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From AACWWiki

Introduction

AGEOD’s American Civil War (AACW) is a historical strategy game using simultaneous turn resolution – also called a WEGO system – that places players at the head of the United States (USA) or Confederate States (CSA) of America during the American Civil War (1861-1865). It can be played either against the computer’s artificial intelligence (AI) or against a human opponent using file transfer protocols (PBEM).

Players assume the role of military and political leaders leading the armies and fleets of their nation during these five years of bitter struggle throughout a divided nation.

Both sides will strive to capture and hold key objectives, destroy enemy forces in order to break his will to fight and hopefully win the war. Although clearly focused on military operations, politics and economics are also modeled in great detail. Many options are open to the warring parties such as; attempting to gain foreign support, increasing production capacity through targeted investment and wrecking havoc on the enemy’s economy through blockade or commerce raiding.

Installation

Installing

Start your computer and insert the CD labeled AACW into your CD-ROM or DVD drive. The setup program will start automatically. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the game.

If autoplay is not activated, start the setup program by double clicking on My Computer, then on the icon of your CD-ROM drive and finally on “setup.exe”.

If Microsoft (R) DirectX 9.0c (R) is not present on your PC, please launch the DirectX installer, which can be found on the CD-ROM. Once the game has been installed, you can start it from the Windows Start menu, the desktop shortcut or by inserting the CD. Note that the CD is not required to play the game.

Removing the game

Select “add/remove programs” in the Control Panel. Select AACW, then click “add/remove”. This will uninstall AACW, including saved games.

System requirements

Updates

AGEOD strives to fix any identified problems as soon as possible with patches that can be downloaded on the following web page: http://www.a-acw.com/. Updates may add further content to the game from time to time.

In case of technical problems, support@ageod.com is available to you. A proof of purchase (serial number) may be asked for in some cases.

Interface

Hovering your mouse over a region will display a black “tooltip” box with additional information about the region.

A wealth of game information can be accessed through so-called “tooltips”. If you hover your mouse long enough over a particular item on the screen, a text box will appear with detailed information about the corresponding feature.

The tooltip delay is set to “instantaneous” by default, but it can be adjusted in the options menu.

Note: Tooltips are extremely valuable in getting information about almost everything in the game, including features not documented in this manual. Don’t hesitate to explore the various tooltips for the game screens, these can aid greatly in understanding the details of the game.

The Esc key (at the top left of most keyboards) allows you to close any window currently open. If you hit the Esc key while on the main map, you will be returned to the Main Menu where you can save and/or quit the game in progress. Note that the game automatically saves your position each turn.

Finally, there are many keyboard shortcuts.

Main menu

Overview

After starting the game, you will reach the main menu where you can access all the basic game functions. These include starting a game (against the computer or a human opponent), saving or loading a game and setting game options.

Options

Media

You can activate/deactivate music and sounds, choose the language used in the game, adjust the tooltip delay and adjust the combat animation delay. You can also select the way that units will be displayed on the map (“leader on top” and “regroup armies” options) as well as whether the turn resolution should be paused when a battle occurs (“pause after battle”).

Game

In this menu, you can activate/deactivate the fog of war, activation and withdrawal rules. You can also play with random leaders; in this case, leader names and attributes are randomized when you create a new game. It's recommended to leave the default settings for your first game.

AI

This is where you select the difficulty level of the game and adjust how smart your computer opponent will be. By allowing longer processing times during turn resolution, you will enhance the AI. Giving even a slight fog of war advantage to the AI will enhance it significantly.

System

You can adjust technical settings here. These include “region pre-caching” and “textures init.” which allow for smoother scrolling. The Armory sub-section of the AGEOD forum can help you decide which settings are best for you.

Campaigns & scenarios

When starting a new game, you will be presented with several types of scenarios to choose from. There are basically four levels of play ranging from the shorter scenarios, involving a limited number of units for a short period of time on a portion of the map, to the full grand campaign:

• The grand campaign covers the whole duration of the war using the whole map.
• Yearly campaigns are similar to the grand campaign but cover only one year of the conflict.
• Theater campaigns cover the whole duration of the war but only in a specific geographical region (available on the forum).
• Scenarios are more limited in scope and feature individual campaigns or battles, such as Shiloh. The time period, the units involved and the map area covered are accordingly limited. As such, scenarios are highly recommended as an introduction to the game.

The list also includes several tutorials, which are instructive scenarios designed to help learn the basic game mechanics.

Procedure: Hovering the mouse over the name of a campaign/scenario on the left hand sign displays a short description on the right hand side. After selecting a campaign/scenario, you get to choose your side and play begins.

Loading, deleting, renaming a game

Instead of starting a new game, you can resume a game you previously saved or that was saved automatically. You also have the option to rename, delete or restore a previous turn, of any saved game, as indicated by each entry’s tooltip. Hovering the mouse over the game in the load game window provides you with the shortcuts to these file manipulation options. It is not advised to rename a saved game outside of AACW.

Saving a game

At any time during a game, you can reach the main menu (Esc key). From here, you can select the save game menu. You don’t generally have to save a game, as this is done automatically each turn once you hit "end turn". As explained previously, you have the option to restore the 24 previous turns of any saved game. Usually, the only cases where you would want to manually save a game is either if you halt your planning in the middle of a turn and want to resume giving orders after quitting the game or to change the name of the save game from its default. In others words, if you click "end turn", watch it unfold and only check your forces without entering new orders, you can quit safely and everything is saved by default.

Play by email (PBEM)

AACW can be played against another human opponent using PBEM or any other valid file transfer protocol, such as instant messaging. One of the players (the “host”) will have to initiate the game. The procedure is detailed below:

Create a game

The Hosting player chooses a campaign/scenario and a side and starts the game as usual. This automatically generates a sub-folder in the "C:\Program Files\AGEod's American Civil War\ACW\Saves\"-directory, named after the campaign or scenario selected ("1863 Campaign" if you play the “1863 Campaign”-scenario, for example). Please note that a number helps differentiate between multiple instances of the same campaign/scenario. However, the best way to avoid confusion is to rename the in-game save (e.g. "1863 Campaign John vs. Joe"). Do NOT rename any ACW files outside the game.

In this newly created folder you will find two .TRN files, each with three letters indicating which side it belongs to (USA or CSA).

Host sends TRN file to opponent

The hosting player now sends his opponent the .TRN file with the opponent’s designation (i.e. if you play the USA, then send the CSA file to your opponent). The opponent must store this file in the folder named "AACWGame\AACW\Saves\". It is advisable to use subfolders to keep all PBEM games in progress separate. For example, the opponent could save the TRN file under the "AACWGame\AACW\Saves\JohnVsJoe"-subfolder.

Note: In order to avoid possible data corruption during the e-mail transfer process, it is strongly advised to e-mail the file using some type of compressed format such as ZIP, RAR, etc..

Non-host sends .ORD file to host

Each player now loads the game and gives his orders for the upcoming turn. When ready, each player saves the game. This will generate an .ORD file (in the folders mentioned above).

Important: do not click on End Turn at this step.

The non-hosting player then sends his .ORD file to the hosting player.

Host resolves turn

The hosting player saves the .ORD file received from his opponent into the appropriate directory and loads the game again. He now clicks on "end turn" to launch the turn resolution, where all orders are then executed. A new turn is now ready to start. Go back to step # 2 ("Host sends TRN file to opponent") and repeat.

Note: The non-hosting player doesn’t get to “play back” his opponent’s turn. However, he can check the turn’s message log to see what has occurred during the turn.

Winning the game

Introduction

Automatic victory (or defeat) is achieved when one side reaches its minimum or maximum “national morale” (NM) level. However, if the game ends without reaching an automatic victory, the “victory points” (VP’s) of each side determines the winner. The side with more VP’s wins the war and the level of victory is based on the VP difference.

Victory Points (VP)

Each side accumulates VP’s every turn by controlling important cities and objectives or by destroying enemy units. The objectives screen (F9 key) shows on the left page how many VP’s you gain each turn (VP’s can be expended during the course of the game, as a currency, but remember, he who has the most at scenario’s end wins if nobody achieved an automatic victory). On the right page, each objective is listed with its worth (this amount is how much NM is gained/lost when capturing/losing an objective). Current VP level is also tallied in the upper left corner of the main screen and is your main indicator about how well you are doing in the game.

VP Accumulation

• Strategic city – 1 VP/Turn
• Objective city – 1-3 VP/Turn depending on the value set by scenario designer
• Destroyed units – Per each unit

Note: You don’t lose VP’s when your own units are destroyed.

National Morale (NM)

For both sides in the conflict, the will to fight is tracked by their NM. Beyond a certain level, you instantly win or lose the game. These thresholds will vary during the course of play depending on the political situation.

Important note: In 1864, the Union is more vulnerable to defeat through morale loss, as the hard-line candidate, Lincoln must achieve significant military victories in order to be re-elected president and continue the war.

Current NM is tallied in the upper left corner of the main screen, alongside VP’s (see above). The victory and defeat thresholds of both sides are displayed in the objectives screen (F9) of the ledger (and as a tooltip in the upper left corner of the screen).

NM is influenced by several factors:

• Capturing the objective regions set by the current scenario will increase the capturing player’s NM and lower the enemy’s by the values indicated in the objectives screen.
• Winning a battle will boost the winner’s NM while reducing the enemy’s according to the number of enemy units and generals put out of business.
• Promoting junior officers over senior ones or dismissing leaders with political favor will lower your NM.
• In the late years, war weariness gradually reduces each side’s NM.
• Some options have an impact on NM, as indicated elsewhere (for example raising exceptional taxes).

Below a certain level, as long as a side is still in control of its capital, it will start to regain NM (this is called war resilience). The rebels are particularly enduring in this aspect (Jefferson Davis “Just leave us alone!”).

Note: This makes it difficult to drive the NM of your enemy low enough to trigger an automatic victory unless he lost his capital.

In addition to automatic victory conditions, NM also has an impact on the following:

• Unit cohesion (i.e. how fast they move and how well they fight)
• Economic output
• Number of recruits

Game scale

Turn Length 

Two weeks

Units 

Regiments, brigades, divisions, corps, armies, batteries, ships, and fleets

Map 

Regional areas

The map

Overview

1. Active side, victory points and national morale

The main indicators of your success. Check the tooltips for additional details.

2. Available transport assets

Rail, river and sea transport capacity that is currently available.

3. Production scoreboard

Production of the region where your mouse pointer is currently located.

4. Terrain and weather

Terrain type and weather in the region where your mouse pointer is currently located. Warning messages (such as invalid move destinations) also appear just below this area.

Many critical game functions are accessed through the Ledger, such as recruitment and economic decisions (F1 to F9 shortcut keys)

5. The ledger

Many of the game functions are accessed from here. Click on the bookshelf at the top of the map (next to the production scoreboard) and you will open a new window. Click on the books and drawers (highlighted in red in the image to the right), to cycle between the different screens.

6. Current date & main commands

The current date is displayed here. The tooltip tells you how many turns remain before the game ends. The three icons below the current date allow you to end the planning phase and start the resolution phase, to save the game, and to reach the main menu respectively.

7. Filters

The different map filters can be accessed from here.

8. Jump map

This map of the whole theater of war shows your position and allows you to jump to any location by clicking on it.

9. Special orders

The different special orders are grouped into three different tabs. A grayed out buttons signifies that the special order is currently not applicable to the selected force.

10. Postures

Use these four buttons to assign a specific posture to the selected force.

The message log is displayed after turn resolution.

11. Unit panel

The unit panel displays the units present in the currently selected force. During a turn’s resolution, the unit panel is replaced by a message log which lists various game messages (events, reinforcements, battle messages, etc…) that indicate what happened during the turn.

Red messages are events of particular importance. Double-clicking on these opens a window with detailed information.

Clicking on a black message centers the map on the region corresponding to the message. The six buttons on the left allow you to filter the messages by categories (check the tooltip for details). You can always return to the message log message list by right clicking anywhere on the map.

12. Elements panel

The small panel on the bottom right shows the elements composing the currently selected unit. If you click on one of these elements you will access the sub-unit details panel which provides even more information.

13. Sea lanes box (not shown on the screen capture)

This box, located near the East Coast, represents USA merchant shipping.

14. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico blockade boxes (not shown on the screen capture)

These boxes, located respectively next to the sea lanes box and in the sea near Louisiana, represent CSA trade routes.

