We consider the types of units, as well as their standard equipment
Other guides:
- Ultimate General: Civil War – interface guide
- Ultimate General: Civil War – strategy and tactics guide
Introduction
In this guide, we will look at the types of troops under our control, as well as the principles of their formation. Those. essentially the core gameplay of Ultimate General: Civil War . In order to competently use infantry, cavalry and artillery, you need to study their characteristics and purpose on the battlefield as accurately as possible. Another important component is the army organization. It is not enough to recruit soldiers, equip them with modern weapons and supply them with ammunition – you also need to break them up into battalions, brigades, divisions and corps so as not to lose control during the battle. We will also devote this section to the section with the isolation of the most effective setups. Go ahead and conquer the vast expanses of Virginia!
Infantry
This branch of the army is still the “queen of the fields”. Infantry brigades are the backbone of any army. It is the owners of the rifles that both the defense and the offensive are conducted. Assault actions and seizure of territory are generally impossible without the linemen. As one general said: “A territory is considered captured if an infantryman’s boot has stepped on it.” By the time of the American Civil War, the infantry and the methods of its use were undergoing tremendous changes. Linear tactics and action in tight formations still exercised overwhelming authority among the commanding staff of both sides. But the multiple increase in firepower, manifested in the invention of casemate guns, drum revolvers and magazine rifles, is already beginning to pry the seemingly unshakable granite of military science. Therefore, on the battlefield, we will see two types of infantry: line and skirmishers.
Union and Confederate infantry types
Line infantry
This is the backbone of your divisions and corps. An infantry brigade may consist of a minimum of 500 men and a maximum of 2,500 bayonets. You can equip it with a wide variety of fittings, ranging from ancient, like mammoth shit, farm muskets and ending with modern rifles. Moreover, you need to carefully study the tactical and technical properties of this diverse arsenal, since one barrel can be accurate enough, or quickly rechargeable, but at the same time fragile enough to properly cut into the skull of the enemy with the butt.
Based on this, specialized assault brigades should be formed, designed for severe hand-to-hand combat. In these units, everything should be sharpened for physical fitness and endurance, as well as high morale. Personnel and officer perks should be chosen according to these criteria – fast march and discipline. Such regiments should be completed exclusively with veterans and will soon gain all three stars of experience.
The rest of the brigades can be diluted with newcomers, because it is much easier to teach a village guy to shoot on command in the direction of the enemy. Two of these died, the third became a veteran. These units will rarely go to storm, mainly firing from cover, or supporting allies with fire. You can arm them with trophy trinkets or generally requisitioned farm guns. Their main task is to take fire on themselves, pin down the enemy along the front, while the assault units break the flanks.
Skirmishers
This kind of troops appeared in the era of the Napoleonic wars, but they began to use it in full scale only with the advent of reliable and accurate rifles. Skirmishers are a chain of shooters that operate in sparse orders. So they suffer less losses in return fire, plus increased mobility and tactical flexibility. The game distinguishes between two types of light infantry: allocated from the brigades, and separately formed.
Each infantry brigade can select from itself up to 250 (depending on the number) skirmishers – for this there is a corresponding button on the panel. I advise you to definitely do this. One such detachment can conduct reconnaissance, fire at the enemy from the forest, organize raids on convoys, and simply destroy the enemy’s morale by entering from the flank and rear. The only problem is the same brigade soldiers, with appropriate training and weapons.
Therefore, sooner or later you will create a separate military unit of high-precision special forces, equipping up to 500 people with modern copies of long-range firearms, possibly even with sniper sights. And now they should already be used carefully – to destroy the command staff, supply carts and artillery crews. It is necessary to pump these specialized units mainly for shooting and accuracy.
The cavalry is attacking!
Cavalry
Horsemen are greatly underestimated, both in the game and in reality. In the United States, by that time, there was simply no competent tactics of using large masses of cavalry, and the terrain was not very conducive to dispersal. In wargame, however, most of the “generals” simply do not know how to use all the advantages of this mobile unit. They usually shoot him head-on at the infantry brigade, get hellish losses and shout “Sucks!” The cavalry here is a subtle instrument of surprise attacks, raids on the rear, and pursuit of the faltered. It is subdivided into classic (with sabers) and small arms (dragoons). A maximum of 750 people can be recruited into the horse lava.
Most of them are hand-to-hand fighters who burst into the mix, overturn and chop the enemy into cabbage. Under no circumstances expose the cavalry to the shots of rifles and cannons, to which it is very vulnerable. The ideal option is when the infantry goes hand-to-hand and shackles the enemy, and the cavalry attacks from the flank or to the rear. Remember that even saber soldiers are armed with short barrels, but they can only shoot from them almost point-blank. From time to time they should be withdrawn to the rear, to restore their condition – without endurance, cavalry is useless.
No one really uses dragoons, since they are basically an auxiliary branch of the army. In theory, they should get to the positions at speed, dismount and fire there, like ordinary infantry, but no one does that. Because shelling from the saddle is corny more convenient – you can dump at any time. They are used to provide fire support to their cavalry, or to distract the attention of the enemy. It is necessary to pump horsemen in terms of hand-to-hand combat and the ability to handle horses.
