Building of river units

[Mitra]

When I build a river units I cannot decide where they will appears, so building in Illinois they appears on Great Lakes, and I cannot use them on Mississippi the same for other States .It is not possible indicate where build?

[Jim-NC]

No, you have no control on where they will be built. Depending on where built, ships on the great lakes can move into the Mississippi basin via the canal system. Drag them to the Mississippi river, and they will attempt to chart a movement path (if possible).

[Cromagnonman]

The Great Lakes do connect to the Mississippi River system across Illinois (Chicago to Peoria etc) and Pennsylvania (Erie to Pittsburgh etc), as well as to the Atlantic (Erie to Albany etc). Only shallow draft vessels may pass, so eg USS Michigan is stuck up there. Note that, although riverine vessels may pass into the Atlantic, they move very slowly in this environment. In general, ships spawning in the Great Lakes is not a huge hindrance unless its Winter. Those northern rivers tend to freeze over and become impassable, so ordering river ships in IL/IN/OH in late Fall is generally a poor use of resources.

Pennsylvania is the worst, because sometimes monitors will be built in Pittsburgh while gunboat at built in Philadelphia, and getting them to their rightful place is a big chore. This could definitely stand to be fixed, as it is nonsensical.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[deguerra]

That's certainly true Gray, but at the same time I don't think they would have laid down a Monitor on a riverine port. I don't think its a huge issue, maybe something for AACW2.

I have an at best vaguely related question: What are riverrine transports good for?

As far as I can see, I can already 'turn' land units into rivverine transports when I use the 'move by river' command. So riverrine transports are at best a slightly more manouverable alternative, no?

That and holding supplies for your fleet and being able to build depots, I suppose.

[Cromagnonman]

No fixing necessary. It's deliberate by design. At the time of the Civil War there was no such thing as a "Managed economy" in the sense that a player/gamer is able to micromanage the exact location of every single item under production.

But it is silly and ahistorical for monitors to be laid down in Pittsburgh while river ironclads are laid down in Philly. This is not a question of micromanagement; it is a question of logic.

[Cromagnonman]

That's certainly true Gray, but at the same time I don't think they would have laid down a Monitor on a riverine port. I don't think its a huge issue, maybe something for AACW2.

I have an at best vaguely related question: What are riverrine transports good for?

As far as I can see, I can already 'turn' land units into rivverine transports when I use the 'move by river' command. So riverrine transports are at best a slightly more manouverable alternative, no?

That and holding supplies for your fleet and being able to build depots, I suppose.

If you've ever seen a battle between armies using move river, you understand the reason for riverine transports: security, and the ability to retreat. That said, I usually use river transports to give my blockades staying power.