongest Prussian armies elsewhere may open up a possibility for a surprise strike. The Prussians are dependent on their economy and allies, so using the navy to blockade naval trade and armies to devastate the Prussian countryside may provide leverage in the long term!
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In spring 1760 the Swedish army in Pomerania is in bad shape, thanks to poor management of the war. Can you turn the situation into your advantage?
Remember that tactical victories need to be expanded into strategic advantage, and this will require skill in both combat and management of your nation: The Seven Years War (1756-1763) takes into account supplies, recruitment base and morale, as well as attrition, desertion and upkeep of soldiers. A successful commander will need to harness the nation's economy too to support the war effort. There is no tactics without proper logistics!
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Some of the 14 new historic events in Pomeranian War DLC will provide relief in the appalling state of the army, but in the end it's up to you to manage the war and prevent history from repeating itself.
Pomeranian War DLC will be released in just a week, on November 25th!
On Steam: Click here (http://store.steampowered.com/app/538430/)
Having now tried it, I like the combat in this game, but I'm still very, very leery of dealing with the economic engine and tech tree stuff. How much of that is required for this DLC? Will I spend most of my time maneuvering armies and planning my campaign, or will I need to spend a bunch of time trying to develop the Prussian wool industry and subsidizing the used petticoat trade between Sweden and Denmark?
Quote from: panzerde on November 18, 2016, 12:59:41 PM
Having now tried it, I like the combat in this game, but I'm still very, very leery of dealing with the economic engine and tech tree stuff. How much of that is required for this DLC? Will I spend most of my time maneuvering armies and planning my campaign, or will I need to spend a bunch of time trying to develop the Prussian wool industry and subsidizing the used petticoat trade between Sweden and Denmark?
Panzerde, you put your finger on what for me is the main problem with Seven Years War: the battles / tactical side is really fun and well done, but the economic empire management side is, frankly, boring and confusing. Unfortunately, to play a campaign, you're spending the bulk of game-time managing economy, which means the part of the game that shines -- the battles -- is marginalized.
Quote from: panzerde on November 18, 2016, 12:59:41 PM
Having now tried it, I like the combat in this game, but I'm still very, very leery of dealing with the economic engine and tech tree stuff. How much of that is required for this DLC? Will I spend most of my time maneuvering armies and planning my campaign, or will I need to spend a bunch of time trying to develop the Prussian wool industry and subsidizing the used petticoat trade between Sweden and Denmark?
Especially in the shorter campaign scenarios getting deep into the economy is not mandatory, and focus is more on the military side. What is adviced in this case is to automate the taxes, and in case of low money, take some loans and that's about it. All the rest will help especially in the long term, which is more needed in the long campaigns (road to war, on the eve of war). In this DLC there are 2 shorter scenarios shown in the above post, where you can manage pretty well by using the existing armies and recruiting more, but without getting down and dirty with the petticoats nor the Danes. =)
Thanks! I may give one of the shorter scenarios a try, then. I hear just what Sandman is saying - the economic side just isn't my interest!
Quote from: panzerde on November 18, 2016, 05:34:16 PM
Thanks! I may give one of the shorter scenarios a try, then. I hear just what Sandman is saying - the economic side just isn't my interest!
I suggest trying for example the 2 Prussian middle scenarios, or 2 last Austrian scenario, which are fully military oriented. To automate taxes, open one of the cities, in the taxes part there's the "computer" icon. Right clicking it, as suggested by the tooltip, will set all your cities taxation to automatic. The economy will run automatically in the background on its own, if you don't interfere. If you run out of money, open finances window and issue a loan to bring bank balance back to positive: if your troops are not paid, they will start deserting en masse.
To help you manage your army (recruitment, managing and creating divisions, etc.) you could browse through this guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=801641925
Good luck, share your experience. =)
Also good news for some of you:
The next big update has the option "military focus" ON/OFF, which will give the responsibility of economy, production and research to AI, so you can concentrate on military matters even more!
http://steamcommunity.com/games/400470/announcements/detail/597119843280908762
More information about the upcoming features, as well as the naval rivalry between Britain and France, on the anniversary of battle of Quiberon Bay, Nov 20th 1759.
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Update 1.336 released!
Update 1.336 improves the AI behavior and balancing in campaigns:
- AI aggressivity can now be adjusted in options menu, choose from: normal, aggressive, warmonger
- select option "military focus" to let the AI control your economy, your construction, your research, your financials and your policies
- enemy armies now make invasions over greater distances and also from allied territory
- enemy armies now wait for supply before continuing invasions
- increased AI naval movement
- rebalancing supply duration of sieges
- AI now assaults in sieges depending on the relative strength and morale to the defender
- AI now places more garrisons in occupied cities or forts
- breaking out of war due to historic events and behavior of allies now better balanced
- improved repairs and upgrades of AI buildings
- occupied provinces are now only tradeable in peace periods and to the claiming nation
- rebalancing of maneuver order
Fixed bugs:
- removed double goals after resuming historic battles
- loading commander data properly when resuming battles
- enemy armies now not moving away within sieges
- fixed some smaller fog of war topics in campaigns
- fixed not accessible buildings during repairs
- sieges are now broken up if peace is declared
- fixed infinate morale and strength numbers due to zero strength regiments sieges
- 12pdr now researchable
Others:
- updated manual:
http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/400470/manuals/THE_SEVEN_YEARS_WAR_-_Game_manual.pdf?t=1480015314
Pomeranian War - DLC released!
