How to get more militia

[Crimguy]

Do I have to produce supply units to get militia units to form?

[Bo Rearguard]

Yes. You have to build supply to generate militia. If the state has sufficient population in it's pool and 5 supply per militia are within the same supply grid as the region, then the supply is expended and the militia units are created. The base population for creating militia varies from year to year tho.

[alaric318]

cost population not only changes with each year, for USA, each 50 victory points below 1000 increased pop. militia cost by 1, (each 100 vp for CSA), with draft for USA, the first two turns the cost is around (-12) then, for 4 turns is (+3) all effects are cumulative, USA militia cost around 3x these than CSA cost around all the game.

[willgamer]

In one game, I'm pretty sure in the summer of '61, as the Confederates, I dedicated all my production to heavy arty, but I still got some militia. I'm guessing it was because of auto foraging plus free trade.

I wonder what the opposite of your question is... can you turn off militia creation to save supplies?

[Crimguy]

Now that I understand the how, I have to ask - why??  Either way, unit creation in this game (and all the other ACW games out there for that matter) is a highly abstracted and unrealistic affair.  So, why not just make militia creation like any other unit?

[bstarr]

ORIGINAL: Crimguy

Now that I understand the how, I have to ask - why??  Either way, unit creation in this game (and all the other ACW games out there for that matter) is a highly abstracted and unrealistic affair.  So, why not just make militia creation like any other unit?

Actually, it's much more realistic the way they have it now. You can "build" cannons. You can't "build" recruits.

[Grotius]

I agree with bstarr -- I've really come to like the way militia appear on the map. And I especially like that you have to train those recruits on-map.

[Crimguy]

I agree that you can't build recruits, but that seems to be the case here - there's just one more step involved, and the recipe involves 2 quantities

To me militia should be purely a factor of population, some kind of national or state morale, and victory level on the game.  After formation they should have various levels of armament based on supply.  And like Grotius says, they should be raw at first.

[GShock]

MIL is raw. The supply compromise is a good one. If you have little you can recruit less. Figure what you're investing in supplies is propaganda on recruitment. And we know supplies come from settlements so this means your recruit levels are intimately connected to how good you're doing through the game.

[Bo Rearguard]

Playing as the CSA I do sort of wish you had the option do decide when and if the supply gets expended to create militia. As your army automatically gets larger and larger it consumes more supplies each turn. By 1863 you reach a tipping point in the game where there are no supplies leftover from the logistics phase for creating mounted units and forts in next movement phase.

Or is there some production stratagem I am overlooking? [;)]

[GShock]

I think it's likely that the Union Blockade is working [:)]

[JanSorensen]

Bo,
 
You are not missing anything. From fall 1862 onwards you will be producing mostly or even solely supply as the CSA. During some turns you even have to put on hold what units you have being repaired to produce enough supply.

[Bo Rearguard]

ORIGINAL: JanSorensen

Bo,

You are not missing anything. From fall 1862 onwards you will be producing mostly or even solely supply as the CSA. During some turns you even have to put on hold what units you have being repaired to produce enough supply.

Yeah....that's pretty much what I've discovered. Let that be a lesson to all you Jeff Davis wanna-bees out there. Get your forts, cannon and cavalry built early.[:D]

[Joel Billings]

Yes, there is a strategy that offsets the blockade to some extent. Early in the war, build additional factories in locations you don't expect to lose (or have cut off from the main front). PyleDriver and I tend to start a new factory about every other turn in late 1861 and 1862. I can't remember exactly how many factories I built against him in our AAR game, but I'm guessing it's between 5 and 10. It hurts early in the war, but the investment pays off later in the war as it allows you to have enough supplies and continue to build other units (or repair damaged ones). Another tactic that Jon taught me is that it's best not to repair infantry units as the Confed (unless the factory is about to be captured or you really need the unit). Best to wait until you can merge two Confed infantry units and create one new one. The math on this is as follows:

Merge 2 infantry units - You get 1 Infantry unit and 1 Militia unit mobilized, you get to build 20 supplies with the 2 production you didn't use and only use 5 for the militia unit created with the saved population. Net 1 Infantry, 1 Militia, 15 Supplies.

Repair 2 Infatry units - You net 2 Infantry units.

So if you're willing to wait and then take 1 Militia unit that will need training, you save a net 15 supplies. These add up over time and allow you to do a lot as the Confederates that you wouldn't be able to do if you're always repairing your infantry as soon as they are damaged.

[PyleDriver]

So Joel, your saying I handed you the two big keys to kick my ass in our AAR...lol...I talk to much, so my wife says...

[8D]
Jon

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: PyleDriver

So Joel, your saying I handed you the two big keys to kick my ass in our AAR...lol...I talk to much, so my wife says...

[8D]
Jon

Yep, loose lips sink ships. Actually just shows that there's always something to be learned, even for those involved in designing the game.

[Bo Rearguard]

Thanks for the advice Joel...although some of it is probably too late to save the fast sinking Confederacy in my current game. My troops are pretty much down to throwing rocks and bricks to hold off the Yankee hordes [:D]

I was pondering building some factories in some safe inland areas like Atlanta, Selma or Charlotte, but given their long build time I wasn't sure if the investment would have paid off. Wish I had now. It probably also helps not to go too wild early in the game with your good administrative leaders fortifying peripheral areas like coastal Texas or Arkansas at 12 supplies apiece. [;)]

[PyleDriver]

Hey Bo, read the S&T guide, section 20, Joel did...I never should have wrote it...lol...

[8D]
Jon

[madgamer2]

UH?.....S&T Guide?......Section 20?....ok where do I find this revelation?

Madgamer