Hi all, I just got the game recently and of course have all the newb questions that everyone else seem to have too. I have tried to read as much as I can from the wiki to the manual to posts here to some AAR's.
I've played through one game on the "easy" level. Won as the Union in Nov 1864. Doing one on "Normal" now. Ok, questions/thoughts in no particular order...
1) How many armies should I have? I think I created 4 in my first game, one in the west, 2 in the middle, 1 out east. Or does it simply depend on how many decent 3 star generals you have? How many do most people typically do?
2) Do people actually use Banks/Butler/McClellan/Fremont/Halleck etc for... well anything? Right now, they are collecting dust in my current game. In my first game I used most as corps commanders I think.
3) Corps: Ditto to the first question. I think I read somewhere what the max # of corps you can have per army, but don't remember. What is it? How many corps per army do people typically do? (I think I had about 4-6 in my first game) Or again does it simply come down to the army commander? I'd assume you'd want more corps with Grant than McDowell.
4) Divisions: I think I basically figured this out. I was going to ask how many divisions per corps people usually use, but it just comes down to command points, right. So, probably about 4, maybe 5 divisions per corps, right?
5) Winter, aka my nemesis. I have lost thousands of men in winter. Do people just hibernate in winter in cities? If I do anything, people die to weather conditions or inevitably I'll screw up the supply and they die (but supply is another question). Should I basically do nothing during winter? Well, actually I think I just consolidate my forces and recruit and get my forces ready for April. But then in my current game I see the AI take Cincy and try to take Harrisburg in the snow. I hate retreating to a city to protect my units and lose ground.
6) What exactly do engineers do? Do they only speed up rail repair or do they do anything else?
7) Replacements: The wiki is unclear. Can you get replacements anywhere as long as the unit doesn't move but just gets more in towns with depots?
8) Blockade: I think I am completely missing the point of the blockade boxes. I put a bunch of ships in the box, but I don't seem to be increasing the percentage at the bottom of it. What am I missing?
9) Supply for ships: I thought the transport ships in the transport box in the Atlantic would help supply your coastal cities *and* ships. But I have ships in the blockade and ships on the coast that are continually unsupplied. What am I missing? So, I am almost rotating ships in and out back to some city to get re-supplied. Is this normal? Or am I missing something?
10) Do militia units spread evenly within a state? Meaning... I think I counted Pennsylvanis had 14 cities/towns. If I buy 14 militia in PA, will they spread them so each town gets one? It seems like it does, but not exactly. Which leads to...
11) Do people tend to try to garrison a unit or two in every city? Or just cities with depots? Or just cities on the border?
12) I sent a blockade flotilla down to some city (I think it was Charleston -- I know it had a fort). Next turn, my flotilla was destroyed. So.... what is the point of a blockade flotilla if it gets sunk in a turn? Again, I'm obviously missing something, but not quite sure what it is. I guess the real question, is: How does one blockade a city (and survive)?
13) More a history question. My impression of the Civil War was it was fought in fields, not in cities. I guess I can think of a number of battles involving cities, but... But it just seems my main goal in this is to capture cities.
14) Is McClernand a completely useless general?
15) I got a message saying something like "you must have 12 units adjacent to Washington DC". First, adjacent to me means next to, so can I have all the units in Alexandria? Is that 12 units or 12 elements? And, do the locked units in Dc count towards that goal?
16) Rally points. Do people tend to use rally points for units? I seem to send everything out west to St. Louis, everything in Indiana/Ohio to Louisville and everything in the east to Washington DC or Alexandria. Pretty much the rest of my cities have 1/2 militia in them.
17) Do people tend to send in good one star generals into battle first in order to get their seniority up so they can get promoted?
18) When attacking an area do you only go after strategic/objective/cities with depots and ignore the rest or just take them all?
Ok, I actually have some other questions, but I will leave them for another post. I knew I had some questions, but I didn't realize how many. : )
This game was very hard to get into, but I kept coming back to it.
Thanks for any help/answers/thoughts!
