Cossacks 2: Napoleonic wars review and screenshots

[Leet Eriksson]

Ah thanks a load lars

here are the egypt pics as i promised (i'll put up the russians and prussians later on). well kinda unit pics

Tauregs, they have the strongest attack in the game, 2 of them are seen here routing a unit of musketeers:



Light cavalry just recently raided a village and routing another unit of musketeers, Light Cavalry use pistols, which have terrible range, but it allows them to shoot twice, good when you charge them and order them to shoot:



Janissaries, Archers and Yataghans:

Janissaries are the light infantry of Egypt:



Archers are Egypts "grenadier" seeing as how they are the only foot unit thats able to destroy buildings (besides artillery), they also have a decent melee attack, but their low health makes them not that great in hand to hand.



Yataghans are one of the 2 melee only units in the game, the other one is the Homeguard for russia, both are pretty similiar in stats and functions:



Bedouins preparing to raid a village, they are the only egyptian cavalry that carry a carbine rifle:



Mamelukes, one of the three best heavy cavalry in the game, only preceded by Mounted Guards and Black Sea Cossacks, they also use double-shot pistol like the light cavalry:



Thats about it for egypts combat units. I'll try and get me Russian or Prussian unit screens soon.

[lars573]

What really bug me about Egyptian archers are that they can only use column formation.

[Leet Eriksson]

I think its becuase they use arrows, they do not lose their lethality with range, so its kinda pointless to put them in different formations. Oh yeah and they are tireless, so you can rapidly deploy them anywhere.

[Kraxis]

Must say that the Egyptians look interesting. Different units and style... Like it... Like it a lot.

Anyway, I take it that the number just below the picture means the HP. So I wonder why you would consider the archers so weak while the Tuaregs are even weaker.

[lars573]

The number below the picture in the unit card is their morale level. HP doesn't really enter into the game much.

[Leet Eriksson]

yeah as lars said, its the morale, you'll notice a small tab in the units picture called info, if you click it, it displays the units stats and some historical snippets.

The tuaregs HP is 100, compared to the archers hp which is 60.

[lars573]

I just fixed my C2 game today and found that The green bar on the left is their HP level.

[SpencerH]

I tried Cossacks 2, but couldnt make it through the tutorials. As far as I can tell, this is a standard RTS- collect stuff, build houses, build armies. Attack. Lots of clicking. Lots of micromanagement of trivial stuff. Do I really need to decide where the barracks goes while busy defending my town? Planting charges to destroy a blockhouse was a nightmare!

Some of the combat elements were good but so far as Napoleanic TW goes, I'll have to wait.

This one gets a 3/5.

EDIT: uninstalled it

[Mikeus Caesar]

I'm currently downloading the demo for it (65%, nearly there!) and if it meets my incredibly high standards of approval (wow, they have big cannons! I must buy this game!) then i'll get it.

[lars573]

I tried Cossacks 2, but couldnt make it through the tutorials. As far as I can tell, this is a standard RTS- collect stuff, build houses, build armies. Attack. Lots of clicking. Lots of micromanagement of trivial stuff. Do I really need to decide where the barracks goes while busy defending my town? Planting charges to destroy a blockhouse was a nightmare!

Some of the combat elements were good but so far as Napoleanic TW goes, I'll have to wait.

This one gets a 3/5.

EDIT: uninstalled it

Meh, tutorials suck it's a rule. I haven't played a game yet where the tutorial didn't blow. You should've jumped off the deep end right into a skirmish game and gotten your ass handed to you once or twice by the AI. When I got C1 that's what happened to me. Train 100 peasants and put 50 on to both wood and stone gathering then trian 480 musketmen to make 4 units send 2 to capture more resource villages (2 of each kind is best) and the other 2 protect your town and you need little in the way of micromanagement.

[SpencerH]

Meh, tutorials suck it's a rule. I haven't played a game yet where the tutorial didn't blow. You should've jumped off the deep end right into a skirmish game and gotten your ass handed to you once or twice by the AI. When I got C1 that's what happened to me.

I tried to enter the campaign and was forced to do the tutorial. I agree that games and tutorials can be substantially different. In this case though, the flavour of the game came through. It's a standard RTS. The only reason the AI would've beaten me is because (as with most RTS) I would've spent too much time trying to use the unwieldy system to control so many units while maintaining production.

Train 100 peasants and put 50 on to both wood and stone gathering then trian 480 musketmen to make 4 units send 2 to capture more resource villages (2 of each kind is best) and the other 2 protect your town and you need little in the way of micromanagement.

