Jack, you're FRIDAY

[Destraex]

But isn't there no friendly AI? In other words, regiments won't fire on their own. If I recall, this was the most frustrating part of the game. Having to micromanage all of your troops.

I always manage my volleys. But if I recall you can set some sort of automatic behaviour as this is the most satisfying part of the game. I will have to check.

[Destraex]

I just loaded in and could not see a way to auto fire constantly. However You can preset your troops to fire at will once they are loaded. When they reload though they wait for your command. Fortifications on the other hand fire at will unless you turn them off and can run your resources to nothing really quickly if you are not careful.

[W8taminute]

I'll definitely chime in once I play the game. 

[W8taminute]

Well I played a little bit last night.  I like this game.  Although the conquer Europe mode is not richly deep on the strategic layer, it's definitely entertaining for when you don't want to exhaust too much brain power playing a grand strategy game.

On the tactical level I found that yes, manually having to fire your units can be a bit tedious, it is still fun because the tactical mode is not very fast paced.  (i.e. it's not an RTS clickfest)

I'm ok in having to micromanage each of your units because combat between two formations is usually decided after 1 or 2 musket volleys.  Then you move onto a different area of the map, rinse and repeat. 

[Destraex]

Have you noticed yet that each village physically sends a guy with a mule down the roads back to your base. I reckon you could seriously disrupt your enemies resource gathering by cutting those guys off.

I also love how naturally your units form and become disordered and so tired marching off roads that it leaves them open to breaking if they get shot at in that state.
The terrain really affects movement as well, swamp crossing slow men and wear them out making them ideal for holding enemy formations.

As for "commanding" the critical time to fire your muskets, I find that exciting rather than tedious. It's like being in s movie. The longer you leave it the closer the enemy are and the more effective your volley is. However if they fire first, especially if you have not leveled any experience veterwcy, your men scatter and can be chased down by cavalry.


I've even seen only some or half the men run.

[Jarhead0331]

I find the lack of AI problematic in big historical battles. It might not be that big of a deal on the sandbox type play where you are controlling expansion and advances, but in a huge battle with hundreds or thousands of soldiers and dozens of regiments? You're focusing on one flank of the battle, meanwhile the other flank is folding because your zombie soldiers are incapable of firing volleys on their own.

I think its a glaring problem with the series.

[Destraex]

I find the lack of AI problematic in big historical battles. It might not be that big of a deal on the sandbox type play where you are controlling expansion and advances, but in a huge battle with hundreds or thousands of soldiers and dozens of regiments? You're focusing on one flank of the battle, meanwhile the other flank is folding because your zombie soldiers are incapable of firing volleys on their own.

I think its a glaring problem with the series.

Yeah, I have never played the scenarios you speak of. That would be annoying.

[W8taminute]

Have you noticed yet that each village physically sends a guy with a mule down the roads back to your base. I reckon you could seriously disrupt your enemies resource gathering by cutting those guys off.

No I didn't notice that yet.  Sounds like a good way to create some mischief behind enemy lines.

I also love how naturally your units form and become disordered and so tired marching off roads that it leaves them open to breaking if they get shot at in that state.

I love that about this game.  The animations are really immersive.  I also love how the men load their muskets in unison after collectively firing a volley.  Seems more realistic and even Total War series doesn't capture this that well.  In Total War you men seem to just randomly reload.  Their behavior is not uniform or even close to uniform.  Makes it seem like your formations are mere rabble whereas in Cossacks the majority of your men perform actions in near perfect unison.

I find the lack of AI problematic in big historical battles. It might not be that big of a deal on the sandbox type play where you are controlling expansion and advances, but in a huge battle with hundreds or thousands of soldiers and dozens of regiments?

Absolutely agree with you on this.  I tend to play in the sandbox with these types of games and avoid the historical set piece battles.  For me manual control is not too big a deal.  I totally see how having to manually fire each and every unit in an enormous battle scenario it not fun at all. 

[Destraex]

See the packhorse icon in the bottom left? It shows goods from one of those packhorse guys you can see in the screenshot wandering I presume all the way back home to deliver their goods.

[W8taminute]

See the packhorse icon in the bottom left? It shows goods from one of those packhorse guys you can see in the screenshot wandering I presume all the way back home to deliver their goods.

Target identified.  Now I'll have to check this out in my current campaign.  Thanks for the tip!