Welcome to the forum. You have a lot of questions:
1. your choice. Most players have at least 2 (east and west). But you can always have more (up to your limit of 3 star generals that is).
2. Not much use. They aren't terrible as corps commanders (just bad). Banks has the recruiter ability, so place him inside a large city and you get more recruits per turn (Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc).
3. There is a hard limit (can't remember right now). You will notice in most PBEM games, that smaller, more numerous corps are weaker, and most people get fewer, larger corps. And yes you want to try to get more corps with your better armies.
4. Depends on CPs and number of troops. Most people max the corps at 4-5 divisions (assuming they can afford it).
5. Attempt to keep them in supply during winter (sometimes easier said than done). You do not have to retreat into a city, but try to limit movement (entrenchments help cut down on casualties), and IIRC, a depot cancels hits for units in the same region (consuming extra supply in the process). Your supply lines will be very limited during the winter (sometimes down to 1 or 2 regions from a RR/Depot).
6. Help you entrench faster as well. Some players keep them out of divisions, and have them "loose" in the formation.
7. They have to be in supply, and not besieged. You get replacements faster for being passive, or in a depot, or in a city.
8. If your the union, blockade boxes % is the lower of the 2 areas (Atlantic and Gulf). And there is a hard limit (you must "brown water blockade" certain CSA ports to increase). So you want to try to have the same number of ships in both boxes.
9. The Atlantic transport box only supplies troops. The ships in the blockade boxes must get their own supply. You can rotate transports through the blockade boxes to resupply the ships, but they must occasionally return to port.
1. your choice. Most players have at least 2 (east and west). But you can always have more (up to your limit of 3 star generals that is).
2. Not much use. They aren't terrible as corps commanders (just bad). Banks has the recruiter ability, so place him inside a large city and you get more recruits per turn (Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc).
3. There is a hard limit (can't remember right now). You will notice in most PBEM games, that smaller, more numerous corps are weaker, and most people get fewer, larger corps. And yes you want to try to get more corps with your better armies.
4. Depends on CPs and number of troops. Most people max the corps at 4-5 divisions (assuming they can afford it).
5. Attempt to keep them in supply during winter (sometimes easier said than done). You do not have to retreat into a city, but try to limit movement (entrenchments help cut down on casualties), and IIRC, a depot cancels hits for units in the same region (consuming extra supply in the process). Your supply lines will be very limited during the winter (sometimes down to 1 or 2 regions from a RR/Depot).
6. Help you entrench faster as well. Some players keep them out of divisions, and have them "loose" in the formation.
7. They have to be in supply, and not besieged. You get replacements faster for being passive, or in a depot, or in a city.
8. If your the union, blockade boxes % is the lower of the 2 areas (Atlantic and Gulf). And there is a hard limit (you must "brown water blockade" certain CSA ports to increase). So you want to try to have the same number of ships in both boxes.
9. The Atlantic transport box only supplies troops. The ships in the blockade boxes must get their own supply. You can rotate transports through the blockade boxes to resupply the ships, but they must occasionally return to port.
Remember - The beatings will continue until morale improves.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
1) How many armies should I have? I think I created 4 in my first game, one in the west, 2 in the middle, 1 out east. Or does it simply depend on how many decent 3 star generals you have? How many do most people typically do?
A: This is really up to you, I normally aim to have about 3 as the Confederacy and 4 as the Union, but this is purely your preference.
2) Do people actually use Banks/Butler/McClellan/Fremont/Halleck etc for... well anything? Right now, they are collecting dust in my current game. In my first game I used most as corps commanders I think.
A: McClellan is a great training officer, so if you have a central location where you send all of your newly raised militia, he can turn them into regulars quick. Banks should be put in a large city in order to increase the number of conscripts you get. The other, meh....
4) Divisions: I think I basically figured this out. I was going to ask how many divisions per corps people usually use, but it just comes down to command points, right. So, probably about 4, maybe 5 divisions per corps, right?
A: You are correct that it comes down to command points. As long as you are not receiving a penalty for the number of units you have, feel free to increase the number. Obviously I would put most of my divisions in Corps under the likes of Longstreet and Sherman.