If thats the case then why bother with the whole peasant/gathering portion of the game. I was hoping to re-fight the napoleonic wars, not worry about how much iron my peasants had mined or whether and where to build a blockhouse.

RoN is miles beyond this game.

[Efrem]

Don't be rediculous, If you'd waited and actually played a skirmish game you would see how off the mark your comments are.

You capture a villiage and it automattically makes resources... How the hell is that micro managment????????

There are reality only 2 resources you gather in typical sense and all you have to do for them is through 50 on a resource and leave them there for the rest of the game, Doesn't sound like micromanagemnt to me.

90% of Cossacks 2 is spent manouvering forces for battle, 8% building things which is a simple click and ignore it then after. 2% is spent making sure your resources aren't gonna run out on you, in which case there isn't much you can do as the process is so streamlined.

[lars573]

I tried to enter the campaign and was forced to do the tutorial. I agree that games and tutorials can be substantially different. In this case though, the flavour of the game came through. It's a standard RTS. The only reason the AI would've beaten me is because (as with most RTS) I would've spent too much time trying to use the unwieldy system to control so many units while maintaining production.

First off there is no campagin just the tutorial. The single player is the battle for europe mode. Skirmish is the best way to learn the ins and outs of the game. Second it's not a standard RTS. But Efrem already said how.

If thats the case then why bother with the whole peasant/gathering portion of the game. I was hoping to re-fight the napoleonic wars, not worry about how much iron my peasants had mined or whether and where to build a blockhouse.

RoN is miles beyond this game.

Which after you get your economy set you can. And believe me in the right cercumstances a blockhouse is a god send.

[Cheetah]

I have tried the demo and I have to say that I like the feeling of the game (which is a lot since generaly I dont like RTS games too much, last ones I played were AOE, the very first, and warcraft I and II). Also I have to agree with Laars and Efrem that the resource gathering is different, more logical and simplified, even though I would have got rid of the stone and wood gathering part of it, IMO it adds nothing to the game.

I very much like the fact that there is fatigue, morale, limited ammo, considerable reload time, etc. Also unit experience and position (flanking, rear attack) are also very important which is an other good thing.

However, I think that there is one major weakness of the game, perhaps not surprisingly the AI. While head on it can be challanging and sometimes even outright impossible to beat, it becomes helpless when it comes to protect its rear and its resources. In the skrimish battle I conquered the AI villages one by one with a single battalion of fusiliers and the AI did nothing! It kept throwing his units against my prepared defenses without sending a single unit to protect its resources! Of course the predictable outcome is that it ended up boxed up in the upper right corner of the map around its barrack with dozen of useless, out of ammo battalions.

If the AI behaviour is the same in game (and why should it be different?) then IMO the SP part of the game is close to useless, despite of the more or less realistic and highly welcomed morale, fatigue, ammo system.

[SpencerH]

Don't be rediculous, If you'd waited and actually played a skirmish game you would see how off the mark your comments are.

You capture a villiage and it automattically makes resources... How the hell is that micro managment????????

There are reality only 2 resources you gather in typical sense and all you have to do for them is through 50 on a resource and leave them there for the rest of the game, Doesn't sound like micromanagemnt to me.

90% of Cossacks 2 is spent manouvering forces for battle, 8% building things which is a simple click and ignore it then after. 2% is spent making sure your resources aren't gonna run out on you, in which case there isn't much you can do as the process is so streamlined.

If I have to tell workers where to go, what to build, what to gather, etc then its micromanagment. If workers are set and forget then whats the point of including them? Either way, managing resource gathering is a critical component of a typical RTS. From previous comments, I didnt expect this game to be a typical RTS (and it is).

[SpencerH]

First off there is no campagin just the tutorial. The single player is the battle for europe mode. Skirmish is the best way to learn the ins and outs of the game.

Since I've uninstalled it I cant check for error. Are you telling me that the first "button" on the main screen wasnt "campaign" or "european campaign" etc?

Second it's not a standard RTS. But Efrem already said how.

What Efrem said in no way changes that what I played is a standard RTS. The fact that it has more complex combat components such as morale and fatigue in no way changes that. So long as you have to manage resources in 'real time' that will be the most important component to victory i.e you have to build fast while disrupting the AI's ability to build- it's standard RTS strategy.

Which after you get your economy set you can. And believe me in the right cercumstances a blockhouse is a god send.

So is building towers and castles in AoE2.

