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First, thank you for buying the game. It was my best design by far because of course I have put out two other titles (the 1809 games) and have been listening for years to what the guys have to say on the game system. And John did a TON of updates on the engine for this game. Small things that probably wont get appreciated by the reviewers like a larger Jump Map and more levels of terrain so I could make a map that best fit the 10 meter contour differences of my topo maps.
To answer your comments:
Changing the PDT file to 15 mins is not hard (see below).
I am into turn 225 with a playtester and yes, it takes some time to get into the battle. In this recent patch I put out a alternate campaign to the large Scharnhort Plan campaign which has the first scenario as much shorter (200 turns or so but you are closer).
For a future patch I will have historical scenarios and variants for the various days of the campaign. Basically I will have one for the 12th and 13th since the 14th was pretty much covered in the Short Campaign.
What has to be done to convert the scenarios to 15 min. moves is this:
1. The PDT file entry "10" in the second line would be changed from:
9
French First
0
6 50 18 0 0 1
<b>10 30</b>
to:
9
French First
0
6 50 18 0 0 1
<b>15 30</b>
Never do this with the files that came with the game. Make a copy of the PDT file that the .scn file uses. Or basically make a copy of all four of the PDT files that came with the game and then rename them to be something else. This filename then would be copied in place of the original .pdt file name in a COPY of the .scn file on the appropriate line. Here is an example of an existing .scn file line:
7
#05a_2. The Battles of Jena-Auerstedt - Dual Map
1806 10 14 7 0 0 0 1 56
3 8 10
3 8 10
4000 6000 8000 10000
Jena-Auerstedt.map
Campaign_1806.oob
<b>Jena_10_FrFirst.pdt</b>
change the .pdt file name to be the name for the new COPY of the PDT file and then Save As the .scn file to be something else. Again, never modify the original files that came with the game. It will get overwritten if we put out an update with an updated file of that name.
Here is how the new .scn file might look:
7
#05a_2. The Battles of Jena-Auerstedt - Dual Map-15
1806 10 14 7 0 0 0 1 56
3 8 10
3 8 10
4000 6000 8000 10000
Jena-Auerstedt.map
Campaign_1806.oob
<b>Mod_Jena_10_FrFirst.pdt</b>
The weather lines can be left as is.
Then:
2. Each reinforcement entry could be left alone OR those that use the 10 minute entry (10,20,40) could be changed to something like 15, 30, 45. The downside is that you are going to have some crowding of units.
Finally, copy the sce
Ok, that covers the conversion which is not hard. Now the downsides:
1. The 10 minute move allows you to stop the blitz a bit. Along with the No Melee Elimination rule you have 1/2 more time to deal with per turn. You get 6 turns instead of 4. What does this translate to? Basically the French cavalry that would charge 7 hexes in the last title I did now only charge 5 hexes in open terrain. Thus they have to get closer to start up the charge and hit something. Follow up distance is 3 hexes instead of 4. Thus the total amount of hexes cavalry will move in a charge (possible if they keep on winning) is 8 hexes rather than 11. Now that means that your units have more reaction time to square, move back, take cover, etc. In the game we dont have the ability to square up as of yet but really, I didnt use this formula of 10 min. moves with that in mind. It was mainly to cause the attacker to set up his attack closer in.
2. The Defender gets in more shots with a 10 min. move. This also means that the game can see MORE losses as a result as I retained the same firepower values BUT a prudent Attacker will just stay out of range until he starts up his attack. And likewise a Prussian Defender may pull back a bit to get out of the longer French artillery range. Thus the turns in total can lead to MORE losses but the players have to know when to pull out of range. In the LONG run it helps the Defender as he has just that extra bit of time to fire which might cause an Attacker to Disorder (1/3 value for attacker in melees which is a deterant enough to stop him from attacking for the most part). So in the 15 min. move the Defender is at a slight disadvantage. His guns can get run over easier, etc.
3. Disorder recovery in the older games for the French seemed to be automatic. Now with the ratings and morale changes it should take longer to recover BUT there are more turns for chance of recovery. Thus the end result should be that those formations that are out of command control may take longer to recover. And with the movement rates reduced this means that units may remain out of action longer. But in the end it may just be a wash. However, for time sake the units probably recover FASTER than in the past in that there are more command tests. This rewards the player that keeps his units in command control and penalizes those that dont. In short the Allies may be hurt more from this than the French but the latter will rout more often I am thinking BUT rally back faster due to better Leadership ratings. So the morale issue was also taken into account when using the 10 min. move.
I understand how some of you may not like the 10 min. move but in those big scenarios to save time on your moves just get your corps in a long line and use the Alt-Drag method of moving entire strings of units to save on time. When you do this just select the HEX and not any of the units. The entire line of units, no matter what formation affiliation, will move right along in a big konga line.
Thanks for the feedback. As I work on my fourth title I am really listening to what you guys have to say. The more I hear the more I will be able to determine how I will go for the next ones.
Our testers like the 10 min. moves for the most part once they got used to it. For the shorter battles they were very useful. For medium sized battles still ok. The bigger ones it may seem tedious but in the end you will be happy that the Attacker didnt run your line over because with a 10 min. move he has to be closer and thus will take more fire from your units.
Other things I am pondering are an alternate set of scenarios that uses an OB whereby the 2 gun units are merged into larger units. I still will stick with a 4-6 gun battery where the OB called for it but those smaller bn. guns and in some cases Prussian batteries will get merged into one unit to save on march space.
Bill Peters
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)
[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]
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