The Newbie Thread

[Poliorcetes]

I thought we might need a place for the new players like me to start out.

I like the game (though I'm barely through a few turns of it) but boy does it have an imposing learning curve.

Good news/bad news - the first turn is the very worst. They all are much easier after that first turn. That's because you have to organize your entire army, assign all the troops to generals, familiarize yourself with everyone's strength's and weaknesses, and the figure out what to order 5-6 turns down the road. I'm playing the confederacy because they start with less units are are on the defensive, so I can watch the AI and learn from what it does.

The map is nice yet visually hard to figure out. There are all sorts of important items (rails, roads, bridges, borders) that are all skinny little lines roughly all the same color. I still haven't figured out where my production centers are, as the "show factory" button puts a million 4 piece markes all over the place.

Some basic tips I'm learning so far.
Put heavy artillary at EACH end of the Missisippi unless you want Union ships to wander up and down that highway.
Build lots of forts. Especially on your ports unless you like Union raiders dropping by.
Despite the Confederacy "cavalry" advantage you actually start with very few cavalry leaders and will have to spend time actually creating your horse raiders.
Army command bonus bucks the trend of every other skill, with 0 being the best and -2 being the worst (I think).
Training is key, although I'm still figuring out if you have to assign troops to a general or if you can just pile generals and troops together and get the same results. With your cavalry generals so few, remember to leave Command points open to train.

Jump in if you have other learning points.

Matt

[tran505]

It is also obvious how much effort 2by3 went to to help initiates "see the elephant". There is something like an hour of training videos -- all conveniently chopped up by topic -- included with the game. Nicely done!

That being said, this is a game where the manual is meant to be used and the tutorials meant to be viewed. Take the time to learn -- dear weedhopper -- and you shall be richly rewarded!

Paul

[Poliorcetes]

ok, I got through a whole year as CSA and have some new insights.
Don't make Naval commanders Army or Theatre commanders, they can be randomly chosen to lead that Raider you just commissioned.
Lone artillary on the coasts are magnets for amphibious invasion (without Fog of war)
Forts disappear if you move all the units away
 
I'm getting the grasp of how initiative shapes everything.  Its hard to get (even CSA at home are only roughly 20% likely to get it a turn) unless you have AC and TC and Supplies piled on (although you don't need depots in your own lands).  Even with the best of situations it might only be a 50-60% chance you get it, and without it you cannot attack (other than cavalry raiding).  Which is why you see a lot of small amphibious invasions that never go anywhere, because while that 1 guy had initiative back in New Hampshire, he'll have a hard time getting it again in Florida.  That's also why generals with high Combat command ratings are very valuable.  Having 1 general controlling 6 units is a lot better than having 3 generals controlling 2 each (because unless you have an AC or TC, your odds of all 3 getting initiative at once are terrible).
Of course you can't respond to attacks without initiative either, which I learned the hard way when my Invasion Overwatch force had to sit out the invasion of Florida because I never got initiative to counter-attack.
I'm not sure why I haven't had more of my ports sacked yet other than the Union was lacking Amphibous generals with initiative.
 
As for training, If I understand everything correctly, its better to have all untrained troops unassigned, as there doesn't seem to be any bonus to being assigned to a general, and the assignment uses up a command point (which could be used to train).
 
Poliorcetes

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: Poliorcetes
Lone artillary on the coasts are magnets for amphibious invasion (without Fog of war)

Yeah, the AI tends to hunt them down rather efficiently.

ORIGINAL: Poliorcetes
Forts disappear if you move all the units away

They're still on the map, just the graphics disappear if they're not occupied. When you mouse over the region, you'll see the fort level.

ORIGINAL: Poliorcetes
I'm not sure why I haven't had more of my ports sacked yet other than the Union was lacking Amphibous generals with initiative.

Keep in mind that most of the ports have a fair population and/or factory rating to them and will spawn militia when they are first invaded. Top that off with some forts, second (or third) string leaders, small garrisons, and heavy artillery, and the AI will think long and hard before mounting a direct invasion, even under the best of circumstances. As you noted, even once the invasion succeeds on getting ashore, it may be difficult to follow up, since it requires a substantial investment in leaders, troops, supplies for depots/forts in order to both secure the position, and then advance forward.

[Grotius]

Good thread. A couple of my own.

1. If you're wondering why you can't attach troops and move very far in the same turn, it's because your leader can't use his infantry/cavalry/arty bonus for units that were just attached. That means that if you attach even one new infantry unit to a general who already has a bunch of other units attached in previous turns, you'll be stuck moving at that new infantry unit's glacial pace -- which means you can't attack. So attach units the turn *before* you plan to attack with that leader. Er, I think.

