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Ultimate General Civil War

I couldn't pass this up. The graphics just overwhelmed me! So, mTk is going to try to play an RTS war game. Wish me luck.

The game is enormous. Every significant battle of any size/significance is included, but what interests me most is the Campaign where you get the opportunity to tweak your army's OOB before each battle.

Steam has it for $30 and here's what it looks like:

 
FDLMAO. Completed the first scenario from the Campaign as Confederate. Playing on stupid level of difficulty. Got my butt handed to me.

The battle is a simple one. Take a small Union coastal fort manned by about 1500 troops with 8 guns. I have about twice the number of men and no guns. Going to have to come up with a better plan and I have no idea atm what it is going to be.

I must admit I really do like what I see so far. Need to find a button to slow down the RT though as it's a bit tedious having to stop the action as much as I did.
 
After spending more time with this and reading up a bit on how things work I am here to say...easy "mTk Seal of Approval."

Just repelled what turned out to be pretty feeble attack by the Yankees on Henry House Hill at the 1st Battle of Manassas. I learned that skirmisher formations can really mess up an AI advance to the point where it has to come to a complete stop, fire off several volleys and then (maybe) it will finally put its big-boy pants on and advance to melee. By the time that happened against 3 companies of skirmishers the attacks were late, piecemeal and uncoordinated against Jackson's well placed brigades. The attacks failed miserably. Now Johnston's 4 brigades of fresh infantry have arrived on the field and as soon as I can get them up onto the Union right we are going to get some!

Don't get me wrong, the AI does a fine job. It's just that the proper use of skirmishers can be very effective.

The way the campaign works is around time. Usually you have three dated battles to chose from, two "small" and one major fight. You can do them in any order, but seems to be best to do the smaller ones first. If you win then you can use the money and new recruits to add to your army capabilities before they are sorely tested by the next larger encounter.

Army admin is actually fun. Between each fight you can replace losses in men and guns, upgrade weapons and commanders, add earned overall perks, create new brigades, etc. I find that to be a lot of fun rather than tedious. You can personalize each brigade if you like. My 1st Brigade in my 1st Div. is the 1st Montara Volunteers (or course). The Army of No. Virginia is led by Maj. General T. L. Hickman. Woot!

Anyway, this is quite a game. Gorgeous to look at, easy to learn/play and a lot of gaming for the price. For an RTS war game I am seriously impressed.
 
Well, I'm just about finished with the Battle of Shiloh and I may have made a mistake. I've kind of passed the point of no return. Starting over would consist of several tedious hours to get back to where I am now. However, I actually wish I could. The problem? I'm too good of a tactician for the AI. After learning how to handle my troops I usually don't make any serious mistakes that the AI could take advantage of. The AI will zero in on any lone brigades, gaps in your line or an exposed flank. If I don't do any of those things, it is pretty hard to lose a battle. Or even sniff the slightest hint of defeat.

My bad. I always play RTS games at the <dimwit> difficulty level. Experience shows that usually leaves me with plenty of challenge. Not so this time. Apparently I paid attention to the YouTube vids and learned how to play the game sufficiently so that I should be playing the game at at least the mid difficulty level and maybe even the high level where I would give the AI a little edge. Unfortunately, one cannot change the difficulty level mid-campaign so be aware of that before you commit. Play a few single scenarios to find out how good you really are before playing the Campaign.

That said I still really like this game. A lot.
 
Put it on hard...in real time...lol...

Just pulling your leg a little big guy, you know I have nothin' but love and respect for...er....love ...a hard time for you T-

H- aka k- aka B-
 
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Just a heads up. I'm still playing my CSA Campaign and am in the middle of the battle of Gettysburg. I remain undefeated in my battles, but am doubting that even with an increased difficulty level it would have made that much difference. The AI is simply poor on the offense. If it was programmed to be more aggressive when it had local numerical superiority things might be waay different. But it doesn't, so it isn't.

So, you shouldn't buy the game, right? No. And the reason is it is just great fun to play. I look forward to directing my brigades every time I start up the game. I get attached to some of the brigades and hate it when I lose a commander I like. It is just so nice to look at I hate to have to turn it off. Maybe a couple of more minutes until I can capture that tree line!

So, I enthusiastically recommend the game's purchase. Not because it will give you tough competition (it does have its moments) but simply because it is great fun to play. Nowadays that is a lot.
 
Not that I'm aware. As I mentioned before I'm playing on <dimwit> level (lowest of 3) which provides the player some bonuses in case the game is a little too easy. I thought it would tougher be given my horrible RTS history. Turns out once I got the controls figured out it became pretty easy to play, but then it was too late to change the difficulty level. Unfortunately, it cannot be changed once the campaign has started.

A slight change in the AI has occurred recently. I've run into a couple of battles where I've been significantly outnumbered, making my ability to capture all the objectives on time a...challenge. AI remains very timid offensively (thank God), but it has been damned tough to get to the objectives just because of all the Union bodies in my way. And the battles have seen horrible casualties. Replacing men and weapons (don't talk to me about upgrading) is very expensive and I've failed to maintain my army level the last couple of times. The only thing saving me is I've got some very experienced brigades.

While I am undefeated that is pretty much what must happen. If you don't win you get substantially less resources for replacements and that could be very real trouble! I may be playing on the correct difficulty level after all.
 
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I have the first game, UG Gettysburg, and liked it, even though I wasn't really sure if there was much room for clever tactics. Maybe it reflects the period warfare well.

But I learnt a lot about that famous battle, which was completely new to me since we don't focus much on the American Civil War in schools over here. So I'll see if I can pick up the sequel... "if practicable".
 
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