Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Tac on July 17, 2009, 12:03:36 AM
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Yes, a thread was opened earlier but it was mostly speculation and first hand reports when it was out.
Now that some time has passed and I hope, patches been released, I wonder if those that have the game can give me some info before I buy it:
Naval Warfare:
I tried the demo. The naval AI is complete garbage so most of the fighting is down to the player ordering each ship when and what to fire.
My biggest question on the naval aspect is the tech tree. Can I end up having 3rd or 4th rates with big guns rather than a dozen or so little ones? Or are you stuck with 'research the ship it will be loaded with a pre-set number of guns of the caliber of its class' type of shipbuilding?
Also, are there any non-ship of the line vessels that can be built and commanded? Aka sloops, raiders, merchants?
Land Warfare:
Being a fan of the old tv series SHARPE's RIFLES I would love to know if there are any riflemen units in the game that can be built .. and if so, how differently do they fight vs line infantry?
Strategic Map:
Aside from US and European powers, what other nations can you 'be' (i read you could be a native american nation... but are there others? south america? mexico? japan? australia/nz? ).
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I have been disappointed in it. And I love the Total War series. (I have bought every one) Graphics are crap unless you zoom all the way in at which time the frame rate craps out. Units types have lots of variety however. I think there are 15 playable nations. You are supposed to be able to play the US in full campaign mode after finishing the mini-game for the 13 colonies. However, thus far I can't get past frame 3 of 4 even after killing all enemy units and taking over entire map in frame 3. Playables are france, britain, denmark, sweden, dutch, russia, spain, portugal, austria, maratha confederacy (india), and 1 or 2 others. You can do house fighting in the towns as well as using artillery to destroy towns. I give it a 3 as of right now.
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want some good naval battles? try POTBS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k5ozixyJ3A&feature=related
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I bought it for $29.99, and I'd say I did alright. I don't play it yet, but I sure as heck wouldn't pay $49.99 for it.
Wait.
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I bought empire about a month ago, I actually quite like the naval battles.
Tac, you can research naval tech and can acquire 1st rate ship of the line- there are a lot of different types ship, possibly more than there are land based units. 1st-6th rate of the line, merchants, gallleons, brigs, sloops, rocket/mortar ships and steam ships off the top of my head.
There are rifles late on in the game if you research them. They can be used in a similar fashion to line infantry or in a skirmish formation.
The main theatres are North + Central America, Europe + Middle East and India. In addition there are four or five areas containing several ports for trading- such as the coast of Brazil and West Africa. If you have a ship on the port you receive income from trade. Mt strategy thus far has been to obtain a monopoly on these areas and become mega rich, i'm currently earning about 40k a turn. :D If pirates or privateers are on your trade route they receive the income, which is a absolute pain if you don't have a large navy. But it is a nice way to get income early on in the game by building lots of sloops and raiding enemy shipping lanes.
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It has the same problem as every other Total War game... The first few turns are challenging, and after that, it's a cake walk. And of course the release was bugged to hell. You did well to wait this long.
To answer one of your questions: yes, you can build some sharpshooters. There are less of them in a unit, they generally have a longer range, and they're more "skirmishers" of sorts.
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The last patch really ironed out the performance issues, and now it rocks along, and they've really amped the campaigned (possible too much?) where its more than easy to find yourself imbroiled in a number of conflicts very early - very quickly!
I use the DarthMod and it makes an insane amount of difference in the battles.
Tronsky
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Can I end up having 3rd or 4th rates with big guns rather than a dozen or so little ones? Or are you stuck with 'research the ship it will be loaded with a pre-set number of guns of the caliber of its class' type of shipbuilding?
Not sure what you mean by "big guns rather than a dozen or so little ones" but the way research works is that you research a certain technology that will give you access to a ship - a Drydock for a 2nd Rate, for example. To the best of my knowledge, all ships have a pre-set, more-or-less historical number of guns of the appropriate weight.
Also, are there any non-ship of the line vessels that can be built and commanded? Aka sloops, raiders, merchants?
