Ecoomy Screen Question

[StarMan99]

In the Economy screen, on the right side below the section that gives you the costs, is the section that shows all the production output.

What do these values represent?

Are they what the output is now? Or are they what the output could potentially be at max? They don't change right away when you left click to upgrade the industry of a specific State.

Thanks

[arsan]

Hi
That numbers are the current output of the selected state.
When you pay for the improving of the production it doesn’t change because your investments can only yield results on the next turn.
At the beginning of the turn you will see messages on the log telling you what improvements (if any) your investments have reported (something like “on Jackson there has been built a little arms factory. +10 ammo”)
This is a little like the lottery: you invest each turn and sometimes it improves and sometimes not.
And also, sometimes you get lousy results (just more supply/ammo) and sometimes great ones (more war supplies)...

Also, bear in mind that when you put factories on an state on the economy page, you will keep investing there turn after turn unless you erase the factories.
Cheers!

[Rafiki]

Also, bear in mind that when you put factories on an state on the economy page, you will keep investing there turn after turn unless you erase the factories.

Or you are unable to afford the costs, in which case investments will be removed till you are able to bear the cost. Note that you aren't specifically notified when this happens.

[StarMan99]

Thanks for your answer.

I understand what you're saying, but when I look at and compare actual numbers they make no sense.

In the economy screen, under `Illinois', it shows production output of 480 `Supply Wagons'.

I clicked the turn button, and next turn it shows output of 447 Supply Wagons.

This tells me I should have 447 more Supply Wagons on the map than I had last turn. But obviously, that is not the case.

If I now go to the `Reinforcements' panel under Supply Wagons for Illinois, it shows `28' Supply Wagons in the force pool. The previous turn, before I industrialized, there were `29' Supply Wagons in the force pool.

How can the production output be 480, but the actual availability is only 29?

And I still have to `pay' for the Supply Wagons even though they have supposedly already been produced?

I guess the thing I'm having most trouble with getting a Campaign game going, is the numbers don't seem to add up.

I could just start playing the game and see what happens in real terms on the map.

But there is all this information provided supposedly to base decisions on, but the information makes no sense.

Thanks in advance for any information.

[Alzate]

Or you are unable to afford the costs, in which case investments will be removed till you are able to bear the cost. Note that you aren't specifically notified when this happens.

this is point that puzzles me
when i invest in a state, i see the little factory in thge map. then turns pased and sometimes you receive news givign you extra ammo/WS et al. but it comes a moment when they disappear for no apparent reason.
what does it mean? have i to invest again on a new 'factory' in order to get future improvements?
is it caused by me running out of money and losing the whole investment?

[Aurelin]

From the wiki:

Investment improvements are displayed in the text message area for each turn. Each new factory gets its own line in the text field. As long as you have a factory in a state and the next turn's projected income is still in the black, then there is a chance improvements can occur in that state's cities. The number of factories simply increases the odds for each city in that state to get a positive die roll. The factory graphic in the ledger itself is not permanent, it's simply an indicator of that turn's expenditures, the improvements themselves are not displayed in the ledger and are permanent.

So, you don't lose the extra ammo/WS/GS you already got from investing. You just start over again. (It is, IIRC, better to have a running investment over stopping and restarting.)

[Pdubya64]

Think of Economy Investment as just that- an investment. You don't take money out of your IRA until retirement, and neither should you take the money that is supposed to be allocated to Investment (i.e., you must leave enough gold and war supplies available to make the investment every turn).

It is a bit illogical the way the system works, but given that it is tracking (a) what you started with; (b) what you spent on this turn; and (c) what you will have next turn- it follows that you MUST keep the "balance" in the black or positive, if you like, in order for the investments to keep going. Granted, there is no device in the game to help you remember other than the balance turning red- I usually write down the total $/WS for the couple of states I invested in so that I know what I must leave at the end of turn.

Remember those amounts you spent the very first turn on investment? Gold and War Supplies are spent each and every turn after that unless the following happens:
1. You go into investment and right click to remove all or some of the investment in a given state.
2. You let your treasury balance slide into the red or negative. The game won't spend what you don't have, so any long-term investment gains are lost and you must start over.

Pocus has never really said exactly what or how much "momentum" (for lack of a better word) is lost if you stop investment and then start it back up again. I imagine there is a small + modification to the chance for an investment to occur if funds are uninterrupted.

[arsan]

Thanks for your answer.

I understand what you're saying, but when I look at and compare actual numbers they make no sense.

In the economy screen, under `Illinois', it shows production output of 480 `Supply Wagons'.

I clicked the turn button, and next turn it shows output of 447 Supply Wagons.

