New player questions

[bob.]

I just bought RoP (10 $ on Gamersgate, great value I can already say) and now I have a few questions regarding how to play the game, I hope someone experienced can help me.

A few mostly regarding question regarding army organization:
- Is it bad to have troops under direct army command? Is it always preferrable to have them under Corps Command or is there no combat benefit to Corps Command?
- What is the range of general's abilities? For example, Friedrich has the ability "Fire discipline" which gives a huge bonus to firepower and assault values. But it says "This ability applies to all elements OF THE STACK". Does that mean that Friedrich does NOT help the troops under command of the Army Corps? If so, wouldn't it make much more sense to put as many troops as possible into Friedrich's (army) stack itself?
- Is there any penalty for generals leading troops not of their nationality if they are not in overall command of the stack?
- Keep artillery out of brigade command or include it?

Also I just have to mention how much I love this game already, if I had known how great the AGEOD games are I would have bought them much sooner. My first AGEOD game was Pride of Nations and I found that to be no fun at all so I thought the other AGEOD games were nothing for me either, but Alea Jacta Est showed me what great games you make.

[Sorel]

Hi,

Welcome, I hope you enjoy very much the game. I´ll try to answer some of your questions, though more experienced players can give you a better insight on them.

- Is it bad to have troops under direct army command? Is it always preferrable to have them under Corps Command or is there no combat benefit to Corps Command?
- What is the range of general's abilities? For example, Friedrich has the ability "Fire discipline" which gives a huge bonus to firepower and assault values. But it says "This ability applies to all elements OF THE STACK". Does that mean that Friedrich does NOT help the troops under command of the Army Corps? If so, wouldn't it make much more sense to put as many troops as possible into Friedrich's (army) stack itself?

Units under Corps Command receive bonus to their at/def from the of/def stats of their Corps leader (plus brigade leader if any) AND the Army leader. In addition, the strategic stat of the corps commander can be modified (increased or decreased) depending on the strategic stat of the army leader.
On the other hand, units under Corps command don´t receive bonus from personal abilities of Army commander that only apply to the stack. So, in the example with Frederick you use, you have to choose, because corps stacks won´t have the "fire discipline" bonus

- Is there any penalty for generals leading troops not of their nationality if they are not in overall command of the stack?

AFAIK, yes, and you can´t create brigades with different nationality troops. Note that some leaders have the "multi nationality" bonus.

- Keep artillery out of brigade command or include it?

Artillery doesn´t cost command points, but inside a brigade could benefit from the stats of the brigade leader. In addition, IIRC, artillery outside a brigade always chooses the most powerful enemy unit to fire upon in combat.

[bob.]

Thanks for the answers.

I suppose it is time to reorganize the Prussian military - I think I'll concentrate all elite infantry on Friedrich and with the fire discipline bonus + Friedrichs stats that should be a rather deadly army then!

[Stoertebeker]

Units under Corps Command receive bonus to their at/def from the of/def stats of their Corps leader (plus brigade leader if any) AND the Army leader. In addition, the strategic stat of the corps commander can be modified (increased or decreased) depending on the strategic stat of the army leader.
On the other hand, units under Corps command don´t receive bonus from personal abilities of Army commander that only apply to the stack. So, in the example with Frederick you use, you have to choose, because corps stacks won´t have the "fire discipline" bonus

Sorel get the core right, but some details work in another way: Army Commanders can (the more, the higher their Strategic Rating is) pass over additional offensive and defensive rating to their attached corps commanders (that are in range of the army) at the beginning of the turn. The numbers vary, though. So it's good to have Frederick commanding many troops directly.

But you should always remember, that armies won't initiate combats if their are any other friendly formations in the province. It's quite frustrating if you want to attack an enemy corps with Frederick and then you realize, that you already have a tiny scouting hussar unit in the province - even if the other unit has order to remain passive, Frederick won't attack.
Also, if you want to attack with several stacks and you enabled "delayed commitment" in the options, it may well be that Frederick is the last to engage in combat - if things go bad, your other corps will already have suffered heavy losses until the boss arrives on the battlefield.

[bob.]

So there's both advantages and disadvantages. That's great, I love it when games are balanced like that!

Now the only thing that I'm having trouble with is the organisation of my cavalry troops: the Prussians have one big "Cavalry Corps" at the start - but is that a good setup? Does it make sense to use a big cavalry force independently (as an actual fighting force, not raiders or something) or should I split that corps up and add the brigades to mixed corps?

