A few Q's

[mavraamides]

Just bought COG last Thursday. I spent most of the weekend
playing it, only stopping when the wifee poo dragged me away
from the KB.

There are a few minor things I'm struggling with, hope someone
can help...

(I've been playing as Spain / standard difficulty / standard
scenario. First move was "Raleigh's top 10" which got me into
a nice start.)

1) Protectorats. I have a lot of Protectorats in Italy. At a certain
point, they just start cranking out units. I don't seem to have
any control over this. And I always end up running real short of money.
Am I paying for the upkeep of these units? If so, can they be disbanded?
Is there anything I can do to control their production?

2) Leaders. When I add a leader to an army / corp, is there any way to
control which division he'll be assigned to when I go into detailed battle?

3) Money. I keep running out. I build banks, merchant ships and put them
by ports, set my trade policy to trade things I have an excess of, raise taxes
as a last resort, not sure what else to do.

4) Military upgrades, how do I get to the point where I can do my first upgrade
the quickest? I hate going into a major battle before I have Formation Drilling
done. Do I build up a lot of small baracks or does it go by the level
of my biggest one. Right now, I concentrate all of my barack building on the
biggest one and a coastal one for ships. Everything else goes into banks.

5) Detailed battles. Does having a leader right next to a unit help get it out
of disorganized state quicker or does it just have to do with which leader was
assigned to that army / corp / division at the start of the battle.

Anyway, I'm completely addicted to this game. Much better strategic game than say
Rome: Total War and the tactical game reminds me a lot of Steel Panthers which is a
good thing. I love especially the way formations have such a big impact on the detailed
battles.

Oh, that reminds me, one last thing:

Is there any way to just fire up a big detailed battle? Pick forces for both sides, randomly
generate a map and go at it?

[Reg Pither]

2) You can switch leaders around between divisions during Detailed Battles - they aren't assigned until the battle starts, and will change with every battle. When the division containing the leader you want move is active, move the cursor over the division that you want to move the leader to, and press 'G''.

One last thing - no, there is no way to just create a battle to play, although that does come up on many wish lists on this board. Maybe in a sequel/expansion pack...?

[Hard Sarge]

some others will have to reply for some of these

no you can not disband units (on the list of things we hope to get added)

running out of money, one of the biggest, how many depot do you have out, they eat money fast, use them when you need them, get rid of them as soon as you don't, when you can, try to use one, to supply different provinces with troops

Mechants are strange, are you putting them into the same area ?, best if kept apart, and away from other ships (merchants/pirates)

upgrades, you need barracks and Culture, kick all the cheap ones up as fast as you can, the ones that cost more, take more time, add labor to the devlopment area to speed there building

(barracks size is not needed (only for what can be built there, how long it takes to build there)it is the number of barracks level+culture levels/by something)
(I am sure Religh or Eric will drop in and give better details)

troops, where possible if you can, put them into cities (I am not totally sure how protectorate troops work/count, so don't want to say anything else)

[Ralegh]

ORIGINAL: GordianKnot
Just bought COG last Thursday. I spent most of the weekend
playing it, only stopping when the wifee poo dragged me away
from the KB.
There are a few minor things I'm struggling with, hope someone
can help...
(I've been playing as Spain / standard difficulty / standard
scenario. First move was "Raleigh's top 10" which got me into
a nice start.)
1) Protectorats. I have a lot of Protectorats in Italy. At a certain
point, they just start cranking out units. I don't seem to have
any control over this. And I always end up running real short of money.
Am I paying for the upkeep of these units? If so, can they be disbanded?
Is there anything I can do to control their production?

a) The levy is related to the time of year. The size of the levy is a combination of the province, and your feauldal setting. In 1.1, if your feudal is zero, you will stop seeing these guys. If you build barracks in the palces they come on (before you declare it a protectorate, of course), they will be a bit better quality. The protectorate pays the upkeep on the unit, but you pay supply (if relevent). You cannot disband units or dictate production orders to a protectorate.

2) Leaders. When I add a leader to an army / corp, is there any way to
control which division he'll be assigned to when I go into detailed battle?

No - it is random. Use the G key to move him around in detailed combat.

3) Money. I keep running out. I build banks, merchant ships and put them
by ports, set my trade policy to trade things I have an excess of, raise taxes
as a last resort, not sure what else to do.

I no longer build banks very often - its a lot of cash upfront for not that much return in many provinces. Consider moving all garrisons out of their cities into the countryside (where no enemy can reach the province) - they can forage, and it will help. Supply less units and maintain far fewer depots. I also tend to put my tax rate up to 30% until my economy comes good.

4) Military upgrades, how do I get to the point where I can do my first upgrade
the quickest? I hate going into a major battle before I have Formation Drilling
done. Do I build up a lot of small baracks or does it go by the level
of my biggest one. Right now, I concentrate all of my barack building on the
biggest one and a coastal one for ships. Everything else goes into banks.

One big one for building units makes sense. However, I now build lots of these imporvements - upgrades are more important to your game than lots of other things, I reckon.

Barracks count best, and culture counts half as much, It is base level - so 3 cities of 3 equate to one of 9. Of course, 3 x 3 is much cheaper and faster to build. So: I make a priority of getting all provinces to level 3 in barracks and level 3 in culture (because its cheap). Later I move my standard up to level 4.

5) Detailed battles. Does having a leader right next to a unit help get it out
of disorganized state quicker or does it just have to do with which leader was
assigned to that army / corp / division at the start of the battle.

Having a leader in command of a particular division certainly helps that division organize. Divisions are also impacted by the 2, 3 and 4 star commanders in their chain of command (ie, in their corps or army). Physical proximity to a leader makes no difference at all.

Anyway, I'm completely addicted to this game. Much better strategic game than say
Rome: Total War and the tactical game reminds me a lot of Steel Panthers which is a
good thing. I love especially the way formations have such a big impact on the detailed
battles.

Oh, that reminds me, one last thing:

Is there any way to just fire up a big detailed battle? Pick forces for both sides, randomly
generate a map and go at it?

No - that is not a game feature at the moment. It is a FRF (frequently requested feature) and I would expect to see it in an expansion pack or something like that.

[mavraamides]

Thanks everyone for your prompt and informative replies!

That cleared up A LOT of the fog.

I'm not sure if it will be in time to save Spain's economy
but at least I'll know better what to do next time!