New Player, Dumb Question

[Joshua Hoss]

Ok, first let me apologize. I am a new player who just got the game. I love the Civil war and all things related to it. There are just a few things I cannot figure out though.

1. How do I assign Generals to units? I have read the manual and it doesn't say much on this issue. What I have been doing is putting a 4 star general under an army, then a 3 star under a corps, 2 and 1 under division. Is this the correct way to do it?

2. If the above way is correct why do I get a message at the end of my turn to promote generals to 4, 3, and 2 stars? I already have all my positions filled (1 4 star leading an army, 1 3 star per corps, and 1 2 star per division). What is going on with this?

Once again I apologize for sounding like a noob. Any help you can give me would be much appreciated!

[GrouchyXe]

Hi,

I am myself a newbie however for (1) according to discussion there: tm.asp?m=2283071&mpage=1&key=&#2286236

It seems that Yes it is correct and you should furthermore use all remaining 1 star Generals for brigade.

2) I dont know


3) Would be glad to play you when we will have better knowledge of the game

[Joshua Hoss]

ORIGINAL: GrouchyXe

Hi,

I am myself a newbie however for (1) according to discussion there: tm.asp?m=2283071&mpage=1&key=&#2286236

It seems that Yes it is correct and you should furthermore use all remaining 1 star Generals for brigade.

2) I dont know


3) Would be glad to play you when we will have better knowledge of the game

Grouchy - Thank you for the response. I am curious as to my second question. It seems weird that I have to have 2 4 star generals, a lot of 3 star generals, and a bunch of 2 stars when I don't need them and have my positions filled already.

I would love to play you sometime, once I get this game figured out!

[Randomizer]

Joshua Hoss wrote:

It seems weird that I have to have 2 4 star generals, a lot of 3 star generals, and a bunch of 2 stars when I don't need them and have my positions filled already.

There is a maximum number of generals at each Star level that you can have.  When you are in the Military screen, check the bottom left corner and you will see the display how many you currently have of each rank and how many you can have on total.  The maximum numbers is related to the number of container units you have and you can also use the More Generals/Fewer Generals options when you start a new game.
 
You will need the senior ranks soon enough and can never have too many generals since some are pretty awful and best kept away from the real fighting.
 
Have fun, hope you enjoy FoF.

[Joshua Hoss]

Do'oh... I played around and figured it out. Guess all I needed was some time! Thanks for the help guys!

[SlickWilhelm]

Welcome JHoss and Grouchy, I'm relatively new myself. I'm currently playing my first serious game against the AI.

If you look at page 180 of the e-book, you'll see that the number of academies that you possess will affect the number of generals that you can support. So if you can support five 4-star generals, and currently only have three, then at the end of your turn you will be asked to promote another general to 4-star rank.

Also, I learned that by filling up your divisions with 1-star generals helps the three highest-ranking officers in that army during combat. So what I do is make sure to have the appropriate amount of generals in my Armies, Corps and Divisions. Once that's done, I fill up my divisions with any left over 1-star generals.

Did you know that you can promote or demote as many generals that you want per turn? I just learned this the other day. Of course, you can only have support so many of the higher-ranked generals(see above statement regarding academies).

Keep reading the manual, this forum and asking questions. That's how I've learned how to play the game. Guys like Randomizer, Gil R. and Ironclad have been very kind in lending their knowledge and expertise about FOF to us noobs. I'm now trying to return the favor.

[Randomizer]

This was certainly accurate but I think you will find with one of the patches, the number of multi-star generals is now driven by the number of container units of a particular size.  Therefore the Union starts the July scenarios with two army containers but three 4-Star generals, McClellan, Butler (ugh) and Fremont.  Provided none are killed or demoted you will need to build two additional Army containers before you can promote another 4-star.
 