Today I am proud to finally announce the release of Ilja Varha's DLC "Pomeranian War"!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/538430/
In 1757, with the Seven Years' War raging in Europe and the colonies, the so far neutral Sweden under the political leadership of the hard line Hats -party decides to take advantage of the situation by allying once again with France, joining the anti-Prussian coalition.
Features:
- new playable nation: Sweden
- 5 new campaign scenarios for Sweden, where you may attempt to lead the nation from 1750 all the way through the war, or go for historical goals in the two major operations of the war. Or maybe even restore the empire of the era of great power, "stormaktstiden", lost in the Great Northern War...
- two new national policies: Naval invasion preparations and mercantilism
- new nation specific historic events and march music for Sweden
- revised and expanded roster of Swedish military units
- bonus scenario for the French, with historical strategic goal of invading Britain in 1759
Historical background information by Ilja Varha:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/400470/announcements/detail/597119843280908762
http://steamcommunity.com/games/400470/announcements/detail/597119843274276519
http://steamcommunity.com/games/400470/announcements/detail/736730527326447096
Also the game is on sale at Steam, -30% off! =)
Had a go, still cant recommend this game at all. Still an obscure economy simulator
Quote from: Hofstadter on November 28, 2016, 05:06:35 AM
Had a go, still cant recommend this game at all. Still an obscure economy simulator
I haven't tried it with the new patch yet - just curious, did you try it with the AI managing the economy? If it's still an economy simulator after that, that's unfortunate. :(
If you can just subordinate the economy to AI, kind of raises the question of why such a micro-detailed economy is in the game in the first place.
I honestly feel Seven Years War would have been much better served by abstracting / simplifying the economic simulation and putting the emphasis on where the game shines: the military side.
Quote from: sandman2575 on November 28, 2016, 08:30:53 AM
If you can just subordinate the economy to AI, kind of raises the question of why such a micro-detailed economy is in the game in the first place.
I honestly feel Seven Years War would have been much better served by abstracting / simplifying the economic simulation and putting the emphasis on where the game shines: the military side.
I agree. I'm guessing that the new ability to put the economy on auto-pilot is in response to feedback exactly like this. I would suspect that the economic engine is an attempt to improve on the non-military parts of Empire: Total War, as is much of the rest of the game. Granted, the war bankrupted nearly all of the nations involved, and I guess there's an element of managing your economy in such a way as to keep your armies in the field that's relevant. Having said that, you don't need a tech tree, you don't need fine grained control over what building to build, or anything like that to be able to simulate that aspect of the war. Something more like AGEODs regional decisions system of some general economic sliders would do the trick.
Yes, the automanagement is indeed response to feedback on this forum and others alike. Hope it helps the players who otherwise find the game appealing (the real time battles, and the campaign aspect), but who would like to concentrate only on moving the armies and fighting battles.
Battles and military campaigns of course are the real focus of the game, and the economy is there to support it by creating the same problems real commanders faced once the armies were on the move: it is costly, replacements and supplies need to flow for the armies to exist as efficient fighting forces, battles lost and even won with too great casualties will mean reaching culmination point of a whole operation etc. It was usually military commanders who neglected the other aspects that caused greatest damage to their nation. For example reading the history of the Pomeranian War it is quite apparent, that it was not won or lost in the battlefield. With army of 40.000 strong, Sweden losing a few thousand soldiers in all the battles combined sounds like little, but in reality the war was a catastrophy to the nation, and death toll was way bigger from attrition, sickness (and malnutrition of civilians!). Of course not all players will enjoy all the aspects of the game, same with every title - and the automanagement is there to help, but not to remove the economic simulation running in the background.
Real and Simulated Wars paid a quick visit to Pomerania, in the "obscure war gaming delicacy" of 7YW:
http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.fi/2016/12/the-seven-years-war-1756-1763.html?m=1
Well I added the huge economic background because economy was a main factor of winning or losing wars during that time. Austria and France kept the largest armies in the field, but did not succeed. Yes there was a lack of good commanders too but Austria and France could both have been successful in the end if its finances would not have been broken during that time.
Also supply was a main issue. I did not want to make a TW clone and add additional possibilities to win campaigns on economic terms. If you destroy the opponent's weapon industry he will not be able to replace his losses. If you loot down his provinces the people will revolt and starve which influences recruits growth. If you have a strong trade network you may keep additional troops in battle or build up a huge navy like Britain did. If you do not repay your war loans your allies may choose to leave the alliance etc.
So overall you have the opportunity to win campaigns off the battlefields but it's on you to decide how to win. Especially with the new automanagement topic you won't have to take care about prices, building, trade etc. and you may only focus on military warfare...
Congratulations to Ilja and Oliver on their new DLC release. It looks like a very interesting subject.
I wonder if Oliver, building on the success of his game, has given any thought to a DLC exploring Austria's, and ultimately much of eastern Europe's struggles with the Ottoman empire between 1500-1700 - 2 sieges of Vienna, and a host of battles?
Well, we are indeed involved in a new project but it is a bit too early to publish any details. Main focus is improving UI and bringing the engine to the 21st century as well as adding even more realistic military features.
The Wargamer.com has posted their review, in 2 parts:
http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/review-the-seven-years-war-1756-1763-part-1/
http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/review-the-seven-years-war-1756-1763-part-ii/
"The full The Seven Years War campaign mode is recommended only for hard-core nation builders but the Military Focus mode, aided by a delightful soundtrack, should suit any gamer interested in the period."
"The Seven Years War may not have the polish a large company could give it. The graphics and interface could be improved. What it does have is the vibrancy and intensity a dedicated man can give it. In an era where developers are pushed by corporate concerns, gamers – especially those interested in understudied topics – should embrace this game and use it as a model for the path our hobby should take."