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Blake
 Post subject: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 5:58 pm 
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TIP: Keep Your Units Together

If you struggle with keeping your brigades together then try utilizing the "Highlight Org" button on the toolbar of the game (or hit Hotkey Q when a unit is selected). Doing this will highlight all of the units within the same command umbrella as the highlighted unit. This will help you to keep your brigades, divisions, and whatever other units, close together on the battlefield and not scattered about.

Why does this matter?
For more reasons then I can quickly relate. Chiefly, scattered units are far more likely to be outside of the Command Radius of their leader and more susceptible to disruption, routing, and prolonged periods of being "detached" from their commander. Keeping brigades within a smaller area will allow the full effect of your commander's ratings to take effect during Morale Checks and other events. Also, if your units are scattered then there is a good chance they share hexes with other regiments not from the same brigade. This will trigger the Mixed Organization Penalty (Optional Rule) which will penalize you -1 Morale Point as a result.

Bottom Line:
Your brigades are the building blocks of your army. Keeping the regiments within them grouped together and within a small area (within four hexes) is a simple way to maximize their effectiveness. Utilizing the "Highlight Org" button is a quick way to visually see on the map which units are linked together through the chain of command.

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Richard Coyne
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 8:45 pm 
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Great tip. So many times in response to pressure you tend to grab a unit to plug a hole instead of retreat and reform

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Blake
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 9:15 pm 
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Richard Coyne wrote:
So many times in response to pressure you tend to grab a unit to plug a hole instead of retreat and reform


Yes! I made that error a lot when I first started playing. You just plug holes with any men you can and keep going. But eventually you realize that that's not a great idea in the long run. It causes disorganization which weakens your command and control and negatively effects things like Morale Checks.

It's better to fall back a few hexes, regroup, and keep your units conhesive then it is to just stubbornly hold a line by using whatever available units you can to max out your hexes as close to 1,000 as possible.

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krmiller_usa
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 8:31 am 
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Mostly good information, you do want to keep your commands together.
However being in Command Range has no effect on Morale Checks, only being stacked with any officer does that.
Being Out of Command Range does make recovery from Disruption less likely as units use 1 as a base when trying to recover.
Units in Command Range add their commander's Command Rating if he passed his Command Check that turn.
Even an officer with an F command rating will increase the chance of a Disrupted unit recovering if he passes his command test.

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nsimms
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2026 11:34 pm 
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How about the officers that aren't designated as commanders, such as Grant in the Overland Campaign or the officers who are not designated as brigade, division, corps, or army commanders? They are valuable for stacking for morale check purposes. But do they also have a command range? A circumstance being a brigade commander with a command range of 3 has two additional officers assigned to his brigade. Can they be placed 3 hexes from the brigade commander and thus extend the brigade command range to 6 hexes or does only the brigade commander have a command range?

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krmiller_usa
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2026 8:53 am 
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nsimms wrote:
How about the officers that aren't designated as commanders, such as Grant in the Overland Campaign or the officers who are not designated as brigade, division, corps, or army commanders? They are valuable for stacking for morale check purposes. But do they also have a command range? A circumstance being a brigade commander with a command range of 3 has two additional officers assigned to his brigade. Can they be placed 3 hexes from the brigade commander and thus extend the brigade command range to 6 hexes or does only the brigade commander have a command range?


In Overland Grant is the overall commander and can give a Command Bonus to all of the Army Commanders if he passes his Command Check, as he is a 5 he will normally pass.

The 'spare' officers are just that, they do not have a Command Range, if you select one and click Command Range (C) you can see there is no highlighted Command Range for them.
They do provide a Morale Check bonus and a Melee bonus according to the User Manual.
5.7.2.1 Morale Check Unit Modifiers
•
If the unit is stacked with any Leader, then 1 is added to the Morale Base.

They are also used to replace the Brigade Commander should he become a casualty instead of being replaced by an Unknown officer.

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Blake
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 3:39 pm 
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TIP: 500 is as good as 1,000.

When playing defense, there is a tendency to think that you should maximize the number of men that you can squeeze into a hex. This will undoubtedly make your firepower greater and dissuade the enemy from attacking and/or meleeing your hex. The old "strength in numbers" idea. But, actually, veteran players will look for overstacked hexes and target them. It is better to be around 500 men in a hex as a general rule.