5) Winter, aka my nemesis. I have lost thousands of men in winter. Do people just hibernate in winter in cities? If I do anything, people die to weather conditions or inevitably I'll screw up the supply and they die (but supply is another question). Should I basically do nothing during winter? Well, actually I think I just consolidate my forces and recruit and get my forces ready for April. But then in my current game I see the AI take Cincy and try to take Harrisburg in the snow. I hate retreating to a city to protect my units and lose ground.
A: If you are going to attack in winter, make sure it's a target that isn't very far away. If you must travel during winter, bring supply wagons with you, they absorb a lot of the damage from bad weather. Winter can screw up supplies coming forward, so make sure your main units are close to supply depots.
6) What exactly do engineers do? Do they only speed up rail repair or do they do anything else?
A: I believe engineers increase how quickly your fortification level rises. So if you have a position that you want to be entrenched quickly, send an engineer.
8) Blockade: I think I am completely missing the point of the blockade boxes. I put a bunch of ships in the box, but I don't seem to be increasing the percentage at the bottom of it. What am I missing?
A: After a certain point, adding more ships doesn't change the % much. Think diminishing marginal returns.
10) Do militia units spread evenly within a state? Meaning... I think I counted Pennsylvanis had 14 cities/towns. If I buy 14 militia in PA, will they spread them so each town gets one? It seems like it does, but not exactly. Which leads to...
A: Militia will pop up in pretty much every city on the map, but it is more likely to pop up in a big city than a small one. Build enough militia in Pennsylvania and I'm sure every city will eventually get some militia. This isn't really necessary however.
11) Do people tend to try to garrison a unit or two in every city? Or just cities with depots? Or just cities on the border?
A: I guess this is up to you, but spreading your forces out is usually a bad idea. Garrison areas you think are important and/or likely to get hit. If you are trying to guard a large area, build a mobile reaction force of cavalry and horse artillery and place a cavalryman in charge.
13) More a history question. My impression of the Civil War was it was fought in fields, not in cities. I guess I can think of a number of battles involving cities, but... But it just seems my main goal in this is to capture cities.
A: Yes most battles in the civil war were not fought IN a city, but most of them were fought NEAR a city, because usually the cities were the objectives. If you're fighting in a territory with a city in it, you should assume that you are fighting outside the city, not in the city itself. The cities don't cover the WHOLE territory, they just happen to be located within the territory.
14) Is McClernand a completely useless general?
A: Do you mean McClellan, or McClernand? I suppose it doesn't really matter since neither are COMPLETELY useless. It's is up to you to make them useful, or not.
16) Rally points. Do people tend to use rally points for units? I seem to send everything out west to St. Louis, everything in Indiana/Ohio to Louisville and everything in the east to Washington DC or Alexandria. Pretty much the rest of my cities have 1/2 militia in them.
A: I think rally points are useful for creating divisions out of an assortment of units.
17) Do people tend to send in good one star generals into battle first in order to get their seniority up so they can get promoted?
A: This is up to you as well. If you are willing to risk your best division commanders on solo attacks, then sure, its a good way to get promoted quickly. Just be careful you don't bite off more than they can chew. Losing Grant in a raid on some southern fort on the coast can be a bummer.
18) When attacking an area do you only go after strategic/objective/cities with depots and ignore the rest or just take them all?
A: You should probably take them all, but focus on the important points. If you've destroyed your enemies field forces then just go and mop up the remains.
There is a lot to this game, but stick with it. I didn't answer some questions because I am not a hundred % sure of the answer. Most of these questions though have been answered elsewhere, so try searching for them with the search engine on this forum.
A: This is really up to you, I normally aim to have about 3 as the Confederacy and 4 as the Union, but this is purely your preference.
2) Do people actually use Banks/Butler/McClellan/Fremont/Halleck etc for... well anything? Right now, they are collecting dust in my current game. In my first game I used most as corps commanders I think.
