Confederacy Blockade/Shipping Box

[GenJackson]

So, I've gotten the idea down fairly well about the Shipping and Blockade Boxes, i.e. how they work and what happens if you send ships into them. But, I was wondering two things:

1) Is it possible for the Confederacy to blockade the Union? What happens if you send heavy warships (as the Confederacy) into the Blockade Box instead of the brig Blockade runners.

2) Can the Confederacy ever have Ocean Transport points? I loaded a sample game as the Union and saw the Shipping Box was FULL of transports. What happens if you do this as the Confederacy? Do you get the ocean transport points in addition to the rail and river points? (I read somewhere that you don't)

Thanks as always!

[deguerra]

Hi GenJackson,

I'm far from an expert, but I believe the answer to be "You can't" to both your questions. No blockading for the South, and no ocean shipping points.

[GenJackson]

That would be an interesting twist if the Confederate Navy ever became so large that it could start blockading northern ports. But, yes, I believe I've read in a few places the Confederate Player isn't able to do that in the game.

[Fingolfin]

AFAIK, CSA can both transport supply and blockade USA with its ships in Union shipping box.

[Mickey3D]

AFAIK, CSA can both transport supply and blockade USA with its ships in Union shipping box.

CSA can't blockade USA (i.e. reduce by a certain % the northern production) but can attack US ships and thus lower income US received with them.

[Citizen X]

As tactical options for the CSA, in all the boxes do apply normal sea encounter rules.

As economic options for the CSA there would be: generating income by putting blockade runners into the blockade boxes and/or lowering income for the US by putting a fleet into the shipping box. The cost effectiveness of such a fleet varies much, depending on it's composition. You don't need to actually find Union ships. Try out yourself

As a strategic option the CSA can put transports into the shipping box to generate supply transportation.

On the long run investing into ships as CSA makes sense only if you also have a brownwater plan and an overall economic plan. Otherwise everything that tops 10-12 squadrons of briggs in each blockade box is wasted resources IMHO.

[Cromagnonman]

As the Union, I have never seen a dent put in my productivity due to CSN actions. The only time I started getting messages that Union merchantmen had been sunk, and resources thereby lost, was when the FI navies started sending serious warships into the shipping box. Even then, I found the Box profitable. I've never had an actual element eliminated in any of the shipping boxes, though I did have to bring the occasional blockade squadron back for repairs and rearmament.

[TheDoctorKing]

I wonder about this myself. The game is reporting to the CSA player that he sank ships worth x money and y WS each turn. But the USA player almost never gets a message that he has lost a ship. I think what's going on is that the money and WS is being transparently deducted from the USA stock without him being made aware of this fact by the game. Otherwise, there's a bug somewhere. But I think that you don't have to actually destroy a USA ship to have some effect on USA production.

Putting ships (brigs, nothing else will work) in the blockade boxes gives the CSA a regular, small flow of money and WS. These ships will have to be brought back to port from time to time to peen out the dents and reorganize. I've never seen one of them get sunk.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

I wonder about this myself. The game is reporting to the CSA player that he sank ships worth x money and y WS each turn. But the USA player almost never gets a message that he has lost a ship. I think what's going on is that the money and WS is being transparently deducted from the USA stock without him being made aware of this fact by the game. Otherwise, there's a bug somewhere. But I think that you don't have to actually destroy a USA ship to have some effect on USA production.

Putting ships (brigs, nothing else will work) in the blockade boxes gives the CSA a regular, small flow of money and WS. These ships will have to be brought back to port from time to time to peen out the dents and reorganize. I've never seen one of them get sunk.

I think the sank x and y amount of ships is the CSA way of saying what the blockade %'s say for the union. I might try to test this sometime soon.

[Mickey3D]

lowering income for the US by putting a fleet into the shipping box.

Given the production capacity of the north, lowering the income provided by the fleet is just a mosquito bite

Moreover in a PBEM there will be other more important priorities.

[Cromagnonman]

I think the sank x and y amount of ships is the CSA way of saying what the blockade %'s say for the union. I might try to test this sometime soon.

It had been proposed that the amount brought home by Union shipping is lower when there are enemy warships in the Shipping Box. However, the observations I made showed no difference in returns regardless of the presence or absence of commerce raiders.