Yes. Sloops, Brigs, various merchantmen such as Galleons, Indiamen and Fleuts, all the way down to galleys containing a single gun. There are also "modified" ships which can be captured from pirates. For example, in my current game, one of my fleets contains a "race-built galleon" which is essentially a stripped out, 60-gun, makeshift warship.
Merchantmen play what is perhaps the largest role in the game since they can be such a significant source of trade income.
Being a fan of the old tv series SHARPE's RIFLES I would love to know if there are any riflemen units in the game that can be built .. and if so, how differently do they fight vs line infantry?
Loved that show. ;) Yes, there are multiple rifle units. However, Rifling is actually a technology which must be researched. In both the early and late portions of the game, however, you have light infantry units.
These units are half the size of standard infantry units (60 men v. 120) but will typically have greater range and accuracy than their line infantry cousins.
They can be fought in two different ways - as a secondary unit of line infantry or, more importantly, once youve researched "Light Infantry Doctrine" - as a very effective 'fire and maneuver' sort of unit. In the latter capacity, the men will spread out in a random fashion and behave as skirmishers.
I actually find light infantry, once the appropriate technology is researched and tactics are altered, to be very effective ambushers and, as stated, they can not be beaten for their mix of high mobility, flexibility and constant upkeep of fire.
As a caveat, a modder has already released a "Sharpe's Rifles" English unit for the game. In game, you are permitted only the single unit of 60 men, who are dressed as they were in the show, complete with a fairly well integrated mug of Sean Bean in the unit card.
Aside from US and European powers, what other nations can you 'be' (i read you could be a native american nation... but are there others? south america? mexico? japan? australia/nz? ).
If memory serves, there are roughly 50 factions throughout the map. I believe 12 of them are playable at the start. Non-European states include the Ottoman Empire, Russia and the Martha Confederacy (India). Mods are available to unlock all factions, at this point, I should think.
Mexico is a good example of a history and game-dependent "emerging" state. Mexico is controlled by Spain at this moment in history. "Mexico," as a county, IS in the game, but for them to emerge, a rebellion and subsequent revolution against Spain ( or ruler at time ::twiddles thumbs:: ) must take place within the appropriate territory. Then the Mexican flag pops up over the city, guns go firing into the air and drunken mongrels mix it up with Clint Eastwood.
Revolution is a common theme in the game and is required to reveal many "modern" nations.
For its flaws - of which there are many - I love the game. I think, if you have a love of this period in history, you will also like the game. It satisfies a need of mine that hasnt been satisfied since I had a 386DX-16; it allows me to march a line of little virtual dudes against another line of little virtual dudes and mow them all down.
As a period-correct land battle simulator - its second to none, IMO. At $30, I dont see how you can go wrong. That's a couple beers and a pack of cigarettes, these days.
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I love this game. I can't really add anything to what's been said.
The naval battles are quite good IMO, even though I suck :D
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Not sure what you mean by "big guns rather than a dozen or so little ones" but the way research works is that you research a certain technology that will give you access to a ship - a Drydock for a 2nd Rate, for example. To the best of my knowledge, all ships have a pre-set, more-or-less historical number of guns of the appropriate weight.
Yes. Sloops, Brigs, various merchantmen such as Galleons, Indiamen and Fleuts, all the way down to galleys containing a single gun. There are also "modified" ships which can be captured from pirates. For example, in my current game, one of my fleets contains a "race-built galleon" which is essentially a stripped out, 60-gun, makeshift warship.
Great info Sard thank you.
What I meant by guns is more or less that if you have the option to equip the hulls with different gun types of your choosing. As in, rather than a 5th rate being loaded with 24 6lb cannons I'd rather give them 6 17lb cannons because their range advantage would be much more useful to me than 24 smaller guns of much shorter range.
I'm off to buy it today then .. I like what I see :)
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I bought it for $29.99, and I'd say I did alright. I don't play it yet, but I sure as heck wouldn't pay $49.99 for it.
