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Help Needed for Union Cavalry Raid for iOS


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I need some help with the Union cavalry raid for iOS. I have tried and been unsuccessful in all of my attempts to kill 1,500 Confederate troops. I have tried sending in my skirmishers against the Confederate brigades and attacking with my cavalry from the rear and vise versa but that hasn't worked. I've tried a mass assault with all of my troops on individual Confederate brigades which has also failed along with attempts to pull a "massive" flanking maneuver. If anyone has any suggestions for different tactics that they used or would could simply suggest that would be fantastic, thank you!

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I need some help with the Union cavalry raid for iOS. I have tried and been unsuccessful in all of my attempts to kill 1,500 Confederate troops. I have tried sending in my skirmishers against the Confederate brigades and attacking with my cavalry from the rear and vise versa but that hasn't worked. I've tried a mass assault with all of my troops on individual Confederate brigades which has also failed along with attempts to pull a "massive" flanking maneuver. If anyone has any suggestions for different tactics that they used or would could simply suggest that would be fantastic, thank you!

Hey there! I haven't played it yet on a mobile device but I assume it works similar to the PC version.

 

I've had good success telling my skirmishers to 'Hold' on favorable terrain (with cover of at least 70%). Eventually you'll take so few casualties compared to what your'e dishing out they'll run off. I use the cavalry to hit the unit fighting my skirmishers from the sides, but not in a sustained attack I get one volley off then I fall back for a while again until the unit focuses on my infantry again.

 

You can also use the cavalry to shoot at enemy units as they move to engage your larger units. (just be prepared to give the retreat command the moment you take fire or even when you see them turn to face your cavalry)

Edited by muggl3z
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I need some help with the Union cavalry raid for iOS. I have tried and been unsuccessful in all of my attempts to kill 1,500 Confederate troops. I have tried sending in my skirmishers against the Confederate brigades and attacking with my cavalry from the rear and vise versa but that hasn't worked. I've tried a mass assault with all of my troops on individual Confederate brigades which has also failed along with attempts to pull a "massive" flanking maneuver. If anyone has any suggestions for different tactics that they used or would could simply suggest that would be fantastic, thank you!

I have the same problem on IOS! I have attempted the suggestions by muggl3z to no avail.

I am more than troubled by how the confederate units are as FAST in pursuit of a Calvary units??? I am even using the "easy" mode on IOS.

Suggestions

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I have also tried the tactic suggested, I was able to take out about 1,000 Confederates compared to averaging about 800 before. I am also using "easy" mode and the speed of the Confederate troops compared to the Union cavalry also bothers me. By the time the artillery and last battalions of cavalry arrive it is too late in the time limit and it is near impossible to complete the task.

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I'm having the same issue here. The best I've been able to achieve thus far was slightly over 1k kills. This was using tactics that no real-life General would ever try.

My best results were: Fortified one regiment near the cannons, and two others with enfilade fire. Used the small Calvary group to lure a Confederate Brigade into the trap. Held main Calvary in reserve. Once I had the Brigade locked down I then brought in the Calvalry to attack from the rear. Can rout the Brigade but only do about 750 casualties. Start to run out of time so I desperately smash all my forces into whomever I can. Watch morale plummet and run out of time.

I've tried variants of this by moving to forward positions, sending my Cav to the rear after luring out their forward elements. Also completely different tactics with less desirable outcomes. No luck.

It seems to me that a 1k kill level is a more reasonable result and wouldn't cause us to resort to using tricks to try to "win" and progress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Same issue, have gotten myself to 1300 killed, fortified the small knoll just north of the confederate artillery, used the vidette's to draw out a regiment (that's made purely of Usain Bolt sprinters as they catch the cavalry) and attempt to lure the confederacy into an uphill battle. Have chased two regiments off the map (shouldn't that count for SOMETHING???) only to have time expire.

Love the game, but this one seems a little far fetched... If the goal is to disrepute the Rebs supply lines and formation, shouldn't pushing someone off the map count?

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Artillery is a key element to get 1.5 kills. Kill at first CSA artillery as an easy target, then use your cavalry to decoy an enemy towards of artillery. Usually enemies have low morale after multiple cavalry attacks and it is enough to have a shot of artillery to collect kills and smash enemies.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Can't agree more with earlier comments, this mission is a dog, really bad design. On easy mode it should be straightforward, but what makes it so hard is that Confed forces that leave the battle field are not counted toward your total. What is worse you cannot proceed until this battle is won. Weak game design that reminds me of the olden days when developers would create a level so hard almost no one made it past that point to see what a poor ending a game had. Really disappointed with what feels like such an arcade approach to this version of the game. For the record I also own the PC version of the game and really enjoyed it.

With this mission like it is I would never recommend this game on iOS to anyone.

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As sterner said, artillery is the key.  Draw the CSA infantry away from their artillery battery, then destroy it with a cavalry charge (that's around 300 or so kills).  Park your artillery on the knoll in the northeast that commands the field, have it dig in, and then try to draw CSA infantry close enough so they take canister shots from the artillery.  Major kill numbers.  Even if they eventually wipe out your artillery, you can still get the 1500 kills.

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  • 11 months later...

