KS Napoleon Mod 1.31 & Supplemental Maps 1.21 Released

New versions of the KS SOW Napoleon Mod, (version 1.31), and KS SOW Supplemental Maps, (version 1.21) are out.  You can find the links to the downloads in the first thread of this link: Set Up for SOWWL NAPOLEON GAMES For Kriegspiel style

New in these versions:
1. As a division commander, you will receive a message from a brigade commander when he first sees the enemy approaching and another when he first becomes engaged.  This message will tell you the direction of the enemy from his perspective and also the size of the force he sees.  You will only receive this message if you are more than 500 yd. from the brigade commander.  These messages are sent in both MP and SP.
2. When a division has no more combat effective infantry brigades, the rest of the division will withdraw from the battle.  If the division has a cavalry brigade attached, it will screen the withdrawal.  If the corps commander is a human player, then a message will be sent to him informing him of the unfortunate occurrence.
3. A number of smaller AI behavior changes have been implemented.
4. The weather command has been implemented for MP scripting.  See the Multi-Player scripting manual for details.
5. A new 10 mile map, Kelheim has been added.  This is a reworking of Mark Tewes' very nice, large, Manassas map.  Several new scenarios on this map have been added, (AustrianScenario 58, French Senario 113 & 118).
6. The bare, Prussian, Random Map 723 has buildings, fortifications, etc. added.  There are existing scenarios that use this map.

The Mod Manual has been updated with new information.  It can be found in the KS SOW Napoleon Mod Manual folder.

I remember the bad ole days of hours of failed download attempts. Now that I have a 1st world connection it was only 5 minutes.

Well, worst thing is it's going take only 5 more minutes for anyone else to lose his whole command from the evil AI cossacks & co., if we won't stop the almighty man from adding awesome content like this.
Seriously, thanks Kevin.

Rejoice, tomorrow we will have the Cossacks!

Lots of psychotic hairy men on horses with pointy sticks, wonderful!

Kevin, I noted three things in the game that still bug me to a greater or lesser extent. Is there anything that can be done to address any of them?

1) AI skirmisher behaviour. In the Eylau battle I watched AI skirmisher units continuously move forward then fall back. Then come forwards again, and fall back. All the time being peppered by canister. I see this time and time again. It looks like the AI is trying to send the unit to a firing position to engage but before that range is reached, a mechanism kicks in that makes it withdraw. The AI often wastes so much potential combat power doing this. I wonder if in teh Eylau battle it was your cavalry on my flank that was the trigger to drive them away but I see it in other battles too.

2) The AI blocking its own guns with its infantry. Happens all the time. Our AI would be much tougher opponent if it didn't mask its own firepower.

3) When you select another commander, your camera direction switches to where that commander avatar is facing. I find this disorienting and unhelpful. Could it be done so this feature is disabled and your screen view remains where your own avatar is looking?

If these are not possible to change, so be it but I thought it worth asking.

1. It likely was the proximity of the cavalry. When confronted by this situation, skirmishers have a 40% chance of forming a square. Otherwise they run away. I might be able to stop repeat performances by having the unit check to see if their destination will be in the cavalry danger zone and just not move there when in skirmish formation.

2. I'm not sure what to do about this. There are times when this is desirable, e.g. defense of the battery, moving forward to attack the enemy, etc. Also since the AI tends to deploy it's guns farther back than humans, it might make the already messy AI deployments even worse.

3. That's a game engine mechanic which is useful when not playing HITS but an annoyance in our games.

For point 3, maybe it's worth taking a look at #optnonavmove ("Camera stay with OOB navigation", under options #3)?

Uncle Billy wrote:2. I'm not sure what to do about this. There are times when this is desirable, e.g. defense of the battery, moving forward to attack the enemy, etc. Also since the AI tends to deploy it's guns farther back than humans, it might make the already messy AI deployments even worse.

Beyond a certain point, I believe "influence mapping" is a mandatory technique for achieving better artillery positioning, Kevin.
Imho it's too hard to keep all the factors into consideration through if/thens.
You could really have better luck expressing them within a common spatial reasoning framework, I think.
I'm talking about this, but I never implemented one in truth...
If you'd like to have a try in bad company, I'd start from ground zero too.
It'd be a pleasure for me.
Can't say the same for you, though...