Wait.
29.99 where at?
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29.99 where at?
there was a sale on steam.
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aw guess its not on sale anymore. steam shows it at 49 bucks. :(
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It is still the best Total War game to date. The physics and AI reactions are pretty even without mods though I think they wussed out of improving some of the shortcuts they have always taken. One example is that as soon as you click a unit to move the enemy reacts. So some of the AI is still pre-prog. actions like in shogunTW...
Overall, love it. The campaign is very enjoyable. I suggest putting the difficulty on maximum for all aspects. Even if you were very good at tactics for Medieval and Rome, you are going to take serious casualties in your first few battles on the hardest setting.
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aw guess its not on sale anymore. steam shows it at 49 bucks. :(
I actually bought a hardcopy at Gamestop.
And yea, it isn't on sale any more, which is why I would recommend that you wait.
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Great info Sard thank you.
What I meant by guns is more or less that if you have the option to equip the hulls with different gun types of your choosing. As in, rather than a 5th rate being loaded with 24 6lb cannons I'd rather give them 6 17lb cannons because their range advantage would be much more useful to me than 24 smaller guns of much shorter range.
I'm off to buy it today then .. I like what I see :)
Smaller ships really didn't have the structural strength to handle the recoil of the bigger guns.
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Well bit the nails and got it.
Did the Road to Independence first before trying out the campaign.
The very first thing that almost made me regret buying this game was evident by the 20th turn: AI building massive, unbelievably massive armies when they had zero resources to do so. That issue has been around since Shogun: Total War... the enemy is down to just 1 province and you owned the rest of the map and yet, somehow, they manage to pay,upkeep and build ten times the armed forces you can. *sigh*.
Combat is much improved from the other TW series.. though I was dissapointed in seeing the native american forces fighting in formations like the europeans (c'mon now...). Naval combat is real good and definitely better than Pirates of the Burning Seas.
One thing that upsets me is that you cant have ships provide cannon support when your troops fight by the ocean.. you can see the frigate in the water and the longboats your troops got out of (which I thought was neat as hell!) but... breaks me heart to see the ship and it not shoot in my support :P.
Artillery is awesome to use. Most of my armies are composed of 12 guns , 8 line infantry and some rangers... in one battle I almost literally vaporized an infantry line in 3 rounds from max range :D
Tech tree is very interesting but what's up with being able to research just one technology at a time? should be 3 techs at a time , one per discipline imo.
Still cant figure out how to use Rakes (or why) since AI generals die to the first round of my artillery anyway :devil
so far i give this a 7/10 . loses 3 points for that stupid infinite army crap the AI is still pulling off ><
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Tech tree is very interesting but what's up with being able to research just one technology at a time? should be 3 techs at a time , one per discipline imo.
It's one technology per school (or college etc). So... build more schools :)
The 'clamor for reform' can get really bad if you build too many schools in one region, though.
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I really enjoy it, but then I don't do the naval battles and usually keep my armies small and fast. I don't get into the frramerate-sucking slugfests. Dragoons, light infantry and horse artillery.
I aslo enjoy the whole empire-building aspect more than the battles. Very challenging. Especially as one of the small nations, like Prussia and the Dutch. Managing a global empire owned by a single-province nation can cause all kinds of troubles. :)
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In my first campaign i didn't realise you had select each school from the research panel and select what you wish to be researched. I had 5 or 6 schools but was only researching 1 thing at a time. :D
Cannons and infantry become stonger as the game progresses, with cavalry being relegated to harrassing and mopping up. In my latest battle i had some heavy cavalry charged some line infantry and as they were hacking away the infantry had formed square, leading to the annhilation of my cavalry. 24-lber cannons and howitzers later in the game are fantastic, especially if you have researched shrapnel shot for the cannon.
My typical army is 8 line infantry, 2 cannon, 2 howitzers, 2 cavalry, 2 grenadiers and 2 light/rifle infantry. It used to be 6 line, but i'm currently fighting on the european mainland and 6 line infantry just wasn't enough.
