I found that against Consripts the HA more often than not won outright. Against Volunteers, Elite units and Cannons they occasionally won outright, often caused severe damage (50%+), sometimes caused minor damage and very occasionally had no visible effect (). If I was unable to afford Heavy Artillery I would have just cranked out way more Infantry. My assaults would have been much more costly in lives but I think that would have been somewhat balanced out by the small amount of Infantry that would have survived combat to become Veterans, unlike HA which were always destroyed. Veteran Infantry has a much better impact in a city assault than green troops.
All that said though, as I will be playing the Confederates in the next version a 50% increase in HA cost would be most welcome
I think the scenario played out in a fairly historical way with the Union launching some over ambitious early attacks only to be sent reeling by superior Confederate Generalship. After this the Union became more cautious and was willing to use its industrial advantage to build up vast manpower and fire-power superiority before embarking on an attack. In the end it was this vast build-up of Infantry and Heavy Artillery plus a few Generals, unleashed in one swift attack on Richmond that turned the tide of the war in the Unions favour. Once we had gained the initiative every effort was made to keep the blows coming and keep the Rebel defences off balance with outflanking manoeuvres. It took all my organizational skills to keep a flow of troops moving along a narrow corridor, flanked by Rebel holdout cities, pressing towards the final objectives. My victory was one of organizational and logistical skill over inspired Generalship.
Systematic replays to gain the best possible combat results would be cheating, but I'm sure most players would admit to the odd re-load after a slip of the finger sends a ship to the bottom of the sea or a unit off its intended course into a position where it will face certain death. There is really no way to tell if someone is replaying turns to get the best possible results, but at the end of the day they would only be cheating themselves as any victory would be hollow. I think an unending succession of outrageously lucky engagements would also rouse the suspicion of the other players. One only has to test the units out to get an idea of their combat potential and likely losses.
All that said though, as I will be playing the Confederates in the next version a 50% increase in HA cost would be most welcome
I think the scenario played out in a fairly historical way with the Union launching some over ambitious early attacks only to be sent reeling by superior Confederate Generalship. After this the Union became more cautious and was willing to use its industrial advantage to build up vast manpower and fire-power superiority before embarking on an attack. In the end it was this vast build-up of Infantry and Heavy Artillery plus a few Generals, unleashed in one swift attack on Richmond that turned the tide of the war in the Unions favour. Once we had gained the initiative every effort was made to keep the blows coming and keep the Rebel defences off balance with outflanking manoeuvres. It took all my organizational skills to keep a flow of troops moving along a narrow corridor, flanked by Rebel holdout cities, pressing towards the final objectives. My victory was one of organizational and logistical skill over inspired Generalship.
Systematic replays to gain the best possible combat results would be cheating, but I'm sure most players would admit to the odd re-load after a slip of the finger sends a ship to the bottom of the sea or a unit off its intended course into a position where it will face certain death. There is really no way to tell if someone is replaying turns to get the best possible results, but at the end of the day they would only be cheating themselves as any victory would be hollow. I think an unending succession of outrageously lucky engagements would also rouse the suspicion of the other players. One only has to test the units out to get an idea of their combat potential and likely losses.
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