Civil War Battleset Manual – 4. Unit Attributes and Types

4 UNIT TYPES & ATTRIBUTES

4.1   Unit Types

There are 4 basic unit types, Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and Generals. Artillery has 4 main subtypes: Rifled Artillery, Napoleons (smoothbore), Horse Artillery, and Emplaced Guns (stationary). In addition there are Boat units (representing gunboats) which are a special form of artillery. They are shown on the display by distinctive “standard” military icons, in gray for Confederate units and blue for Union units. (Press ‘F1’ to get a full display of icons, terrain features and effects, and hot key commands).

Melee

TypeMovementCombatSpecial Abilities
InfantryAverageAverageMay ‘charge’ on open ground if morale ground if morale is 60 or greater.
CalvaryFastGoodVery good ATTACK on open terrain; movement very slow if not on roads or open/clear terrain.
ArtillerySlowPoorMay fire on units at a distance.
(Rifled)SlowPoorMore accurate than smooth bores.
(Napoleon)SlowPoorMay fire on units at a distance; less range and accuracy than rifled artillery, but more effective at close range targets due to use of canister shot.
(Horse)AveragePoorMay fire on units at a distance; more mobile than other artillery but causes less damage.
(Emplaced)NonePoorMay fire on units at a distance; large caliber and powerful guns; can not move even if attacked.
GeneralAveragePoorIncreased combat effect on adjacent friendly units; can cancel orders of other units; can inspire units into action.
BoatAverageOnly acts as artillery unit vs. other boats. Will sink if receives several hit.

4.2   Unit Attributes

Each unit has the following attributes:

AttributeLimitsInfluences
Unit Number1-80Identifier Only
Name16 Characters MaxIdentifier Only
Unit TypeI,e,A,N,H,C,G,BCombat, Move & Other
StrengthDepends on typeCombat
Leadership10-110Combat, Move & Other
Morale10-110Combat, Move & Other

Units which have leadership lower than about 50-60 are poorly led, and will have difficulty in movement and combat. Likewise, units with morale less than about 50-60 will not be very effective, and should be rested if possible. Units with morale lower than 60 cannot use the ‘charge’ option. During the heat of battle, morale and leadership may briefly go outside the ranges shown.

4.3   Generals

A General unit greatly improves the fighting abilities of adjacent units, both attack and defense. In addition, Generals have a powerful ability to inspire units into action. However, you must be careful in actually engaging the General unit itself, since it is usually relatively weak (which reduces combat effectiveness).

4.4   Cancel Orders

Sometimes in the thick of battle you will have units engaged in combat (and not moving) or with movement orders which you need to redirect. To cancel existing orders for all friendly units, type ‘X’ when a General unit has its turn. As described earlier, this is not 100% effective (some units will ignore it) and may cause morale and leadership to suffer in units that do comply.

Friendly units that are “under orders” are indicated on the map as units WITHOUT a contrasting color border. For instance, Union units normally have a light blue border, but Union units currently under orders do not have the border. When a General cancels orders, units that obey will flash briefly after the order is issued. Then a message indicates how many units obeyed out of the total currently ‘under orders’. This allows you to see whether you need to issue additional commands to cancel orders.

The “cancel orders” option shows how many units FAILED to obey orders and thus are still on local command. Using this in conjunction with the intelligence option change allows more control over units.

4.5   Inspire Units

General units may issue an inspire command to rally another individual unit. The hot key for this command is ‘N’ (for inspire). Using this command, a General unit may activate another unit nearby IF the target unit meets all these conditions:

  • unit is close enough – maximum distance is .5 of the visibility limit set for the game
  • the sum of the General’s leadership and morale factors is greater than the sum of the target unit’s leadership and morale.
  • unit’s next move will occur within 10 turns

The General unit does not move when inspiring another unit.

The target unit has its time of next action set to the current turn. The General unit has its time of next action set to the time the target unit WOULD HAVE moved. The target unit gains 5 morale points; the General unit loses 7 morale points. If the target unit is too far to communicate, there is no penalty. If the General unit has insufficient leadership and morale to inspire the target unit, the General loses 7 morale points AND 5 leadership points due to the loss of respect. If the target unit’s time of next action is more than 10 turns away, the General unit suffers the loss of 7 morale points.

The “inspired” unit normally will activate and be ready to move within the same turn. In effect, the General unit has passed its movement turn to another unit (by exhorting and inspiring them into action). This allows you to rally worn-out troops for one last action (e.g., to seize the objective).

4.6   Group Move-to-Location Orders

General units may order several nearby units to move to a destination by issuing a group move-to-location order. The hot key for this command is F6. More information on this command is given in the visibility & movement section.

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