Modest “Napoleon”, the main weapon of that war
Artillery
But this is already a full-fledged and straightened shoulders “god of war”. Most beginners try art in action, look at the results and do not understand how it can do any decent damage at all. This is understandable – there are so many types of guns in the game that it is not a sin to get confused as to what and where to use. If we simplify everything to the limit, then there are only three of them in terms of scope: smooth-bore canister (for point-blank shooting), mortars and howitzers (for canopy firing on the offensive) and rifled guns (accurate, for counter-battery firing).
The basis for you will still be smooth-bore “Napoleons”, which will support the infantry from the wheels in all situations at a range of grape-shot fire. In defense, they are simply irreplaceable! It is enough to place such a battery behind the back of an infantry brigade, and it will be unrealistic to knock it out of position. To achieve more accurate throwing of shells at distances, you should not place positions in a dense forest or among houses – only an open field, only hardcore. But in this case, the battery itself can be broken with cannonballs, or the skirmishers and cavalry can charge. Therefore, cover up these guys, and they will repay you in full.
The only drawbacks can be attributed to their extreme gluttony for ammunition – vans with a support are the ones that eat them. Therefore, the first thing to do is pump advanced carts for artillerymen (+ 50% to shells). Then it is worth increasing their mobility, since the benefit of the batteries lagging behind in the offensive is minimal. You can buy a maximum of 26 guns, but you shouldn’t. The optimal number of one battery (and this is the real experience of that war) is 14-16 pieces. This is the number that one officer can command without compromising efficiency.
Supply
The smallest and most inconspicuous unit, but at the same time extremely important. Each body has a van that can hold a maximum of 25,000 supports. It is not always necessary so much, but in the presence of numerous artillery, even this will seem not enough. On the battlefield, it moves quite slowly and has a radius of action in the form of a circle – inside it, the allied forces restore the supply strip. It can be captured by enemies, but you can also respond in kind.
General
On the tactical map, only the corps general is present as a separate unit. Accordingly, they can kill him there, and with impunity – the unit is not combat. It also has a radius of action in the form of a circle, which increases the characteristics of units trapped inside. For example, you can lead a general to a running brigade and raise its morale.
Standard hull structure
Army formation
Each army is primarily a staffing table. Your tactics and losses on the battlefield depend on what set of troops you will fight.
Structure and strength
You start with one building, which is also impossible to deploy to the full state. As you level up the Army Organization skill, with a full study of nine points (the tenth is usually not needed), you can equip a corps with four divisions of six brigades each, and on top of that create several more corps. But usually there are not enough resources for this. Therefore, we will focus on the internal filling of the case.
For myself, I came up with such a scheme – the first elite corps, shock and assault. The second is basic. And the third is a reserve one. The intra-divisional structure is also being built approximately. The first assault brigade, armed with the best weapons, filled with veterans, and led by select officers. Next come the standard infantry support regiments, which are completed by newcomers and pumped in battles. A reserve regiment must be deployed, with the most lame weapons – its task is to keep the secondary sectors of the front. A division must have one cavalry regiment and one artillery battery. Skirmishers – optional.
As the battles unfold, the infantry regiments are pumped and become the basis for the assault brigades in the second corps. Reserve units move forward and become infantry support regiments. In this way, you ensure the infantry balance of both corps. Brigades are usually named after their commanders – digitize them so they don’t get confused on the battlefield. I did something like this – in the first division, the first assault brigade, the first cavalry regiment and the first artillery battery. In the second division – the second assault brigade, etc. This way you will know which units are located where and what they can do.
Cadres are everything
Officer Corps
Newly created brigades are nothing without competent commanders. Personnel issues here need to be approached very carefully, since a clumsy in an important post can screw up the whole thing. Therefore, in no case save on combat generals. Putting a captain in command of an entire infantry brigade is a crime! The minimum who should be there is a brigadier general. However, you can put a colonel on the reserve units. Skirmishers and gunners can also do without generals, since they are not fighting on the front line and can calmly pump themselves.
Accordingly, if one of the generals got the prefix “major”, then he must be urgently taken to the command of the division – so he will increase the efficiency of not one brigade, but six at once. On the corps, however, there must be legendary figures, like Robert Lee, with the rank of no less than Colonel General. It is clear that your shots will not grow right away, so hollow them and pump them over.
The sudden death of an officer can hinder you in this matter. Yes, we are all mortal. And the military generals who are under a hail of pood and cannonballs, even more so. A corps general runs the risk of being hit by an enemy attack or a stray bullet. Brigadier generals are not reflected on the battlefield, since they are tied to their units, like divisional commanders, and they can only die thanks to a specially created algorithm. Its essence is simple – stand less under bullets and do not go into bayonet attacks, and then you will have everything tip-top. You yourself understand that this is not always feasible.
If everything is clear with the leveling of brigadier generals: in command of the cavalry, increase mobility, control the infantry, improve discipline … Then you will have to smash your brains with corps generals. I came up with this order: the commander of the first corps shakes infantry or cavalry doctrines, and the second and third corps must necessarily have improved mobility in perks, since sometimes they come from the reserve to the aid of the main units and it is critically important to do this quickly.
Outcome
You can talk about the types of troops and their standard equipment for a long time and this topic is not one guide. But these will all be just sketches for your own preferences in battle. The game greatly encourages team initiative, so you just need to play more, analyze and a more complete understanding of the gameplay processes will come. In the next article, we will directly touch upon the tactical component – how to command troops in battle, list the main strategies and what to pay special attention to. Along the way, we will reveal a couple of secrets from experienced unit makers.
