1861 Confederate War Supplies

[pob303]

Please can someone share with me some tips to generate war supplies for the confederacy. Especially in 1861.

I must be missing something. I generally buy two industrial options as soon as they are available. Then don't touch that option again due to the time needed for ROI.

I am only being able to build 2-3 units per turn and that ain't enough! It can't be replacements as there has been no major fighting as of yet.

Thanks in advance.

[ArmChairGeneral]

1. Get all your brigs into the blockade boxes (not a viable long-term strategy, but it helps a lot in 61). You start with brig replacements available already, be sure to set any brigs that start missing an element to passive posture to get it built to increase the amount of WS/$$ they can bring you each turn.

2. Use loyalty affecting RGDs like the Defensive Works card to increase loyalty in high-production regions. You can tell which need it most by going to the ledger, clicking the regions tab, and then clicking the icon atop the WS column to sort by WS production. One of the other columns will tell you loyalty. You are looking for high production regions with 60-80% loyalty. New Orleans is probably your best bet. 100% loyalty translates to a 50% increase from that city's base production.

2b. Your combat units have a Police value. If your total Police value is high enough, you have a chance of increasing loyalty a small percent each turn. Cavalry have a high Police value, so I sometimes build a bunch of cavalry in New Orleans (or in Alabama then moving to New Orleans since Louisiana only has conscripts in the pool) and let them hang out for a while to build up loyalty until I need them elsewhere. Some leaders have the ability to increase loyalty, but I think you only have Hindman in 1861, and he only works on cities below a certain threshold (I think 65%, not sure exactly).

3. Try to build an Iron Works sometime in the summer or early fall of '61. You get 8 WS per turn per IW, so each decision will get you an extra 24 per turn once they finish building, which should be more than enough in '61 and early '62 that your limiting factor is money or conscripts rather than WS. I only ever purchase one, and usually don't do any other industrialization until I start to feel the late-game ammo crunch, which is solved with Powder Mills. Pay attention to what locations the IW will be built in: no sense building them in regions that are blockaded or that have low loyalty if you have better options.

4. Look at your major production cities. Are any of them under direct blockade? (Look for a round icon with a lock on it in the region in question.) If you can lift the blockade your production will increase in that city dramatically. For example, Richmond is under blockade because Ft. Monroe controls the James Estuary. Ft. Monroe is a tough nut to crack, and may not be feasible, but Ft. Sumter is an easy win and is blockading Charleston, so don't neglect taking it back on turn one with Beauregard. If you don't do it right away, it will be reinforced within a couple of turns and you will only get partial production out of Charleston until you can put together a big enough stack to take it.

5. The Suffolk Militia that is unlocked on turn one or two will be able to take Norfolk unopposed if you do it on the first turn possible. Norfolk produces WS due to the shipyards, and will also benefit from later lifting the blockade imposed by Ft. Monroe.

6. Battles: Production increases with NM, so winning decisive battles will increase your overall production (sometimes easier said than done). You also capture WS directly when you win battles. The turn log will say "we captured x-hundred rifles from the enemy." Each hundred rifles give you 1 WS. The WS tooltip tells you how many you gained in battle on the previous turn. In some scenarios (like 1863) I capture so many WS that I have more than I could ever use. In the April '61 campaign, if your opponent goes for Manassas early and loses big, you can often pick up a few dozen WS on top of a NM point or two. Bear in mind as the Union, that when you lose battles the CSA is getting free WS that they desperately need....

7. Capture: The Union AI is vulnberable to quick Nashville->Bowling Green->Louisville attacks, which put you in a good position to then take Lexington, Indianapolis, Columbus, IN and Cincinnati, all of which produce WS. The AI likes to industrialize in the mid-west, making these targets even more juicy. It is unlikely you can get these in '61, but it is reasonable to have at least Lexington by the beginning of '62 if KY opens early enough. Loyalty then limits their production for you, but I like to soften them up with Demonstrations ahead of time in addition to all the other loyalty increasing methods available once I have them.

[DrPostman]

Which options are you choosing? I generally build lots of militia which
don't require as much WS. Mostly I need money so I build Arsenals
before I build armories and the rest. Armories come with the arsenals
anyway.