Navigating the Map

To scroll through the map, simply place and hold the pointer on the edge of the screen or use the arrow keys. To zoom in or out of the map, either uses the mouse wheel or the End, Page Up, and Page Down keys. You can also press the mouse wheel button to swap between highest and lowest zoom level.

Regions & sea zones

Units and fleets move and battle across regions and sea zones. Tooltips indicate the different characteristics of each region and sea zone. Terrain type and weather are also displayed at the top of the screen.

Note: Regions are further grouped into states and states into departments. State and department borders can be displayed on the map using the appropriate filters.

Civilization level

The different civilization levels are:

• Wild
• Cleared
• Civilized

Depending on the civilization level (and other factors), unsupplied troops in an enemy region have a limited ability to live off the land each turn.

Transport Network

None

Tracks

Units moving into regions with tracks will never pay more than 150% of the clear terrain cost, whatever the terrain type.

Roads

Units moving into regions with roads or rails won’t pay more than the clear terrain cost, whatever the real terrain type.

Railways

Units moving by train will only spend one day for each region traveled.

Terrain Type

Different terrain types have varying effects on movement, combat and supply:

Structures

The yellow flag denotes two land forces and the blue flag one naval force within the city.

All structures provide shelter for land units against bad weather. Harbors do the same for ships. When there are units inside a structure, this is indicated by the presence of flags. Clicking on the structure (or the harbor basin for ships) will display these units in the unit panel. The currently selected unit will also be represented in the region on the map, ready to be moved.

• City: Controlling cities is critical to winning the game. Cities cannot be destroyed, except for Indian villages. On the map, units inside a city are not displayed but rather are indicated by small flags as shown above. Chimneys show that the city is producing war supplies while tents show that men (conscripts) are being raised in the area. A wooden plate denotes the presence of a depot. Each dot (green or blue) represents 3 units in the structure.

Cities have a level between 1 and 20 with the level noted on the nation’s flag adjacent to the city icon. They provide general supply, ammunition, war supplies, money, and a few of them even provide a regular flow of men (conscripts - though this is not the main way to get conscripts). They are also the places where new units appear (with the exception of partisans).

• • Town: A town is a small city (level 1 to 3). Unlike a city, it is unable to forward supply during the supply distribution phase unless a depot has been built in the town.
• Depot: It can be built at a cost of two supply wagons or by two transports ships if a harbor or anchorage is in the region. They can also be destroyed. Depots are able to stockpile and pass on supply during the supply distribution phase. A good network of depots is critical to move supply from your rear areas to the front.

Important note: This is not only true for the Union, which produces massive amounts of supplies far from the front, but also for the Confederates to a lesser extent. Evaluate the potential bottlenecks in your supply network by checking which rear-area cities stockpile too much supply (the supply filter will help you with that). Create a ‘grid’ of depots to alleviate the problem, and watch out for towns (level 1 to 3 cities), which can’t push supplies forward unless they contain a Depot.

• Pre-war fort: These brick structures were built before war broke out and are rather obsolete. Nevertheless, they provide some defensive benefits in combat. They interfere with enemy movement and also provide some supply. Pre-war forts may be destroyed.
• Permanent fortification: Modern forts made mostly of earthworks. Like depots, forts can be constructed at a cost of two supply wagons and four artillery batteries. Permanent fortifications can’t be destroyed.
• Ports: Ports provide supply unless blockaded. Fleets in ports cannot be attacked. On the map, naval units inside a port are not displayed but indicated by a blue flag on the city mast. Click on the port basin to access the naval units. Ships are produced and can be repaired in ports.
• Indian village: These settlements are similar to Level 1 towns except you can destroy it, possibly resulting in its tribe being eliminated even if currently located in another place.
• Stockade: A stockade is the simplest form of defense for military camps or settlements. It is usually an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide some security.

There are also a few off-map boxes displayed on the borders of the game map. They represent distant areas, which had some influence over the conflicts in North America (such as California or Southern Canada).

Trenches

Trenches provide defensive benefits depending on their level (1 to 8). Trenches are not considered to be structures, although they do provide limited shelter against bad weather. They are not subject to siege.

Units automatically start entrenching if they don’t move during a turn. A force only needs a few days to dig into level 1. Each additional level requires increasingly more time to build (i.e. building a trench from level 2 to level 3 takes longer than expanding a trench from level 1 to level 2). The building leader’s strategic rating plays a key role in the speed of the process, especially for low-level trenches.

Levels 5-8 can only be achieved if there is artillery present in the region. Levels beyond 5 do not provide additional cover but they increase the batteries’ firepower. In addition, such emplaced batteries will defend the river(s)/seacoast in their region and fire on nearby moving fleets. Batteries will also engage bombarding ships and block enemy supply transport by river.

Note: The highest entrenchment levels represent field fortifications, like the positions around Washington and Vicksburg. They are still trenches, not structures.

Trench Levels are shown graphically on the map, with Levels 5-8 being identified by a gun icon.

States

Each state has limited resources so it can only field a limited number of troops for the side controlling it. You won’t be able to raise more units in a state than this maximum value. In addition, you can only draft units in a state if you control at least one of the state’s strategic cities. These are shown on the map with a star by the city name. Several political and economical decisions are also declared at state-level. Local units gain a small combat benefit when fighting in their own state.

Note: Both sides can raise troops in the same State if they both control one of the State’s Strategic Cities.

Departments

A Department is a collection of states. Some rules and abilities work at the department-level (also called “theaters”). Most ships are also recruited on a department basis.

Filters

There are six filters in AACW to help visualize information on the map. To activate them, use the 1-6 keys or click on the buttons located next to the mini-map). The different filters are:

1. Military control

Shows the regions where you have significant military presence (even if you don't have a force present).

2. Supply

Crates and cannonballs indicate the quantity of general supply and amunition respectively that are present and regions highlighted in green indicate how far your supply network extends.

3. Objectives

Highlights objectives and cities granting VP’s and indicates their owner.

4. Loyalty

Shows the local population’s bias towards one of the sides in the conflict.

5. States

The different states are shown with different colors.

6. Departments

Each department is shown with a different color.

Army organization

Understanding the Unit Panel

There can be a variety of Forces in a region and/or in the structures therein. The purpose of having separate Forces is that they can be issued different orders. The size of a Force is also limited by leadership.

When you click on a playing piece or structure on the map, the Unit Panel will show the units in the region (1).

Hint: Use the arrow buttons on each side (2) to scroll between a Force’s units if they are too numerous to fit within the Unit Panel. The mouse wheel will also scroll the panel.

Additional Forces in the region are each indicated by a tab (3) just above the Unit Panel. To switch Forces, click on its corresponding tab and it will become the active Force. The active Force is also represented on the map by a playing piece, ready to be issued a move order.

The unit currently selected within the Force has its name, composition, current position and destination indicated in the top left corner (4). Essential information about a Force (level of General Supply, Ammunition, etc.) can be displayed in a tooltip by hovering your mouse over the different icons in the upper right corner of the Unit Panel (5).

What is a Unit?

The Unit Panel shows all of the different components of a Force (see illustration above), which fall under the term “unit”. There are many types of units in the game representing anything from full divisions to independent artillery batteries or administrative staff (headquarters), but they all share the ability to be moved and be given orders individually if needed. This makes them the smallest elements in the game that you can manipulate, although they seldom operate alone and are usually grouped into forces, as explained above.

Exceptions: Divisions are a special case of units, as they can be further split into several units.

Leaders are also treated like units in most respects and can be manipulated just like them. However, they are rated differently. The main characteristics of combat units and leaders are displayed right on their counter in the Unit Panel.

What is an Element?

Here, the 3rd Brigade unit is made up of two infantry (4th Alabama and 2nd & 11th Mississippi), one artillery (Staunton) and one cavalry (6th North Carolina) elements, as shown by the NATO symbols displayed on the right (you can click on this symbol to open a detailed window describing the element).

This small artillery unit is made up of a single element (8th NY Mil A Bty): here, one unit equals one element. A unit is a container of elements (from 1 to 18).

Units are further subdivided into elements, displayed in the Elements Panel. Elements, as opposed to units, cannot be manipulated; they are an integral part of their parent unit and always stay together. Elements are sometime referred to as sub-units. Procedure: To display the list of a unit’s elements in the Elements Panel, click on a unit to select it (this is indicated by a gray square around the counter).

Each single element is in turn differentiated by its attributes, as explained on p. 22.

Please note that some units are so small that they cannot be subdivided. They are represented in the game as having a single element, which is the unit itself.

Leaders are handled in the same way: one leader = one element which is the leader himself.

Manipulating forces

In order to split one or more units from a Force, select the units to be separated from the main Force in the Unit Panel, then drag and drop them to their current region on the map. They are now considered a new Force and will be shown in a separate tab.

Multi selection procedure: To select/deselect several units, Ctrl-Click on each unit in turn.

In order to issue a movement order to a Force, either select it and drag & drop its counter from its region to its destination or drag its corresponding tab over the Unit Panel directly to its destination on the map. You can also move units between Force’s by dragging and dropping them onto the destination Force’s tab. Finally, you can merge Force’s in the same location by dragging and dropping one tab onto another.

Fixed Units

In some scenarios and campaigns, you will come across fixed units identified by a on their counter. They cannot move until either a regular unit from their side ends the turn in their region, or a specific date has been reached, as indicated on the unit’s tooltip. In some cases, some fixed units are permanently fixed and will move under no circumstance.

Command Chain

In AACW, your Forces are loosely organized into the following hierarchy:

• Army
  • Corps
    • Any unit (division, brigade, battery…)
      • Elements

Units are deemed “in the command chain” if they belong to a corps which is, in turn, attached to an army. Any units, which don’t belong to such a corps, are considered independent for command chain purposes, and they have additional penalties from being out of the command chain (-50% to the command points generated by the leaders in the force). Naval forces are handled differently and no notion of hierarchy exists between the various Fleets.

On the map, you can then have three kinds of land stacks:

• The army stack, which is the stack (or force) commanding subordinate corps.
• The corps stack, which is a stack subordinate to an army stack.
• Independent stack, which is an "Out of the command chain" stack.

These three stacks each have units and they are all “containers”. Units represent formations of various sizes and act as “containers” for elements, from 1 to 18 in each unit.

Army

A Force is identified as an army by a star icon on its tab and an army badge in the top right corner of the Unit Panel.

An army represents a leader and his staff along with any reserve troops and leaders directly attached to the army. The strategic rating of an army commander determines both his command radius (press and hold the shift key while an army is selected to show this radius on the map) and his overall combat efficiency).

Corps attached to an army and within its command radius during the planning phase receives some important benefits (see below).

Example: The US Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Grant, greatly improves the efficiency of all attached Corps within range. In addition, its reserve units (directly attached to the army) provide additional advantages and punch in the region the army is located in.

Army Leader Bonus:An Army Leader will 'pass down' his strategic ratic to his subordinate Corps Commanders.

An Army Commander with a Strategic Rating of 4 will pass down SR bonuses as follows:

8% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (+2) SR bonus 58% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (+1) SR bonus 33% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (0) SR bonus

An Army Commander with a Strategic Rating of 3 will pass down SR bonuses as follows:

50% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (+1) SR bonus 50% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (0) SR bonus

An Army Commander with a Strategic Rating of 2 will pass down SR bonuses as follows:

66% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (-1) SR bonus 33% of the time the Corps Cdrs receive a (0) SR bonus

This does not include any bonuses to SR that the Army commander may have due to Experience.

Procedure

To form an army, have a stack with an army headquarter and a 3 or 4 star leader plus any leaders and units you want to directly to attach to the army (these can also be added later), then select the “Create army” special order. This will change the status of the stack from an independent force to an army stack. This is the center of command of the army, not the entire army: you still have to attach a corps to it for maximum effect!

If the leader assigned to command the army has bypassed another leader, you will lose some NM, as indicated by the special order’s tooltip. You can also disband an army, but doing so will cost you NM according to the political favor of its commander. Despite the NM cost, you may sometimes want to do this in order to put a new and better leader in charge.

Notes: An army HQ with combat units will react quickly to support corps formations but should not be viewed as a super combat stack. It is important to note that a lone army HQ stack will never initiate combat by itself.

Corps

A Force is identified as a Corps by a diamond icon on its tab and a Corps badge in the top right corner of the Unit Panel.

