Some feedback, and questions

[Matmannen]

Hi, just picked up this mod today. Looking forward to playing it. So far I have started a campaign, and I have taken a look at a few unit rosters and so on.

I think, from what I have seen, that this is a great mod, very interesting.

The good:
- You have made an extansive and beutiful map, it lages sometimes tough
- Wide range of factions, in a very exiting time period.
- Interesting troop rosters with a huge veriety of troops.
- interesting iimpletation of historicle formations.

The bad (not as good ):

- This is probibly just my opinion but why are the pikemen walking so fast. It is really hard to keep a cohesive army of pikemen, cannons and musketeers if the pikemen walk as fast as musketeers run.
- Some historicle units missing.
- Campaign map lag

This is basically what I can thing of for now. I will continue posting in this thread, posting new feedback.

Now what are these historicle units missing? As I have only taken a minor look at the mod I can't talk about all factions, but I can mention some hings about poland and sweden.

- The only wingedhussar unit available to poland is the later reformed hussaria of the later 17th century. The two winged husaria clad in shining metal armor with gold decorations is something that was rarely seen on the battlefield until the late 17th century/early 18th century (and was soon abolished). I am not against poland having access to these units as they are really cool, but I think that they should also have access to the earlier hussars (they basically didn't look as golden clad and had one wing if any).

- The swedish leather cannon was a failed experiment and was ditched in poland. When Gustavus moved into the 30 years war he used the 4 lb regimental cannon as a light cannon, would enjoy seeing that in game.
- Additionally, due to the lack of funds to produce wheellock and full cuirrasier armor the Cuirrasier and Arquebusier cavalry tactics of germany never really found their way into the swedish army. Swedens force conisted of mostly reiter like cavalry armoured with a helmet of a type (mostly the zishägge pot or lobster pot) and a simple steel corslet. The reason for writing this is the lack of this type of cavalry, anyways...

Thx for reading

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Thanks for your comments and kind words.

The bad (not as good ):

- This is probibly just my opinion but why are the pikemen walking so fast. It is really hard to keep a cohesive army of pikemen, cannons and musketeers if the pikemen walk as fast as musketeers run.

The animations are dictated by the CA animations, we do not have our own. We are stuck with what they have made. Musketeers run about as fast as pikemen run but for some reason they walk more slowly. If pikemen are not in spearwall formation then they can move unrealistically fast. I am not sure what could be done about that.

Strictly speaking musketeers and pikemen in most large battle situations should be moving in formation taking about a dozen paces a minute if the musketeers are shooting, a bit faster if they are not, while the musketeers should stop and fire as the pikemen double pace when they come to within pistol shot of the enemy lines. These sort of things are not possible with the CA engine and the existing animations, so we use what is there the best way we could.

Muskets plus ammunition weighed as much as pikes. But the main consideration was the AI. If you let pikemen move slow and musketeers fast, they tend to separate themselves too fast from the pikemen and run the risk of being attacked by cavalry or even peasants or any unit that would force them to skirmish back rather than shoot.

- Campaign map lag

During turn changes? I cannot think what you are refering to.

Now what are these historicle units missing? As I have only taken a minor look at the mod I can't talk about all factions, but I can mention some hings about poland and sweden.

- The only wingedhussar unit available to poland is the later reformed hussaria of the later 17th century. The two winged husaria clad in shining metal armor with gold decorations is something that was rarely seen on the battlefield until the late 17th century/early 18th century (and was soon abolished). I am not against poland having access to these units as they are really cool, but I think that they should also have access to the earlier hussars (they basically didn't look as golden clad and had one wing if any).

I believe armoured winged hussars are shown in paintings about this period (e.g. http://polishgreatness.blogspot.gr/2...d-hussars.html, also by Wacław Pawliszczak: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BJXS9DJ8aw...liszczak5.jpeg), though more lightly armoured ones appear in the Polish movie "Ogniem i mieczem". Modern depictions have them two winged and heavily armoured (e.g. http://www.itsartmag.com/features/th.../#.UvIUxeLgwcI) since that is how they appear in museum reconstructions (http://www.ljclark.com/blog/wp-conte...w-m9-005-w.jpg and http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...II_century.png). I believe they are also more usually shown with two wings in some museums - others have also questioned whether that is historically correct. I have come across a statement from a recreationist claiming that wearing the wings would massively slow you down when on horseback and that is probably true and it is possible, whether one or two, that the wings were not worn in battle but for now that's what you get.

