Has anyone here tried this game, made by a single dev, including campaign and battle gameplay? It was released a year ago in Steam, but suffered from quite a many bugs. Now it works pretty well, and I like it, even as visuals are not A grade. Sort of cross-breed between Total War and Europa Universalis, if you like those games.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/400470/

I have particular interest in the time period this game covers, and I have not played it. So my comments don't hold much weight. However, the game seems to need quite a bit of work. I've followed it and have read many reviews, and based on those I've not pulled the trigger as too many red flags popped up. My tactical and strategy wargame cup overfloweth, so games like this need to stand out from a technical and mechanics standpoint. I don't mind the graphics, but the game has other issues that makes it not quite ready for prime time.

Your description of EU IV meets Total War is sort of the holy grail for me, and I like the direction the game is going in. It just needs more work. I encourage the developer to soldier on, and I'll be happy to fess up the loot if the game continues to improve. I feel bad in a way making these comments on a game I haven't even played, but I've been at this long enough, and have followed The Seven Years War closely enough, that I feel I'm not too far off the mark.

Notice I haven't played EUIV, but EUII-III! Many of the reviews are quite old, and so don't portray the current state of the game, but I guess you already have looked through the update note log?

The most recent update I am familiar with is 1.226 I think. As I said, the game is heading in a good direction in my opinion. There are some things I like. Command delay is one. This, to me, is such an essential part of any tactical wargame. Bravo to the developer for modelling it. They took it out of Combat Mission much to my chagrin. Also, it models logistics, which is woefully disregarded in most every other wargame, but should be an absolutely essential feature of any. Of course I don't know how well it works, how intricate it is or if it's convincingly implemented, but again, well done for including it.

Maybe I'll pick it up at some point so I can speak about it like someone who has actually played the game. What I need to do is read a few detailed campaign AARs if they're around.

The latest is 1.227. I also have the battle pack.

Logistics is handled well in my opinion. There are 2 layers, the national logistics (economy, production, trade) and army logistics. Army logistics work so that army in the field will need food (constantly consumed), ammunition (if spent) and replacements (when there are casualties, also takes into account desertion). The supplies are delivered from depots using supply trains, that need time to move and can be attacked by enemy armies. So an army can run out of supplies and this will be disasterous to morale. Also if your population level is low, there will not be replacements available without extra drafting, which will make population angry...

I think it's one of the better modelled logistical system in this kind of game. Also morale is carried over from campaign to battles and vice versa, so a battle lost will cause the army demoralization and increased desertion, and lack of supplies will reflect in the battlefield with lower starting morale etc.

Too bad there are not many AARs about the game, only a few youtube videos...

Background information about the upcoming DLC:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OPyfjUbzs6Jvtim1pVQRea-odCYBbg5c_oyeclZbBag/pub?embedded=true

=)

A major patch 1.334 released today. Now it's finally possible to save the ongoing battle, and continue later!

To do this, click the retreat/exit button during battle (bottom right) and choose to return to main menu instead of retreating. And in the main menu, click "Resume last game". So take your time and enjoy the battles to the fullest, even if life gets in the way! =)

See the full list of changes at:
http://steamcommunity.com/�/annou�/detail/580230861259683645

Reading this thread has made me want to watch "Last of the Mohicans" again for like the 20th time.

PanzerMeyer: And the siege of fort William Henry scene =)

Some more info:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/400470/announcements/detail/597119843280908762

Also DBond, may I try to lure you into trying out the next version of the game, to be released along the Pomeranian War DLC this friday? The game for example has finally gotten rid of crashing issues, campaign pathfinding issues, a lot of bugs, etc. It also has a lot of new features, like automation of economy if player is not into that part of the campaign game, improved AI, much more polished battle mechanics...

Having played the game from day 1, I can tell it's on a totally different level than it used to be. Too bad there are a lot of negative reviews in the background that may effect peoples' view: almost all the mentioned real issues in the reviews are long gone.

You may. I've been keeping tabs, and Ive scoured the net, but I've been unable to find a single campaign AAR. The official site has no forum as far as I can tell, and so it's Steam forum or bust. The game doesn't cost much, so cost is no objection. But I want to know more about politics, technology, diplomacy, economy, supply, the strategic layer, refitting, force composition. How does weather affect things, or terrain or technology?

It's true I could just buy it, try it, and decide for myself. But I'd like to make a more informed purchase than only 'I might like it, let's see'.

If you know of any detailed written campaign AAR's please point me in that direction.

Hmm... maybe I will write one when time permits! =)

I don't know of written ones, there are some videos in youtube though.


But in short to what you were wondering above:

Politics: player can choose 1 national policy at a time, that will give certain bonuses with some drawbacks as well. The catch is that policy can be changed only after 3 months from selecting one. There are no grand political schemes or internal struggle for power, like in some excellent Paradox titles. One thing that can be considered political is that when you take provinces from the enemy, they still claim it theirs. You can annex the province only after making peace, and this will cost victory points, that you get from winning battles. If you don't annex the province, it will suffer high corruption, and you cannot recruit units there.

Technology: 5 branches of techs: production, buildings, weapons, navy, logistics. Balanced so, that you simply cannot research all during one game, but must heavily prioritize. You can also trade techs via diplomacy if you have good relations. The more nations discover a tech, the quicker it is to research (becomes common knowledge). Building schools and universities will speed up research, but it's not linear: every new school will provide less research points. There is also one policy to boost research.

