The Bluecoats: North & South
11 Achievements
2-4h
PS4
Historian
Complete a game in 1861, 1862, 1863 and 1864
23.2%
How to unlock the Historian achievement in The Bluecoats: North & South - Definitive Guide
ChloricHades8
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
The South always seems to have the advantage, being closer to the reinforcements in North Carolina, except for 1864 when the North appears to have the advantage. If you want to get this quick play on easy with everything turned off in the settings menu before selecting the year, unless you find using the minigames easier (I think they take longer). At this point, the game turns basically into Risk. Try to have the advantage by attacking enemies with larger units. The object of the game is to destroy all the enemy armies and take one state after that. Keep the AI from earning money by taking forts or placing your troops on the rails between their forts. If they can't earn gold and you have North Carolina, there is no way for the Ai to gain more troops, and so at that point, you can destroy the enemy armies without worrying about them making a run for your train or forts.
Necrophage33
This achievement requires you to finish a game in each of the four years available. This must be done in single player, to my knowledge, not in 2-player mode.
Each of these years unlocks sequentially, so you'll start with only 1861 unlocked and need to finish it to unlock the next. Each year is just a single match against the AI, and you can play on Easy difficulty for all of it. Additionally, I highly recommend turning Attacks and Storms to inactive when setting up the game. This essentially turns off random elements that could make it harder for you to win. Lastly, there is an option at the top of the rules menu to switch which side you're playing as. This is easy to miss, and makes things even easier. For 1861, 1862, and 1863, use this option to switch to playing as the South. They have a very clear advantage in each of these years, because they start with more forts and more states occupied, making it easier to win. For 1864, play as the North instead, because they have the advantage at the end of the war.
With the settings used above, the last variable is Battles. If you leave them active, there are two types of battles you can engage in:
As for the top-down battles, these seem to give people some problems, and it can definitely be a little challenging at first until you know what you're doing. You have three types of units: cavalry on horses, infantry on foot, and cannon(s). The enemy has the same, and you need to take them all out without being taken out. You can switch between your units as quickly and suddenly as you want. Winning these is actually really easy once you know which units to use against the enemy. For example, cavalry is amazing for getting across the battlefield and doing damage, but they are melee only. If the enemy cavalry approaches your side, your infantry can gun them down no problem without any casualties. When using your cavalry, avoid approaching the enemy units head on. Instead, go toward empty space and only move up or down once you're close enough to attack. Cannons can take out any unit from any distance away, but you have to charge your shot and try to get the distance right without having a crosshair to aim. This can be tricky, and personally, I never used the cannons because they were too unreliable. I abandoned my cannon and always immediately switched to cavalry. I would ride to the enemy, staying out of line of sight with them all, and use them to take out their cannon and either cavalry or infantry (whichever was closer to the cannon), but preferably infantry. I would immediately switch back to my infantry and move them up and down to stay safe. With only one unit left, they will charge at you. Simply move your infantry up and down to stay in line with them, and as they get close enough just start firing nonstop and you'll kill them before they can do any real damage to you.
This is how I won every battle in each of these campaigns. Alternatively, you could turn battles off, in which case I recommend reading my strategy in Great strategist (200G) for how to ensure you always win battles. It'll likely just make these games take a bit longer since you'll want to merge units before attacking enemies.
Aside from that, strategy on the overworld screen is pretty simple: capture forts and hold them. This gives you longer railroads for your train, meaning more money, meaning more units you can deploy. You win by eliminating all enemy units and removing any way for them to make money (i.e. holding forts that prevents them from having a train). You'll get a tutorial in 1861, and this will help walk you through what to do. You'll find the overworld section is easy enough to constantly expand and get more states and forts. Once you master the battles, you'll have no problem winning every game.
Each of these years unlocks sequentially, so you'll start with only 1861 unlocked and need to finish it to unlock the next. Each year is just a single match against the AI, and you can play on Easy difficulty for all of it. Additionally, I highly recommend turning Attacks and Storms to inactive when setting up the game. This essentially turns off random elements that could make it harder for you to win. Lastly, there is an option at the top of the rules menu to switch which side you're playing as. This is easy to miss, and makes things even easier. For 1861, 1862, and 1863, use this option to switch to playing as the South. They have a very clear advantage in each of these years, because they start with more forts and more states occupied, making it easier to win. For 1864, play as the North instead, because they have the advantage at the end of the war.
With the settings used above, the last variable is Battles. If you leave them active, there are two types of battles you can engage in:
- Unit-on-unit battles, where you control your army and have to fight the enemy army in top-down real-time action
- Fort/train attack/defense battles, where you play short first person shooter sections trying to defeat all enemies without dying
As for the top-down battles, these seem to give people some problems, and it can definitely be a little challenging at first until you know what you're doing. You have three types of units: cavalry on horses, infantry on foot, and cannon(s). The enemy has the same, and you need to take them all out without being taken out. You can switch between your units as quickly and suddenly as you want. Winning these is actually really easy once you know which units to use against the enemy. For example, cavalry is amazing for getting across the battlefield and doing damage, but they are melee only. If the enemy cavalry approaches your side, your infantry can gun them down no problem without any casualties. When using your cavalry, avoid approaching the enemy units head on. Instead, go toward empty space and only move up or down once you're close enough to attack. Cannons can take out any unit from any distance away, but you have to charge your shot and try to get the distance right without having a crosshair to aim. This can be tricky, and personally, I never used the cannons because they were too unreliable. I abandoned my cannon and always immediately switched to cavalry. I would ride to the enemy, staying out of line of sight with them all, and use them to take out their cannon and either cavalry or infantry (whichever was closer to the cannon), but preferably infantry. I would immediately switch back to my infantry and move them up and down to stay safe. With only one unit left, they will charge at you. Simply move your infantry up and down to stay in line with them, and as they get close enough just start firing nonstop and you'll kill them before they can do any real damage to you.
This is how I won every battle in each of these campaigns. Alternatively, you could turn battles off, in which case I recommend reading my strategy in Great strategist (200G) for how to ensure you always win battles. It'll likely just make these games take a bit longer since you'll want to merge units before attacking enemies.
Aside from that, strategy on the overworld screen is pretty simple: capture forts and hold them. This gives you longer railroads for your train, meaning more money, meaning more units you can deploy. You win by eliminating all enemy units and removing any way for them to make money (i.e. holding forts that prevents them from having a train). You'll get a tutorial in 1861, and this will help walk you through what to do. You'll find the overworld section is easy enough to constantly expand and get more states and forts. Once you master the battles, you'll have no problem winning every game.
