Two Questions: Replacements & Economics

[Crawler]

Hi,

I hope someone is able to answer my following questions (found nothing with regard to those, neither in the manual nor in the forums).

1. Is there a way to control what replacements are used for? As far as I can see in my current game as CSA all my replacements in the first turns are used to strengthen the units in coastal forts. Whereas I would rather like to use them to strengthen my frontline units or keep them as reserves for future battles. I just don't see the need to have these additional units sitting around at a coastal fort in Florida for the rest of the game.

2. Playing as the CSA there is only one state with a industrialization potential of "Average". Does this mean that investments in this state are more likely to pay off than in other states with lower potentials? And that one should maximize investments (up to heavy industrialization) in this state before starting to invest in other states?

[Snoob]

1. No, there is no way to dictate whether a unit will be reinforced or not. There is a way to partly prioritize who gets reinforcements first (via the unit stances, with passive having the highest and assault the lowest priority) but as far as I know there is no way to block a fortress (or a brigade) from receiving reinforcements. Also, keep in mind that the game gives priority to replacing missing elements (I bought replacements as the union and had to watch them being used up to reinforce some god-forsaken forts in the Florida Keys)

2. Yes, the state with the average potential should offer the best return for your investment. As to the second part of your question, I think that the best strategy would be to have a sustained investment, which means that early on you cannot afford to go to the maximum. I do not think that early on either side can afford to invest too much in industrialization.