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Ultimate General: Civil War

Space Satan

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Are there any win-strategies? I remember Sid Meyer's Gettysburg had this awful "who got artillery on a hill - won" shit.
 

Burning Bridges

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Artillery is not that overpowering. In fact I am not even sure it is necessary on all battles, except that you can direct fire on units that are engaging your front troops. But as a instrument to inflict high cacualties artillery is pretty bad.

About the hill question I am confused, and asked questions a page back. I did not see as much of an effect as I expected, though there is some advantage of being on the hill.

Otherwise my tactics are pretty simple:

1. Keep your units in a wide line, and try to outflank the enemy. Units get attacked from the front the whole time, and can hold out a long time. But once a unit is attacked from the front and the side (or rear) it will collapse. So basically you try to move over the battlefield in a continuous line while trying to find a gap in the enemies.

2. Once there are gaps, you exploit them, but in the process often run into being outflanked yourself. So never advance a brigade on its own!

3. I think that is obvious, but it's paramount that while units move they need cover. So I often run to be the first to take a forest and have open terrain in front of me. The worst is to have to cover open terrain while the enemy has the rim of the forest.
 

Burning Bridges

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to illustrate this

ultimategeneralcivilwar2017-07.jpg


Here you see a good example of such a long defensive formation. I may have actually made a mistake here by not advancing the northern flank to the right, over the river. I only realized this when I looked up the screenshots, because the Union set up in the forest opposite and put up a better fight than it should have.

On the other hand this is 1 division and it held off 2 division, so it may have been the right decision to stay behind the river.

Or maybe the mistake was to deploy too far south, but I wanted to keep the enemy from crossing the bridge. this turned out way too easy while the north nearly collapsed.

ultimategeneralcivilwar2017-07.jpg


And here you see how the battle transposes into counterattack. The northern division was temporarily driven back from the objective, but the counterattack from the south won the day.
 

Hoggypare

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Are there any win-strategies? I remember Sid Meyer's Gettysburg had this awful "who got artillery on a hill - won" shit.
This has "infantry in a forest" shit. But hopefully they will fix that.
Artillery is really powerful (especially rifled cannons at mid-range or heavy howitzers at close) but by no means overpowered

Hills affect max range I think, but not much and the influence on effectiveness is minor
 

Burning Bridges

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Agree. The key to winning so far was to look at the forests, and controlling the rims.
 

Burning Bridges

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ultimategeneralcivilwar2017-07.jpg


Pretty sure I have reached the point where I have won the campaign. Outnumbering the enemy by almost 2:1 in the last battle, I was almost able to take the objectives with the first Corps, before the 2nd Corp even entered the battle.

I have 25,000 men and now 12,000 recruits. So in the next battle I can field up to 37,000, though there is a problem with muskets.

ultimategeneralcivilwar2017-07.jpg


Again hardly any loot though, and for the first time I have problems to arm all my men. For 8500 enemy killed I capture only 1500 muskets. Thats strangely low and does not nearly make up my own losses.

I now have serious problems because even arming everyone of those 12,000 recruits with antique Farmer muskets costs 100,000$ :lol:

There are also no longer any good deals from the government, no more cheap deals 2,500 Lorenz rifles for 4 points :) they now want 7 points for 1,750 Enfields. I probably have to take this though, and all my earned prestige from victories is used up to keep everyone armed. A strange world.

Anyway, I guess it's time to take a break and then start over with the highest difficulty.
 

LizardWizard

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There are also no longer any good deals from the government, no more cheap deals 2,500 Lorenz rifles for 4 points :) they now want 7 points for 1,750 Enfields. I probably have to take this though, and all my earned prestige from victories is used up to keep everyone armed. A strange world.

That's why you max Politics. Also recon seems entirely worthless if you know what's coming.
 
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Burning Bridges

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I thought it only influences gold&recruits?

Recon was maybe a bad idea, but its the first time I'm playing this. You are right though that it makes no difference, you have to face the same number one way or the other
 

Burning Bridges

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I know now why some people find the difficulty unbalanced. Tried Philippi on Major General as the Union, and got my ass handed :lol:

You need to assault a fortified town being outnumbered 2.5:1, otherwise the campaign doesn't even progress to the first Army Camp.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
Released from early access.

edit.
http://www.ultimategeneral.com/blog/ultimate-general-civil-war-is-fully-released
Dear Generals,

We are proud to announce that Ultimate General: Civil War is finally fully released! Due to your invaluable help during the Early Access phase, we believe we have significantly improved the game to a level that will please all strategy fans. At this important moment, let's describe briefly what Ultimate General: Civil War offers.

Full Campaign
Ultimate General: Civil War allows you to relive the American Civil War 1861-1865 as either a Union or Confederate General in a long and exciting campaign.

You will gradually progress through key battles of the American Civil War and expand your forces from a small division to a grand army of multiple Corps. Utilizing a wide range of choices, you may choose the best armament and officers for your units and organize your army into Corps, Divisions and Brigades with extreme detail.

Your army design pays-off in the battlefield where you command your units on beautiful, hand-drawn maps and test your tactical skills vs a clever AI opponent. The battles can become enormous and the armies huge, involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers! Your final goal is to capture Washington for the Confederates or Richmond for the Union.

Many Battles
The campaign mode is branched around 14 grand battles and 24 smaller battles for each side. All together they sum up to 76 different engagements for both Union and Confederate players making up a campaign that may last hundreds of hours, considering that the epic multi-day battles can endure several play hours.

