New to ACW...Need help

[kglorberau]

I just bought the game and tried to read the manual and do the tutorial but am completely overwhelmed by the information and depth of the game.

Any ideas on how to start to learn all of the mechanics of the game? I found the tutorial very confusing with all of the info pop up screens all over the place. How do you find all of your units to concentrate them into a fighting group? How do you pick leaders?

Is it best as the CSA to build industry, railroads and ships to increase your ability to fight the Union? Should I raise taxes, call only for volunteers or institute the draft?

Im probably going to love this game if I can get a handle on it...I have had other Civil War games that I really enjoyed, but usually play WW2 games (Hearts of Iron 2, etc).

Any help would be appreciated.

kglorberau

[Comtedemeighan]

Hey welcome to the Forum buddy This game is complex but don't give up on it. As the South its usually not good to spend money on industry follow the tutorial it will teach you the basics of forming units into Corps and other command elements. I know its hard to follow but stick with it you will figure it out.

[Clovis]

Look at this thread:

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=6823

[Major Dilemma]

The most valuable bit of info you need to get to your units is the cycle buttons E/R for land units and T/Y for naval units on your keyboard. These buttons will cycle through all your stacks which are active but have no orders.

Without them it is a monumental task to complete a turn with any degree of satisfaction.

[Pocus]

You should not play the full campaign imho until you master the bases with small scenarios.

[Mickey3D]

Any ideas on how to start to learn all of the mechanics of the game?

How do you find all of your units to concentrate them into a fighting group?

Have a look here.

How do you pick leaders?

- Three stars generals are for army command.
- Keep two stars generals for corps command (they could command a division but it's not their best assignment).
- Put one star generals at the head of division.

Strategic rating is important for army and corps commanders or for independant division leaders because it will decide if your troop is active or not.

Defensive and offensive ratings are important for all leaders.

Special abilities should also be considered.

Is it best as the CSA to build industry, railroads and ships to increase your ability to fight the Union?

I haven't play a lot with the south, but based on what my PBEM opponents did :

- Industry should not be the priority as you will have plenty of other places where to spend your resources.

- Consider the possibility to increase a little bit your railroads capacity if you want to be able to redeploy rapidly division from one front to the other.

- Regarding ships, buy blocade runners to increase your resources.

Should I raise taxes, call only for volunteers or institute the draft?

Yes you should. Some players are afraid to loose national moral but :

- Your opponent will anyway call for volonteers, institure draft, raise taxes and loose national moral too.
- National moral without troops to defend strategic objectives will not last for long...

Im probably going to love this game if I can get a handle on it...

If you want we can play a short scenario together (shiloh ?). I could have a look at your orders to give you the first advices and you could ask me your questions.

[kglorberau]

Thanks for all the replies and good info. I tried like hell to figure out the command system all weekend, but alas had to come to work to earn some $$$ (I work swings 1300-2300 Hrs).

I think I screwed up by playing as CSA and building massive factories, and keep increasing my railroads and river transports....I usually play as the CSA since they are the underdog. I kind of stumbled on how to raise troops in the reinforce and replacements buttons...but have a few questions.....

What are the three different numbers in each box??? I hover over them and they say something like "units built, units in reserve and units requested to be built" (Im at work right now and know I am just guessing at what it says....). Then after the turn is over some units show up on the field. Do I click on all of them to be deployed, or if I dont do some of the units show up as reinforcements to get understrength units back up to full complament???

I was deploying them all but noticed that some very understrength units (say only having 150 men instead of full strength of 750) never increased in manpower....Do I have to check to see which units are understrengh (say, Infantry from VA or NC or AL), and then leave units I just created in the reinforcement pool for the same states???

I tried to form the CSA Army of Northern Virginia (I know it is called something like CSA Army of Potomoc in 1861) but for the life of me could not get one star Generals to form Divisions. I had Johnston as a 3 star General in command of Army, two 2 star Generals I wanted to form Corps with (Longstreet and Jackson) but was not able to. The one star General could not be combined with individual units to form brigades...Very frustrating....

I shall check the info threads listed above to see if they help...

Thanks again....oh and I would enjoy in trying a game Mickey 3D, once I figure out what the hell to do!

Thanks again all.

Kglorberau

[kglorberau]

By the way, Runyons post was very informative and useful. I shall try to apply some of hsi suggestions this weekend.

Kglorberau

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[Mickey3D]

What are the three different numbers in each box??? I hover over them and they say something like "units built, units in reserve and units requested to be built" (Im at work right now and know I am just guessing at what it says....). Then after the turn is over some units show up on the field.

In the reinforcement screen (F2 key to go there), number at the top show you the units still at disposal in the reserve : you won't be able to build more units of this type than this number. When you build a unit, this number will decrease.

Number in the middle is the number of units of this type on the map (i.e. you already built and deployed them).

Number at the bottom is the number of unit you want to build this turn : left click will increase the number, right click will decrease it.

