Are telegraphs and clearing land useful?

[seathom]

I was wondering what experienced players' feelings were on using the RGD's like telegraphs, clearing lands and roads, etc, for both the USA and CSA.

If I recall correctly, all require just cash as a cost, which means that the USA player is more likely able to afford these decisions, but are they cost-effective and does there come a point in the game that they would be better spent elsewhere?

As the USA, I am using the telegraphs early in my cities/regions that produce the most resources of money, WS and conscripts. My thought was to try to keep the most productive cities as near 100% loyalty as possible to maximize production of resources (thank you F8) but I am wondering if the cost would be better used to buy units and/or replacements?

Clearing lands and building roads seem only useful if I was playing PON, which spans 70 years versus the 4 years of this war; is that the general thinking?

All input is appreciated.

[Gray Fox]

A telegraph can boost a region up to Rich, but does not affect loyalty. A Rich region affects attrition:

http://www.ageod.net/agewiki/Attrition

So I use the RGD where I expect to have a lot of troops either forming up after purchase or being stationed, like a capital. The other cards are more or less cost effective for buying VPs. If done consistently over a long campaign, this can add up to hundreds of VP's.

As to the benefits of 100% loyalty, I did a test months ago and none of the large production cities improved more than 1$/1 conscript/1 WS for all the effort in getting them to 100%. Perhaps someone knows if this has been fixed in the latest version.

[Captain_Orso]

Developing a region can allow you to build a track. Building a track can allow you to build a road. Having 25%+ civ.level allows easier movement of troops and supplies.

So it all depends on how important it is to move troops and supplies through a region(s).

[Rod Smart]

If I remember correctly, higher wealth of a region increases the frontage. So use them in places you want more frontage, like DC, Alexandria, Richmond, etc.
Although it seems like it should, it doesn't increase the production of the region (which seems counter-intuitive, but other members on this board have tested it).



The others I use to create supply lines in the west. Its not easy getting supply from California to El Paso. Unless you have roads.

[Captain_Orso]

The only way I can think of the frontage might be increased by the development level would be through its affects on mobility--the higher the development level, the more generic small and larger roads are considered to be in the region, the easier it is to move and maneuver troops, the easier it is to put a larger number of troops into position, the greater the frontage.

I can't remember there being a direct affect like -increase frontage by development level/10-, but I may also just be getting old apy:

[grimjaw]

I play more often as the CSA. I clear land and build trails in some places. Both are relatively inexpensive. With the map the way it is, building roads doesn't pay off. It usually takes too long and consumes too many resources to get wild regions to the point where you can use that RGD, and most of the already cleared areas where I move troops have track or road already.

[ArmChairGeneral]

I usually develop regions along the Fayetteville-Springfield corridor to speed movement of troops. The movement benefit can affect supply distribution if it reduces travel times enough to allow the notional wagons to make the journey in one turn. I chop in the Far West too, but it doesn't give as much bang for the buck. Chops in West Virginia can open up a (difficult) back-door route into either side's territory. I think you have to actually get to the next level to get move improvement, not 100% sure.

It has been demonstrated on the forums that frontage is based on the region's movement values, and that increasing movement through development increases frontage as a side effect.

Each development level also increases the amount of base supply (supply produced independently of structures, the kind that is affected by pillaging). In CW2 this is a trivial amount, like 2 or 5 per turn, while in other Ageod titles like BOR/AJE civilization level is a very important mechanism.

Most cities in the game have 75 dev points, and a telegraph will bump them up to 80, the threshold for Rich. This isn't a huge deal most times, so you won't gain much other than VPs by spamming telegraphs all over.