Confused!

[Hobbes]

"If a leader is inactive the following penalties apply :-
Movement reduced -35%.
Regular offensive posture prohibited.

Whatever your stance you get a combat penalty equal to the lack of military control in the region maxed at 35%. i.e. if you are inactive and fight in a region with 65% or less military control, you are at -35%. This is the same penalty as lack of CP so this does not double if you are already at -35%."

If I have an active stack leader which includes a division with an inactive divisional commander - does that division still get the possible 35% inactive leader combat penalty? Does the stack as a whole move at the speed of the slowest unit - does the inactive division get a 35% movement reduction even if stacked with an active superior commander?

Cheers, Chris

[Hobbes]

This active / inactive thing is a little strange I think really. If a Corps commander is active and wants to go into battle he should not be able to
look at his divisional commanders and think commander a is active but commanders b and c are inactive - I will wait a month and hope they all become active before I try and attack.

What sort of real life situation does that reflect?

If nothing else I think you should only know if the highest level commander in a formation is active or not (maybe not even then) - below that you only find out once you have given them orders and watched the replay.

However if the game worked like this I don't think you should get a 35% combat penalty for trying to move inactive commanders into battle - they would just be slow to respond (being slow to the battle has a different effect to the massive 35% penalty).

What I'm really saying is that you shouldn't know if a leader is active or not before you give their orders and see how they carry them out.

Cheers, Chris

[Pocus]

the combat penalty of -35% in hostile land if not active only apply to the stack commander (corps commander) not to divisional ones.

You know in advance if a general is active or not, so to not frustrate 95% of the players in a frustrating guess game. If not, you would not know when generals arrive in a given region, and if they can fight or will be trashed.

Also think McClellan has the perfect un active leader: if he is not active, in the real world, he would procrastina,te won't move nor invade. In your situation, you would play the guess game, cross fingers, and order him to move un-activated. This seems even less historical than the current model.

[AndrewKurtz]

the combat penalty of -35% in hostile land if not active only apply to the stack commander (corps commander) not to divisional ones.

You know in advance if a general is active or not, so to not frustrate 95% of the players in a frustrating guess game. If not, you would not know when generals arrive in a given region, and if they can fight or will be trashed.

Also think McClellan has the perfect un active leader: if he is not active, in the real world, he would procrastina,te won't move nor invade. In your situation, you would play the guess game, cross fingers, and order him to move un-activated. This seems even less historical than the current model.

I ask because, gamey as it sounds, sometimes I find I can accomplish what I want when my Army and Corps are inactive by taking the Divisions that are active within the inactive Corps and simply detaching/moving them.

Perhaps this is WAD, but if not, simply saying that any Divisions in an inactive be automatically not active (i.e. the general doesn't even check)? It would seem to properly penalize for having the Divisions in a slow moving organization and slow down potential advancment of a poorly led Army.

[blackbellamy]

I ask because, gamey as it sounds, sometimes I find I can accomplish what I want when my Army and Corps are inactive by taking the Divisions that are active within the inactive Corps and simply detaching/moving them.

To face an opponent who maneuvered by divisions would be some kind of a wet dream I think.

[AndrewKurtz]

To face an opponent who maneuvered by divisions would be some kind of a wet dream I think.

You think?

The risk is minimal, if you don't move outside FOW.

Once the Division moves forward, overcoming the known lesser force, the Corps can move into the region and not face a penalty. Thus, if you are simply trying to advance and KNOW you don't have significant opposition in the region in question, you move a strong active Division forward and the next turn move the Corps in the region with orders to merge. The opponent doesn't know you've split until you've done it and already advanced. By the time they try to take advantage of it, you've recombined into Corps and are defending. Slow, steady advance, low risk yet done with poor senior generals.

Doesn't work if the CSA can be in strength everywhere, but so far, I haven't seen that.

And this may be WAD. That's why I asked.

[McNaughton]

You think?

The risk is minimal, if you don't move outside FOW.

Once the Division moves forward, overcoming the known lesser force, the Corps can move into the region and not face a penalty. Thus, if you are simply trying to advance and KNOW you don't have significant opposition in the region in question, you move a strong active Division forward and the next turn move the Corps in the region with orders to merge. The opponent doesn't know you've split until you've done it and already advanced. By the time they try to take advantage of it, you've recombined into Corps and are defending. Slow, steady advance, low risk yet done with poor senior generals.

Doesn't work if the CSA can be in strength everywhere, but so far, I haven't seen that.

And this may be WAD. That's why I asked.

However, if your opponent 'marches to the sound of guns', then you could end up with an enemy corps stumbling into your division when it tries to deal with the small unit. Your corps itself may move, resulting in the battle you were trying to avoid in the first place.

I don't think that there is a way to effectively bypass activation penalties (especially out East where geography is tight).

[AndrewKurtz]

However, if your opponent 'marches to the sound of guns', then you could end up with an enemy corps stumbling into your division when it tries to deal with the small unit. Your corps itself may move, resulting in the battle you were trying to avoid in the first place.

I don't think that there is a way to effectively bypass activation penalties (especially out East where geography is tight).

Agree. Never said it was done out East or down the Mississippi. It is a way to use poor commanders in less concentrated theaters and to keep them moving.

Note that I said it is a tactic when faced with no FOW. In other words, not done with a large Corps sitting nearby.

No issue here. Based on peoples comments, it sounds like it is WAD and not gamey, just a risk that may or may not pay off.