Disease, desertions and looting
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2025 12:06 pm
IMHO, Armies of SC ACW are too organized and effective compared to historical reality. Historically, Union and Confederate armies suffered from two incurable plagues: disease and desertion. It was difficult for a commander to plan and schedule an attack, especially since his troops in the field, at the time of movement and/or attack, were significantly reduced compared to those available on paper.
Regimental histories and testimonies consistently highlight the problem of manpower. Military medical system was terrible and did not substantially improve during the conflict. And then there were the prisoners, who needed large armed escorts to be taken to the detention centers for which the military police was insufficient and had to draw on front-line units.
In terms of gameplay, I think this "indeterminacy" should be incorporated into various game mechanics. Attrition losses when out of supply are perhaps fine for simulating 19th-century conflicts with regular troops and an efficient command system, but they're not enough for armies made up of "volunteers" who sometimes, and perhaps in some cases with good reason, ceased to be such.
Perhaps a mechanism similar to partisan activity could be used for the units as well for cities, with variability determined by location (men from Minnesota perhaps aren't likely to desert if they're in Alabama). Experience, readiness, and morale could naturally be considered factors that positively or negatively modify not only a unit's operational capacity, but also its strength.
Perhaps a check could be made at the start of a turn to determine a unit's actual available strength (for example, a 10-man corps that doesn't pass it will have its effective strength reduced by 10%, while if it doesn't pass it badly, it will be reduced by 20%). The loss of strength could be temporary. Only in this way, in my opinion, could we simulate events like the campaign that led to the First Battle of Bull Run, in which some Union regiments moved away from the battlefield because their voluntary service period had expired.
Even the conquest of a medium-large city should be considered. The desire of looting could stop troops. In game terms, units entering a conquered city, not just the first one, may be subject to a check, which becomes progressively less difficult to face depending on the order of entry. A unit that fails to pass the check consumes all its remaining action points.
Regimental histories and testimonies consistently highlight the problem of manpower. Military medical system was terrible and did not substantially improve during the conflict. And then there were the prisoners, who needed large armed escorts to be taken to the detention centers for which the military police was insufficient and had to draw on front-line units.
In terms of gameplay, I think this "indeterminacy" should be incorporated into various game mechanics. Attrition losses when out of supply are perhaps fine for simulating 19th-century conflicts with regular troops and an efficient command system, but they're not enough for armies made up of "volunteers" who sometimes, and perhaps in some cases with good reason, ceased to be such.
Perhaps a mechanism similar to partisan activity could be used for the units as well for cities, with variability determined by location (men from Minnesota perhaps aren't likely to desert if they're in Alabama). Experience, readiness, and morale could naturally be considered factors that positively or negatively modify not only a unit's operational capacity, but also its strength.
Perhaps a check could be made at the start of a turn to determine a unit's actual available strength (for example, a 10-man corps that doesn't pass it will have its effective strength reduced by 10%, while if it doesn't pass it badly, it will be reduced by 20%). The loss of strength could be temporary. Only in this way, in my opinion, could we simulate events like the campaign that led to the First Battle of Bull Run, in which some Union regiments moved away from the battlefield because their voluntary service period had expired.
Even the conquest of a medium-large city should be considered. The desire of looting could stop troops. In game terms, units entering a conquered city, not just the first one, may be subject to a check, which becomes progressively less difficult to face depending on the order of entry. A unit that fails to pass the check consumes all its remaining action points.