Found it!
From the Readme for v1.9.23
 [font="times new roman"][font=verdana]
[font=verdana]Academies no longer determine the number of generals that can exist for each rank, except for 5 stars, which now require 6 Academies. Ranks are now determined by the number of each type of military group a player has. For example, a player with two Armies will be allowed to have two 4 star generals.[/font]
 [left]Cheers[/font][/left][/font]

[SlickWilhelm]

Good catch! I sit corrected. [:'(]

But academies are still crucial to the quality of your units.

P.173 "*Academies Improve Staff Ratings – For every 5 total Academies that a player controls, the Staff Rating of newly produced units is increased by +1."

[Joshua Hoss]

Thanks for the help guys. I guess it would be nice to not be prompted to promote a general just because I have a set number of academies. Having 3 2 star generals in a Division seems a bit much!

[Gil R.]

This is what Pres. Obama likes to call "a teachable moment": as you new guys have learned, the "Read Me" file is of great importance, since those patches have changed FOF in a number of ways and thus made the manual partly obsolete. (And to answer the question that has been asked every once in a while, no, we can't update the manual, since it's an ENORMOUS amount of work -- not just the writing, but the formatting and graphics that would need to be redone.)

[GShock]

You can put any general anywhere you want in any container and even out of containers. When battle is triggered, each general is assigned to a bde and you can move this general by pointing the mouse on another bde and hitting G. Now a general with the proper rank will train and pass on his skills to the containers below it but ALL generals will give their skill to their bde in the detailed combat.

If you have available promotions, depending on number of academies or, as gil said, on number of containers, the game will ask you if you want to promote one and give you a list with the basic indications below (where he is, what state he is from, hence which gov will be influenced by your action). You may also promote a general during your turn by using the up arrow in the info box in middle bottom window... same goes for demotion. If you find you can't promote him, well you are at the promotion limit... spawn a new container. In this case of course, at the end of the turn you won't be getting any message about promoting generals.

[Larry Reese]

Just for the record, Charles Manson never killed anyone... his followers did.

LR

[Joshua Hoss]

I have tried to promote a general using the up arrow (in between the left and right arrow, correct?) but nothing happens. Any ideas?

[SlickWilhelm]

ORIGINAL: Joshua Hoss

I have tried to promote a general using the up arrow (in between the left and right arrow, correct?) but nothing happens. Any ideas?

Joshua, I think you misunderstood. The buttons for promotion and demotion of a general are on the general's interface screen(the one with his photo). Look for the up arrow and down arrow on this screen. You have to click them.

[Randomizer]

Joshua Hoss wrote:

I have tried to promote a general using the up arrow (in between the left and right arrow, correct?) but nothing happens. Any ideas?

Have you tried left-clicking on the promotion arrow that appears on the bottom tool bar when any leader is selected on the main screen?
 
The number of generals above one-star rank is strictly limited.  Do you have sufficiant vacancies to make the desired promotions?
 
A table found on the bottom left corner of the Military screen tells you how many of each rank you have and how many you can support.
 
Has the promotion window opened when you end turn?  If not there are probably no available vacancies left.
 
In this case your options are demote somebody or build more container units of the desired size.

[Joshua Hoss]

ORIGINAL: Slick Wilhelm

ORIGINAL: Joshua Hoss

I have tried to promote a general using the up arrow (in between the left and right arrow, correct?) but nothing happens. Any ideas?

Joshua, I think you misunderstood. The buttons for promotion and demotion of a general are on the general's interface screen(the one with his photo). Look for the up arrow and down arrow on this screen. You have to click them.

I found the spot where I can demote an officer, but there is no promotion spot. And I have plenty of spaces available for promotion, I just started the game.

[terje439]

I included a screenie on how to promote a general in this thread (it is in the bottom half of the page)
clicky

[Joshua Hoss]

Weird... I do not have the promotion button. I have the demotion one, but not the other. What is up with that?

[Ironclad]

That is weird as the promotion button concerned was introduced in an early patch which has since been included in subsequent updates. Check your game is the latest version 1.12.2.

[hgilmer3]

I'd check your version.  I just went into the game and started a new game "The coming fury" and demoted Fremont, McDowell, and Butler and it gave me the option of promoting someone to 4 stars if I wanted.