Sunday, December 24, 2017
Legacy Guide #3: Spain 1812
So, I did this racing my friend (he did Hessen, to balance it out). Well, I got 53 turns. Here's how
Generals:
2 Artillery (Sophia and Yermolov)
1 Econ (Fatimah)
1 Cav (Sulkwowski)
So here's the plan.
1. Defense
Jourdan, and possibly Bennigsen, will come for you. Focus all your troops on stopping them, and taking St. Louis. Try to keep all Generals alive.
2. March on Washington
Send Yermolov with one Light Cav to Nashville, then the US Stable. There, build a double Armored Car for Sulkowski. With this force, take Washington and Baltimore
3. Louis and Clark
Send Sophia and both Spanish guys up through St. Louis to Fort Dearborn. Be sure to kill Perignon and Washington (tavern). Ignore the Fort Generals for now
4. Northward Expansion
Send Joyes to cover land and Sophia to kill Barclay. If Barclay crossed the lake, they're headed to separate places. Meanwhile, send Ballesteros East
5. Invasion of New England
Send Sulkowski, Yermolov, and Ballesteros to New York. From there, continue to Hartford, Providence, Boston, and Augusta. This is a good time to wipe out forts. Also, make sure you knock out Verhuell with Ironclads from Baltimore
Green: Your attack
Blue: Allies' attacks
Red: Enemy attacks
Friday, November 10, 2017
Life Lesson: Rules of the Road
Part I: Why does this happen and how can I avoid it?
This happens because the world is full of idiots who don't follow the rules of the road. Stop means Stop; Use a Crosswalk when one is available; Drive on the Right. These are basic rules you're expected to follow; they are also laws. When these laws are broken, accidents happen.
For example, if you hop out of the bushes and into the road on your shiny BMX roadbike, you're going to get run over. While your rich Daddy's high-powered lawyers can and will sue me back to the stone age, you're going to end up paralyzed at best.
Likewise, if you don't wait your turn at the intersection, the ideal scenario for you is one where I give you the bird. The worst-case scenario is you t-boning me and having blood on your hands. Sure, your lawyers will clear you of all wrongdoing, but you will still have killed a man.
ho
The best way to avoid this is to follow the law. It's that simple.
NB: I refer to rich parents because these are behaviors exemplified by Stanford students, most of whom are spoiled vieux-riches.
Part II: Supplemental Rules of the Road.
These are more as comic relief, but do keep them in mind.
1. If you have to play music with the windows down, keep it non-vulgar. Something about the n-word makes me itch for a lynching, and you're the lynchee. (This applies regardless of your race).
2. If you're crossing the street while using your phone, I can run you over while using mine.
3. If you're high, I don't need to know. If I know, the cops know.
4. What a man does in his castle is nobody's business but your own. The road is not your castle; please do not do your business on the highway.
5. If you talk smack about me, do it in English so I can respond.
6. Maybe don't jam out to the Soviet National Anthem.
6a. Don't sing to it, for god's sake.
7. If you're going to use the red light as a coffee time, be ready to put the cup away before the lights change.
8. If you have a baby in your car, the windows stay up. Period.
9. If you jam out to "Drive my Car", and you have a nice car, be prepared for the cops to actually drive your car.
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Guest Guide: Ireland 1918 in BJ's mod.
Editor's note #2: This guide is for an EW4 mod called BJ's mod, which depicts the WWI era. It is warmly recommended by myself.
Editor's note #3: The name "Editor's note" is kind of a misnomer. I did not edit this at all. I just added these notes. Without further ado, here it is.
