Rethinking how war works

[vcczar]

2 hours ago, matthewyoung123 said:

Thanks for the comments and kudos!  Much appreciated.

There are several politicians in the game who were killed or died in combat.  There are several who died in the Civil War in their 20's, 30's, and 40's (and have Frail as a result).  Also, remember George Washington narrowly escaped being killed in combat himself more than once.  I want to find a balance between "all my military guys are dead" and "none of my guys are in danger of being killed."  Ideally, military guys are on the line, and there is a chance to lose them, but also a chance for gains.  Sort of like the retirement/death phase of the game, only my phase is only enacted in major wars.  I plan on playing with that whole concept of all hands on deck when we play the next round of military in my 1772 play through.  We already know that a great deal of the political rules WORK, but there are a few new things to try.

Good question about the French alliance.  If you think back historically, there may not be another instance where once alliance won us the war, but alliances could have lost us one.  In the War of 1812- we were "de-facto" allies with Napoleon as we were both fighting the British, but we had been in a "Quasi-War" with France in the previous decade.  Mexican War was a Western Hemisphere thing, and I believe it was really our intent to try and keep European powers out of it.  Now, for the Civil War, if the Confederacy manages to get the British or the French or both to ally with them, then it's likely game over for the Union and they have to come to peace terms with the South.  That would be an interesting twist!  

So when we started the 1840 game, I asked a number of questions that there weren't any answers for yet, and I don't think have been answered.  When the "big" Civil War happens, what happens to all the politicians from Southern states?  Do they disappear?  Do they "sleep" until the war is over if the Union wins?  I know there is a Southern Unionist trait, so I think those players still remain active.  Will all the states that seceded do so historically, or is there a chance that say, Virginia doesn't leave?  Or, do Missouri and Kentucky officially leave and join the South?  Or what if the President doesn't call for 75,000 volunteers after Sumpter and just asks that the Upper South stay out of the conflict while promising to maintain slavery in the nation?  Could a player play AS the Confederacy with the politicians that they have (same basic setup we have now, but with only Southern politicians/generals being used)?  Using my setup of "all hands", factions would take a double beating in the Civil War since their factions are literally at war with each other.  That would help to make it more impactful AND have real consequences for players. And I know this is a political and diplomacy game, but the ULTIMATE extension of both of those things is WAR.

Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things that may need to be adjusted for the American Civil War.  First, for the Civil War, I think you need more generals somehow.  The regular US Army in 1861 was about 26,000 men.  By 1863, there were 53,000 casualties in one battle (Gettysburg).  Maybe a solution here is to have "brevet" generals for factions.  I'm just thinking out loud here, stream of conscious like!  Or maybe my "all hands" idea is good enough...I don't know.  Secondly, US Ambassadors during the Civil War need a more specific mission...like keep the UK & France out of the war!  Third, how will we militarily represent native tribes, or do we want to do that at all? Just some food for thought.  Thanks again.

I added a new rule that gives a chance of +1 mil and celebrity to a non-office holding politician with at least 1 mil ability for difficult battles in major wars. I think that's about as much general/admiral expansion I'm willing to do at this point. 

Somewhere I believe I have rules for the Southern Unionists. They can come back into the game, but I forget if the rule is that Reconstruction ends if they have to be pardoned. I think it's the latter. "Pardon all confederates except the President and General in Chief" or something like that. 

@MrPotatoTed mentions getting rid of Southern Unionist and changing the rule to Moderate Southerners, but the issue is that Andrew Johnson isn't moderate. I think what I'll need to do is see all the Southern Unionists I have in the game currently and then see which states they're from and then think of some system that allows a historical number of them to stay in the game. 

Overall, the military part of the game is sort of a side show for AMPU, so any major development in this part of the game will have to wait until the game is out. If there's a ton of demand, then maybe Anthony can be pressured to create a kind of DLC for it (hopefully, free).