We've heard a fair bit that Antietam
is just about impossible for the South to win. Well, Dan
and I disagree. We know it's hard for the South but so was
the historical battle.
Let's face it. As everyone knows who's studied the battle,
McClellan was an idiot and sent in his Corps one at a time.
Where he should have crushed Lee he instead got a horrible
draw.
Which is terrible for the North in the game. If a player
does what McClellan did historically, they too will get
trashed.
IF McClellan had been a bit more wise he would have won
the war that very day. For example, McClellan also had the
V Corps and his Cavalry reserve which never saw action.
In the game you don't get to see them because then, as a
game, the battle would be completely unbalanced. Why McClellan
didn't use them? I think he got scared after his first five
corps were shot to bits.
However, we can't really change the battle based on what
should have been. We can only base it on what happened.
BUT that still doesn't mean the Confederates can't win Antietam.
SO, to prove the point, Dan and I are having our very first;
Tower Games Challenge.
Basically anyone who can beat Dan and I, where we play the
South, will each get 10 FREE TOKENS. In order to qualify
join our proposal in the games room. YOU MUST SELECT UNION
POSITIONS. If Dan and I are not the only Confederate players
then the "Challenge" does not apply.
So come and have "yur butt spanked." We warn you
though; no mister nice guy!
New Playtesting program; Atlanta.
One problem we have with new scenarios
is the amount of time it takes to playtest them. Some are
easy. Some are not (Gaines's Mill took two months to get
just right).
To date it has been Dan and I doing the testing. So, in
the spirit of community involvement, we're trialling opening
up the testing of new scenarios to everyone.
This is how it works.
If you go to the Games Room, you will see a new battle,
Atlanta. It is free to play for one week starting from now.
Please give it a right old thrashing.
HOWEVER, when you are finished please send me an email saying;
what you like, what you didn't like, do you think it's balanced,
is there anything you think should be changed (numbers and
quality of troops, terrain, objectives, both position and
number of VPs, etc).
IF this works well, we shall continue to do this with future
new scenarios. If, however, it is exploited, we won't. And
we define exploitation as, for example, a hundred people
play it and we get one email. I think you get the picture.
Upgrade to stuff you don't
see, and hassles with Java 1.5 (cont.)
We have just completed a major
upgrade to all the code that makes Line of Muskets works.
Some of you may have noticed the game was hanging, and sometimes
had problems not starting, and other strange things. Well,
this was because of Java 1.5. Sort of. Basically 1.5 works
better than 1.4 but is more temperamental.
The good news is you won't have these problems again, and
the game works a lot faster now. I think you will notice
that the animation of the fighting runs a lot more smoothly
and quickly.
Seeking scenario creators
Want to create some Line of Muskets
scenarios? Let us know. You have to know about the battle
you want to do, have a good map, and a good "order
of battle."
New look Line of Muskets page.
For those seeking more information about Line of Muskets
and how to play it better, go to the new Line of Muskets
page, and then click on some of the battles we have.
You will now see (for most battles) there is an expanded
"TIPS" section which points out some of the specific
things to do for a given battle. It doesn't tell you everything
but is a good starting point. And these come from numerous
games, seeing what works and what doesn't work.
And, of course, if any of you want to submit some ideas
to be added to the "TIPS" section of a battle,
you can use the Submit button up the top, or email them
directly to me.
Improvements to Line of Muskets.
Part of the forum will be dedicated to your thoughts about
how the game can be improved. For example, already quite
a few player have said they would love the "out of
ammunition" rule to be changed slightly. Instead of
all troops firing running out of ammunition, they would
like to see this done on a brigade-by-brigade basis. This
will go into the next edition of Line of Muskets. Any other
good ideas, save them up for the forum and let us know.
On this note, we will listen to all suggestions but of course
we can't please everyone. A good example is Command Zones.
Some people don't like them. Some love them. The majority
say they are frustrating but because they make the game
play historically, they actually like them. So they are
staying.
Further explanation about
Command Zones required.
However, we have become aware that a small part about Command
Zones may be causing some confusion. So here is a bit more
explanation on them.
One thing that causes confusion is when a player wants to
move a div CZ that is outside the Corps' zone.
When this happens when you try to drag it, it won't move
until you drag it all the way to the Corps' zone. Then it
will disappear from where it was supposedly not moving,
and magically appear within the zone of the Corps.
So, IF your CZ doesn't move, now you know why.
That's all for now. See you next time.
Regards,
From Chris, the editor, and every one at Tower Games.