BJ's WWI Mod: Ireland 1918
If you've ever tried to play Ireland, you probably got rekt in the first 10 turns and quit. It's possibly the hardest conquest in the game, but don't fear; I got past it eventually, and you will too.2 cavalry generals (I used Bohm and Umberto)
2 plane generals (I used Richthofen and Fonck)
1 artillery general (I used Totenkopf)
1 infantry general (I used Defense)
Several healing items
Attack and defense items for all generals (probably optional, but they help greatly)
After GB and Ireland fall, you can send Bohm back go the continent if you want, but keep the rest of the troops on the isle; they would be too late to help out with the continental effort. After Italy and Germany fall, keep moving your horde of planes and infantries east to Russia and Turkey, sending units to Scandinavia and the Balkans as needed; you can decide how exactly to accomplish this, as you will have more than enough units at your disposal. Totenkopf should have arrived at eastern Tripolitania by now, so start working your way into Egypt. If you work quickly and don't screw anything up beyond repair, you can finish in under 100 turns (I finished in 96).
Friday, November 3, 2017
Modding Lesson #1: General Skills
1.Today's Lesson:
How to change General's skills
2. Needed:
An unlocked APK. I'm not going to publish it directly, but BJ Blazkovic (youtuber) has one.
An APK editor. The one I use is crap, so I'm hoping youse can go out and find a less poopy one.
3. How to do it:
In the assets folder, there's a file called "def_commander.xml". In it is a list of Generals, with all their specs coded. Today, I'll focus on their skillz. There will be coded under skill1, skill2, skill3, and skill4. The number after them will go from 0 to 39 for actual skills, or be -1 if there is none. The list of codes is below.
To change the skills, edit this doc by replacing the 1-2 digit codes you wanna change. Then, sign the APK, install the new modded version, and have fun!
Codes:
Banner=0
Geography=1
Fireproof=2
Leadership=3
Spy=4
Accurate=5
Engineering=6
Ballistics=7
Explosive=8
Strike=9
Surprise=10
Mobility=11Formation=12
Infantry Tactic=13
Bugle=14
Mass Fire=15Steersman=16
Sailor=17
Navigation=18
Nobleman=19
War Expert=20
War Master=21
Logistics=22
Economic Expert=23
Economic Master=24Disguise=25
Transport=26
Trench=27
Fence=28
Siege Master=29
Architecture=30
Assault Art=31
Defense Art=32
Infantry Trainer=33
Cavalry Trainer=34
Artillery Trainer=35
Navy Trainer=36
Fort Trainer=37
Business Trainer=38
Move Trainer=39
Monday, October 30, 2017
Age of Steel: Choosing Generals
Aggregate top 5:
1. Napoleon
2. Lan
3. Victoria
4. Isabela
5. Radetzky
Honorable Mentions:
6. Lee
7. Kate
8. Sophia
9. Scott
10. Murat
Infantry:
1. Victoria (for obvious reasons)
2. Lee (he has some very punchy skills, and artillery capability)
3. Brock (I modded him to have Formation instead of Sailor. That means he can get the highest output of any infantry general in the whole game)
Cavalry:
1. Lan (kick-ass and no cost)
2. Radetzky, aka tanky Lan (who has Geography instead of the bs War Master skill)
3. Murat, the Fort-Cracker
4. Grant, aka Lan's twin
5. Dombrowski, aka slow Radetzky
Artillery:
1. Napoleon (yeah, I made him kick ass)
2. Isabela (I'll fix ET's atrocious spelling soon).
3. Scott (Ol' Fuss and Feathers is very slow, but is powerful and has Leadership)
4. Sohpia (begone, Forts!)
5. Seymour (strong Art-Navy Hybrid, especially if you don't have room for Scott in your lineup)
Navy:
1. Kate (pure, focused, tough)
2. Victoria (the queen of S&l)
3. Seymour (Leadership!!!)
Fort:
LOL.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Age of Steel v0.1.1
This is a MINOR update. This means not much has changed, and I guess you can skip it.
Changes:
1. Savary is made normal
2. Grant (store version) loses Surprise, gets Mass Fire
3. Sophia gets Defense Art
4. Tavern generals tweaked slightly
5. First mission of Waning Days campaign released.
I'm not sure whether I can make a major update before Thanksgiving, but I'll try to get Waning Days made kinda piecemeal before that.
