Any AGEOD gurus here?

[spelk]

These questions were posted on the computerwargames sub-reddit, wondered if we had any AGEOD guru's lurking here who would have opinions/answers on the questions asked?

https://www.reddit.com/r/computerwargames/comments/57aac2/ageod_games_tyw_aje/

[Nefaro]

My first suggestion, for those who are unfamiliar with how to give their armies the best chance of victory, is to hover their cursor over every little symbol at the bottom of each battle report and read the tooltips.  They name all the positive & negative modifiers affecting that battle (or series of battles, at the AGE scale).

Even though those tooltips don't go into long explanations,  you can get a very good idea about what helps or hinders your armies effectiveness.  You can increase you chances of victory just by considering all these factors when maneuvering for future battles.

Same can be said for the attributes on each unit types info card (the big pop-up one).  Hover over each statistic or ability and it will give you some description of what they do, or how they are used.  Commander abilities are obviously pretty important advantages or, in some cases, weaknesses to be remembered.


As for more detailed descriptions of how each little facet works to make the whole, I've only gleaned such mystical knowledge from reading past AGEOD game manuals.  While each title is different in small ways, the core concepts of the AGE-engined games work similarly.  So once you've become familiar with how one or two work, you'll have a good knowledge on all of them.

Province development isn't usually much of a focus.  Many scenarios are too short to reap a great benefit.  I consider it mostly for supply and movement improvement, if there's a location that has been a troublesome bottleneck during my operations.  The AGE scenarios are often operational or strategic military endeavors; all the extra decisions and development are there in a very secondary support option for the goals of that military side. 

In the vast majority of scenarios, you won't be building to drastically increase your future capabilities as a whole.  Not like a Total War game, or others that last decades or centuries.  You're there to win the war, usually in a few short years.   

Province development, as a statistic, is mainly a threshold value if I recall correctly.  Other province construction options often require a minimum development level before they can be built there.  It has some other effects but I don't pay it much attention otherwise.

Army composition depends on the specific title.  Army size, and having units with high Patrol or Evasion ratings, can have a notable effect on how slippery small armies are.  Or whether they can be caught and brought to battle.  It's often ideal to have a good mix, but there is no hard & fast covering all AGE games since the periods covered vary.  I've seen users recommend numbers, based on specific ones, but it's always a mixed force.  The needs change for sieges, of course.

I tried keeping the Wall Of Text™ to a minimum.  But even simple summation of this topic gets long-winded.

[Sir Slash]

Second what Nefaro said. Never played TYW but AJE and American Civil War 2 are my go-to AGEOD games. Both are very different. AJE Has no grand campaign and is a little 'lighter' in it's concept. Most all scenarios start-out small but grow rapidly until you're fighting on several fronts at once. And in AJE there are many smaller factions that can jump-in at any time on anybody's side. Add in Barbarians raiders, Irish Pirates, Rebel Slaves, storms, droughts, plagues, etc. and you can never know what to expect next.

The first thing I do whenever playing any AGEOD game is check the Victory Point cities to see what's worth what. Then make a plan to capture or hold the biggest VP city(s). In almost every scenario there's one city worth way more than the others. Also if the game's routinely kicking your butt, you can adjust things like AI aggressiveness, supply, and other things to even things up a bit.

[mikeck]

1. Degrees of freedom: that depends on the game but all of them allow more freedom of movement and choices as the game goes on. Some are opened by events you can choose and others happen on a date. Restrictions are limited and usually involve being unable to enter a territory (because it is neutral) or a historical limit on arm organization (no corp formation for US army in 1861)

In 30 years war, as you play through some turns, more options will become available. Remember, the initial stages of the actual war were limited

2. Province development: I believe this increases the amount of supply generated by this province. Some ageod games use push/pull from cities and depots but TYW and others allow units to take supply from surrounding territories.

3. Typical loop.: there isn't one really as some scenarios have limited recruitment options. Others have none (expeditionary force). But, for many I guess you could say, recruitment, build larger armies, build supply, attack. General but that's the best I can do. The game is really about organizing an effective army, being able to support them in the field and moving them efficiently. Like real war.

4.  Army composition: REAL IMPORTANT. Army composition is one of the most important factors in a battle and the game. First off, you get penalized if your army is too big for the allotted commanders. Second, if your army is too big, even if you can command it, you may not be able to supply it. You have to break armies up to support them in winter....like in real life. Finally, the composition of the army effects combat ability. If you don't have cavalry, you may not get initiative first round, no artillery your range suffers. Also, moving to the sound of the guns, you get delayed entry of certain corps. If you have all artillery or elite infantry in one corps and that corps doesn't get there, you miss out.