A: McClellan is a great training officer, so if you have a central location where you send all of your newly raised militia, he can turn them into regulars quick. Banks should be put in a large city in order to increase the number of conscripts you get. The other, meh....
4) Divisions: I think I basically figured this out. I was going to ask how many divisions per corps people usually use, but it just comes down to command points, right. So, probably about 4, maybe 5 divisions per corps, right?
A: You are correct that it comes down to command points. As long as you are not receiving a penalty for the number of units you have, feel free to increase the number. Obviously I would put most of my divisions in Corps under the likes of Longstreet and Sherman.
5) Winter, aka my nemesis. I have lost thousands of men in winter. Do people just hibernate in winter in cities? If I do anything, people die to weather conditions or inevitably I'll screw up the supply and they die (but supply is another question). Should I basically do nothing during winter? Well, actually I think I just consolidate my forces and recruit and get my forces ready for April. But then in my current game I see the AI take Cincy and try to take Harrisburg in the snow. I hate retreating to a city to protect my units and lose ground.
A: If you are going to attack in winter, make sure it's a target that isn't very far away. If you must travel during winter, bring supply wagons with you, they absorb a lot of the damage from bad weather. Winter can screw up supplies coming forward, so make sure your main units are close to supply depots.
6) What exactly do engineers do? Do they only speed up rail repair or do they do anything else?
A: I believe engineers increase how quickly your fortification level rises. So if you have a position that you want to be entrenched quickly, send an engineer.
8) Blockade: I think I am completely missing the point of the blockade boxes. I put a bunch of ships in the box, but I don't seem to be increasing the percentage at the bottom of it. What am I missing?
A: After a certain point, adding more ships doesn't change the % much. Think diminishing marginal returns.
10) Do militia units spread evenly within a state? Meaning... I think I counted Pennsylvanis had 14 cities/towns. If I buy 14 militia in PA, will they spread them so each town gets one? It seems like it does, but not exactly. Which leads to...
A: Militia will pop up in pretty much every city on the map, but it is more likely to pop up in a big city than a small one. Build enough militia in Pennsylvania and I'm sure every city will eventually get some militia. This isn't really necessary however.
11) Do people tend to try to garrison a unit or two in every city? Or just cities with depots? Or just cities on the border?
A: I guess this is up to you, but spreading your forces out is usually a bad idea. Garrison areas you think are important and/or likely to get hit. If you are trying to guard a large area, build a mobile reaction force of cavalry and horse artillery and place a cavalryman in charge.
13) More a history question. My impression of the Civil War was it was fought in fields, not in cities. I guess I can think of a number of battles involving cities, but... But it just seems my main goal in this is to capture cities.
A: Yes most battles in the civil war were not fought IN a city, but most of them were fought NEAR a city, because usually the cities were the objectives. If you're fighting in a territory with a city in it, you should assume that you are fighting outside the city, not in the city itself. The cities don't cover the WHOLE territory, they just happen to be located within the territory.
14) Is McClernand a completely useless general?
A: Do you mean McClellan, or McClernand? I suppose it doesn't really matter since neither are COMPLETELY useless. It's is up to you to make them useful, or not.
16) Rally points. Do people tend to use rally points for units? I seem to send everything out west to St. Louis, everything in Indiana/Ohio to Louisville and everything in the east to Washington DC or Alexandria. Pretty much the rest of my cities have 1/2 militia in them.
A: I think rally points are useful for creating divisions out of an assortment of units.
17) Do people tend to send in good one star generals into battle first in order to get their seniority up so they can get promoted?
A: This is up to you as well. If you are willing to risk your best division commanders on solo attacks, then sure, its a good way to get promoted quickly. Just be careful you don't bite off more than they can chew. Losing Grant in a raid on some southern fort on the coast can be a bummer.
18) When attacking an area do you only go after strategic/objective/cities with depots and ignore the rest or just take them all?
A: You should probably take them all, but focus on the important points. If you've destroyed your enemies field forces then just go and mop up the remains.
