How to fight the Civil War

[ivanov]

My impression after few first turns of the 1861 campaign is that on the tactical level, the Civil War combat is reminiscent of WW1 without artillery. The attacks are costly and quite inefficient. In other SC titles, the SOP was to soften the defenders with air and arty and then to attack with some strong units like panzers and then finish the enemy with weaker units. In ACW there's no arty and air, so it seems that the only way to de-entrench the defenders is to repeatedly attack them with infantry, suffering high loses in the process. Is there a more efficient way to attack on the tactical level? Do things change when there are more divisions and corps in play ( in 1861 there are mostly brigades on both sides )? It seems to me that the best strategy is to bleed out the enemy in the defensive combat and try to win on the strategic level, which is a particular tall order for the Confederacy.

Any thoughts on how to best fight the war on the tactical level?

[Bo Rearguard]

It seems to me that the best strategy is to bleed out the enemy in the defensive combat and try to win on the strategic level, which is a particular tall order for the Confederacy.

Actually, that's been the gold standard for Confederate victory in most ACW games. Your job is to simply endure, not conquer the North. Unfortunately, the main complaint against this game so far has been that the North can usually sit back on the defensive until late 1862 with no domestic or political backlash to speak of. Then use that time to fill out his army and navy and then just roll over the South with vaster numbers, amphibious landings and by then much improved leaders.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

Brigades are pretty worthless on attack, so in that sense yes 1861 is quite different to later years. Divisions are significantly more capable, and Corps even moreso. It is also worth pointing out that the lethality of units (or at least, units after 1862) is much higher in ACW compared to World War I or II, and killing units with a single attack isn't at all unheard of here (reducing the need for "softening up" to some degree).

You do have a few options for wearing down units before a major attack:
- Siege Artillery can be used against units, and have a hefty demoralisation stat on them (as well as de-entrenchment). They are slow, but if a frontline becomes static they are effective at helping break a deadlock.
- Infantry can be upgraded with Skirmishers, increasing their demoralisation stat to up to 20%. If you need more than one hit to kill a unit, this will reduce the losses incurred by every wave after the first.
- Prepared Attacks (ie, attacking before moving) are much more powerful in ACW vs WW2. Taking advantage of this at every opportunity will save you more soldiers than just about any other tactic.
- A sort of corollary to the above, ambushes are also notably powerful in ACW. Concentrating on destroying your opponent's reconnaissance ability (ie, killing cavalry, balloons, armoured trains, rangers) will allow you to ambush them more frequently.

All that said, weaponry was a good deal less advanced in 1860 vs 1940, and suppressing an enemy ahead of battle isn't really possible, so a lot of the time victory will be written in the blood of your infantry.

Unfortunately, the main complaint against this game so far has been that the North can usually sit back on the defensive until late 1862 with no domestic or political backlash to speak of. Then use that time to fill out his army and navy and then just roll over the South with vaster numbers, amphibious landings and by then much improved leaders.

I made a bunch of changes in 1.04 to address this (Union FS now suffers a continual drop each turn, but recovers by capturing CS towns). Is this still a problem in the new patch? I haven't heard anything one way or the other since the update so please do share your feedback if you have any.

- BNC

[ivanov]

Thanks for the comments! I see that the lack of punching power of the brigades, could be the reason of anemic attacks early on during the game. Their attack and defense values are equal, while in case of the divisions and corps, the attack value is higher than the defense value.