Ultimate General: Civil War │ J&P Mod │ v1.28 Features Overview

[@e.t.161]

Playing vanilla until now and I found this video before starting a game with a mod. Very useful.

[@gonzogamer8710]

I also review specific gameplay aspects at the start of each video in the Union campaign up to Shiloh. Even if you don't watch the battle itself, the info before each dives into some game mechanics that are helpful for new mod players. Good luck and enjoy! The mod is a set up in challenge from the base game.

[@e.t.161]

@@gonzogamer8710 Thanks for the info. I am cleaning the maps with Union now on Brig. Gen. difficulty in vanilla. Will on this for now in mod.

[@gonzogamer8710]

NOTE: The mod is now on version 1.28.4. The vast majority of the information in this video is still relevant. Some of the bigger updates in the past 4 revisions include: - The battles led bonus now tops out at 10 battles rather than 4. - 15% of the soldiers in the wounded pool die after each battle. - The game has a static mode that sets scaling based on the date of the war. - Numerous bug fixes, especially to the CSA campaign AI deployments. - Reorganizing the Config files with explanations - The AI default weapons for all difficulty levels are now the same as Legendary - There is also a "MG Light" difficulty setting (select MG in the campaign setup and it will ask if you want the light version). - If you have a masochist side or just feel that the game isn't punishing you enough, there is an "Optimize AI" mode in the AI Config File. This mode will align an AI unit's perks to its weapon. This mode is "OFF" (0) by default and is activated by changing the value to anything above 0, so .2 would optimize perks for 20% of the AI units.

[@byroncarter7172]

This game will never get old. Shout out to Jonny and Mr. Pandakraut! Downloaded, installed and ready to dive in!

[@pandakraut8594]

Thanks for putting this together!

[@mindbomb9341]

Are there extra battle maps and battles in this mod?

[@pandakraut8594]

@@mindbomb9341 Entirely new maps and battles, no. Impossible to mod in as far as I'm aware. The mod has redesigned several battles to play out very differently and many battles now feature partially randomized spawn locations for the ai so that they are less predictable.

[@gonzogamer8710]

NOTICE: Technical Inaccuracy - The first point in Training doesn't provide any stat increase, you get 1 trainable stat increase with 2 in training, 2 with 4 in training, 3 with 6 in training, 4 with 8 invested, and 5 with 10 points. The narration is correct, but the 3rd row of the chart should be shifted one place to the right.

[@juanmilano224]

Excellent!! now we need multiplayer. This game has a lot of competitiv potential.

[@MortgageMentorMike]

Thanks for your work on this, it is priceless! I love the changes and it makes for a new experience. Working on all the combinations of starting combinations and then the placement of career points will be fun/challenging. The impact of the weapons recovery and the new veterans pool will be another area to deal with. I look forward to seeing your attempts and especially your analysis with be of great help to me.

[@noobpie2]

Extremely informative breakdown, thanks for the great video!!

[@ObiKesnowbi]

How can I learn more about the mod mechanics. You mentioned a previous video I believe. Any good direction would be nice.

[@gonzogamer8710]

I am working on a series that focuses on game mechanics within the mod. I wanted to start posting a few weeks ago, but my real job has gotten in the way, so it has been delayed a bit. However, material should start being posted within the next few weeks. You can also drop into the discord channel to ask questions.

[@ObiKesnowbi]

@@gonzogamer8710 thanks

[@SomethingCompass]

Thank you for posting this detailed analysis. Most of the changes that I was hoping to see are here, and most of the glitchy exploits are gone. I am looking forward to seeing your next video, the Train Station has a rather unique surprise and I am interested in seeing your solution. - It looks like going all-in with max Training at the start is no longer a good idea. It seems that a balanced investment to get something in every Career skill in the early game is the way to play. Every skill is now important, and avoiding any one skill will have a downside. This is interesting for me because I never invested in Politics as the Union, but now even Politics is too good to avoid. I think the game design plan is to encourage players to level up all skills at about the same rate.

[@gonzogamer8710]

I have started recording and playing 1st Bull Run tonight. The battles are much less predictive because of the different spawn locations. I have no idea what is the "best" setup really. I will likely run several configurations up to Malvern and see how they shake out and find which one works best for my play style. I think it is important to get out of the penalty with both Recon and Logistics from the start and focus on career choice that provide benefit early. Training does next to nothing at the first camp, so things like Politics paired with Recon and Econ paired with Logistics are good early moves because getting weapons early on is tough without some combo of those four.