Corps are attached to specific armies. Their purpose is twofold: they never suffer the "Out of command chain" penalty and they get the following bonuses when operating within range of their Army:

• The corps commander’s strategic, offensive and defensive ratings are increased by the expertise of the army commander
• If stacked in the same region, the ability to stay together during movement by choosing the corresponding special order (Synchronized move)
• If spread out in different regions, chance of supporting an adjacent corps engaged in combat (i.e. “march to the sound of the guns”). This ability is influenced by the level of military control in both regions and by the corps’ cohesion.
• Increased command points
• Combat bonuses when several Ccrps are fighting together (they will help each other more efficiently during a fight)
• Some special abilities of the army commander can benefit its corps

Procedure

To form a corps, select a 2 or 3 star leader within range of an army plus any units, divisions and leaders you want to include in the corps, then select the “Create corps” special order.

Note 1: As opposed to armies, there are no corps headquarters in the game. A leader counter is assumed to represent not only its named leader, but also the limited number of aides de camp/administrative staff needed to command a corps.

Note 2: A corps must always occupy a single region. You could separate units from their corps to extend your coverage, but they would become an independent force in the process, losing corps benefits and suffering possible "out of command chain" penalties as a consequence. A corps always equals one Stack of units.

Division

Hovering your mouse over a Division (1) in the Unit Panel displays its constituent units (2). Selecting a Division displays a list of all elements within the Division (3).

Grouping units into divisions whenever possible helps you optimize command points (see below). A leader is required and will provide bonuses to the division. This can be in addition to the commanding officer of the force to which the division belongs (whatever the nature of the stack: army stack, corps stack, or an independent force). A division can include a maximum of 18 elements divided among several units.

Procedure

To form a division, first select a general and press the ‘enable divisional command’ button. Then select the units and the general to be included in the division and click the “create division” special order. You can break down a division into its constituent units at any time and without any penalty. Important Note: There is only one kind of HQ in the game: The Army HQ. Forming corps or divisions don’t require HQs.

Leadership

Units need leaders to command them or otherwise they suffer movement and combat penalties.

At any time, the “Command Cost” of the troops in a Stack is compared with the “Command Points” of the leaders present in order to determine whether a penalty applies as well as the size of the penalty. To see the details of the calculation, check the tooltip of the command icon of your Force.

Note: Command Penalties can be quite severe. A small and well-commanded Force moves much faster and has as much hitting power as a larger Force lacking leaders.

Each unit in a region has a certain Command Cost:

• Basic unit (brigade or regiment/squadron/battery): 1 to 4
• Division: 4
• Army HQ: 4

Each leader provides command points (CP’s) to his stack, depending on his rank:

• 1 star: 4
• 2 star: 8
• 3 or 4 star: 12

The total CP’s provided by leaders in a Stack is limited to a maximum of 16, no matter how many leaders are present. This base value can be increased by certain bonuses.

Note: This simulates both the military doctrine of the day, as well as the chaos inevitably generated when a place gets too crowded.

CP bonuses:

• Signal unit present: 2
• Recon unit (ex. balloons) present: 1
• If a corps or an army stack: Army commander’s strategic rating minus two (can give negative effects too!).
• An army headquarters that includes a capable aide de camp (A leader with a strategic rating of 4+ in the army stack who does not command any troops): 1 + 1 to all subordinate corps

Out-of-command-chain penalty – Important

If a stack is an independent force (not an army stack or a corps stack), then the CP’s generated by the leaders (of the said stack) will be halved.

Promoting and relieving leaders

Officers who have shown some capability in their current rank may become eligible for promotion to the next rank. This is shown by a flashing promotion icon on its counter (you also get a message in the message log). Be aware that promoting a leader to 3 or 4 star who is considered too junior by the military and political establishment (i.e. there are other more senior officers of the same rank) will cost you NM and VP’s, depending on the “bypassed” leaders’ political cost.

The same applies to 3 or 4 star leaders assuming army command if another more senior unassigned leader is bypassed. Finally, relieving an officer from his army command will also entail a loss in NM proportional to his political cost.

Note: This only applies at army level, not at corps level and below.

Please note that an officer’s abilities may change (for better or worse, or both!) after getting promoted, depending on each individual’s talents.

Historical note: John Bell Hood, a very capable CSA officer, didn’t perform well after being promoted. Leading from the front and staff work are quite different jobs.

To promote a leader to a new rank, it is specifically needed that:

• He is potentially promotable (the database must have an entry for his new grade). This is indicated by a 'Yes' in the 'Is Promotable' line, element detail window.
• He has a seniority of 1 or 2 in his current rank OR
• He has gained 4 points of seniority since he appeared on map (the base seniority is under brackets in the the Element Detail Window, top panel section).

Unit Attributes

The 4th CSA Brigade, with 7 elements and a combat efficiency of 161, packs quite a punch.

Unit counters are differentiated by the following:

• Background color: Nationality
• State of origin (only for militia)
• Special abilities (top left corner)
• Unit type (top right corner)
• Combat efficiency (numerical value at the top)
• Number of elements (number of ribbons on the left hand side)
• Experience (color of the ribbons on the left hand side)
• Cohesion (purple column)
• Manpower (green column)
• Captured support unit (gray background with ‘capt.’ noted on unit also)

Nationality

Most units belong to the USA or CSA. However, under some circumstances foreign intervention may bring British, Mexican or French units into the fray.

State of Origin

Militia will have their State indicated next to the unit type symbol (here, TN for Tennessee).

Militia units fighting in their state gain a small morale boost. Each state can field a limited number of units.

Special Abilities

Indians are among the units with special abilities, as denoted by the icons in the top left corner.

Any special abilities of the unit are listed there. The symbol’s tooltip provides additional information.

NATO symbol and unit type

There is a NATO symbol on the unit icon showing the major type of the elements it contains. For example, an infantry brigade is an infantry unit, but can contain infantry regiments, artillery batteries and cavalry squadrons, as shown on the Elements Panel. You can click on any NATO symbol, on the unit or on the elements, to get even more details.

Each element is of a specific type, with corresponding strengths and weaknesses, as shown in the Elements Details Panel. A unit’s characteristics are derived from the attribute values of its constituting elements.

Upgrading

As new equipment becomes available (starting in 1862), elements (sub-units) are automatically upgraded into other, more effective types (e.g. early to late cavalry). This mostly affects the defensive rating of units, simulating the increased difficulty of attacking positions defended by units equipped with modern rapid-fire weapons. The USA has a distinct advantage in this area, especially late in the conflict.

Historical Note: This trend culminated a few decades later into the terrible deadlock of trench warfare during World War I.

Combat Efficiency

This gives an indication of the lethality and staying power of a unit during combat. Combat Efficiency is a number used to provide a quick assessment of the Unit Strength, but is not used during battle per se. See it as an overall indicator of the unit power. The Combat Software Engine works at the element level taking each parameter of each element into account to simulate precisely the outcome of every battle (gun range, rate of fire, discipline and such).

Note: cohesion and manpower effects are already factored in. e.g. A division with of cohesion level of 1 will have a very low Combat Efficiency.

Play note: A good general will preserve his experienced units by regularly sending them to the rear area in order to allow rest i.e. cohesion recovery.

Number of elements and experience

The ribbons on the left-hand side of a unit indicate both number of elements in the unit and its experience. There are three experience Levels (bronze, silver and gold). Units gradually gain experience with each battle, increasing both their overall efficiency in combat and maximum cohesion level.

Cohesion

Cohesion represents a unit’s general readiness for combat. It is critical to a unit’s overall efficiency as it impacts almost every aspect of the game, such as morale, speed, firepower and the ability to “March to the Sound of the Guns”.

Note: A unit with low Cohesion could suffer from poor morale, desertions and stragglers, exhaustion, disorganization, inadequate training or any other debilitating factor. It will be slow in moving and prone to break during combat.

Movement and combat reduces a unit’s cohesion while resting gradually improves its cohesion until it ultimately reaches its maximum level. This depends on training and experience. NM affects a unit’s cohesion and its cohesion recovery rate when resting.

Manpower

A unit’s remaining number of men. Pressing the Ctrl key will show this number instead of the unit name.

Element attributes

Each single element of a unit has several attributes (such as discipline or weight) influencing a variety of mechanics (combat, transport, etc.) throughout the game, as indicated elsewhere.

Click on an element’s NATO unit type symbol in the Elements Panel to display a depiction of the element as well as the values of all of its different attributes. Here, the 2nd Brigade’s cavalry squadron element’s details are shown. Note its high Detection Rating, which is typical of cavalry units.

Leader Attributes

Good leadership is essential to win battles. All leaders have strengths and weaknesses as represented by their attributes.

Play note: Try to use your leaders to the best of their abilities. For instance, some are good on the offensive while others are better at defending.

A leader’s counter only shows two pieces of information: Rank (number of stars) and Special Abilities (icon(s) in the top-left corner). Selecting a leader displays more data in the Element Panel on the right.

More information about a leader can be displayed by clicking on its rank icon. Here, we see that Confederate leader Johnston is a reasonably skillful defender, as he possesses the Skirmisher Special Ability icon, whose tooltip provides some details.

In addition to providing CP’s, as every leader does, the commanding officer of a stack (i.e. highest-ranked most senior leader present) improves the capabilities of his subordinate units with his offensive/defensive rating (+5% to combat for each point) and his special abilities. His strategic rating also has a critical impact on the stack’s performance (see below). Units in a division not only benefit from the benefits just described, but also from their own divisional leader’s capacities.

If a leader is alone in a region with enemy units, he may be detected and eliminated.

Rank

Rank is shown by the number of stars on a leader’s counter. It determines the CP’s of a leader, as well as the type of command he may assume (army, corps or division and below).

Note: Be aware that - just like in real life - the most talented officers are not always in command.

Special abilities

Leaders may have special abilities, denoted by one or more icons. The tooltips will provide more details. Some of these abilities apply at all times and others conditionally. Likewise, some only apply to certain units while others affect the whole force.

Examples: The cavalryman special ability only benefits cavalry units and does not apply in mountain terrain, whereas the ranger special ability affects the whole force but is only useful in woods.

Strategic rating and activation Important

Each turn, each force’s commanding officer makes a test based on his strategic rating. If he fails (indicated by a brown envelope icon on the force), the leader is deemed inactivated and will suffer the following penalties:

• Reduced movement (-35% speed)
• Combat penalties in hostile regions (up to –35%).
• Offensive posture prohibited (not applicable for admirals).

A leader, which is not activated, can represent delayed orders, over cautiousness, or even incompetence at the operational level or above.

Note: A very cautious army commander can even impact negatively the activation Check of subordinate corps commanders.

Technical Note: You may de-activate this rule in the Options Menu.

Leaderless troops are always activated, as they don’t have leaders, but suffer from movement and combat penalties (by lack of CPs). They are not prohibited from assuming offensive posture (the commanding, unknown colonel is willing to take action but is not the best man for the job).

Specifically: A Leader that is NOT Activated receives a 35% speed penalty to all movement but a combat penalty equal to enemy military control of region, to a maximum of 35%. (Not applicable to Forces in Passive Posture)

Offensive and defensive ratings

These ratings are used as a bonus in combat when attacking or defending.

Seniority

Seniority differentiates leaders of the same rank. It is expressed as a number (with 1 being the most senior) and has a direct impact on promotion. Seniority is affected by winning and losing battles.

Political cost

The political cost of a leader is a measure of a leader’s place within the military hierarchy (rank and seniority), as well as his political influence and level of popularity. It has a direct impact on promotion.

Historical note: Some leaders, such as the Union general McClellan, commander of the Army of Potomac, were quite incapable yet very popular among their troops and with strong political backing. The cost of sacking such a leader is not to be underestimated.

Experience

Leaders gain and lose experience by winning battles and losing battles. This will in turn affect their other attributes.

Random general option

You can choose to play the game with leaders' attributes randomly generated, see the options window and check the level of randomness desired.

Fleets

Naval forces are treated in much the same way as land forces, except that command chain rules don’t apply. Naval leaders are called admirals (irrespective of rank) and cannot command land forces (and vice-versa). An admiral also to make an activation check each turn, but if he fails, he is only delayed in his actions, and not prevented from setting his fleet to an offensive posture.

Orders

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Overview

The game is played in simultaneous turn mode. This means both sides simultaneously plan their orders for the upcoming two week turn. This is called the “planning phase”. Then, the turn’s orders are simultaneously resolved during the “resolution phase”. As a consequence, you cannot accurately predict what is going to happen during the resolution phase.

