Unable to create corps in 1861-start scenarios, even after March 1862

[jammad]

For some reason I can never create an army corps in the two 1861-start scenarios, no matter how long they run; the creation option is never activated, even when two- and three-star generals are in the same region as an army commander. Corps creation works fine in the tutorials and the Shiloh scenario, so it doesn't appear to be an issue with the game itself. Any suggestions on what I'm overlooking?

[Leibst]

Hi jammad, welcome to the forum!
i suposse you are checking the leaders are activated.

[LCcmdr]

When I read the list (bottom of page), I see that statement "x is activated" but don't understand what it means. Is activation the only time/way that a division general can become a Corp general? In some games, the brown stripe indicates (what I took as) not activated for a turn.

thanks

[Gray Fox]

If you click on a stack with a General, you get a graphic at the bottom of the screen. In the pic below I first put the cursor over the General's icon and then over the white envelope icon to the far right:

[ATTACH]36903[/ATTACH]

Both give a message as to whether the General is active or not and what effect this status might cause. Additionally, Hooker cannot become a Corps commander as the icon for this is not highlighted.

[LCcmdr]

That helps me, though I was somewhat aware of the envelop.

My question is this, Why is Hooker not able to become a Corp? I'm amazed that generals in the field, with battle experience, are not afforded the same opportunity as the fresh military grads each year. I've got nearly 30 fresh generals, several that appear to be Corp ready; but, I've got battle tested division commanders (like Grant), who can't. I'm missing something, perhaps.

Oh, is there a reason to place troop-less generals into stacks? Perhaps, as replacements for wounded or killed comrades?

[Gray Fox]

Inactivity is a sort of historical quirk representing dispatch riders with orders getting lost or a General simply ignoring orders.

IIRC, Grant starts as a 2-star, Corps commander eligible General.

Some Generals have special abilities that work for the whole stack, so having them present is a benefit. If you don't have enough Corps commanders, four 1-stars or any combination of Generals that add up to 8 CP's can be put together to form a large stack of a couple Divisions.

[jammad]

Yes; an active two-star, for example, will show the Enable Division Command option when in command of a stack, even if it includes other divisions, but never the Create Corps option.

[Gray Fox]

Corps command is only possible after March 1862. You stated that you played the 1861 campaign and "no matter how long they run". So you got past this date and still no Corps command option?

[jammad]

Yes, as an example: Franklin has reached two-star rank, is active, and is in command of stack in Baltimore in July 1862; McDowell's Army of the Potomac is in DC. But the Create Corps option for Franklin isn't available.

[ATTACH]36905[/ATTACH]

[LCcmdr]

Yes, as an example: Franklin has reached two-star rank, is active, and is in command of stack in Baltimore in July 1862; McDowell's Army of the Potomac is in DC. But the Create Corps option for Franklin isn't available.

[ATTACH]36905[/ATTACH]

Okay, that's exactly what I'm referring to, concerning Grant and others.

[Gray Fox]

Try this:

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?32113-How-to-report-a-bug

[jammad]

Will do. Thanks.

[ArmChairGeneral]

Also, try moving the 2 star to a stack all by himself and see if you get the corps option then, that sometimes fixes things.

[jammad]

Reinstalling v1.06 fixed the issue. Thanks for the suggestions.

[ArmChairGeneral]

jammad,

When you re-installed, did your saves come through automatically, or did you have to back them up? This (the Corps formation thing) has happened to me a bit lately, but I didn't want to go through the effort of backing up my saves so haven't re-installed....

[Cromagnonman]

Last time I reinstalled everything was fine. This may be because Win7 saved in a separate folder

[ArmChairGeneral]

Cool, thanks!

[Captain_Orso]

To create a Corps command, the Maj. or Lt. General you wish to give Corps Command, must be within the command radius of the army to which you wish to attach the Corps. Select the Army Stack, press and hold the <Shift> key; the blue regions represent the command radius of that army command. The higher the strategic value of the Army Commander, the greater the command radius.

If the Maj. or Lt. General you wish to give Corps Command is within to command radius of the Army Commander, the Create Corps Command SO icon will become clickable. A leader does not have to be activated to be give Corps Command.

[jammad]

jammad,

When you re-installed, did your saves come through automatically, or did you have to back them up? This (the Corps formation thing) has happened to me a bit lately, but I didn't want to go through the effort of backing up my saves so haven't re-installed....

The saved games were still there.

[Rod Smart]

Also, try moving the 2 star to a stack all by himself and see if you get the corps option then, that sometimes fixes things.

This

If you have locked units in the generals stack, then the general will show as inactive, and you can't create a corps.

To remove all doubt, pull the general out into his own stack.

That helps me a lot, since I like having those locked units in and around DC as corps, so the active stacks can march to their defense if needed.

[Captain_Orso]

This

If you have locked units in the generals stack, then the general will show as inactive, and you can't create a corps.

To remove all doubt, pull the general out into his own stack.

That helps me a lot, since I like having those locked units in and around DC as corps, so the active stacks can march to their defense if needed.

+1

I forgot about that one

[LCcmdr]

I'm beginning to get the process now for creating Corps and such! Wow! This feature really enables an army to support other corp. One CSA army in Richmond (out of nearly 60k) attacked one of lead corp. MTSOW really worked. My 2300 stack was soon enjoined by two other stacks. Losses were about the same (about 15k apiece), but I dare say that my Union troops are far more able to absorb this than is the CSA (well, I hope that's the case). Other than Norfolk, I have a thin line of Union troops spread from Lynchburg, VA, all the way to Suffolk, VA. I lack one strip of land East of Richmond, before all areas are blocked.