Why does this matter?
An overstacked hex (meaning more than 2/3 full to the maximum limit [which is often 667 men of a 1,000 max hex]) is subject to the Density Fire Modifier which increases the losses of units within that hex. Further, the most common way to max out a hex is to place multiple units within the hex to get up over 800 men and closer to 1,000. But this means that the units in that hex will suffer greater losses due to their density and then be more likely to mass rout as a result of failed Morale Checks after fire combat. Should just one unit in the stack fail their Morale Check they will rout and trigger a Morale Check for all other units in the hex and those in the adjacent hexes. At the very least all those units will be Disrupted and their fire value halved as a result. Worse case scenario is that multiple units are routed as a result of one failed Morale Check in your maxed out stack. In the end, all the effort you went through to max out your stack is wasted as their firepower is halved after being disrupted.

Setting a personal hex limit of 500 is one way to avoid the Density Fire Modifier while also limiting the probability of any enemy melee forcing you from the hex. The number 500 is also a much easier number to reach with one or two units than 1,000 is to meet. In hexes you really wish to defend strongly, aim for 700 men as a 700-man stack is nearly impossible to successfully melee against. Th eonly way the enemy can take the hex is to rout you out of it with fire combat.

Bottom Line:
Trying to get as close to 1,000 with your stacks is not a good idea in most instances. It requires numerous units, causes modifiers which increase your losses, and also decreases the width of your line by cramming units into a compact area (making your flanks more vulnerable). Try smaller stacks instead which are often just as effective as the larger stacks when playing defensively.

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Quaama
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 4:41 pm 
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I'm wondering why the GinC of the Confederate Army is providing aid and comfort to the other side by providing them with tips and advice.

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Paul Swanson
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nsimms
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 4:56 pm 
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When playing turns, a melee stack should contain, when possible, at least one small unit. I have no idea how the game chooses which unit in a stack to fire at with defensive fire but if there is at least one small unit in the melee stack then you have increased your odds that the main unit needed for the assault won't be disrupted by the defensive fire.

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Gen Ned Simms
2/XVI Corps/AotT
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Blake
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 8:33 pm 
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Quaama wrote:
I'm wondering why the GinC of the Confederate Army is providing aid and comfort to the other side by providing them with tips and advice.


For the same reason my Union friend Ned Simms is contributing - we love the Club and want everyone to do the best they can! :mrgreen:

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Quaama
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 9:24 pm 
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Blake wrote:
Quaama wrote:
I'm wondering why the GinC of the Confederate Army is providing aid and comfort to the other side by providing them with tips and advice.


For the same reason my Union friend Ned Simms is contributing - we love the Club and want everyone to do the best they can! :mrgreen:


It seems to be against the essential essence and philosophy of the Club.

"The ACWGC provides historical and military flavor to its activities by asking that members join either the CSA or USA as “officers” within their chosen army and by using a military structure as the basis for the ACWGC organization. Accordingly, the ACWGC encourages voluntary role-playing by members to portray the spirit and language of the Civil War era and the natural rivalry between the Confederacy and the Union."

General Pierre Bosquet: Ce n'est pas la guerre; c'est de la folie.
Lieutenant-General Swanson: Ce n'est pas un jeu de guerre; c'est de la folie.

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Steve Griffith
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 10:29 pm 
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Quaama wrote:
Accordingly, the ACWGC encourages voluntary role-playing by members to portray the spirit and language of the Civil War era and the natural rivalry between the Confederacy and the Union."[/i]


Voluntery does not equal mandatory. People are free to share, collaborate and work together all they want.

I think you are missing the real philosophy behinid the club:
It is better to win a friend than a game.

My own gaming tip to all who care to read it is to try always use the high ground. Not only can you get a better line of sight but the enemy suffers a modifier firing uphill.

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M. Johnson
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 10:57 pm 
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My advice to people is to never give up prematurely. I've often found that my last final push is the one that overwhelms the enemy and drives me to victory.

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Quaama
 Post subject: Re: Quick Gaming Tips
PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:49 pm 
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Steve Griffith wrote:
Quaama wrote:
Accordingly, the ACWGC encourages voluntary role-playing by members to portray the spirit and language of the Civil War era and the natural rivalry between the Confederacy and the Union."[/i]


Voluntery does not equal mandatory. People are free to share, collaborate and work together all they want.

I think you are missing the real philosophy behinid the club:
It is better to win a friend than a game.

My own gaming tip to all who care to read it is to try always use the high ground. Not only can you get a better line of sight but the enemy suffers a modifier firing uphill.


I'm not missing the philosophy at all. It is clearly set down out in the very first section of the Club Rules.

"It is better to win a friend than a game" is a quote from a former Member. I have no issue with it at all. It is an admirable motto.

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Paul Swanson
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Army of Northern Virginia
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