Generals' Teachable Special Abilities

[Gil R.]

As I've been noting on other threads, I've been giving the datafile for generals an overhaul for the upcoming patch. In addition to making start dates more accurate, I would like to get more "historical" special abilities for generals to teach. As bios get written for the 9-percenters I've been adding abilities for some that seem worthy. (We do not want a game in which every general can give bonuses through teaching, just the good generals.) But I want to get the abilities for the 25- and 100-percenters into better shape than they currently are. So, I thought I'd solicit suggestions for which generals should have which abilities. For example, Stonewall Jackson should have "Disciplined" and the "King of Spades" should have "Diggers." So, please weigh in on this. (Note: In cases of generals for whom there are no obvious abilities I'll just let the game choose randomly each time.)

[Gil R.]

So here's the list of all the generals to consider:

Burnside,_A.E.
Early,_J.A.
Forrest,_N.B.
McDowell,_I.
Meade,_G.G.
Pope,_J.
Grant,_U.S.
Hooker,_J.
Hardee,_W.J.
Jackson,_T.J.
Johnston,_A.S.
Johnston,_J.E.
Lee,_R.E.
Longstreet,_J.
McClellan,_G.B.
Beauregard,_P.G.
Sheridan,_P.H.
Sherman,_W.T.
Pickett,_G.E.
Stuart,_J.E.B.
Van_Dorn,_E.
Ewell,_R.S.
Hood,_J.B.
Buford,_J.
Butler,_B.F.
Bragg,_B.
Cleburne,_P.R.
Reynolds,_J.F.
Halleck,_H.W.
Hancock,_W.S.
Hampton,_W.
Hill,_A.P.
Hill,_D.H.
Wheeler,_J.
Thomas,_G.H.
Zollicoffer,_F.K.
Pettigrew,_J.J.
Rosecrans,_W.S.
Buell,_D.C.
McPherson,_J.B.
Custer,_G.A.
Doubleday,_A.
Gregg,_D.M.
Lyon,_N.
Heth,_H.
Lee,_F.
McLaws,_L.
Magruder,_J.B.
Morgan,_J.H.
Chamberlain,_J.L.
Anderson,_R.H.
Armistead,_L.A.
Pender,_W.D.
Warren,_G.K.
Sedgwick,_J.
Polk,_L.
Rodes,_R.E.
Shelby,_J.O.

[Gil R.]

And here are the abilities (descriptions of which must be in the manual somewhere):

Disciplined
Brave
Wild
Fast
Hardy
Oblique_Fire
Diggers
Night_Owls
Independent
Shooters
Flankers
Swampwise
Chargers
Steady
Blasted
Obedient
Foragers
Polar_Bears
Woodsmen
Sustained_Volley
Dreaded
Heroes
Resilient
Organized
Bulldogs

[Twotribes]

I would suggest That Jackson and any of his historical Division commanders should be considered for the trait "Fast". and or Resilient.

As I recall his Corps or at least a Division of it was considered exceedly gifted at movment over great distances. And they could travel a great distance and still fight if needed, quickly.

[will b]

N.B. Forrest - Dreaded
 
W.T. Sherman - Foragers

[Gil R.]

Twotribes, remember that special abilities like "Fast" only apply in battle, not movements on the strategic map. (Fast gives +3 movement.)

Perhaps it would be better to use "Hardy," which reduces the change of a unit getting fatigued. Presumably, units that marched a lot, like those under Sherman, would be less easily fatigued. (But, of course, everyone marched somewhere at some point...)

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: will b

N.B. Forrest - Dreaded

W.T. Sherman - Foragers

Thanks, those are both very good -- especially "Foragers" for Sherman. (Foragers, by the way, is the only special ability that affects a unit on the strategic map rather than the battlefield.)

[Twotribes]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

Twotribes, remember that special abilities like "Fast" only apply in battle, not movements on the strategic map. (Fast gives +3 movement.)

Perhaps it would be better to use "Hardy," which reduces the change of a unit getting fatigued. Presumably, units that marched a lot, like those under Sherman, would be less easily fatigued. (But, of course, everyone marched somewhere at some point...)

How about both? And for Jackson Risilience. If his troops were fast in long marches, one can reasonably assume they were fast in tactical situations also, cant one?

[Gil R.]

Sure.

By the way, generals have "slots" for up to five teachable abilities. I will only be giving the very best generals five. Jackson's among them, and I think it's fine to give him both of those.

[General Quarters]

Maybe generals that were really aggressive should teach Wild:

Early
Forrest
Sheridan
Van Dorn
AP Hill
Wheeler
Custer
Hood isn't on the list?

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: General Quarters

Maybe generals that were really aggressive should teach Wild:

Early
Forrest
Sheridan
Van Dorn
AP Hill
Wheeler
Custer
Hood isn't on the list?

Good suggestion.

Hood's there. Just look about twenty generals down and you'll see him.

[General Quarters]

Some of the better organizers should probably have traits like Disciplined, Steady, Obedient, Organized, maybe Independent, Steady Shooters, Sustained Volley.

The top organizers like McClellan, and maybe Grant and Lee, should have 5 such traits.

Meade, Hooker, Longstreet, Sherman, Bragg, Thomas 3 or 4.

Rosecrans and McPherson 2.

[General Quarters]

I don't know if there are any traits for this, but Grant and Lee were remarkable for making their armies functional units, inspiring cooperation among their subordinates and lack of ego and rivalry. McClellan was inspiring but almost created a cult of personality that made it very hard for the army to fight under any other general. That negative culture plagued the army until the coming of Grant. Bragg, of course, is notorious for not being able to get along and his army suffered as a result. If there is any trait that connects with this trait of Grant and Lee, then it might be given to a number of the generals who were able to create harmony of command in their units.

[Alan_Bernardo]

Longstreet: Diggers, Woodsman
 
Jeb Stuart: Fast, Wild, Flankers
 
The meanings of the special abilities can be found starting on page 228 of the manual.
 
 
Alanb
 
 

[Gil R.]

Good point about Longstreet and "Woodsman." Who else from the Wilderness should get that?

[Viewing]

Thomas: Steady, Disciplined

No negative qualities passed along to the troops? Demoralized, disobedient, slow? Which would allow for such combinations as "wild, disobedient," or "disciplined, slow," etc.

[will b]

ORIGINAL: Viewing

Thomas: Steady, Disciplined

No negative qualities passed along to the troops? Demoralized, disobedient, slow? Which would allow for such combinations as "wild, disobedient," or "disciplined, slow," etc.

Yeah, I'd wondered about that too but I guess that's handled within the General's ratings.

Also what do the Abilities Organized and Bulldogs do? They aren't in the list on pp.228-229 in the manual.

[freeboy]

whats a buldog trait?

[Erik Rutins]

I believe Bulldogs allows you to ignore the penalties for being flanked.

[Diggypiggy]

I know this is a bit off topic and I hope everyone will excuse me but this seems as good a place as any to bring it up. When modelling some of the leaders it seems some "negative attributes" would be appropriate. I don't want to go in to any specifics I just thought maybe this should be considered for the future.