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Hey guys I know I have a lot of questions because im new to the game. Thanks for all the responses from previous threads. My question today is, ............. in 1862 you get two different pools of generals (playing confederate)? One pool is suppose to be brigade commanders and the other division commanders. My question is why can some of the generals in the brigade commander pool able to become division commanders and in the division commander pool some cant become division commanders. This doesn't make sense to me. Also, what am I suppose to do with all these one star generals. The brigades I form(most of them) already have a named commander. Like I get Trimble's brigade , armisteads brigade, exc................

Oh and one other thing............. if I do assign a general to lets say .......... the stonewall brigade(after General Jackson has become a division commander) why cant the new general with stonewalls brigade merge with Jacksons division. thanks again guys and I look forward to yalls response.

lightbrave wrote:Hey guys I know I have a lot of questions because im new to the game. Thanks for all the responses from previous threads. My question today is, ............. in 1862 you get two different pools of generals (playing confederate)? One pool is suppose to be brigade commanders and the other division commanders. My question is why can some of the generals in the brigade commander pool able to become division commanders and in the division commander pool some cant become division commanders. This doesn't make sense to me. Also, what am I suppose to do with all these one star generals. The brigades I form(most of them) already have a named commander. Like I get Trimble's brigade , armisteads brigade, exc................

Oh and one other thing............. if I do assign a general to lets say .......... the stonewall brigade(after General Jackson has become a division commander) why cant the new general with stonewalls brigade merge with Jacksons division. thanks again guys and I look forward to yalls response.

I don't know if I am understanding that correctly.

If a brigade doesn't show a portrait of a general, most likely it has none attached, absolutly regardless of the name.
Check by highlighting a brigade and look in the bottom right corner to check the elements list. A general should appear in the list (signed by a star).
Any general can be merged with a single brigade of any size at any time.
Forming a division is something else. Only divisions can contain a general and multiple brigades.
Any general can become a divisional commander if the ability is unlocked yet (end of 1861) but...
,,, only active generals can become divisional commanders.
A division can contain only one general.
Only from two star upwards can generals become corps commanders.
Only 3 and 4 star generals can become army commanders.

Many times tasks will be assigned to a single brigade like scouting or scorching. Should you find yourself equipped with too many generals assign them to those.

thanks for the reply but my main question is............ why cant say 3 brigade generals be merged with a division general. Example I make general pickett a division commander. I have 2 brigades under Armistead and kemper(pictured generals) why cant I merge them with pickett. its like subordinate generals with brigades cant be merged with a division commander. Am I wrong?

The engine is not set up that way. Each division has 1 general (the one in charge). Don't get hung up on the names, just because it says "brigade" or "division" general, doesn't mean they aren't the same. All 1 star generals can form a division. They can also command brigades or stacks.

The "Trimble's Brigade" naming mechanism is just flavor. The only actual generals you get in game are separate units that have a picture and can be moved around. These guys are considered to be division generals or above. While each of those guys can merge with any single unit, they can also form divisions, which will allow them to take on up to 17 additional elements.

Both the South and the Union get two stacks of leaders in Jan '62 and '63. If you select any stack in Richmond --or Washington as the case may be-- when they appear and then look at the tool-tips on each of these stack's tab you will note that the -Division Generals- stack has only 3-1-1 leaders, even the Maj.Gen.s., and the "'62 Pool Generals" will have leaders with special abilities and/or variations in their values to the greatest extent. Other than that, there is no meaning to in which stack they were spawned.

Infantry and Cavalry brigades may be combined with exactly one leader unit. Aside from the fact that such brigades have a leader providing them with Command Points (CP's), there is a small advantage to them having their own-personal-Jesu.... eh, leader --in strength I think--, and for sure in survivability in battle.

A division --known internally in the game engine as a combi-unit-- but only as "division" in the game interface and manuals and everywhere else, is a special kind of unit in that it must contain exactly one leader and a minimum of one other unit, generally a brigade. The restrictions on what may be contained in a division are:
- Only one leader.
- No more than 14 non-leader units. A division of a leader and 17 cavalry units is for example not possible unless at lease one of those cavalry units is a brigade.
- No more than 18 sub-units (elements), including the leader
- No supply units allowed (you can actually include Field Hospitals, Signal Corpse, Engineers and Pontooneers though), but these are better left loosely in the stack, especially a corps stack.

Although you cannot combine more than one leader into a division, you can still stack more than one leader with a division. This is that SOP for division outside of corpse, drop a second leader into the division's stack to provide another 2 CP and your division will be fully supplied with CP's and not suffer for being under-commanded.

Since nearly every leader that ever went on to command a division, and perhaps a corps and army later, at one time commanded a brigade, and to put some flavor into the game, many brigades are named for leaders who are also provided as a unit (counter) in the game. The names of these units has absolutely no other meaning; it's just decoration.

A 1-star General is known as a Brigadier General in official parlance and a 2-star is known as a Major General. In the game, however, a Brigadier General (who is also active) may lead a single Brigade/Regiment or a Division. A Major General (who is active) may lead a Regiment/Brigade, a Division or a Corps. A group of Regiment/Brigades led by Generals in early 1861 may be part of an Army led by a 3-star (Lieutenant General), but my never form a Division. It's just a game mechanic.

Each of the 1* generals in the game will eventually be in charge of a division or be a "second in command" of a division stack providing extra CP's. If you have three generals in charge of three brigades, separate them all from their brigades, choose the best general, click the form division special order, and combine him with all three of the brigades. The brigades will all receive his combat stats and only cost 4 CP for the whole division, of which the (1 star) division commander will provide 2. (Also, because of the way the combat engine works, divisions far outperform an equivalent number of loose brigades in combat regardless of CP considerations, so keep all combat brigades combined into divisions if possible.) The other two generals can be assigned elsewhere.

Pre-october 1861, you cannot form divisions, so it makes sense to have generals attached to brigades. Once division formation is allowed, you should un-attach all leaders from their brigades and reform all of your loose brigades into divisions under 1* or 2* generals, leaving you with extra generals. Figuring out how best to use stray, extra or "useless" generals is an important management task during the first year of the war.

Once corps formation is allowed in spring 62 your 2*s will be separated from any divisions and made into Corps commanders, and you will need 1*s to take their divisions.

As has been pointed out above, the reason some generals can form divisions and others can't is because of activity. If active, any general can form a division unless he is a Corps or Army commander. (If you are playing with hard activation rules where inactive leaders can become fixed it is a good idea to break up your general pools immediately rather than leaving them all in one stack until you need them because the whole stack of spare generals can become fixed due to the senior leader's inactivity and unable to move or form divisions even though the subordinate generals are technically active.)

As the game progresses the CSA player will find that the problem of what to do with extra generals more than solves itself; you will barely have enough 1* generals to command all the troops you build, and definitely not enough 2* generals for the number of Corps you would like to have.