Union At Start forces and Reinforcements for April '61 Campaign

[Awwhegoboom]

I have noticed from a number of recent threads / posts from people new to the game (including myself - only 3 week campaigner so far), this game requires a lot of patience as the inital learning curve is steep (to me anyway). I have undertaken the two tutorials (without problem) and a couple of the senarios.

I have read a lot of threads / posts on this forum (and the WIKI), learned a lot, taken advice and then read a lot more. I have not got any further than the first 6 months of the '61 campaign for the Union as something new always seems to crop up and I need to find out more about it (thus making me realise a fatal flaw in my plans and tempting me to start again).

I have not found this stop / start, error / learning process to be frustrating as I feel this is a rare game that deserves the effort.

There are innumerable hints, tips and strategies to be found in this forum, as well as direct advice when you ask for it. As a result, I thought I would try and contribute something positive in return.

I have reviewed the opening 5-6 turns of the April '61 Campaign for the Union to look at:
1) What forces you get 'for free'
2) What Cities etc.. form the 'front line', what forces do they get automatically and what do I need to do to ensure they receive a 'minimum' garrison (IMHO).

As a result, I have compiled a spreadsheet to help me 'mind map' what is going on for the initial stages of the game. If this spreadsheet is of any use to anyone else then please feel free to use it in your own way. Naturally, any comments within the spreadsheet as to required garrison forces are my own thoughts / opinions, so please feel free to disagree / debate my conclusions (Please do so as I want to pick up more hints / tips, lol - there is method in my madness).

I believe that the spreadsheet is 98%+ accurate in terms of 'free units', and also includes reference to how long the units are 'locked'.

Please, please, please provide feedback

I hope to extend this exercise to take into account further turns. However, thi will become more difficult as the 'war' starts in ernest after this initial 'quiet' period.

The first spreadsheet is simply black and white for easier printing. The second has been coloured to represent the 'states'.

[Rafiki]

Nice work; it must have taken some time to put that together

Have you compared this to the reinforcements overview you can find in the "Doc"-directory alongside your AACW installation? It's a bit outdated, but the main parts should still hold true

I have not got any further than the first 6 months of the '61 campaign for the Union as something new always seems to crop up and I need to find out more about it (thus making me realise a fatal flaw in my plans and tempting me to start again).

What I recommend doing, is to simply game on. You'll never get a "perfect game" and you'll learn more as you go along. Especially as the Union, you'll find that you get the chance to address and fix mistakes you make, and never underestimate your own ability to come back in force if you should find the enemy in areas you'd prefer that he not be.

For comparison; in my ongoing game, I've had CSA forces in Bowling Green (with rather larger forces than I was comfortable with), knocking on the doors of St Louis and on the outskirts of Pittsburgh. On the other hand, I've been able to successfully land forces in Savannah and from there assault Charleston.

I guess what I'm saying is to just keep at your game, trying out new things you want to see if work and to counter the enemy's moves in any way you deem necessary. I think you'll learn a lot more that way than by replaying the first turns over and over

[Awwhegoboom]

Nice work; it must have taken some time to put that together

It has taken a little while But a labour of love

Have you compared this to the reinforcements overview you can find in the "Doc"-directory alongside your AACW installation? It's a bit outdated, but the main parts should still hold true

Erm... yes and no.
Yes, I have seen and looked at the "USA 1861 Reinforcements.PDF" document. However, at the time, I did not feel it met my particular needs at that point. For example, it does not include "at start" forces or the Lincolns Volunteers event forces (I think - correct me if Iam wrong). I would also have preferred a colour coding appropriate to the state in question for the reinforcements (an observation, not a criticism). I was / am also looking for a visual aid of my own that I could make notes on and modify as experience dictated, i.e. where I need reinforcements of my own building and where to build offensive forces.

No, I have not used it to compare with my own findings I will do this within the next 24 hours (or so). I thought that as I was using patch 1.12 the text may have 'drifted' a little from the reality.

What I recommend doing, is to simply game on. You'll never get a "perfect game" and you'll learn more as you go along. Especially as the Union, you'll find that you get the chance to address and fix mistakes you make, and never underestimate your own ability to come back in force if you should find the enemy in areas you'd prefer that he not be.

