Just bought the game.

[stephen]

Hi just bought Hist war Napoleon. Watching a few Youtube videos sort of opened the purse strings. I did have Hist war grognards and I have to admit it has not been played for years.
The graphics are a great leap forward with the Napoleon version. the great sweeping landscapes . The lines of troops heading for battle, actually it would be easy to make a good quality film "A Napoleonic epic". As I have only had the game less than a week, I am just looking round it, reading the manual and playing with the map and oob editor and trying to find out all the little quirks of this game.
I do have a couple of questions.Regarding Artillery or Musket ranges I cannot seem to locate, or does the AI automatically fire when in range ? Also has anyone created any maps/scenarios for download ? Years ago I downloaded several but I doubt these would work on the Napoleon version as they were for the LG Version. I was also going to ask if there was a way to turn off the interface should I ever want to make a film ? I noticed a few videos didn't show it and it made for a better production.
I am also aware of a few bugs, not sure if it is because I have gone for 1-2 scale. I have heard mention of a 1-1 scale but I dont think my version has that scale. Unless I need to patch the game , I'm guessing the game I bought is fully patched ?

Well back to the battlefield or the player manual and watching my poor troops march to a certain death.......under my command.

[JMM]

Hi just bought Hist war Napoleon. Watching a few Youtube videos sort of opened the purse strings. I did have Hist war grognards and I have to admit it has not been played for years.
The graphics are a great leap forward with the Napoleon version. the great sweeping landscapes . The lines of troops heading for battle, actually it would be easy to make a good quality film "A Napoleonic epic". As I have only had the game less than a week, I am just looking round it, reading the manual and playing with the map and oob editor and trying to find out all the little quirks of this game.

Regarding Artillery or Musket ranges I cannot seem to locate, or does the AI automatically fire when in range ?

AI automatically oepn the fire when in range. When you order Artillery to attack an unit, it moves at the good range in order to fire. You are not acolonel but a Commander in Chief :-)

Also has anyone created any maps/scenarios for download ? Years ago I downloaded several but I doubt these would work on the Napoleon version as they were for the LG Version.

HW:N and HW:LGdN are yet compatible... so the scenarios, maps and OoB can be loaded with the both games.

I was also going to ask if there was a way to turn off the interface should I ever want to make a film ? I noticed a few videos didn't show it and it made for a better production.

"Tab" turn off the interface.

I am also aware of a few bugs, not sure if it is because I have gone for 1-2 scale. I have heard mention of a 1-1 scale but I dont think my version has that scale. Unless I need to patch the game , I'm guessing the game I bought is fully patched ?

At this day, only the 10/1 and 2/1 scales are implemented... 1/1 scale will be released with the new 3D models...

Well back to the battlefield or the player manual and watching my poor troops march to a certain death.......under my command.

Enjoy


JMM

[MarshalJean]

Hi just bought Hist war Napoleon. Watching a few Youtube videos sort of opened the purse strings. I did have Hist war grognards and I have to admit it has not been played for years.
The graphics are a great leap forward with the Napoleon version. the great sweeping landscapes . The lines of troops heading for battle, actually it would be easy to make a good quality film "A Napoleonic epic". As I have only had the game less than a week, I am just looking round it, reading the manual and playing with the map and oob editor and trying to find out all the little quirks of this game.
I do have a couple of questions.Regarding Artillery or Musket ranges I cannot seem to locate, or does the AI automatically fire when in range ? Also has anyone created any maps/scenarios for download ? Years ago I downloaded several but I doubt these would work on the Napoleon version as they were for the LG Version. I was also going to ask if there was a way to turn off the interface should I ever want to make a film ? I noticed a few videos didn't show it and it made for a better production.
I am also aware of a few bugs, not sure if it is because I have gone for 1-2 scale. I have heard mention of a 1-1 scale but I dont think my version has that scale. Unless I need to patch the game , I'm guessing the game I bought is fully patched ?

Well back to the battlefield or the player manual and watching my poor troops march to a certain death.......under my command.

Glad you are enjoying the game, Stephen.  Question from me:  are you getting it to run okay in Windows 10? Or are you running a different operating system?  I can't get my copy to run on my Windows 10 machine....   

[JMM]

Marshall Jean,

could you send at technique@histwargames.com the file spyboard.tct (folder tracking)

THX

JMM

[stephen]

To MarshalJean. Running on Windows 7. So it runs fine, have you tried running the game on Windows 7 compatability mode ? Other than that I dont know what to suggest.

