Thoughts/experience after 2nd Legendary Confederate try

[Jamesk2]

Whew, today I've just finished the 2nd Legendary try in a few days. The first time I kind of got stuck at Shiloh, and this time I abandon the campaign right before Gaines' Mills as my financial status is kind of sad (I spent too much on veteran reinforcement and luxury weapons). And these are my experience:

1. Most of the battles are not that much harder, probably because I'm already playing close to maximum efficiency on Normal.  The only one where I had to rethink my strategy is Shiloh, where in the end I devised a brilliant blitzkrieg style attack by concentrate my force to exploit the gap between Shiloh Church and Hornet's Nest to rush for Pittsburg Landing while fighting delay action on both flanks.

2. But on the other hand, Camp management has become harder. Before, after a big battle, I would often get rolling in new guns taken from the Union, and I rarely have to pay for infantry guns. This time, even after a battle with 10k+ casualty for the Union, I would hardly get enough guns to replace my losses. Having to spend money on basic guns means you'll have less money on other stuffs like cavalry/skirmisher weapons or officers/training. Now I found most of my better infantry guns are from spending Reputation.

3. It also means that there are very few reasons to prolong the battle to wipe out the enemy. Basically the game devolve into "Grab the objectives then get the hell outta there". Some low-hanging fruit like the Ambush Convoy battle where you can camp the northern spawn point is still worth taking, but most of the time finishing the battle as soon as possible is more lucrative.

4. The one thing that is much more harder to deal with is skirmishers. On Normal skirmishers are just a slight nuisance, but on Legendary they are ALL equipped with the very best sniper guns, making their threats significantly higher. The only solace is that it means you can equip at least one Skirmisher unit with the same gun taken from Union skirmishers.

5. With the number disadvantage so large, many battles will be decided by random elements. Where and when the AI choose to attack, particularly with infantry charge, will drastically change its outcome. And it seems that AI actions are determined by a "personality" like in CW:G. Sometimes they will attack furiously right off the bat, while at other time they will move slowly and prefer to long range duels. Restarting until you get the favorable AI is essential for a successful campaign.

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Jamesk2

[Hobo]

Thanks for the tips.  I am in my first real campaign as the confeds in BG mode and am afraid I have done something wrong.  I have won every battle up to Malvern Hill but now cannot come to close to fielding the maximum number of brigades available for the Malvern Hill battle.  I have 38 pretty good brigades across two corp but the battle setup screen seems to give me the ability to play 4 corps each with 20 brigades.  Am I screwed?  

I have no idea how I could have gotten the budget for an army over twice the size that I have built.

[Squadron HQ]

29 minutes ago, Hobo said:

Thanks for the tips.  I am in my first real campaign as the confeds in BG mode and am afraid I have done something wrong.  I have won every battle up to Malvern Hill but now cannot come to close to fielding the maximum number of brigades available for the Malvern Hill battle.  I have 38 pretty good brigades across two corp but the battle setup screen seems to give me the ability to play 4 corps each with 20 brigades.  Am I screwed?  

I have no idea how I could have gotten the budget for an army over twice the size that I have built.

It's an absolute maximum - I'd be surprised if any players fight Malvern Hill with more than two corps. You want as few corps as possible (you will need two for 2nd Manassas and 3 for Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg, but only two for Chancellorsville. 

The available force deployments aren't recommended, it's just max available. You want fewer corps because the side missions only allow you to play one corps, but the AI will scale its forces for your whole army, not the one corps deployable.

[Aetius]

7 hours ago, Jamesk2 said:

4. The one thing that is much more harder to deal with is skirmishers. On Normal skirmishers are just a slight nuisance, but on Legendary they are ALL equipped with the very best sniper guns, making their threats significantly higher. The only solace is that it means you can equip at least one Skirmisher unit with the same gun taken from Union skirmishers.

Two melee cavalry brigades will take care of that problem for you. Spend as little money on them as possible, and be careful not to run them in front of enemy infantry. If you can afford it, a third skirmisher cavalry brigade will help them deal with enemy melee cavalry as well - though if you're careful, you can train enemy cavalry into your infantry to destroy them.

[Ohen]

As someone who has completed legendary for both sides, let me give you some pointers on your points.
 