Basically, you can plan your forces’ movement and general behavior (see postures), but you will have to trust your general’s judgement to carry out your orders as well as possible during the turn resolution. Please note however that your forces have a limited ability to dynamically adjust to the enemy’s movements in the form of interception orders.

In between turns (i.e. after the resolution phase of a turn, but before the planning phase of the next turn), a number of activities are automatically carried out in the “hosting phase”, notably supply distribution and weather-related attrition.

Note: A force will not blindly follow your orders. For instance, if a force in offensive posture comes across a larger enemy force, it will try to engage him as ordered, but will then attempt to retreat once it realizes it is facing a superior enemy.

Movement

The default order you issue to your land forces is to move by land. You can however combine this type of movement with river and rail movement. Note that movement is severely restricted by the presence of enemy units.

Naval units face limitations depending on their type: some can enter ocean regions while others are limited to coastal regions. Shallow draft vessels are the only ones allowed to move along rivers.

Historical note: The Union’s naval capacity was far superior to the Confederate's.

The speed of movement is based on cohesion, as exhausted and disorganized units will travel much slower than fully rested ones. Movement also entails a cohesion cost, which varies greatly depending on the enemy military presence in the region, as well as the type of terrain crossed and the type of transport (as indicated below):

Regular land unit movement is affected by weather, terrain type and the level of road infrastructure. Forced march greatly increases the cohesion cost of movement. Posture also has an influence, with offensive posture units incurring increased cohesion loss and passive posture units incurring reduced loss. Without any others modifications, a force moving one day will spend one cohesion point in doing so.

• Rail and river movement costs only a minimal amount of cohesion and is very fast.
• Naval transport costs only a minimal amount of cohesion, except in harsh weather.
• Ships lose cohesion depending on the weather and the ship type.

Procedure: Use drag and drop to move each force. The estimated number of days required to move from a region to another is indicated for each leg of the movement path. In order to cancel the last leg of a move, press the delete key. To cancel the whole movement, drag and drop the force on its original region. To add another leg to an existing movement path drag and drop the copy of the unit icon which is shown at its current destination to the next destination in its movement path. The tutorial explains in full detail how to manipulate stacks.

In addition, units will take a number of hits proportional to this cohesion loss each time they move.

Note: This simulates the inevitable losses incurred by moving units (deserters, disease, etc.), especially in inhospitable regions.

Resting

Units can recover cohesion if they don’t move.

The base daily rate for land units is 0.75 cohesion point, modified by:

• Entrenched and outside of a structure: +0.5
• Inside a structure: +0.75
• In a loyal region: up to +0.5
• Besieged land unit: -1.5
• Besieger (unless in passive posture): -0.5
• Land unit transported aboard a ship: -0.5
• Offensive posture: -0.5
• Land unit in passive posture: +1
• Irregular: +0.5

The base daily rate for naval units is two and provided the fleet is in a port (modifiers above are not applicable).

This rate is further modified by NM. Resting also allows a unit to gradually fill in its ranks with replacements if you have some available.

Blocking movement

Enemy presence (especially forts) inhibits movement in a land region. If this presence is strong enough, your units won’t be able to bypass the defender to penetrate further into the enemy’s rear areas unless they battle and push the enemy back. However, some troops are particularly stealthy and can more easily manage to sneak into the enemy’s rear. This is represented by the patrol and evasion values of the moving and blocking forces, as well as by the military control exerted over the region.

You cannot enter a land region if the enemy’s patrol value divided by your evasion value is greater than your military control of the region.

Play note: This basically means you can fall back on friendly regions but are usually prohibited from moving further into enemy territory, unless your fForce is particularly stealthy and/or the enemy is lacking proper reconnaissance units.

Patrol and evasion values also play a role to avoid combat, if your force is on passive posture or if you have the ‘evade fight’ special order enabled.

Procedure: Regions your Force is prohibited from entering will pulsate in red. An icon on the unit panel provides you with detailed information.

Patrol value

This value represents your troops’ ability to block the enemy’s movement. The sum of your units’ patrol values is added to any fort’s patrol value, if present. The level of military control you exert over the region also comes into play in this calculation. Note that each unit type has different patrol values depending on its mobility and size.

Play note: Forts greatly enhance your Patrol Value. Large numbers of troops, especially mobile units (such as cavalry) also help stop the enemy infiltrating your territory.

Evasion value

This value represents your troops’ ability to infiltrate rear areas and to avoid contact with the enemy. Here too, each unit type has different evasion values according to mobility and size. Small forces have better evasion values. Similarly, large forces suffer a penalty. Harsh weather and terrain which provides cover also increase your evasion value.

Play note: These ‘cat and mouse‘ rules allow you to attempt cavalry raids, or prevent the enemy from reaching an important city, if you are in front of him with enough troops.

Finding the enemy at sea

You cannot directly stop an enemy’s movement through a sea region (or river), but evasion and patrol values will determine the probability of a naval engagement occurring.

Examples:

1. A raider (high evasion value) can reasonably attempt to reach the open sea by outrunning opposing ships.
2. Frigates (high patrol value) are fast units which help their force locate and engage any enemy trying to sneak around them.
3. Sailing past enemy forts is always a risky proposition.

Interception & combination

There are cases where you don’t want to move to a specific region but rather intercept a moving enemy force wherever it goes. You may also need to join and merge with a friendly force. Both are handled similarly.

Procedure: Drag and drop your force onto an enemy or friendly force and your army/fleet will adjust its movement path during the upcoming turn in an attempt to intercept the enemy or join the friendly force.

If your intercepting force cannot locate the enemy force, the intercepting force will stop its movement. An enemy force you are following may also split, in which case the intercepting force will usually go after the larger enemy formation.

Special orders

Specials orders allow you to fine tune how your forces move and react to the enemy during the upcoming turn and to issue all types of non-movement related orders. The special orders available to a force are listed next to the unit panel and can be influenced by current conditions. Note that leaders who are inactive cannot perform all the available orders.

Example: Only irregulars in difficult terrain will have the “ambush” special order active.

Unless noted otherwise, special orders require some kind of check (mostly related to leader and unit attributes) before they occur in order to determine the extent of success/failure. Special orders needing days to be completed are always executed first during a turn. If there is any remaining time, your unit will then carry out its movement order (if any).

• Ambush: Non-moving irregular units (Indians, rangers, etc.) can try to set an ambush in wild, swampy, hilly or forested regions. If they succeed they will have enhanced combat benefits against an enemy entering the region, including first fire and the possibility to retreat easily.
• Forced march: Forced march allows the force to move at a faster pace but at a loss in cohesion due to stragglers. Light units get a bonus.
• Seek shelter: The force will enter the city/fort in the region where it ends its move. Success is automatic. This will also force your units to move into a nearby city (located in the same region) if they suffer from a retreat in battle.
• Sortie: Your force is currently within a besieged fort/city. It will join any combat initiated by a relief force. If a leader is present, he must be active.
• Naval bombardment: Your fleet will bombard the first coastal structure or entrenched position it meets, provided you have a land force in the target region. The enemy can retaliate if he has emplaced batteries (trench level 5+) or a fort. A structure under bombardment will display this icon on the map.
• Build depot: The force will expend two supply units and build the depot.
• Destroy Depot: The force will destroy any depot present.
• Build fortification: The force will expend two supply units and four artillery batteries to build a field fortification.
• Destroy fortification: The force will destroy any low-level fort in the region.
• Build/repair rail network: The force will build or repair the rail network in its region. Repairing is far faster and cheaper than building.
• Destroy rail network: The force will destroy the rail network in its region.
• Move by river: The force can now benefit from river movement during the turn.
• Move by rail: The force can now benefit from rail movement during the turn.
• Synchronized move: If in the same region, the army HQ and all subordinate corps will move together (at the pace of the slowest corps). Note: This is selected by default. In addition, when the army HQ moves, all subordinate corps in the region will automatically synchronize without needing to use this special order.
• Promote leader: The leader is eligible for promotion to the next rank, though at a possible political cost.
• Combine units: The selected units can be combined into a single one. This is used to put together a division, if a general designated to be a division commander is among the units being combined. It is also used to merge weakened units into a stronger one. The unit selected first will absorb the other unit, which returns to the force pool.
• Detach from division: The selected unit will leave its division.
• Create an army
• Dismiss army
• Attach corps to army
• Detach corps from army
• Enable divisional command
• Evade fight: The moving land or naval force will try to avoid contact during movement and will also enter raid mode.

Rail & river movement

A force with “move by rail” and/or “move by river” special order(s) will use existing rail lines and/or rivers on its movement path, possibly resulting in a much faster movement rate and vastly reduced cohesion cost. You must have at least 25% military control in a region to use its rail network. This icon shows that a region’s rail lines have been cut and are unusable until repaired.

Both types of movement draw upon national pools of trains and steamboats depending on the size of the force to be transported, which limit the number of forces that can simultaneously move this way. Your transport capacity is displayed on the transport assets panel at the top of the map. Rail and river transport assets are also used to transport supply down rivers and railroads. As a consequence, only the transport capacity not assigned to move units will be available for supply distribution.

Both pools are gradually decreased through wear and tear (1%/turn for steamboats, 3% for trains), but you can buy additional transport assets to make up for this or increase your transport capacity. Also you can lay waste to your opponent’s rail network by destroying them!

Important! Moving by river can be quite hazardous if there is an enemy fort, artillery, or fleet in your way. Using individual riverine transport units with appropriate escorts is highly recommended in this case.

Individual riverine transport units are also available. They are used similarly as seagoing transport units (see below). Units aboard these transports are less vulnerable to enemy forts, artillery, and fleets along the way, especially if a commander with the “fort runner” special ability leads the expedition and/or they have escorting vessels.

In addition, individual riverine transport units can transport supply and distribute it to nearby units just like supply wagons. They can also be converted into a depot in a port.

Regular sea movement

You must use individual transport ships to transport troops by sea. The first type of seaborne (or riverine) movement is to transport units from one friendly port to another. In this case the units automatically disembark when they reach their destination port.

Procedure: First, merge the transporting fleet and the units to be transported in the port of departure, then order the combined force to move to the destination port.

Note that the transporting fleet needs to have enough transport capacity to do so.

Embark and disembark to port

A land unit contained on a naval transport unit can disembark upon reaching a port and will automatically do so upon reaching the port. You can embark units by combining them into the transport units “tab” and they will sail away after they finish loading.

Amphibious landing

Landing in an enemy region or a region without a port (even if friendly) is a two-step process:

1. Move the transport fleet and its cargo to a water zone adjacent to the landing spot as you would for a regular transport.
2. The turn after your fleet reaches its destination, split the force and order the land units to move ashore. The fleet disembarking units this way can be given a move order and will sail away after disembarking is complete.

You can reverse the procedure to embark units from coastal regions unto naval transports in an adjacent water zone and the transport will sail away when the loading is complete.

Postures

The offensive or defensive stance of a force is called its “posture”. Four buttons represent the different postures. Once a posture is selected, a corresponding icon is displayed over the piece as a reminder.

The possible postures are:

• Assault: Your force will attack any detected opponent it comes across. During a siege, your force will attempt to storm the fort/city. Expect heavy casualties unless the defenses have been breached.
• Offensive: Same as assault, except during a siege your force will not attempt to storm a fort/city (it will continue the siege).
• Defensive: Your force won’t engage enemy units. If attacked, it will defend with the benefit of the region’s terrain bonus, if any.
• Passive: This is the same as defensive Posture but with combat penalties if you are attacked. However your chance of withdrawing from combat is increased. Passive units also won’t increase the military control of a region that they are in.

Raids

Cutting the enemy’s supply lines and destroying his infrastructure is an important part of military operations.

You can set the desired behavior of your forces as follows:

• Your forces will automatically capture any supply stockpiles from enemy structures which fell into their hands during movement. They will first replenish their own supply reserves, the remaining supplies stay on map and change ownership. Structures also remain intact and change hands.
• Forces assigned the “evade fight” special order will burn all supply stockpiles in their path except in their destination region. Structures remain unharmed and simply change hands.
• To destroy a depot or fort, a force must start its move in the target region and use the “destroy depot” and/or “destroy fort” special order. This will take some time and will be resolved before any planned movement.
• Indians and raiders are special units identified by their “pillage” special ability icon. They destroy all supply, depots and forts they come across.

The probability of successfully carrying out such operations depends on the pillage value of the force.

Last but not least, marauding raiders block supply transport through the region they are located in. Also, don’t forget that one needs at least 25% military control in a region to let supplies pass through it.

