Computer Production

[dthornburg]

Been playing as the USA and letting the CPU handle production. I seem to see some odd things going on. Primarily that the CPU seems to produce an inordinate number of Artillery. In the game I am playing (Aug '63) the computer is currently producing 22!! artillery for me of which I already have 55. What I really need is infantry or naval vessels. Currently the CSA (as CPU) has trained infantry of 190! compared to the USA at 149.

This game is toast since I lost Washington when the CSA invaded with over 120 units so I am interested in this for the next game. I worked very aggressively on combating raiders and blockading ports as well. Evidently to little use. The CSA was still pulling in over 130+ trade every turn even with every port completely or partially blockaded.

All of this at normal mode.

Dave

[Erik Rutins]

Have you been declaring drafts for more infantry?

For the blockades, have you taken all the coastal islands and built depots on them to double your blockade effectiveness?

[dthornburg]

Erik;

yes I did declare a draft. Evidently too late to make a difference.

Taking the islands as USA; is that the only way to win as USA?

[Erik Rutins]

Well, you'll likely need more than one draft to really outpace the Confederacy in terms of strength, unless you start off doing well early on and build up a good level of political points as well as additional population centers (like Kentucky). The Emancipation Proclamation will also help. I'm not surprised that if you lost Washington you had a tough time though.

The only way to make the blockade as effective as it can be is to secure those islands. If you keep a bunch of 1 Stars or Colonels in the same area with your Theater and Army Commander in Washington early on and give them each 1 Militia, then when you first get Amphibious Initiative after the first turn you can quickly take the islands and setup depots on them the next turn. Combined with building quite a few more Cruisers, this helps a lot. A Confederacy that has fewer supplies will also be producing fewer infantry units.

Regards,

- Erik

[dthornburg]

Thanks for the advice Erik. I will give it a shot on my next attempt. I think I will have to delve into production as well. I do think that CPU production needs to be looked at. I am just about swimming in artillery by '63.

[Joel Billings]

In my AAR game against Jon, he built plenty of artillery and had over 80 at one point from what I can tell. That's not uncommon. Having 1 artillery for every 3 infantry for the Union is not unusual at all, although it sounds like you never got the infantry you needed.

[dthornburg]

I tended to shy away from the draft due to the points loss. I was already hemorrhaging points by that time as it was.