Do I click on all of them to be deployed, or if I dont do some of the units show up as reinforcements to get understrength units back up to full complament???

Understrength units are restored to full power using the replacement screen (sorry, translated from french. Hit F3 key to go there)

There is two numbers : The top one show the number of replacement at your disposal. The bottom one is the total number of elements of this type you have on the map.

As a rule of thumb, try to keep the top number around 10% of the bottom number (there is exception : personnally I don't go over 15, maximum 20, for infantry replacements).

I was deploying them all but noticed that some very understrength units (say only having 150 men instead of full strength of 750) never increased in manpower....Do I have to check to see which units are understrengh (say, Infantry from VA or NC or AL), and then leave units I just created in the reinforcement pool for the same states???

Not sure to understand. As explained above, reinforcement screen allow to create new units, replacement screen allow to buy replacement for the understrength units.

I tried to form the CSA Army of Northern Virginia (I know it is called something like CSA Army of Potomoc in 1861) but for the life of me could not get one star Generals to form Divisions. I had Johnston as a 3 star General in command of Army, two 2 star Generals I wanted to form Corps with (Longstreet and Jackson) but was not able to. The one star General could not be combined with individual units to form brigades...Very frustrating....

Was the button used to create division enabled ?
[ATTACH]5817[/ATTACH]

Leaders are not always active. Select the leader and check the enveloppe in the right corner of the tab. If it is brown, leader is inactive and he won't be able to create a division (following example is inserted just to show you an inactive leader. Naturally you would not use a 3 stars leader to create a division)
[ATTACH]5818[/ATTACH]

Thanks again....oh and I would enjoy in trying a game Mickey 3D, once I figure out what the hell to do!

You're welcome, just send me a Private Message when you're ready.

[kglorberau]

Thanks again Gary Lensman and Mickey 3D.

I think that is why I could not form Divisions....the leaders were not activated. I am taking your earlier advice and trying to muddle thru the tutorials...it is getting easier but I still find things dont go right. In the first tutorial, as the Union Army of Tennessese or Ohio moves to attack Decatur, they did not move "coordinated" even tho I clicked that button and the screen shows they should have all moved. Is this because some of the Corp commanders are more timid? I lucked out in that the Grant HQ units arrived and captured the city, but both of his Corps were still in Henry.

Prior to that when I moved the units by riverine transport to Henry I was not able to merge them with the Corps the tutorial said to. I find it is very hard to do it even by clicking on the unit tab in the box at the bottom, because an image of the corp or units superimpose themselves over the screen, making it hard to tell when they were over the unit I wanted them to merge with. I had to wait until all the units made it to Decatur to finally do it, but it threw off the tutorial....

Im confused by the movement orders phase. When you move from one area to another you can tell which section you are going into because a sort of border surrounds it......But if you want to capture a city you have to actually click on it or plot your movement to the city or objective?? Is this why the manual says both sides can control a section (I forget the correct term)?? The small areas (I will call them section) have cities, objectives, railroads, depots, etc) are parts of states, which are parts of "theaters"?? (ie, Mississippi theater, Eastern theater, Trans-Mississippi, etc). Am I correct on this? As you capture the main cities or objectives in each smaller area they then revert to your control, but could still have loyalty for the enemy (75% vs 25% as an example).

I would hope that someone could do a complete walk thru of each phase of the manual which I found hard to read and understand. Not only was it confusing, but the print is so small that us old gamers (I turn 50 in a few weeks) have bad eyes now and it is hard to read real small print on gray background pages.....lol

Im gonna plod through the tutorials again tonight and try Gary's suggestion on doing a game that starts later in 1862 or so....

Oh one more thing....on the overall map in the left side bottom corner I notice blue or gray dots (gray for CSA, blue for USA??) Do these show where your military units are located on the map?? I now see I can use the E/T button to also cycle through them.

Thanks again.

Kglorberau

[kglorberau]

Well I finally started my first campaign as USA in 162, with the new update v1.13. I'm muddling through the first 4 -6 months of the war and am up to August. Im pushing for Memphis and Corinth, and have taken Manassas, Winchester, and am two provinces from Richmond. I have been building up forces in the Peninsula area by Yorktown as well.

Now for questions on strategy and such.

1. I am seeing Gen's just appear on the map. Is this built into the game as Appointments, etc. As I see it there is no "Pool of Generals" that I pull one out of...they just sort of appear by historical date I guess??

2. Promotions for Generals. I just read a thread on this and think I understand it, but need to know if there is a button to push when all the conditions are met? And the Gen needs to be out of his parent stack I think I read. Anything else?? And the Gen needs to be "Active", but how does a Gen that is "ot Active" become Active??

3. During the Orders/Build phase, I am having problems figuring out reinforcements / replacements. Even as the USA, it says I can conscript like 200-400 companies of men, that I have like $500,000 and so much supplies. As each unit is built, something is deducted from each.

