Generals strategic rating

[jason_r]

Does the strategic rating of a general have an effect on their combat abilities or does it only have an affect on the activation

[enf91]

Since activation affects combat abilities, yes.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

If I remember correctly, strategic rating only matters for stack commanders. It doesn't matter if subordinate commanders are activated or not.

[enf91]

Well, if subordinate commanders are inactive, they can't be given division command.

[Jim-NC]

Does the strategic rating of a general have an effect on their combat abilities or does it only have an affect on the activation

Welcome to the forum Jason_r. The strategic rating is used to determine if the general is activated or not. If they are, they can use certain abilities/commands. If not, they are more limited on what they can do, and they IIRC, they suffer a penalty to movement and attack/defend.

For example, an unactivated general's force can't destroy a supply depot, nor can they form a division. There are several other things they can't do. They can do some things however (if already in a division, they can add more troops to the division for example).

[Oldman]

From the manual:
A Leader that is NOT Activated receives a 35% speed penalty to all movement but a combat penalty equal to enemy military control of region, to a maximum of 35%. (Not applicable to Forces in Passive Posture).