Solid advice. Thank you.

[Gray_Lensman]

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[biggp07]

Thanks for this!!

I've just not taken the time...I'm extremely glad you did! I will return what I can as I play on... This is a great game and seeming to take up ALOT of my time, but not to my detriment thankfully!!

[tagwyn]

++ Amen Arne!! t

[biggp07]

@Awwhegoboom

Would you be interested in a PBEM game soon? Not sure I'd be much competition; but I'd like to try my skills at a human opponent? I think I'm about as far along as you with AACW, so I won't be pulling any veteran "gamey tricks" since I'm not that familiar with them anyway. at least not yet!

[Awwhegoboom]

There's some changes coming in some of the reinforcements for the 1861 scenarios since some of them are duplicate units. I haven't finished the rework yet so I can't really put out a list just yet, but keep an eye out for the next Historical Accuracy work for details, specifically Post #2 of that huge thread.

Thanks for the 'head-up'. I have now taken a look at the Historical Accuracy thread (what a huge thread!!!). I am using v1.12 of the game, but have not downloaded the Historical Accuracy MOD. Therefore the spreadsheets I up-loaded, above, do not take this MOD into account.

I have decided to play through the game a few more times before I re-visit this work, but I will keep your comments in mind.

Regards

[Rafiki]

By and large, the Historical Accuracy Mod is already integrated into the game. From time to time, there will be a small difference when additions to the mod are made that are awaiting a new patch to make it into the official game

[Major Dilemma]

Very attractive data there, Aww HeGoBoom.. question is..

What is war? A well oiled finely tuned precision watch or a raging river of blood guts and fury? Perhaps somewhere in between but that's for every general to discover.

Let's play a PBEM and find out?

[Awwhegoboom]

Very attractive data there, Aww HeGoBoom..

Thank you

question is..What is war? A well oiled finely tuned precision watch or a raging river of blood guts and fury? Perhaps somewhere in between but that's for every general to discover.

I agree that it is somewhere in between. However do not confuse a character flaw on my part (i.e. I like to number crunch) with any real ability or desire to micromanage a whole campaign of AACW I will soon get bored of it and return to a much more fluid style of play once I have a handle on what's going on

Let's play a PBEM and find out?

Would you be interested in a PBEM game soon? Not sure I'd be much competition; but I'd like to try my skills at a human opponent? I think I'm about as far along as you with AACW, so I won't be pulling any veteran "gamey tricks" since I'm not that familiar with them anyway.at least not yet!

Thanks for the offer guys. I will say no for the moment. Xmas and New year has been busy for me, so I still have not got any further than 10 turns into the game. Lol, I seem to be spending more time on this forum than actually playing the game . I will take you up on your offers once I have a better handle on things (wouldn't want it to be too easy for you guys). I will PM you as and when.

Regards

[Major Tom]

Awwhegoboom --

Great job!

I think I must be even more anal than you. I did a similar thing for the CSA but carried it through the end of 1861, making a detailed spreadsheet of the start locations and all scripted reinforcements, by turn and location.

I went a step further, and also made detailed notes of which units had empty slots that received additional elements from the replacements pool, and kept detailed notes of on how many reinforcement elements from each category were used up each turn to fill out the new units.

I did this by setting the AI to passive and ending each turn without taking any actions other than buying replacements, which also required using some of the draft and finance options. Also, a couple of new units appeared outside of cities, so I had to move them to cities and leave them there to see if they would suck up additional elements (there's a 3rd Res CSA brigade that appears in the countryside southwest of Charlottesville but has to be moved to a city to fill an empty cavalry slot). One thing I've learned is that the game documentation on how many "free" replacement points you get in the first year appears to be wrong -- you don't get 2 free line infatry in Late August and Early September).

Now I just have to do it again to verify my data, to see if there is variation in the scripted new unit arrivals (I know Sterling Price may not appear, and doesn't always appear the same turn - not sure if there are others like this). Also, there's random chance involved in whether a conscript point gets used up in the replacement pool when a unit is "topped off," and I want to get at least two or three sets of data on replacements used so I can optimize my purchases in the early turns.