2. If you're building forts, try to find a really good admin leader and move him around to do the job. An admin rating of 6 really reduces fort-building costs dramatically.

[Poliorcetes]

Ahah, I think I had an epiphany on how to play the CSA.  Its all about reaction combat.  You often can't match the Union man for man without leaving an army wide open.  This is where reaction combat comes in.  You keep a minimum set of armies at the front and the park the reinforcements behind them to "react" into combat.  Assuming you have Initiative (key to this working), you get to dump a lot of Hidden troops into the combat.  This works because the Union won't usually get Initiative on all their various army groups, so only 1 stack may attack a turn.  This allows you keep an overwhelming force behind the lines and then dump it into the crisis spot.  Which explains the "overrun" rule, to prevent you from just have 1 unit in every region as a tripwire to pull in reinforcements.
So if you get initiative, you can win the battle, and if you don't you only lose a few troops and its only a minor loss.  Otherwise, if you just park all you troops on the front line, the Union gets to Scout you, attack when he has more troops, and gets a Major victory (something the CSA needs to avoid).
The hard part is keeping your reinforcements close enough to respond (watch those rail lines) to any attacks.
 
At least I think this is how to play it.
 
Poliorcetes

[tedhealy]

Yes that is exactly the key to playing as CSA.  The thing to watch out for is the AI likes to attack in 2 different regions in the same turn in the same theater.  You'll have an agonizing choice of whether or not to split your reaction force, how to split your reaction force if you choose as inevitably some USA forces will be unspotted so you won't know the actual size of the attacks, and then you have to think about if I react to this attack, where will it leave me open next turn? 

I despise USA attacks from DC area + Ft. Montroe/New Kent area at the same time.  I've been lucky in my current game as the USA has stuck with Pope in the east.  Pope vs Lee = Lee win every time [:D]

[Pford]

ORIGINAL: Poliorcetes

Ahah, I think I had an epiphany on how to play the CSA. Its all about reaction combat. You often can't match the Union man for man without leaving an army wide open. This is where reaction combat comes in. You keep a minimum set of armies at the front and the park the reinforcements behind them to "react" into combat.

Are you sure about this? My impression is that when reacting to a battle your additional troops, modified by leader quality, arrive later on the field. Therefore, you don't won't to denude your front line too much. But I could be wrong on this....

[willgamer]

Just one really humbling lesson learned- Noobs should start with FOW off.[:D]

[Curious]

ORIGINAL: willgamer

Just one really humbling lesson learned- Noobs should start with FOW off.[:D]

Keeping in the spirit of this thread maybe you could give us some details concerning your lessons learned. It would probably help some of us "noobs".

CB

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: Curious

ORIGINAL: willgamer

Just one really humbling lesson learned- Noobs should start with FOW off.[:D]

Keeping in the spirit of this thread maybe you could give us some details concerning your lessons learned. It would probably help some of us "noobs".

CB

Good idea! And quite timely, since I just sent a PBEM turn off to Erik bemoaning a major gaffe of mine from the previous turn.

When planning an offensive, getting your Army Commanders in position, bringing up reinforcements and sneakily hiding all these fresh troops to avoid being spotted, do not, I repeat NOT, neglect to assign them to unit commanders in the Army regions. When your AC's gain initiative, and you're rubbing your hands in glee at the thought of overwhelming your hapless opponent, the last thing you want to discover is that most of your forces are unable to move into the region you planned to take, because they are milling about leaderless...[:-]

[tedhealy]

[X(] oh that must sting. 

Seems like you can sort of game the spotting system by bringing an unspotted general into a region with a spotted general then transferring the spotted gen's troops to the new guy.  Unless I wasn't paying full attention when I did this, seemed like the new guy then became unspotted. I suppose this 'new' army can't then move, but getting unspotted as the CSA without actually moving an army can help quite a bit. Perhaps it can be said the army was lost as they formed under the new guy.

[JAMiAM]

ORIGINAL: tedhealy

[X(] oh that must sting. 

Seems like you can sort of game the spotting system by bringing an unspotted general into a region with a spotted general then transferring the spotted gen's troops to the new guy.  Unless I wasn't paying full attention when I did this, seemed like the new guy then became unspotted. I suppose this 'new' army can't then move, but getting unspotted as the CSA without actually moving an army can help quite a bit. Perhaps it can be said the army was lost as they formed under the new guy.

This may give you an unspotted leader, but units and leaders are spotted independently. If you select a leader and click on him, it will bring up the forces under his command underneath the main display. You'll see there, that the units are spotted/unspotted on an individual basis. Swapping the leaders does nothing to change the status of the individual units.

