So is there an easier way to learn this game?

[Dragoon78]

I recently started playing because I have read alot of good reviews on this game. I have to say though it is a very steep learning curve and even after reading and rereading all the rules I still feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. The tutorial is really of no use except to show you where some of the buttons are. Does anyone have any tips for how to learn this game?

Also, what other pc civil war games are out there that you guys enjoy playing?

[Ace]

Try reding threads at the top of this forum, they are a great help. Also, try reading soundoff vs banks AAR on this forum. It is a great way to introduce yourself to this brilliant game

[Floyd]

There is a "Let's play" on YouTube - very well made and informative!
I think there's a link in the AAR subforum ...

[Dragoon78]

yeah i just found the youtube vids. Maybe it will be a little easier to understand if I see someone doing it. Thanks fellas!

[Boomer]

Also, what other pc civil war games are out there that you guys enjoy playing?

Along with AACW, there's also Gary Grigsby's 'War between the states' and 'Forge of Freedom'. Both are also games at the strategic level. For tactical, the Norbsoft 'Scourge of War' series is really good. I'm sure everyone here has probably played them all.

[Overparduffer]

Also a new player... The Youtube videos from zerotasker were a huge help for me. Gives a great overview of all the logistics and everything that has to be done each turn. Useful threads for beginners in the forum also a big help when finding specific answers. Definitely start with the small battle scenarios.

[charlesonmission]

Also, take a look at the beginner thread, my AAR against Mortar, and my YouTube videos against Meagher, once you get a little farther along.

Charles

[Captain_Orso]

A couple of things I would suggest.

1. Every time you find a thread with some answers or references you might need in the future, make a book-mark of that thread an label it so that you can find it again. Putting them all in one book-mark directory and naming it "AACW Playing Info" helps to keep them all together.

2. Play! Nothing teaches you more than experience. Don't be afraid to go back a turn and try something else. You learn from mistakes and sometimes it's good to live with errors and learn to overcome them. Sometimes, if the error is bad enough, it's good to go back and look at the situation and assess why you made such a bad decision. This helps you gain a feel for what works and what doesn't without damning yourself to always dragging along with very low NM.

But you will also have to learn to do this less and less until you never do it so that at some point you've learned to live with all your decision, good or bad.

If you are only playing against Athena, don't be afraid to once in a while look at her setup - switch sides and look around. I found it to be an eye-opener when I first started learning.

3. If and when you start playing against a human opponent, go into the AACW AARs forum and read through a few as charlesonmission has suggested. Real people play very differently than Athena.

[Dragoon78]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys but Its just too much to manage all of it. I will have to find a civil war game that is not so in depth because there is just too much to keep track of with this game. I want to like it so bad but just find it all too much. I been watching vids and reading threads but its all above my head when it comes to applying it all. Plus I don't like the fact that there is no actual deployment of forces on any of the battles. All of it is left up to the generals and the mundane stuff is too tedious for me. Thanks just the same though.

[Linstock]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys but Its just too much to manage all of it. I will have to find a civil war game that is not so in depth because there is just too much to keep track of with this game. I want to like it so bad but just find it all too much. I been watching vids and reading threads but its all above my head when it comes to applying it all. Plus I don't like the fact that there is no actual deployment of forces on any of the battles. All of it is left up to the generals and the mundane stuff is too tedious for me. Thanks just the same though.

Sorry to hear it, but to each his own! I think this is one of the best historical strategy games ever designed (and AGEOD's finest offering). But as Boomer mentioned above, there are other takes on the CW out there, and "Forge of Freedom" features tactical battles. You might really like that. I think the battles in that game are actually quite fun (not to mention challenging), and the strategic element is also well modeled. The only thing I don't really like about the design is its lack of a true naval element. But it's definitely worth a try. Although, be warned, Forge is just as much of a monster as AACW, just in different ways.

[Overparduffer]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys but Its just too much to manage all of it. I will have to find a civil war game that is not so in depth because there is just too much to keep track of with this game. I want to like it so bad but just find it all too much. I been watching vids and reading threads but its all above my head when it comes to applying it all. Plus I don't like the fact that there is no actual deployment of forces on any of the battles. All of it is left up to the generals and the mundane stuff is too tedious for me. Thanks just the same though.

Personally I'm enjoying everything leading up to the battle a lot. It's quite fun to build up, maneuver, and then flank your opponent with a crushing defeat. After all battles are typically won or lost before the first shot is ever fired. I believe Sun Tzu wrote something about that.

