Newbie Questions

[LSSpam]

I think I have a decent grasp on the rules but some things remain unclear to me (mainly overall strategy-wise). Any help would be appreciated.

1. What's a good strategy for industrialization for the Union? I read in one of these threads you should target states with Fair or lower industralization, so is it a good idea to industralize the mid-west as opposed to the mid-atlantic? Do you do "Light" or "Medium"? How soon does this start producing a net gain (i.e. if I put Wisconsin on Light Industralization at what point is the base production of Wisconsin raised higher then the cost of Light Industralization?)

2. Is it okay to abandon areas like California/Oregon/Great Plains/etc? You get access to a number of US regular regiments early on and it seems like a good idea to bring those East, but do events (like maybe Indian Raids) mean I need to keep them west? Or should I bring the regulars back and look to replace them with Militia later on?

3. Does everyone just go full-bore mobilization from 1861 on? It doesn't seem historical to go beyond a call for Volunteers but the penalty seems relatively mild for the reward in 1861.

4. What's your Habeas Corpus strategy? I went ahead and put any state below 75% loyalty on denied Habeas Corpus, but I didn't see any tangible effect in the few months of turns I played.

5. What kind of Rail expansion strategy do you use as the Union? The first two turns I put most of my production there (since you can't raise units then) and got it up to about 300, but beyond that i've concentrated on producing units. I assume at some point i'm going to have to ramp up my rail production again however.

Any other strategic tips for the Union in 1861 would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[chainsaw]

Many of your points will be answered by scanning the forum.
Here are my thoughts:

1) INDUSTRIALIZATION: you will soon find war supplies (WS) a critical chokepoint for the Union so I slowly industrialize the northeast (NY, NJ, PA) up to heavy levels. Building industry in the medium or poor states gives you a big increase in food etc, at a low cost but not much output of WS;

2) THE WEST: you don't want to abandon them, but bring the regulars east to help fight the war and raise california militia to hold the forts. I have only ever lost the SW to the confederates, but watch for marauding indians in the great plans in '62;

3) DRAFTS: depends on your style of play. Do you want to be historical and send out the call for volunteers, or do you want to raise a ton of troops and swamp the AI in '62-63? I have only ever partially mobilized and was amazed at the number of conscripts available to build. In those situations I run out of war supplies before bodies or money (see #1 above);

4) LOYALTY: just read a thread on same issue. My approach is to keep liberties for all states as I don't see the value of Habeas Corpus;

5) TRANSPORTATION: critical to spend money and WS here, a small amount every turn. Try to keep RR in the 2/3 to full range so you can move troops around and still get the supplies to the front lines. Rail is probably more important at first, but as the Shiloh-Vicksburg campaign gets rolling you will depend on river supplies and movement. Nothing worse than having a nice big army stuck due to poor supply network. (a side note - build river ironclads and transports in MO to avoid the Great Lakes fleet issue)

6) OTHER: it's been said before, but the biggest issue for the Union in '61 is keeping your borders safe from confederate raiders. So build militia and place them in many of the border cities along the Ohio-Potomac line and hit "s" to sentry them (means they won't come up for movement when you cycle through the stacks using the E/R keys)

oh yeah...have fun!!

[LSSpam]

Many of your points will be answered by scanning the forum.
Here are my thoughts:

1) INDUSTRIALIZATION: you will soon find war supplies (WS) a critical chokepoint for the Union so I slowly industrialize the northeast (NY, NJ, PA) up to heavy levels. Building industry in the medium or poor states gives you a big increase in food etc, at a low cost but not much output of WS;

I assume you mean light industralization? It is correct that War Supplies are generally the chokepoint, but industralizing the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic also costs war supplies, and quite a bit.

2) THE WEST: you don't want to abandon them, but bring the regulars east to help fight the war and raise california militia to hold the forts. I have only ever lost the SW to the confederates, but watch for marauding indians in the great plans in '62;

Ok, that's what I thought. I left the (two I think) regiments in the Southwest since the confederacy historically attacked that area, but the rest I brought in. It makes sense that i'll have to raise new militias over there.

3) DRAFTS: depends on your style of play. Do you want to be historical and send out the call for volunteers, or do you want to raise a ton of troops and swamp the AI in '62-63? I have only ever partially mobilized and was amazed at the number of conscripts available to build. In those situations I run out of war supplies before bodies or money (see #1 above);

But there is no significant drawback? It seems like the penalty for mobilizing so quickly should be tremendous, historically speaking.

