Congrats and a few questions

[gmot]

Hi All -

I bought AACW a couple weeks ago and have been delighted with its depth, polish, GUI, feeling of being totally immersed in the strategy of the war, and etc. Kudos to AGEOD for an excellent game which is wonderfully supported. One thing I love is how deeper the game feels the more I get into it. I also love the battles and trying to figure out just how I won or got kicked upside the head.

It took me a while of floundering to figure some things out and I've been lurking on the forum and finding it very useful (along with the wiki). Thanks to all.

I started (after the tutorials) with the CSA in the april 61 campaign and after restarting that a few times after newbie mistakes (like attacking a fort across a river in winter for instance) seem to have got the general hang of it. I thought the CSA would be easier to start with than the USA - less troops, not all those ships...

My most recent game I finished by capturing Washington very late in 61. I was very surprised when I won the game right then and there because the USA morale fell by 50 points to 34. I guess the trigger is at 40. I was surprised because it was so early in the war and huge USA armies were close by in neighbouring regions and could have quite possibly kicked me out in a few turns. Also the USA was cleaning up on me in Missouri/Texas, although I did have Jackson rampaging over Kentucky.

I have 4 questions to all:

1. Does that seem realistic - would be USA have surrendered so early in the war after DC was captured? I would have expected them to keep on going - as the war could have been turned around. I'm wondering if 50 points is a little steep for the capitals. Perhaps it should be lower. Is morale the only thing that goes into determing whether one side surrenders, or is there more involved?

2. How do militia turn into regular infantry? Is that entirely random or is there a pattern? I keep seeing these messages and I'm wondering what drives that upgrade.

3. How do people use cavalry for raids? I've been sending out single units which move fast but can't stand up to anything. If there's a single militia somewhere then I can't take the town and burn the depot. Do people send out stronger groups (e.g. 2 units & a cavalry artillery)?

4. What do people do with Stand Watie and his indians? I don't have a clue except for pillaging.

Thanks
--gmot

[Spharv2]

1. You got it pretty early, If the South had been able to do that, who knows? Would have been a mess for sure. I've noticed that with the normal - more cautious settings for the AI, it tends to pull a lot of troops into the Baltimore area instead of into the capital, not sure why really. Morale is the main thing in surrender, yes.

2. This thread http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=6458&highlight=general
I believe should answer this one. Down about 7-8 posts they get into this process I believe.

3. I generally make pretty large cavalry groups, eventually divisions once I have a good cavalry general to lead them and enough money to create the extra divisions. I don't usually put the horse artillery in there unless I'm actually going to try and take and hold something. They slow down your cavalry more than you want for raiding. I'll usually only use single cavalry groups for scouting or cutting rail lines.

4. You got it, they can't capture, so let them pillage and destroy any isolated depots, maybe catch some isolated units and beat them up. They're only a raiding unit, nothing else.

[DirkX]

3. How do people use cavalry for raids? I've been sending out single units which move fast but can't stand up to anything. If there's a single militia somewhere then I can't take the town and burn the depot. Do people send out stronger groups (e.g. 2 units & a cavalry artillery)?

4. What do people do with Stand Watie and his indians? I don't have a clue except for pillaging.

Thanks
--gmot

3) id like to add that your cavalry has (esp. for the CSA) 2 jobs:
a) cause havoc behind enemy lines, for that you use larger cavalry stacks up to division size (and you will want horse arty here too, if you think you are going to have big fights, max. 3) and leaders like Stuart, Forrest etc
b) simple railroad cutting, here you only need single cavalry units (or Texas Rangers), and theres usually a lot RR to cut so you need plenty of those.
additionally: cavalry is needed for recon/harrasment/flank securing/supply line saving, here you will need stacks anywhere form 2-4 or 5 cav units, preferably with a leader.

4) Stand Watie , as weird as it sounds, is your best 1-star commander in the far west, unless you transfer good generals into that area (which you dont really want to), thus, later (somewhen into 1862 maybe) you have the option to turn Watie into a division-leader, making a stand (haha) in the far west theatre - if you want to invest ressources into that theatre ( i usually do).
Check the indians traits carefully (hint hint), they can cut railroads but you also can attach them to "deep raiding" forces.

[gmot]

Thank you both for your replies. Stuff to think about the next time I play CSA. Right now I'm trying out the USA and finding it a little slower going - a lot more resources & units to deal with.

--gmot