Does anybody play Cossacks?

[Easthaven I]

I just bought the game, it came with the Art of War expansion. I've been hooked on it and I just wondered if anybody else played it. I like the game's focus on tactics and one era of history, rather then gathering/searching for resources, and beating the opponent in getting to the next technological epoch...

Anyways, just wonderin if anybody else liked it...

[dudemanjack]

I love it - I made a thread a few weeks ago saying almost the same thing you are.

I think it's my favorite RTS, though I must admit that I'm not a hardcore RTS player.

Haven't played it in a while though because it is quite addicting.

[Easthaven I]

Cool, we should play sometime, although I'd probably get beaten to death.

You're right, it is quite addicting...

[War4ever]

i played cossacks....i too prefer a different genre of games. but for RTS...i give it a big thumbs up ......

and its very addictive, but i would have my @ss handed to me in MP play......i kinda suck at alot of rts games...

[axi]

It's a very tiresome game, because it has many more units that any other RTS.

I just got it. I play on easy level still, to learn the ropes. I played against the 2 AIs in the island where you have to take the mines. I also played English vs. French in a two continent map and had a glorious finale, charging their handful of pikemen with a gazillion forces, after having burned their city to the ground through ship bombardment.

My qualms are:

1. Why doesn't cavalry have officers?
2. Why doesn't the fleet have flagships?
3. Why are there only 3 kinds of formations?
4. Why do the formations break up so much?
5. Why can't the workers be programmed to do something if idle (go to the nearest empty mine or go chop some wood)?
6. Why are the advancements so mixed up?

[jdd2007]

its a fun relief from AOE because of the numbers and units, but it isnt good for much else...

[Easthaven I]

I agree completely on your qualms, axi. What would have been cool if you could have assigned a portion of men to a general or something so they could be more independent, and you could concentrate on a specific arena, instead of going all crazy jumping from place to place trying to keep your men in formation. But I still enjoy the game very much. It is much better then AOE, I think.

[jdd2007]

AOE is a much better balanced game, and was groundbreaking for the genre. Cossacks expanded on this, and is loads of fun, but not as classic, or as addictive as AOE.

[War4ever]

i agree,,, AOE was far better in terms of balance, but nowhere near as exciting to play over and over again

[DrSpike]

Cossacks is one generation behind now, and the SP game was always hled in low regard in the hardcore RTS community. Get AOM or Warcraft 3.

[axi]

The AI is pathetic I agree. They keep sending ferries full of troops without any naval support whatsoever. And they go for the center of my city, as if I can't scramble a couple formations to slay them the moment they set foot on my soil..

[axi]

It seems that the AI is pathetic only when it can't reach you by land. If they can, they are actually pretty decent in rushing you with troops. What annoys me is the fact that they never fight between themselves and you can't switch from peace to war like you can in AoE.

Playing the Old Kingdom scenario was a challenge. Had to drop down to easy to win, although I could have done it in normal.

Now i'm playing the British campaign.

[Seneca]

I've never got into it - I couldn't get the hang of the sheer number of units you needed, and the number of peasants you needed to be hacking away in fields and mines. But I'll give it another go, since I'm off work for a few days...

[axi]

One good solution to the workers problem would be to have "specialists", i.e. workers that do only one kind of job (farmers, woodcutters, stonecutters, miners, builders) who would be 5 times more productive in their respective field than regular people, but would cost more resources and gold to create, plus some triggering tech. All types of workers should have increasing costs with numbers.

[Easthaven I]

Yeah. Good idea.