5) TRANSPORTATION: critical to spend money and WS here, a small amount every turn. Try to keep RR in the 2/3 to full range so you can move troops around and still get the supplies to the front lines. Rail is probably more important at first, but as the Shiloh-Vicksburg campaign gets rolling you will depend on river supplies and movement. Nothing worse than having a nice big army stuck due to poor supply network. (a side note - build river ironclads and transports in MO to avoid the Great Lakes fleet issue)

What do you mean "keep RR in the 2/3 to full range"?

6) OTHER: it's been said before, but the biggest issue for the Union in '61 is keeping your borders safe from confederate raiders. So build militia and place them in many of the border cities along the Ohio-Potomac line and hit "s" to sentry them (means they won't come up for movement when you cycle through the stacks using the E/R keys)

Would single milita regiment garrisons and maybe a scattering of cavalry forces be suffecient?

[Jagger]

3) DRAFTS: depends on your style of play. Do you want to be historical and send out the call for volunteers, or do you want to raise a ton of troops and swamp the AI in '62-63? I have only ever partially mobilized and was amazed at the number of conscripts available to build. In those situations I run out of war supplies before bodies or money (see #1 above);

If you are doing PBEM play, you absolutely must max out troop production. If your opponents maxs out and you don't, you are in serious trouble. I learned that lesson that hard way...

The penalties for raising large numbers of troops and money immediately are not as severe as not having the troops if your opponent does. Although large numbers of troops early benefits the Rebels more as the rebs have the better early leaders to utilize the troops more than the US. Regardless the US will need troop numbers for defense if the rebs are maxed out.

[blackbellamy]

1. What's a good strategy for industrialization for the Union?

I don't industralize at all. The only thing I'm concerned about is conscripts and industralization doesn't help.

2. Is it okay to abandon areas like California/Oregon/Great Plains/etc?

Against the AI it's ok to abandon California and Oregon but not Great Plains. Against a human it's folly to abandon anything.

3. Does everyone just go full-bore mobilization from 1861 on?

I always take Volunteers at 3000x1 (except the very first time) and full Conscription. You can never ever have enough men.

4. What's your Habeas Corpus strategy?

There isn't any. Just garrison all your new cities with militia and have some crap infantry units roam the countryside and soon enough everybody loves you. And even if they don't so what - revolts are pretty ineffective vs garrisoned towns.

5. What kind of Rail expansion strategy do you use as the Union?

I only buy Rail if I ran low on the previous turn. Why buy 300 rail if you're only using 75 points per turn? As the Union you won't need to expand rail until mid-62, unless you're doing silly things like buying troops only in one theater. Plus Rail degrades at a set percentage so if you have 100 you might lose 10 but if you have 300 you will lose 30.

[Le Ricain]

I think I have a decent grasp on the rules but some things remain unclear to me (mainly overall strategy-wise). Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks

1. What's a good strategy for industrialization for the Union?

Near the end of 1861, after I have built up my initial armies I build three industries in New York. This seems to give me all of the WS I need for the rest of the game. Also, industrialising New York seems to give you additional conscripts every month which is handy.

2. Is it okay to abandon areas like California/Oregon/Great Plains/etc?

Replace Oregon and Rockies regulars with CA militia and ship the regulars east. CA has its own garrison, so no need for militia, brfore shipping the regulars east. Great Plains will give you a 10 NM penalty if you do not have three non-militia units based there.

3. Does everyone just go full-bore mobilization from 1861 on? It doesn't seem historical to go beyond a call for Volunteers but the penalty seems relatively mild for the reward in 1861.

I only use Call for Volunteers, but take them at the 2,000x1 or 3,000x1 level.

4. What's your Habeas Corpus strategy?

I have never been able to figure out the benefits of changing to Habeas Corpus or Martial Law. It does not seem to make any difference. Using Gen Buell with his administrator traits does improve loyalty. Also, garrison every town with a double size militia unit to take care of any CSA cavalry raiders.

5. What kind of Rail expansion strategy do you use as the Union?

I tend to keep the railroads at the 2/3 level in order to make sure supplies are able to get to the units.

Any other strategic tips for the Union in 1861 would be much appreciated.

Do not forget the naval war. Build blockaders (for blue water blockade) and frigates and some monitors (for brown water blockade). Build gunboats in order to initially block the Ohio, Upper Mississppi and Missouri rivers. After you capture the Henry and Donnelson forts, your gunboats can block the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. Blocking rivers is a good way of keeping out CSA raiders and restricting the CSA main forces.

[Hobbes]

I only buy Rail if I ran low on the previous turn. Why buy 300 rail if you're only using 75 points per turn? As the Union you won't need to expand rail until mid-62, unless you're doing silly things like buying troops only in one theater. Plus Rail degrades at a set percentage so if you have 100 you might lose 10 but if you have 300 you will lose 30.

