Limit on CSA Blockade Running?

[Bill's Boy]

Is there some limit on the amount of money and war supplies the CSA can receive from blockade running and therefore on the number of brigs it should send into each blockade box? I ask because I tried to load up on brigs in the Gulf Blockage box and the amount of money and war supplies I received appeared to plateau no matter how many brigs I sent into the box.

[charlesonmission]

Yes, there are decreasing economies of scale just as there would have been historically.

Is there some limit on the amount of money and war supplies the CSA can receive from blockade running and therefore on the number of brigs it should send into each blockade box? I ask because I tried to load up on brigs in the Gulf Blockage box and the amount of money and war supplies I received appeared to plateau no matter how many brigs I sent into the box.

[Captain_Orso]

While the diminishing-returns on blockade runners is a fact, it is not really a limit. The real "limit" is the total number of brigs you receive and can build.

Also, be aware that at some point it will become uneconomical to build any further brigs, because the build-cost will exceed the amount of income the brig can earn through blockade-running until the end of the game. Diminishing-returns decreases the income per unit, which means that all units are affected, not just those most recently purchased.

[pgr]

But of a tangential question, does anyone have a good idea how naval combat works in those blockade boxes? I'm talking about the abilty of the blockading ships to fight the blockade runners. I can't ever remember a battle happening out there, but there does seem to be hit points being exchanged from time to time.

[Captain_Orso]

I don't know how the actual code works, but I've discovered that when ships enter the either the Shipping Box or the Blockade Boxes there is a far greater chance of combat taking place. Simply sitting in one of the boxes does occasionally cause combat, but not often.

[DrPostman]

Pay attention to your reports. I've often see reports of taking hits out there. Good
to know if Semmes needs to return to port and get fixed up.

[Gray Fox]

Neither side benefits from sea battles.

As the CSA, I want the brigs to bring in resources at zero cost. If you split the brigs between the two blockade boxes, then the Union patrols have two chances to find and then attack them. So, I put every last one of them in one stack on Green/Green-evade combat in the Gulf Box. I don't stack a Confederate Admiral with the brigs because this will reduce their evasion number by one causing more contacts with patrols. With one big stack, any hits they take will be divided up between all the brigs instead of concentrated on one small group until a ship is sunk.

P.S. Semmes has an ability that does add 25% to the evasion number, so he is stacked with the blockade runners for me from now on.

As the Union, I want the highest reduction in the Confederate economy. I put 5 blockade squadrons in each of the two boxes on Green/Green. That way they can do that mission for more than a year without rotating to port. They still find blockade runners this way and cause about 20+ hits, but the main mission is to blockade for the highest percentage. I guard the Atlantic merchants with about four steam and one sail frigates on Blue/Green. It's more cost effective to build all of the ocean transports and add them to the Atlantic box stack than to build warships to hunt the raiders. I'll have so much income that the raiders won't matter.

[Bill's Boy]

Gray Fox,

I completely agree with you about both the CSA and USA naval strategies but your comments raise a question:

Admirals with the Blockade Runner ability like Tattnall are said to be "adept at avoiding enemy naval forces, if need be. +35% to the Evasion value of the naval stack under his command. Applies only if the stack is moving." Does this mean that Tattnall helps to evade the blockade on the turns that his stack enters and departs from the blockade boxes but does not help to evade the blockade while his stack stays in the blockade box (because then his stack is not moving)?

If so, I wonder if it still makes sense to have Tattnall lead the blockade runners because of Orso's comment above that battle is much more likely when ships enter the blockade boxes.

[ArmChairGeneral]

That would depend on whether Hide or Evasion is the relevant check. In normal zones you want Evasion to avoid combat, but the Naval Boxes are handled differently and as far as I know the actual formulae are not available to the forum. It could certainly take Hide into consideration.

[Gray Fox]

It sounds like Tattnall would use the ability when you move a stack commanded by him into/out of a blockade box that is already being patrolled. When the brigs are on station with Tattnall, check the evasion number. Then split off a brig and check it. If a brig without Tattnall is more evasive...

[Rod Smart]

I guard the Atlantic merchants with about four steam and one sail frigates on Blue/Green. It's more cost effective to build all of the ocean transports and add them to the Atlantic box stack than to build warships to hunt the raiders. I'll have so much income that the raiders won't matter.

this


Bringing in $100 > preventing $20