AARs - post here all after battle comments and replay files

Pretty far I would say

Not quite as far if we had to have you Kevin as CinC but otherwise rest assured one’s standards are rather low if I am needed to make a save.

Once you're at the bottom of the barrel, up is the only direction.

Unless one has the capability to create holes in the bottom and get to the dirt underneath...

... and I am the owner of a drill thus quite capable of such further downfall

Yet also undaunted in my quest to neuter the diabolical in Kevins scenarios. Have you seen the latest?

Scenario 101: Napoleon vs Rommel ... luckily Kevin modified the scenario to only include Pz IIIs

Scenario 101: An 1800 Austrian corps against the 101st Airmobile division (luckily Kevin limits the Apaches)

Scenario 102: Same as 101 but with 1807 Austrians with extra cavalry for “play balance”

and the best one

Waterloo reprised ... except the British don’t get any ammunition. And the British CinC can’t move. Kevin calls it a HITS: Headquarters in the Shower. A fun game actually. Takes about 45 minutes and you find out what happened for the first time on the replay viewer. So you can actually play 4 of then on. Sunday, where we can each take turns playing CinC.

Very good, Pat. Especially Waterloo

Hmmm.. I never considered Apaches. Nice idea.

Good fight today

Always good to see the words “major victory”

The Morsey/Digby combination was a strong 1-2 punch as they changed axis of attack 3 times

A fine performance by Kevin too, against the hordes of horsemen from the Stepps. Not often you see Kevin without as much as a service squadron at the end of a battle. Someone else will have to loan him a troop to guard his loot train.
Anyone have a replay of the early action to post?

Alas I might have to possibly ... maybe ... mention Kevin in my report back to that short Emperor. Darn it. This will be painful

Yes on the replay I saw Kevin (and you Grog) claw his way through to the objective. I could not see the actual work since I was on the other side of the line.

One lesson I learned as CinC from the last game I played vs this AI is to make clear my intent and keep the divisions in mutual support distance. Sounds simple enough but a lesson I had forgotten. I also stayed more of a “recon in force” mindset, staying put or falling back when enemy was encountered so we could pause and decide what to do. So the divisions of Kevin, Taff and Mike stayed close enough where it made a difference. I still kept mine a little wider on flank but not too out of reach.

Those Cossacks have quite the body odor

Morsey - I enjoyed being your Gun Guards for most of the battle. Very relaxing and gave me opportunity to find a nice viewpoint, unfold my campaign chair, crack open a bottle and watch the action unfold. I'll be up for that job again, though we have run out of brass polish.

Your troops Digby looked quite fine. I rode back and forth across your lines a couple times. Very good marching order. And nice uniforms

I think the absence of Russian blood and brains splashed all over them helps.

A fine performance by Kevin too, against the hordes of horsemen from the Stepps. Not often you see Kevin without as much as a service squadron at the end of a battle. Someone else will have to loan him a troop to guard his loot train.

I've never been so thoroughly attacked by such a huge hoard of cavalry before. It was very unfair. I'm the AI's creator. It's suppose to be more respectful. Instead it acted as if I was merely some lowlife playing the game.

It must be trying to tell you something.

It sounds like a HAL 9000 situation.  

I'm sure we can all remember when kindly Kevin designed scenarios us poor humans could win, when he bravely fought each battle in the front-line, and nobly disregarded every opportunity to plunder supply wagons.  Happy days.........

The only possible explanation is the 'real Kevin' has been incarcerated by the evil AI, who has been impersonating him ever since.

Martin (J)

The only possible explanation is the 'real Kevin' has been incarcerated by the evil AI, who has been impersonating him ever since.

Laugh all you like.  I believe the last line in this clip should give you ample forewarning as to what is to come.  

Grog and I enjoyed a very pleasant game yesterday. We were hardly engaged and had a lovely tour around several miles of pretty countryside not seeing much of the enemy until the last 30 minutes of the game.

