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My Union Campaign: Wrapped Up Georgia Railroad: Nearly There


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I feel like I stated give divisional level commands without really explaining the concept.  The idea is really more that you are making deliberate movements when you can with your forces towards a discrete objective.  The division for me is the operational level because it has enough firepower to take care of itself in most circumstances so you don't lose a brigade put wandering by itself and isolated.

But the most important thing, on offense in particular, is to have a plan.  While you maneuver by division in a broad sense your divisions still work as part of a corps as often as possible.

If I were going to critique how you play it from watching your videos it would mostly be that you are very reactionary.  You kind of take off and move towards the objectives and when you see an enemy concentration you grab some nearby units and blast away.

I try at whatever level I am fighting on the offensive be it a massive multi corps battle or a division and change in the small battles to focus on a few things when I have to move offensively.

I try to divide my forces mentally into a fixing and maneuver force.  If my goal is to flank the opponent off a position I have to also have force to keep them fixed forward lest they just turn to face me.

I try to gauge the size of maneuver force I think I will need based on the depth of the movement I will have to make.  The further I have to go and the heavier the resistance will be the more relative weight I need behind the move.  Troops can only fight so long before breaking or just wearing down.  You will get a feel for how far a unit can chew through the enemy after a while.  Do you need 1 division?  Two?  A whole corps?  You have to get a feel for it.

Offensively I find artillery much more difficult to utilize well.  Finding a position where I can place my artillery and then support my movement is critical and can be a determining factor in where I strike.

In short I think you will find that there is a lot of offensive coordination needed at places like Antitem and Fredericksburg.  If you chase just what you see you will struggle.

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I really have to say one of the hardest things to do in the game is to launch coordinated assaults.  I kind of wish you could give orders to a corps or division to try and hold or seize a location rather than having to micromanage the assaults.  Though it is much more realistic in being very difficult to launch a coordinated assault, it would make Cold Harbor much easier. And any attack on an entrenched enemy for that matter.

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5 hours ago, Buford Protege said:

I really have to say one of the hardest things to do in the game is to launch coordinated assaults.  I kind of wish you could give orders to a corps or division to try and hold or seize a location rather than having to micromanage the assaults.  Though it is much more realistic in being very difficult to launch a coordinated assault, it would make Cold Harbor much easier. And any attack on an entrenched enemy for that matter.

That is exactly how I feel.  I just finished Gaines' Mill (am still editing it) damn that was a tough one for me. My hardest yet. 

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I'd like to see how you do your camp.  I saw you have a single point in Recon.  Recon only provides benefits in multiples of two career points.  If you add one more career point to Recon you will have info on the enemy's starting strength for each battle. 4 points gives you a 'power bar' that shows relative strength of both sides continuously through the battle.  Recon isn't generally worth investing in past that though. That said, your emphasis on Politics is good.

For gameplay feedback, I've noticed that sometimes you reposition your artillery short distances numerous times.  Since they have to pack up and limber/unlimber to move, this can be inefficient when overdone.

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3 hours ago, Fred Sanford said:

I'd like to see how you do your camp.  I saw you have a single point in Recon.  Recon only provides benefits in multiples of two career points.  If you add one more career point to Recon you will have info on the enemy's starting strength for each battle. 4 points gives you a 'power bar' that shows relative strength of both sides continuously through the battle.  Recon isn't generally worth investing in past that though. That said, your emphasis on Politics is good.

For gameplay feedback, I've noticed that sometimes you reposition your artillery short distances numerous times.  Since they have to pack up and limber/unlimber to move, this can be inefficient when overdone.

Thanks for the tips.  I can spend some time in the camp screen if you guys like (it's actually one of my favorite aspects of this game).  

Just finished Gaines' Mill and it nearly kicked my butt.  I think you can also here me begging my men not to route.  (See OP for updated link)

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To be fair I was surprised by how quickly you were able to rally and move around to the left when things went sideways for you at Malvern Hill.  I thought you were totally done.  It really is a battle that you need to rack up kills on though.  You are likely going to pay for it later.  Some thoughts.