[pob303]

Thank you guys. I guess the devil is in the detail. I had never even considered loyalty in my starting deep south cities.

[pob303]

I am struggling to get New Orleans loyalty moving the right way. I am using the defensive works RGD, now for the second time as it had no effect the first time. I have Hindman and also some cav located there.

It is now Jan 62 and loyalty is 62% and going backwards versus the starting 70% in April 61. The war is generally going well and I have a healthy NM lead. I have been very careful not to use any RGD cards that have negative loyalty costs.

Any ideas on what I am missing?

[ArmChairGeneral]

I have experienced this also, an unreasonable difficulty in raising New Orleans' loyalty compared to other cities. I just persevere and eventually it starts moving (slowly) in the right direction, especially once I am able to assemble the 1 to 1 1/2 divisions I put there to prevent Ft. Pickens shenanigans. It can take six months or more to get it into the 90s.

Have you lost any strategic cities? In AACW that caused loyalty checks to occur in some of your other cities, but the log no longer reports it if this is still occurring. If the mechanic is still working but the messages are not, this might be an explanation. I have only noticed the problem in NO, however, so perhaps it is something scripted.

Also bear in mind that the Defensive works card does not work exactly as advertised. The effect is scaled by existing loyalty, IIRC, so 10% from one play of the card might only get you a couple of percent movement. I.e. if you have 90%, the Defensive Works card might get you to 91% or 92% rather than 100%.

Despite the slow going, I have always eventually gotten NO where it should be in time to have an impact on the game, but not always in 61. I think Mobile is easier to shift, and has enough production and money that it is worth trying to get up as well. I can't recall if it starts with low loyalty or not in the Grand Campaign, I have been playing scenarios lately where it starts in the 60s and is worth trying to bring up.

Ultimately there is no way to get major WS improvements quickly without building an IW, but a sustained loyalty effort eventually pays off nicely. By the time Corps can be formed in spring 62 I have usually turned the corner on production and can start to really get some things built. Also, against the AI I usually have a NM well above 110 by then, which helps a lot.

[pob303]

Thanks ArmChairG. Your advice in post 2 really sorted my WS issues out so NO loyalty is not a major issue. I was just puzzled why it remains in the low 60s even in the summer of 62, when all other deep south cities have increased to a healthier level without any effort on my part.

The only strategic city I have lost was Springfield and that was pretty early on in the campaign. But with national moral now north of 130 and as I am now in possession of Alexandria, Cairo, Lexington and Louisville, I am pretty sure it cannot be NM or strategic city related. I have seen no scripted events that would also explain it.

[Bill's Boy]

I think Hindman may be your problem. I found this post:

Occupier
When commanding a stack, this leader will proclaim Martial Law in any rebellious city, raising or lowering the city loyalty by 5/trn up to 60% loyalty, if the city loyalty is below 90%.

Hated Occupier
When commanding a stack, this leader will enforce Martial Law with extreme severity in any rebellious city, raising or lowering the city loyalty by 5/trn up to 50% loyalty, if the city loyalty is below 60%.

in this thread:

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?39364-Combating-the-Loyalty-issue

It seems an Occupier like Hindman will move loyalty down toward 60% as well as up toward 60%.

[ArmChairGeneral]

Good catch, and informative link, thanks!

[Rod Smart]

There's going to be a month or two in 61 when you will not have any war supply at all. The little bit you're getting is being reinvested to build industrial options.

Use that time to build flatboats to fill in your supply network. Flatboats (and far west Rangers) are the only unit that doesn't require any war supply.

[Cardinal Ape]

Just a reminder that buildings are bugged: they start producing as soon as the construction starts, they do not need to be completed.

[Captain_Orso]

IIRC the logic behind having industrial structures start producing WUS etc. immediately after their 'construction' started was because these facilities are not actually being constructed, but are privately owned facilities which are being modified to produce specific products for the military, which is not even to say that they historically produced exclusively for the government, but that's neither here nor there.

In a perfect world/game production would increase over the build time, but that would require code changes in the engine for a very minor affect.