New HPS release 1 Aug 2019 -Marching Eagles - a Paul Bruffell design

[-72-]

2 questions?
1) What is the scale of the game? 1 field are 500m ??
One game turn is 2 hours??

2) Does the campaign play on a big map?
or are they different small Maps?

2) There are 6 maps, although I think it will require assembling them in to single images to actually answer that. There are smaller maps:

o Gilly
o Hougomont
o Ligny
o Quatre Bras
o Waterloo
o Wavre

I can't answer the scale - and the fields don't appear to be a uniform shape; just using the scenario editor with a blank map does not show any boundaries. I haven't had enough time to look into things that much.

-Regarding what Doug wrote earlier, this doesn't look like the same engine, although the maps used look to have been built in the same manner. 

I would say that Bill's suggestion might be a logical solution - a single map image that overlays the map as it is constructed -however, that would probably require programming. 

Graphically speaking it is intriguing; it is not the same style of map of Ancient Warfare - it uses less terrain types - so that would allow for a different style of pallet than, say, other titles that need 26 or so graduations of elevation levels.

If I were to come up with a single map image, the first thing that I would do is put together a stitched image of the entire maps  - that would produce the dimensions needed.  Use opacity -and that gives the paths and hexsides needed - but, and seriously I have seen this happen in other similar work --- you don't need to adhere exactly to the hexes underneath - that actually ends up negating the entire impact (at least as far as I am concerned)... but that is how I would approach that type of task .. plus scale (of imagery) can also be changed around some... same with the style. 

All that is just off the top of my head and based upon what I have seen so far.

[Titus]

2 questions?
1) What is the scale of the game? 1 field are 500m ??
One game turn is 2 hours??

2) Does the campaign play on a big map?
or are they different small Maps?

HI, I am away this weekend but will provide more details on the game when I return home on Monday. To answer your specific questions above -
1 - The game is based on irregular shaped areas rather than hexes or squares. The size of one area will depend on the terrain but can be anything from 400m long to 750m.
One game turn is equivalent to 30 minutes so battles like Quatre Bras only last 10+ turns, this gives a player the chance to finish a battle in 1 hour against the AI,

2 - Each battlefield is a separate map. Waterloo and Ligny are the big maps.

The game also plays out under Play By E-Mail.

Regards,
Paul

[panzerde]

I bought it while I was out of town and managed to download it despite an iffy Internet connection. I've had a few hours to give it a try now.

Despite some UI similarities it doesn't feel at all like the Ancient Wars games to me. Being familiar with Ancient Wars will give you a slight leg up on using the interface, but that's about it.

This is very much a grand tactical Napoleonic game. A sound understanding of combined arms Napoleonic tactics is necessary to win. OTOH, issues of facing and positioning are abstracted. Formation is important. Understanding which unit is your front line and rotating them out if disordered is important. Taking time to prepare your attacks is important, but don't take too long - the scenarios are relatively short!

There's more to this game than there may seem on the surface. It isn't tough to play, but it can be difficult to win.

I would not play with on map combat losses turned on. The numbers shown are tough to interpret meaningfully. The combat report screens were more useful to me.

Like Ancient Wars, this has a miniatures feel to it. Playing this reminds me of playing "Blucher."

[Sgt_Rock]

Panzerde - I am glad you like the game. Paul and I worked on the project for 5 years. I had put a concept document together, we hashed out some things but I was given some new work to do for JTS last year and it absorbed all of my time. Paul and I came to an agreement over the buyout of the concept document and in the end he has brought this project to "market." I was looking to get a brigade level game (or regiments, etc) out on the market where folks could play a full battle in a shorter amount of time but where you had a feeling like something truly historical had happened rather than just "Waterloo-Chess." Paul saw this as a good project to get involved with.

If Paul does future titles I may work on one with him. In any event I am right behind him on this effort. Its a joy to see an idea I had finally become a real game you guys are playing. But Paul ran with it and its because he followed through on it that you have it. Again, kudos to Paul and HPS Simulations and the dev. team on their accomplishment. And yes, Paul and I discussed getting a better map image. Its all possible - just have to get the graphics help to get it done.

[panzerde]

Yes, your JTS work last year absorbed a bit of my time, too! :-)

[O.Schmidt]

One question is: what is the smallest screen resolution?

[Titus]

One question is: what is the smallest screen resolution?

The game will operate on a very low resolution but the practical limit is determined by the size of your screen. I play the game on a 13" Laptop and when I interrogate an area containing 3 friendly units I need to see all 3 Unit Information Boxes - one for each unit. The game has a maximum of 3 friendly units in any one area. With a low resolution of 1680 x 1050 my 13" screen can see all 3 Unit boxes each containing information on a unit in the area. However, I can not see all of the 3rd Unit box and I need to move the 3rd Unit box to another part of the screen to see it all. This is easy given each Information Box can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the screen.
All scenario maps have a blank part on the far right of the map so that the Unit Information Boxes can be parked there without covering any of the map. This is the default position. It is best to keep them there to avoid covering any part of the map and possibly units.
On the 13" screen at 1680 x 1050 part of the toolbar is overlapped by the Command window. This is not a serious problem as a player can still use menu to access the options but again is an inconvenience.
If you have a 15" screen the 1680 x 1050 resolution allows a player to see all 3 Unit Boxes fully in their default positions. With larger desk top screens even lower resolutions can be used down to 800 x 600 as the minimum.

Regards,
Paul

[O.Schmidt]

My laptop has the resolution 1366x768! Then the game will not run? :(

(I tried to install the last update! I could not install it because the install program asked for a resolution of 1600x ???? (I just wanted to see what's in the update!))

Thanks Paul

[Titus]

My laptop has the resolution 1366x768! Then the game will not run? :(

(I tried to install the last update! I could not install it because the install program asked for a resolution of 1600x ???? (I just wanted to see what's in the update!))

Thanks Paul

I understand that HPS has taken off the install restriction for the resolution. Please download again and run. If you still have problems come back to me and I will fix it.

Regards,
Paul

[RealAndSimulatedWars]

Hello,
I recently posted a video showcasing the gameplay of this wargame. Please check it out at my YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/3rbDKM1DRgA

Cheers,

JC