Diplomacy: You can make trade pacts (allows buying/selling to foreign provinces), exchange wayrights (allows movement on foreign territory), make alliances, war, and coordinate with allies by requesting them to send military to certain location to support you, and they actually do it... and ask you to do the same. You can also trade techs, money, provinces, and prisoners of war. The diplomacy is "you know what you get" -type, meaning you buy/sell with/for points. The point requirements are influenced by nations' leaders' persona a bit, but they always say "OK" if you have the diplomatic points with them.

Economy: Very detailed and well done model, with supply/demand, taxes, profits, loans, bankrupcies etc. Includes a production chain mechanic, so for example you get iron ore and coal from mines, turn it into iron in a manufacture, then from iron + wood you make cannons... etc. Some players think the economic layer is too complicated, as they wish to care only about military issues. That's fine, as with latest version to be released soon there is the option to let AI manage your economy. But this is where it really shows the game is designed by a financial expert. Notice, the AI works along the same rules, so in the long run it's possible to weaken an enemy by attacking its economy. =)

Supply: another strong design point of the game, usually neglected in games. There is the supply of goods for production and population to keep economy running, and supplying military. With the former I point at the product chains and logistics via land and sea (traders, that can be attacked too to cause issues to enemy economy), with latter the way armies chew up supplies, that need to be transported to them with supply trains, that take long time to move long distances, and can be intercepted by enemy troops etc. Army supplies are food (always consumed, less so of foraging enemy lands), ammunition (consumption in battles is tracked, and carried over back to campaign) and recruits (replacements to losses). Armies suffer attrition and desertions too, so supply lines are crucial.

Strategic layer: Each campaign has strategic objectives, that you need to achieve to win. Other than that it's quite up to you how to achieve them, so it's in that way a bit "sandboxy". There are historic events, where you can choose what to do, and it will have an effect in your nation. The strong point in my opinion is not only the strategic layer, but how it is combined to tactical battles: cause and effect carry from campaign to battle and vice versa. Also on startegic layer the province population has effect on how things go: for example as protestant Sweden you conquer a catholic province with majority of population speaking some other language than Swedish, there will be issues with happiness, corruption etc. leading to less taxes collected, less recruits available, etc. and changing this is very, veeery slow.

Refitting: For armies and fleets. After a battle armies have losses (wounded + killed) and morale hit. Loss of morale causes increased desertion, which is less under better commanders. Some wounded will eventually return to service, and the speed and chances for this increase, if the province has ambulance buildings and good level of health. New recruits arrive to fill the ranks via supply trains, and this is faster if you are for example close to a town. The recruits will be raw, lowering unit experience, except when you exchange prisoners via diplomacy, as these freed prisoners will have their experience intact. Number of recruits is an issue especially playing Prussia / Sweden / colonies, who have low population. There is only so many you can press into service. You can recruit also mercenaries from recruit pools of neighbouring provinces, but this costs money and also diplomacy points with the neighbour. You can also force people to be recruited, and this will lower population's happiness, which will have effect in economy etc. Long story short: if you are whipped in a battle, even if you win, your army will not be in combat shape for some time, especially if not properly managed.

Force composition: You compose divisions from brigades (up to 5), that are made of regiments (up to 5) from the 3 branches: infantry, cavalry, artillery. There is a very nice order of battle tree, where you drag and drop units to form your army (I wish AGEOD had one like this!). These units are directly controllable as entities in battles, so you can give orders to a division, or a brigade, or a single regiment. For this, there is not much need for micromanagement in battles. Multiple divisions can take place in single battles.

Weather: only has effect in battles. Also note, this is a Battle Pack DLC -specific feature... Extreme hot and cold cause more fatigue, which is recovered slower. Freezing temperature means also lakes/rivers are quick to cross as they are frozen. Rain causes misfires and makes visibility poor, causing poorer accuracy on long ranges. Snowing also causes poor visibility, but also makes artillery with solid shots less effective (as the shots bounce less due to snow). Weather probability depends on location in campaign map, and season.

Nice post Zipuli, thanks for taking the time. You make a very persuasive argument

The logistics and supply has me intrigued. As I said earlier in this thread I feel logistics is woefully disregarded in most every wargame. I'd like to learn more.

That would be great if you got around to writing an AAR.

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/...df?t=1480015314

DBond: new game manual to explain some basics... Pomeranian War DLC out tomorrow, so maybe after that an AAR =)

Interesting, thanks for the link. I'm impressed by the amount of complexity in the production and economy mechanics. Many grand strategy titles are good on the warfare side, but there is often little to do during peace time. Doesn't look like that is a problem with this game.

Notice, the game is currently on sale at Steam, with -30% off. Also the Pomeranian War DLC was released today for 3,99�.

Real and Simulated Wars paid a visit to Pomerania:

http://kriegsimulation.blogspot.fi/2016/12/the-seven-years-war-1756-1763.html?m=1

Not an AAR, but reads a bit like one:

http://www.wargamer.com/reviews/review-the-seven-years-war-1756-1763-part-1/

The Wargamer paid a visit and here's part 1 of the two part review, discussing campaign gameplay elements. Part 2 will be about battles.

A Wargamer's Needful Things review:
http://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2017/02/seven-years-war-by.html

And some let's play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqpd-enTLfo

Thanks for the info on this game, particularly the last two posts. The one dated 9Jan is really informative, or the sort of stuff I like to know. Like the bit about how sieges work.

The playable nations are limited, but that's to be expected when the subject is the Seven Years War. But I am curious about whether there is any asymmetry to them? How is it different playing Prussia versus Austria versus France? In EU IV for example, Prussia has the most professional army with high discipline and fantastic generals. Austria is a Diplomatic powerhouse. France has high morale, great land and geographical position.

Are there fundamental differences in the strengths and weaknesses between these nations?