Tips for play...

[rahamy]

Starting this thread for people to post playing tips they find helpful...thought we had one but I couldn't find it. :confused:

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On column movement...

Select the first unit in a column, place your highest ranking leader at the top (anywhere from a brigade up to Army level) and then press & hold the "Alt" key and right-click where you want to move. This can be the next hex, or a dozen hexes down the road.

This will move the entire column, everyone under the lead units command. To use this effectively you want to make sure and not mix in supply wagons and disrupted units where possible. Either that or curtail your march to the speed of the slowest unit.

This works across any terrain, it's just most helpful, and most commonly used, when marching along roads and trails.

[Gary McClellan]

Especially if you are moving cav, don't use Rich's technique to move more than 1 hex if there are woods or the like in the area. On occasion, the pathfinding AI is less than optimal, and will try to move *through* disrupting terrain, instead of along a path or road.

[CyberRanger]

When changing the formation of a stack of units, do all the units with one click. If you do the units separately, each unit that changes will bring defensive fire on the hex, even a leader who mounts or dismounts!

[Doc Ozzie]

If your batteries are near enemy infantry, be sure to keep them supported by friendly infantry!!

[KG_RangerBooBoo]

Keep a reserve! You have to be able to plug holes in the line when you have units rout, especially important for the Union player.

[CyberRanger]

Keep a reserve! You have to be able to plug holes in the line when you have units rout, especially important for the Union player.
Now, if I could figure out a way to keep my reserve close to the action without having it get disrupted by the routing units!

[Gary McClellan]

Ah, you've found the incredible "find any good order friendly unit and plow through them, no matter how many open hexes there are" "feature" of the game. Gets really annoying when they plow through your arty. :rolleyes:

[rahamy]

Had this asked a few minutes ago, so I thought I would post it here:

Does it matter if I take a certain hill in a current battle? Will it make a difference in the next battle of the campaign?

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In the "linked battles" version of the campaign there's really only 2 things that will effect the next battle.

A) The victory condition the current battle ends in.

B) The number of losses each side incurs.

Generally the victory condition will dictate which "version" of the battle you go in to, or even where you will fight. If you pulled out a Major Victory, generally, the scenario designer will put you in a bit more favorable position in the next battle. Losses are obvious...the more you can eliminate of your opponent early on, the less you will have to face later.

All that being said, the system isn't dynamic in that if you take "Malvern Hill" for example, you will not be positioned on it for the next battle, as the designer has no way to tell how the scenario played out...and all the scenarios are created before the campaign ever begins.

[Alex Krolikowsk]

Just happen to me - to save the bridge from being destroyed, I moved limbered artillery on it (just 1-gun section).
Next turn enemy fire killed arty. crew and uncrewed gun blocked bridge completly :OHNO:
Nothing except lone leaders could enter bridge hex and cross the river.
In such a case, the only way to clear the patch is to destroy uncrewed gun(s), for example with your own artillery.

[Magoo]

Especially Cav Arty, is great to use to isolate units for ZOC kills.
They survive assualts really well, (it takes 25 men losses to lose one gun), and they take losses similiar to mounted cav.

This tactic taught to me by an extremely aggressive opponent!
It worked much better for him than me... so I guess it takes practice. :)

[rahamy]

If anyone is unsure how to get a game going via e-mail, check out this page. There's tutorials on how to do that, as well as many others:

http://www.hist-sdc.com/tut.html

Regards,
Rich

[CyberRanger]

Especially Cav Arty, is great to use to isolate units for ZOC kills.
They survive assualts really well, (it takes 25 men losses to lose one gun), and they take losses similiar to mounted cav.

This tactic taught to me by an extremely aggressive opponent!
It worked much better for him than me... so I guess it takes practice. :)

While true, that's also very gamey. I love to get ZOC kills but that's really pushing the envelope.

[Alex Krolikowsk]

While true, that's also very gamey. I love to get ZOC kills but that's really pushing the envelope.

I think that Magoo refered to limbered artillery - if so this issue was corrected in Shiloh game... not sure how it looks in other titles.

- Updated engine to reflect the melee rule change that prevents Leaders,
supply wagons, and limbered arty from being used to block retreats.

[Alex Krolikowsk]

I will repeat here the ‘No forward retreat’ rule as it is an important thing...

The easiest way to eliminate enemy unit is to occupy his three rear hexes + his front-center hex must be in your Zone-of-Control - if you win melee in such situation, enemy unit will always ceased to exist.
He will not escape even if nearby hex will be occupied by his friendly unit.

See attached pics and try in on your comp ;)

[Mason Jar]

This may be obvious, but it took me a while to realize. You can turn routed units to face the enemy. When and if they rally you have saved two movement points. It alows you to get back in line and advace, if your in the clear, as soon as you rally In a tight situationit can make difference.

[dannybou]

If your batteries are near enemy infantry, be sure to keep them supported by friendly infantry!!
I found this out playing Gettysburg. The amount of points a player gets for killing artillery is phenominal.

[rahamy]

This may be obvious, but it took me a while to realize. You can turn routed units to face the enemy. When and if they rally you have saved two movement points. It alows you to get back in line and advace, if your in the clear, as soon as you rally In a tight situationit can make difference.

True, but really its better to continue to move them out of harms way to get the rallied and reformed. If they take hits while routed and fail their next morale check they will suffer "lost stragglers" From the Morale section of the User manual:

"If a Routed unit fails the Morale Check, it stays Routed, but also loses a number of men based on the amount the Die Roll exceeds the Morale, times 25 for Infantry and Cavalry, which is reported as lost stragglers."

[Mason Jar]

"If a Routed unit fails the Morale Check, it stays Routed, but also loses a number of men based on the amount the Die Roll exceeds the Morale, times 25 for Infantry and Cavalry, which is reported as lost stragglers."

Now that is a useful bit of info.

[RhondaBrwn]

This may be obvious, but it took me a while to realize. You can turn routed units to face the enemy. When and if they rally you have saved two movement points. It alows you to get back in line and advace, if your in the clear, as soon as you rally In a tight situationit can make difference.

In a similar timesaver, you may get your "Fixed" units into column, limbered, or mounted and ready to move out while they are still frozen in place. That saves you a bunch of time in getting the troops "on the road".