Thank you to kind reader Transfermium for pointing out Savary's crazy specs.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B04hI0ajr6cxb3RxTEVuWDVpVGs/view?usp=sharing
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Age of Steel Guide Pair: 1861
America 1861
Using a true-to-history strategy, we can actually win this one really fast. I got 24 turns, with underdeveloped generals used in a subprime way, and without trying to rush.
History Lesson: The Anaconda Plan
In the beginning of the Civil War, the Union's Commanding General, Winfield Scott, proposed a plan to defeat the Confederacy.In his plan, an elite Union force was to land in New Orleans and push up the Mississippi River, while the US Navy blockaded the Rebs. For political reasons, Lincoln added in an attack directly to Virginia. Ultimately, the Union's victory followed this rough plan.
How I did it:
I put Sophia on the Heavy Cavalry outside of New Orleans, and Maria on MGs I built in Philadelphia. I then used Scott and Maria to march down the Eastern seaboard (aided by the superior Union Navy), while Grant marched to Nashville, and then pushed south.Sophia's task force was the interesting one. I landed them in West Florida, then marched into New Orleans while the Privateer drew the Confederate battleship away. After New Orleans, she pushed into the Deep South, and participated in the serial obliteration of the South.
One general of note is Robert E. Lee. I spammed forts and artillery to get rid of 'im, and it was not easy.
Confederacy 1861
Monday, October 23, 2017
Legacy Guide #2: Switzerland 1806
If you look carefully at the map of 1806, you might see Switzerland.It’s small and easy to miss. No longer! The Swiss Government has given you command of the army and expects you to put us on the map!
What you need:
1 A fast Artillery general (with Warhorse/Geography, Isabela is perfect, which is why I used her)
2 A strong Cavalry General (I used Radetzky)
3 A strong Artillery General (I used Sophia)
4 A moderately strong Artillery/Cavalry General (Your choice, I used Sebastiani as Cavalry)
5 A strong Navy General (Seriously) (I used Kate)
6a A strong Infantry General (I used Jourdan)
6b A general you are willing to fire mid-game (Only if you have a seventh spot with a trainer in it, I used Arnold)
Napoleonic Code (Absolutely Mandatory)
Snare Drum (also mandatory)
Turn 1:
At turn one, we have 4 units (2x Guards Cav commanded by Bachmann, 2x Heavy Art, 2x Line inf, and a light grey fort. On turn one, deploy General 1 to the Artillery and General 6 (6b if applicable) to the infantry. Move Bachmann and 1 North and move 6 into Zurich. Give 6 the Napoleonic Code, upgrade Zurich, and build a wooden fort 2 hexes east of the grey fort.
National Defense And Blucher:
In the first 5 turns, advance 1 and Bachmann towards Dresden, but not too far. Blucher will come towards them. After having built up Zurich, you will have a configuration of Forts shown in one of the pictures. Retreat your generals Northeast and use the Forts to defend from Blucher if necessary.
Operation Dutchman:
Switzerland is nice, but it lacks the resources to build a World-Class army. The Netherlands, on the other hand, have just the facilities you need to build an empire. The Dutch are your allies, but by now they will have lost the stable and factory in the East and be under Siege in Amsterdam. 1 and Bachmann should be able to secure these Eastern cities and rout the British attacking Generals with ease, and by now you will be able to afford a hefty 2x Armored Car for your strongest Cavalry General (2). Bomb and take Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and defend against Scharnhorst or Kutuzov in the odd chance that they should attack you rather than Frankfurt. Deploy 3, then 5, then 4 to rocket, battleship (same stats as the British navy, amusingly), and Armored Car, respectively.