I did try and run succesfully some maps and oobs. The only one I struggled with was the "Belgium campaign 1815 I may of been doing something wrong but had no luck. I will probably use what I have, such alot to keep me going. thanks again for replying and for the information.

[sandman]

Let me remark something regarding the open-fire-issue:

Keep in mind, that there are 2 engines running. One inner engine, that executes all actions happening along the real timeline. And another engine, that more or less roughly represents those actions in the 3D-mode. Probably not all details are shown and there might be a certain asynchrony between the two engines.

Just some more thoughts, without claiming them to apply:

- different range of muskets of opposing elements
- I dunno, if a different ground-level could play a role?
- Out of ammo. Very rare problem speaking about infantry. But If I remember correctly, even an empty battery is still displayed as firing.
- Unit is reorganizing. You then see busy legs.
- Collision bug or stucking bug.

I also remember situations, when observing units, which were expected to open fire without realizing a logical reason for their lethargy. But we have always to keep in mind the hidden operations of the interior motor. Here are probably all ongoing actions of every single bataillon, while in 3D-view we only see the representation of the according regiment.

BTW JMM said, that he completely overhauled the inner engine and is confident to overcome the collision issues with the major patch.

[Soldat Louis]

Sandman is right: you have to keep in mind that there are a lots of hidden actions that you do not control or see in 3D. You have to trust the work done by JMM which, in principle, ensure you that all the actions that you undertook will end up with a result close to the historical situation. Indeed it is sometimes kind of frustrating for people expecting epic charges and massive slaughts (that happens however in some situations). But there are plently of other games for this...
A few comments regarding Sandmans thoughts:
- I think that ground level play a role in the fatigue and moral of the attacking units. Deploy in the heights is an advantage as long as you do not have to move from there (Austerlitz). Also JMM said that in the coming version units will not be able to fire "across" hills and elevation. I hope that this will also be true for the muskets. That will allow to better use the terrain for manoeuvring.
- Out of ammo. Yes : quite rare for the infantry. Often for the guns at the end of a battle. The problem is that if you deploy close to a village or a town hosting one ennemy units, guns will automatically open fire and waste their ammo for few results. This why it would be nice to have a command to hold fire in absence of imminent threat. Also keep in mind that in most of the case guns still have cannister ammunitions for close fire. This is why I don't like to them leaving the battlefiedls while they could be usefull in some situations.

[stephen]

Yes I understand about "what goes on under the hood".It wiuld be easy to pin somethings down to a glitch if like me you are unfamiliar with the game.   Just lately I have been playing the KS MOD for Scourge of War Waterloo. It is similar in many ways to this game. Sometimes I wonder who is playing the game...Me or the AI ? I certainly look forward to the updates for this game. It will blow everything out of the water on completion. But I also understand this is virtually a one man team, certainly a "labour of love" or just to stubborn to stop having got this far.

I did say  in an earlier post  about the "Belgium Campaign mod" I have downloaded it but I cannot get it to work , any suggestions, I'm missing the Prussians. Also I cannot find the Prussians in game. I try to make my own OOB. I type a name jena and move the year to 1806 but no Prussians or Saxons. Again any ideas ?

I am still somewhat "blown away" by the numbers I can field in a battle and I have yet to field the maximum, usually 80/100K per side. even on a 6km map it doesn't look crowded. Again I hear a cannon going off I have to search for it, and I do wonder who they are firing at.  Again thanks for the help.I need plenty of it !

[sandman]

JMM and also Gunner posted the operational system of the inner engine a couple of times. But probably you are right, that it should be top-pinned if not yet done.

[JMM]

Hello,

The biggest bug was about the error on the detection of units with a problem of "lethargy". I think this problem is resolved for the next release...

HW is shared in two part : internal engine (AI) and graphical engine (GE).
Here the time line
Time T                                                                 T +1
AI : compute the data for T+1                           compute the data for T+2
GE: display T - 1                                                   display T
Orders sent during T are analysed at T+1...

The GE displays a precise view computed at the AI level.

Another important improvment in the AI is about the vision... very accuracy over 100 meters... maybe I have to work on the algorithem for very short range.

Ground level : the difference of levels modulates the speed / tireness ->  moral... and the moral plays a major role for the game.

Ammo : Infantery : each man gets 60 bullets... After several attacks, a regiment in defence can be out of ammo...
                Artillery : I have to take a look at the rules... maybe I can add a command for stopping the fire.

