Union, uh, 'Leadership' and whether there is cryptocode about Some Guys

[GraniteStater]

Cross-posted from an AAR thread.

I was musing aloud, after congratulating someone about a Union Vic in MD:

"...with some experience even the Union Boobs can get a few stats.

And sometimes they can surprise you. I like to use Burnside, myself. Historically, he wasn't a bad officer, he just should never have been the Head Guy. As a corps commander, he wasn't bad; tell him what to do, where he fit in, and he'd go and do it.

I think there are some 'hidden stats', at least for certain Leaders (italics mine). Take Lew Wallace; historically, he was somewhat vilified for his mistake at Shiloh, but he was aggressive, diligent and very competent. I've noticed, in the game, that you get him in a few scraps, especially in a Vic, and his stats as shown go up, sooner than some other folks. Put him as a Corps commander under Grant and he's not bad at all.

There are some others - 'Bull' Sumner can be good on D; Jeff. C. Davis can be a very good choice to attack (not a 311, however, strictly speaking); Nelson can be OK; Hunter can be OK."

So...what do you guys think? What's your experience with Union Leaders? Favorites? Preferred Corps or Division commanders? Army commanders? Cav? Raiders?

With the emphasis being on the unexpected - I don't wish to belabor Sheridan's fitness to lead a Cav Div.

[Rod Smart]

I was just wondering about that myself.

I once got Freemont to 8 stars. It took three years, with a battle every other turn around Cairo.

Last game, I got Stonewall to 11 stars. It took a year and a half, with the normal amount of Northern Virginia battles.


While it makes real-life sense that a historically great general would progress faster than a crappy political appointee, I don't see anything in the game engine that would do that. Which leads me to believe there is some sort of "cryptocode", or whatever you want to call it.

[Cardinal Ape]

I highly doubt there is such a thing.

I would like to believe that there is a reason why I lose the Union general, Jefferson C. Davis in almost every game. And that there is a reason why half the time he dies it is by the hands of Robert E. Lee. Is the game trying to make Lee King and targeting the wrong Jefferson Davis? I would like to think so.. but it is most likely my imagination.

[Captain_Orso]

If there were 'hidden' stats on some leaders, they'd have to be in the engine code, and I can't imagine that. If I know Pocus, he certainly has no patience for some such pointless coding to hide increasing some leader's XP's quicker than the rest for 'reasons'. Conspiracy theory anybody?

[GraniteStater]

Not a conspiracy theory. To give an example, there's Another Publisher, who, in their WW2 game, openly stated in the manual that some of the Leaders might have some qualities that come to the fore at certain times and in certain situations, or something close to that (they explicitly stated undocumented qualities) - IOW, they were rewarding players with a good historical knowledge of the period.

[tripax]

I think it is WAD and not cryptocode, at least Rod Smart's example.

The strategic trait has a lot of effect on promotion. An active leader fights when others do not, this is true both when a leader is leading a division, a corps, or an independent force. An active leader fights better, too.

Also, I seem to recall an exhausted leader has a harder time retreating. Thus, an active leader is more likely to be able to take advantage of a weakened opponent. Destroying a unit gives more experience than landing a hit (and landing a hit gives 50% more experience than receiving a hit costs, so it is worth it even to be in a stalemate) and is more likely to lead to increases in seniority.

If I am correct, that is why Lyon, Grant, and the eastern CSA generals get promotions so quickly and easily, and also why they get stars quickly.

[Captain_Orso]

Gaining XP and thus Defensive and the Offensive quality when EL (Experience Level - the stars in the element detail window), and parallel to that, the opportunity to be promoted--besides through events--is directly related to scoring hits in battle. The longer a leader is actively used, the more opportunity for him to gain XP.

Also, as a corps leader under Grant, all values are boosted extremely, which makes for the greatest opportunity for gaining XP.

The Union starts out with only 4 ** leaders until Grant comes along, so those 4, of which Wallace is one, are destined to be used a lot. And if you keep using Wallace actively past mid-game he's bound to be gaining XP's and quality.