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I play the Imperial Splendor mod now... Much improves gameplay! I usually roll with 20 or so guns and 5 elite infantry units and then I usually put my militia units off to the side so that they can swarm in if they decinde to charge my line. :t
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It's one technology per school (or college etc). So... build more schools :)
The 'clamor for reform' can get really bad if you build too many schools in one region, though.
Erm.. how?
Also, the indiamen ships .. i've not been able to figure out their use. The one bad thing of buying the game off steam is that there is no manual ><
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Erm.. how?
Also, the indiamen ships .. i've not been able to figure out their use. The one bad thing of buying the game off steam is that there is no manual ><
You send those over to the trade ports (Brazil, West & East Africa, East Indies) and establish trade routes with them... Sail them onto one of the anchor symbols that is not already controlled by another country.
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There is a down-loadable manual from Steam, not quite as easy as a hard copy to read but it's something.
http://store.steampowered.com/manual/10500/ (http://store.steampowered.com/manual/10500/)
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i do have the game to.. but what i like about it is the land combat i think that is just Great not so big on the naval part of the game i think it takes to long..and for my copy of the game i have a russian copy... and i dont know were to get patches for that game. so i have no online play or steam showing that i have the game... i think its time to buy the us version ;)
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Erm.. how?
Also, the indiamen ships .. i've not been able to figure out their use. The one bad thing of buying the game off steam is that there is no manual ><
When a territory population grows above a certain size a new town emerges. You have the option of building a school, church, public house? or industry in it. The lower your taxes the sooner new towns emerge, so you have to strike a balance between income and growth. I tend to have low taxes on colonies because the money lost on income will be replaced if you select industry for a new town. I generally only build schools on large colonies, that way i can build a church and public house to offset the unhappiness schools bring to a territory.
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thrila:
i had no idea. New towns as in completely new or as in small towns growing into cities?
Will try the indiamen now. trade income = :D
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Completely new towns. :)
Every province has a capital and towns, when they emerge. If they're a coastal town you have the option of making it into a dockyard to make warships, a merchant port for extra trade routes or a fishing port for more money. There's a limit to how many towns a province can have, some small provinces call only have 2 or 3 towns. England on the other hand has lots, more than ten i think.
Investing in a navy is very wise, being reduced to an income of 0 because another nation is pirating a trade route or blockading a port is an absolute pain. And you can use your navy to do the same when it's not protecting your trade lanes.
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I paid full price when it first came out and suffered through the bugs waiting for the patches. I still think it was worth it.
It was quite satisfying to finish the American campaign and conquer North America while also vanquishing the Barbary states and bringing the Royal Navy to its knees. The navel engagement with Briton was expensive and difficult (first rates are not easy to bring down) but well worth the effort in the end, leaching all their trade routes with impunity.
Could it have been more polished? Sure, but it's a lot of fun just the way it is.
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Manual isnt very detailed either sadly (unlike Shogun's.. oh well).. but its good info. Benefiting lots from the indiamen trade routes now :D
still havent seen a new town pop up though. lowered taxes to minimum, tech'd farms and stuff of +pop growth.. nuthin'. :P
is there a way to steal enemy tech achievements? my rakes only seem to be able to blow stuff up or duel.
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I can't download the manual for some reason, I had to learn everything by trial and error.
Growth is generally slow at the start because of food shortages. Research farm related stuff like you said and upgrade your farms when a new technology enables it. When you double click on a province's capital, it should have a circle with a number in it in the bottom right corner of the window. I don't know of it's years or seasons, but that's how long it takes fol a new town appears. It will also tell you the growth rate and reasons for good/poor growth.
That's all rakes do i'm afraid. Move gentlemen into the town with a school/college to receive an increase in research from that province. Move preists etc. into the capital of a province to convert it's religion.