[@SomethingCompass]

@@gonzogamer8710 That is what it looked like to me too. My first attempt I went going all-in with Training, but after a few minutes in camp I realized that wasn't going to work, or at least max Training was not going to be as great as it was in the last version. I also agree that getting out of the penalty in recon and logistics is a good idea. Med also seems very important now, where before Med was only interesting when the player had a large army and a large number of experienced soldiers. This is a fun puzzle to solve.

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@SomethingCompass I did the same. Currently, I've started with Tactician/Cavalry/Politics then using my 2 points from Philippi on AO and LG. So that starts me with +4 Recon, +3 Pol, +2 Log, +2 AO, and +1 Econ. I'll starting getting training after BR and Shiloh.

[@drunteroffizier8445]

Thank you very much for providing this detailed informations so quickly after the new version release!!! What I can add is that the supply points don't provide unlimited ammo, you can check if there is ammo availiable by hovering your mouse above it. I only got an "Empty" pop up on phillipiwhere I did that late in the battle so I cannot tell yet how this information looks like if there is supply aviable but you have to check active to get this knowledge in comparison to a supply wagon where you get the blinking "Empty" signal! - to give you a number to compare (beside the calculations explained here!) for the weapon recovery rate from recon career points after the battle of phillipi (In this case cannons from intact Allied units after the Battle !) : with 0 points in recon I got 2 napoleons and 2 ordonance guns, - with 4 points in recon I got 4 of each one so keeping saves from the prior version to compare the numbers in your armory after the battles should help to learn and get used to the new one (At least it does for myself^^) !

[@gonzogamer8710]

- The supply depots have always worked that way. Philippi starts with 5k but whomever controls it uses it up quickly. So, the CSA units refill from it while they have the town, then your units start with whatever is left over. Often by phase 2 it is empty, but supply depots do not flash empty like wagons do. - I also have an excel sheet that I am using to track weapons recovery up through Malvern to get an idea of the different levels of recon.

[@drunteroffizier8445]

@@gonzogamer8710 Ok, I never paid enough attention to the supply depots before so thanx for this update! The complete list of Battles and Units (& AO point relation) you can deploy (for both sides!) is probably my personal highlight between all this infos! I hope a lot of players will step by and watch this Video!!!!

[@RahpaSmurf]

Fantastic overview of this excellent mod.

[@MoorishBandit]

This mod kicks my ass, it's so difficult hold back units that are twice your size and more experienced than you. Also the Spam out their skirmishers like crazy to the point of being a nuisance.

[@gonzogamer8710]

This mod has kicked everyone's ass. I know it is intended to be a "difficulty mod" but the majority of people find it a bit much. I would suggest using the AiConfigFile to adjust some of the settings down a bit to take the edge off.

[@diraska]

Great vid! Thanks! Question for the crowd: I have been on an older version of this mod and I found that the AI would mostly do a ‘full court press’ and just push troops at me so it is constant head on attacks. Has that changed? Does AI engage in more maneuvering?

[@diraska]

Also, AI does a ton of charging. Again, this is an older version of the mod.

[@gonzogamer8710]

The answer is both yes, and no. The mod does not directly change the AI itself. However, since the AI is constantly making calculations based on numerous factors, then changing those factors will result in the AI making different decisions to a degree. There are certain aspects of the game that this becomes very apparent with the latest mod version. For example, the AI is much better at protecting its artillery and supply wagons than in the past. It also does a much better job of deploying its smoothbores on the front. Keep in mind that the J&P mod is a difficulty mod and the most recent version is much harder than the base game for many different reasons. The base AI does an extremely poor job of managing its cavalry. It will sacrifice them early and often while attempting to do as much damage as possible. The AI still charges often and managing charges is really a big portion of being successful at the game. The reason for this is simple, the unit and commander perks for the Ai are randomly assigned which means it ends up with a little bit of everything. It will never be 100% melee, nor 100% accuracy but its base unit stats will often be much higher than the players in the first half of the campaign. On the other hand, the player gets to choose their perks and weapons and can build an army designed specifically to leverage accuracy or melee but will have less experienced (lower stat) units early on. Therefore, the best chance the AI has of winning is to break the players lines (reduce player condition and morale) by charging and routing the less experienced player units.

