American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Would anyone know when replaying an opponent's turn, does the replay go in the exact order your opponent moved?

Regards,

_________________
Brigadier General Kevin Koch
2/2/VI
AotS

Bleeve so, Kev
J D Ferry
LTC 2/20th Corps

Interesting question. I concur with Gen. Ferry. I just did a small email game with myself. The replays were in the exact order I had moved while doing each side.

_________________
Yr. Obdt. Srvt.
Lt. Gen. R. Sickbert
First Division, Fifth Corps
Army of the Potomac

It is an exact replica of the opponents move. Otherwise, things like melees and movement would be mixed up in the replay. It would be something that was haphazard and little use to view.

_________________
General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Kevin,
if it was my replay you were watching I should have given you a general warning-with games this size I often cannot play it in one sitting so watching my replay can be chaotic, as I will often not pick up where I left off. Or, I will be puzzled about what to do in one sector in the middle of making some moves, so I will switch somewhere else.. Maybe my inability to maintain a laser like focus is contributing to the bad situation the Rebs find themselves in but more likely it have been your play...

Hey Jim,

The thought may have occurred when I was watching your replay, But not for the reasons you mention

I was thinking about how I approach my own moves and how they may be viewed by my opponents.

Without being too specific, , I know how I approach my moves and have a system that helps keep me organized, but then I've been thinking that those tendencies may "tip-off" my opponent to what my true intentions are.

If any union officers are interested we can move this discussion.

_________________
Brigadier General Kevin Koch
2/2/VI
AotS

That's a very interesting observation, Colonel! My compliments on your obvious depth of consideration, upon which I will now ponder for some time!

_________________
General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

I tend to try and not jump around too much so as to not drive my opponent nuts watching the replay, but as I noted my mind has a tendency to wander. I too think about tipping the hand etc and, at times when I am anxious about what I hope is a surprise move (in our game, something like sending Hill and Hill into the woods to flank your flank attack), I will start somewhere else rather than focusing on the key area. Sometimes in a battle that has an obvious focus I will start there and focus on working out the problems there or end at that part of the field if I need to think it through a bit..

Is that how things happened? I can't remember it feels so long. Gaines Mill literally happened 2 years ago Lol!

Very fun battle, Jim!

Regards,

_________________
Brigadier General Kevin Koch
2/2/VI
AotS

Observation from watching battle replays:

The first sector the opponent deals with in his moves is the one he is chiefly concerned about: either it is an area of weakness he must shore up, or it is the position of advantage he wishes to exploit. The two strongest impulses of human nature are fear and greed. In a weaker opponent they will show up every time.

In the Battleground Games where the offensive fire is a separate phase - the same principle applies to the order of firing.

To overcome these strong human tendencies and not tip-off the opponent - the disciplined approach would be to play from one corner over to the other corner of the battlefield every turn. And, keep movements and locations of troops as hidden as possible.

On purpose, I use knowledge of the replay my opponent will be watching . . . If there's a unit either routed or in desperate harm's way (for example) and I want to deceive which way that unit may retreat and escape, I will go to the fartherest-away sighted unit on the map, move one thing there, then switch to my unit in concern. I know that when the AI is chasing back across the map, it will be harder for the watching opponent to follow.

Usually, I will start my movement phase with unseen units marching or the like . . . I hope that, while bored watching the hourglass twitch, my opponent will drop his concentration somewhat. As in the proceding paragraph, I will travel back and forth across the map, dividing the critical areas into chunks of attention. I will move the facing of unimportant units just to draw the computer's attention, doing that arbitrarily, to make the watching player confused (I hope).

All the little tricks a player can use, including tweaking what an opponent sees during replay, are the game equivalent of battlefield deceptions practiced in real life.

_________________
Your Obedient Servant,
Lt Gen Dwight McBride
Ist Division/1st Brigade
V Corps/AOP/USA

An interesting discussion. Replays are essential for your observation of enemy moves. Not so much for the firing, but for what is moving where. Flanking moves or just some cavalry moving in range of your troops are important to know.

On large maps/scenarios, especially those with many (enemy) objectives that are open for the taking, I tend to avoid taking them on the march. I bypass them and maybe leave a unit to occupy when my intentions are obvious. In this manner, the opponent cannot track your advance by seeing what of HIS owned objectives you are crossing over.

Remember YOUR opponent can "SEE" the objective flags change even though they do not have LOS to that area.

_________________
General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

That is a good one Ernie. I'm in the Middle of a Full Eckmuhl-in-one scenario and that is good to keep in the back of my mind, that the Austrians may be further up the road than I think.

Regards

_________________
Brigadier General Kevin Koch
2/2/VI
AotS

Exactly. The same principle applies to Nappy, also.

_________________
General Ernie Sands
President ACWGC -Sept 2015- Dec 2020
7th Brigade, 1st Division, XVI Corps, AoT
ACWGC Records Site Admin

"If you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there."

Also keep in mind that little hour glass conveys information. The length of time it sits up there on the screen warns the opponent that large formations that are hidden are on the move. Sometimes it is a good idea to break up hidden movement with LOS movement to make this harder to judge.

_________________
General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)