So, which campaign is supposed to be easier?

[HughMyronbrough]

I played both Rebels and Union to winning the game on Normal, Rebels on a prior patch and Union in the current one. It felt like the Union campaign was easier: I was bathing in money and soldiers. With the Rebels, I have tons of money, but always feel low on men.

That said, Rebel soldiers seem to gain experience much faster. Battle-hardened men can press an attack a lot better than newbies can.

[CrashToDesktop]

The Union campaign is probably easier for a majority of people, though I find the Confederate one to be easier in certain aspects - like getting loads of weapons because you slaughter so many Northerners at Antietam and Fredricksburg. :)

[Caramirdan]

Originally posted by HughMyronbrough:

That said, Rebel soldiers seem to gain experience much faster. Battle-hardened men can press an attack a lot better than newbies can.

If you mouse-over the recruit pool, you'll see that the CSA recruits are significantly better than the Union recruits. But as you've experienced, the trade-off is far less recruits and money for the CSA than the Union. Start a rookie CSA brigade commanded by an LTC, and you get one star of veterancy from the get go.

[Mobile Terror Unit]

I don't think one campaign is easier than the other. Sure, each army has different benefits, but they have different draw backs as well. Morever, both campaigns have battles that are challenging regardless of whether you're playing the Union or the CSA. I think the developers did a great job at creating two different campaigns that have their own unique set of diffuclties.

[Silverbeard]

The Union definitely has a harder early game than the Confederates. All your brigades are made up of whimpering rookies who run at the first sight of a Confederate charge, you can only arm them with 1842 rifles that are crap at everything and you're routinely outnumbered by the Confederates. Shiloh is probably the hardest battle I've ever fought as the Union throughout their campaign.
But once you get to the mid game, however, things change. You troops become canny veterans who can finally go toe to toe with the Confederates, you have access to a lot more and better rifles (and the money to buy them, as you noted) and more than enough troops to fill out three corps. That second point is very crucial since it allows you to arm even your throwaway chargebait brigades with 1855s and Lorenzes- making them that much better at making the Confederates pay for charging at your lines!

[HughMyronbrough]

Hmmm...

These are my opinions for Normal (Brigadier General) Difficulty levels. 0 being a joke, 10 being impossible.

1st Bull Run: Union - 6, Rebels - 4.

With the Rebels, it becomes even easier if you use skirms to knock out the enemy's arty in the East. With the Union, you need to advance quickly to win, which can be tricky.

Shiloh: Union - 6, Rebels - 5.

Used to be a complete joke as Union, but it got harder with recent patches. You need to execute a solid fighting retreat to win. As the Rebels, it's not easy to take Pittsburgh Landing.

Gaines Mill: Union - 5, Rebels - 3.

Rebels can easily flank from North and butcher the Union. Union has to keep rotating in troops to hold the northern palisades against a vicious Rebel advance, which can be tough.

Malvern Hill: Union - 4, Rebels - 6.

Only trouble with Union is holding the Left flank. With the Rebels, you need to synchronize your advances well to win.

2nd Bull Run: Union - 3, Rebels - 5.

Union just has to take Brawner's Farm, break the Rebel line twice, and it has an easy victory. Rebels have to hold the line against repeated Union charges.

Antietam: Union - 5, Rebels - 8.

I used to be very scared of this battle as the Rebels. You need to play very well, and use flanking and enfilades to beat the first Union corps, before retreating into a convex formation around your victory points. As the Union, you just need to leverage your vast numbers to encircle and murder the Rebels.

Fredericksburg: Union - 5, Rebels - 5.

Actually, as the Rebels, the southern flank of the battle can be challenging, as the Union will mercilessly press your weak points. Marye's Heights is a joke, though. For the Union, you ignore Marye's Heights and fight through the forest, and you can win without too many casualties.

Stones River: Union - 5, Rebels - 7.