Note: If left unopposed, skillful raiders can ruin a supply network. Significant forces can be tied up defending overextended supply lines.

Fog of war

A player will only see enemy units if they are detected. The hide value of the enemy units is compared to the friendly detection value in the region: if your detection value equals the hide value of your opponent, you detect him. Extra detection points increase the accuracy of the intelligence gathered.

Detection value

Detection points in a region are generated by 3 sources (not cumulative, use only the highest value):

• At least 51% military control in your favor: 2 points
• At least 51% population loyalty in your favor: 2 points
• Troops: Highest detection rating present

Detection also extends to adjacent regions but with a –1 reduction. A region is grayed out if your detection level there is 0.

Hide value

If a group is in a region with a structure (friendly or enemy), its Hide Value is set to 1 unless in Passive Posture. Otherwise, a group possesses the Hide Value of its unit with the worst Hide Value, modified as follows:

• Only leaders present: +1
• Small force or passive: +1
• Large force: -1
• Sneaky terrain: +1
• Bad weather: +1
• Leader's traits (Deceiver, Screener): +1

See the glossary for a definition of a small or large force.

Hint: forces near enemy territory or troops are automatically detected, unless the region is completely wild (i.e. no structure present). Forces in your rear areas, however, usually remain unspotted. Some irregular units such as indians, rangers, etc., are good choices to recon and spot enemy units doing the same.

Examples of what an opponent might detect

• Equal detection value: "Union or CSA Force*, Led by General***, Artillery*, Regulars* (this varies, but in general will be vague). Forces below the top "detected" force are invisible. Also note the force image and forces present tag.

• +1: Force name, exact force leadership and sub-unit names. Units below the top "detected" force will show only force name and number of sub-units in paranthesis.

• +2 and above: The power of each force and sub-units will be displayed. Units below the top unit will display as "also here," power in parenthesis.

• Note: There is only one detection value for a stack of forces in a region. The "detected" force used is usually the most powerful force in the stack. However, if an Army HQ is present, its detection value takes precedence. If two HQs are present, the most powerful HQ's detection value takes precedence. If the HQ is invisible, however, detection defaults to the most powerful force in the region.

Supply

Supply is divided into two categories: general supply (such as food, water, clothing, etc.) and ammunition. They are tracked separately but follow the same rules. Armies and fleets need general supply each turn to keep operating while ammunition is only used during battles.

Many units normally carry two turns worth of general supply and enough ammunition to last for two battles. They will try to replenish their stockpile each turn. Hover your mouse over a forces cauldron or cannonballs icon to check how much general supply and ammunition it carries.

Out of Supply Penalties

Units lacking general supply will start taking hits and lose cohesion. They also incur a moderate combat penalty. Units lacking ammunition will incur a severe combat penalty.

Note: Supply is absolutely critical to military operations, as starvation, desertion and disease take a great toll on units.

Supply Sources

The basic amounts generated are as follows:

This is further modified by:

• Investment
• Loyalty: Production is multiplied by [loyalty + 50 %]. For instance, if a region is completely loyal to your side (100% loyalty) production in the region will be multiplied by 1.5.
• National morale
• Blockade

You can check the total general supply generated in a region with its tooltip.

Supply Distribution

Each structure and unit in the game will “pull” a certain amount of supply each turn. This occurs during the hosting phase. Supply sources will strive to distribute their supply surplus to nearby structures and units that need it. This will trigger a chain reaction, with supply being forwarded from one structure to another until it reaches the farthest units/structures. This process is automated and conducted in three consecutive “push” steps taking many parameters into account.

The amount of supply that can transit through a structure is roughly proportional to its production capacity (see above) and the distance covered by your abstracted supply columns during each step can range from one to five regions depending on:

• Terrain
• Weather
• Enemy presence
• Rail transport
• River transport
• Sea transport

You can directly check on the map how much general supply/ammunition is stockpiled and where by using the supply filter. Note: Isolated units – such as units under siege – will begin to suffer from starvation when their general supply reserves are depleted.

Rail, river & sea transport

Each turn, the steamboats and trains left unused during the movement phase will be available for supply distribution. These will be used to transport supply over friendly river or rail lines. However, enemy forts and fleets along a river line block supply transport past their position.

Note: Controlling rivers and (to a lesser extent) railroads are strategically important, as they allow you to transport great quantities of supply and men compared to overland supply paths using roads.

The USA also has the option to transport supply by sea to coastal areas and ports. The transport capacity depends on the number of transport ships allocated to the “world shipping” box and is displayed on the transport assets panel at the top of the map.

Example: Union shipping allows long distance supply transport, for example from New York to New Orleans. The process is automated and will strive to augment the supply of needy ports and coastal depots by transporting any excess supply in the Northern harbors to where it is needed.

Depots

Depots are very useful in optimizing your supply lines. You can build them in critical locations such as supply bottlenecks or remote areas lacking other structures. These will then act as transit points in order to bridge gaps in your supply lines, extend the reach of your supply network and increase supply throughput. A depot will attract and then push forward more supplies than Level 1-14 cities.

Note 1: Building a depot network every three to five regions is highly recommended.

Note 2: Depots are tempting targets for enemy raiders and should be adequately protected.

Supply Wagons

Supply wagons are special units which act as moving supply stockpiles and thus provide you with limited direct control over supply. They fill up during the supply distribution phase. Supply wagons allow you to keep selected forces supplied, even if they operate far from their supply bases. However, this will only last until they become empty and need to be resupplied themselves from a regular supply source.

Wagons tend to slow down the force they accompany and cannot be used by naval units.

Supply wagons also have the following additional benefits:

• They provide a +10% fire bonus during battles (provided they have some ammo left)
• They protect units from bad weather effects by trading hits for supply

A supply wagon or transport ship is able to supply any land unit with both General Supply and Ammunition if it is in the same or an adjacent region.

Note: If you have too many depleted supply wagons near the front, you can move them back by train to rear areas stockpiles so they get replenished. This is the manual means that players have to control precisely where they want supply, most of the micro-management burden being taken by the automated supply distribution phase.

Naval Units

Fleets at sea can replenish general supply from adjacent land regions with a stockpile, but they can only replenish ammunition in ports. Naval transport units can also be used to manually transport general supply for troops located in adjacent coastal regions, similar to supply wagons.

Note: Any naval transport unit in the union shipping box will also help shuffling supply to coastal regions.

Foraging

Out of supply units located in an enemy region have a chance of finding enough subsistence to momentarily avoid the penalties due to lack of general supply. This depends on the terrain and civilization Level of the region, as well as the time of the year. A leader with the “forage” special ability also improves his force’s chances. One at a time, each out of supply sub-unit will make a test to see if it finds enough supply.

However as soon as a single test is failed, the region is considered to have been looted, as shown by the icon, and will not provide any more supply until it recovers, which happens during the harvesting season.

Technical Note: The supply calculations use sophisticated pathfinding algorithms that can takes between 5 and 30 seconds, depending of scenario size and your computer CPU power.

Climate

Weather plays a critical role in the conduct of operations. It affects movement, supply and combat in many ways, as shown on the following chart.

Important: Forces in a reasonably loyal region with a friendly structure ignore attrition due to bad weather. Please note that the force does not need to be located within the structure to benefit from its protection: the structure provides shelter to all forces in the region, both within and outside the structure to avoiding needless micro-management.

Weather	Movement and supply transport	Combat	Attrition
Mud	Moderate penalty. River crossing more difficult.	Slight penalty for the attacker	Mountain regions suffer attrition
Snow	Moderate penalty.	Moderate penalty for the attacker. Battles start at close range.	All forces suffer attrition (unless sheltered)
Frozen	Moderate penalty. Bodies of water may freeze, as shown by the icon.	Moderate penalty for the attacker.	Same as snow, with slightly greater losses
Blizzard	Severe penalty. Bodies of water may freeze.	Severe penalty for the attacker. Battles start at close range.	Same as frozen, with even greater losses

Attrition

Contrary to popular belief, most casualties during wars in this period were caused by attrition (disease, cold, desertion, etc.) rather than direct battle losses. In AACW, the following activities will result in units taking hits:

• Movement:

Hits are proportional to the cohesion cost of the move.).

• Desert Terrain:

Each turn spent in desert terrain results in severe attrition losses.

• Lack of general supply:

Units will take attrition hits (in addition to cohesion losses and combat penalties)

• Bad weather:

Units lacking shelter will take a number of hits depending on the severity of weather conditions. Supply wagons in a stack automatically “shield” units from attrition by negating one attrition hit/five supply points spent. Fleets do not get this benefit.

• Epidemics:

Large concentrations of troops are particularly vulnerable to disease.

Attrition is slightly reduced in civilized regions (x 0.9), if there is a supply wagon present in the stack (x 0.9) or if units are entrenched (x 0.8).

Military control

Military control is represented as a percentage of control in each region. As such, a region’s control ranges from 50/50, representing a region that is equally contested by both sides, to 100/0, where one side has absolute control of the region.

If both sides have troops present in a region, neither may increase military control until one side assumes an offensive posture in an attempt to increase control of the region. If the attacker is successful, the beaten defender will lose a portion of military control and either retreat locally, in which case it will stay in the region, or retreat to an adjacent region if soundly defeated. Note that Force’s in passive posture or those composed exclusively of support units will not contest control of a region, meaning the enemy will increase its military control without fighting.

If you manage to push back the enemy from a region and leave some units to occupy it, you will gain complete military control in one or two turns, depending of the amount of troops you have. A corps on the march can even convert a region in a few days!

Effects

Having military control of a region greatly increases both your chances of stopping an enemy force trying to cross it and the cohesion cost incurred by enemy units moving into/through the region. It also affects the chances of a corps successfully “marching to the sound of the guns”.

In addition, if you control at least 51% of a region your detection level will increase.

Finally, you cannot retreat from battle into completely hostile regions (i.e. less than 5% military control).

Note: Engaging in a battle deep within enemy territory is a very risky proposition, as losing it will result in complete destruction for lack of a retreat path!

In regions with 5% or less military control (i.e. enemy territory), a force will automatically adopt offensive posture in an attempt to get a foothold there. However, forces in passive posture or those composed entirely of cavalry, irregulars and support units may transit through enemy territory without switching posture.

Note: When penetrating into enemy territory, a force will have to face opposing forces blocking the main avenues of advance, unless fast-moving/stealthy enough to attempt infiltrating deeper into enemy territory. A force can also attempt to retreat to its lines through enemy territory, trying to avoid contact.

During amphibious assaults and river crossings into regions where you have 10% or less military control, your posture is also automatically set to offensive (unless the force is entirely composed of irregulars).

Note: Armies amphibiously landing or crossing a river have no choice but to fight the enemy defending the crossing or beach at a disadvantage. However, forces crossing/landing into a region where you previously secured a beachhead/bridgehead (more than 10% military control) can reinforce it without fighting. Irregulars are also considered stealthy enough to cross/land unopposed.

Controlling structures

To control of a structure, you must simply be the latest to have occupied it with a combat unit.

Note: You don’t necessarily need to leave a unit garrisoning the structure, although it is good practice to do so. Indians and partisans will only take control of a city if the population in the area is friendly (51% Loyalty or more). They cannot capture depots or forts and will instead destroy them.

Loyalty

Loyalty is a measure of the local population’s inclination for one side or the other and is independent of military control. You can quickly occupy an enemy region with your troops, but winning its population to your side is a far slower process. High loyalty within a region will give the following benefits:

• You don’t need to garrison objectives in order to earn VP’s.
• The locals will provide you some intelligence as to the enemy’s whereabouts
• The region will produce more supply, resources, and money
• If the enemy occupies a region loyal to your side without leaving enough of a garrison, its military control will gradually shift in your favor and there is a chance that partisans will appear in the region.
• If a region is very hostile to the occupant (10% or less loyalty), non-garrisoned cities may even openly revolt, in which case an enemy unit will appear and take control of the city.

Influencing Loyalty

Over time, martial law imposed by the occupant will slowly shift a region’s loyalty in his favor. This is particularly true if a leader with the “Occupier” special ability is present, but the process remains a slow one. The only way to really get population to stop supporting their side is to demoralize the enemy by capturing strategic cities. Each time this happens, the bad news triggers a wave of loyalty Checks across the map depending on the distance:

• One check for each strategic city on the map
• One check for each region with a strategic city in the state
• One check for each adjacent region

Note: The news spread faster in large cities, and their psychological impact is highly influenced by proximity. Conversely, remote areas are less volatile in their loyalties.