Besides the campaign, you can fight the standalone historical battles which are the following:

  • 1st Battle of Bull Run
  • Battle of Shiloh
  • Battle of Gaines' Mill
  • Battle of Malvern Hill
  • 2nd Battle of Bull Run
  • Battle of Antietam
  • Battle of Fredericksburg
  • Battle of Stones River
  • Battle of Chancellorsville
  • Battle of Gettysburg
  • Battle of Chickamauga
  • Battle of Cold Harbor
The historical battles are accurately portraying the historical facts and can be a handy learning tool for everyone interested in the American Civil War. Finally, there are also several exciting Custom Battles and their number is going to be enriched in future patches.

Where to Buy
We thank again everyone who has supported the game development so far and wish that Ultimate General: Civil War will be one of the best war games you have ever played! Ultimate General: Civil War v1.0 is available on Steam for Windows and Mac. Visit the store at the below link:
 
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Burning Bridges

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It's a very good game, one of the best to come out lately. They also brought this to a release pretty fast, which shows they are already far above most E/A crap that is going on on Steam lately.

Still far from awesome though, I have encountered several problems with the rules which make it too easy to game the game. Melee, skirmisher exploits and all that. Nothing that spoils your fun in the first 60 hours though.

I hope more people buy this game now to give them the opportunity to iron out all these things and hopefully make a Napoleonic version next.
 

Burning Bridges

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Gotten into the game a second time. It's a fun game and the best new game I have seen in 2017.

However, patching is not impressive. The end of a battle can still become a clusterfuck with the AI units compressed like sardines in an ever smaller area, because the AI does not retreat.
It's sort of fun to slaughter thousands of troops like that but not very realistic, them being stuck on an invisible wall.

I am also pissed off that they didn't patch the graphics for the Lee Enfield musket, even though I provided clear and concise hints in the Steam forum. I guess the fuckers don't even read their forum, I remember there was the usual "was slavery morally wrong" shitfest that would have been locked in 99% of forums, and it ran for weeks. It was actually fun because it provided first rate trolling opportunities, and some people clearly lost their head :lol:

Anyway, I haven't written any new reviews for tacticularcancer in years, but this would be a game that would get my full coverage and whole hearted recommendation. Which is extremely rare with all this shit floating around.
 

Burning Bridges

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gnpcTOh.jpg


This is what I mean. The end of the Shiloh battle .. the Union is surrounded on the map border and wird ausgerottet. Pretty silly in a realistic strategy game, considering that they just can't pass that magic line.
 

sser

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Is there multiplayer battle-to-battle campaign? Kinda wish I bought this instead of War of the Swindle.
 

sser

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Burning Bridges

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LOL. the losses in officers are almost killing me.

Among the deceased are Beauregard, A.P.Hill and a lot of others.

Battle of Malvern Hill

1.jpg


So the game wants me to attack on a very narrow map and head on. Why the pre-battle briefing showed a map that was 20 times as big is a mystery.

2.jpg


I move my divisions cautiously and concentrate on the grove in the center and the hills on the right. I am still shocked to see that McClennan has massed close to 20,000 men there.

3.jpg


I spot a weakness along the river and thanks to my reserves, drive a wedge in the Union right. The idea is to push them away from the hills and into the open country on the left.

4.jpg


Despite huge losses and units routing on both sides, this plan is eventually working, and I can take the objectives on the hills in the South (Malvern Hill) before their army can even retreat there.

5.jpg


A wise commander would have simply taken control of those heights on Malvern Hill and devastate my army from there while it fights on the open fields, but the AI has totally fucked up this time. My cavalry and some some forward brigades reach the heights before them.

I also capture their supply one by one.
 
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Burning Bridges

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6.jpg


From here it gets only worse as brigade by brigade I take control of the hillls, while the AI still fights on the fields.

7.jpg


With me in control of the heights and blocking the only escape route, a total disaster takes shape and the first units capitulate.

8.jpg


In the end it gets ridiculous.

9.jpg


LOL. In the end the Army of the Potomac is squeezed into a small corner like sardines.

Out of 33,500 men, ~28,000 casualties (including 4000 prisoners), that means 5,000 men escaped (and this is only because a unit that routs but does not capitulate can run through everything)

My own losses were not small at 14,500 and like in practially all battles, I lose a lot of good officers. Right now officers are becoming harder to replace than soldiers.
 
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Burning Bridges

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And that is actually the biggest problem I have with the game, the design of the battles.

A few battles are actually incredible fun, whenever the designers open up the large battlefield and allow you to play strategic and not just move your brigades like on a tactical chess board. Among the first 11 battles there were 2 that were actually strategically interesting: Gaines Mill and First Manassas

Shiloh was also a lot of fun, but is divided into gamey sections, and this is also where the problem lies, apart from many of the smaller engagements being on too small maps. What happens is that the game artificially reduces the playable area into a very small zones of the map and you can't even see the terrain beyond, or where your other Corps are. It can even happen that the game switches between sectors in the middle of the fight, and you start all over again. The good thing is that later it at least remembers where you left off, because the save feature in this game is actually working great.

Not entirely satisfying, and a lot of wasted potential. Must say though that it is incredible fun and feels like you are really in a battle, while you aren't bogged down by extreme realism like in the Scourge of War Series. At the lowest speed, this is still a game that I can play with a cup of coffee and a donut in one hand.

And that's why I still highly recommend this game. I just hope the developers dont make mistake of stopping here because the game has a lot of untapped potential. If they can make it more strategic, with real decisions where you move Corps and when you attack what, as well as larger maps, in the same or a different setting (a Napoleonic game would be a dream), and a more logical campaign where your armies don't switch back and forth between Eastern and Western theatre, this could become a real Total War killer with a bit more time.
 

sser

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Appreciate the call out -- purchased it with like 12hrs left on the sale. Also got Blitzkrieg on Order of Battle, too. And... a Pac-Man game :M

I think I'll be playing Union for the campaign as being the aggressor is generally more difficult when facing AI, also to compare notes with Burning's progress.
 

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