[lars573]

Since I've uninstalled it I cant check for error. Are you telling me that the first "button" on the main screen wasnt "campaign" or "european campaign" etc?

Not having a screen of the main menu handy it goes,

Campagin -the tutorials
battle for europe -not sure if this is the actual title or not but this is the single player game
battle/save load -this is the skirmish game and where you play the historical battles like Austerlitz, Jenna, Ulm and others.
Multiplayer
options

If you really don't like more standard RTS style then try the battles or the european conquest mode. But since you uninstalled then I'm just talking to hear myself talk. The battles are like the one off battles from RTW except they have video clips of re-enactors and art to give the battle set up.

[Efrem]

What Efrem said in no way changes that what I played is a standard RTS. The fact that it has more complex combat components such as morale and fatigue in no way changes that. So long as you have to manage resources in 'real time' that will be the most important component to victory i.e you have to build fast while disrupting the AI's ability to build- it's standard RTS strategy.

But thats not the stratagy!!!!!!!

Its not how quickly you build Its how you use your units with flanking and stuff. Cossacks 2 is absoultly nothing like a standard RTS. The Economy is basically non existant FFS.

So long as you have to manage resources in 'real time' that will be the most important component to victory

IT BLOODY WELL ISN'T. The most important component of victory in C2 is how you manage your units in battle.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Efrem, calm down dear, it's only a comment. No need to get all worked up over a game. Anyway, i downloaded the demo, and it's soooo fun!! I just about managed to get through the tutorial without going mad, but only had one question. Why did Officer Ferguson have an american accent when he was british? Apart from that, a damn fun game. I went into the Dangerous Neighbours map, and found out that you have to be quick in this game, as it quickly became a large free for all in a village outside of my town. Me and the enemy just kept pouring men into the giant meatgrinder that was supposed to be a battle. It went on like that for about half an hour, before i broke through enemy lines and started kicking butt.

[lars573]

That has to do with the who made it. CDV the publisher is German and the developer GSC gameworld is Ukrainian. In cossacks 1 the peasants responded in Ukrainian, in American conquest they said nothing at all. In C2 they broke down and got a few Germans who speak north american English to do the voice overs for the English version.

[UglyandHasty]

Can anyone give me a link where i can get that demo please ? I'd like to give that game a shot...

[lars573]

http://cossacks.heavengames.com/

Beings you warneds though it's about 450 odd megs. The second news post under patch release.

[UglyandHasty]

thanks lars !

[Adrian II]

I bought Cossacks II yesterday and I am impressed. I admit I have not played much else beside S:TW(MI) and M:TW(VI) in the past -- just some silly shooters and build & be done games that my kids managed to wrangle in the supermarket. Age of Empires was boring at first sight, Alexander was better and Stronghold 2 with its wry humour and attention to historical detail looks appealing but is tactically weak.

Cossacks II finally looks good enough to warrant some late night and early morning adult attention. The tutorial was very easy and clear, the interfaces are efficient, and historical detail is respected where it is most necessary: in the right 'feel' of late 18th and early 19th century line tactics. The first time I marched a column of grognards up a mountain pass and put them in Hold Ground formation, I was delighted to see some of them veer off into a nearby farm to forage, take a leak or tickle the local peasant girls.

The tactical handling of a single squadron feels good: I love the dynamics of marching and maneuvering, finding the right position, angle and time to bring my muskets to bear, minding morale whilst charging or reloading under enemy fire, the contrast between the slow, methodical movement of infantry and quicksilver cavalry charges.

The range of gun and musket fire could have been a bit longer, and the impact a little less, so as to make for more drawn-out engagements. Cavalry is a tad too fast, but I love the way they run through enemy lines once these have been sufficiently thinned. I will try my hand at larger formations later today or during the weekend. Austerlitz most likely, since we have just celebrated its 200th anniversary.

Resource management is integral to the game, yet quite simple and easy to handle as long as you don't lose track of it. That's elementary logistics for you; it was part and parcel of all maneuvers, and one of the reasons why Napoleon conquered most of Europe was that he was a past master at it. Logistics could have been restricted to an abstract (for instance a separate control panel), but the developers have chosen to integrate it visually by introducing mills, peasants and pack horses. This serves to lend it a certian realism, in the sense that you have to build, gather resources and set up supply routes whilst chipping away at those of the enemy.

As Efrem wrote above, you can put 100 peasants to work at the start of the game and let your conquests of neighbouring enemy villages take care of any future shortages. However if the enemy conquers your assets, you're done for, basically, because you run out of food and shot. Welcome to the world of actions and consequences.