You can also influence loyalty by tweaking domestic policy at the state-level.

The war economy

Introduction

To raise units, you will need men, money and supplies: this is what your war economy is about. However, you are limited in the numbers and locations of your newly raised units since each state can only provide a limited share of its resources to your war effort.

Men

Except for a very few places which raise a minimal amount of recruits every turn, the only ways of recruiting fresh troops are:

Call for volunteers

This can be done every six months. The number of recruits depends on your current NM, meaning this method is usually more efficient at the start of the war, when NM is high. You can offer a bounty as an incentive to attract more recruits, however there is a monetary cost as well as a slight cost in NM (some recruiting officers tended to resort to questionable measures to press young men into service).

Mobilization

This can be done once a year. You can toggle the level of your mobilization effort between partial and full. This costs no money and your press gangs will bring in large numbers of new recruits, willing or not. The downside being that such an unpopular measure will obviously cost lots of NM, as well as VP’s (i.e. long-term loss of trust in the government).

Procedure: Go to the “draft” screen of the ledger (shortcut: F4). Call for volunteers is handled on the left-hand side and mobilization on the right-hand side. You can switch between the different options within each category (bounty amount and partial/full mobilization) by clicking on the text. Click “Sign here” to confirm your orders.

Usage

Men are needed in order to raise new units and to replace losses for units on the field.

Money

Money is produced each turn in a few places such as your national capital, financial centers and in California’s gold mines, but those sources of income are marginal. The great bulk of your income will proceed from exceptional measures you can periodically take.

Once a year, you can:

Issue war bonds (several interest rates available)

People are encouraged to loan money to your government at exceptional interest rates. The higher the rate, the more money you will be able to raise. The burden you are willing to carry repaying the debt when the war is over will have a cost in VP’s at the end of the game. This measure will slightly increase inflation (i.e. all your units and investments will cost a little bit more).

Raise exceptional taxes

Contrary to war bonds, taxes are not optional: they are enforced by your administration. It is understandably not a popular measure and will cost you some NM. The amount collected is based on your population and will increase as time passes. This measure will slightly increase inflation (i.e. all your units and investments will cost a little bit more).

You can also resort to:

Printing paper money

You can use this option at will, but remember it is a desperate measure. With all the new money circulating, inflation will dramatically increase and your economy will dearly suffer in the long run. NM is also adversely affected.

Procedure: Go to the “financials” screen of the ledger (shortcut: F5). You can switch between the different options within each category by clicking on the text. Click “Sign here” to confirm your orders.

Usage

In addition to men and war supplies, every unit and replacement has a cost in money, as do most of the domestic policy options (conscription or economic development, for example).

Supplies

Supplies come in three varieties in AACW. Cities will produce these three kinds of supplies each turn depending on their size.

War supplies

This is a general term representing the equipment needed by your troops. Heavy ships and artillery cost lots of war supplies, as they require industrial capacity and raw materials. Infantry, on the other hand, costs fewer supplies, as rifles and other light equipment are easier to manufacture.

Confederate blockade runners may provide some imported war supplies to the South after selling their cotton cargoes overseas. Confederate naval raiders may also slightly disrupt Union war supplies production (but won’t bring back their prizes to the South).

General Supply

Armies and fleets need food, clothing, and other basic supplies to keep on moving and fighting. These are all grouped into the term “general supply” (as opposed to “war supplies”) and are distributed to your depots and your troops every turn.

Ammunition

Finally, another commodity you will need to keep your troops battle ready is ammunition, which is tracked separately from general supply but otherwise follows the same production and distribution mechanisms.

The economic summary is updated each time you plan an income or an expense for the upcoming turn.

Economy Overview

Among other things, the finances section of the ledger allows you to adjust your income, as explained in the section on money.. It also boasts a handy economic summary chart showing you how much of each resource you have on hand as well as how much you are going to spend and produce during the upcoming turn, given your current orders. The current inflation rate is also indicated here.

Blockade & Raiding Commerce

The USA, with their mighty navy, will strive to block Southern commerce with the rest of the world in order to ruin their export-oriented economy. There are two ways to do so with the effects being cumulative:

• The first one, referred to as “brown water blockade” represents tactical blockading of harbors. Assigning enough warships to blockade a specific port will result in a 50% loss of production for the blockaded port. In addition, enemy units are severely limited in their ability to enter or leave such a port.

Procedure: Station enough warships in the sea zone(s) or river stretch (if an inland port) connecting a harbor to the open sea and you will see a “blockade” icon on the map.

• “Blue water blockade”, on the other hand, represents patrolling the CSA’s trade routes in order to catch their merchant ships and blockade runners. The number of US ships assigned to this type of blockade will have an impact on the production of all CSA ports in the blockaded zone. In addition, these ships will try to catch and sink Confederate blockade runners. Blue water blockade, as opposed to brown water blockade, won’t prevent enemy movement to/from CSA ports.

Procedure: To assign warships to blue water blockade, move them to the Atlantic and/or Gulf of Mexico blockade boxes.

The Confederates can try to slip out of their ports with “blockade runners” loaded with trade goods (mostly cotton, but abstracted, you don’t have to actually load anything) in order to bring in much needed imported goods for the South. Each active blockade runner will provide up to one money and one war supply per turn to the CSA until it is sunk. The chances of sinking blockade runners depends on the number, speed and combat value of the USA ships assigned to blue water blockade in the corresponding box.

Procedure: Move your blockade runner to the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico blockade box. Using the “evade fight” special order is highly recommended. If the blockade runner manages to sail past USA patrols and reach the blockade box, it becomes active until sunk or you decide to return it to port (for repairs, for example).

Finally, the CSA can try to disrupt Northern trade by sending out commerce raiders to sink US merchantmen. Each active commerce raider will disrupt USA war supply production. The US can assign warships to the Union shipping box as escorts to decrease the effectiveness of CSA raiders and maybe sink them.

Procedure: Move your commerce raider to the Union shipping box. Using the “evade fight” Special Order is highly recommended. If the raider manages to sail past USA patrols and reach the Shipping box it becomes active until sunk or you decide to return it to port (to repair damage, for example).

Raising Units

Each state can only field a limited number of troops at any time. If all of a state’s units are in play, the state can’t field more units until some are eliminated.

Click on the reinforcements drawer to display this chart. Each tab indicates how many units in this category you ordered to be raised this turn (in parenthesis). Units are color-coded by their State.

You don’t get to decide where exactly a unit is raised, but they will usually be raised in the biggest population centers in their state. Units appear the turn after you request them, but they start completely depleted (i.e. with one strength and one cohesion point only), as they are gathering men and training them, collecting supplies, etc. Such units cannot be moved and are basically defenseless. Their status is indicated by a red label. After a while, they lose this special status and can be moved, but rushing those green units into combat should best be avoided. Ideally, you should wait until they have completed their training before issuing them orders.

The build rate is the time needed for a unit to reach its full strength and cohesion and depends on unit type as well as the NM level.

Example: Militia are low-quality troops but have a good build rate while ironclads take quite a while to complete.

Naval units are treated the same way, with the added risk that any ships under construction are captured or destroyed if the port they are being built in falls into enemy hands. Ships with the “hull” built may move away to avoid capture.

Procedure: All units available for recruitment are displayed in the “reinforcements” page of the ledger (shortcut: F2). You can switch between the various unit types by clicking on the corresponding tab. Unit type, combat strength and three numbers are displayed. These numbers indicate (from top to bottom) a.) How many are in the Force pool?, i.e. not yet built, b.) How many are on the map?, and c.) How many you have already requested to be raised this turn? Additional info is displayed at the bottom of the screen when you pass the mouse over a unit, such as its elements and most importantly its cost; expressed in terms of money, men (conscripts) and war supplies.

Partisans

Partisans can appear in states where they were historically active. They appear when the enemy controls most of the territory but with too few troops. These partisan units are automatically generated in the wildest regions of the State.

These units – despite their poor combat capacity – are fast, difficult to locate, can lay ambushes and don’t need leaders to operate. If they leave their home state they are severely penalized.

Example: Partisans are typically used to disrupt enemy supply.

When faced by partisans, you will have to guard important locations and generally patrol the area and attempt to engage them. However, they will often escape unless your units are very mobile.

Foreign intervention

It is difficult but not impossible for the confederates to get Great Britain and France to support them. These powers have a common foreign entry level starting at 0 (neutrality), as shown in the objectives screen of the ledger (shortcut: F9). Should this value reach +100, both powers intervene on the Confederate side. If it ever reaches –100, they decide not to intervene in the conflict and cannot be further influenced. Note: A game option allows you to change this value.

As long as the value fluctuates between these limits, they are still hesitant and can be influenced by bidding VP’s, spending money or at a cost in NM. The different options are listed in the politics screen of the ledger (shortcut: F8). In addition, the foreign entry level can shift 1 point per turn in favor of the side with the higher NM, and one point per turn in favor of the side with the higher VP count (50% probability each).

Once foreign intervention is triggered, both Great Britain and France will intervene on the Confederate side. A positive value for foreign entry also enables the South to get some regular free assets (subsidies).

Managing your nation

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Introduction

Several key decisions are made at state-level, or even national (Union or Confederacy) level. Here is an overview of the different policies along with explanations for those that are not described in other chapters (such as Manual:The war economy).

Unit roster

This is a list of all your units currently on the map. Check the tooltips for sorting options. Figure 20: Clicking on a unit’s symbol will close the Ledger and center the map on this unit.

Drafts screen

Refer to Manual:The war economy#Men for an explanation of this screen.

Financials Screen

Refer to Manual:The war economy#Money for an explanation of this screen.

Economics Screen

In this screen, you can decide how much money you are going to invest in the different areas of your infrastructure.

Investment in Production

You can choose between four different levels of industrialization effort ranging from none to heavy in each of your states. However, you don’t have complete control over this process: you control neither the exact place where it happens nor the type of production which increases: it is semi-randomly chosen from between war supplies, general supplies, and ammunition, with an emphasis on less developed resources.

Remember that different states have different economies and cultures: some rural states heavily depend on agriculture, which makes them poor candidates for industrial expansion. Please also note that the return on investment is comparatively greater with the lowest level of investment, and that steady investment is more efficient than erratic investment.

Procedure: Repeatedly right- or left-click on a state until you’ve reached the desired investment level. The investment is maintained every turn until you cancel it. Investments will be canceled if you do not have the necessary resources to maintain (all of) them.

Steamboats and railroads

You can increase your river and rail transport capacity here. This will cost you money and war supplies. Please note that both transportation pools suffer a constant loss through wear and tear, at a rate of 3%/turn for rail transport and 1%/turn for river transport.

Procedure: Right- or left-click on the steamboat or locomotive until you’ve purchased the desired number of transport assets.

Loyalties screen

You may want to restrict individual liberties in some states to maintain order. You have the choice between the following three policies:

Full liberties

This is the standard policy and is best suited for friendly regions.

Habeas corpus suspended

This policy ensure loyalty doesn’t fall below 15%. The downside being that it also limits loyalty to a maximum of 85%. In addition, controlled strategic cities in the state stop producing VP’s as long as this policy is in effect.

Martial law applied

This policy ensures loyalty doesn’t fall below 30%. The downside being that it also limits loyalty to a maximum of 70%. In addition, controlled objectives in the state produce negative VP’s as long as this policy is in effect.

Note: Remember, the policy is applied at the state level, meaning that each region in the given state will experience the same policy. Carefully weigh your decision!

Figure 21: The three possible individual liberties policies, ranging from full liberties (left) to martial law (right).

Politics Screen

Moving your Capital

In case of emergency, you can relocate your capital from here. It will cost money, but also NM and VP’s, as your prestige suffers greatly.

Rotating foreign intervention options

Both sides can choose a foreign intervention option every six months (such as “embargo on cotton” for the CSA or “territorial concessions” for the USA). Each option has a different cost, chance to successfully influence Great Britain and France, potential gain and risk of “backfiring” against your side. Check the tooltip for detailed information.

Procedure: Right- or left-click on the option’s text to cycle through the different available options.

Note: You will have to choose between gambling the more promising options, at the risk of backfiring, or take a safer one, which will not have much of an impact on the foreign entry level.

Prisoner Exchange

Starting in July 1862, the Prisoner Exchange option unlocks for both sides and may be selected during this or any subsequent turn. Once selected by a player it cannot be selected again by that player for another 12 turns.

