Telegrams and Hot Air Ballons

[Fredrick]

In North and South, there are Ballons for scouting. But for War of Rights, let's add telegrams. During the Civil War they had telegrams for communication, and I believe we should include that and also hot air Ballons for scouting!

[SpectretheGreat]

I like the idea, as a fan of period communication for realism I can get behind this. However, if i'm not mistaken telegrams were mostly used by generals and other high ranking officers, so I don't think they would be very useful for the size of engagements we're seeing for War of Rights. However, maybe for an attack and defend mode you can use telegrams as a means of connecting the entire defensive position?

Hot air balloons would also be awesome, possibly a commander ability like in BF2 with the UAV? I think that would allow for commanders to more easily plan out their next move.

[Fredrick]

[QUOTE=SpectretheGreat;19028]I like the idea, as a fan of period communication for realism I can get behind this. However, if i'm not mistaken telegrams were mostly used by generals and other high ranking officers, so I don't think they would be very useful for the size of engagements we're seeing for War of Rights. However, maybe for an attack and defend mode you can use telegrams as a means of connecting the entire defensive position?

Agreed, and for telegrams, there has to be telephone poles.. I am not sure if the devs will include this.

[Mississippi]

I like the idea, as a fan of period communication for realism I can get behind this. However, if i'm not mistaken telegrams were mostly used by generals and other high ranking officers, so I don't think they would be very useful for the size of engagements we're seeing for War of Rights. However, maybe for an attack and defend mode you can use telegrams as a means of connecting the entire defensive position?

Hot air balloons would also be awesome, possibly a commander ability like in BF2 with the UAV? I think that would allow for commanders to more easily plan out their next move.

Great idea! I like it!

[SpectretheGreat]

Agreed, and for telegrams, there has to be telephone poles.. I am not sure if the devs will include this.
You're probably right, it may be a bit much to add. The balloon idea however is something that is very plausible, I don't see them being too OP unless they can see everything and are active 24/7, if they can be used for a set time and are commanders only it would be reasonable to see them.

I suggest checking out this thread since I think its something that you may be interested in: http://www.warofrightsforum.com/showthread.php?924-Realistic-In-game-communication-Why-it-needs-to-be-implemented

[Johann Günderson]

I honestly could never see them being implemented in-game, they were pretty much a gimmick in North & South

[Fredrick]

You're probably right, it may be a bit much to add. The balloon idea however is something that is very plausible, I don't see them being too OP unless they can see everything and are active 24/7, if they can be used for a set time and are commanders only it would be reasonable to see them.

I suggest checking out this thread since I think its something that you may be interested in: http://www.warofrightsforum.com/showthread.php?924-Realistic-In-game-communication-Why-it-needs-to-be-implemented
I loved your ideas, but there is one problem. In game talking might be a bad idea, due to the fact of trolls who might put earape songs or just might be racist. Still, the idea is good, but I think we should put in game talking for personal companies or brigades.

[Fredrick]

I honestly could never see them being implemented in-game, they were pretty much a gimmick in North & South

True, during yesterday's event, a couple of guys got stuck in a ballon and got slaughtered! Those guys were me and some of my men, we barely had any men, so we just stayed up. However, we can add a Scout rank and it only allows that certain rank to recon the area with the ballon.

[Johann Günderson]

Wrong thread Fredrick XD

[Fredrick]

Wrong thread Fredrick XD

I mean for the Ballons, yes people use the Ballons for fun, but we can have a Scout who can be the only person to enter the ballon and recon the area for War of Rights.

[R21]

An Aerial viewpoint (like a Hot air Balloon) would give one side too much of an advantage, not to mention the fact that due to LOD constraints things would look terrible at range (someone hiding in foliage would think they were hidden but would be clearly visible due to it not being rendered at distances past 50m or so).

1959

(Screenshot is from Miscreated, another Game on the Cry-Engine 3)

notice how stuff looks ok up close but looks terrible at range, an Aerial viewpoint would just compound this.

[Almanza P. Baker]

Well as the Devs have stated over and over they are going for a ultra realistic game based on the Maryland campaign we wont be seeing any balloon's. They were never used very often and mostly only early in the war like in the Peninsular Campaign. Also telegraphs were mostly used by high command to talk to other high command, ie: McClellan did have communication with Lincoln during the battle of Antietam, but as a long time student of the war I cant recall a battle where commanders on the field communicated with each other by telegraph.

[thomas aagaard]

The balloon corp was not even near the battlefield and was disbanded during the war sine they where judged to be doing nothing of use...
naturally they would have been very useful later at Petersburg... but unfortunately they did not get the chance.

