New Gameplay Video (16th Feb)

[ToeAndno]

As posted on TWC forums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q29E...layer_embedded

[The Blind Samurai]

nice find

[hoom]

That general got spanked by the cannon...

[bscssc]

Good find.
I wonder if that explosion was a special set piece for the scenario or if you can really touch off the enemy's powder in battle.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Arty looks and sounds really meaty. I like it!

Why did the Prussians deploy in thick columns?

And this gets to where I think unlimited ammo for arty is silly. If one side ran out of ammo, the battle could be forced...

[hoom]

Yeah, it would be pretty cool if the ammo can blow up like that very occasionally/if someone is stupid with their cannon.

[TB666]

Why did the Prussians deploy in thick columns?

Well someone from TWC stated that they did it to display force and to intimidate the french.

[PanzerJaeger]

This game is looking less and less promising with each new video....

[Greyblades]

Two questions.
1. Why are there Russian (I think its Russian) subtitles? I would have expected that an English speaking based game developer would release these for English speakers.
2. Also what happened to the usual narrator?

[Megas Methuselah]

Kool, the French Revolutionists!

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Well someone from TWC stated that they did it to display force and to intimidate the french.

Historically?

[Wausser]

The battle of Valmy, the first victory for revolutionary France

[knoddy]

i have to admit this doesnt instill me with confidence, the fact that the infantry wouldnt even advance against cannons. if this is how the game plays out all the time most battles will be incredibly boring....i really hope this was just made so we could see artillery in action and see their power.

[Megas Methuselah]

Well someone from TWC stated that they did it to display force and to intimidate the french.

Doubt it. Apparently, CA came up with the idea that a charge made in columns will be more deadly than one made in thin lines.

Historically?

[Wausser]

Historically, the Prussians did charge in collums

[TB666]

Historically?

Yes.
However it didn't really work in this battle.

[Megas Methuselah]

Learn something new everyday...

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

My question is did this happen in the video because it was a historical battle or because the AI thought it was a good idea? Because it really wasn't (and the AI should be smart enough to see that columns into arty fire is a terrible idea).

[TB666]

Well it's a historical battle from what I understood so the AI is no doubt scripted to behave in such a fashion.
If not then I suppose that it's a cool thing that they have added historical tactics used by certain factions.
Of course the real question is, where did they find this video ??

[Incongruous]

i have to admit this doesnt instill me with confidence, the fact that the infantry wouldnt even advance against cannons. if this is how the game plays out all the time most battles will be incredibly boring....i really hope this was just made so we could see artillery in action and see their power.

Scripted reconstruction of Valmy.

[Freakk]

i have to admit this doesnt instill me with confidence, the fact that the infantry wouldnt even advance against cannons. if this is how the game plays out all the time most battles will be incredibly boring....i really hope this was just made so we could see artillery in action and see their power.

I don't think infantry will not advance against cannons in the real game. I believe it was just made to look like that in this video so that the battle would follow the accuracy of what historically happened. If you watch towards the end of the video, the Prussian infantry is pulled back by a player.

[USS Providence 1972]

Great, thanks for posting. This game will certainly require new tactics. Neither side had their attackers set on loose formation to minimize artillery damage and neither tried to flank the enemy. Frontal attacks into artillery are going to be ugly.

I wonder if your artillery automatically changes to grape when the enemy is close like they did with the initial cavalry charge or if you have to do it manually.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I hope many battles in ETW are like this, the fight-to-the-death battles of previous TW games where the loser was annihilated were not very realistic.

[Discoman]

Well considering there will be less armies I'd imagine more battles will play out like this. I think its a good thing, at least for the 'unit naming system' considering it would be a useless feature if 100 armies were all over the map.

[NagatsukaShumi]

As people have pointed out, you really cannot be critical of the game using that video. Why would a commentator describe the Battle of Valmy if it was just some random battle between Prussian and Rev. French armies?

It was either scripted, or a multiplayer battle deliberately engineered to turn out the way it did.

If I was to comment at anything presuming it was a simple battle with no scripting etc it would be that its nice to see the cavalry charge get decimated by cannon from close range.

[ratbarf]

i have to admit this doesnt instill me with confidence, the fact that the infantry wouldnt even advance against cannons.

If you look carefully you'll notice that the only unit that was actually routed, (ie white flag a flashin) was the general in the first cavalry charge. All others simply turned back without an actual route.

[Sol Invictus]

It is definately scripted to play out as the Battle of Valmy did historically. The battle was really just a long-range Artillery duel.

[ekKstRa]

first game that (i know of) i seen using muskets
pretty cool

[CBR]

A rather odd battle to use as a showcase for the ETW engine. At least it seems artillery can hand out some heavy losses to cavalry charging into it.

The Prussians did not charge in columns. They advanced towards the French line but never got closer than around 600 meters. With less than 200 casualties in total it certainly was not heavy losses from artillery that made them pull back.


CBR

[Spino]

This game is looking less and less promising with each new video....

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Doubt it. Apparently, CA came up with the idea that a charge made in columns will be more deadly than one made in thin lines.

I hate to break it to you but that was a widely accepted fact at the time. Thanks to its much greater depth in rows a column had a much greater chance of charging and beating an enemy deployed in line or square formation. Line formations were only good for maximizing firepower, their main drawbacks being lack of maneuverability, slower travel speed and extreme vulnerability to disruption and flanking maneuvers. Historically speaking deeper formations provide greater offensive melee strength, this same logic allowed the Thebans to beat the Spartans at Leuctra.

Columns may be more vulnerable to artillery and musket fire but they move much faster than line formations and can change direction and deploy into various formations must faster. Traveling long distances over a battlefield whilst deployed in line formation and under fire often left a unit disrupted and in disarray by the time it reached its destination.