Hello, new to the forum. I am stuck on this mission as well. I have gotten close (1287) but so far haven't been able to beat the scenario.

I have had ok luck having a cavalry unit flank and charge enemy artillery. They can usually wipe the entire battery out taking low casualties in fairly short order. Of course the overwhelming number of enemy infantry is always where I seem to fail. I'm wondering if there is time enough to send other cavalry units in search of additional artillery units. I know there is at least one more.

Also, where do you guys usually place your artillery (Union)

Thanks!

-Mike

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  • 5 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Send your skirmishers into the triangular wood right before them. Put Gregg in there with them. Send the videttes sweeping down the road that heads south and meets with a larger one also heading south -- take that until you get to the small patch of woods where the contour lines are bowing out. Loop around it, staying within the 388 contour. Just at the apex you should induce the nearby Barksdale to charge at you.

Fall back toward the woods but cut across the open a little bit. It'll invite cannon fire. You'll take a few casualties, but that battery will now be in motion and that's the important part. Keep falling back, making sure you don't get too far away from Barksdale that he loses interest. Flee into the woods. If he doesn't follow you, stick your smallest group of skirmishers on the edge so he can see them, he'll usually charge then.

When Barksdale goes into the woods, keep falling back with the unit he's targeting. While he charges past the other skirmishers, hit him with flank fire.  Barksdale's charge will slow, stop, waver, and then he'll break eventually. By this time you should have arty and your first batch of cav on the map. Move the arty to the knoll overlooking the woods when it comes in and put the cav as close as you can to Barksdale without direct combat, while he's busy being drygulched but hasn't broken yet.

As soon as Barksdale breaks -- and timing helps here, because this can happen right around the same time the rest of your cav arrives -- charge him with everything. Even the videttes.  The direction Barksdale's brigade attempts to flee in will change upon the circumstances, but you don't want him fleeing back to the main body of troops. If you're sloppy he'll slip away with the majority of his men, either to the south or skedaddling off the map. If you're sharp you can annihilate his brigade and meet your 1500 kill quota -- which, as people have noted without understanding it, is not the same thing as a 1500 casualty quota as kills are only one kind of casualty. 

Meanwhile, the Rebel arty that fired on your videttes often comes looking for them. By itself. I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you how to handle that, and add them to your score.

The major trick to doing this successfully is to keep an eye on where your units are on the map and knowing what's visible from the southern part of the map, and to keep them out of sight of Ewell's men entering from the right of the map.  If you're the least bit sloppy you'll start taking cannon fire from Jones' battery and unlike the other one, Jones will just put his guns on an advantageous spot and start bombarding you. He will have the advantage, he'll be able to shoot you when you can't shoot him, and running down there to take him out is doable but will cost you dear in men, as you'll run into at least one, if not two or more, three star Rebel infantry brigades. If Jones starts bombarding your men, your choices are to take the losses, or to go take more trying to silence his batteries, and while you can, indeed, using a variation on these same tactics -- draw the brigade in a charge, maneuver fire onto its flanks, then charge with everything when it breaks and starts to flee -- but that will end up being Smith, who despite being half Barksdale's size will hurt you worse than Barksdale can, or Gordon, with one of the biggest three star brigades the Rebs have. And you won't be in a woods where your units are hidden, like they are when you ambush Barksdale. So it won't go as well as that did. If Ewell is there to sustain their morale and condition, it'll go worse than that.

A lot of folks are frustrated with the abilities of Federal cavalry in this scenario, but they're fairly accurate. There's a reason Buford dismounted his men to defend the ridges west of Gettysburg instead of leaving them mounted, and in the Civil War, cav got shot to pieces if it tried to charge infantry. They weren't trained well with the saber charge and almost never attempted it.  It's a bad idea for a standup fight. If you want to do well on this scenario, you should be doing three things with your cav -- keeping them out of sight at first, feinting or circling at the flanks and hitting with harassing fire (you can keep a battery spinning around and not firing for quite a while if you are sharp about it, it's probably a little too easy to do), and waiting for the infantry to eventually fall into disorder. When a brigade badge starts flashing white, charge it with your cav, because under those circumstances they go from cannon fodder to killing machines.  Charging cav at infantry under any other circumstances is a dangerous tactic so don't be surprised it if kills half your troop in half a minute. Once that selfsame infantry breaks ranks and starts to flee, three charging troops of cav can kill over a thousand fleeing infantry in short order, so it's pretty clear how you want to use them.

Finally, a number of folks have talked about the importance of artillery. In my point of view it's probably the least important part of your puzzle. It's of use if you can manage to get fire onto an advancing brigade but that's just to damage the morale and make them break faster so you can charge and annihilate them.  Moving them any closer into the action, let alone close enough for canister fire, will invigorate the enemy; UG says that AI units get no special bonuses to make them competitive, but I don't really believe them. I've found that putting cannon in their face tends to temporarily turn even lowly one star brigades into bionic killing machines spattered with bits of horse and carriage, so I avoid doing that.  None of this is to say that everyone talking about arty is wrong - maybe in their tactical approach it's much more important, but that hasn't been the case for me for this scenario.

Edited by reswright
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