[willgamer]

ORIGINAL: Curious

ORIGINAL: willgamer

Just one really humbling lesson learned- Noobs should start with FOW off.[:D]

Keeping in the spirit of this thread maybe you could give us some details concerning your lessons learned. It would probably help some of us "noobs".

CB

I wasn't trying to be smart aleck, since I'm being crushed by the AI even on Easy. [8|]

I'm just saying that putting away the usual hubris of beating new strategy games with ease, at normal settings on the first or second attempt, is useful here for most of us noobs.

That said, I'm learned what it's like for the AI, since it always, regardless of setting, plays with FOW off. This shows that spotted vs. unspotted is huge, even if you can "see" everything.

I've learned the AI gets tons of 0/1 star leaders free.

Mostly I'm seeing that, even when all units are visible, FOW can be effectively generated by troops that are far enough behind the lines to threaten many potential targets.

[:)]

[tedhealy]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM

ORIGINAL: tedhealy

[X(] oh that must sting. 

Seems like you can sort of game the spotting system by bringing an unspotted general into a region with a spotted general then transferring the spotted gen's troops to the new guy.  Unless I wasn't paying full attention when I did this, seemed like the new guy then became unspotted. I suppose this 'new' army can't then move, but getting unspotted as the CSA without actually moving an army can help quite a bit. Perhaps it can be said the army was lost as they formed under the new guy.

This may give you an unspotted leader, but units and leaders are spotted independently. If you select a leader and click on him, it will bring up the forces under his command underneath the main display. You'll see there, that the units are spotted/unspotted on an individual basis. Swapping the leaders does nothing to change the status of the individual units.

Ok, that makes sense. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to the units and just saw that the leader was unspotted.

[mike1962]

If you are a noobie like my try your first game as the Confederates with no fog of war, have the computer control your production. You will get the rythem of the game pretty quick. Try to have a couple Cav leaders in the east and west. Convert militia to mounted early and scout, scout, scout and raid. Those troopers always have a job to do. Fortify and get big guns on the coasts and Missippi River. Hold on to that river. Its good to have 2 theater and 4 army commanders because you get the Political Point bonus each turn equal to their political ratings. Mike

[Poliorcetes]

Ok, I think I'm finally getting the hang of combat.  My Ready Reserve idea is working (keep minimal troops up front as CSA, with a large central stack with AC to respond with hidden troops to any attack). 
Leadership is very key.  You get fooled as the CSA with your rivers and forts and forest hexes, which in most games would be very impenetrable.  Yet if the enemy General is a 4 and you are a 1, he's already negated (dice willing) the river, fort, and Forest defensive bonus.  If he has a AC  (with a higher combat rating) with him and you don't, he's already got a large advantage (plus bonus in committing troops).  Allow him to attack when not scouted and you are scouted . . . . verra verrra bad.
 
I just noticed a post mentioning that movement points also affect the amount of troops committed.   Hmmm.
 
Poliorcetes

[hgilmer]

I'd have to say, please look at the tutorials. All of them. I finally went through them all yesterday and it has really helped a lot.

Edit: The video tutorials. The others are OK, too, but the video ones really helped me.

[silber]

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM

When planning an offensive, getting your Army Commanders in position, bringing up reinforcements and sneakily hiding all these fresh troops to avoid being spotted, do not, I repeat NOT, neglect to assign them to unit commanders in the Army regions.

I've found that it is almost impossible to launch an attack from a non-adjacent region, so most of my force starts of spotted anyway.

[kennonlightfoot]

ORIGINAL: silber

ORIGINAL: JAMiAM

When planning an offensive, getting your Army Commanders in position, bringing up reinforcements and sneakily hiding all these fresh troops to avoid being spotted, do not, I repeat NOT, neglect to assign them to unit commanders in the Army regions.

I've found that it is almost impossible to launch an attack from a non-adjacent region, so most of my force starts of spotted anyway.

If you are having problems attacking with initiative from two regions away take a look at your leaders and their bonuses. Even bad leaders should have a movement of 3 with initiative but try to distribute your forces to leaders that will get 4 movement points. The region you choose to place your AC and main forces should have rail or at least road access to the the targeted region and the regions you most move through. This will allow even a 3 MV force to enter an enemy region from two regions away.

Of course the game is skewed so the Union will have more trouble meeting these conditions when attacking into the South. You will find until they start getting better group leaders the Union will have to start adjacent and will more likely be spotted. The Rebels however can take advantage of the fact that reaction movement against an attacker is usually easier to set up in a rear region where they can't be spotted.