1. On maps where you have to take objectives, rushing for them is more or less the only way to get it done. Find weak spots and go for them. On CSA side Shiloh phase 1 i went with a rush for the left side, then along the "ridge" behind the farmhouse. Pretty much pushing them towards the middle of what become the big map. For phase 2, the opposite, rush down to the right, cross down by the swamps and hold the forrested area at the top of the map, beware tho, reinforcements can spawn ontop of you if you missplay. After that, just push along the edges and take the landing before things get to ugly.
2. Get the fayettes as soon as possible and equip a brigade with them. Have them in the battles, but don't actually use them unless you really really have to. This inflates the AIs weapons and you get better weapons in the captured pile.
3. This is very true. But you should still stay as long as it's still "profitable". If you have perfect cover ( and i mean 100% cover with flat terrain infront ). Don't capture the objective if you don't have to. ( edit: you should still rush to a position where you can take it with minimal casualties ) Just sit there and collect monies. Yes, think of kills as money, it helps.
4. Don't use skirmishers and don't use cav. With the extra manpower added to the AI, any brigade of skirm or cav you have in your army will turn into deathmachines spawned by the AI. So it's actually better not to use them at all. Okey, maybe if you have some extra cash laying around you can grab a cav or 2. But the consequences might be horrible. ( When i played the CSA legendary i tried adding a 300man cav unit for the mission Ambush Convoy. This gave the AI 6 units of 500+man melee cav. Happy days! )
5. I've tried this out alot of times and have found that it's more about positioning. But i might be wrong on this one. What i have seen tho is that if i don't leave an opening, i don't get rushed.

Edited February 10, 2017 by Ohen

[Jamesk2]

5 hours ago, Aetius said:

Two melee cavalry brigades will take care of that problem for you. Spend as little money on them as possible, and be careful not to run them in front of enemy infantry. If you can afford it, a third skirmisher cavalry brigade will help them deal with enemy melee cavalry as well - though if you're careful, you can train enemy cavalry into your infantry to destroy them.

I'm not unfamiliar with incorporating shock cavalry in my army - at Antietam on Normal I have 8k cavalry to 80k infantry. But with all the money shortage in Legendary, having 2 shock cavalry early is a massive investment. And bringing 2 is only possible in some rare scenarios - for example it's good on Port Republic, but not on Cross Keys.

 

5 hours ago, Ohen said:

As someone who has completed legendary for both sides, let me give you some pointers on your points.
 

1. On maps where you have to take objectives, rushing for them is more or less the only way to get it done. Find weak spots and go for them. On CSA side Shiloh phase 1 i went with a rush for the left side, then along the "ridge" behind the farmhouse. Pretty much pushing them towards the middle of what become the big map. For phase 2, the opposite, rush down to the right, cross down by the swamps and hold the forrested area at the top of the map, beware tho, reinforcements can spawn ontop of you if you missplay. After that, just push along the edges and take the landing before things get to ugly.
2. Get the fayettes as soon as possible and equip a brigade with them. Have them in the battles, but don't actually use them unless you really really have to. This inflates the AIs weapons and you get better weapons in the captured pile.
3. This is very true. But you should still stay as long as it's still "profitable". If you have perfect cover ( and i mean 100% cover with flat terrain infront ). Don't capture the objective if you don't have to. ( edit: you should still rush to a position where you can take it with minimal casualties ) Just sit there and collect monies. Yes, think of kills as money, it helps.
4. Don't use skirmishers and don't use cav. With the extra manpower added to the AI, any brigade of skirm or cav you have in your army will turn into deathmachines spawned by the AI. So it's actually better not to use them at all. Okey, maybe if you have some extra cash laying around you can grab a cav or 2. But the consequences might be horrible. ( When i played the CSA legendary i tried adding a 300man cav unit for the mission Ambush Convoy. This gave the AI 6 units of 500+man melee cav. Happy days! )
5. I've tried this out alot of times and have found that it's more about positioning. But i might be wrong on this one. What i have seen tho is that if i don't leave an opening, i don't get rushed.

2. I doubt it's a wise choice to inflate AI weapon. If your K/D is around 3:1 then you're still paying 3 guns from your side to get 1 gun from the AI (as you only get about 10%). I would rather settle with using Palmetto for a long time if it means I don't have to face M1855s from the Union.

4. Funny enough Ambush Convoy is the easiest battle I found on the Confederate side (well 1st Winchester is also easy, but you won't take as much kill). My losses totaled about 200 (the cavalry losses are from the given unit) and I wiped out the northern spawn to the last man.

5. In all battles I have created a set of fixed tactics that I would stick as close to them as possible. Still even with the exact same deployment AI would react differently. It's most visible on 1st Bull Run, sometimes they will attempt to cross the bridge with the initial Ohio-NY forces, sometimes they will just sit there and bombard you until Keyes/Steward arrive.