3.5 Progress Report - April 6, 2013 - NEW UPDATE

[Trig]

Ok, here's another update.

After most unit icons finished (prolly some 200 of them, only minors left to do) , I've now gotten into the info cards. You know the unit pic that shows up when you click for details.
This is how the cards will look:


Why the complete overhaul?

Well, I'm rather big on uniformity lol, but I wanted them to help the "attachment factor" (you know, when you get attached to units as you follow their career and experience throught he war), featuring the same regimental flags that unit icons use, but also to give additional useful info at a quick glance.

So, what you see is the full unit name (icons have a shortened one), a representative unit pic, the flag, unit type symbol (infantry horn, cavalry swords, artillery cannons, combined with colour codes - dark blue for line infantry, light blue for light infantry, green for sharpshooters, yellow for cavalry, red for artillery) and most importantly the weapons and their efficiency within their range, which is what the coloured cone is all about.

We have divided firearms into three classes. C1 is the best one, where guns are effective within most of their range. C2 is a bit worse, where best results are achieved at half range or less. And C3 is worst, smoothbores and shotguns and such are there, only fully effective at about 1/3 of their full range, but due to their larger calibers do more damage at close up than C1's. Mind you, all will still score hits even at maximum range, only a lot less. So you better get to know your guns and how to use them best.

[Lord_Helmchen]

Looks great! Too bad that my computer have problems to perform your amazing mod...

[ellisam]

This is great. One of the best mods for any game ever made.

[Chieftain John K.]

Ok, here's another update.

After most unit icons finished (prolly some 200 of them, only minors left to do) , I've now gotten into the info cards. You know the unit pic that shows up when you click for details.
This is how the cards will look:

Good Job Trig +Rep
regards Chief

[Trig]

Not to be ludicrously picky but I think you missed out the Whitworth Rifle - which was used extensively by the marksmen of the CSA. (Just to add to the already extremely large list of firearms).

Seems I owe you an apology.
After doing a bit more reading it appears Whitworths weren't that rare that they wouldn't merit being given to some of our sharpshooters, so now they're in.

[MalachHaMavet]

Ah, it's alright, I could see your point as they were only used by the Confederates it was just because (in my opinion) they were one of the best rifles used during the war

[bob_2000]

Less than 300 Whitworths were purchased for use by the Confederacy, and we have no idea how many of those passed through the blockade. Great rifle, the thing of legend, but the sharpshooters bearing these weapons were not part of any singular unit but rather scattered throughout battalions with the more common '58 two-banded Einfield.

There's a book called Shocktroops Of The Confederacy that discusses how the marksman developed from special purpose parties to somewhat permanently detached squads.

[Trig]

Yea...that was our initial reason for not including them, but being that now only one 30-man unit uses them, 30 out of 300 isn't excessive...

The Osprey book "Sharpshooters of the American Civil War" states:
In the spring of 1863 Major General Patrick Cleburne of the Army of Tennessee organized a sharpshooter company that was issued with 20 Whitworth rifles, fitted with telescopic sights, and ten Kerr rifles, "more than was given to any other division."

Will prolly also equip another 30 man CS sharpshooter unit with Kerrs, for variety...

[bob_2000]

Will prolly also equip another 30 man CS sharpshooter unit with Kerrs, for variety...

My great-great-grandfather was with Company D of the 8th Florida Infantry Regiment. They, with some of Barksdale's Mississippians, were charged by General Lee with harassing Yankee pontoon builders on the Rappahannock while the Army of Northern Virginia solidified its position behind Fredericksburg. I have no idea of the distance or rifles used, but the sharpshooting was sufficient enough to delay the invaders for a day. Long story made short, at least in 1862 and early 1863, detached companies were hand selected for their proficiency and used as skirmishers. I'd have a "skirmish" unit evolve into a late-war "sharpshooter" unit... if at all possible?

Will the Union have Berdan's Sharpshooters?

[Trig]

Will the Union have Berdan's Sharpshooters?

There are a few sharpshooters available for CS and US.

[bob_2000]

Oh, nice! The new cards are beautiful... cannot wait for the next update!

Now if only I could recruit the CSS Alabama.

[Hinkel]

Trig, could you please post a new unit card of the 14th Brooklyn? PLEASE!

[Trig]

Trig, could you please post a new unit card of the 14th Brooklyn? PLEASE!

Only thing I'm not 100% sure is the rifle. I kept the M1842 Springfield Musket, since that's what they had in the mod so far. But most pictures show them with an M1861 Springfield Rifle or an Enfield Rifle, so if anyone can confirm their most common weapon, I'd appreciate it.

[Flodin]

Great mod

[bob_2000]

Kind of embarrassing, but I had no idea I wasn't actually using 3.5 BETA... Have been enjoying 3.4 this entire time! Installing now!

[Hinkel]

Only thing I'm not 100% sure is the rifle. I kept the M1842 Springfield Musket, since that's what they had in the mod so far. But most pictures show them with an M1861 Springfield Rifle or an Enfield Rifle, so if anyone can confirm their most common weapon, I'd appreciate it.

Yay, thank you very much!
The 14th Brooklyn used the Enfield rifle, it was a failure in the older version

[Trig]

Thanks for the info Hinkel. Will fix.

[MalachHaMavet]

Yea...that was our initial reason for not including them, but being that now only one 30-man unit uses them, 30 out of 300 isn't excessive...

The Osprey book "Sharpshooters of the American Civil War" states:
In the spring of 1863 Major General Patrick Cleburne of the Army of Tennessee organized a sharpshooter company that was issued with 20 Whitworth rifles, fitted with telescopic sights, and ten Kerr rifles, "more than was given to any other division."

Will prolly also equip another 30 man CS sharpshooter unit with Kerrs, for variety...

Would they have specific names like 'Cleburne's Sharpshooters' or would they simply be the 'Whitworth' and 'Kerr' Sharpshooters? As either would work, IMHO.

Regardless, I'm sure they will be brilliant. +rep

[pappagoat]

Amazing work.

I have a friend who does military archaeology. At one battle site they were excavating a union gun position, and found a good number of hexagonal Whitworth bullets in the area. The idea is, due to the Whitworth Rifle's excellent range, they were used to harass enemy gun positions and force them to fall back.

Can I ask what is the intended difference in game between a Lorenz Rifle and Austrian Lorenz? Also What's the real difference between a 1842 Springfield Musket and it's captured version?

Have you thought of adding either or both the 1856 and 1858 Pattern Enfield Short Rifles (the P56 seems the more prevalent in the ACW)? Both were 2 band rifles, shorter than the 53 pattern but longer than the muskatoon. Issued to the British Rifle Corps. A large number were imported by the confederacy, although less than the P53, a ratio of around 1:7. I've read in various places that the short rifles were preferred by the confederate sharpshooters, for obvious reasons but am not sure of anything more specific. They appear to have also been used by the union.
Here's a website about the 31's Indiana Volunteers (although they were primarily armed with the P53): http://www.31stindiana.com/31unif.html

Union troops with the 1856 Pattern Enfield & sabre bayonet.

[Trig]

Yea, those gun suggestions weren't final. Our current gun list includes the Lorenz Rifle, no "Austrian Lorenz" (I think one was made in Austria, other in Belgium), no "captured" Springfields (previously they had slightly worse stats), and the Enfield two-band 58 is in too. The biggest problem in any case is finding out what units used any of these guns...