Spiking Captured Equipment?

[Captain_Orso]

Occasionally I will capture a battery or even an ironclad that is still being built in a location in which I don't want to or cannot garrison well enough to hold it safely. But since the captured equipment cannot be moved until it's build is completed I risk it being recaptured if I leave it in place while moving on with the capturing force.

Is there any way to 'spike' such equipment/units to prevent their re-capture by the enemy?

[George McClellan]

Hello Capt. Orso!
It seems that this is a predicament which can be solved by setting these captured units on Defense/All-Cost to help prevent it. Sadly, this cannot be said for artillery....

[Captain_Orso]

Hi George! Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately that is exactly the situation that spurred my question. I had sent Benjamin Grierson with Able Streight on a flank attack into Pulaski TN to attack the only depot in the area supporting Nashville. When they arrived they found it garrisoned with only 2 infantry regiments and a 6lb-er still being built, so I assaulted and destroyed the 2 infantry regiments but captured the 6lb-er with still about 2 turn to go on its build.

Since I wouldn't risk leaving Grierson and Streight in Pulaski to wait for the battery to finish building -- Henry TN and Nashville were teaming with rebs -- so I blew the depot and tor up the the railroad tracks and skedaddled out of their leaving the 6lb-er, which couldn't yet move, to it's fate knowing that it would make an easy target for recapture. 2 turns later just as it was completed that is exactly what happened.

[Gen. Monkey-Bear]

I think this is a brilliant point. Their should be a special order button saying "spike artillery" or in the case of captured ships, "sink ship".

[Longshanks]

Hi George! Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately that is exactly the situation that spurred my question. I had sent Benjamin Grierson with Able Streight on a flank attack into Pulaski TN to attack the only depot in the area supporting Nashville. When they arrived they found it garrisoned with only 2 infantry regiments and a 6lb-er still being built, so I assaulted and destroyed the 2 infantry regiments but captured the 6lb-er with still about 2 turn to go on its build.

Since I wouldn't risk leaving Grierson and Streight in Pulaski to wait for the battery to finish building -- Henry TN and Nashville were teaming with rebs -- so I blew the depot and tor up the the railroad tracks and skedaddled out of their leaving the 6lb-er, which couldn't yet move, to it's fate knowing that it would make an easy target for recapture. 2 turns later just as it was completed that is exactly what happened.

On the one hand this doesn't happen very often. There are many games where it doesn't happen at all. On the other hand, the person who is BUILDING the guns ought to be able to destroy them to prevent their capture (even if unfinished), and certainly the side who has captured them ought to be able to do so. On the third hand (what!? you only have two? awwww....) there is no spiking of guns elsewhere in the game, so this might be a coding problem. For guns from captured forts along the coast or rivers, you can move them by sea/river and get them to your lines, or at least have them destroyed in naval/river combat or by shore battery fire (I suppose they COULD be re-captured at sea although I've never seen that). While that's not spiking, it is an option for most of the captured guns in the game.

[Captain_Orso]

Actually spiking guns and other equipment already is an automatic part of the game. Every time I've besieged a town/city into submission -- the defender surrendered -- I've never gotten a single piece of equipment from those surrenders. When Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg he surrendered 172 guns along with it. He most certainly had adequate time to spike them were he inclined. In-Game you only capture equipment during a battle, which hardly happens nearly as often as it historically did.

What is also askew In-Game is actually capturing units. As far as use, when you capture a 'unit' you realistically can only capture the equipment. You may also capture the troops, but they won't fight or work for you . .. So a captured battery should actually only be the guns and not an entire 'unit'/counter. Baring that in mind, guns, ships ans supply trains you capture cannot logically have the status of being a non-completed unit. You should have to crew them with your own troops, and if the unit was not completed, and/or damaged in battle, they should simply have that many fewer guns/wagons/ship's cannons as the case may be.

Were this the case, there would yet be situations where spiking guns would be a logical, strategic solution; for example if the guns were fort batteries or coastal artillery. You could hardly expect to escape a besieged town with these, so the only logical solution would be to spike them before or while trying to escape.

As far as capturing ships carrying guns, land units being transported will fight at sea. And from my experience as long as a fleet has a means to fight it will. Fleets of transports only not carrying land units will often be captured if they cannot escape a battle.