7YW Ist Impression/comments

[TheGrayMouser]

Just installed, poked a round a bit,  looks really nice!

Just two things stood out:


Some Cossacks armed with "Longbows"   A Rename to bows would likely be better :)

What !!?,  No armor value for Cuirassiers?  ( I know the Prussian actually wore it, not sure if Austrians did...)
It would be nice to have such detail,(always wanted it for the Nap series) especially since the P&S engine allows it,  plus a value of 1 shouldn't be too upsetting to any balance issues.

Cant wait to start playing, the recommended phase based play will take some getting used to but I did enjoy it long ago with the Talonsoft Nap versions, although they had a cavalry charge phase for some reason removed in JT's games ( as well as JT's own un-official patch that had a cavalry COUNTER charge phase)   Be nice to have those back..

(Hope the next game in the series is TGNW , putting in my "vote now")

Cheers!

[Gary McClellan]

I'll check the "longbow" thing. Should be an easy fix, though it won't get patched in for a bit. (There will likely be a fix for some other stuff soonish, but I doubt this would make it into that.)

Armor, I'll have to give that one lots of thought, and dig deeper into the mechanics of the engine. My big concern is "for game terms, how effective is the armor, really?"

What I mean is this. Most of the rider is unarmored (head, arms, legs) as well as the horse (those days are long past also.) So, the Cuirass could certainly be a lifesaver, but putting armor onto someone in the engine creates a bunch of knock-on effects. I'll throw it at Rich White who understands that part of the engine better. Certainly not a change that would be seen soon.

[TheGrayMouser]

I'll check the "longbow" thing.  Should be an easy fix, though it won't get patched in for a bit. (There will likely be a fix for some other stuff soonish, but I doubt this would make it into that.)

Armor, I'll have to give that one lots of thought, and dig deeper into the mechanics of the engine.  My big concern is "for game terms, how effective is the armor, really?"  

What I mean is this.  Most of the rider is unarmored (head, arms, legs) as well as the horse (those days are long past also.)  So, the Cuirass could certainly be a lifesaver, but putting armor onto someone in the engine creates a bunch of knock-on effects.  I throw it at Rich White who understands that part of the engine better.  Certainly not a change that would be seen soon.

HI, unless something has changed from the Ren engine, each point Ie 1, 2 etc)  reduces melee and fire casualties by 10% per point.  The Ren game had full armed knights in the earliest scenarios with a value of 4, then reduced to 3 in mid 16thc scenarios( I suppose to take into account no more horse barding)  most "reiter" types had 2 or 1. 
For this time period a value of 1 would likely be appropriate imho.

Based on the PDT weapons charts, it looks like values for firing versus armored/not armored are in there  ( they just are all the same value which would be fine)   It looks likes all the data fields remain the same in the OOB's,  it would just mean inserting a non zero value for armor in data lines  OOB  for the somewhat few troops that wear the curriass(1 data field to the left of the unit melee bonus value)

[geoff]

"Some Cossacks armed with "Longbows" A Rename to bows would likely be better :)"

I would hazard to say that absolutely no units were armed with bows during the mid 18th century. Cossacks typically had lances, sabers, and pistols. They could also be armed with muskets.
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Main_Page - this is an excellent resource I'm sure anyone interested in the war would know about.
I was playing EAW French and Indian War a few months ago and wished someone would make a European Seven Years War game. Didn't even know this was in development. Thanks for your work.

I'd say cuirasses were ornamental at this time and shouldn't benefit the unit through an armor value. Unless it could be localised to defense against blades and pistol fire (as in melee). Technically, all cavalry should be "armored" against firearms because they can simply ride out of actual musket shot within 10 seconds. Casual YouGoIGo doesn't reflect basic realism though.

[Gary McClellan]

This units listed as archer are actually Kalmucks, but as with many of these things, it's a bit more complex than my first post.

It was common for them to be bow-armed, but at least Kronoskaf indicates the ones with the army may not have carried their bows. Hrms. I'll have to recheck all my sources.

http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?t...ga_Kalmyks

[TheGrayMouser]

"Some Cossacks armed with "Longbows"   A Rename to bows would likely be better :)"

I would hazard to say that absolutely no units were armed with bows during the mid 18th century. Cossacks typically had lances, sabers, and pistols. They could also be armed with muskets.
http://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/index.php?title=Main_Page - this is an excellent resource I'm sure anyone interested in the war would know about.
I was playing EAW French and Indian War a few months ago and wished someone would make a European Seven Years War game. Didn't even know this was in development. Thanks for your work.

I'd say cuirasses were ornamental at this time and shouldn't benefit the unit through an armor value. Unless it could be localised to defense against blades and pistol fire (as in melee). Technically, all cavalry should be "armored" against firearms because they can simply ride out of actual musket shot within 10 seconds. Casual YouGoIGo doesn't reflect basic realism though.

I highly doubt they were just ornamental.  Consider that a breastplate and helmet were petty darn good protection for much of the history of cavalry ( Fredericks Kuirassiers would have been better armored than Alexanders companions, and pretty much equal to Cromwells Ironsides.)  I believe the breastplates were much heavier too (thicker perhaps to void shot?) , than they were in Napoleonic times but I get your point about the fire effectiveness.  However, 10 % is not so much considering the murderous casualties horse receives from infantry volleys in this game!

I hope the bow armed Kalmucks remain in game,  adds some flavor but their shooting possibly should not be on par with carbines...or perhaps give it "the no bayonets" flag.

[geoff]

Flavor is a definite bonus even if it maybe "ahistorical". Both of your points are valid.