Your Standard Division Composition

[TheEmperor]

So I've got a few questions regarding division composition and I was wondering if any of the AGEOD veterans of these forums could help me out with an answer. I've been reading a lot of the discussions on the forums regarding the topic and I had a few questions of my own.

1)What is your standard infantry division made up of? At the moment I am putting together divisions that have four arty regs, two cav regs, a sharpshooter reg and ten or so standard infantry regiments.

2)What is your standard cavalry division? I'm not sure how to go about putting cavalry divisions together. In my games against Athena and my PBEMs I just throw four horse arty regs into the division and fill the rest up with cav.

3)What is your standard garrison division? I've never actually build one of these, I've seen them mentioned, but I'm not entirely sure how I'd got about using them.

I figure this could help out a lot of those who, like me, have only scratched the surface of this great game.

[Gray Fox]

As the Union:
Assault Division-A marine for the river crossing bonus, a sharpshooter for the +1 initiative bonus, an early cavalry element for the detection stats, a conscript cav for extra pursuit/screening numbers, one of the elite "+5 to cohesion for the Division" brigades and the rest line infantry.

Basic Infantry Division-A sailor, a sharpshooter, a brigade with a line infantry, two conscript infantry, a 6-lber and a cav with the rest militia. McClellan, Halleck and Sigel can train the conscript infantry and the militia up to line infantry. That way you can recruit one of these every game month starting in '62 after Sigel arrives for about 18 to 20 months.

Garrison Division-Two of the starting brigades with a light infantry and two volunteers, one of the starting brigades with a conscript, a line infrantry and a 6-lber, a sharpshooter and the rest militia. You can make about ten of these. I entrench one in St. Louis, Cairo, Evansville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Ashland, Parkersburg, Wheeling, Pittsburgh and Harper's Ferry to form a line of strongpoints as a shield. Each should have a depot and one of the two wagon supply units so that they don't surrender under siege and be garrisoned inside the city for the defensive bonus.

Cavalry Division-A General with a good strat rating and four cavalry elements, at least one of which is the early cavalry for the detection stat. This gives you a small unit with an evasion of about 21 and a hide number of 4. The chance to successfully twist up an enemy rail line is a percentage chance based on combat power. The unit has a combat power over 100 so that should be automatic if you keep their cohesion up. You can concentrate several of these to attack a rear area, just don't forget the 11th Commandment. "Thou shallt not get caught."

You didn't ask, but an Artillery Division is the best place to put your gun batteries. You can only have 15 sub-units in a Divisions, but that will do just fine. Fifteen batteries of 12-lbers are economical and do just about the same damage as the big guns. If you check the map filter for terrain, very few terrain/weather combos give the longer-range guns an advantage.

For the CSA, I just recruit every Virginian the game will give me. I stack up enough men and guns to make eight infantry Divisions and an artillery Division in Manassas. When October 1861 finally allows Divisions, I send an army with whichever 3-star is active to D.C. and run the stars and bars up over the White House. Good luck!

[TheEmperor]

Cavalry Division-A General with a good strat rating and four cavalry elements, at least one of which is the early cavalry for the detection stat. This gives you a small unit with an evasion of about 21 and a hide number of 4. The chance to successfully twist up an enemy rail line is a percentage chance based on combat power. The unit has a combat power over 100 so that should be automatic if you keep their cohesion up. You can concentrate several of these to attack a rear area, just don't forget the 11th Commandment. "Thou shallt not get caught."

You didn't ask, but an Artillery Division is the best place to put your gun batteries. You can only have 15 sub-units in a Divisions, but that will do just fine. Fifteen batteries of 12-lbers are economical and do just about the same damage as the big guns. If you check the map filter for terrain, very few terrain/weather combos give the longer-range guns an advantage.

Final questions, what type of cavalry force would you want to put together if you were senting Forrest on a great raid in '64, as in, how would your divisions look? And with regard to the artillery division, would it not be more economical to have four divisions with four batteries each giving 16 guns then also having several heavy arty regs loose in the corp or army? Wouldn't this mean you'd have every division participating in the assualt phase, rather than having one division sit out?

[Gray Fox]

A cavalry force isn't a panzer Division. The power of small cavalry units is in its ability to move through enemy lines in passive mode/evade combat. You can twist up some track and maybe torch a depot, but you're just not going to do war winning stuff. If the Union player has any training, he would move his reserve force fast enough by rail to eventually catch an elite cavalry corps. I believe you'll find that partisans and Rangers can cause just as much trouble as a large cavalry force at much less expense on your part.

We don't have all of the answers to Division composition, but I've recommended that which I have reasoned to be the best. Several threads exist on this very topic and you are welcome to add your own analysis.

A battle starts at a given range for the weather and terrain. Each round the range drops until it reaches zero and the armies clash in melee. At range zero, both sides men are mixed together and the artillery no longer fire. So your Division General can have an assault force of 13 line units with 4 now idle gun batteries, or he can have 17 assault units, nearly a third more, whose artillery support are idle elsewhere.

The artillery Division seems to attract no hits in combat tests. If a mixed Division takes enough hits to withdraw/rout, then its artillery goes with it. The artillery Division would stay and still be available for further combat in support of the other Divisions.

Any cannon is superior to the 6-lber. If you make a Division with a bunch of brigades that have the smaller guns, then I think the advantage of an artillery Division with the larger guns is obvious.