Constantly outnumbered?

[Hoellenbote]

First i want to say: The game is great and the mechanics seem super fun.

But i am confused. I started the campaign on both sides and i feel like i am really outnumbered at everything after the first two battles.

What to do?

[Bergmann]

I have the same problem.

[G n e l d]

Have you tried getting more brigades of recruits with cheaper weapons, i found that relying solely on veteran brigades was insanely expensive to maintain beyond 4-6. That being said as the campaign drew on i could upkeep more veteran brigades. Point being, use some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ troops to stem the tide.

[G n e l d]

Also not that their latest hot-fix reduces the chance of an ai-surprise. ie. them bringing extra reinforcements.

[jsmxiii]

Same here.
The problem is that i cannot use ****-troops to stem the tide because those will run and runn fast as soon as they get rushed by multiple regiments one or even two tiers above them.
It is also strange to be ALWAYS outnumber in EVERYTHING; the enemy will have at least as many troops at least as many guns... well i once had 43 cavalry troopers over him...
For some people this level of difficulty might be appealing but i would greatly appreciate it if i also had missions where i outnumber the enemy (for example if i recruited huge loads of cheap rookie infantry)or where it is at least even.

Also at using s**t troops to stem the tide:
Most of the side missions allow you one division and that is it.
Unless you prioritize army organization above all else (and if this was needed to win it would be bad balancing) you CANNOT draw even with the AI because you will limited to 6 or 8 or 15 regiments... and then wasting those expensive, rare slots on cheap troops seems rather suboptimal.

[Gar101]

The AI is probably the best you will see in any game... truth

[Hovis]

Yeah I fell into this trap. The aim of the game seems to be to get as many troops into the field as possible early on. I had some really solid units with longer range muskets and thought I was the pope of chili town, then the damn Yankees showed up with 2500 men per regiment and that was that. Getting every man available armed and into the infantry has allowed me to scounge a few draws, but it's still hard as balls, which is fair enough.

[Hoellenbote]

I dont mind the difficulty. But there are like 20k rebels at the third scenario, when i have like 8k and few guns.

[Athos]

Is this game not historically-based? Has anyone compared the numbers in game to the actual historical numbers?

It advertises historical battles... what's the point if the forces aren't historical?

[Hoellenbote]

The historical battles ( i played Antietam) are pretty accurate!

But the campaign uses more of a flexible system, based off your success, if i get that right.

[VanHoven]

After the patch the enemy outnumbers me even more, played crossroads with union general, before patch they had 1,5k to 1,8k units while i had 1k, now they have up to 2,7k against my 1k :(

[Hoellenbote]

I just got crushed in coastal fort, too. Dont know, i successfully delayed the reinforcements in the first scenario, shoot them up good, but the counterattack just sweeped me off the field o__o

Still dont mind the challenge, but i thought, i had done good!

[Alpha2518]

Originally posted by Athos:

Is this game not historically-based? Has anyone compared the numbers in game to the actual historical numbers?

It advertises historical battles... what's the point if the forces aren't historical?

They are historical for the enemy.

[Athos]

Originally posted by DerMörderbarsch:

The historical battles ( i played Antietam) are pretty accurate!

But the campaign uses more of a flexible system, based off your success, if i get that right.

Ah, okay. People are talking about a campaign game then. Not the single battles.

I suppose the campaign allows for recruitng and such, so a lot depends on individual choices and is more intended to give a challenge.

[Hoellenbote]

I just fought 8 union brigades with 2k men at Battle of Newport.

[limith]

The number of enemies you face scales with the size of your army, regardless of if you can deploy those units or not. So what you want is a few elite divisions coupled with fodder divisions of 2000 men that are all rookies using weapons that are 'hand me downs' from your elite divisions. Make sure your fodder units DO NOT use the cheapest weapon (Farmer rifles suck), they need to be able to hold their own so most of their stats will come from their weapons. You can use the early Springfield gun for them, does very well. Don't invest in a second corps since that counts against you when the game decides to scale how many enemies you get. Get 2 points in Army Organization so you can hit the brigade cap for maps that let you bring 10+ brigades. Don't go above brigade cap if possible for missions that don't have the rest of your army come in as reinforcements. Disband brigades with 2000 rookies if needed if you won't be able to use them in battle so less enemies spawn. It doesn't cost money to raise brigades with 2000 rookies.

Always use detach skirmishers. The AI will generally treat skirmishers as real units so you can extend your line vs greater numbers by using skirmishers to 'hold the line' in the center along with your fodder units (I call them 1st Reserve, 2nd Reserve). Have your 'Elite' units march around the side and slowly roll up the enemy line.

Go into battle setup mode to see the ratio of your troops to enemy troops. If your troops are 'near' enemy troops (~1k difference) don't recruit more men or else the enemy will get +3k troops (generally the jump is in 3k intervals).

If your the union just put your artillery right behind your main lines and watch the Confederate line shatter to canisters. Get a rapid fire artillery gun. It's super easy to win as Union right now. If your Confederates get good Dragoons (melee cavalry) because you'll need it. Send in melee cavalry against routing infantry units (they cut down their numbers) that have been sufficiently weakened (eg 400 cav vs 700 routed inf will do fine, anything higher your unit will rout), wait until you can attack union artillery and go all in with your dragoons. Try not to lose dragoons since you don't get much equipment as replacement. If the AI actually defends their artillery you are kind of screwed unless you have infinite time, in which case spend political points on Napoleon guns and have your napoleon guns attack their art. The other choice is basically rush skirmishers at the enemy artillery from the front or side (fodder at front if enemy has infantry there)