If both sides select Prisoner Exchange during the same turn, during the next turn they will both once release 1/3rd of the prisoners of war (POW’s) they hold in their camps and receive a small NM and VP bonus. The exchanged prisoners returned from one side are added to the conscript pool of the opposing side^[1].

The number of POW’s being held by each side gradually declines each turn due to poor detention conditions, not counting freshly captured POW's.

1. ↑ Prisoner Exchanges Post#7 Pocus

Objectives screen

This important screen should be closely monitored, as it indicates who owns each objective and how many VP’s it is worth, as well as your current number of VP’s and how many you will gain this turn from strategic cities and objectives under your control. It also shows the NM and victory/defeat thresholds of each side, the number of turns remaining in the game, and the foreign entry level.

Combat in the field

Introduction

Combat happens when two enemy forces meet and at least one of them is in offensive posture. It ranges from minor skirmishes involving few units for a limited time to full-scale battles lasting more than one day.

Engaging combat

Combat is resolved in a series of one hour rounds between engaged troops at sub-unit level. Not all of a force will necessarily participate from the beginning; different bodies of troops will join the fray at different times, especially in large battles. Each hour, a test is made to see which units reach the battlefield.

Marching to the sound of the guns

Depending on the situation, a corps or army headquarters engaged in combat may decide to call for reinforcements. If it does, corps from the same army located in adjacent regions may answer the call and join the fight if they pass a check. This check takes into account distance, the level of military control in both regions and the strategic rating of the reinforcing corps leader. Army HQs also have a greater chance to reinforce a battle and getting reinforcements themselves. You can then use the army HQ as a sort of reserve, to pack some punch in case of need. Reinforcing corps will return to their original region after the battle.

Withdrawal

Before each round, each side checks to see if it will attempt to withdraw. An exception is units attacking in an amphibious assault since these fight to the last man because they cannot retreat. The decision to withdraw is based on relative strength, leader aggressiveness (i.e. offensive rating) and the presence of fortifications. A force that decides to withdraw will automatically change its posture to passive for the rest of the turn.

Forces attempting to withdraw must now make a check: the chance to successfully withdraw increase each round and is influenced by force size, “evade fight” special order, commanding leader’s strategic rating and the presence of cavalry (on both sides). Units which successfully set an ambush and units commanded by leaders with the “skirmisher” special ability also have a much higher chance to break contact with the enemy should they decide to.

If the attempt fails, the force fights one more round with a slight penalty and renews its attempt on the next round. If the attempt succeeds, the force withdraws.

If there is a non-besieged structure in the region and the force has the “seek shelter” special order, it will withdraw into the structure; otherwise it will withdraw to an adjacent region under friendly military control. Depending on the level of enemy military control in the region chosen for withdrawal, the force may be forced into another battle by the pursuing enemy.

A surrounded force (i.e. all adjacent regions are 95% or more enemy controlled) will keep on fighting instead of withdrawing.

Frontage

Depending on a region’s terrain, the maximum number of sub-units that can deploy and fight in a battle will vary. Sub-units unable to deploy will be held in reserve and relieve weakened troops in the front line during the battle.

Note: Fighting in terrain with limited frontage is well suited to delaying tactics. A veteran defending force in such terrain may even force the enemy to break and cancel his assault despite a numerical advantage.

The frontage space occupied by a sub-unit depends on its maneuverability in this type of terrain.

Example: On the one hand, regular units are quite slow in mountain terrain and take up much frontage space in such terrain as a consequence. Partisans, on the other hand, are much faster in mountains and take up less frontage space. This means you could engage the enemy with many more partisans than regular units in this particular case.

Combat range

The initial range of a battle depends on local weather and terrain. Range will then decrease every round as troops close the distance. Range will determine which sub-units are able to fire in each round.

Note: Take on an artillery position with slow-moving infantry in open terrain at your own risk!

Fire combat

High initiative provides big benefits in combat as it is the biggest factor in determining who fires first each round. Sub-units will fire a number of times depending on their rate of fire (with a minimum of one).

Out of command chain status and lack of CP’s penalizes sub-units in terms of initiative, rate of fire, and chance to hit.

Successful firing depends on a sub-unit’s offensive fire value (if the force is in offensive posture) or defensive fire value (if the force is in defensive posture) and is influenced by the following:

• Unit’s discipline rating
• Unit’s experience level
• Leader offensive fire/defensive fire rating, as appropriate
• Cover of target unit provided by terrain or fortifications
• Weather
• Leader special abilities
• Command penalties (Out of command chain status and/or lack of CP’s)
• Lack of ammunition and/or general supply
• Friendly supply wagon present (+10%)
• River crossing/amphibious landing
• Forced march
• Failed withdrawal/passive posture
• Trench level above five (for artillery only)

Infantry and cavalry that score a hit inflict one strength point loss. Artillery causes two losses and “heavy” units (siege artillery, ships, ...) can even cause three losses, as indicated in the element details screen.

A sub-unit that suffers losses equal to its strength value is eliminated. However, it will usually rout and flee the battlefield before this happens. Severe losses will also affect a sub-unit’s chance to break under fire (see below).

Morale

On the one hand, every hour each sub-unit must check its discipline unless it is intact (i.e. did not take any losses so far during the battle). If the test fails, the unit becomes shaken and has its rate of fire decreased for the current round.

On the other hand, a sub-unit that is hit during fire combat must make a check based on its current cohesion level with the following modifiers:

• Militia fighting in their own state
• Trench level (capped at Level 4)
• Loss level of sub-unit
• Fighting in a symbolic objective (one of the capitals, for example)

If it loses this check, it is routed off the field and no longer participates in the battle. In addition, when the number of routed units becomes too large, the whole force is routed. In this case, it withdraws and suffers increased losses during pursuit.

Melee combat

If the range ever reaches 0, melee combat ensues. Support sub-units (such as artillery) do not participate in melee. This close-quarters combat is similar to fire combat, but a sub-unit’s assault value is used instead of its offensive/defensive fire value and discipline plays a key role. Losses can be quite devastating at such a short range.

Play note: Highly trained units and some special units are more effective in close quarters.

Battle aftermath

A battle can end up in a draw if neither side withdrew. If there was a winner (i.e. the non-retreating force, irrespective of losses), he will pursue the retreating force and inflict casualties in the process. These losses are much greater if the loser routed instead of executing an orderly withdrawal.

A battle will influence VP’s, NM, and leader seniority as follows:

• The winner gains VP’s for losses inflicted on the enemy. The loser does not gain any.
• The winner gains NM depending on the losses inflicted. The loser’s NM decreases correspondingly.
• Leaders with a good loss ratio (i.e. who inflicted more losses than they received, even if they lost and retreated) gain seniority while their opponent loses some

Troops also gain experience by participating in battles (even if they lost). Leaders are treated differently: they must make a check based on their rank to see if they were wounded or killed in action. A 1 star leader is the most vulnerable while 3 star leaders and above are immune. In addition, winning leaders gain experience, progressively increasing their attributes and even sometimes getting new special abilities. Leaders on the losing side suffer from a slight reduction in attributes.

Note: All generals stand a chance of being killed if their parent unit is destroyed.

Siege combat

Overview

Sieges happen when a unit defends in a pre-war fort, a permanent fortification, a city, a depot or an indian village. Two values - one for each side - are randomly generated to resolve the siege. Various bonuses are also added and these are indicated below:

Besieging side:

• Artillery combat factors
• Leader with the “siege engineer” special ability
• Breach achieved (see below)
• Defender lacks general supply

Besieged side:

• Artillery combat factors
• Leader with the “engineer” or “fort defender” special ability
• Fort level: Pre-war forts are considered level 1 forts while level 5+ trenches are level 2 forts

The difference between these two values, called the "siege roll value" (SRV), indicates the result (cumulative):

SRV > defending units’ average discipline

Defender surrenders and all units are eliminated unless the defending force includes a supply wagon, in which case the result is ignored

SRV >= 3

A breach is made. The siege icon will change to indicate a breach is in progress or achieved . Cities and pre-war forts are breached after a single breach result while permanent fortifications require two breach results to be fully breached.

SRV > 0

5 hits are inflicted on the defenders for each point of SRV.

SRV < 0

The defender has managed to repair a breach.

Besieged units may only recover hits if they are in a non-blockaded port.

Storming a structure

A force in assault posture will try to storm the structure instead of besieging it. The procedure is the same as in regular combat except that the defender benefits from a combat bonus. Permanent forts provide a great bonus, pre-war forts less so and cities even less. Frontage is quite limited in such combat, especially in forts. Defenders in a depot or indian village don’t get any defensive benefit except limited frontage.

Note: It is usually advised to defend outside in the surrounding terrain rather in a depot or indian village. The same is true to some extent for cities.

Naval combat

Battles between fleets are handled similarly to land battles with a few minor twists (no frontage, etc.). Withdrawing fleets will move to an adjacent sea region/river section. Remember to return damaged ships to port for repairs, as they cannot recover hits while at sea or on a river.

Losses and replacements

Each basic unit is made up of sub-units (regiments, batteries, squadrons and individual ships). All losses are taken by these discrete elements (indicated by a number of red heart symbols in the unit details panel). Each sub-unit can suffer a limited amount of punishment before being destroyed outright.

As long as sub-units are not totally destroyed, they will recover hits by filling their ranks with replacements during the hosting phase if they didn’t move during a turn. This is in addition to recovering cohesion.

The replacement rate per turn, as a percentage of a unit’s full complement, is:

• Base land unit recovery rate: 5%
• Irregular: 10%
• Depot: 20%
• City: 10%
• Fort: 10%
• Indian village: 5%

Note: Union troops divide this rate by two, as field replacements were not a common practice for them.

• Naval unit: 5%/port level

Click on the Replacements Drawer to display this chart. Replacements are identified by their category.

You will need to have replacements of the appropriate type available in your pool to recover hits. The number of replacements used up in the process depends on the number of hits recovered and a random factor.

Units under siege are unable to recover hits unless located in a city with a non-blockaded port.

Important! Make sure you always have some replacements in your pool, because units don’t recover any hits if the appropriate replacements are unavailable.

If a sub-unit is completely destroyed, the parent unit will need to draw a replacement sub-unit from the replacement pool. This is limited to a single replacement per turn.

Procedure: Hit F3 or go to the replacements page of the Ledger to check available replacements in each category. The first number represents currently available replacements while the second number shows how many can still be purchased.

Finally, remember you can also recover hits by merging similar units that incurred losses.

Example: If a brigade had lost an entire infantry regiment element, you could merge an individual infantry regiment unit into the brigade. Similarly, if a brigade had lost one infantry regiment and one artillery battery element, and you had a brigade which had lost all its elements except one infantry regiment and one artillery battery, you could merge these two units into a single unit with full complement.

Note: A unit absorbed into another one to replace losses is removed from the game. It cannot leave the unit it has been merged into later on.

Appendices

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Glossary and abbreviations

• CSA: Confederate States of America, the “Southern” side in the American Civil War
• Element: These are the building blocks of units. They have their own attributes but cannot be manipulated.
• Force: A generic term describing a collection of land or naval unit(s) moving and fighting together. You issue orders to Force’s.
• Independent Stack/Force: Any Stack or unit that is not part of a Corps within an Army.
• NM: National Morale. A measure of your side’s will to fight
• Stack: See Force
• Unit: The smallest Force you can manipulate in the game. Leaders are a special kind of unit.
• USA: United States of America, the “Northern” side in the American Civil War
• VP: Victory Point
• Supply: Both General Supply and Ammunition
• Aide de Camp: A non-Army commander leader in an Army Stack that has a Strategic Rating of 4+
• Symbolic Objective – TBD
• “Large” Force - Consists of 13+ CP worth of units or 13+ units.
• “Small Force” - Consists of 4 or less CP worth of units or 4 units or less.

Shortcut keys

Zooming

Mouse wheel

Zoom in/Zoom out

Click on mouse wheel

Alternate between maximum and minimum zoom levels

End

Same

Page Up

Zoom in

Page Down

Zoom out

Manipulating Stacks

Left-click

Select a stack

Right-click

Unselect (and returns to messages display)

Ctrl+click

Cycle through the various region stacks.

Drag & drop on another region

Move

Drag & drop on same region

Cancel whole move (exception: if Shift is pressed it allows circular trips)

Drag & drop on another force

Either intercept an enemy or merge with a friendly force

Drag & drop on city, port

Enter the structure

Drag & drop on a tab

Merge with this force

Del

Cancel the last leg of the movement path of the selected stack.

