CWII tips?

[le Anders]

Hi, I'm a novice at CWII, and I recently got my ass handed to me in an ongoing PBEM-match, where I play the Union. Now the rematch is coming up, where I'll play the Confederates. So I'm wondering, what is the best strategy for the Rebels to pursue?

[Mickey3D]

If you played to AACW, I think it is more or less the same with maybe better offensive opportunities at the beginning.

My two cents :

- Try to keep Manassas (Union will loose 10 NM late in 1861 [I don't remember the date at the moment]) : no more as critical as previously because NM is recovered more quickly than before.
- Potomac and Rappahanock rivers are good defensive lines : try to control them. Potomac may prove to be difficult (you must take Harper's Ferry and Alexandria) but the Rappahanock is a priority.
- If the North make a mistake with Washington DC...punish him
- Sooner or later the Union will launch landing operation along your coasts : build a reaction force to block him or, if possible, reject him.
- Keep a force to protect New Orleans or be ready to dispatch a strong force to reject the Union from this strategic city.
- In Kentucky : Paducah, Fort Donelson, Nashville, Bowling Green are cities to control for the South.
- If Union make the mistake to let you take Louisville...be obligated to him but be careful not to be cut from your Nashville base !
- Charleston (MO) is a nice place to put an artillery but the Union will without doubt fight to control this town.
- If the Union launch an offensive in Missouri, try to keep control of Springfield (MO) as long as possible. Destroy all depots you can't hold (Rolla, Springfield, forts, ...) to make life more difficult to the Union.
- Increase your rail movement pool : you need to be mobile to react to new threat and move reinforcement at the right place.
- Do not waste money and resource to fight the Union navy on the high sea.
- Industrialize a little bit to improve your WSU and supply income (early in the game : the later you do it the less return on investment you will have).

[le Anders]

Thanks, Mickey.
How much industrialization should I be doing, and where?

[The Red Baron]

Recommend you build IW in Coastal Cities; i.e., NO and Manchester, VA. Manchester isn't really a coastal city and would be an unlikely Union target, although it lies just southwest of Richmond. NO, well, you will need to defend that place "to the last minie ball"; but, any CSA player expects a seaborne assault at some point early in 1862 at NO, so you should be well-prepared by then.

As an aside, I noticed you recently posted in the RUS forum; sounds like you have a good amount of experience with it. I just started RUS after playing CWII. Mind if I PM you with a few questions if need be?

[ArmChairGeneral]

Conversely I build the non-coastal Iron Works, because they cannot be blockaded. If you build coastal, the NO ones are subject to the blockade box (Manchester does not have a harbor so is not blockaded). The downside is that the TN one is pretty far forward (I forget whether it builds in Nashville or Memphis, but either way).

I go with an IW as soon as I have a bit of breathing room in 1861, and a powder mill later in the game so that I have enough ammo coming in, but don't do much beyond that. The payoff is too slow to be worth chasing $ producing industrialization IMO, so I get my cash elsewhere. WS and ammo OTOH are necessary and the bump you get in WS from even one IW is huge for the CSA.

[le Anders]

As an aside, I noticed you recently posted in the RUS forum; sounds like you have a good amount of experience with it. I just started RUS after playing CWII. Mind if I PM you with a few questions if need be?

I don't mind answering RUS questions, but you can get a whole lot better advice from a lot of the other regular RUS-players. I consider myself a novice at RUS.

[Mickey3D]

How much industrialization should I be doing, and where?

Personnally I don't industrialize more than twice (anyway I don't have the resource to do more) : Iron Works and Arsenals or Powder Mills.

Alabama and Georgia are remote place (i.e. not easily reach by Union) but you must also decide which option give you the better RoI for your bucks.

[JBEtexas]

Does it matter which you build among Iron Works, Arsenals, Powder Mills, etc.?
Don't they all just provide you generic War Supplies?

[Captain_Orso]

Far to the contrary. Each structure has its own production footprint:
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: left"]
[TR]
[TD]Structure\Production[/TD]
[TD]Money[/TD]
[TD]WSU[/TD]
[TD]GS[/TD]
[TD]Ammo[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arsenal[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Armory[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Powder Mill[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iron Work[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
These values are extracted directly from the files found in ..\CW2\GameData\Structures\..

[JBEtexas]

Far to the contrary. Each structure has its own production footprint:
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: left"]
[TR]
[TD]Structure\Production[/TD]
[TD]Money[/TD]
[TD]WSU[/TD]
[TD]GS[/TD]
[TD]Ammo[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arsenal[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Armory[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]15[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Powder Mill[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]10[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iron Work[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]25[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
These values are extracted directly from the files found in ..\CW2\GameData\Structures\..

Wow! Great information! Thank you!