Frustration ... need guidance

[WriterJWA]

Overall, I love the game. However, I am having a few problems that are giving me pause as far the level of "gamey-ness" displayed by the engine. Can anyone assist or provide guidance to the following:

1. Divisions supposedly under the same army moving in concert with one another.

Example: In the Shiloh battle, Grant has a number of divisions available to him that are not under corps command. When moving to the same region, each division is given a slightly different arrival time, even if moving into an adjacent region.

How do you time it so all division arrive at the same day? How do you coordinate an attack with divisions if they all come in at different times? How do you avoid attack piecemeal?

2. Confederate forces of varying sizes and compositions "invading" the north.

I've seen Confederate formations go through and head as far north as Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and even New York. How the ---- is that realistic? It seems the supply system is ... ahem ... somewhat flawed. A decision leading to leaving a base of supply was a risky venture rarely done in the war (examples include Vicksburg and the drive toward Savannah).

3. Supply lines.

I've read that jockeying for position is the best way to achieve success in operations. One means (it seems to me) would be to cut a line of supply to force an enemy for to retreat. Railroads are a big part of that. Shouldn't cutting a major railroad serve to threaten line of supply on a strategic level and affect AI decision making as a result? (This is why Vicksburg was so important)

[wsatterwhite]

Overall, I love the game. However, I am having a few problems that are giving me pause as far the level of "gamey-ness" displayed by the engine. Can anyone assist or provide guidance to the following:

1. Divisions supposedly under the same army moving in concert with one another.

Example: In the Shiloh battle, Grant has a number of divisions available to him that are not under corps command. When moving to the same region, each division is given a slightly different arrival time, even if moving into an adjacent region.

How do you time it so all division arrive at the same day? How do you coordinate an attack with divisions if they all come in at different times? How do you avoid attack piecemeal?

You can't, that's why it's important to organize Corps as soon as possible, the divisions either have to be massed in one big stack with command penalties or operate independently each on their own. While it's unhistorical, in the Shiloh scenario you need to use Lew Wallace to form a Corps under Grant.

2. Confederate forces of varying sizes and compositions "invading" the north.

I've seen Confederate formations go through and head as far north as Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and even New York. How the ---- is that realistic? It seems the supply system is ... ahem ... somewhat flawed. A decision leading to leaving a base of supply was a risky venture rarely done in the war (examples include Vicksburg and the drive toward Savannah).

Yeah, there have been lots of threads on this, tweaking some of the AI settings and garrisoning your rear areas seems to cut down on it. It's not realistic from the standpoint that the Confederates never made such deep invasions into Northern territory but it is realistic in that nothing says the in-game CSA shouldn't be able to if they are willing to take that chance. One way to look at those moves is that they are just extreme versions of the Gettysburg and Antietam campaigns where they are designed to redirect the Union's attention.

3. Supply lines.

I've read that jockeying for position is the best way to achieve success in operations. One means (it seems to me) would be to cut a line of supply to force an enemy for to retreat. Railroads are a big part of that. Shouldn't cutting a major railroad serve to threaten line of supply on a strategic level and affect AI decision making as a result? (This is why Vicksburg was so important)

It takes a while for it to "kick in" but losing rail hubs and sources of supply does seem to affect the AI decision making process- in some of my recent games I've seen the AI fall back a few turns after I take a city and/or depot that they needed to maintain their forward position. Supply wagons can help them "cheat" for a while but sooner or later, they always seem to fall back.

[Ethan]

Overall, I love the game. However, I am having a few problems that are giving me pause as far the level of "gamey-ness" displayed by the engine. Can anyone assist or provide guidance to the following:

1. Divisions supposedly under the same army moving in concert with one another.

Example: In the Shiloh battle, Grant has a number of divisions available to him that are not under corps command. When moving to the same region, each division is given a slightly different arrival time, even if moving into an adjacent region.

How do you time it so all division arrive at the same day? How do you coordinate an attack with divisions if they all come in at different times? How do you avoid attack piecemeal?

You can only synchronize the movement of an Army with its subordinate Corps or the movement of the subordinate Corps of the same Army between them, but you can not synchronize divisions.

Good luck and have fun!!