C

Center map on selected stack

Shift

When an army stack is selected: See the army command radius.

Shift

When a (non-army) stack is selected: See the nearby regions and nature of the links.

Ctrl

Show number of men

E/R

Cycle through land forces. Simultaneously press Ctrl to skip units who are not moving.

T/Y

Cycle through naval forces. Simultaneously press Ctrl to skip units who are not moving.

S (sentry)

Selected force will be skipped when cycling with keys E/R/T/Y

Ctrl +S

Remove all “sentry” orders

Ctrl + L

Lock/unlock all stacks (prevents a stack drop onto another stack from merging)

Right-click on a tab

Lock/unlock this stack.

A, O, D, P

Change the stack to the corresponding posture

Operational Orders (if applicable)

Shift+T

Enter town upon reaching destination

Shift+F

Build fort

Shift+D

Build depot

Shift+S

Sortie from structure

Shift+M

Force march

Shift+A

Set an ambush

Shift+R

Raze fort

Shift+B

Burn structure (land units)

Shift+B

Bombard (naval units)

Ctrl +C

When several units are selected, combine them (e.g. into a division)

Ctrl +D

Detach the unit if it consists of several units.

Map shortcuts

Keys 1 – 6: Switch map filter

Ledger shortcuts

F1

Force list

F2

Reinforcements (Secretary of War)

F3

Replacements (Secretary of War)

F4

Drafts (Secretary of War)

F5

Financials (Secretary of Treasury)

F6

Industrial (Secretary of Treasury)

F7

Loyalty (Attorney General)

F8

Politics (Secretary of State)

F9

Objectives (Secretary of State)

F10

Scenario background

In the unit panel

Ctrl-click

Select/unselect multiple units

Mouse wheel scroll

Move through the list of units

Select unit(s) then drag & drop on the map

Create a new army/fleet. This is used for disembarking in a coastal region without a friendly port, for example.

Messages Log

Simple-click

Go to region where event occurred (if relevant)

Double-click

Display messages content (if message is red) and opens specific message window

Mouse wheel scroll

To scroll up and down the message list

Windows

Esc

Close the window

Saved Games

When you move the mouse over a saved game on the load game screen, you have the following options:

Home

Back up one turn

Insert

rename it

Delete

delete it

City icons

Below is a general description of some of the icon’s you might encounter when viewing cities on the map. This list is not intended to be comprehensive but is intended to give the player a general idea.

A Depot is located in this city.

General Supply is available in this city.

Ammunition is available in this city

Entrenchment types (various levels)

Entrenchment types with artillery (various levels)

Cosmetic icon for a city without a harbor

Fort types (various levels with and without guns)

Stockade

Factory

Conscripts

Harbor types

Pre-war Fort

Anchorage types

Indian Village

NATO Symbols

Admiral (one or more symbols) Artillery, Coastal Artillery, Field Artillery, Heavy Artillery, Horse Artillery, Light Artillery, Siege Belle Boyd (CSA Spy) Balloons Cavalry Cavalry, Divisional Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, Light Engineers Flotilla Gatling Guns General (one or more symbols) General/Cavalry Mixed (one or more symbols) General/Infantry Mixed (one or more symbols) Goods Headquarters Headquarters Headquarters Indian Infantry Infantry, Divisional Infantry, Heavy Infantry, Light Ironclad Irregular Marines Medical Militia (various states) Mines Mountain Naval Engineers Partisans Pioneers Pinkerton Agent (USA Spy) Privateer Rangers Riverine Sharpshooters Signal Slaves Steamer Steam Warship Submarine Supply Transport Warship

Special ability icon definition

AACW includes more than 70 special abilities. Hovering your mouse over a Special Ability’s icon will also display a tooltip with useful information. A list is provided below:

Name Picture Description

Militiaman

• Discipline bonus of 1, Cohesion bonus of 10 to all Militia in the Stack.

Cavalryman

• 25% combat bonus for all cavalry units in the Stack if in clear, prairie or desert terrain.

Artillerist

• 20% combat bonus for all artillery units in the Stack.

Defensive Engineer

• 10% defensive fire bonus and 1 extra protection when the Stack is already entrenched.

Entrencher

• 10% defensive fire bonus and 1 extra protection for the unit this element is in, if already entrenched.

Partisan

• 30% combat bonus and 2 extra protection to all Irregular units in the Stack. Applies only in difficult terrain.

Irregular Fighting Skill

• 15% attack and defense bonus to all the units in the Stack when in combat versus Irregulars, Partisans, Indians units (only in difficult terrain).

Indian Fighting skill

• 15% attack and defense bonus to all the units in the Stack when in battle versus Indian units (in all terrains).

Sharpshooter

• This unit possesses Sharpshooters that impede enemy reaction. +1 Initiative bonus in battle to the whole unit.

Fast Mover

• If the commander, 15% move bonus to the whole Stack.

Very Fast Mover

• If the commander, 25% move bonus to the whole Stack.

Very Fast Cavalryman

• If the commander, 25% move bonus to all cavalry in the Stack.

Very Fast Raider

• If the commander, 25% move bonus to all Irregulars in the Stack.

Slow Mover

• If the commander, 25% move penalty to the whole Stack.

Ranger

• 25% move bonus to the whole Stack in wild areas.

Pontoneer

• Provides a 50% speed bonus to the whole Stack when crossing rivers.

Seaman

• If the commander, provides a 25% move bonus to the whole Fleet.

Supply Ranger

• 15% reduction in General Supply consumption to the whole Stack in wild areas.

Master Logistician

• If the commander, 25% reduction on the whole Force General Supply consumption.

Forager

• This element or commander reduces by 25% the chances that a unit pillages a region when foraging (i.e. when General Supply is lacking).

Expert Forager

• This element or commander reduces by 50% the chances that a unit pillages a region when foraging (i.e. when General Supply is lacking).

Siege Expert

• Provides a one point siege bonus to the whole Stack when attacking Forts.

Fort Defender

• Provides a one point siege bonus to the whole Stack when defending in a Fort.

Engineer

• Provides a one point siege bonus to the whole Stack when defending or attacking Forts.

Ambusher

• If the commander, 50% bonus to Irregulars’ chance to ambush in non-clear areas

Surpriser

• If the commander, 20% chance of surprising the enemy (first fire).

Skirmisher

• If the commander, allows an easier retreat in the first two hours of the battle.

Adept Raider

• If the commander, allows a 85% chance of retreat at any round of battle, if overwhelmed. Applies only to stacks needing 4 or fewer command points.

Reckless

• If the commander, will have difficulty retreating on the first two hours of the battle.

Hothead

• If the commander, won't be able to order a retreat during the first two hours of the battle.

Indian-American Commander

• Can lead units of Indian nationality without penalty

Patriot

• Gives a 25% bonus to the raise of Partisans and volunteers in the State where he is present.

Recruiting Officer

• Can muster new Conscripts on a regular basis in cities of Level 5+. Must be in the city to do so.

Training Officer

• If the commander, will train up to two regiments of Conscripts to regular soldier every turn.

Training Master

• Provides 1 experience point every turn to all the troops in the Stack by drilling them.

Master Spy

• If the commander, improves the detection of enemy units (except Irregulars) within the Department.

Poor Spy Network

• If the commander, erroneous reports received which worsen the detection of enemy units (except Irregulars) within the Department.

Indian

• This unit is Indian.

Large Transport

• This unit has a transport capacity of 10.

Medium Transport

• This unit has a transport capacity of 5.

Transport

• This unit has a transport capacity of 3.

Small Transport

• This unit has a transport capacity of 2.

Tiny Transport

• This unit has a transport capacity of 1.

Charismatic

• This leader has a charismatic aura. If the commander, provides +5 maximum Cohesion and a +25% increase in the fatigue recovery rate of units under his command.

Good Army Administrator

• The leader is appreciated by his men and cares about their well-being. If the commander, provides a +15% increase in the fatigue recovery rate of units under his command.

Dispirited Leader

• This commander is absolutely not charismatic in the eyes of his men or is a defeatist. -5 Maximum Cohesion to the Stack if the commander, -25% to the Cohesion recovery rate.

HQ Command

• Because of an efficient command structure, Divisions HQs are able to give +5 Maximum Cohesion and +5% to the Cohesion Recovery Rate, to all divisional elements.

Strong Morale

• This element is either composed of highly motivated, battle-hardened individuals or is a leader capable of inspiring his men. The inspiration provided gives a +5 Maximum Cohesion bonus to all others elements of the unit.

Medical Service

• This element is a Medical Service company, able to provide health care even on the battlefield. Give +15% to the Cohesion Recovery rate of all others elements of the Stack they are in.

Hated Occupier

• This leader will apply Martial Law with extreme severity in any rebellious city he has to pacify.

Occupier

• This leader will not hesitate to proclaim Martial Law in any rebellious city he has to administer.

Good Population Administrator

• If the most senior General in the region, will progressively increase the Loyalty of the population over time. (+1% each turn up to 75%)

Pillager

• If the most senior commander in the region, this leader will let his men burn and pillage the countryside without regards for justice, slaughtering civilians if need be. Only the most loyal and policed regions will be spared by his cruel behaviour.

Strategist

• If the Commander in Chief in the Department, provides +1 Command Point and an additional +1 per ability level, to his Stack and all subordinates Corps.

Good Commander

• If in command provides +1 Command Point per ability level. (If in command of an Army, subordinates Corps also receive this bonus)

Gifted Commander

• This general is gifted for command. +2 Command Points and +1 additional CP per ability level above 1, to any Stack he commands. (If in command of an Army, subordinates Corps also receive this bonus)

Good Subordinates

• This general knows how to pick his subordinates and is able to delegate command at the right moment. +3 Command Points to any stacks he commands. This ability does not improve.

Quickly Angered

• This general is quickly angered and is often having arguments with his subordinates. -4 Command Points to the Stack he commands and to subordinates Corps if any.

Over Cautious

• This commander is far too cautious when it comes to engaging the enemy, resulting in passivity and a lack of reactivity in the Chain of Command of his Army. -4 CP if the commander of the Stack (applied to subordinate Corps if in command of an Army)

Signal

• This signal unit is of great use to an able commander for transmitting orders along the chain of command. +2 Command Points to the Stack it is in. This ability does not improve.

Balloon

• This Balloon unit is of great use to an able commander for spotting the enemy and coordinating movements between his regiments. +1 Command Points to the Stack it is in. This ability does not improve.

Deceiver

• This element or general is adept at establishing dummy positions (Quaker guns and such), camouflaging to the enemy the real strength of his Force. +1 to the Hide Value of the Stack, if entrenched.

Screener

• This element or general is able to screen and mask the progression of the whole Force with the clever use of scouts, use of side-tracks and stealthy march subterfuges. +1 to the Hide Value of the Stack and +25% to the Evasion Value, if the Stack is moving.

Deep Raider

• This element or general is able to mount deep raids which can avoid enemy patrols, with the use of side-tracks and stealthy march subterfuges. +50% to the Evasion Value, if the Stack is moving.

Patroler

• This element or general is proficient in making more effective patrols in the region he is in, by setting an effective network of surveying detachments or establishing signal towers. +1 to Detection Value, +35% to the Patrol Value of the Stack the element is in, if entrenched.

Sea Spotter

• This element or admiral is proficient in surveying the seas and spotting enemy ships. +1 to Detection Value, +35% to the Patrol Value of the Stack the element is in.

Dispersed Move

• This general (if the commander) has the bad habit of letting his troops move in disorder, thus reducing how they can effectively patrol the region, or conceal their approach. -25% to Evasion and Patrol, -1 to hiding Value of the whole Stack, if moving.

Blockade Runner

• If the admiral in command, this leader will be adept at avoiding enemy naval Force’s, if need be. +35% to the Evasion Value of the Fleet. Works only if moving.

Fort Runner

• If the admiral in command, this leader will be adept at running enemy Forts, if need be. +10% to the Evasion Value, -35% to the damage taken from Forts firing on the passing Fleet. Works only if moving.

Sea Raider

• If the admiral in command, this leader will be adept at avoiding enemy naval Force’s, if need be. +25% to the Evasion Value of the Fleet. Works even if not moving.

Emplaced Guns

• These guns are emplaced batteries and can't be moved outside the region.

Pillager

• This element will burn immediately any enemy Depot or stockade captured.