building factories..

[sven6345789]

a) is there any need for the North to build factories, and if, how many do you build?
b) same question regarding the South..
c) if you build factories, what are they good in states where you cannot build anything except factories and supplies? Does it make sense for the North to do something like this?

[Joel Billings]

Yes and Yes. I know it is important for the south to build some factories. I have heard from many northern players that feel it is also important to build some for the North to increase late war supply production. The exact answers are a little in flux since the 1.030 version changed producton rules enough to change strategies. Opinions are wanted.

[Treefrog]

usa should always build a factory in Cairo turn one; pays dividends later when you can add "4" to the TC for initiative purposes. Not my idea, I plainly stole it from a good player.

[GShock]

Good places to build factories for USA are those where the production is already high along with Cairo as Treefrog just said. In Cairo I add, this pays even more because you can build the gunboats you need on the Mississipi river. In other cases, you increase output of supply and other items without slowing down production. You need supply to feed troops and if u build a factory in a place with little production, that place won't be able to build many supplies so u risk losing troops due to attrition.

The same is true for CSA with the difference that you MUST build factories only in places that will be away for long from the USA onslaught...otherwise u ll lose the factory you spent an year building.

[tran505]

For the North, I like getting up to 90 factories, and I like getting a good 10 or 12 underway almost immediately. The '61 campaign season is short and with very few regular units to rebuild, and low supply demands, the time will never be better to start investing. Also build every ironclad the new version allows. Since New York is now the ONLY place that can build them, its sole purpose for living is to build ironclads. No factories. No artillery. No infantry rebulds. Only Ironclads until you are done with the 2nd cycle (i.e., you have 12 of them). Good news is that you have the resources to build your factories AND build your ironclads.

Prettty much the same answer for the South, although it is harder to aggressively build both factories AND ironclads, if you decide to have a navy. I shoot for something like 50 factories, however, the Yankees can pull you down as they capture cities. Richmond is my favorite place to build. If you lose Richmond you lose the war anyway, so why not put a bunch of factories there. Other good places are noncoastal cities in NC and SC.
If you go for having a Navy, I like putting as much as possible in the Mississippi River. You can at least maneuver, and the North has a much harder time getting ironclads there. Consider building a couple gunboats as well. Two Ironclads plus two gunboats (and a good leader) running up and down the Mississippi can give the Yankees a lot of headaches.

- P