Where to raise and rally divisions?

[HidekiTojo]

This has been the main obstacle in learning this game, with TEAW the great thing is that you can recruit in divisions instead of building them brigade by brigade.

It tends to get a lot jumbled up so I have a difficult time looking for specific provinces where I want to raise divisions and then designating a province where the units converge.

If there's any tips or tricks that you use, as well as provinces you use to raise your brigades and ones where you rally them to form divisions please list them. That goes for both USA and CSA!

[ohms_law]

In the grand campaign (April start) you can't even build divisions for a couple of turns.
Just build them wherever is convenient (that won't be overrun by the enemy), and gather them up in a region that is right behind the front line: Baltimore or Anapolis for the Union; Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Richmond are good spots for the Confederates. Out West, you can use Cleveland, Lexington, and St. Louis, as the Union; Clarksville/Bowling Green, Humboldt, or Springfield and Fayetteville as the Confederates (Houston too, if the Union invades Texas. Don't forget about New Orleans, either).

[Mickey3D]

provinces you use to raise your brigades and ones where you rally them to form divisions please list them.

As CSA try to raise (if possible : no risk of overrun as mentioned by ohms_law) first from the States on the border (Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee,...) before they fall into Union hands.

[Mickey3D]

I try to recruit units to form one division from the same State or two States (e.g. Pennsylvania, New-York, Ohio + Michigan, Wisconsin + Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia + South Carolina, ...)

I usually put a few officers (to be sure one of them will be active, this is more effective with the Union as they have a lot of 1* leaders) in the main recruitement place (i.e. where most of the elements are recruited) to create the core of the division. Then the uncompleted division can be sent just behind the line or in a corps (it depends of the urgency) where it will be joined by the missing elements.

[grimjaw]

Another thing to keep is mind, especially as the Union, is keeping one or more conscript trainers in the area where you gather new troops. You have more time in the winter to do training, but it can't hurt to get a few regiments trained up to regulars if you can manage it. If you have a large force stationary somewhere for one or more turns yet not in combat, one of the HQ support elements can help them gain experience.

[Captain_Orso]

First off, other than artillery--which can only be build in locations which produce WSU--and Sharpshooters--which can only be built in certain states--the only restrictions you have on where you may build units is the friendly loyalty in the region. You should pay attention to keeping the units in supply though--especially in winter--while they are being built and cannot be moved. This is one of the major reason people--myself included--complained so much about the lack of influence on build-locations.

Just for simplicity's sake I build nearly all my troops in only a handful of locations:

Philadelphia, PA (can build artillery)
New York City, NY (can build artillery)
Hartford, CT (can build artillery)
Cincinnati, OH
Dayton, OH (can build artillery)
Indianapolis, IN (can build artillery)
Springfield, IL (can build artillery)
Detroit, MI (can build artillery)
Milwaukee, WI (can build artillery)
Saint Louis, MO (can build artillery)

If you need to build just a unit or tow, there's not reason not to build elsewhere, as long as it is safe and in supply.

A small trick. If you have limited leaders to use as division commander with strategic level of 3 or less, or you have a leader you absolutely want to have a your new division's commander, you can always use a placeholder-unit to start the division with that leader as soon as he is activated, as long as the unit is not locked. Later when the units you've build for the division become available, just put them in and take the placeholder-unit out.

[pgr]

There have been many a good response here, and on the idea of division building in general on this forum. I'll just add my little thoughts.

I tend to loose specific track of things as unit building ramps up, so I tend to build in patterns. 1 battery for every 4 infantry elements, sharpshooter/inf brigades built with a paring cav/inf brigade, 4 cav and one mounted arty, etc. I then send them to a central rally location in each Grand Theater. (The East, West, and Trans-Mississippi). Rally locations should be near the front, but far enough away what they aren't likely to be overrun, and have good transportation to the front.

For the Union, I tend to rally the raw brigades up in Washington DC, Cincinnati Ohio, and St. Louis. The South is a bit more variable, but Richmond, Chattanooga, and Jackson Mississippi seem to be flexible spots as rally points. These spots should be fitted out with training specialists ( army HQ units, and on the union side, McClellan, Halleck, and Sigelare particularly useful in the training/organizing role)

[ArmChairGeneral]

Wow, this is a great thread; every post has quality advice. As the CSA I mostly build at:

Richmond
Strasburg
Nashville
New Orleans
Memphis
Springfield (if I have it)
Little Rock (if I don't)
Bowling Green/Louisville (if I have them)
El Paso
Corinth MS (early builds are cav and Sharpshooters, late builds are infantry and artillery once the TN and KY pools are exhausted/no longer available)

Oddball locations:
Rolla (a militia as soon as MO enters to blow the depot)
Warrenton, NC (the closest major 10 and 12lber buildpoint to Virginia forces)
Tuscumbia, AL (a convenient place to build 12lbers for West theater forces)
Matagorda and Pensacola (just enough to discourage shenanigans by the Ft Pickens Mob)
Adobe Walls, TX (for Rangers to go after Fts. Lyons and Garland and the chains of stockade leading east from Denver)
At least a few brigades built between and concentrated in Charleston or Savannah

My cav sometimes come from weird back-line places: some states can build regular cav, others only have conscripts.

[minipol]

I micromanage my turns, and sometimes take a lot of time.
I don't use rally points as the message tell me exactely where what troops are finished.
I know where I wanted to send them, so I ship them off to their units immediately.
This way, my troop counts increase faster.
Disadvantage of this approach is that it makes training units harder.
I don't care as much, I ship my trainers to corps that need them the most.
Otherwise I train my troops by sending them into battles

[minipol]

Double post, my apologies

[ohms_law]

Otherwise I train my troops by sending them into battles

Me too. This is the only way to go as the Confederates, in my opinion. There's too much else to do to worry about training specifically.

[jack54]

If you order several regiments in one location and group them together under 1 tab does it slow up the building process? I often do this to clean up the map and the number of unit tabs. I'm not sure if I'm hurting things though.

[Captain_Orso]

No, the build time is a factor of the settings in the models of the elements and the NM. Stacking has nothing to do with it, but if they take hits and lose cohesion from lack of supplies or from weather--because you've let them stand out in the snow--they will take longer.

And don't forget, the CP requirements are an attribute of the UNIT and even if they're brand-spanking-new they will require the CP's of their fully trained status, which makes them turkeys in a turkey-shoot if they should get attacked. Train them close to the front at your own risk.

[jack54]

Thank You!