This Army/Corp organization is powerful!

BTW, I've by-passed Nashville, TN, and taken nearly all the small towns connecting it lower TN and Alabama. Though Johnston has a 1400 strong stack in the Nashville area, he's facing four 1100 stacks, which have entrenched lines behind the river, north of Nashville. KY is secure, as is East Mo., IL, IN, and OH. Memphis, TN, is my next stop (used to live there!). In the West, Athena has me stalemated with two capable stacks of 1200+; but I've likewise countered. All the blasted injuns' have made that whole area a mess of changed loyalties.

Because of your willingness to help out a new entry into the AGEOD gaming realm, I'm REALLY having fun!!!!!

[LCcmdr]

The Union took Richmond---my first time ever!!!!!

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/543048643775490888/E923A94F4CCDEA30711AB1EB2A5DCD75C0D16C6F/



Now, for my question: What are the numbers posted beside the grid lines, which are beside the hearts inflicted? And, hearts inflicted is what it cost my army or the other army?

[Cardinal Ape]

The grid like icon represents cohesion.

Those numbers show how much damage have been inflicted upon the enemy.

Also, that is a ****-ton of war supplies you have there...

[LCcmdr]

yes, I thought that mfg would increase the speed or efficiency or the possible number of builds that a region could produce; so, I built factories and arsenals to create cash, WS, and GS. Well, the WS I've got in boat loads !!!!!

[darioVMannstein]

yes, I thought that mfg would increase the speed or efficiency or the possible number of builds that a region could produce; so, I built factories and arsenals to create cash, WS, and GS. Well, the WS I've got in boat loads !!!!!

looks good.
Whats mfg btw ?

[LCcmdr]

mfg = manufacturing/industry

So, a town with industry might produce more units at the same time than a city without: that was my premise.

[ArmChairGeneral]

To confirm, hits/hearts represent the actual dead soldiers that must be replaced by spending resources (the "men" numbers are only for flavor, each element type just multiplies some fixed number of men/hit for that unit type to arrive at a number of "men") while cohesion (the light blue bar on the map icons and the grid-thingie in the battle log) represents the general chaos and friction inherent in war, and recovers for free with rest.

Cohesion rant: In my opinion the PWR number gives cohesion too much weight. It is a MAJOR factor in combat performance, but as anyone who has attacked a low cohesion stack with a 4 or 5 to 1 PWR ratio can attest, you take a lot more hits than you would expect from such a lopsided PWR rating. The corrollary is true as well: total hits are underrepresented in the PWR ratings. Attack a large low cohesion force with a high cohesion but smaller force and you will probably win and even deal a decent hit ratio on the enemy stack, but it will not be the lopsided victory that the PWR numbers imply. Part of this is explained by the fact that cohesion recovers on a daily basis, so by the time your troops get to the battle the target has had some time to regroup, but you cannot rely on low PWR ratings to predict outcomes.

I too spent a lot of time early on trying to see if industrialization affected build pools or production rates, but alas it does not. (It'd be cooler if it did.) Some industrial decisions enable new build points. For example if you build Texas Powder Mills you will be able to build artillery from the Texas force pool in several new locations. Unfortunately this is almost irrelevant, since there are plenty of other places to build already, and there aren't any decisions that add usable build points to states you might actually get shut out of like KY or MO. Increasing the number of structures in a region changes the maximum capacity of units it can build at one time and sometimes affects the types that can be built there, but again, this is almost irrelevant, since you rarely have enough resources to spend in any one place to even notice that there is a per region maximum.

Once you start winning big battles WS is not going to be an issue since you capture a lot when you win, and that could explain some of the high WS. I have had turns where I captured (lots) more WS than I produced. It shows up in the Messages as rifles captured. 100 rifles = 1 WS, IIRC. In my last Triumph and Defeat game as the South I had close to 2000 WS at the end because I was capturing it much faster than I had conscripts available to spend it with.

[Cardinal Ape]

@LCcmdr, I'd guess most players make that same mistake on industrial capacity, I did. Human intuition failed there, I guess. Anyhow, as the Union, I don't build any of the idustrial options. Maybe some powder mills in late '62. Other than that, I just spam transports and send them to the shipping box. Having an excess of transports as the Union can be rather useful.

@ ArmChairGeneral, Your overall point about cohesion is a darn good example of why I really like ageod games. The premise that you issue orders 15 days in advance and then watch how they all go wrong as the board changes in a way you could not predict is great. It is at its best in PBEMs, when both players move large armies and they unexpectedly meet in transit. Good stuff.

Launching successful attacks is one of the harder things to master in this game. Trying to estimate how much a weak enemy stack can recover before you can engage them is really tough. Especially against a charismatic commander with HQ support. And then there is how much cohesion your force loses for each day of marching... If you play with the traffic option it is even worse.

I have become very cautious when launching attacks that will happen after day 8 or so of the turn. So much can change by then. Like you said, if a stack is given 10 days to recover cohesion, their power rating could sky-rocket to more than double.

One other small quirk about the three bars on the unit panels - They are not too accurate. The game only has estimate place-holder images. There are only 5 or 6 images. I'm not sure where they round off at, maybe something like: 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 percent. Either way, one should expect a small margin of error when reading the bars.

[ArmChairGeneral]

Cardinal Ape,
Ageod's Cohesion is very Clausewitz-ian in that "Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult."