Friday Tock

[Jarhead0331]

^Ha! I thought I was crotchety in my young age. 

[Gusington]

You were!  :D

'crotcheti-ER' I guess

[W8taminute]

'The Terminator' was raving about the battles, but I haven't played the mod yet so I don't know if trenches are modeled or not. I do know that they modeled flamethrower troops. Flamethrower troops!

I don't know who "The Terminator" is or whether he knows anything about combat in World War I. I'm sure the tactical battles are "fun" but they will definitely be patterned on the 19th century model with units duking it out in line formations out in the open. That is what I can tell from all screenshots and videos I have seen. I do not think the Total War engine is capable of modding in the kind of entrenchments and fortifications that were common on the Western front.

Play around with it and let us know what you discover.

Crotchety or not you are correct regarding how Total War handles WW1 combat.  I've got at least 10 hours into the mod and I can say that yes the rifle units do tend to duke it out in the open in perfect ordered formations.  However what they did do is model artillery to be very close to what a WW1 barrage would have been.  In this mod tactical battles degenerate into masses of infantry out in the open being hammered to death by arty.  It feels much different from vanilla Total War.  Even so this is not WW1 trench combat in any way.  But it really is great fun none the less.   :)

[Toonces]

I'm still not sure what I'll play this evening.  I truly am overwhelmed with new games to try, and old games I love.  I'd like to get into Combat Mission: Cold War as I've barely scratched the surface of it. 

I'm almost certain I'll be playing some Cold Waters, too.

I dunno...I might have to wait until tonight and update this thread with what I actually end up playing.

[Gusington]

You had me at the fun part, W8.

[MengJiao]

Sure thing. I'll be taking the 1100AD mod for a spin this weekend, either as Kievan Rus or the Holy Roman Empire. I didn't even know this mod existed until yesterday afternoon.

  Yep.  It's pretty cool.  This little scuffle spelled the end of  my stint as Duke of Normandy:

[Gusington]

How did you like the naval combat?

[MengJiao]

How did you like the naval combat?

  It was okay.  Kind of a very small battle since I didn't survive long as Duke of Normandy.  I switiched to the Byzantines and I expect naval action versus some usurpers at least pretty soon.  Some Byzantine ships will have Greek Wildfire apparently so that might be interesting.  Meanwhile even the Genoese are beating me up in Greece.  I think I might hold on since the Byzantine infantry is really tough.  I lost the town when I was taking screenshots for this small battle in Greece.  In the screenshot, the Byzantine Garison has just wiped out the Genoese commander's cavalry bodyguard but is being charged by Genoese infantry while part of the town burns:

[MengJiao]

How did you like the naval combat?

 

  Here is a little bit of a sea fight against the Genoese ally, the flagship of the Crusaders based in Antioch:

[Gusington]

Thanks Meng, great shots, especially that first one.