[FirstDiv2Corps]

Well as the Devs have stated over and over they are going for a ultra realistic game based on the Maryland campaign we wont be seeing any balloon's. They were never used very often and mostly only early in the war like in the Peninsular Campaign. Also telegraphs were mostly used by high command to talk to other high command, ie: McClellan did have communication with Lincoln during the battle of Antietam, but as a long time student of the war I cant recall a battle where commanders on the field communicated with each other by telegraph.

Commanders communicated lots by telegraph during battles-- not Antietam, to my knowledge, but others. Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Chickamauga, even the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864, in the confines of that mess, had telegraph lines put up and used by commanders in the midst of the action.

[thomas aagaard]

Yes, to keep Lincoln informed... not to communicate between commanders on the field. Two very different things.

[Gandalf]

So no telegraphs? How will we journalists get our stories back to the front first?!

But seriously, the telegraph system would probably not be necessary. Until DLCs are released that allow whole campaigns to be played, that is... ;)

[Patrick Kurtz]

There weren't any reconnaissance balloons in the Maryland campaign, only in the Peninsula.

[FirstDiv2Corps]

Yes, to keep Lincoln informed... not to communicate between commanders on the field. Two very different things.

Yes, they communicated with fellow commanders in the field.

For sources:

Fredericksburg: https://books.google.com/books?id=T3CeAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+fredericksburg+campaign+o%27reilly&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia08vA-IbKAhXLNT4KHUVMAZYQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

Chickamauga: https://books.google.com/books?id=07LWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA376&dq=powell+glory+or+the+grave&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiF36XY-IbKAhVJdz4KHbYNA5kQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

Overland Campaign: https://books.google.com/books?id=KBf6KoFIivcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=rhea+the+wilderness&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnuqbQ-IbKAhVCWj4KHVMBC5YQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

So again, not Antietam, but telegraphs were known to be used in the field.

[thomas aagaard]

Actually quoting the relevant text and with page number is sort of needed for your source to be usefull.

[Patrick Kurtz]

Yes, they communicated with fellow commanders in the field.

For sources:

Fredericksburg: https://books.google.com/books?id=T3CeAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+fredericksburg+campaign+o%27reilly&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia08vA-IbKAhXLNT4KHUVMAZYQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

Chickamauga: https://books.google.com/books?id=07LWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA376&dq=powell+glory+or+the+grave&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiF36XY-IbKAhVJdz4KHbYNA5kQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

Overland Campaign: https://books.google.com/books?id=KBf6KoFIivcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=rhea+the+wilderness&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnuqbQ-IbKAhVCWj4KHVMBC5YQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=telegraph&f=false

So again, not Antietam, but telegraphs were known to be used in the field.

Well sure, but they weren't exactly effective as they took a while to get through, mostly commanders relied on couriers and after Gettysburg signal flags and such.

[Jeffrey Miller]

Will there be a persistent battlefield, or will it just be mission only victory or loss. i.e. a campaign?

[A. P. Hill]

Actually quoting the relevant text and with page number is sort of needed for your source to be usefull.

You'll find, if you follow his links, that's exactly what happens.

However, the key word Telegraph is misleading in his search criteria, as in Fredericksburg there was a road called Telegraph road long before the battle was ever established. It in no way indicates that the CSA had telegraph set up. So each of those references are rather misleading in my consideration of the material.

And in many cases when reading history. It is always written that commanding officers sent couriers to their under and upper officers. Sending couriers mean a written note by hand to be carried to and from sender and receiver.

[FirstDiv2Corps]

You'll find, if you follow his links, that's exactly what happens.

However, the key word Telegraph is misleading in his search criteria, as in Fredericksburg there was a road called Telegraph road long before the battle was ever established. It in no way indicates that the CSA had telegraph set up. So each of those references are rather misleading in my consideration of the material.

And in many cases when reading history. It is always written that commanding officers sent couriers to their under and upper officers. Sending couriers mean a written note by hand to be carried to and from sender and receiver.

The Confederates didn't have telegraphs set up-- Lee directed the battle from Telegraph Hill (not linked with wire). Burnside, on the other hand, had lines running from the Philips House (his headquarters), the Lacy House (Edwin Sumner's headquarters), all the way down towards the lower crossing where William Franklin was located. If you do the Google pages next result, it will bring you to the correct notations, ignoring references to Telegraph Road and Telegraph Hill.


Burnside also had the use of Thaddeus Lowe's balloon, but that's a different battle. My whole point had been to show that yes, commanders used telegraph lines in the field to communicate with each other. In fact some of the major problems concerning the Army of the Potomac and its communications during Chancellorsville came because of tenuous telegraph lines.

[Rithal]

I would venture to say that telegrams were rarely if ever set up on the field of battle. From my knowledge, they were used primarily to communicate back and forth from high command to the battlefield itself. For example, there were telegram lines routed directly from Lincoln's operation room all the way to the front lines reporting to him the recent events at high speed.