I've only just discovered something yesterday myself. Light infantry and riflemen can create a minefield at the setup phase of a battle if you are defending, but they have to be in regular formation to do it. I was fighting the ottomans and made a couple of minefields on my flank infront of my line infantry, behind them i had grendiers. When the enemy came within shooting range they detonated the mines, then my infantry opened fire, after that volley my grenadiers rushed up and threw their grenades. Within 30 seconds the entire right flank of the ottoman's army had been wiped out. i'm going to have to do this more often. :)
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i can't edit my post for some reason. I was mistaken, it's not the building browser to look at a province's growth- you double click on the capital of a province.
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is there a way to steal enemy tech achievements?
Move a gentlemen into an enemy school. There should be an option to steal technology.
You can also negotiate for it. ETW's diplomacy system is vastly superior to the previous versions.
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i didn't know that! I cannot download any manuals from steam, i've no idea why.
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oh so its gentlemen that spy not the rakes. fancy that.
guess gentlemen are the equivalent of Shinobi and rakes the ninja assassin equivalent of shogun... though gents can speed up research too.
good info all around.
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oh so its gentlemen that spy not the rakes. fancy that.
guess gentlemen are the equivalent of Shinobi and rakes the ninja assassin equivalent of shogun... though gents can speed up research too.
good info all around.
Rakes can spy, IIRC (I dont use them) but gentlemen steal tech. The trade off is that there is usually a 10% chance youll get it - but youll lose the roughly 10% boost he would otherwise give to your own research if placed in one of your schools.
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Of late i've realized that the only way to play the game is on the campaign easy setting and battle hardest setting.
It makes me sick to see how the AI cheats.. unlimited cash to make insane amount of armies when they only have 1 little province. They start with 5 units.. in 3 turns they have 2 full standing armies and a fleet of 5th rates... WTF? Easy setting doesnt make them super-build.
Some minor bugs have popped up..like my reinforcements coming into the field in the same spot and time as the enemy reinforcements.. so my units get clobbered before they're even a flag on my army list to command them ><
Question for the vets here: for britain, how does one go about protecting the isles from invasion? Ive noticed that no matter how many ships I place in bottlenecks and around the isles the enemy always seems to come in with a super-fleet, smash my fleet at one point and then in the same turn unload a massive army.
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wow really? I geuss it has to do with how scary your faction is to the enemies. In 3 campaigns i have never had the UK invaded by anyone.
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Yeah, i've had the French and the Spanish both land big armies on the homeland. Took me a whole day tinkering about till I realized I was thinking 20th+ century 'intercept' warfare ... and switched to 18th century thinking and simply took my fleets to their ports with a few expendable armies, landed, burned&looted everything in my path then got my people out.
after they lose their ports they kinda stop trying to load armies onto their ships. :devil
Been noticing a few more glitches in the game as well with the infantry:
- accuracy of line infantry is very low. troops with triple veteran status all seem to miss hitting a line infantry column in front of them. I'm talking a line of 120 men in double column (rank fire enabled) shooting at an enemy in front of them and they only kill 5 enemy soldiers. Let's consider that again: 120 shots, 5 hits.
-native american bowmen have insane accuracy unlike musket armed troops. At the same range (aka the line infantry is shooting at them), 60 archers will take down about 15 to 22 troops a volley. :confused:
- advance & fire order does not work. troops get stuck in a loop between loading musket and keeping formation and advancing. aka 3 line of men, first is about to fire but one man dies. the entire 1st line stops reloading, shifts position to keep a tidy line and then continues to reload. when you have something like a militia unit (that doesnt have rank/advancing fire/platoon fire capability) firing each musket independently at you, you find that your entire foot regiment fires like 1 shot every 2 minutes.
- the AI in battlefield reacts instantly to artillery attack orders. Kinda sucks to click 'fire' and watch them run away before the guns even load. Is my general shouting that loud they can hear him? :eek:
on the good side, im in love with bomb ketchs, rockets ships and rocket artillery. I had a galleon attack an indiaman that I had escorted by a bomb ketch ... head- on attack.. the ketch scored a single hit and the galleon blew up. Must've hit their beer storage :rock