How do you like to setup Sandbox?

[mantrain]

For me, I like defense as the Feds. But the trick as been tweeking the options for AI regiment size/morale and aggressiveness. I find at default levels it's too easy to beat an assault. I tried around reg strength 130/10o in favor of AI and I just got swarmed.

Curious to see how others like to set-up the sandbox, preferences, etc. I wished there was a roundtop map to play around with as a what-if. Perhaps there is a mod available?

[Davinci]

After years of going back and forth with how to get the AI to fight a good game I finally altered the OOB to create some very good Open Play Games.

The games internal code is designed to cause the AI to hold back a large force too act as a sort of reserve force which will weaken its attacking forces. That's not good!

I noticed that the game would use at least four of its eight brigades but hardly ever use the rest of them unless you the player found them and attacked them in place.

So, I gave each enemy Brigade the force of a Division, or ten too eleven regiments each.

Now when the AI attacks they are attacking with a division which works out very well, the only problem is when they attack with two-brigades (20 Regiments) in the same vicinity. It is hard to stop them from controling that part of the field.

I micro-manage My army of ( 99,900 )which consists of four Corps or 30 Brigades, while the enemy Army is two Corps or ( 128,900 ) men.

The picture below is a battle that started around 12:00 game time in-which I have deployed eight brigades fighting against four enemy brigades with two more enemy brigades starting to appear.

The enemy force attacking on the left is a brigade of eleven regiments with another brigade moving up on its right that is just coming into view. The AI will always attack a gap in your line, but I have two brigades moving up to connect My lines.

The fighting on the extreme right is just getting under way with the AI attacking with one brigade and another one is directly behind him.

I consider a good game when there is at least a five or six mile battle-line. It is a roughly about four miles at the moment.

Basically, if you increase the AI forces it is almost impossible to ever win a Open Play Game. I can't remember the last time that I have actually won a game. I have found it impossible to destroy the AI without destroying my own army.

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davinci

[Saddletank]

I have found it impossible to destroy the AI without destroying my own army.

This is a key comment. The way the game works this is true in almost all games. Its true of Waterloo as well. It must be down to the mechanics of the basic game rules because there should be ways to badly defeat an enemy but preserve the winning force but in my experience of literally 1000s of games, that cannot be achieved. A side can win and sometimes win without too much struggle, but its forces would almost never be capable of further significant strategic action if the battle were part of a campaign.

[mantrain]

So there is quite a bit of modding required which is what I need to learn to do. What about increasing the AI regimental strength? also something wrong has been happening to my games where there is missing entire units. OOB is missing from Union now and in certain scenarios. I think I will have to re download the game.

[Davinci]

A side can win and sometimes win without too much struggle, but its forces would almost never be capable of further significant strategic action if the battle were part of a campaign.

True, a "Campaign-Style-Game" would work if the Army would get reinforcements in a timely manner.

But, its still impossible to destroy the AI unless the Campaign had a type of "Harpers Ferry" feature in it.

If the player could trap the "AI" the AI would surrender.

mantrain - Download the SDK which is located in the " Modifications Section". I think that it contains all of the Scenarios and OOB's from the game.

davinci

[the reb]

Davinci stated....

"The games internal code is designed to cause the AI to hold back a large force too act as a sort of reserve force which will weaken its attacking forces. That's not good!"

Evidently, this cannot be changed?

I've also have played a lot of Sandbox but now write my own scenarios which forces ALL the AI enemy to advance. I've found the more scenarios I write, the more I forget, so I still have an element of surprise.
Also, you never really know which roads the AI will take if end location is far enough away...

I agree with everything said....I would like to know how to protect the AI artillery without getting into a bunch of scripting as they are unprotected...Also, I don't understand how one figures actual battle time per one hour of game clock....that is....how many hours on the game clock equals lets say 12 hours of daylight?

thanks,
another reb

[Davinci]

Evidently, this cannot be changed?

We can't change the code but there are ways around the code by assigning the "AI" more troops to counter the ones that are held in reserve. This seems to work out very well in My opinion.

I've also have played a lot of Sandbox but now write my own scenarios which forces ALL the AI enemy to advance. I've found the more scenarios I write, the more I forget, so I still have an element of surprise.
Also, you never really know which roads the AI will take if end location is far enough away...

I think that some of the best scenarios are unscripted Open Play Games. You can save the game and move your units different and the AI will react and move it's units different, this way you never play the same game twice.

But, the game is setup to provide each-player with their own enjoyment, mine just happens to be Open Play.

I would like to know how to protect the AI artillery without getting into a bunch of scripting as they are unprotected...

Check out the "Guard" or "Follow" Commands, I have never used them but that should work.

Also, I don't understand how one figures actual battle time per one hour of game clock....that is....how many hours on the game clock equals lets say 12 hours of daylight?

It seems like every minute of game time equals roughly 30 seconds of real-time, Not Sure!

Why not just run a test with a actual clock and compare the two times?

davinci

[Saddletank]

I like to think that bigger battles run at about 3x to 4x speed. I find that a corps vs corps scenario at 3 hours duration feels a lot like a day's fighting which you could call 9 to 12 hours of real combat and manoeuvre.

[RebBugler]

It seems like every minute of game time equals roughly 30 seconds of real-time, Not Sure!

Correct, but I agree with Tank that a 3 hour large battle "feels like" a day long fight, and will reflect that by casualty numbers and global fatigue.

Why not just run a test with a actual clock and compare the two times?

Huh? Game clock is real time. It would be nice to have an actual 'battle time clock' running also that could be modded to reflect the battle time line.

[Davinci]

Huh? Game clock is real time. It would be nice to have an actual 'battle time clock' running also that could be modded to reflect the battle time line.

Thanks, "Reb" - I never really payed that much attention to the clock to notice that it reflects real-time.

I slowed my game up years ago and still play the same way with reduced movement speed and absolutely no running. I just don't believe that men in the Civil War was running into battle and forming a line.

Also to slow down the casualty-rate applying a defensive bonus over the battlefield reduces that a great deal.

davinci