This tells me I should have 447 more Supply Wagons on the map than I had last turn. But obviously, that is not the case.

If I now go to the `Reinforcements' panel under Supply Wagons for Illinois, it shows `28' Supply Wagons in the force pool. The previous turn, before I industrialized, there were `29' Supply Wagons in the force pool.

How can the production output be 480, but the actual availability is only 29?

And I still have to `pay' for the Supply Wagons even though they have supposedly already been produced?

I guess the thing I'm having most trouble with getting a Campaign game going, is the numbers don't seem to add up.

I could just start playing the game and see what happens in real terms on the map.

But there is all this information provided supposedly to base decisions on, but the information makes no sense.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Hi!

You are mistaking supply wagons with supply points. They are VERY different.
One represents the wagons who carry food/ammo for an army. The other, the actual food/ammo they are carrying.

Supply wagons are units that you get or buy and deploy with your armies or use up to build depots. They have a big capacity to store supply and ammo points and also help on the distribution of the supply to nearby units.

The numbers you see on the economy screen are supply points, not wagons.

Supply (and ammo) points are produced and stored on your cities/forts/depots and distributed through the adjacent areas to the places where they are needed (like where you have your troops). How far they reach depends of your road/rail/river net, the presence of depots and of supply wagons. It’s a complicated system, but it works automatically.
This supply/ammo points are the ones your units consume (eat) every turn to stay alive. Every unit can stock a little number of Supply /ammo, except wagons who store (and share with other units) big stocks.
Ammo are spent only when you fight.
You can check all this reading the tooltips over the unit panel: supply icon looks like a pot and ammo like some cannon balls.

Also, check the tooltips on your cities and you will see two numbers (like 125/45) his are the supply/ammo stored there.
Use the supply filtre and you will find where the big stores are.
And, as you pass your mouse over city, look at the top of the screen, on the blackboard and you will see the supply/ammo/War supplies production of it. If you add up all your cities production on one state, you will get the same numbers you find on the economy screen.

Hope it helps
Cheers

[StarMan99]

Thanks, your information helps greatly to clarify things.

The reason for the confusion, though, was that, in the Economic Screen, they are called `Supply Wagons', not `Points'.

That is why I am having such a hard time figuring out how to play thiis game.

Contradictory or wrong, or plain lack of information in the game screens and manual.

Would you know are the production figures in the economic screen per year or per turn?

Thanks

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[StarMan99]

I can somewhat understand the `momentum' question.

If you check the turn `detail' notes you will see that extra armory or whatever else facility has been built/improved to increase production.

This seems to be the result of `investing' in industrialization.

I think that the more `factories' you invest in gives you a better `chance' to increase these type of improvements.

That is why it is turn by turn. Your giving yourself that much better chance each turn. Sometimes you'll get something, sometimes you might not.

This is what I suspect.

[arsan]

Thanks, your information helps greatly to clarify things.

The reason for the confusion, though, was that, in the Economic Screen, they are called `Supply Wagons', not `Points'.

That is why I am having such a hard time figuring out how to play thiis game.

Contradictory or wrong, or plain lack of information in the game screens and manual.

Would you know are the production figures in the economic screen per year or per turn?

Thanks

Hi!
Its says supply wagons?? really?
I haven’t noticed but if it say so it's an errata… its strange nobody had noticed before...

The figures are per turn. The easier way to check it is add up the war supplies production figures of all your states and see how they match (more or less) what you get every turn (see blackboard figures).
And I say more or less because (if you are playing CSA) the northern blockade will rob you of a % of your production leure:

The game gives you much more info that its apparent. You have very useful tooltips on nearly everythig you pass your mouse over.
Check them because they are very useful.
But is a complex and detiled game. The beginings can be a little rough.

Cheers!!

[arsan]

I can somewhat understand the `momentum' question.

If you check the turn `detail' notes you will see that extra armory or whatever else facility has been built/improved to increase production.

This seems to be the result of `investing' in industrialization.

I think that the more `factories' you invest in gives you a better `chance' to increase these type of improvements.

That is why it is turn by turn. Your giving yourself that much better chance each turn. Sometimes you'll get something, sometimes you might not.

This is what I suspect.

Yes, you are right.
But the momentum they are talking about means (i think) that it gives you better chance of improvement if you maintain the inversion turn after turn that if you invest only on some turns.
This momentum can be a little bonus on your chances for each turn you mantain investments mantain...
But nobody seem to be sure if this bonus even exist or how big it is

[StarMan99]

Thanks again!

I have also just read the strategy guide over at Wikipedia.

Once I get the Army/Corps question answered (see my newest post) I think I'll be able to start a campaign.

I purchased ACW because I could see it was a great game.

Just need to get over the initial hurdles.