  • Lots of the early fortifications are pure garbage, at least they were in previous versions not sure about new patch.  They just kind of stretch you out and leave you trying to hold too much frontage.
  • The key for me at Malvern is to hold the woods on the right between the two creeks.  You may need to rotate units into and out of the woods repeatedly but its the strongest position you can hold along the front.
  • At the same time you have to keep some degree of watch on the fords along the flank.  Cav and detached units don't have the firepower to stop whole brigades coming across at this point.  The good news is you hold dominant ground on both sides.  One brigade can often hold the left (with detached units to keep an eye on just where the enemy is) by positioning it so it brings the enemy under effective fire as they try to cross the creek.  You may need a couple on the right but I found that if properly watched the AI generally gave up and went back to bashing its head against my front line up by the northern entrenchments.

With regard to your army management...

  • My personal view, I don't buy veterans early and I don't find 3 star units worth the trouble early.  If I can keep someone at 2-star for a reasonable price I will do so.  Once they are 3 star I am very cautious in where I commit that unit to not have to spend cash to keep them up there.  To me army size at a reasonable minimum is much more important than having veterans.  I particularly won't sink huge sums of cash putting veterans into a handful of brigades.  In general I don't like to have units that I am not willing to risk on the field.  If I manage things right I feel like I can field a division or two of 2-stars for the cost of 1 or 2 3-star brigades that always get tossed into the fire to save situations.  Just my approach.  I would be curious what percentage of your money has been sunk into the "Hardball" brigade to this point.  I would bet it is something along the lines of 20-40%.  Some of that money should be in buying up every 24-pound howitzer and other useful equipment you can find in my view.  I never buy vets in large numbers.
  • I do always buy veterans for artillery because its relatively cheap compared to doing so for infantry units.
  • Some of that money also needs to go into buying up as many generals and colonels as you can get your hands on.  Officer casualties get absurd as the game moves along.  Between officers who die and those who are just not available due to wounds I find I never have quite enough generals to fully do things how I would like and I bought a ton of officers.

I have found the whole thing interesting.  Win 2nd Bull Run early if you can (start of day 2) unless they fixed that situation.   You have some major step up's in need for coordination and army size coming up.  I worry you are going to suffer heavily for having so much in resources lavished on 2,000 men.

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9 hours ago, Bigjku said:

To be fair I was surprised by how quickly you were able to rally and move around to the left when things went sideways for you at Malvern Hill.  I thought you were totally done.  It really is a battle that you need to rack up kills on though.  You are likely going to pay for it later.  Some thoughts.

  • Lots of the early fortifications are pure garbage, at least they were in previous versions not sure about new patch.  They just kind of stretch you out and leave you trying to hold too much frontage.
  • The key for me at Malvern is to hold the woods on the right between the two creeks.  You may need to rotate units into and out of the woods repeatedly but its the strongest position you can hold along the front.
  • At the same time you have to keep some degree of watch on the fords along the flank.  Cav and detached units don't have the firepower to stop whole brigades coming across at this point.  The good news is you hold dominant ground on both sides.  One brigade can often hold the left (with detached units to keep an eye on just where the enemy is) by positioning it so it brings the enemy under effective fire as they try to cross the creek.  You may need a couple on the right but I found that if properly watched the AI generally gave up and went back to bashing its head against my front line up by the northern entrenchments.

With regard to your army management...

  • My personal view, I don't buy veterans early and I don't find 3 star units worth the trouble early.  If I can keep someone at 2-star for a reasonable price I will do so.  Once they are 3 star I am very cautious in where I commit that unit to not have to spend cash to keep them up there.  To me army size at a reasonable minimum is much more important than having veterans.  I particularly won't sink huge sums of cash putting veterans into a handful of brigades.  In general I don't like to have units that I am not willing to risk on the field.  If I manage things right I feel like I can field a division or two of 2-stars for the cost of 1 or 2 3-star brigades that always get tossed into the fire to save situations.  Just my approach.  I would be curious what percentage of your money has been sunk into the "Hardball" brigade to this point.  I would bet it is something along the lines of 20-40%.  Some of that money should be in buying up every 24-pound howitzer and other useful equipment you can find in my view.  I never buy vets in large numbers.
  • I do always buy veterans for artillery because its relatively cheap compared to doing so for infantry units.
  • Some of that money also needs to go into buying up as many generals and colonels as you can get your hands on.  Officer casualties get absurd as the game moves along.  Between officers who die and those who are just not available due to wounds I find I never have quite enough generals to fully do things how I would like and I bought a ton of officers.