There is a lot to this game, but stick with it. I didn't answer some questions because I am not a hundred % sure of the answer. Most of these questions though have been answered elsewhere, so try searching for them with the search engine on this forum.
more answers:
10. I don't believe so. They tend to cluster in strategic cities. But units purchased in a state can appear anywhere you control (even that city that gets attacked the same turn by the enemy, wasting the unit).
11. Garrison important cities. Important cities are strategic cities (Richmond, Washington DC etc), depots (keeping supplies moving the to front is *[SIZE="3"]very[/size]* important), and railroad lines. Size 3 cities are important (they push/pull supplies without a depot), as are production cities (those that produce supplies/WS, conscripts, or money). For example, Richmond for the CSA provides a lot of money, general supply, ammo, war supplies, Conscripts, and NM. Capture that, and the CSA is on the decline due to the loss of all of the above.
12. Beware fort guns. If they bombard your fleet, they generally do 50 points of damage. So, you need to capture all the forts guarding a city. In the case of Charleston, capture Ft. Sumter, Ft. Moultrie, and Ft Johnson?, and your fleet can sail right up to Charleston blockading it. Otherwise, expect 50 points of damage each time you move into/out of the area next to a fort. (Charleston is a death trap to union fleets without capturing the forts). New Orleans on the other hand is easy to blockade (just move past the forts, and no more fleet damage). I must say that you don't always get hit moving past fort guns.
13. Nope, destroying armies is as important. You can win up to 8-10 NM for a truly decisive victory (or lose that much). Most cities are only worth 1 or 2 NM.
14. Depends on how you use him.
15. It means 12 separate units (read not divisions). So you need a stack of 12 militia brigades for example. IIRC they must be unlocked. A division is counted as 1 unit for the NM hits (defend Washington, threaten Richmond, etc).
16. Yes. Washington DC is a great rallying point for the east. As the CSA, Richmond is a great point as well. The points will move as the game progresses.
17. It's the only way to progress. Actually the best way is to get a good 1 star and smash some small units with overwhelming force. Your good 1 star moves up so fast (a good starting Union general for this is Hooker). Soon they will be a 2 star, and help the union's weak command structure.
18. It depends on your style. Be warned, that you must keep your forward units supplied at all times. So most people move forward along rivers or railroads.
[SIZE="4"]And last but not least, use the search function. It is the best to find answers to questions. For example, look up the word Conscripts in the advance search, and you get several threads with relevant information. Like the below:
[/size]
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12870&highlight=Conscripts
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12869&highlight=Conscripts
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=13811&highlight=Conscripts
[SIZE="4"]All of which have great information for a new player. Read the AARs as well, they contain lots of information (Although I have written a few, the best IMHO is Soundoff vs. Banks - I have included the links in the above list).[/size]
Enjoy playing.
10. I don't believe so. They tend to cluster in strategic cities. But units purchased in a state can appear anywhere you control (even that city that gets attacked the same turn by the enemy, wasting the unit).
11. Garrison important cities. Important cities are strategic cities (Richmond, Washington DC etc), depots (keeping supplies moving the to front is *[SIZE="3"]very[/size]* important), and railroad lines. Size 3 cities are important (they push/pull supplies without a depot), as are production cities (those that produce supplies/WS, conscripts, or money). For example, Richmond for the CSA provides a lot of money, general supply, ammo, war supplies, Conscripts, and NM. Capture that, and the CSA is on the decline due to the loss of all of the above.
12. Beware fort guns. If they bombard your fleet, they generally do 50 points of damage. So, you need to capture all the forts guarding a city. In the case of Charleston, capture Ft. Sumter, Ft. Moultrie, and Ft Johnson?, and your fleet can sail right up to Charleston blockading it. Otherwise, expect 50 points of damage each time you move into/out of the area next to a fort. (Charleston is a death trap to union fleets without capturing the forts). New Orleans on the other hand is easy to blockade (just move past the forts, and no more fleet damage). I must say that you don't always get hit moving past fort guns.
13. Nope, destroying armies is as important. You can win up to 8-10 NM for a truly decisive victory (or lose that much). Most cities are only worth 1 or 2 NM.