While the USA is quite productive, I've found that putting a few dozen transports in the Box delivered a fairly good return on investment, roughly $1/WS per ship per turn on the 75% setting. $20-40 can mean an extra brigade, ship, or battery every turn, and it's something like a 5-10% boost to production (depending on NM etc).

[GenJackson]

Thanks for all the great info. Once thing I am still confused about are Ocean Transport Points. I've read in a few places its impossible for the CSA to ever have any. Is this true? I loaded a Union game once, just to see what it looked like, and found the Shipping box full of transports - apparently the source of the ocean points. Could the CSA do this as well?

[Ol' Choctaw]

No

Not even if you drive the Union form the seas.

The difference is hard coded into the game. Union can’t use blockade runners and the CSA can’t get sea transport.

[MarkCSA]

No

Not even if you drive the Union form the seas.

The difference is hard coded into the game. Union can’t use blockade runners and the CSA can’t get sea transport.

IIRC Naval Supply *was* added for the CSA in one of the latest patches to be able to effectively supply FI Armies. Whether it is available before that (FI), I have no clue, as I never (need to) use it.

Best use of the boxes as CSA (I only play CSA): Build fleets of 4 x Steam Frigate and 2 x Normal Frigate and send them into the Shipping box, led by Semmes. I've been able to sink 100+ $ and WS combo (so both of them add up to a figure higher than 100) *per turn* . I have no clue what Union income is, but that has to make a dent in their bottom line (and I see them printing money to compensate).

The only tricky part it is that:

A) Union must have Transports in the box for this to work

B) There is some kind of check performed (I have yet to figure out how this works, if anyone can enlighten me, much appreciated) to see if your guys 'connect' and sink shipping.

Hope this helps!

[GenJackson]

A shame the Confederacy doesn't have more Admiral characters. A *great* addition would be the character of William Harwar Parker. Although only a Captain, he was one of the more interesting Confederate Naval officers

[Ol' Choctaw]

The CSA only made the two Admirals but they had a number of Commodores which was the equivalent of a Rear Admiral or at least a Brigadier General as it is higher than Colonel.

I wonder also why the Hunly? They also built a couple of other Submarines that were steam powered called Davids and the Union also built the submarine USS Alligator. It was the product of French inventor Brutus De Villeroi.

It was cut lose during a storm of Cape Hatteris while being towed to Charleston so no one knows where it sank.

[GenJackson]

Does the Hunley appear in the simulator?? I was wondering about that.

[MarkCSA]

Does the Hunley appear in the simulator?? I was wondering about that.

Yes, but it always sinks in an event and costs you War Materials (Supplies?... can't think of the term for some reason) and some general supplies I think.

One thing I forgot to mention, by beating up the Transports in the Shipping Box, you also force them to leave once in a while (and they usually move the entire fleet), cutting off all Union naval supply. Extremely handy when mopping up rogue stacks.

[W.Barksdale]

1) Is it possible for the Confederacy to blockade the Union? What happens if you send heavy warships (as the Confederacy) into the Blockade Box instead of the brig Blockade runners.

Don't bother. In fact, don't build heavy ocean warships as CSA. The ones you get by event are enough. Those resources are much better used elsewhere...Think artillery...Maybe ironclads if the game dictates.

2) Can the Confederacy ever have Ocean Transport points? I loaded a sample game as the Union and saw the Shipping Box was FULL of transports. What happens if you do this as the Confederacy? Do you get the ocean transport points in addition to the rail and river points? (I read somewhere that you don't)

This is really only an issue if you have FI. I think Gray fixed this a ways back so that CSA has them. Only build ocean transports as csa if you need a cheap depot on the coast.

[OneArmedMexican]

This is really only an issue if you have FI. I think Gray fixed this a ways back so that CSA has them. Only build ocean transports as csa if you need a cheap depot on the coast.

It can get an issue in other circumstances, too: In my last campaign as CSA I captured four US transport while taking Fort Picken.

It turned out these transports were completly useless to my war effort: If I am not mistaken, they didn't add to my blockade running capacity. At least, I didn't notice any measurable increase in war supplies or money (bug?). The CSA can't get ocean transport points. It is in no position to launch amphibious assaults (unless FI happens). In short, those transport are good for nothing except building depots in coastal cities (which is rarely the place depots are lacking).