Part of our orders required us to protect our LoS. We decided the best way to do that was to get rid of the vulnerable supply wagons and eat and drink their contents. We did this over several different picnics, our blanket spread out at a number of pleasant beauty spots with lovely rural views. By the end of the battle therefore I had had 3 horses killed under me - by being crushed to death.

Grog joins me for luncheon of cold meats, Prosecco and a fine pistachio gelato at a very fine spot:


With a pretty walled garden nearby:


I ordered up the divisional war artist to render a quick sketch of a nearby feature which might be a neolithic mound.


We did have a couple of unwanted interruptions:


The splendid view from the top of Kleiner Runder Berg.

(this is a 3-screen panorama, right click and select 'view image' for the full effect)

An image from the battle on Monday. I like the cavalry on the far hill deploying among the standing crops.


And a couple of screenies from the snowy landscape of last Sunday when we were the Russians.

Bravissimo!

My Italian brigade sure enjoyed their icecreams sat in that walled garden. Soon after we were ordered to make haste for someone had left a whole in the line and an Austrian brigade was marching straight through, towards our LOC. I don't know what they put in that icecream but we managed to stop the intrusion and capture two Austrian battalions, without losing a single man!

The view from Big Roundtop was great. Its strange, the emersion of this game made reaching the crest of the hill and seeing the whole battlefield before you a real treat and something memorable, for sure.

Thanks for the Great Pics, Martin. The Panorama view was a great idea, although it still doesn't quite capture the moment as well as one would like, unfortunately.

Mike

Another Major Victory today.

Our French divisions were rather spread out in parallel roads to begin with. On a big map. The Prussians literally stacked on top of each other waiting to take their turns at us

Clearly a scenario design with but one intent, and that is to pummel the human players.

Half the Prussian force engaged us. We could - and did- converge upon them from 3 directions after taking the first objective and using it as our LOC. The other half no doubt waiting for us to assault the southern objective. No way could we have taken it.

But we did destroy enough Prussians to achieve a MAJOR VICTORY anyway. And that is what matters most . Not because winning is everything. But because it means Kevin was foiled yet again.

To see the Prussians stacked up along the road, division after division ... you could almost hear Kevins voice saying “I am REALLY going to get them this time” as he put the scenario together lol

Sorry, but you ain't no Davout.

Worth trying that one again. AI behavior will be different. Same odds

What Ifind with this game is that combat isn't actually very much like Napoleonic combat - its really still a lot like ACW combat.

Napoleonic combat tended to "pulse" in fairly rapid phases and in a battle there was opportunity for a corps to switch its divisions, make an attack and if not sucessful break off, rest and try something different.

Combat in SoW always seems to end up as slow moving stodgy slugfests which does not seem right. I think we either need longer scenarios, or smaller forces because its quite rare to see a satisfactory conclusion in many of our MPgames.

Thoughts?

I don't think people would be interested in longer games. The entire fest usually lasts 3.5-4hrs.

The larger issue is that the human side tries to fight the battles as if they were in command of armor divisions with wide sweeps around the flanks, dispersed marching orders with a hoped for-concentration at some distant point that is almost never attained. The result is that we very often fight as individual divisions with little hope of overwhelming the enemy anywhere as there are never any reserves.

We now have scouts, but it is very rare to see them utilized to make strategic decisions. Once the enemy is found and his strength and direction of march determined, the divisions should use that information to concentrate at an appropriate location and give battle. Instead the scouting reports are used to set up individual battles for each division. Their benefit is squandered. Maybe what we really need is for a corps commander to be only that and not command a division. That way he can focus on the big picture only. Given how popular the CinC role is, I'd be happy to do that, but I have the advantage of knowing the enemy's strength, starting position and occasionally his intention.

If I may I'll put together a scenario for tomorrow and you can take command.

Bravo! I'll bring my illustrator along to make quick drawings of the action.

I have found a good historical OOB of a corps of Prussian convict troops in 1798 who were issued with sticks instead of muskets to train on but were sent into action with them. The cavalry was all dismounted as well. Will that do you?