Liberation of Germany:
Now you’ve got 2, 3, and 5 deployed and almost saved up for 4, but the Confederation of the Rhine has fallen and Western Germany is overrun by Prussians, Saxons and Russians, plus a few Swedes and maybe one or two Britons. First, you will use Artillery to rout Kutuzov and Scharnhorst (France will help) and liberate Frankfurt. The rest of the massed enemy force will consist of weak, low health units that 2 will kill with ease. 1 should hit Forts and Dresden, and don’t forget to use 1 to take Leipzig, it’s highly valuable for the offensive into Prussia. Don’t worry about the South German Cities, Italy and France will take them. If not, support wit artillery once you take Dresden
Battle of Britain
Napoleon and 4 will support Bachmann in securing London and the neighboring factory. Recruit units to accompany Bachmann as he heads north to Edinburgh, then west to Ireland. Send 4 to the Iberian Peninsula immediately after securing London.
Peninsular War
Send 6, along with some light infantry you recruit, to Spain. Take whatever is open, for me that was Salamanca. If you have the 7th slot and a strong general ready to step up, fire 6b and recruit an elite unit for 6a. Take Porto and Lisbon (in that order) with help from 4, then advance on North Africa.
Unified Germany
Generals 3 and 4 take on the troops of Prussia and any Swedes who leave Sweden/Denmark. 4 penetrates to Danzig while 3 bombs Berlin with help from infantry built in Leipzig and the French. 3 also takes the Factory South of Danzig, which provides cannons to help with any MG’s you might find.
Austerlitz 2.0
After Dresden, 1 and 2 advance on Vienna, then continue to devour Austria. Bubna will be dead and Radetzky will be deep in Turkey, so this will be nice and easy. Once you take Sofia, send 2 north and 1 south.
North Africa
4, 6 and their army will march on Morocco (Sardinia will have finished off Tunisia). This is self-explanatory.
Scandinavian War
4 fights Dobeln in Denmark with help from ships, then advances on Sweden. The rest is obvious.
Invasion of Russia
2 will take the Stable north of Kishinev, Kiev, Kaluga, and Smolensk. 3 takes Warsaw, finishes Prussia, then advances Northeast. 4 joins when Sweden dies. Nice and easy fight.
Turkish Campaign
1 leads troops from Sofia to liberate Turkey. Beware of Radetzky. ‘nuff said.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Age of Steel v 0.1.0 release
I promised you, and I deliver. In this first open beta release, you get 17 new generals, 5 modded countries, and 6 new conquests. I've even playtested, and can verify that 1861 (5th Conquest) US and 1848 (4th Conquest) Hungary are both playable. I urge you all to playtest it too, and tell me how it goes. I'll publish my readers' successes in a weekly list, if I get enough.
Sidenote:
Yes, the Confederacy features in this mod. Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis are both gens, and Lee's specs are OP. This is in no way to be construed as support for white supremacism, slavery, or anything of the sort. It's in the interest of depicting the period properly.
Keep an eye out for 0.2, whose release date will be announced on Tuesday
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Sneak Peek of Age of Steel v 0.1
I know I mailed some people about releasing this version on Thursday. That won't happen. Instead, you'll get a better version on Friday. What will be in it?
NEW GENERALS! Including but not limited to:
Napoleon III
The Notorious OVB
Robert E. Lee
Ulysses S. Grant
Garibaldi
And several more!
To top it off, you'll get 6 conquests, made to a decent standard. Here, we have some previews.
1. The Generals
2.The 1866 Conquest: The Hot Spot
3. 1812 in Minnesota
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Mod Reveal: Age of Steel
Super Epic, Exclusive, For Your Eyes Only Mod Reveal: The Age of Steel Mod
My plan calls for 6 clean-sheet campaigns and conquests, and a TBD amount of new Generals.
