Weapon Scaling

[kjchan]

Hi all,

I was around starting at .6 patch and then took a break to await the final game.  I'm really excited!  Question though, is Weapon Scaling still a "thing"?  Like I would love to make an elite sniper unit to wreak some sneaky havoc, but will the enemy just counter with a flood of Whitworths from out of nowhere?

I also went back a few pages, and can't find a topic on unit scaling.  I remember reading the patch notes from awhile back and I  think I recall that the status quo is that on Colonel mode the enemy is heavily influenced by casualties...but I could have sworn there was another option I was supposed to toggle.  Is there one?

[The Soldier]

Scaling is still a thing, but only within the limits set by the Armory value listed in Intelligence Screen.  But for all practical intents and purposes, no, scaling is no longer a thing.  You can have a unit of Skirmishers with Whitworth (TS) or J.F. Browns and still face the enemy skirmishers armed with Hunter rifles.

There was a "Fixed Size" toggle for Colonel mode, but that was removed with the Intelligence Service update, it this pretty much nullifies it.

However, if you've got any saves before the Intelligence Service update, they're not going to work very well due to the nature of how it needed to be implemented.  Suggest starting a new game.

[kjchan]

Thanks for the reply Soldier!  Some clarifying questions?

1) I get that weapon scaling is no longer a thing, but what did you mean by the phrase "limits set by the Armory value listed in Intelligence Screen"?

2) Did Intelligence Service effectively hard cap the enemy forces to within a given range so that there's less of a nasty surprise in how much you're outnumbered by?

[The Soldier]

7 minutes ago, kjchan said:

1) I get that weapon scaling is no longer a thing, but what did you mean by the phrase "limits set by the Armory value listed in Intelligence Screen"?

By that, I mean that's just the maximum quality of weapons they can use.

9 minutes ago, kjchan said:

2) Did Intelligence Service effectively hard cap the enemy forces to within a given range so that there's less of a nasty surprise in how much you're outnumbered by?

Yes.

[kjchan]

Thanks!

[Samuel Smith]

what game is this for?

[The Soldier]

48 minutes ago, Samuel Smith said:

what game is this for?

Ultimate General: Civil War.  Is it not listed at the top  at the directory?

[kjchan]

Ooh Soldier I thought of another question on unit scaling.  Say, I decide to play for a draw and go into a defensive posture, and in doing so inflict huge casualties on the other side.  But at the end of the battle, the victory conditions are a draw.

Is the unit scaling for the next battle influenced by the fact that I drew, or by how many casualties I inflicted on them?

[The Soldier]

The casualties you inflicted.  Depending on how many you killed (for example, I killed 15k Rebels at Siege of Suffolk), the enemy will experience a decrease in their Manpower, Experience, and Armory.  I've been keeping the rebels armed with low-quality rifles and low veterancy troops, I've been killing so many of them by time of Chancellorsville.

[Hitorishizuka]

24 minutes ago, The Soldier said:

The casualties you inflicted.  Depending on how many you killed (for example, I killed 15k Rebels at Siege of Suffolk), the enemy will experience a decrease in their Manpower, Experience, and Armory.  I've been keeping the rebels armed with low-quality rifles and low veterancy troops, I've been killing so many of them by time of Chancellorsville.

Caveat being there's some other factor that influences whether the Union army gets a shot in the arm in some other stat post battle. I haven't played around with it too much yet but my suspicion is that if you kill them too hard, the game will try to balance that out by bumping their armory or training stats to compensate.

[The Soldier]

Playing against the Confederates, I've only seen them get one Armory boost, and even then only after Malvern Hill.  I even killed 50,000 of them at Stones River and they didn't get an Armory boost after that.  Not sure about playing against the Union.

[A. P. Hill]

I just finished Antietam as CSA, beat the blue bellies finally, they are dropping Harpers ferries, to the tune of 11k.  The best weapon my boys were using was the Lorenz, basically scattered throughout 4 corps most are outfitted with early model Springfields. 

[Meagre Heart]

3 hours ago, A. P. Hill said:

I just finished Antietam as CSA, beat the blue bellies finally, they are dropping Harpers ferries, to the tune of 11k.  The best weapon my boys were using was the Lorenz, basically scattered throughout 4 corps most are outfitted with early model Springfields. 

I've often wondered about how the behind-the-scenes mechanics work, but I've been supposing that the % indicator on the armory tab simply modifies what they have available, much like the game already does for the player. You know how the armory updates and refreshes it's stock after each major battle? I presume that the ai has a similar arsenal of weapons to choose from with similar limits. That way you may fight a few brigades with '55s, but others with Farmers.

[Hitorishizuka]

32 minutes ago, The Soldier said:

Playing against the Confederates, I've only seen them get one Armory boost, and even then only after Malvern Hill.  I even killed 50,000 of them at Stones River and they didn't get an Armory boost after that.  Not sure about playing against the Union.

I don't know what controls it, whether it's % based or only in reaction as a conditional or what. I played CSA Cold Harbor out a couple times with either a quick phase 1 victory or grinding through half their troops in phase 3. Phase 1 I barely killed any of them and they didn't get an adjustment. Phase 3 I wiped half their army and they got an armory boost.

[maniacalpenny]

21 hours ago, Hitorishizuka said:

I don't know what controls it, whether it's % based or only in reaction as a conditional or what. I played CSA Cold Harbor out a couple times with either a quick phase 1 victory or grinding through half their troops in phase 3. Phase 1 I barely killed any of them and they didn't get an adjustment. Phase 3 I wiped half their army and they got an armory boost.

I think some of it is random but it tends to give the computer bigger and better boosts when you inflict more casualties. It seems to be tuned so that a past a certain amount of damage it will compensate the AI a certain amount based on what it lost, but to make it more powerful than if you were to have inflicted less casualties.

If this is the case then I think its a good balance, but unless someone does a comprehensive study or the devs let us know, we may never know for sure.