Once I've gone through this another time or two, I'll have a kick-ass set of data to help me plan my garrison needs and replacement purchases.

[Banks6060]

I know one unit that has a lot of slots to fill with replacements...

The 1st Virginia Cavalry. It's JEB Stuart's brigade and will usually fill up with at least 3 more cav elements and a horse artillery if you buy them.

[Major Tom]

The 1st Virginia Cavalry. It's JEB Stuart's brigade and will usually fill up with at least 3 more cav elements and a horse artillery if you buy them.

That's good to know! I haven't checked out any of the 1862 new arrivals. It's a shame there's not a way to tell if a new unit has unfilled slots. The only way to find out is to move them into a city and leave them there, making sure you have replacements available. Since they can only add one element per turn, and only if in a city, it sounds like you have to make a tough choice with Stuart's brigade, whether to deploy them or park them in a city for several turns while they fill up.

Same thing with one of the brigades that start's in Polk's stack in Memphis -- the 1st TN bde will add 3 infantry, a cav, and a light artillery, but you have to leave them idle in a city for 5 turns. No big deal at first because they start out locked for 2 turns, but on turn 3 you'll be itching to move them.

[soloswolf]

Just to clarify, Major Tom: You can tell if a unit has more slots by having it in a stack with another unit, ctrl-left click (so you are selecting any two units) and hover the mouse over the combine button. This will detail what each of the selected units can hold.

I hope that helps.

[Awwhegoboom]

Major Tom - Sounds like you have done a lot of work studying the auto re-inforcements aspect of this game. It took me a long time to put together the spreadsheet I posted above (and since then I have changed my opening strategies a number of times, i.e. what I use and where I use them etc... !!).

I have walked away from this task for a while, mainly because I wanted to enjoy actually playing through the game. But I will come back to it again sooner or later.

[Major Tom]

Great tip, soloswolf! Thanks!

I just reviewed my notes, and the 1st Virginia Cavarly that Banks referred to actually starts out with Johnston's stack in Virginia, early May 1861. It's locked for three turns anyway, so should fill up on its own if you have the replacements available.

Here's a complete list of the starting and free CSA units in 1861 that have empty element slots that will fill up from the replacements pool:

At Start – Early April 1861

• Charleston – Bartow’s Bde. Can add +1 cavalry element. You may want to use him to assault Sumter on turn 1. Just make sure to get his “free” cav element after that.
• Memphis – 1st TN Bde can add +3 line inf, +1 cav, +1 light arty (will be locked for two turns at start, but need three more turns in a city to completely fill up)
• Forts Henry & Donelson – Garrison will add +1 inf. Locked unit, so no problem filling up.

Appearing Early May 1861

• Richmond – Longstreet’s Bde. Will add +1 cav, +1 12 pdr arty
• Richmond – Hampton’s SC will add +1 inf, +1 cav
• Strasburg VA – 1st Virginia Cav will add +2 cav, +1 horse arty
• These three units all appear locked for 3 turns, so they should fill by the time they unlock, if replacements are available.

Appearing Early June 1861

• Knoxville – Knoxville Bde. will add +1 inf, +1 12 pdr. Arty.
• Memphis – II/2nd Bde. Will add +1 cav.
• Richmond – 2nd Reserve Bde. Will add +1 inf and +1 cav.
• Roanoke, VA – 3rd Res. Bde. Will add +1 cav. This unit appears locked for three turns and is not in a city. To get the +1 cav you need to move him to a city after he unlocks.

Note that most of these units start out locked for long enough to fill their empty slots before they are capable of moving. The exceptions are the 1st TN Bde in Memphis, Bartow's Bde in Charleston, and the 3rd Virginia Res in Roanoke. You'll need to be careful with these to ensure you get the "free" elements.

I think all of these numbers are correct, though I did not verify them using the trick I just learned from soloswolf. I did it by taking notes on what "free" elements I got each tun in a static game.

Another thing I've noticed is that the empty slots seem to fill up in order: infantry first, then cav, and lastly artillery, at a rate of one element per turn per unit.

To get these elements you must have already purchased them in your reinforcements pool, so they aren't really free but they don't undergo the several turns of formation that it takes when you buy them as reinforcements.