I have found the whole thing interesting.  Win 2nd Bull Run early if you can (start of day 2) unless they fixed that situation.   You have some major step up's in need for coordination and army size coming up.  I worry you are going to suffer heavily for having so much in resources lavished on 2,000 me

 

Thanks for all the feedback sir.  I remember the first time I played this battle ages ago I did hold the right flank woods.  Yeah, I screwed up pretty hard on this one.  Thanks for all the feedback I may ease up on burning cash on vets for now.  

Any tips for Kettle Run?  It's my next one.

As for paying for it later, I am indeed Malvern Hill wrecked my army, I'm trying to do this run without save scumming too much.  We'll see if I can recover.  Although my performance on Thoroughfare gap wasn't great either. 

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On 5/26/2017 at 1:46 AM, Bigjku said:

To be fair I was surprised by how quickly you were able to rally and move around to the left when things went sideways for you at Malvern Hill.  I thought you were totally done.  It really is a battle that you need to rack up kills on though.  You are likely going to pay for it later.  Some thoughts.

  • Lots of the early fortifications are pure garbage, at least they were in previous versions not sure about new patch.  They just kind of stretch you out and leave you trying to hold too much frontage.
  • The key for me at Malvern is to hold the woods on the right between the two creeks.  You may need to rotate units into and out of the woods repeatedly but its the strongest position you can hold along the front.
  • At the same time you have to keep some degree of watch on the fords along the flank.  Cav and detached units don't have the firepower to stop whole brigades coming across at this point.  The good news is you hold dominant ground on both sides.  One brigade can often hold the left (with detached units to keep an eye on just where the enemy is) by positioning it so it brings the enemy under effective fire as they try to cross the creek.  You may need a couple on the right but I found that if properly watched the AI generally gave up and went back to bashing its head against my front line up by the northern entrenchments.

With regard to your army management...

  • My personal view, I don't buy veterans early and I don't find 3 star units worth the trouble early.  If I can keep someone at 2-star for a reasonable price I will do so.  Once they are 3 star I am very cautious in where I commit that unit to not have to spend cash to keep them up there.  To me army size at a reasonable minimum is much more important than having veterans.  I particularly won't sink huge sums of cash putting veterans into a handful of brigades.  In general I don't like to have units that I am not willing to risk on the field.  If I manage things right I feel like I can field a division or two of 2-stars for the cost of 1 or 2 3-star brigades that always get tossed into the fire to save situations.  Just my approach.  I would be curious what percentage of your money has been sunk into the "Hardball" brigade to this point.  I would bet it is something along the lines of 20-40%.  Some of that money should be in buying up every 24-pound howitzer and other useful equipment you can find in my view.  I never buy vets in large numbers.
  • I do always buy veterans for artillery because its relatively cheap compared to doing so for infantry units.
  • Some of that money also needs to go into buying up as many generals and colonels as you can get your hands on.  Officer casualties get absurd as the game moves along.  Between officers who die and those who are just not available due to wounds I find I never have quite enough generals to fully do things how I would like and I bought a ton of officers.

I have found the whole thing interesting.  Win 2nd Bull Run early if you can (start of day 2) unless they fixed that situation.   You have some major step up's in need for coordination and army size coming up.  I worry you are going to suffer heavily for having so much in resources lavished on 2,000 me

 

Thanks for all the feedback sir.  I remember the first time I played this battle ages ago I did hold the right flank woods.  Yeah, I screwed up pretty hard on this one.  Thanks for all the feedback I may ease up on burning cash on vets for now.  

Any tips for Kettle Run?  It's my next one.

As for paying for it later, I am indeed Malvern Hill wrecked my army, I'm trying to do this run without save scumming too much.  We'll see if I can recover.  Although my performance on Thoroughfare gap wasn't great either. 

