Wandering1

There is a flip side to the faster reload: you'll generally take fewer casualties if the enemy routs quicker, because the enemy is allowed fewer barrages. You're trading ammo efficiency for fewer casualties and getting the same job done is less time, basically.

Another note would be look at how high those unit stats are, and this is on normal. Just think about what these guys are on hard.

As another follow-on, it turns out you want to delay until the 3rd day, because there are even MORE reinforcements to kill. Among other things I learned when encircling these guys, it looks like surrenders can happen without melee contact. I tend to think the surrenders are probably just doing enough morale damage beyond a certain threshold (maybe -25?).

Who is leading the squad? If it's less than a Brigadier for a 2500 squad, you're taking a hit in efficiency, which basically lowers all of your stats. Also on hard mode, all of the statistics on the enemies are way higher than yours. Somewhere in the 50-60s minimum in every stat, even AI skirmishers have around 50-60 melee. You can see the stats by checking the detailed info on a captured unit.

Morale hits depend on how many casualties relative to unit size your unit is taking at any given moment. Since the AI generally has double size brigades compared to your brigades (as far as comparing non-sponge units with the AI units in general), that means you have to be dealing a lot more damage in the same period of the time for the same amount of morale damage. If you watch the morale bar, you'll notice how the morale meter drops for a longer time as the squad is getting fired upon by a 3000 man (roughly) squad compared to a 1300 or 1400 one, for the same amount of cover bonus. Flanking and rear flank have their own multipliers with regards to how much morale damage you are doing. Having a general near by increases the rate at which your unit regains morale, along with increasing the morale stat. However, this is still capped at morale 100, if your unit is already at morale 100.

Presumably, I tend to think that rather, weapons with longer range incur drop-off penalties farther out than the weapons with shorter range. What that drop-off penalty is, and if it is linear or not, is a different question.

A thought that might be quickly answered by someone whose been around longer than me: do Firearms and Accuracy combine for a final accuracy total of an infantry volley? Or average? The reason why the idle thought has come up is the question of how the 2* bonuses actually work out, whether the Accuracy boost or penalty is additive or multiplicative. If it's additive, then the 10 accuracy guns going up to 20 would basically double your ammo efficiency if Firearms and Accuracy average to a final accuracy result. Problem with this is that said 10 accuracy guns would go to 0 accuracy if you take the reload bonus, which incurs a -10 accuracy. If it is multiplicative, then 10% accuracy on a 10 accuracy gun is basically nothing. Even for the higher accuracy guns, it only adds maybe 4-6 additional accuracy, which is a drop in the water compared to -10% reload.

Main question would simply be how many top notch guns you're looking for. A min-size army would not have to spend much on restocking post battle, so you can spend the spare cash on better guns, when you hit Economy 10. Especially considering that as battles and cash rewards get bigger, if you're still spending relatively the same amount on reconstituting your army after the major battles, you'll have more cash left over to spend on new guns. Whether you'll get hard-capped because of the armory cap or not, that's a different question.

As a follow on, just tried this on my max size Union playthrough. Turns out you can spawn camp Longstreet's reinforcements, but since it's in the open, you basically have to use all of your vanguard that was supposed to hit their left flank to properly contain them. They spawn shortly after the main corps arrive, so there's no chance you can use the reinforcements to spawn camp Longstreet. It's amusing to see a bunch of squads immediately flee from getting canistered by 24 pdrs though. Afterwards, mop up of Longstreet's corp will likely take long enough for the rest of your forces to hit the field, so you can hit Jackson's corp with basically everything. Of note, it does beg the question of whether the 'optimizations' that were done on Fredericksburg should probably be done on 2nd Bull Run. My computer started slowing down when I was fighting Longstreet's corp and still duking it out with Jackson's corp.

Clearly means your men are lazy blokes who couldn't be bothered to move much.

Okay, even less min-size than me. Too lazy to go lower than 1000 on my squads, since that's where they start at.

Don't really have to if you're playing min-size. I'm sure those two squads can sponge recruits now, because the firearms boost from the perks would still keep it at Firearms 100. Obviously, this is far different for Union, because Union recruits are half as valuable as CSA recruits (the difference between 10 Firearms and 20 is pretty large for keeping skill levels high).

Sigfried and Kemper's squads at Efficiency/Firearms/Morale 100. This is my hard save for CSA. 14264 Kills/3392 Deaths. Playing min-size also because this was my first hard playthrough, and I was being miserly because you only get 10% kill drops.

I thought 100% was a bit much also, but effectively 0%? I could just be the display is incorrect, and it's adding the captures on the side, but either way, it's not exactly matching with what's been put in the patch notes.

Well, it does make sense about the non-standard weapons. The skirmishers for CSA on Fredericksburg carry 1855s. I did check the info tab on the captured skirmisher, and did see it equipped burnsides, however. Both of those skirmisher squads in that map had 500 men in them, so I guess it is just adding up 750 'killed' for the roughly 150 total.

The reload and accuracy I believe are the biggest jumps. Once you hit 3*, most of your veteran squads are already at 100 firearms, so there's severely diminishing returns unless we're informed that going over the firearms cap has a use in battle (and not really as a sponge to eat recruits in veteran squads).

Well. Something tells me at least some part of the captures is bugged. Note the captured 277 skirmishers in the corner, whereas I only get 150 burnsides. There were, in fact, two skirmisher squads on the map, both of which I had destroyed with my cavalry.

Also, it seems to be different between Hard and Normal. I do recall only seeing 'drops' in Hard, on the skirmishers, and only getting maybe 100 JF Brown TS's out of 2-3 captured squads (on Shiloh as CSA). If only the weapon data was also preserved to look at on the 'Career' screen instead of K/D ratios basically.

I was assuming the captures are in the drops. That might be where I'm confusing things.

You sure it's 100%? Because capturing a bunch of 140-150 squad skirmishers (after chopping off a 100 or so heads) only gives me about 50 rifles.

By crushing the enemy, it means wiping every squad down to the last man. On normal, I believe it's 20% kills = drops. Which is to say, a lot more compared to 10% on Hard. Just played through some of the maps again as Union, where it's actually to your benefit that you draw the battle out to the next day (Shiloh), because new squads spawn on the map. In that particular case, another cav squad spawns, and you get more NPC squads to go charging in to get killed (and steal their weapons).

Well, you never know if one of your men hitched a ride to keep a gun pointed at the crew...

Well, something I'll consider I guess. If only the minor battles didn't limit you to one corps, it would be a lot easier to bring training squads on the offense missions. Training squads other than new cavalry recruits anyways.

Is there really much of a point in moving closely with your infantry if you're using rifled artillery to train new artillery brigades? Figured rifled cannons had reduced canister efficiency. By sniping, I don't really mean using round shot, I'm more implying using shells, where your artillery isn't going to suffer the random crew kill from being near the infantry sponge squad.

If some of the minor battles didn't hard cap on time (as in, you must capture the VP by 0 time, instead of intentionally dragging out the battle), you can take the slower method. Just that a newer player wouldn't remember off the top of their head which minor battles hard cap on time, and which battles allow you to snipe with artillery all day.