As the Union, performing a fighting retreat is harder than it sounds. But once you get to the stone walls, the battle becomes a joke. As the Rebels, you need a well-synchronized and decently paced advance to minimize your casualties. Ideally, you want to break the Union in one fell swoop, rather than giving them a chance to catch their breath behind the stone walls. Either way, focus fire on the eastern wall, and then enfilade the enemy as you advance. Make sure you quickly send a few brigades to the West Pike too.

Chancellorsville: Union - 7, Rebels - 4.

Rebels can win this with a yolo charge on Day 1. Union actually has to execute a well-thought out retreat on Day 2 and advance on Day 3. At least I thought it was challenging.

Gettysburg: Union - 6, Rebels - 6.

Rebels need to actually use feints and demonstrations along with their yolo charge. As the Union, I thought it was at times challenging to stop the Rebel advance, as the game gives them local numerical superiority.

Chickamauga: Union - 7, Rebels - 6.

Forests mean a melee beatup no matter how you go about it, but I felt it was a bit harder as the Union, especially defending the center.

Cold Harbor: Union - 7, Rebels - 6.

The Rebels have to make a few well-planned advances against superior numbers. The Union requires solid micro to win on Day 1. I did not try prolonging the battle as the Union, which would probably put it up to a 9.

Richmond/Washington: Union - 7, Rebels - 10.

As the Union, you need to identify, encircle, and enfilade weak points, and even then, if you make some mistakes (like I did), things will get expensive. Fortunately, it's the last battle. As the Rebels, this battle is one of the most challenging things I've ever dealt with in gaming. On the second day, I recommend placing your best corps in the South.

[Flharfh]

It's interesting how we each have a different experience with the battles. In my experience Antietam was fairly easy as both sides while Fredricksburg was very difficult, for the Union because of the Confed's very strong positions, and as the rebels because the Union brought an absolutely huge army, 2x+ as large as mine.

[HughMyronbrough]

Originally posted by Flharfh:

It's interesting how we each have a different experience with the battles. In my experience Antietam was fairly easy as both sides while Fredricksburg was very difficult, for the Union because of the Confed's very strong positions, and as the rebels because the Union brought an absolutely huge army, 2x+ as large as mine.

For Rebels, I think Fredericksburg can be tricky because the Union simply smashes its army against yours without regards for casualties. But I rated it lower because never felt like I had to be a micro god to beat it (like I did in Washington), and I felt like the strategy was fairly straightforward. Really, the main issue was rotating fresh, numerically strong troops into hotspots, but that's not as difficult as other Rebels battles.

I think Rebels on Antietam is easier now than it was in prior patches, but even with an aggressive encirclement early on, I can't get the amazing casualty numbers (>70K) that some people put up. I took out 52K Union men in exchange for losing 26K. I think the challenge on Rebels Antietam is switching from attack to defense without overextending or prematurely retreating, which is very difficult to get correct.

I rated Rebels Washington as a 10 because you need a solid strategy as well as strong micro skills to beat it. The first time I tried it, I actually complained on the forums that it was unwinnable. Then I realized you had to put your strong corps in the South.

[Flharfh]

Originally posted by HughMyronbrough:

Originally posted by Flharfh:

It's interesting how we each have a different experience with the battles. In my experience Antietam was fairly easy as both sides while Fredricksburg was very difficult, for the Union because of the Confed's very strong positions, and as the rebels because the Union brought an absolutely huge army, 2x+ as large as mine.

For Rebels, I think Fredericksburg is tricky because the Union simply smashes its army against yours without regards for casualties. But I rated it lower because never felt like I had to be a micro god to beat it (like I did in Washington).

I think Rebels on Antietam is easier now than it was in prior patches, but even with an aggressive encirclement early on, I can't get the amazing casualty numbers (>70K) that some people put up. I took out 52K Union men in exchange for losing 26K. I think the challenge on Rebels Antietam is switching from attack to defense without overextending or prematurely retreating, which is very difficult to get correct.

I rated Rebels Washington as a 10 because you need a solid strategy as well as strong micro skills to beat it. The first time I tried it, I actually complained on the forums that it was unwinnable. Then I realized you had to put your strong corps in the South.