14. Depends on how you use him.
15. It means 12 separate units (read not divisions). So you need a stack of 12 militia brigades for example. IIRC they must be unlocked. A division is counted as 1 unit for the NM hits (defend Washington, threaten Richmond, etc).
16. Yes. Washington DC is a great rallying point for the east. As the CSA, Richmond is a great point as well. The points will move as the game progresses.
17. It's the only way to progress. Actually the best way is to get a good 1 star and smash some small units with overwhelming force. Your good 1 star moves up so fast (a good starting Union general for this is Hooker). Soon they will be a 2 star, and help the union's weak command structure.
18. It depends on your style. Be warned, that you must keep your forward units supplied at all times. So most people move forward along rivers or railroads.
[SIZE="4"]And last but not least, use the search function. It is the best to find answers to questions. For example, look up the word Conscripts in the advance search, and you get several threads with relevant information. Like the below:
[/size]
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12870&highlight=Conscripts
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=12869&highlight=Conscripts
http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=13811&highlight=Conscripts
[SIZE="4"]All of which have great information for a new player. Read the AARs as well, they contain lots of information (Although I have written a few, the best IMHO is Soundoff vs. Banks - I have included the links in the above list).[/size]
Enjoy playing.
Remember - The beatings will continue until morale improves.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Thank you both for some good information!
Yeah, I did ask a bunch of questions, but I bet I could ask as many more without a problem. That's the beauty (or curse depending on your pov) of the game.
I have used search some, and I will try to find info on stuff in the future through that venue. But it can take awhile to find an answer to a question doing that.
I had a question, did the search and I think I have spent the last hour and a half going from post to post reading all sorts of stuff, learning all sorts of good stuff. But I never got an answer to the question I was originally looking for! : ) But out answers to lots of other things though.
Yeah, I did ask a bunch of questions, but I bet I could ask as many more without a problem. That's the beauty (or curse depending on your pov) of the game.
I have used search some, and I will try to find info on stuff in the future through that venue. But it can take awhile to find an answer to a question doing that.
I had a question, did the search and I think I have spent the last hour and a half going from post to post reading all sorts of stuff, learning all sorts of good stuff. But I never got an answer to the question I was originally looking for! : ) But out answers to lots of other things though.
It is a collection of links and suchlike that Dixicrat has put together; have to admit that I'm not sure whether or not it has been posted in the public forums rather than in a "social group", but I see no reason not to make sure it is generally available:
Dixicrat wrote:This site is intended to help newcomers learn the basics of AGEOD's American Civil War. (AACW)
Any link that you click on will open another tab, if you are using a tabbed browser.
AACW Manual
This is a link to the online version of the AACW Manual which came with the game.
AACW Manual Updates
This post has a link to an illustrated guide to many of the major changes in AACW since the manual was published. It is current to release 13b.
What's not in the Manual
This thread covers several topics which might not be clear, even after you've read the manual.
AGEOD Forum FAQ
A very useful thread which answers questions you might have about the forums.
Acronyms, abbreviations and general glossary
The first entry in this thread provides a list of many common abbreviations that you'll find on the AGEOD forums.
AACW Wikki
This is a link to the AACW Wikki main page.
AACW Quick Reference Guide
This handy guide is packed with a lot of information that even experienced players sometimes forget!
AACW Strategy Guide
This classic covers the basics of strategic conception, in AACW.
CSA & USA Checklists
A helpful checklist of considerations for each turn.
Zones of Control
This thread explains important concepts about ZOC in AACW.
Artillery Analysis, Artillery Analysis 2.0, and Artillery Divisions
These three threads discuss AACW artillery and presents a few conclusions which might be easy to miss.
Frontage Primer
This thread explains important concepts about Frontage. (This is an advanced topic.)
Main AACW forum
This link will take you to the main forum for AACW.
Medals!
This thread is fun! In it, you can learn about the different medals that AACW community members can earn and proudly wear!
Return to “AGEod's American Civil War”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests