AW's Feedback

[TheGrayMouser]

Hello, I think I have finally played enough of these games to be able to give (what I hope) is constructive criticism. Now Ive owned Punic wars since it came out and RCW’s since it came out , but until a few weeks ago really only dithered around once in a while and then shelved the games. I almost wrote them off believing Im just too entrenched with turned based play and NORMAL (haha) uses of hex vertices rather than flats to distinguish a units front. I thought there was a game in there but couldn’t take the time and frustration to figure it out. So I recently forced myself to play about 12 small battles, then a few medium ones and finally topped it off with Indasavio, all in one sitting. My enjoyment and appreciation increased to the point I am really liking them and likely will buy more… However, there still are a lot of rough edges, needless frustrations and issues that mar what I now consider a pretty amazing system. So…

Graphics

Overall look great but 3d mode is tedious to play in due to the size of the units relative to the hexes, the trees that completely hide your units ( I love 3d isometric views but this is over the top!) Units especially in column give the impression you have several hexes deep of them when the reality you only have a single line as the unit graphics literally spill into adjacent hexes.
Suggestion: maybe have an alternate view when the hex size remains but units are reduce 40% in size, terrain reduced as well and finally, units are superimposed over tree graphics instead of viceversa?

Variety: Am a little miffed and the game loses its immersion when Parthian and Pontic cataphracts use the same Hellenistic lancer graphic as in the very ist game in the series. No need to go overboard but a ½ dozen or so new graphics per title for unique units as in above example would go very far!
Glitches in Graphics: not sure if some games are just missing graphics or there is some type of memory leakage but often times routed units will no longer have a 3d figure OR display the wrong graphic ie routed pikes sometimes show medium cavalry in the unity card and on map… Usually this resolves after switching modes so me thinks some type of pointer or memory leak.

Rules and explanations

Im updated to the latest patches and in my folder for RCW, but I have no less than 2 manuals, two rules and a hodgepodge of other docs for FAQ’ , tactics suggestions etc . The manuals and rules have slight differences in various rules, maybe because they apply to other games to the series??…. Which is accurate?
For such a complex game, a more comprehensive example of real combat situations is a must
I cannot , still, figure out what happens when two or more friendly units are in the same hex . The manual says only the “bigger unit” takes casualties as its assumed to be in the front yet practice make me not understand how this is true when multiple units in one hex attacked from only one direction both take and deal out kills… Also , if 2 HI units in line share a hex, 20 meters wide and each has a frontage of 24 men, how can they both rec and inflict causalties to an enemy to their front? Does the game assume your lines are “squeezed” and each unit really only has a frontage of 12 men?
This is clearly an incredibly important part of the game yet I really cannot determine what is going on.
Another major source of confusion are the numerous non defined terms in the manual.
For combat we are told once orders are given, action plays out in an EVENT PHASE.
Then for each ¼ turn there can be 4 combat ROUNDS
Then in the charts to see how effective a unit/weapon is, I learn a Lance/Kontos does x damage on the ist combat MELEE PERIOD, light spears 1 2 and 3rd MELEE PERIOD
But heavy throwing weapons do x damage during the ist CONTACT TURN
It should be self evident and if this was a turn based game I have no doudt I could “back into” these definitions by testing various units in combat and then checking the charts to understand. This is not possible in a wego game, I cant back into these without any full confidence I understand the game mechanics.
What I need is an example, like: Kontos comes into melee with a HC unit w Light spear, they begin combat round 1 , for the ist round lancer gets x, on rounds 2-4 it gets Y(sword only) HC gets ist three rounds at z and then 4th at Y(sword) By the way, does this “reset” the next EVENT PHASE I HAVE NO CLUE as there are no definitions for rounds, turns, ist contact turns, melee periods , yikes, please help!

Punishing the player(with mental and physical carpal tunnel):

Why, when marching troops in column, can’t I use the group command to do so AND get the benefit of xtra AP’s? Why must I order units far from battle and whom should need the least amount of micromanagement, individually? BTW it took me forever to figure this out.. Why do my columns of HI sometimes move at the same speed as line and sometime faster? The blurb of this in the manual is tucked n there and easy to miss! I thought there was some scenario specific ground condition I overlooked… Very frustrating
Also why not allow more than one group command? Why cant a formation change facing one degree and then make a formation change, AP’s permitting etc? If this is a programming/performance thing, I get it but if not…. Maybe allow 2 group commands?

Extra Chrome/needs polish:

I love the feature that surrendered units banners are captured which gives xtra VP’s
However, unless im missing something you don’t get to see this in the victory dialogue.. It would be xtra cool if at the end of the battle rpt you could see all your lost and captured banners, categorized by unit type

Although Im amused when I right click on a unit card to see its detailed stats and find out my gallic archers have crossbows, things like this should be cleaned up by now as the engine is several years old.

Anyways, enough for now. I hope this doesn’t seem too rude or negative. Ive learned to really like these games but I really had to work at it!. A steep learning curve is one thing but a lot of the issues are the game itself be shy about how good it is and throwing up all kinds of barriers.
Now, if someone could please help me understand stacked unit combat and how a Kontos works, whether its ist or 4th period, round ,phase or contact turn, I’ll be really happy
Cheers!