[soloswolf]

It is also important to note that units will not gain elements if they are within a division. (Regardless of whether they lost them in combat or were not at capacity for some other reason)

[Gray_Lensman]

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[Redeemer]

It is also important to note that units will not gain elements if they are within a division. (Regardless of whether they lost them in combat or were not at capacity for some other reason)

Are you sure about this? I swear I have had beat up divisions recieve replacement elements before.

[Major Tom]

I hope both of you don't think the starting reinforcements are set in stone, because I'm still finding inconsistencies in them and usually there's a small corrective change or two in each update.

Yeah, Gray, I'm assuming that each update might bring some minor changes to the list, and I'm also assuming there may be inconsistencies, which is why I'm going to run through the first turns again and verify my data.

[Major Dilemma]

A brigade with open slots does not have to be inside a city to receive the reinforcements. I think they do need to be in a region with a depot but am unsure of that.

You can also speed up this process by sending your single inf/cav/art units to them and combining them manually. Some of the infantry will not combine, for instance upgraded militia will not necessarily combine since (I think) it is because they are not yet officially "line infantry" but just upgraded militia.

Some brigades do not require command points. They are of special interest to me at least and perhaps to others as well..

[Major Tom]

A brigade with open slots does not have to be inside a city to receive the reinforcements. I think they do need to be in a region with a depot but am unsure of that.

I've seen that said before, too, but I'm not sure it's true. I'll have to test it out. I'm pretty sure that in my last test I moved the 3rd Va Res Bde to Charlottesville after he unlocked and he then received his cavalry element. Charlottesville does not have a depot. I may be wrong -- it's possible I moved him to Richmond instead.

Regarding manually combining elements into the units that are missing them -- yes you can definitely do this, but there's not much advantage to it. The best thing about these empty slots is that they can be filled directly from your replacements pool with elements that will start out at full strength and ready to go. If you fill them manually, you missing out on this advantage.

[Redeemer]

It depends on your attrition game setting. Historical means it has to be in a depot I believe, otherwise not.

[Rafiki]

It is also important to note that units will not gain elements if they are within a division. (Regardless of whether they lost them in combat or were not at capacity for some other reason)

This was fixed in a patch; don't recall exactly which one, but it was a while ago

It depends on your attrition game setting. Historical means it has to be in a depot I believe, otherwise not.

Indeed

[Rafiki]

This was fixed in a patch; don't recall exactly which one, but it was a while ago

1.10, released May 1st 2008, to be exact

[soloswolf]

My bad.

This shall go down as The Great Day of Wrong in my AACW posting career.

[lycortas]

You can console yourself that at least you don't have the avatar that Gray "Bob" Lensman has! I wonder if he is trying to tell us something?

I am finishing up a small/medium mod, i have no idea if anyone is interested but i will probably post it later this weekend.

Mike

[Major Tom]

I’ve done some more testing of 1861 replacement levels for CSA, using the 1.13 patch. When I get my data organized I’ll post it. It’s useful for budgeting how many of each type of replacement to by in the first several turns of the game.

Forts Henry & Donelson – Garrison will add +1 inf.

After some more tests (with 1.13 patch) I find that this is not correct, so either I transcribed my notes badly on the first test (using 1.12) or this was changed. Probably bad notes, as no other permanent garrisons get added elements.

One thing I've learned is that the game documentation on how many "free" replacement points you get in the first year appears to be wrong -- you don't get 2 free line infatry in Late August and Early September)

Another error based on bad notes. Further testing reveals that the game documentation appears correct regarding the number of free CSA replacements each turn.

Also – clarification on receiving full elements. With the default “standard” attrition setting, the unit has to be in a region with a depot or a 2+ city, but does not have to be in the structure. Apparently with the historical attrition option, elements will add only if you are at a depot.

Interesting note – when Johnstone’s stack appears in Northern Virginia on May 1, 1861, there is no city or depot in the region, but then one magically appears – “Strasburg Depot.” This is convenient, as it allows the 1st Virginia Cav to draw replacement elements for the three turns that the stack is locked – just long enough for it to fill all of its empty slots, assuming you have them in reserve.