- The swedish leather cannon was a failed experiment and was ditched in poland. When Gustavus moved into the 30 years war he used the 4 lb regimental cannon as a light cannon, would enjoy seeing that in game.
- Additionally, due to the lack of funds to produce wheellock and full cuirrasier armor the Cuirrasier and Arquebusier cavalry tactics of germany never really found their way into the swedish army. Swedens force conisted of mostly reiter like cavalry armoured with a helmet of a type (mostly the zishägge pot or lobster pot) and a simple steel corslet. The reason for writing this is the lack of this type of cavalry, anyways...

Thx for reading

Whether a failed experiment or not (it could fire more rapidly and at this time there was still no explosive ammunition), the leather cannon is not at all very easily available in the 1648 mod. They can only be obtained from Sweden. Once on the Continent the Swedes will have to rely nore on locally available artillery. So in effect the player will eventually stop using them, assuming he has taken any along.

The later type of Cuirassier cavalry (two piece armour) will be available on the Continent to the Swedes after the Reform event (around 1630). The heavier Swedish Cuirassiers will have to be taken over to the Continent from Sweden, will therefore be expensive as in reality and the human player would be unwise to bring along significant numbers of those, but it is an option.

[Matmannen]

Geoffrey thank your for your response. I would like to clearify somethings:

First map lag: The map lag usually occured when moving rapidly across the map. The problem was apperently the amount of trees. I fixed this by removing campaign map shadows, map doesn't look as good, but atleast it isn't lagging.

About the leather cannons: I actually did some additional reading on leather cannons. The real problem they had was they heat they quickley reached, so they needed to be cooled every now and then, but what I said about them being left in poland was not entirly correct, though I remember reading that several were left in poland somewhere, at the battle of Lützen the swedish army used 48 of them, guess I was wrong .

Now, the cuirrassiers. I think we kind of missed the oint of my post there. That sweden had cuirrasiers there is no doubt about (especially after they started enlisting livonien auxiliries). Historicle there were never whole regiments of cuirrasiers, there were simply not enaugh of them (in a regiment the first company would be cuirrasiers, or something like that), what I wanted to say is that the swedish faction is missing a more lighty armoured (one piece armour steel corslet) pistol and sword armoured cavalry. Because this is how the majority of the native (non finnish who, being not as rich would have been clad in buffcout) cavalry would have looked.

About the husaria we can probably continue discussing till the worlds end, so lets just leave it here...

Laslty I am sorry to hear that you can do nothing about the pikemen, I don't remember the pikemen walking this slowly in vanilla, anyhow, it is sad that you can not tweak the speed of troop movement...

Cheers

[Geoffrey of Villehardouin]

Now, the cuirrassiers. I think we kind of missed the oint of my post there. That sweden had cuirrasiers there is no doubt about (especially after they started enlisting livonien auxiliries). Historicle there were never whole regiments of cuirrasiers, there were simply not enaugh of them (in a regiment the first company would be cuirrasiers, or something like that), what I wanted to say is that the swedish faction is missing a more lighty armoured (one piece armour steel corslet) pistol and sword armoured cavalry. Because this is how the majority of the native (non finnish who, being not as rich would have been clad in buffcout) cavalry would have looked.
Cheers

There are two units with at best just a buff coat (Lobhausen and Nyland/Tavastehus regiments) and two native Cuirassier regiments. The late Cuirassiers with the two piece armour are available after the right building is built, after the reform event. Since the Swedes will end up using mostly mercenary cavalry, there will be plenty of those. It would have been nice to have faction specific models but in reality mercenaries were often hired and these looked the same regardless of faction or country. This was why flags became more common in this period, because it would have been difficult otherwise to tell friend from foe.

Edit: I should, perhaps, add that CA mounted missile units are designed to exhaust their ammunition before attacking in melee. This is not how mounted units fought in this period, they simply emptied their pistols on the charge and attacked with their swords in melee. Pistols were used as the equivalent of a lance not of a bow. For lighter cavalry units to hang about firing their pistols would be suicidal, so some clever person in the earlier days of the mod did not give certain types cavalry pistols, so they would attack with their swords straight away. Of course the Hakkapelitta would carry pistols but they were lightly armoured and ultimately relied on their charge, so they are one of those units that did not get pistols in the mod, only swords (Nyland and Tavastehus regiment).