Battleplan: American Civil War

[Grim.Reaper]

I thought we where told wargaming was a niche so had to be expensive? Yet lately we have had some good little wargames coming out on steam for a very decent price.

It has been nice for some casual fun and I will get some use out of them...however, would still like to see a step up in complexity (and more turn based without having RTS/pause) without turning into a monster wargame.  But it is nice to have these options since maybe it will turn some casual fans into wargame fans, making a larger demand on wargames.

[Cyrano]

Certainly wasn't going to pass for less than $10.

Interesting that it's Osprey and yet not Slitherine...I thought they were friends.

It's very much what it seems to be on the tin -- a quick, light wargame that couldn't replace SoW and doesn't want to.  Worth what you pay for it -- well worth it, actually -- but it really wants MP.

Best,

Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)

[Grim.Reaper]

Developers are already looking into patching a slow down speed to make it more manageable....that will help it a little as well.

[panzerde]

Grabbed it today and am about to give it a try. It does remind me of the old UMS. I played that thing to death.

Admittedly, it was the Osprey name that drew me in.

[panzerde]

Interesting ideas. It feels like an Osprey map, animated. I have to agree that it plays too fast right now. I also think the combat resolution results in WAY too high casualties.

Fun for the price.

[Grim.Reaper]

Interesting ideas. It feels like an Osprey map, animated. I have to agree that it plays too fast right now. I also think the combat resolution results in WAY too high casualties.

Fun for the price.

yep, I posted the same thing in the steam forums....I was seeing casualties 3-4 times the historical numbers.  The developer did respond with this:

"As for casualties, we've weighted the game difficulties to enable a variety of unit effectiveness - in a nutshell your units when playing on Militia (Easy) level, will be more able to rip through enemy units. This *might* explain why casualty rates seem excessive (even when compared to The American Civil War)!

Saying that, a unit that's militia grade should always find a veteran grade unit a challenge."

[steve58]

Just a heads up that there is a demo available on Steam

http://store.steampowered.com/app/313290/

[Grim.Reaper]

They are hoping to get their first patch out by Thursday, with the biggest improvement is the gamespeed slider.....that was fast of them, assuming it works:)

Major Tweaks

- Add Speed Slider
We're going to provide a simple slider in the Options Menu that enables you to dictate how fast you want both normal gameplay and fast forward gameplay to be (as chosen by the button in the centre of the timer).

- Add undo order button to units building pontoons
Pretty self explanatory - allows a general to call an emergency halt to pontoon building, though messengers still have to arrive for the order to be acted on.

Minor Tweaks

- Ensure Confederate Flag assets show the correct number of stars
Great example of working too hard on small details and missing big ones! This will be sorted!

- Slow down the speed at which the credits roll
We know, we know... fascinating stuff (just being thorough with these notes)!

[GDS_Starfury]

reminds me of a very old game called War College except that this seems to actually work.

[Ian C]

I broke my computer gaming teeth on UMS II. I got to correspond with it's creator, Doctor Sidran a couple of years back and he sent me a copy of War Collage.  I couldn't get it to work either and he actually told me "You might not be able to get it to work".

[GDS_Starfury]

it worked for a bit but hell if it did anything well.

[panzerde]

- Add Speed Slider
We're going to provide a simple slider in the Options Menu that enables you to dictate how fast you want both normal gameplay and fast forward gameplay to be (as chosen by the button in the centre of the timer).

Wait, there's a fast-forward mode to this game? Who is this targeted at, meth addicts with ADD?

The speed slider is much needed and appreciated.

[TheCommandTent]

Tried the demo and it was way to fast so I think I'll hold off on this one until I can demo it with speed control.

[DennisS]

My concern is that this developer does what many developers do...mask a weak or inadequate AI by increasing the pace of the game.

Making the game so fast that you can't keep up doesn't make it a better game, it just makes it more likely that you will lose.

Don't mistake losing the game due to this crazy fast speed with losing the game due to a wonderfully competent AI.

THIS is why I like turn-based games. You can't run, you can't hide, and you can speed up the game so much that you confuse the issue. You have to have an idea on what you're about.

Let me know when this one is slow enough to play.

[Grim.Reaper]

My concern is that this developer does what many developers do...mask a weak or inadequate AI by increasing the pace of the game.

Making the game so fast that you can't keep up doesn't make it a better game, it just makes it more likely that you will lose.

Don't mistake losing the game due to this crazy fast speed with losing the game due to a wonderfully competent AI.

THIS is why I like turn-based games. You can't run, you can't hide, and you can speed up the game so much that you confuse the issue. You have to have an idea on what you're about.

Let me know when this one is slow enough to play.

Should be before Thursday according to the developer....I don't expect a completely competent AI in a low budget game, but hopefully a good enough AI for the small price paid.