Quick Question (Yellowhammer don't read this!)

[John Sedgwick]

Okay, if your name is Yellowhammer, turn back now!

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Is there any way to force an army to take a certain path? I know you can drag and drop region by region, but I'm trying to attack Cincinnati, OH, starting in Mercer, KY, but I want to land in Dearborn, IN first, so I'm only crossing a minor river rather than attacking from ships on a major river. However, when I drag and drop from Dearborn to Clermont, it goes through Blackford Creek first. Is there any way around this? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me!

[John Sedgwick]

I just sent my orders, couldn't find a way to attack from Dearborn, so I'll keep my fingers crossed they don't get slaughtered in the amphibious assault. But if anyone knows the answer to this question, I'd love to hear it.

[Mickey3D]

Draging region by region should work, no ? Or to go faster try to drag & drop your force to Deaborn then make a second drag & drop from Deaborn to Cincinatti.

[John Sedgwick]

Mickey3D - thanks for the reply. I tried that, and as I said, they automatically go through Blackford Creek first. They will move directly from Dearborn to Clermont if "move by river" is disabled, but unfortunately that is not an option. Very annoying.

[Mickey3D]

Sorry, I did not read carefully your first post. Now I understand your concern and it's true that I meet sometimes the same problem : game engine want to optimize the move (reduce length) and you can't do what you intended to.

I'm not in front of the game now so I can't check by myself but could you try this : keep the "move by river" enabled, move region by region and press the "ctrl" key when you move your force from Dearborn to Clermont. Let me know if it prevents the use of the Blackford Creek.

[John Sedgwick]

Aha! Pressing the ctrl key and dragging/dropping from Dearborn to Clermont did indeed do the trick, thank you Mickey! I could've sworn I tried that too, but I must've been pressing the shift key or something instead.

EDIT: unfortunately it's too late to cancel the amphibious operation (already sent the turn), but this brings up another question: is it better to land first in an unoccupied region and attack over a minor river, taking 15 days, or to attack directly from a major river in 8 days?

[Cromagnonman]

Amphib attacks are very risky. The attacker cannot retreat, so they must win or be annihilated. Therefore, you are well-advised to land unopposed nearby are march thence upon your objective, even if that means crossing a bridge. The amphib attack in less time might be adviseable if you are racing your opponent to the objective and have a chance of getting there first.

[John Sedgwick]

Hmm, thanks Cromagnonman. Assuming he does not reinforce, I have about 3500 Pwr against a little less than 500 Pwr, so hopefully I should be okay. I thought if I took control of an adjacent region (Dearborn) I could secure a line of retreat, but apparently I was mistaken. I considered setting my RoE to "All Out Attack" as I understood it was a do or die situation, but decided against it to limit casualties - but if by retreating my forces would be destroyed, I take it an all out attack would be justified in these circumstances?

[Cromagnonman]

Capturing an undefended beachhead (eg Dearborn) would be preferable. A 7:1 ratio should be enough to carry the day, however.

[John Sedgwick]

Thanks for the reply. I would've much preferred to land at Dearborn first, but I couldn't figure out how and didn't want to wait to send my orders. I can't believe I didn't figure out the ctrl thing sooner - I had a feeling it was something like that, and I thought for sure I'd tried that. Oh well.

I also have five ironclads en route to provide fire support and hopefully prevent the adjacent corps from marching to the sound of the guns. I think I'll be all right, but I have a very bad feeling about it, being an eternal pessimist. Still, 7:1 are my kind of odds!

[John Sedgwick]

Quick update for anyone who's interested: the landing went off without a hitch, losing only 61 men, and one gunboat in a lacklustre bombardment (landed only 6 hits). Moreover, my timing couldn't have been better - he had just started building a fort in Cincinnati, which of course I am now going to destroy that's one supply wagon and four artillery batteries down the drain for him.

EDIT: Didn't realize you can't raze level 2 forts. You learn something new every day!

[Chaplain Lovejoy]

Cincinnati

Those of us who live here thank you for the correct spelling!

[John Sedgwick]

Heh, no problem, Chaplain. I figure if I'm going to place it under martial law, I should at least get its name right