But which units should I build. Even with superiority of USA it seems like I run out of men and supplies all the time (usually not money). Should I plan on strictly replacements to fill the gaps in my forces?? Since the USA has like 350-400 units, which ones should I build? I seem to always have problems with supplies, so I usually build like 10 supply wagons. Is this wise?

Or build new Reinforcement units? I noticed that each state has units of different compositions like 2 Inf and 1 Art, etc, and notice they cost differnt amounts of men, supplies, and $$. But they usually cost LOTS as they are fully organized Brigades.

Should I ever go into the "red" when I purchase reinforcements / replacements?? I have done this a few times and get a message at end of turn that "2nd Michigan Bge was not fully trained from lack of funding" or something like that.

I am finding that this game is quite entertaining now that I know a little bit to do. All of the forums and answers back have really helped. With clarifications on the above questions I shall enjoy it even more!!

Thanks in advance,

Kglorberau

[kglorberau]

PS-angry face hit by mistake.....forget about it...

Kglorberau

[Major Dilemma]

..."And the Gen needs to be "Active", but how does a Gen that is "ot Active" become Active??"...

The generals are subjected to an activation roll (of the dice) each turn to see if they are active. This roll is compared to the strategy rating of the general. There is nothing a player can do except to assign the generals with the lowest strategy rating to positions where inactivity is not crucial, such as defensive positions.

[Mickey3D]

1. I am seeing Gen's just appear on the map. Is this built into the game as Appointments, etc. As I see it there is no "Pool of Generals" that I pull one out of...they just sort of appear by historical date I guess??

There is no way to "buy" generals, they appear in the game based on historical facts.

2. Promotions for Generals. I just read a thread on this and think I understand it, but need to know if there is a button to push when all the conditions are met? And the Gen needs to be out of his parent stack I think I read. Anything else?? And the Gen needs to be "Active", but how does a Gen that is "ot Active" become Active??

When the leader is selected there is a button displaying a blue medal that you can push when you want to promote your general (I don't remember on which tab is this button, second one perhaps).

If the general you want to promote is a division leader inside a corps, you have to take it (i.e. the division) out of the corps to be able to click on the button (would be great if this game mechanism could be improved). You will see that a general is promotable because the square with the stars above his face is "pulsing".

If the general is going to be promoted to 3 stars beware of possible cost in national moral/victory points (because of jealousy or political support of other generals) : look at the "bubble" that appears when you move your mouse cursor over the promotion button (i.e. the button with the blue medal).

As explained by MajorDilemna, activation is dependent from strategic rating. The higer the rating, the best the chance for a general to be active.

3. During the Orders/Build phase, I am having problems figuring out reinforcements / replacements. Even as the USA, it says I can conscript like 200-400 companies of men, that I have like $500,000 and so much supplies. As each unit is built, something is deducted from each.
But which units should I build. Even with superiority of USA it seems like I run out of men and supplies all the time (usually not money). Should I plan on strictly replacements to fill the gaps in my forces?? Since the USA has like 350-400 units, which ones should I build? I seem to always have problems with supplies, so I usually build like 10 supply wagons. Is this wise?

- Replacement : try to have around 10% of your deployed troops in replacement, except for infantry (see my previous message on the subject above).


- Reinforcement : first have a plan, where do you want to attack ? Is the ennemy threatening you in some place ? Do you need river boats ? Do you want to increase the blockade percentage ? Then build units to create new divisions or fleets in the area where you'll need them.

There is hundreds of posts on the way to build the most effective division but try to have one sharpshooter (no more) in each division, one or two cavalry units and a few artillery batteries (I try to put 4 in a division but I know some players would advice you to put more). The rest will be infantry.

You'll need sooner or later some marines units to allow fast crossing of river, engineers to hurry up entrenchment or physician to hasten cohesion recovery.


- It's strange that you run out of war supplies, but you can always try to industrialize a little bit.


- Supply wagon : It all depends if you are able to capture ennemy depots.

Or build new Reinforcement units? I noticed that each state has units of different compositions like 2 Inf and 1 Art, etc, and notice they cost differnt amounts of men, supplies, and $$. But they usually cost LOTS as they are fully organized Brigades.

You have to build new reinforcements as your opponent will do so too and as the north is the attacker he must keep his advantage in power.

Now, there is two ways of thinking regarding infantry :

• Some players will go for militia as its cheaper, don't use war supply (--> that's a little bit gamey ) and is built in one turn. Militia is less powerful than standard infantry but it will eventually upgrade to infantry but you'll need time (some leaders will accelerate the upgrade).
• Others will build fully organized brigades as they are more powerful.

Should I ever go into the "red" when I purchase reinforcements / replacements?? I have done this a few times and get a message at end of turn that "2nd Michigan Bge was not fully trained from lack of funding" or something like that.

I don't go in red. But when you are in red check if you couldn't use some draft or financial options (taking into consideration the national moral/victory points cost).

[kglorberau]

Thanks again for the info Mickey3D...I plan on trying my luck on taking Richmond tonite when I get home.

Kglorberau