Entering Structures

[The Red Baron]

How do I get my Union cavalry to enter a Confederate town in a CSA controlled region devoid of enemy troops? Setting assault posture and enabling the "Enter Structure" special order simply results in a siege even though the town is empty of Rebs. Shouldn't the cavalry occupy the structure and region ownership change to my side?

[Twotribes]

Cavalry can not change ownership you need infantry for that.

[The Red Baron]

That's odd. Cavalry's police value helps them increase a region's military control, especially when paired with another cavalry unit. Increase MC but no effect on ownership? Don't quite understand the logic behind that one but Ok.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: The Red Baron

That's odd. Cavalry's police value helps them increase a region's military control, especially when paired with another cavalry unit. Increase MC but no effect on ownership? Don't quite understand the logic behind that one but Ok.

MC means you control the province - apart from the central town/fort. So you can move on the roads freely. As above, even if you beat the garrison, with a purely cavalry force you can't take the town/fort, you'll need to bring up infantry.

Due to the way that MC interacts with movement of large columns, a good strategy is to screen an advance with cavalry taking MC to enable your regulars to move with more speed. Equally a cavalry raid can muck up your opponents supply lines (if you take MC they can't trace supply across that province) but not to actually capture permanently those provinces.

[Ace1_slith]

Historically, early war cavalries did not take hostile towns. They did raid the country-side though. So the game models this so that early war cavalry and partisans can take towns only if region loyalty is above 50%. Believe me, if you did not have this model, the game would turn into micromanagement nightmare, looking after countless cavalry stacks taking small backwater towns all over the map. Historically, that did not happen. It was difficult for cavalry raiders to find supplies in enemy territory.

You should be notified about mid 63 that your cavalry regiments start to upgrade to late cav models which can take towns.

[The Red Baron]

Appreciate all the tips. After my second run through on Shiloh, I began to appreciate using cavalry to cut my enemy's supply lines via increases to MC and using them to reduce transit time for other troops via the same mechanic; however, I did not realize they could capture towns if loyalty exceeds 50%, and you're right: the game would turn into a nightmare without this model. I am a noob to AGEOD titles. This is my first, so I'll be learning the intricacies of the game for awhile. I played the demo version of AACW and liked it immensely. I was all set to buy when I learned CWII would be released in 6 weeks, so I sat tight. I'm not disappointed.