[@shawnphillips1876]

Really good overview, thank you for that. Do you have any tips or recommendations or hints? I'm playing on major general, CSA. Extremely difficult! Got annihilated at Fredericksburg. Too many generals getting killed, not really being able to build up experience in my brigade. It doesn't seem that medicine has a large effect. Any tips or hints for the CSA at Major general level would be amazing. In the Battle of Fredericksburg I only had two units that had two stars everything else one star or less. In contrary, brigade general was too easy and Major general is way too hard.

[@gonzogamer8710]

Thank you for the feedback, here are a couple of things: - The current version of the mod has only updated the battles through Antietam, so battles after that may have balance issues. I know Pandakraut finished up the Union through Fredericksburg a week ago and is updating the CSA currently so that next group of battles should be ready soon. - There is a much more pronounced difference between BG and MG in this recent version of the mod. The mod files exist to allow players to both customize and make in-between difficulties as their playing ability progresses - this has been a major discussion of late on the Discord for the mod - and you can change the mod files just for certain battles and put them back to base after. I'd start with the UnitScalingSizeMultiplier and UnitScalingExperienceMultiplier settings in the AIConfigFile and set them to .85 or .90. - If you have time to go to the Discord for the mod and post some questions, there are several people deep in the CSA campaign on both MG and LG that can offer more specific advice on the CSA. I've toyed with it through Shiloh to get a look but trying to finish Union before going back to CSA.

[@shawnphillips1876]

@@gonzogamer8710 thank you so much for that feedback. That makes a lot of sense. Bull run was moderate difficulty and Antietam was pretty hard but still won. Okay, thank you for that

[@shawnphillips1876]

In your playthrough, do you have an issue with a lot of your leaders or generals getting killed in battle? It doesn't seem that medicine makes much of a difference. I like the idea of battles fought by each leader, building experience of units, but most of them get shot after two or three battles.

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@shawnphillips1876 Although there is a randomness to the probability of an officer being killed or wounded, there is a direct correlation between how much damage a unit is receiving and how often an officer is killed/wounded. Melee CAV units go through officers like crazy if they are constantly charging into enemies that are not already routing. With that in mind, taking less damage results in fewer officers killed/wounded. In some grand battles it can't be avoided (Day 1 Shiloh as the Union for example) but fight from cover as much as possible and if a unit is taking high casualties or has poor condition pull them back and get them out of the action for a bit. At 10 in medicine the kill rate is reduced by .1 and the wound rate by .01, but I do not know the starting chance for killed/wounded. One reason I like having a high amount of training is for the replacement officer level increase - it's like buying insurance from my view point. I don't think I've ever lost a corps commander and losing a division commander is pretty rare, maybe 2 in an entire campaign. With brigade commanders I may lose 3 in one grand battle then none in the next one, it is random.

[@shawnphillips1876]

Ah that makes sense. I think what's happening is I'm playing a higher difficulty with CSA and even though I'm in cover, I'm taking a lot of damage which leads to losing more officers. Thank you for your detailed response :-)

[@projectlessweforget]

I just watched VTH Gaming's guide to install the mod but it's not the current version and I don't know how to get the updated version of the mod in this video

[@gonzogamer8710]

It should be close to what Chris has on VTH Gaming. His is for the Steam version, I have the GoG version. 1) Download the mod. 2) Whether it is steam or gog, locate the "Ultimate General Civil War_Data" folder on your computer. 3) You can extract the files, or drag/drop from the zip file. Regardless, the "Managed" and "Mod" folders will replace the same folders in the Ultimate General Civil War_Data" folder, and the "resources.assets" file will replace the one in that same root directory. Version 1.28 uses a "Data" folder located: Ultimate General Civil War_Data> Mod> Data that manages the veteran, wounded, and badly wounded pool. If the files in that folder are ever deleted, the related game saves will show 0 for all those resource pools, so I drag and drop the updates just so I don't accidently wipe them.

[@projectlessweforget]

@@gonzogamer8710 Thanks I'll try to follow the instructions since I'm not a computer person and if it proves to be too complicated for me I'll just leave it alone

[@noobpie2]

What is your sound setup? All the gunshots and explosions sound so good in these videos, bass is high

[@gonzogamer8710]

- That is something that I'm still trying to figure out myself! I use OBS Studio to capture game footage with sound. However, the sound quality is VERY different depending on what desktop audio device I've selected. When I select my laptop speakers it can sound a bit "tinny" and changing the equalizer settings doesn't improve it at all. I have some mid-quality JBS headphones, some cheap earbuds, and a set of iHip headphones and when using Bluetooth those make it sound normal. However, if I use the iHip headphones via analog aux cable the game sounds awesome - which is what I use for my recordings and I have no idea why it is so different. I'm not a sound guy, still learning. - I just bought a new gaming desktop because my 7 year old laptop is ready to retire, hope I can figure out the sound thing to ensure I get the same sound on it.

