Division
From AACWWiki
| Unit information | |
|---|---|
| Division | |
 "Typical" Union division, containing a fair number of elements and at least one "high morale" element | |
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| The information in this article applies to the following games: | |
| AACW | Yes |
A division is a special kind of unit.
It allows you to combine several brigades under a single leader, and since the CP cost is constant (at 4),
you will be able to amass a much higher number of troops within a given stack before it starts incurring command penalties than you would be able to by simply collecting the same troops within a stack.
Combined with the increased number of command points you will see in corps-stacks, you'll usually find that your main combat forces will be corps containing 3-4 divisions plus support troops.
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Benefits of divisions
The benefits of using divisions are pretty straight-forward:
- A division will always cost 4 CPs no matter how many elements it contains. This helps put more troops into large stacks, but it also means that it can be pretty meaningless (or even detrimental) to create a small division from units with a combined CP cost of 4 or less
- Allows more elements to benefit from some units' or a leader's unit abilities, such as "high morale", "sharpshooter" or "entrencher"
- Allows more elements to enjoy the stats of a good unit commander (though this is moot if the division commander also is the one commanding the stack)
Divisional organization
A division can hold any number of brigades, but the maximum number of elements a division can hold is 18, one of which must be the general who is commanding the division.
There are no restrictions on which types of elements that can constitute the remaining 17 elements. However, conventional wisdom usually recommends the following selection:
- 11 line infantry elements (to constitute the main combat punch of the division)
- 1 sharpshooter element (since its sharpshooting ability benefits its entire unit)
- 1 cavalry element (to boost the detection value of the division
- 4 artillery elements (since there is a limit to how much artillery support a unit can give its own elements)
Support elements (such as engineers, signal companies or field hospitals) are usually kept outside divisions since they don't incur any CP cost and don't have any unit abilities, leaving no motivation for putting them inside a division, especially if done at the expense of other unit/elements that would benefit from it.
Possible variations:
- The cavalry division - Usually consisting of cavalry and cavalry artillery. Provides better speed than "foot" divisions.
- The amphibious division - Swapping one of the line infantry elements for a marine or sailor to speed up the division when crossing rivers and suchlike.
Creating divisions
Cost of forming divisions
Creating a division requires that the following resources are available:
- 10 money
- 1 conscript company
- 5 war supplies
These costs are payed when the turn is resolved.
The turn the new division is formed, the commander will suffer a penalty to his stats. If you are unable to pay the resource-cost of forming the division, the administrative penalty the commander suffers while forming the division will continue into the next turn and as long as you are unable to pay the cost (or you decide to disassemble the new division).
Procedure to form divisions
Forming divisions is a multi-step process, outlined below[1].
Select the general who will be division commander
The general who is to lead the division-to-be must be either a 1-star or a 2-star general, and he must be active in the current turn. Preferably, you'll be using a 1-star since you don't normally want to "waste" a 2-star capable of corps command on divisional command.
So, to start the procedure, you first click on the leader. In the screen pic below, Jackson has been selected for this example (even though he is a 2-star), since he is indeed active.
Enable divisional command
Second, You then click on the "Enable Divisional Command"-button, which then turns the commander-to-be into a division (by himself) so to speak.
Note: The button immediately turns into a "Remove Divisional Command button.
Select units to be part of the new division
Third, using the <CTRL>-key and mouse-click, you now select the individual units you wish to be in the division, along with the commander himself.
In the example below, Jackson is selected, Jackson's Bde, Bartow's Bde and Thomas' Art. (Jackson must be included obviously as he now represents the "divisional core"). Note how the red "+"-button lights up just to the left of the "Enable Divisional Command"-button. This red "+"-button is the "Combine"-button.
Do the combination
Fourth, when you have all the units selected along with the division commander, press the red "+"-button. You'll immediately hear a small 2-step sound and the units combine, with the red "+"-button dimming out and the red "-"-button lighting up. This is because you now have a partially filled division, and only that single (now combined) divisional unit selected.
Adding more units to the division
Then, if you keep the division selected, you can <CTRL>-click on additional units, making the red "+"-button light up again (provided there is room in the division for the additional units
Below, Jackson's division is selected as well as 1st Virginia Cavalry, At this point you can click on the red "+" button to add the 1st Virginia Cavalry to the already formed division.
Disassembling the division/removing brigades from divisions
Note that even though you can add individual units to an already formed division, you can't remove individual units. You can however, click the red "-"-button which separates all the individual elements out but leaves the commander as a core division. This allows you to reform the division leaving out the elements you wish to remove. It doesn't cost anything to do this.
If you click the "Remove Divisional Command"-button for the commander while the division is disassembled, you will free up a divisional command, e.g. for use elsewhere. This does not cost anything, but the cost you payed in forming the division is not returned either.