This is why I don't like to them leaving the battlefiedls while they could be usefull in some situations.

Regiment leaves the battlefiedls for several reasons : one of them is the losses are greater then 20% (for line infantery, th rate varies for eack kind of unit)
this rule is very important : when the losses are important, the soldiers can't fight. In the present doctrine (XXI century), the rate available is around 10%
That said, after analysing the different battles of the napoleonic epoch, I never found losses over 30%...
So, it is very important to keep a reserve... generally around 30% during this epoch.

Sometimes I wonder who is playing the game...Me or the AI ?

You !!! when you win, you win...
There is 2 major rules in the game :
at the Corps Level : AI tries to execute the order all the way through.
at the Regiment Level : AI tries to execute the order but simultaneous tries to minimize the losses.

I did say  in an earlier post  about the "Belgium Campaign mod" I have downloaded it but I cannot get it to work , any suggestions, I'm missing the Prussians. Also I cannot find the Prussians in game. I try to make my own OOB. I type a name jena and move the year to 1806 but no Prussians or Saxons. Again any ideas ?

I ll be back on this questions; however, the Prussian are not included in the basic package, excepted the Lestoc Corps for Eylau.

I am still somewhat "blown away" by the numbers I can field in a battle and I have yet to field the maximum, usually 80/100K per side. even on a 6km map it doesn't look crowded. Again I hear a cannon going off I have to search for it, and I do wonder who they are firing at.  Again thanks for the help.I need plenty of it !

Several improvments in the new GUI and I hope the control of your army will be easier.

Enjoy

JMM

[sandman]

...
                Artillery : I have to take a look at the rules... maybe I can add a command for stopping the fire.

Regiment leaves the battlefiedls for several reasons : one of them is the losses are greater then 20% (for line infantery, th rate varies for eack kind of unit)
this rule is very important : when the losses are important, the soldiers can't fight. In the present doctrine (XXI century), the rate available is around 10%
That said, after analysing the different battles of the napoleonic epoch, I never found losses over 30%...
So, it is very important to keep a reserve... generally around 30% during this epoch.
...

Enjoy

JMM

When Soldat Louis stated "This is why I don't like to them leaving the battlefiedls while they could be usefull in some situations", he most probably meant the Artillery Batteries exclusively.
IMO it is not realistic, that the batteries leave the field after running out of medium and high range ammo. If they still got shrapnells, the player surely wants them to stay. These batteries could be very useful to be implemented in defence-lines.

I think the 3D engine displays out of range batteries as firing, which was somehow confusing for the player.

I think, we need some functions for the arty to handle this:

1. The player decides about withdrawing of not routed or broken units (batteries). Same would apply, if scripted for any reason.

2. Batteries with any kind of ammo left shall not be withdrawn automatically.

3. An opportunity to order to hold the fire.

4. A function to stop/open long range fire.
Long range fire is mostly ineffective, if closer engagement can be expected for a certain formation. Great battles use to last for a number of hours. Therefore it is useful to be able to dose ammo resources fore the Artillery.

[zu Pferd]

Good for you Stephen !
Useful and interesting discussion and a refresher on the game engine.
 
 Q Re status of batteries completely without ammo...these I presume leave the field
  (I never physically checked)

 Q  preamble: the bug is in the batteries that have short range canister ordnance
      and shrapnel ordnance (these being the British + Allies ? which are a Mod)
      Is it possible to fix the artillery bug in the Modded Armies ?
 
Q  interdiction of artillery fire over the head of friendly side troops ?
 
 Q to JMM when will the Prussian Army and British be available for their designated historical period
     in the new Game ?
 
     Not to enter into any further discussions regarding other items such as
     an engine within the game to build elevation from satellite imaging or similar  up to maximum
     available  less 15 meters (I presume already built in the default criteria)
     
     low walls and other such like obstructions found on most European countryside
     useful for light infantry to fight out of.
     
     cavalry charge interdicting terrain formula to include woods and wetlands
   
     perimeter defense area rather then four point, at the crossroads, default system in both games
     this could add some depth to the firefight ...love to see smoke coming out of the 'painted windows'
     with some penalty to effectiveness to regular infantry and militia, clearly not trained to fight well
     in built up areas.

     Light Infantry usage by default is defense and attack in thick formation.
     Q  Can we expect  in the near future, a thin line formation by regiment  to use in defense/attack skirmishing ability 
          (available all nations giving due consideration as to historical period and strength level)

    Thank You for your patience !