What do I do with Army stacks before the availability of corps?

[Slick Wilhelm]

Hey everyone, still working my way through my first game of AACW against Athena. I'm playing the April '61 with Kentucky campaign.

Since Corps are not formable(is that even a word?!) yet, do the divisions get any benefit from being near an army stack? My understanding is that the role of an army stack is to provide support and bonuses to its subordinate corps.

From the AACW Wiki:

"An army HQ with combat units will react quickly to support corps formations but should not be viewed as a super combat stack. It is important to note that a lone army HQ stack will never initiate combat by itself."

So, what do I do with my two army stacks with Patterson and MacDowell until corps are able to be formed?

Some related questions:

Should I provide some fighting units in my army stack?

Does the army stack actually get into combat?

What are the best support units to place into an army stack? Do these support units provide any bonuses to corps only, or will divisions gain some of these bonuses for having them in a nearby army stack?

Any general advice on what to do with army stacks before corps are available is greatly appreciated.

[Gray_Lensman]

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[deguerra]

just to add some questions of my own:

When you say stack all the forces with the army, does that mean they all the units need to be together in the panel at the bottom, or merely that all units need to be sitting in the same place on that map (obviously the same region, but there seems to be a difference when they are all sitting "on top of" one another, but maybe this is purely cosmetic).

And may I ask what benefit this actually confers? That is, if units not in one panel at the bottom are attacked, do other units in the same region behave differently to those in the same panel?

And thirdly and not really related, are there any conditional orders? I seem to recall one of the AARs mentioning ordering a unit to retreat to a certain area if attacked and beaten, but how does one order this rather than an actual movement?

And similarly, is there a way to make troops in one region attempt to aid troops attacked in an adjacent region? Or is that just "Marching to the Guns" as only related Corps can do?

sorry for all the questions, and thanks

-deguerra

[Jim-NC]

just to add some questions of my own:

When you say stack all the forces with the army, does that mean they all the units need to be together in the panel at the bottom, or merely that all units need to be sitting in the same place on that map (obviously the same region, but there seems to be a difference when they are all sitting "on top of" one another, but maybe this is purely cosmetic).

It means they must be in the panel together at the bottom. Being in the same region (even if they appear together) is not the same. They will not attack and defend together.

And may I ask what benefit this actually confers? That is, if units not in one panel at the bottom are attacked, do other units in the same region behave differently to those in the same panel?

Better efficiency. Each element/unit has a CP (command point) associated with it. The army allows more CPs before there are command penalties. Each general allows a certain amount of CPs in it's stack. IIRC A non army/non corps stack has a max of 8 CPs, anything above that generates a penalty.

And thirdly and not really related, are there any conditional orders? I seem to recall one of the AARs mentioning ordering a unit to retreat to a certain area if attacked and beaten, but how does one order this rather than an actual movement?

You don't. The computer handles the retreat. You can tell your unit to move out of a certain area, but can't tell it where to retreat from a battle.

And similarly, is there a way to make troops in one region attempt to aid troops attacked in an adjacent region? Or is that just "Marching to the Guns" as only related Corps can do?

sorry for all the questions, and thanks

-deguerra

Yes, make them corps in the same army. That is the only way to get troops to help each other. Hence the lively discussion (in the past) about corps formation dates, and how important they are.

[deguerra]

Thanks for the speedy and comprehensive replies!

One further question, when you said only in one stack will units "fight and defend together" this still relates to efficiency during a combat, or is there the possibility of units even in the same region not joining the combat at all/or late or somesuch.

Again, many thanks!

-deguerra

[Jim-NC]

Only 1 stack at a time engages in combat. The other stacks sit there (unless corps). If there is a retreat, they all retreat (except those in towns/cities).

[deguerra]

Ah excellent. that is important to know. Thanks a lot!

[Mickey3D]

Only 1 stack at a time engages in combat. The other stacks sit there (unless corps). If there is a retreat, they all retreat (except those in towns/cities).

I thought engagement of other stack(s) in the same region was based on their leader rating ?

[Gray_Lensman]

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[deguerra]

Now I'm confused again

So other stacks in the same region as a battle can join that battle, and while leader rating has an effect on how they will perform, it does not affect if they will join.

So what does affect if they will join?

Thanks for the help