I agree with Linstock, FoF is also quite complicated and I found the actual battles too board gameish. If you just want to command troops in battle, Scourge of War is definitely the best I've seen.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

Sorry to hear it, but to each his own! I think this is one of the best historical strategy games ever designed (and AGEOD's finest offering). But as Boomer mentioned above, there are other takes on the CW out there, and "Forge of Freedom" features tactical battles. You might really like that. I think the battles in that game are actually quite fun (not to mention challenging), and the strategic element is also well modeled. The only thing I don't really like about the design is its lack of a true naval element. But it's definitely worth a try. Although, be warned, Forge is just as much of a monster as AACW, just in different ways.

Yeah, even though Forge has a tactical element, it has much more of a micro-management problem than this game has. I never found this game to be overwhelming in that regard, but I have a good grasp on American geography and never had problems with remembering where units were.

[Linstock]

Yeah, even though Forge has a tactical element, it has much more of a micro-management problem than this game has. I never found this game to be overwhelming in that regard, but I have a good grasp on American geography and never had problems with remembering where units were.

Forge is a game with tremendous potential. On the strategic and operational levels, I think the game really hits on some novel concepts that are brilliant. But little things always get in the way of enjoying it--like the regions, for instance, which are too massive in area to handle the movement of armies realistically. On the other hand, I love having to deal with state governors and their politics--an excellent idea that captures the feel of the period and works easily enough in the game engine.

In the end, it's always about balance in games (at least in my opinion). And AACW hits the sweet spot. It's immersive without being cumbersome and playable without losing historicity.

[Ace]

I remember once I started using shortcuts for putting units for rest for a turn (space bar) and going to next units without orders (keys "e" and "r"), my turns were much simpler and neater. No more forgotten units, no more thinking about all those units,...

Maybe suggestion for AACW2. The combination of this two shortcuts could be made a button so newbies don't have to look through the manual to find it. I think Civ4 had a similar button.

[Captain_Orso]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys but Its just too much to manage all of it. I will have to find a civil war game that is not so in depth because there is just too much to keep track of with this game. I want to like it so bad but just find it all too much. I been watching vids and reading threads but its all above my head when it comes to applying it all. Plus I don't like the fact that there is no actual deployment of forces on any of the battles. All of it is left up to the generals and the mundane stuff is too tedious for me. Thanks just the same though.

Not to worry Dragoon, everybody has to know what it is they're looking for in a game. Glad you gave it a shot and I hope you find the game you're looking for.

I think everybody who contributed to giving advice is at least a little bit thankful to have been given the opportunity to pass on some knowledge and suggestions. I think by and large most contributors in the community enjoy this as much as anything else.

Good luck and if you ever have the urge to try a purely strategic ACW game and give AACW another try feel free to come back. The forum will still be here waiting to help you along.

[DrPostman]

I owe a lot of thanks to the folks who help out on this forum and for the other players who participate
because without you I would have never understood this game. The manual wasn't a lot of help and
the tutorial didn't explain what I wanted. I was put off by the lack of any tactical element but then
I've always been more of a strategy gamer and got used to the combat resolution rather quickly. Heck,
I was put off by the lack of hexes until I understood how important regions are and how they work in
the game, especially when it comes to handling naval elements. Yea, the naval can be improved, but
I've never seen a game handle it better than this one. BTW, I used to play Victory Games The Civil War
game and loved it a lot. I didn't think there would ever be a better way of handling the Civil War in a
game until this came along, and it has a lot of similar elements that the VG game had. If anyone is
interested BoardGameGeek has info about it:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2081/the-civil-war

[Bobby53]

I felt the same way 4 years ago when I first got the game, too hard to handle and learn. I walked away from it and haven't played it for 2 years. Last month I decided to give it another try after finding Zerotasker's "let's play" on YouTube. I learned so much from him, I won my first game playing the Union in early Oct. 1862, took Richmond with 3 corps!

[Jim-NC]

Congrats on taking Richmond.

Also, welcome to the forums. We try to be helpful. Enjoy your stay.

[elxaime]

Hopefully the ACW 2 Manual will be more newcomer-friendly. Unfortunately, currently you have to parse forum threads if you want to understand how things work. I am a fan of keeping the calculations "under the hood" but the mechanics should not be so opaque. It would be great if the ACW 2 Manual ships with a FAQ and strategy guide by the experts.

[DrPostman]

Hopefully the ACW 2 Manual will be more newcomer-friendly. Unfortunately, currently you have to parse forum threads if you want to understand how things work. I am a fan of keeping the calculations "under the hood" but the mechanics should not be so opaque. It would be great if the ACW 2 Manual ships with a FAQ and strategy guide by the experts.

I think the strategy guides will more than likely come from those of us who play it,
especially the beta testers. Sometimes it takes a lot of play to come up with
suggested strategies and that's probably time the developers don't have.