Now I have a question for those who already play the game: what is the best support and discussion forum for Cossacks II?

[TheSilverKnight]

Now I have a question for those who already play the game: what is the best support and discussion forum for Cossacks II?

The best discussion forum, IMO, is the official forum run by CDV/GSC. Here's the link, Almighty Red Inquisitor...

http://www.cdv-board.de/english/foru...php?forumid=58

Here you go. Enjoy!

[Adrian II]

The best discussion forum, IMO, is the official forum run by CDV/GSC. Here's the link, Almighty Red Inquisitor...

http://www.cdv-board.de/english/foru...php?forumid=58

Here you go. Enjoy!

Thank you, dear Brother TheSilverKnight. The cdv-board is a far cry from TosaInu's pleasure garden, but we will have to make do.

[Nelson]

I received this for Christmas and look forward to putting it through it's paces. Judging from the tutorial the morale works better then I expected.

[Adrian II]

I received this for Christmas and look forward to putting it through it's paces. Judging from the tutorial the morale works better then I expected.

Let's discuss this game as we go along, Nelson, and see what we can learn together. The Cossacks II forums are horrible (rockxor level) and not nearly as informative as I had hoped, there is little in the way of guides and strategic or tactical pointers. So I fear we are left to our own devices, my friend.

Yesterday I had the honour of leading His Imperial Majesty's troops against the French usurper in some Polish swamp. The Russian peasant hordes were a bit of a disappointment. They are armed with spears and practically useless in a unit to unit fight, unless the enemy unit's barrels are empty, it has been decimated by shot once or twice and its morale is low. The peasants are best used as a buffer between ranged units. Once the enemy has unloaded into the peasant unit and scattered it, one's own ranged unit can march up and fire at close range. Works wonders, and the surviving peasants have something to tell their grandchildren.

Fortunately His Majesty has decent musketeers as well as some excellent cavalry that enabled me to destroy the enemy's fiersome heavy artillery behind the lines. Sheer numbers then carried the day, havoc was wrought upon the remaining enemy squares.

Afterwards I played a skirmish titled 'Opposition Forces' which I found is good training for beginners like myself. I played the French against the Prussians in a very longdrawn campaign for the possession of villages and mills. Sadly, in the end I ran out of coal for no apparent reason and my units were able to fire only half-volleys. It turns out that I should have occupied a certain neighbouring village with attendant coal mine, instead of recklessly leaving it in enemy possession for most of the fight.

My conclusions so far:

1. The morale system of Cossacks II is a beaut. The morale of units depends on an initial bonus, battle experience, numbers lost, numbers of enemy killed, type of formation, time of sustained formation, number of empty or loaded barrels in the unit, position vis-a-vis enemy units, etcetera. After a while you can handle it intuitively, you don't have to calculate and look up any statistical tables to find out what is going on before your very eyes.

2. Logistics is a nice part of this game because its requirements change in the course of a campaign. In the beginning of a campaign when lots of new buildings must be established, wood and stone are in high demand. Later on, when a sustained offensive on enemy territory is required to secure victory, gold and coal are of the essence. As long as you mind your resources everything will run smoothly. No hiccups and bugs so far.

Keep me posted, Nelson!

[lars573]

You should both realize that it's next to impossible to get any where without cheating for resources. Not much just enough to get yourself going in the first 10 minutes.

And each nation has an undefined difficulty level both for playing against and as. For beginners like you, Adrian and Nelson, you should be fighting Egypt. In my experience the difficulty in facing AI armies from lowest to highest, Egypt, Russia, Austria, Britain, Prussia, France. For playing the easiest-hardest goes almost in reverse, France, Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Egypt. Egypt is so easy to face and hard to play because they have no morale boosting flag bearers. And their units have low in-born morale.

[Adrian II]

You should both realize that it's next to impossible to get any where without cheating for resources. Not much just enough to get yourself going in the first 10 minutes.

Thank you, Lars573. I will try to play without cheating first. Please accept that I hold nothing personal against you, it is just that I have seen too many cheating players become sloppy and missing out on the real fun. You could be right and I will fess up if and when I cheat.

For beginners like you, Adrian and Nelson, you should be fighting Egypt. In my experience the difficulty in facing AI armies from lowest to highest, Egypt, Russia, Austria, Britain, Prussia, France. For playing the easiest-hardest goes almost in reverse, France, Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Egypt.

Excellent advice. I have not started a campaign, but if I do, I will try my hand at France first.
Thanks again.