Does that include the amount of rail you are using to push supply around?

[Rafiki]

Do not forget the naval war. Build blockaders (for blue water blockade) and frigates and some monitors (for brown water blockade).

If you don't expect much (or even any) resistance to your brown-water blockade, brigs are a less expensive way to fill out your blockade stacks, since only number of units count, rather than unit abilities.

[chainsaw]

1) I don't industralize at all. The only thing I'm concerned about is conscripts and industralization doesn't help.

2) I only buy Rail if I ran low on the previous turn. Why buy 300 rail if you're only using 75 points per turn? As the Union you won't need to expand rail until mid-62, unless you're doing silly things like buying troops only in one theater. Plus Rail degrades at a set percentage so if you have 100 you might lose 10 but if you have 300 you will lose 30.

blackbellamy -
1) See, I don't understand that approach. How do you play as the Union and not run low on war supplies? Don't you build artillery? Ships? Replacements? If you ever partially or fully mobilize you must have conscripts sitting on their thumbs waiting for rifles to show up.

2) Again, I'm confused how that works. Rail is crucial to moving supply AND moving troops around. As you build up your armies you need to move more supplies and troops. So there is no way you are only using 75 points per turn unless you mean only troop movements. When the train table drops into the 1/3 level I start to see units running short on supplies, especially those in the far western theater.

I'd appreciate more feedback on how your strategy works - maybe I'm overlooking something. Thanks.
-----------------------------

[Bodders]

blackbellamy -
1) See, I don't understand that approach. How do you play as the Union and not run low on war supplies? Don't you build artillery? Ships? Replacements? If you ever partially or fully mobilize you must have conscripts sitting on their thumbs waiting for rifles to show up.
-----------------------------

I must admit, I never have war supply or money problems for the Union and I do use mobilisation. However, I do use 'last moment' mobilisation to get the highest amount (with VP at its highest) - so that means an early June Call for Volunteers and an early December Call for Volunteers/Full mobilisation. Along with the 'top' money options at each time of course. This perhaps gives less pressure in the early stages than someone who calls their first draft before Dec '61.

Quite a lot of the initial amount goes on militia to defend against potential raids and they'll upgrade to conscripts for even better raid prevention fairly quickly. Also, border state militia for defence. Maybe 200-300 conscripts on militia (top bounty for volunteer call, of course). After that, keeping all replacements at about ten percent of total elements.

Then, predominantly regular brigades - many of them bring artillery, sharpshooters and cavalry with them. A bit of artillery for the bigger guns but not a huge amount - quite a bit of navy, yes but this stretches the money situation more than war supplies.

However, the biggest focus on regular brigades - with a +40 conscripts a turn, you can build 1-2 a turn and use the leftovers on ships/artillery even after the initial 'volunteer' call is blown.

[Nial]

Playing as the Union? I never have WS problems. But I play with a couple house rules to make it a closer contest. No Militia except what the game provides me. No massive fleet for blockade. Usually only what I start with and then replace what I lose. It makes the contest alot more interesting.
I do build industry, though I keep it small. One or two states maxed.

Nial

[D_K]

LLspam....2/3 to full in RR means to replace your trains from wear and tear(they slowly decline) buy buying more...the 2/3 thing is on the black board on top of the main screen, it shows your rail and river supply transports(the further to the right your check mark is ...the better you are doing in that area).the more forces you move around in a turn makes it go down, then there could possibly not be enough to supply your forces.

my personal strategy as regards confederate raiders....is to not worry about them. i build small amounts of militia(one per town) and cavalry forces to pursue them.
i would try to not worry too much about them though. just plan on denying them easy access into important towns, build up a cavalry div or two, and go after them. it can be a bit disconcerting having cavalry appear behind your lines , but i feel it is better to concentrate on attacking more important targets then playing a game of cat and mouse. form up your armies and go for places like nashville.hurt them where it counts!!!!

[blackbellamy]

blackbellamy -
1) See, I don't understand that approach. How do you play as the Union and not run low on war supplies?

2)So there is no way you are only using 75 points per turn unless you mean only troop movements.

1) I don't know - I just don't. Perhaps I'm not as enamored by artillery and ships as some people, or just build up the WS elements at a slower pace? I've found that regular infantry is the best bang for the buck when buying troops. All the other stuff is window dressing and toys as far as I'm concerned.

2) Sorry I was just giving a generic example. I mean that if your rail capacity is 100 and you're using 75 for troops and supplies, then it doesn't make sense to buy more than you need (like 300). Since it degrades at a set percentage it's economical to keep just a tiny rail buffer of unused rail points. If you have a large amount sitting idle, it will just degrade for nothing.