Another Newbie Addicted

[Akmatov]

Greetings,

After spending a week looking at the three current strategic level ACW games I decided on AACW and am very satisfied with it - though far from understanding what the heck I'm doing.

There is a LOT of detail in this beast.

Greatly enjoy all the additional work you guys have done to make this a better, more accessible game; but, of course, I have a couple of questions - that I don't see addressed.

1) So far, I've just played the Tutorials and messed around in the 1861 scenario to get a feel for things. It seems the CSA forces in the West are mostly Militia and mostly locked down to a specific location. The USA seems to be wiping them out with Militia forces that are un-locked and mobile. I don't see any way to un-lock the CSA Militia forces, I assume this is a timed function, or am I missing something?

2) Industrialization is a bit of a mystery. I go into the Economics Screen and left click to industrialize various states. Then sometimes I get a notice that Larry and Moe in New Bern have set up a cartridge shop and are making ammunition. However, if I return to the Economics Screen, I see the little Industrialization Icons are gone from the states and the production appears to be what it was before I invested in Industrialization. I'm definitely missing something.

3) Blockade runners - during the Civil War, aka the War of Northern Aggression, blockade runners were often specialized, steam-powered ships designed for a high speed run into the Confederacy from Bermuda. Is there something similar in AACW or do we just use brigs and hope for the best?

Thanks for any advise

BTB, I lost 12 hours of the weekend to this darn game - looked up and it was dark out.

[Aphrodite Mae]

Hi, Akmatov!

Welcome to the forum! You'll find this place to be a great place for making new friends from all over the globe, and learning more than you could have ever imagined about AGEOD games! This place is really different. You'll see!

I'll leave it to others to answer your first two questions, since I'm no expert on the game. (Instead, I'm the cheerleader of the forums! ompom: YAAAAAY!)

But as for blockade running... yup, brigs are it! Each one brings back either 1 WS or 1$. Sounds pretty lame, but a brig pays for itself in about six months.

As for the time you've lost with the game...? All I can say is, "get used to it!" It's going to get much worse, before it gets better!


Aphrodite Mae

[Akmatov]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I've trolled around a bit the last week and ya'll seem like great folks. It is one of the factors that nudged me to go with AACW. There are some games that have a core of great supporters that add hugely to the value of the game - this sure seems to be such a place.

And thanks for the info on blockade runners. I suspected as much, but was hoping. Guess it would be more coding than it would be worth.

Akmatov

And I'm already looking forward to the weekend. Hee Hee

[Major Tom]

1) It seems the CSA forces in the West are mostly Militia and mostly locked down to a specific location. The USA seems to be wiping them out with Militia forces that are un-locked and mobile. I don't see any way to un-lock the CSA Militia forces, I assume this is a timed function, or am I missing something?

2) Industrialization is a bit of a mystery. I go into the Economics Screen and left click to industrialize various states. Then sometimes I get a notice that Larry and Moe in New Bern have set up a cartridge shop and are making ammunition. However, if I return to the Economics Screen, I see the little Industrialization Icons are gone from the states and the production appears to be what it was before I invested in Industrialization. I'm definitely missing something.

3) Blockade runners - during the Civil War, aka the War of Northern Aggression, blockade runners were often specialized, steam-powered ships designed for a high speed run into the Confederacy from Bermuda. Is there something similar in AACW or do we just use brigs and hope for the best?

Thanks for any advise

BTB, I lost 12 hours of the weekend to this darn game - looked up and it was dark out.

Welcome to the forum, and to the great game of AACW.

1) Most of the free militia garrisons that you get in the game are locked in place. This comes in 2 flavors: units that can never leave the region, and units that are locked until attacked. There are also reinforcements that appear locked for a set number of turns, but that doesn't happen with the militia garrisons. The Union has mobile militia units either because he started with them in the scenario or becasue the AI bought them on the reinforcements screen.In the 1861 scenario you can start buying new units around turn 3.

2) With industrialization, once you add a factory icon to state to start industrializing, you will pay that cost every turn until you remove the factory icon by right-clicking on it. If it disappeared on its own that's because you did not have enough money or war supply to keep paying for it. The gains you get from industrialization are permanent, and remain even after you stop paying the industrialization cost. Use this option sparingly, if at all. It's pretty expensive, and not a sure thing.

3) Blockade runners -- yes, use your brigs as blockade runners. There's no other ship type you can build that will be as effective, or cheap. Each 2-ship brig squadron placed in one of the blockade boxes will return a reliable stream of about 4 units of some combination of $ and war supplies. The ratio of $ to war supplies you get is inversely proportional to the ratio of $ to war supply that you have on hand -- so, you get more of what you need the most. In the 1861 scenario, you'll start with 4 free squadrons of blockade runners, but you'll want to buy more as soon as possible. You'll probably want a dozen or more squadrons of brigs working the blockade boxes. There's a diminishing return beyond about 5 squadrons in a box, but you'll have to move units back to port periodically for supplies and repairs.

[Akmatov]

Thanks a lot! That is just what I needed to know.