Do people find automated replacements helpful?

[penlin]

I'm playing the W Campaign (1862) scenario, and I turned on automated replacements to avoid some micromanagement. Even though it's set to 15% (the maximum), I don't seem to be getting many replacements effectively. When I got to the War Production screen (F2), the replacement pool numbers that tell me how many I need (the upper part of each box) keep getting higher, and they key ones are now in the red. Does this happen to you? Do automated replacements take second priority to new ones I raise? That doesn't seem helpful. I assumed that automated replacements would happen first (the game would request as many as I need), and then I could raise new units with any leftover resources. Doesn't seem to be working this way.

[Pocus]

Replacements, whatever if they are ordered by the player or the AI-helper will use up resources before building units. If you believe that even on high settings there is not enough repl of a given type, you can buy some yourself, and let the AI fill up / analyze the others categories.

[vonRocko]

I never use auto. I don't trust it.

[GraniteStater]

It's OK - I put it at 5 or 10. I see it as the engine trys to buy to these levels. When I see Red, I buy the difference between what is budgeted on the display & 1/10 Rule of Thumb, unless the Red is a Lot, and I mean a Lot - in that case, I'll buy 10 Clicks and leave it at that.

Seems to work out well enough. I do appreciate it cutting down on excess clicking.

[ArmChairGeneral]

I never use auto-replace either, I am always afraid it will buy heavy artillery.

Does 10% autoreplace mean it wants to spend 10% of the turn's resources, or is it going to try to have enough replacements to cover 10% losses?

[GraniteStater]

I see it as the back end trying to fulfill the "10% rule of thumb", i. e., trying to keep the proportion of elements available to shuffle in to elements in the field as 1/10.

In AACW, this was a rule of thumb, first posted as a useful guide for the player - someone posted it, drawing from his experience. Many, including myself, adopted it as a playstyle. So I look at what we have as a coded implementation of the rule of thumb.

[John S. Mosby]

Does 10% autoreplace mean it wants to spend 10% of the turn's resources, or is it going to try to have enough replacements to cover 10% losses?

Replacements to cover 10% losses.

[penlin]

Ok, thanks for the replies. Sounds like it reduces micromanagement but it's not good to ignore it entirely. My need numbers were getting up into the red. I started ordering extra replacements manually (meaning 2 turns without forming brand new units), and the need numbers are no longer red.

And, just to make sure I understand, 10% means it will try to keep the replacement pool at ten percent of your force size (as opposed to ten percent of the need number)?

Any other tips on how to get replacements to elements? I have been pulling badly depleted brigades out of divisions and back to a friendly structure.

Is there a way to pull a unit/brigade out of a division without breaking up the whole division and the reforming it minus that one unit?

[GraniteStater]

And, just to make sure I understand, 10% means it will try to keep the replacement pool at ten percent of your force size (as opposed to ten percent of the need number)?

I think so.

Any other tips on how to get replacements to elements?

Unclear. Can't think of any - that's the mechanism, I believe.

Is there a way to pull a unit/brigade out of a division without breaking up the whole division and the reforming it minus that one unit?

Not that I know of.

[Q-Ball]

I also forget Auto-Replace; you end up buying stuff you don't want/need, particularly as Confederacy.

Always check the replacements first before you buy anything each turn; I sometimes forget to do this, but if you are doing it yourself, Replacements should get first priority for builds

[ArmChairGeneral]

Is there a way to pull a unit/brigade out of a division without breaking up the whole division and the reforming it minus that one unit?

I don't think so. Because of this, I tend to leave damaged units in the division and rest the whole division.

Any other tips on how to get replacements to elements? I have been pulling badly depleted brigades out of divisions and back to a friendly structure.

Like I said, that can mean a lot of clicking and micromanaging that might be unnecessary. The recovery rate is based on the structures in the region (Depots are the fastest and give the max replacement rate). If you are already in a region with cities, forts or depots, then just rest them where they are, no need to leave unless you are facing imminent attack. They cannot access replacements if they are moving, so sometimes recovering in place is faster than rotating them away to a better structure. Information on recovery rates is available in the AGEWiki and the AACWiki, although they do not match each other. It is possible that replacement rates are different for CW2 and that both sites are inaccurate for our purposes.

They will still draw replacements in defensive posture; this may sometimes be advisable. They recover cohesion faster when set to passive posture.

Units inside structures in passive posture receive priority for replacements (if there are not enough chits to go around these will get the chits available) but you will still draw replacements if the unit is outside the structure as long as you have enough available.