[@opuiyable]

It looks like unit HUD also can have a black outline to it. Any idea what that means? I haven't noticed it before but I can't find anything in the change logs about it

[@gonzogamer8710]

I believe that is part of the default for "dug in" where it has the darker outline and as time passes it fills in to look like a fortification type HUD.

[@opuiyable]

@@gonzogamer8710 Thanks for your reply. It doesn't quite seem to match on to digging in (I've seen it variably on constantly moving units and not on stationary ones) but I think you're probably right: it's most plausible it relates to entrenchment

[@jonber9411]

Is there any good players that are gonna post a playthrough with this new mod?? I am interested in watching. Preferably CSA campaign. Thanks for the summary!

[@gonzogamer8710]

- It depends on your definition of "good players" lol. I get my butt handed to me on LG, so I don't consider myself good, but I can find a way to win on MG most of the time. - There are many in-battle surprises so even the better players are trying to figure out ways to win, maybe not optimally or min/max, but win good enough to progress forward in the campaign. Even Pandakraut said it took him 3 tries to get a victory at 1st Bull Run and he only plays Legendary difficulty. Many of the early battles have truncated timers now so you must be on the move while maintaining condition. I'm sure that eventually a few optimal build combinations will shake out of it, but for now the changes to the career points make dozens of combinations seem good on the surface. - I have recorded Union up through Shiloh. I had CSA up to Shiloh but lost some files when transitioning to a new computer this past week, so I'll need to redo that playthrough. I expect to start posting content next week.

[@jonber9411]

@@gonzogamer8710 I find MG quite a challange. On vanilla i do fine. But with this mod i am struggeling to keep my casulties in 1:3 ratio towards enemy. I have a Hard time winning 'stay alert' Would like to see others try. Are you gonna post?

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@jonber9411 I will get to it at some point, but don't know when for certain. You could go to the Discord and discuss strategies there if you are looking for ideas now. Two things in particular about this version of the mod. 1) because detached skirmishers were broken in previous versions everyone got away from using them. They are fixed now and with Division size down to 5 from 6, they can be invaluable for extra flanking fire and filling in holes that you see in a battle like Stay Alert. 2) In the past, all your casualties were just gone except for any percentage you had in medicine. With the new casualty system you end up retaining a decent chunk of those soldiers now, so even though the battles are harder and people are seeing increased casualties they are not losing as many troops in the long run.

[@jonber9411]

Cheers. Tanks for the advice

[@JohnJones-wh3ch]

Is the training Stat increase after each side battle or just major battles?

[@gonzogamer8710]

Training increases after all battles,,not just the grand battles.

[@SoleSurvivor2055]

Why would they make the rewards identical for Win/Loss/Draw? Can this be turned off? whats the point of that.

[@gonzogamer8710]

1) The battles are much harder and casualties are up across the board, so the intent was to allow a player to continue with their campaign even with a loss or draw here and there. 2) This has since been taken back out, but I believe it can be reactivated in the configuration files. The recent patch brings 1.28 up to 1.28.2.

[@SoleSurvivor2055]

@@gonzogamer8710 I guess Ill give it a shot with this new update. Thank you for the lightning fast response!

[@nestorvisentin3539]

Do you recomend playing this mod for a first time player?

[@gonzogamer8710]

Good question. The mod is a very different experience than the base game so you may want to play the base game once just for the replayability of the different experiences. The mod is also a "difficulty mod" with testing done with Major General and Legendary difficulties only and it is intended to be hard. Most people find Brigadier General difficulty in the mod to be too easy while Major General is too difficult. For a new player coming straight into the mod, I would advise they play Brigadier General up through Shiloh (6th battle out of 38) and if they feel challenged, then continue. If things seem too easy, start a new campaign in Major General. The game has 4 difficulty levels in the campaign start up screen (Colonel, Brigadier General, Major General, and Legendary). The mod cannot create a new difficulty button, so it provides configuration settings you can use to create an in-between difficulty level and may players use this to give them an in-between difficulty between BG and MG. Using Notepad (or similar) open the AIConfigFile txt file found in the mod files and find "AIScalingSizeMultipier" and "AIScalingExperienceMultiplier". They are right next to each other in the file and the default is "1" which is 100%. By changing the 1 to something less than one, say .85 (which is 85%) the AI will by 15% smaller and have 15% less experienced units. Of course, you can also use this to make the game harder, so if you bumped the 1 up to 1.2 it would make it 20% harder. Hope this helps.