The Conquests shall be:
1. America 1812 (but changed, I promise)
2. Europe 1814
3. Europe 1830
4. Europe 1848
5. America 1861
6. Europe 1866
The Campaigns shall be:
1. Waning Days (1812-1815; France, Britain, Prussia, Sweden, Poland)
2. Manifest Destiny (1812-1848; USA)
3. A Conservative Period (1812-1866; Austria, Russia, Prussia)
4. Rise of Democracy (1830-1871; France, German Confederation, Piedmont-Sardinia, Romania, Poland, Ireland OR Hungary)
5. Blood and Iron (1848-1871; Prussia, German Empire)
6. A House Divided (1861-1865; USA, CSA)
The first to be made, Waning Days, will chronicle Napoleon's fall from the Battle of Borodino to the Hundred Days through 5-8 easy, tutorial-esque maps. Manifest Destiny, its companion, will be a full-scale one going from the War of 1812 to the Mexican-American War (kinda, with a lot of creative liberties taken on geography). Rise of Democracy and A Conservative Period will essentially be twins, with similar maps played as opposite sides. Both will have some period (but no content) overlap with Blood and Iron, whose subject I presume to be obvious.
As you can see, you're looking at one heck of a broad span, going from the depth of the Napoleonic Wars in 1812 right up to German unification. This means months and months of work to some level, but I'm up for it.
Version 0.1, which will be released on Thursday, will include all 6 conquests to some level of completion (the borders will be done, that much I promise). Potentially, I'll include a few maps in the Waning Days campaign.
Monday, October 16, 2017
Legacy Guide #1: France 1798 in EW4
This is geared towards securing Isabela, the French artillery princess (who is, by the way, an absolute beast). It's quite easy to do, if you follow along
Prerequisites and Background
1. Princesses are free generals. You unlock them by winning a conquest in the right continent, fast enough, and with enough resources
2. Isabella is France's princess. She is second only to Moreau IMO, although many will say she is better than him. She unlocks in about 45 turns, with tons of food and gold, and over 2000 metal/industry. You WANT her unless you bought Moreau, and maybe even then.
3. France is an easy country to conquest, especially in 1798 (10 gens, buffed economy, access to fronts but only one immediately assaulted). The only problem is that it takes years to cross Russia.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
A Glossary of EW4 Terminology
While copying my legacy (read: old) guides, I realized how much jargon I use. There are two solutions to that:
1. Don't use jargon and write things out
2. Make a dictionary of jargon
Evidently, I chose the latter, so here it goes
1. S&L: Saving right before a key fight, and reloading/redoing it until you get an outcome that satisfies you
2. Rushing: Doing conquest really fast to get princesses. This is considered a key part of completing the game by most.
3. Art: Shorthand for Artillery, aka cannons
4. Gen: Shorthand for Generals, aka those dudes you buy with medals or emblems and put on troops to make them stronk
5. Princess: Like generals, but you earn them by winning conquests fast. 5 of the 8 are beasts
6. Medals: The money you earn for killing enemies and winning campaign maps.
7. Emblems: The money you buy with actual Dollars/Euros/RMB/Yuan/Pounds. I will not encourage you to buy them, but it can be helpful.
8. Cav: Short for Cavalry, aka Horses
9. Inf: Short for Infantry, aka little men
10. Skills: those thingies at the top-right corner of the general's info card
11. Farming: Doing repetitive tasks to boost various specs
Saturday, October 14, 2017
WC4 is out, and I am Pissed Off
Introduction
Hello, Internet Denizen.
Lovely of you to read this, however you stumbled onto here.
I'm a simian pounding on a keyboard who uses the pseudonym "Picard" (as in Captain Picard). I've been playing games by the Chinese company Easytech for about 2 years now, and this is the latest outlet for my gaming knowledge. You're welcome to read, comment, and maybe I'll entertain guest posters.
Here's what the posting schedule will look like
Saturday and/or Sunday: European War 4 post (can be a guide, a mod, or a guide for a mod).
Monday: No post. I'll release my legacy (aka old) guides until those are all depleted. Then it's nothing to ease your Mondays with
Tuesday: Update on the week's modding projects
Wednesday: Possible update on my Scambaiting quests
Thursday: Variety post (can be an Easytech related guide or mod, a Political rant, or literally anything)
Friday: Possible collection of (mostly bad) jokes I heard or devised this week.
And so it goes.
I hope you stick with me.
By the way, I appreciate you leaving a comment, just to say hi