[loki100]

You may also find reading this AAR - http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?513080-Learning-from-Prussia-a-Rise-of-Prussia-AAR-against-a-real-player-for-beginners, over on the Paradox forum very helpful. Its by Narwhal and does a superb job of explaining the game basics (its on an older patch but the key bits are still valid)

So there's both advantages and disadvantages. That's great, I love it when games are balanced like that!

Now the only thing that I'm having trouble with is the organisation of my cavalry troops: the Prussians have one big "Cavalry Corps" at the start - but is that a good setup? Does it make sense to use a big cavalry force independently (as an actual fighting force, not raiders or something) or should I split that corps up and add the brigades to mixed corps?

On the AARs, there has been an ongoing debate about this. The good thing is you have a very fast 'firebrigade' type unit that can give you a sudden threat where your opponent least expects it. The problem is if it gets caught, even if the rest of the army reinforces in a later round, you can lose a lot of very valuable and near impossible to replace cavalry. So again, its a balance thing. But I tend to try and keep one specialist cavalry corps just for the pure speed - sometimes you can bring an enemy to battle who would otherwise slip away and if it hits a broken/breaking force the carnage is awesome (I've just finished off an isolated French corps of 15,000 - at the start) in a PBEM using this trick

[bob.]

What can I actually do in such a case:
http://www.abload.de/img/pragueuprtn.jpg
as you can see a huge Austrian army is trapped in Prague but I am besieging them now since half a year and it doesn't seem to actually make them lose any supplies as the strength rating is still nearly as high as at the start?
I tried blockading the harbours and I had in each of the two exit points 3*4 = 12 bateaux but it didn't seem to do anything and I could only stay there for a few turns because of supply issues.
I am scared that when winter comes the whole siege will have been pointless because I won't be able to supply them?
And since with the fort batteries + the artillery of the whole Austrian army it doesn't seem like I will be able to breach it at all...

[loki100]

What can I actually do in such a case:
http://www.abload.de/img/pragueuprtn.jpg
as you can see a huge Austrian army is trapped in Prague but I am besieging them now since half a year and it doesn't seem to actually make them lose any supplies as the strength rating is still nearly as high as at the start?
I tried blockading the harbours and I had in each of the two exit points 3*4 = 12 bateaux but it didn't seem to do anything and I could only stay there for a few turns because of supply issues.
I am scared that when winter comes the whole siege will have been pointless because I won't be able to supply them?
And since with the fort batteries + the artillery of the whole Austrian army it doesn't seem like I will be able to breach it at all...

ouch. Your problem is the level 4 depot, even under siege that is a lotof supplies and you have no breaches. Presume you have done the obvious and grabbed all your siege guns etc.

I'd try two things. One build up a decent depot at Budin, that, plus use of your bateaux to shuffle supply wagons up/back from Dresden should keep your besieging force in supply, even over winter.

I'd then split up. Leave a large (say 3000 pwr) force at Prag, if Daun et al try to break out they will struggle due to the frontage constraint. Make sure your besieging force is in 'all out' defence. You should drive any break out back into the fort. Then ... well with so much of the Austrian army in Prag it looks like the rest of Austria is yours for the taking. Construct an optimised siege corps (guns, engineers, look over your commanders) and its off to Wien. You can take a line of towns that are pretty much unfortified to build a supply line. or go hunting for isolated Austrian corps, in either case turn it to your advantage, you don't need all your army there to maintain the stalemate.

[bob.]

It's so annoying having to move those damn supply wagons every turn for every army that is besieging something (and the AI sure likes to be besieged)...
but thanks for the suggestion, that seems like a very good plan.

[bob.]

Gentlemen, may I annoy you with a few more questions:

- Is there a way to know what is the full-strength setup of a regiment? Many regiments are already at the start lacking units and since I usually have way too many replacements anyway I would like to know how to quickly determine which ones are lacking soldiers and which are not. But as far as I can see there are even multiple regiment types with the same elements inside but different numbers for example how do I know if an infantry regiment is full-strength of the smaller type or of the bigger type and lacking elements?
- Am I correct in spreading the infantry with the "Skirmisher" trait so as many brigades as possible have a Skirmisher infantry unit inside? As far as I understand it, if I place 1 Skirmisher and 3 line infantry in a brigade then the 3 line infantry units will also gain the +1 initiative bonus - correct?
- What does the "Guard" trait on some units do? I don't find the trait listed in the manual.
- Is there any use for the "Service asset" replacements? Seems a bit unfitting for a 18th century army anyway.
- Once Russia switches sides will the territory they conquered also be switched over to Prussia or will it have to be reconquered?

