Phase vs turn

[NicolasBourbaki]

Hi, do you guys play phases or turns ? 

Personally I started to play turn-based but now that I discovered the phase mode I find it much better. It brings a lot of clarity in the battle. 

Would appreciate your views and pros/cons ... both for solo and PBEM games. I guess that the main con re PBEM is the multiplication of emails to send ... Not sure it would be managable on a large 300+ turns scenario.  

What do you think ?

thx

[agmoss99]

Hi, do you guys play phases or turns ? 

Personally I started to play turn-based but now that I discovered the phase mode I find it much better. It brings a lot of clarity in the battle. 

Would appreciate your views and pros/cons ... both for solo and PBEM games. I guess that the main con re PBEM is the multiplication of emails to send ... Not sure it would be managable on a large 300+ turns scenario.  

What do you think ?

thx

There are advantages to both ways. I prefer phases as it's smoother gameplay. And quicker for large scenarios. In fact turn-based games are impossible for big scenarios. Gameplay in turns is rather more like chess. Casualties are generally lower in turn-based play.

[panther421]

I agree turn based is more practical for pbem, but for solo play I am trying phased play.

[RichWhite]

I agree turn based is more practical for pbem, but for solo play I am trying phased play.

Unfortunately, unlike in the original Battleground games, there’s no square forming or cavalry count-charging in the defensive phase. But phased play would still be better if playing the A/I.

[bkosar19]

I use phases for solo play. Mainly because it allows me to let the AI handle the offensive/defensive fire phases. I click the "Activate AI" option in the AI menu during those phases let the AI fire all my available units. Yes, it's not the most efficient way to play, but against the AI it's good enough and really cuts down the tedium of the game's mechanics. All that pointing and clicking can get pretty tiresome especially in large scenarios so the Activate AI option is a big help.

I also prefer phases for the Civil War PBEM games because it has the option to let the AI handle the defensive fire phase so each turn only requires two emails. I don't think the Napoleonic games have that option which is annoying, but it's been a while since I've played a PBEM Napoleonic game. So, maybe I'm mistaken.

[mezentius]

I also prefer phases for the Civil War PBEM games because it has the option to let the AI handle the defensive fire phase so each turn only requires two emails.  I don't think the Napoleonic games have that option which is annoying, but it's been a while since I've played a PBEM Napoleonic game.  So, maybe I'm mistaken.

No, this currently isn't possible in the Napoleonic games. I also hope this gets added soon, as I much prefer to play in phases but don't love how long the games take.

However, wouldn't the best solution to the turns/phase problem (to maintain convenience while preventing ahistorical blitzkrieg tactics) be to adopt the approach that The Operational Art of War uses? If Movement Points indicate how many actions a unit can perform within the 15 minutes of a turn, then passing through hexes in which an action has taken place will drain Movement Points accordingly if that hex would have been obstructed or within a Zone of Control at the time.

For example, if a friendly charging cavalry unit overruns an enemy unit and clears the hex, then other friendly units attempting to pass through that hex within the same turn will be drained of an appropriate amount of Movement Points to abstract the time that they had to wait for that first charge to happen. This would prevent the sort of blitzkrieg exploitation that's currently possible in the turn-based mode.

Just a thought!

[LarkinVB]

The auto defensive fire option will be added to the napoleonic series.