[@evgenylaptev2534]

I know its late, but for future people I would recommend to play vanilla first at least 1 full campaign to get know a game well and to get the idea what exactly changes bring this mod.

[@andrewcurtis1883]

Merging units in camp? That's what it looks like. You're doing i thought you could only do that in battle?

[@gonzogamer8710]

You do not want to merge units in battle as they lose their perks and function as "no star" units while merged. Of course, after battle they will unmerge. When you merge units in camp, the one that you drag and drop permanently becomes part of the other unit. The officer in the unit that you drag and drop loses any battles led bonuses. I don't merge units in camp very often but if a unit takes excessive casualties and is expensive to replentish, I may drop it into another unit. I also merge Forest's CAV into my best cav unit just because Forest's perks tend to suck and it only has 300 men. To merge unit in camp they must be the same type, be carrying the same weapon, and be in the same division.

[@andrewcurtis1883]

​@@gonzogamer8710I still can't figure out how to do it in camp. I have the latest version of the mod.

[@andrewcurtis1883]

I'm following your instructions but still obviously doing something wrong.

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@andrewcurtis1883 When you drag and drop one unit on top of the other in camp are you getting any type of error message?

[@andrewcurtis1883]

@gonzogamer8710 no error message.

[@stevennice7594]

Is there a way to install this mod without using dropbox?

[@gonzogamer8710]

I don't believe so, but I'll ask on the discord. Keep in mind, you don't need to download the dropbox app, the link should go to the browser interface to download directly.

[@asookdeo316]

pls can you make a mod to stop the timmer

[@gonzogamer8710]

I don't make mods myself, I just play them, so I can't stop the timer. However, I can tell you how to give yourself more time. 1) Find the UGCW mod files on your hard drive, or just search your drive for "ConfigFile". My game comes from Good Old Games so my path looks like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\Games\Ultimate General Civil War\Ultimate General Civil War_Data\Mod\Rebalance. If your game is from Steam it will be similar. 2) Find the ConfigFile in the Rebalance folder and open it using Notepad. 3) There are 3 timer related settings and the game uses different combinations of them so you need to change all three. The first two change the mission/phase time and they are "timerMandatoryMultiplier" and "timerRecommendedMultiplier" and you will find them in the top third of the list. You will see the default value is 1. If you wanted to add 20% more time to a phase you would set each one to 1.2 You want to make both of these the same number, so if you go with 1.4 then make them both 1.4, or however much time you want to add. The third timer is the end of day times setting named "endOfDayMultiplier" and you will see that a little further down the list. You should set this .1 LESS than the mission timers. So, if you set the two mission timers to 1.4, then this one should be 1.3. 4) Save the file and restart the game or your battle. As far as I know, a battle cannot go past midnight, so if a battle starts in the evening you won't be able to change it to go past midnight. Hope this helps!

[@freetolook3727]

Pause button?

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@freetolook3727 Press "P" on your keyboard or there is the pause on the game speed controls in the lower right under the minimap. Personally, as much as I like to pause to reposition my units I go into "Options" on the game start menu and change the hotkey from "P" to the spacebar just to make it a bit quicker for me.

[@miller330i]

They are still updating this game?

[@gonzogamer8710]

The modding community is always at work. :) The mod is significantly more difficult than the base game. There is usually a major mod update released about once a year and minor updates in between.

[@miller330i]

@@gonzogamer8710 Is there a way to add campaigns or new maps?

[@gonzogamer8710]

@@miller330i Not that I am aware of currently. :(

[@bornablagojevic5699]

hi i have a problem with 2 side mission luka and perryville when timer runs out mission just keep going and i cant finnish it

[@gonzogamer8710]

That is a problem that tends to happen when the timers have been changed in the configuration files. If you changed them, set them back to default for those to battles, or make them shorter and see if that helps. Also, there is a bug in 1.28 that if you have a missing officers for one of your units back in camp it can cause end of battles issues, so make sure all units have officers.

[@bornablagojevic5699]

@@gonzogamer8710 tnx i missing bunch of officers lol it must be that

[@bornablagojevic5699]

@@gonzogamer8710 yep i did both tnx dude