Cossacks 2?

Would this game be worth getting? I am currently going through a huge Napoleonic phase, and I was wondering how historically accurate this game was and what it was like.

How does the campaign mode work, etc, etc

Any help would be good!

Thanks.

The campagin mode is similar to TW. IE you have a map of europe, use turns, move armies around said map, build structures on the campagin map. However it's like the campagin in Dawn of War: Dark crusade in some respects. That is you have 1 army led by your hero. You choose your hero however at the campagin start. There is a wide selection of heroes. Starting with that nations soveregin (with the exception of Britain) and many leading generals and politicians from the day. The hero levels up after battles and can then recruit more regiments/squadrons to his army. The campagin battles are some what like a total war one. You don't build base structures, you do build them however in skirmish/multiplayer. What your hero has on the campagin map is it. And you'll need to take/keep supply villages so your men have enough metal and coal (the resources that provide powder and shot) to fight. I won more than one battle because I took the coal mines and the enemy ran out of powder and with drew.


Historical accuracy is debatable. In C2 more than a few Napoleonic buffs claimed the combat was too slow for the period (in tems of movement speed of the foot troops and reload times). This was addressed in the exapnsion, Battle for europe. Movement and reload were made faster. But to me it always felt like a Napoleonic battle. For units it was mostly accurate. With a few exceptions. The biggest being that foot guards were left out totally in C2. IE the French couldn't train the Old Guard. However guard cavalry was left in. Like French Mamluks, Carabiners, and mounted grenadiers. The expamsion also adressed this. They added a totally new class of infantry (adding to the skirmisher, militia, line, light, and grenadier) and cavalry (hussar, light dragoon, heavy dragoon, cuirasur, and lancers), guard units. But most didn't have unique skins. Also some units were modified from what they actually were for game ballance purposes. The two best examples being Polish Krakuse and Black sea Cossacks. Both were historically light horse units. But for the game were made into weak heavy cavalry.

It was ok. But not good.

Main issue was units just sitting on each other in a big mass.

Oh, and it should have been 3d.

So lars, you are saying that I should buy the expansion if I buy the game?

CDV doesn't do traditional expansions. They release all expansions as stand alones. You only need to buy the expansion. You get many much needed bug fixes, guard class troops, and 8 nations to choose from.

I bought Cossacks II when it first came out. I had a great interest in the Napoleonic history period. I enjoyed the game at the time. However, my advice is:

Pros

Nice historical game.

Can be fun.

Refreshing Napoleonic feel to it.

Cons

If you are going to buy it, get the Stand alone expansion as mentioned above.

Beware it was an old looking game when it came out, and now it still will be.

The battles can get tedious and long winded.

Games like Total War, Civilization 4 and others seems a lot better.

If you really are a fan of the Napoleonic Wars, then also look into Imperial Glory. Whatever people say about it, there is nothing wrong with it. I personally think Imperial Glory has the slight edge over Cossacks II, being a bigger game overall, not to mention having better graphics.

Oh and another thing, Cossacks II has decent multiplayer, though beware the games take a long time!