Armies, Corps, and Fighting

[Paul Roberts]

Here's a question that has been bugging me for some time:

I know that an Army stack will not initiate combat on its own. That being the case, should I keep Army stacks small, perhaps with just the leader, the army HQ, and one or two brigades for self-defense? Is there any downside to taking a large Army stack (like Beauregard's AotP in 1861) and splitting it into a smaller Army stack and a larger fighting Corps? Given that the Corps would then receive bonuses from the Army stack (bonuses which the Army stack cannot give itself), I'm guessing it's better to have a "small Army/large Corps" pairing.

In other words, is there any reason to have lots of strength concentrated in an Army stack?

[Rafiki]

The Army stack is more likely to "march to the sound of the guns", and is therefore a nice place to have any reserves, provided the army stack is well-positioned in relation to its subordinate corps.

Personally, in my larger armies, my army stack contain one or sometimes even two (large) divisions.

[Pocus]

Army stack will engage into battle if alone in a region. But they won't initiate a fight, and will only help others stacks. Use that to your advantage, because they can lend an hand to weakened corps by playing the role of a fire brigade (army reserve).

[Cat Lord]

Oooh, never knew that. That's interesting, that's why my Corps are depleted so quickly when my Army stack barely get a scratch then.

Cat