As Union at Antietam I had enough troops that I could just crush the rebels in the north and roll down to take the town, it was pretty straightforward. As rebels, the Union AI seems very hesitant to attack the woods around Dunker Church from the east. This is sadly a flaw in the AI, as they don't flank around the northern part of the line as the Union did historically, they just laser focus on the flag at the church. The Union AI still pushes hard to take the sunken road, but as rebels you can hold the lower bridge with just a few brigades and move up plenty of reinforcments to the middle section.

As Union at Fredricksburg, Marye's heights is a real slog. I managed to capture it only because the rebel AI uses some of its men to guard the second line of entrenchments, which are actually behind the flag and don't need to be attacked.

As Rebels, the Union had so many men that they almost just wore me down. I had to take reinforcments from the middle section to shore up my defenses, which hurts you in the final phase (thankfully the Union units were so mangled it didn't matter). They had so much artillery that they completely destroyed one of my batteries that was behind fortifications and knocked out about half the guns in the other, just with counterbattery fire.

One of the most difficult battles, in my experience, for someone who hasn't played it before is Stones River as Confeds. Taking the southernmost flag in the first phase is completely unnecessary and basically wastes that stage if you don't know any better, which makes it very difficult to clear the middle hill and push up to the end two objectives. It's difficult but not impossible if you can only assault with a single corps from across the river on the north side of the map. At least in my experience the Ai doesn't defend the river crossing (probably because its not near enough to the flag).

Gettsyburg - is it even possible to win this on day 1 as the rebels? Your northern reinforcements come so late that I just didn't have enough time to march down the entire map and assault the objective before the scenario ended. I thought it was pretty easy to win on the second day, though.

[Caramirdan]

Originally posted by Flharfh:

Gettsyburg - is it even possible to win this on day 1 as the rebels? Your northern reinforcements come so late that I just didn't have enough time to march down the entire map and assault the objective before the scenario ended. I thought it was pretty easy to win on the second day, though.

Yes, it's possible, but you have to avoid moving through the city, which although it offers excellent cover, slows the CSA advance horribly.

[HughMyronbrough]

Originally posted by Flharfh:

One of the most difficult battles, in my experience, for someone who hasn't played it before is Stones River as Confeds. Taking the southernmost flag in the first phase is completely unnecessary and basically wastes that stage if you don't know any better, which makes it very difficult to clear the middle hill and push up to the end two objectives. It's difficult but not impossible if you can only assault with a single corps from across the river on the north side of the map. At least in my experience the Ai doesn't defend the river crossing (probably because its not near enough to the flag).

Agreed. Stones River should be made clearer to new players. They shouldn't think the preliminary objectives are mandatory.

Gettsyburg - is it even possible to win this on day 1 as the rebels? Your northern reinforcements come so late that I just didn't have enough time to march down the entire map and assault the objective before the scenario ended. I thought it was pretty easy to win on the second day, though.

Advance the bulk of your army through the city, while you use 5 brigades to move along the southern edge of the map and then charge the Union line. After breaking the Union in the South, immediately put up a defensive posture while your city force advances.

I also ran 3 brigades from north to south. They were useless upon arriving, but I only needed them to demonstrate, not to actually fight. I sacrificed a few hundred lives on the northern flank, but it's no big deal.

Using this strategy (on Normal), I killed or captured ~27500 men while only losing ~13000, and won on the first day.

[TheLordPolar]

It is litterly in the game the confederate campain is harder due to fewer resources and men. And in most battle yoy will be outnumber and attacking a much supior position.

[HughMyronbrough]

Originally posted by Theatricks:

It is litterly in the game the confederate campain is harder due to fewer resources and men. And in most battle yoy will be outnumber and attacking a much supior position.

CSA soldiers start with more experience and gain it faster than Union ones, and that makes a big difference between being able to press an attack, and not even having that option because your troops will instarout.

I think the Union campaign starts out harder, but ends up easier than the Rebel one.

[TheLordPolar]

for me both campains start the same, but rebles become harder later on. the confederate campain is easy for me all the way up to malvern hill. the union stays easy all the way till richmond