Rifled Muskets

[drzom]

Among the pressing needs of my fighting men the most pressing is obtaining rifled muskets. Smooth bores do not stand up in a fight. I need to provide my men with the most and the best rifled muskets as quickly as possible. To satisfy this need requires that I understand the manufacture of arms.

Is the rate of manufacturing increased by ordering a diversity of rifle types? In other words, if I can order 3,000 each of three different models will I obtain 9,000 rifles faster than if I focus on a single model and order 9,000 of it? By focusing on a single type would not all my manufacturing ability be producing that one type at a rate equivalent to ordering 3,000 of three types? I think it should, but does it?

Men's lives depend on this question. Also the national purse depends, as I do not wish to waste money on lesser quality rifles, only to replace them at a later date.

[SAS]

If you are the CSA research diplomacy policies and get the English rifles project then import rifles, as large an order as you can.

[SAS]

As the Union I do several small orders of 3K to get my standarization up after they are equiped them i do a 25K then a 50K order.

[SAS]

Not saying that is the best way, but it seems to work for me

[JohnnyRed]

Building more Iron Works doesn't actually increase the number of guns delivered. Having more men using the same rifle increases it. I know this because I modded the game so that I could build more than 100 extra Iron Works and mine 10x as many resources. But this was only a waste of time. Standarization is what decreases the time it takes to deliver weapons. You get more standarization by using more guns.

[drzom]

Originally posted by Fan del Trolling:

Standarization is what decreases the time it takes to deliver weapons. You get more standarization by using more guns.

So as Union, if I order only a single model the rate of delivery will be faster than if I am ordering four different models at once?

[drzom]

Originally posted by SAS:

As the Union I do several small orders of 3K to get my standarization up after they are equiped them i do a 25K then a 50K order.

That is very interesting. As soon as I achieved the Springfield Rifles project I placed a huge order. I would have received deliveries faster by ordering lots of 3K over and over?

[crono900]

I'm pretty sure I had read in a discussion somewhere that the devs said they are revamping some of the way that the economy works.

[pnowkr]

This is a great discussion, and I have long wondered how to improve the rate of upgrading my rifles works. I have defaulted to distributing longer ranged rifles to at least one BDE in each DIV, then slowly upgrading other BDEs as guns become available.

Frankly, the fastest way I have notice to upgrade is to take them from the enemy through victories.

[crono900]

Originally posted by pnowkr:

This is a great discussion, and I have long wondered how to improve the rate of upgrading my rifles works. I have defaulted to distributing longer ranged rifles to at least one BDE in each DIV, then slowly upgrading other BDEs as guns become available.

Frankly, the fastest way I have notice to upgrade is to take them from the enemy through victories.

That is similar to how I use my BDEs. I assign 1 BDE to Fight long distance (1st to get rifles), 1 BDE to fight strongly in cover (2nd to get rifles), 1 BDE to build Breastworks (3rd to get rifles), and lastly, 1 to fight close range (4th to get rifles). If my DIV happen to have more BDEs then I might double up on the perks. So maybe 2 long range BDEs. Then there are times I'll consolidate my DIVs to have all BDEs with 1 type of perk later in the game.

[drzom]

Originally posted by crono900:

Then there are times I'll consolidate my DIVs to have all BDEs with 1 type of perk later in the game.

Ahhh, perks. Now THAT is a discussion for another thread.

[Oubley]

I get confused which gun the springfield rifled musket is supposed to be. 1855 or is it the '61.

Regardless, I think the start quantities for both are under represented.

I've been most happy modding the start quantity to something like 36k-48k. Then. i don't know if it's accurate or not. but then I double the mississippi rifle count for the CSA, in the spirit to keep things "fair". (I guess it's more then double cause it looks like I give them 15k)

From my understanding there was something like 300k springfield '61 produced from like '61 to '63. Then there was like 80k or so of the '55 that were built, probably more prewar.

I don't think the springfield musket is supposed to be the '55, because it's efficient range seems to low by like 50-75 yards.

Either way, you should have like ~350k-400k decent range guns by '63 (from historical perspective). I've never played to '63 but it's hard for me, even with the extra mod, to get 100k springfield rifle muskets by end of '61.

So I don't think I'd come close to ~400k; thus I don't feel bad about modding it.

Tactics wise I do something similar to crono900, though I'd say mine is more 1st to get rifle, high priority to get rifle, then I use the 2 other brigades to be more "flankers" then "cover".

To me it's a lot easier to roll up the flanks with the short range guys and let the long range guys start the initial fighting. If you get lucky, the enemy will have short range guns, and if you're unlucky, you get the enemy 450+ range fire to compete against

I do tend to create "assault" divisions here or there where all get my top shelf guns, in that way some of my other brigades/div can be guards/anvil, protecting the cannons.

[crono900]

Originally posted by Oubley:

I get confused which gun the springfield rifled musket is supposed to be. 1855 or is it the '61.

According to the weapons Notepad, they say invented in 1855. This would be accurate. The biggest difference between the '55, '61, and '63 is that was the year they were manufactured, for the most part the design stayed the same, or at least in my opinion.

Originally posted by drzom:

Originally posted by crono900:

Then there are times I'll consolidate my DIVs to have all BDEs with 1 type of perk later in the game.

Ahhh, perks. Now THAT is a discussion for another thread.

I was pointing out that, depending on their roll in the army, determines when they get rifled guns.

[drzom]

Originally posted by crono900:

Originally posted by drzom:

Ahhh, perks. Now THAT is a discussion for another thread.

I was pointing out that, depending on their roll in the army, determines when they get rifled guns.

I understood. I was only saying that Perks would be an interesting discussion for a new thread.

[Dietze]

I have to agree that Standardization HELPS A LOT. However you can go several ways about it.

If you only need a limited amount but you need them FAST and cost is a secondary issue, then importing weaponry is the way to go, especially with the CSA if you dont have improved industrial capacities.

However if you have a weapon or two that you know will be the 'mainstay' of your weaponry, be it for Infantry, Cavalry or even Artillery, which will stay with you for a longer amount of time, it is wiser to produce them yourself.

Keep in mind that NO MATTER how large your order is, you will not be delivered 10k+ of rifles (or whatever the volume of your order is) at once, but you will receive a certain amount of weapons UNTIL the entirety of the order is fullfilled.

While you might be tempted to order several different weapontypes just to have 'more' guns available, as far as I understand they still draw from the same production pool and it's also detremental to the standardization progress.

[LCcmdr]

For a while, I built the smallest number of the selected weapon--in order to increase the standardization rate. This does work well; but, it also doesn't get me the quantity of weapons needed. I've now shifted to ordering a huge batch and just not worrying about the standardization rate. I like this better (for the moment).