Some Newbie Questions

[Ubercat]

I've read that the French get VP's for pillaging provinces in which British settlements are located. (In FIW) Is it just British and Colonial? How about British aligned Indian villages?

Also, when I start a new game, it seems that most provinces containing any forces are automatically pillaged after the first turn anyway. Is this because most spaces don't produce enough supply to support any forces on their own? It seems, then, that almost all good targets for Indian raids are going to get and stay pillaged before I can reach them.

Imagine the following situation: I have a fleet of transports in a certain port. I have troops, ten days march away. I want to load the troops on the ships and send them to distant unload somewhere else. Is there a way to march the troops to the ships, load them on the ships, and start sailing, all within a 30 day turn? I didn't know of a way to load the troops on the ships while they (ships) were still in port. I tried moving the ships out to the lake zone, and then moving the troops to the ships, but all that happened was the troops move was cancelled (30 days wasted) and the ships took some attrition damage.

Thanks!

[Durk]

Two very separate questions.

1. I have not seen the pillage without opposing units issue. So I will defer this to others.

2. Units cannot move to port and load. They must be in a port to load, with the exception that they can load into fleet in an adjacent region for a cost of five mp. Thus, patience is needed.

[Ubercat]

Thanks!

Another one: I'm using ambush a lot in the Lord Dunmore's War scenario. It seems that my units always come out of ambush mode at the beginning of the following turn. Is this WAD? I'd rather not have to go through all my units every turn and set new ambushes. This could be a real chore in larger scenarios.

[Ubercat]

Anyone ever see "ghost" units?

I've been waiting in ambush for an attack on Shawnee village (my capital) in Lord Dunmore's War. My opponent moved a force there this turn. There was no battle, and the turn feedback messages stated that he successfully retreated before battle. I saw the enemy force retreat over a river and disappear. At the end of the turn, however, the icon for the force reappears in Shawnee. I can hover the mouse over it, which tells me that there are 3 Militia units, each at about half cohesion. I can't intercept the force with mine, though. It's as if they aren't there, even though I can check the contents of the force.

Anyone have an idea what's going on? Also, why would they have such low cohesion if there was no battle? I think they were only about 15 days march away from me when they started moving.

[Durk]

Another one: I'm using ambush a lot in the Lord Dunmore's War scenario. It seems that my units always come out of ambush mode at the beginning of the following turn. Is this WAD? I'd rather not have to go through all my units every turn and set new ambushes. This could be a real chore in larger scenarios.

Are all your units coming out of ambush without movement. They are simply sitting there waiting to ambush someone? If they have not moved or engaged enemy units, they should keep their ambush posture.

Do you use the hotkeys, (E and R on English Keyboards), to cycle through your units. This is a way to quickly check your units.

[Durk]

Anyone ever see "ghost" units?
I've been waiting in ambush for an attack on Shawnee village (my capital) in Lord Dunmore's War. My opponent moved a force there this turn. There was no battle, and the turn feedback messages stated that he successfully retreated before battle. I saw the enemy force retreat over a river and disappear. At the end of the turn, however, the icon for the force reappears in Shawnee. I can hover the mouse over it, which tells me that there are 3 Militia units, each at about half cohesion. I can't intercept the force with mine, though. It's as if they aren't there, even though I can check the contents of the force.
Anyone have an idea what's going on? Also, why would they have such low cohesion if there was no battle? I think they were only about 15 days march away from me when they started moving.

I am guessing what might be going on. One or more of these possibilities:
1. The unit appears to retreat after the battle, which you see. However, the unit has only partly retreated and still has movement to spend in the region it is retreating from; cause the ghost behavior.
2. This appears to be a ghost as you say, because it has traveled far enough in its retreat to avoid battle.
3. You cannot intercept a force in the same region as your force. You can attack, and all things working normally, you have, in effect, intercepted the force.
4. Cohesion is often lost on the march, especially in forests and rough. An additional factor might be leadership.
5. If your opponent as selected the defensive option, retreat if engaged, it might also leave before a battle happens.

[Ubercat]

Are all your units coming out of ambush without movement. They are simply sitting there waiting to ambush someone? If they have not moved or engaged enemy units, they should keep their ambush posture.

Do you use the hotkeys, (E and R on English Keyboards), to cycle through your units. This is a way to quickly check your units.

In some cases they're staying put, waiting to ambush. In others, I want to setup the ambush in another space so I set their stances, click ambush, and then move them to the destination space. I do use E and R, which I find extremely useful in bigger scenarios.

Thanks again.

[Durk]

Moving will always take a unit out of ambush.

I am not sure what causes the non-movers to lose ambush setting. For me this happens when I make some changes in the region which might impact them, moving a neighbor or unit in the same region; adding a leader. When I set one of my units to join a unit in ambush mode, this always turns off the ambush.

I do not have units set on ambush typically decide not to ambush unless I have done something, but . . . I always check each turn if it is important for them to be in ambush mode.