Grand Tactician: The Civil War

[holla_cabezas_de_mierda]

I'm finally going to give it a try. During the Early Access I only started a couple of maps to check out the interface and graphics.

would love to hear a report when you get a chance, it looks quite detailed

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

I bought and played it in september but game is too autistic for my capabilities.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Hadn't played it in a while, but grabbed the new release copy. Only played a couple of hours, but I can tell it's already better. Frame rate is improved, AI actually builds some decent sized armies, and some map icons have changed for the better (ports blockaded will now show an anchor on fire, etc). Still noticed a few bugs. AI fleets will sometimes patrol back and forth right into your stronger fleets, creating a feedback loop of naval battle messages. Also the unit build screen will sometimes still bug out and not let you select units or leaders.

Overall it's much better from earlier versions, but still needs some work. Gonna play some more this weekend and dig a little deeper into a campaign.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

Quick release version notes

Been playing it for a few days. Campaign is much more tense now. My 1861 (currently 1863) CSA campaign is going well, with the west mostly fallen to my two large invasion armies. St Louis, and most of Kentucky have gone to my side. Eastern side is a different story. The Union has 3 large armies camping outside of Richmond, with Lee's ANV and a smaller Army of Potomac keeping it safe. AI seems more balanced now, even on easy, though it could do with some work on protecting its cities. The AI seems hell bent on taking Richmond, but at the expense of everything else. The Union Navy also seems rather lethargic, not doing much but keeping to its large ports. AI recruitment needs some work. Two years into my campaign and both sides have roughly equal forces in the field (around 300,000). Rather ahistorical. Union should be outmanning the CSA close to 2-1 by 1863.

Tactical battles have also improved a bit. The last battle I fought near Winchester was a tough go, with the Union pushing around my left flank and breaking my army. Some data is still kept nebulous. Losses are shown on unit cards, but not losses inflicted. Wooded terrain also supposedly helps defense cover, but placing a unit in woods doesn't show any terrain bonuses. Line-of-sight could also use some work. Maybe there's a key command for it, but I'm not sure. Would also like a faster speed ticker than just 10X on tactical battles. Sometimes it takes a while for the forces to engage, and it can take a while. At least another 20X speed would shave off some wasted time. The attention to morale and tiredness levels is great. Too few strat games properly integrate these factors, which in 19th century warfare was a key issue for foot infantry marching around. If your troops are tired and haven't eaten in two days, they're gonna suck at fighting.

Unit build interface has improved, with clicking and dragging not bugging out as much. One thing I don't like is that once corps are available, they have to be added to NEW armies. Placing corps into existing armies requires building an entire new army staff, then transferring older units into new army corps. Needless busy work. Some new unit uniforms are available, and unit weapon upgrading is less buggy. Roster numbers still seem odd. Currently in my campaign I have over 25k available troops to recruit from West Virginia, but 0 from Virginia. Not sure if that's a bug, but it seems weird that so many recruits would be ready to join up from what by then had become a Union breakaway state.

Much better than initial release last year. Game still needs some work, but this is becoming the civil war game to play.

 

[Silva]

So is this like those games that are so complex and full of interesting sim elements, but the AI is braindead making the experience pointless? Or is the AI here decent?

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

So is this like those games that are so complex and full of interesting sim elements, but the AI is braindead making the experience pointless? Or is the AI here decent?

Yeah, it's decent. More so on harder diff. The AI isn't going to help you larp a repeat of history, and some of its decisions will have ya scratchin' your head, but it's fair to middlin'. The AI does build some decent sized armies, and it tries to keep its supply routes safe, but I'm not sure what a strategy would be called when it involves hurtling everything it can at objective cities (even while abandoning its own cities). Certainly not any worse than Total War or Paradox AI. At least it does something and keeps you on your toes.

 

[AwesomeButton]

With a map that's not randomly generated, I guess any AI can eventually get very efficient with some scripting help.

 

[tsiforb]

 

[Burning Bridges]

Guys, this is what astigmatism feels like

If I take off my glasses everything looks a bit like Grand Tactician: The Civil War with glasses on.

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

1.05 patch is in beta. Looks tasty.



TLDR version:
Changes to UI
Quick ques for ship builds
Uniform changes after unit builds
Independent Corps unit builds
Draft/Volunteer unit replacement options
Map improvements
AI improvements
And more

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

New patch is up, and it's now available at gog.

https://af.gog.com/en/news/release_the_grand_tactician_the_civil_war_18611865?as=1649904300

 

[Joggerino]

How is the game now, compared to when it was launched?

 

[Wyatt_Derp]

How is the game now, compared to when it was launched?

Some things are better, some things seem to still be broke. AI wanders, spawns tons of small armies you have to chase around, and the economy mode is still on par with nuclear fusion math theories. But they've put in more battle maps, created 3D poly soldiers and improved desertions and other bugs.

Flaws and all it's still the best civil war game around, imo. Definitely for the strategy OCD gamer. You can spend hours tinkering with army compositions and economy stuff, but you can always just auto manage everything if you don't want to mess with it all.

 

[tsiforb]

Trailer for the career mode teased a few months ago:

 

[Luka-boy]

That DLC idea sounds really interesting, though the early game might be more fun than later on managing more units if you do well and get many promotions.

 

[Sinilevä]

It's a good game with an abysmal performance. They should also ditch the economic part since it doesn't work anyway. Currently the best strategy for the economic development is not to do anything at all. Maybe build a prison camp here and there at most. Most investments are really expensive and will bare fruit only after a very long time by which the campaign will most likely be already over. Also really hate how pursuing works in this game. Enemy troops just seem retreating and there is very little you can do to desttoy them as your own troops refuse to charge. The dlc looks interesting though.

 

[Sinilevä]

So the dlc is out and apparently it's shit, especially the AI. Also, check out the price lmao. What a shame. Was looking forward to this.

 

[Luka-boy]

Yep. It's tremendously buggy at the moment.

All characters develop the bi-polar trait, simply marching makes your units take a massive morale hit as if they were under fire and rout... Lovely.

 

[Sinilevä]

Yep. It's tremendously buggy at the moment.

All characters develop the bi-polar trait, simply marching makes your units take a massive morale hit as if they were under fire and rout... Lovely.

You could also start a game as a 17yo in a rank of a lieutenant colonel.