[Stoertebeker]

Gentlemen, may I annoy you with a few more questions:

- Is there a way to know what is the full-strength setup of a regiment? Many regiments are already at the start lacking units and since I usually have way too many replacements anyway I would like to know how to quickly determine which ones are lacking soldiers and which are not. But as far as I can see there are even multiple regiment types with the same elements inside but different numbers for example how do I know if an infantry regiment is full-strength of the smaller type or of the bigger type and lacking elements?

If you select a unit, you'll get an indication of the elements strength in the lower right of the window. If you click on the element symbol, you can exactly see how many hits an element lacks.

- Am I correct in spreading the infantry with the "Skirmisher" trait so as many brigades as possible have a Skirmisher infantry unit inside? As far as I understand it, if I place 1 Skirmisher and 3 line infantry in a brigade then the 3 line infantry units will also gain the +1 initiative bonus - correct?

Yes, the second part is correct. I had the same habits, but now I think that it's more important to have light infantry in the right regions (mountains, swamps, forests ...) since they are weak in open terrain and initiative is nice, but not so decisive in battle.

- What does the "Guard" trait on some units do? I don't find the trait listed in the manual.

It's a flavour trait - nothing to care about in RoP.

- Is there any use for the "Service asset" replacements? Seems a bit unfitting for a 18th century army anyway.

I think they are used for pontoneers, engineers and supply trains.

- Once Russia switches sides will the territory they conquered also be switched over to Prussia or will it have to be reconquered?

If I remember correctly, the territory will still be considered to be Austrian.

[bob.]

Thanks for the answers.

If you select a unit, you'll get an indication of the elements strength in the lower right of the window. If you click on the element symbol, you can exactly see how many hits an element lacks.

Yes, but I mean the unit an element is in. I think it represents a "regiment" or "brigade" in game? How do I know that such a unit is missing elements and will receive new ones when I leave it in a city/depot?

[Stoertebeker]

Ah okay. Actually, I don't know, if there is a fixed maximum of elements inside of a regiment. Replacements will (as far as I know) be used primary to fill up hits in damaged elements. Only then the engine will use full replacement elements to add elements to full health regiments. I think that the engine chooses random units for that (supposed that they are inside of a structure with depot - which is the precondition that a unit receives replacements at all. It favors units with passive stance).

[loki100]

Ah okay. Actually, I don't know, if there is a fixed maximum of elements inside of a regiment. Replacements will (as far as I know) be used primary to fill up hits in damaged elements. Only then the engine will use full replacement elements to add elements to full health regiments. I think that the engine chooses random units for that (supposed that they are inside of a structure with depot - which is the precondition that a unit receives replacements at all. It favors units with passive stance).

some units have a large number of components, the Saxon guard regiments and I think some Prussian units. Equally others have very few, such as the French cavalry formations, so in that sense the replacement demand of a battalion will vary somewhat.

Other than using green-green stance, I don't think there is much you can do to influence the selection of replacements to units.

To the Russian question. Yes whatever they had conquered remains under Austrian control. I'm not sure if in the long campaign scenarios the Russian units now flip sides and actively join the Prussians though. Last time I played a game to the point of Catherine's death that chain didn't really work, but that was back with parch 1.02.

[Narwhal]

There is a trick. Select two units in a stack, then over the mouse where the "+" sign is. It should tell you the "maximum composition" of both units.

[Die Zieten]

My suggestion for Prussian players that have a Prussian mentality for Ordnung.

Prussian Corp

3 x Infantry brigade = 12 batallions

1 x Fusilier brigade = 4 batallions

4 x Grenadier batallion ( Independent but can be formed in to a brigade, the commaders reserve)

1 x Cavalry brigade 10- 15 squadrons ( Curassier and/or Dragoons)

1 x Cavalry brigade 10-15 squadrons ( Hussar and/or Dragoon)

2x Artillery batallion = 10 batteries


You can add to this from the army reserve what you need but this is a formation that can work independently as it is.

Prussia can field 5-8 of these formations with little stretching the resources and depending how the war is going..

You can also construct combined arms brigades for missions with what you have in reserve.

Exsample here.

2x Regimental batallion = 10 Infantry coy, 2 Grenadier coy

1 x Freibatallion = 5 Light infantry coy

5 x Cavalry squadron ( Hussars or Dragoons)

1x Artillery batallion = 5 batteries

Now these will live by the situation naturally but it is good to have some ready blueprints.