Need advice on raising $ as CSA...

[Joe Wheeler]

I need more men in Virginia as the union is running amuck with huge commands in comparison. Money and WS are scarce. I hate to spend the victory points and /or national morale so early to raise the needed bucks. Also the inflation effect. How is the best way you have found to deal with these issues?
Will spending for industrialization in say Mississippi and SC have a effect on WS levels. How is the best way to get that number up? Is this money better spent elsewhere rather than industrialization?

[Jim-NC]

Brigs in the blockade boxes are a sure way to get money/WS each turn. There is a law of diminishing returns (Major Tom did some analysis years ago about this). They give you whichever you have lower of.

Industrialization can increase WS, but you need to get lucky. It's not guaranteed, and can be costly to get a few WS. It can also get you general supply and ammo as well.

Don't worry about inflation too much.

[DrPostman]

Why should we not worry about inflation? I hate having to pay so much more for a unit. What's the highest inflation you can live with? I almost
never go above 36%

[Ace]

Why should we not worry about inflation? I hate having to pay so much more for a unit. What's the highest inflation you can live with? I almost
never go above 36%

In theory, you can print money 24 times a year, for a income of 12.000.000$ (average money print after first year yields about 500.000$). It will bring you an inflation of about 96%. Without printing, you could raise twice from bonds, twice from taxes and a minor income from towns (30-60$ per turn), minor form brigs (0-40$ per turn from brigs).
The bonds and taxes can give you 2*700.000+2*700.000 = 2.800.000$.

So at the end of the year you could have 4 times as much money, and everything would be 100% more expensive. Conclusion is , inflation is not punishing enough, and in PBEM's players tend to put limit on money printing.

The CSA has less money as it did historically, you should learn to cope with it, build some brigs, print little money now and then, but dont industrialize, you wont get a ROI until 64, when the war will be probably over.

Remember, a division in 61 is worth more than division in 64.

[DrPostman]

So, playing the Union I shouldn't worry about inflation at all? I've never played a game like
that but I just started one (April 61 w/KY) as the Union and it would be great to be able
to have as much of an army as I can buy. So many places to invade, but always too few
troops

[Jim-NC]

There is always a limiting factor somewhere in the game. If you print money like mad, then you will run out of Conscripts or War Supplies first. It comes down to how you want to play the game. You can of course print as much as you like (barring house rules against it in an PBEM). Enjoy your larger army.

[DrPostman]

I might do that once but I don't want too much of an non-historic game. Would you happen to know if anyone has done a chart
giving both Union and CSA inflation gauged to the dates of war?

[Jim-NC]

No, sorry, I don't know of anyone who has done that sort of thing. It might be somewhere else on the net however.

[DrPostman]

I'll have to look and see. It might be interesting to play both sides and try to keep as close
as possible to the inflation rates that actually happened.

[orca]

Look here
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us


I think that you will be hard pressed to match a price index of 1,452 in-game though. (i.e., prices were 14.5 times higher in 1863 than 1860).

[DrPostman]

Look here
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us
I think that you will be hard pressed to match a price index of 1,452 in-game though. (i.e., prices were 14.5 times higher in 1863 than 1860).

That's a pretty comprehensive report. Thanks! In my current game the Union is currently experiencing 37% inflation and I never went higher than 40%.

[MarkCSA]

Best way to get a steady supply of both cash and WS is slowly building your Brigs and sending them to the Blockade boxes.

And 36% inflation, shame on you, sir, I never go above 8%.

[DrPostman]

Up until this game I never let the Union go above 15%. For the CSA I never went above 25%. I just finished this game
with 46% winning in Late April 1863. I think I'll go to the highest difficulty playing the CSA and allow myself to go at least
above 50%.

[Gen. Monkey-Bear]

If you invest in industrialization, I think the best place (other than Virgina, which is always first) is Georgia. It is not threatened at the start of the game, and it produces a lot anyway. True, industrialization produces a small gain, but it is a permanent gain as long as you can maintain control of the city that produces. I sometimes invest in Georgia, and then remove the investment after I get a few war supply producing towns. The towns continue to produce, and I have them for the rest of the game. Even five extra war supply per turn makes a difference when you are late in the game and trying to make every resource count. The trick is to invest at the start of the game, when you have more resources. If you invest later on then you will have a very poor return because it still requires lots of money to invest (money that you don't have late in the game).

[DrPostman]

I'm doing that now, only it was cheaper to invest in Mississippi first. I'm also buying two brigs per turn. Once
those bring in enough WS I can always use them on the river. Of course I rarely get to where I have enough WS
to send those brigs to any rivers.

[Ace]

With these tactics, you wouldn't last until 63 in a PBEM