Spend money or veterans or quipment

[Paul_KT]

When at camp, do people prioritize upgrading equipment (primarily Springfield 1855s) or recruiting veterans to keep experience high?

[Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf]

Depends on the side. For confederates keeping a broader base of veteran units is more important than for the Union, with the Union you only need one or two divisions of harded veterans for fortification assaults in the late campaign. I usually go more for equipment. Some veterans to keep the vet level (at least level 1 is advised), rest recruits, and sooner or later descend rifles.

[killjoy1941]

Much of this depends upon the difficulty you've chosen. Easier difficulty levels will see you swimming in recruits and money, so you're able to do a bit of everything. The harder difficulty levels require the player to be much more frugal. Generally, when resources are tight it's best to reserve the best weapons for the most experienced units, and the same applies to veterans.

The early game is all about expansion and fielding your army. The sooner you get several full corps, the more experience they can gain. Once I have a sustainable force I can field, I'll begin adding veterans and better weapons for veteran units, shifting brigades as needed to win minor battles efficiently while gaining as much experience as possible. I almost never spend more than $5,000 on veterans in a brigade at any one time. It's entirely possible to have as many as 4-8 three star brigades for Richmond or Washington, and it's also entirely possible to have nearly all other brigades at two stars. This is BG or MG. Legendary requires you to conserve resources at every opportunity, so you'll have less experienced troops regardless of what you do.

Equipment is a bit more to personal taste, but a veteran brigade equipped with Springfield '61s or Fayettevilles will wipe the floor with anything thrown at it if well positioned. Green troops will just lose your new and expensive rifles. I generally start assigning better equipment at the high 1 to 2 star range, where firearms have hit 50 or 60. Artillery gets better guns at 1-2 stars, and good cavalry will work with whatever you give them. Skirmishers shouldn't be using expensive weapons unless you can micro the well or they're 1-2 stars with long range weapons.