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You commented on how sometimes it's hard to tell where high ground is/lay of the land.  By the upper left corner of the mini map is a button labeled "view".  Press it, and you get a 'perspective' view that will show the lay of the land much better. Zoom in/out with it on.

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11 hours ago, Fred Sanford said:

You commented on how sometimes it's hard to tell where high ground is/lay of the land.  By the upper left corner of the mini map is a button labeled "view".  Press it, and you get a 'perspective' view that will show the lay of the land much better. Zoom in/out with it on.

Thank you Mr. Sanford, I didn't even thing about using that.  Whew, now to finished 2nd Bull Run, I just failed it by 2 minutes capturing stony ridge, attempt 2 here I go. 

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Make full use of flanking abilities to help lower your cost in losses.  Use Nicodemus Hill as a route to flank with a brigade or two of infantry.  Then if you add a 3rd from your first set of reinforcements it makes for a nice sweeping movement that avoids much of the best defensive positions around the church.  Then make sure to flank the southern flank of the Sunken Road.  Or advance troops across with artillery support and let them try to hammer you and weaken their front in other areas.  Hit in one area and the game accommodates and pulls troops away.

Long story short, believe in Lee and turn the flank.

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17 hours ago, Buford Protege said:

Make full use of flanking abilities to help lower your cost in losses.  Use Nicodemus Hill as a route to flank with a brigade or two of infantry.  Then if you add a 3rd from your first set of reinforcements it makes for a nice sweeping movement that avoids much of the best defensive positions around the church.  Then make sure to flank the southern flank of the Sunken Road.  Or advance troops across with artillery support and let them try to hammer you and weaken their front in other areas.  Hit in one area and the game accommodates and pulls troops away.

Long story short, believe in Lee and turn the flank.

Thanks for the tips.  I will throw in a Buford brigade as thanks.  Off to do Antietam now. 

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Will repeat the advice given above and elsewhere.  Get around their flank up north. Peel them off in layers around the farm.  I concentrate my artillery except for a rifled unit or two just north of the farm initially.  Make sure you engage the entrenched forces from the front only just as your flank attack arrives.  Get to the Southern edge of those woods and reanchor yourself.  Then once they shatter themselves move south and envelope heir center and right flank.

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You complained about scattering of divisions in the set up.  You can move brigades around within the deployment box, and if you click on a brigade the info box in the lower left will tell you it's corps/division.  So you can shuffle them around to group divisions.

Also, max out your supply wagons for Antietam.  It's a long battle.

Edited by Fred Sanford
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35 minutes ago, Fred Sanford said:

You complained about scattering of divisions in the set up.  You can move brigades around within the deployment box, and if you click on a brigade the info box in the lower left will tell you it's corps/division.  So you can shuffle them around to group divisions.

Also, max out your supply wagons for Antietam.  It's a long battle.

2 hours ago, Bigjku said:

Will repeat the advice given above and elsewhere.  Get around their flank up north. Peel them off in layers around the farm.  I concentrate my artillery except for a rifled unit or two just north of the farm initially.  Make sure you engage the entrenched forces from the front only just as your flank attack arrives.  Get to the Southern edge of those woods and reanchor yourself.  Then once they shatter themselves move south and envelope heir center and right flank.

Thank you both.  I will throw in a Sanford and Bigjku brigades for you guys.  Thanks for the tips.  Sanford I did finally figure out what you just mentioned.  

 

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Just got around to watching 2nd Bull Run.  My only real advice would be that you don't really need to attack until all your divisions are in place from your first corps.

When you are on the offensive against a totally passive enemy take the time to arrange your forces (within reason) and strike a massed blow at the place of your choosing.  It will spare your condition as you won't have lagging divisions running to catch divisions under heavy pressure and it will give you units immediately on hand to follow up initial success and prevent the enemy from reestablsihing its lines as your initial 4 or 5 brigades wear down.

Your attack was in largely the right spot.  But get that artillery up and have reserves ready to exploit it before you make contact.  It will drive up enemy casualties and down yours by preventing them from rallying troops you break out of positions.

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Just finished Antietam guys.  Wow you weren't kidding, you can really close the net on this one.  Let me know how I did.  Also see how well you brigade survived.  Still taking requests if I missed anyone that wants a brigade named after them.  

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