Suthin' Discomfut' REKM45 KEEP OUT!!

[Anthropoid]

Really must focus on work a bit right now, but just a quick response that I'll elaborate in my next Entry.

One of the beauties of this game--and I think most elegant balances b/w being a game, and being an historical simulation--is the incredible ability to customize your army.

The basic land unit in the game is a Brigade (whether Cavalry, Infantry, Field Arty or Siege Arty), there are also naval units which I won't comment on at this point, but in large part the dynamics of units and their parent organizations is similar for naval units.

Brigades can be "produced" by expending sufficient resources (50 money, 50 labor, 10 iron, and 20 horses; to put that in perspective, the CSA last I played my turn was producing ~40 of M, L, & I [although money can fluctuate a lot depending on how much you spend on Foreign Diplomacy] and about 95 horse). So as you can see, it is not easy to just "produce" land units. Naval units are similarly costly.

A building called "Manufacturing Center" reduces the time to produce units, and IIRC there is a Technology that can be discovered that makes units a bit cheaper to build (cost less money IIRC).

The other options are to Muster, or Conscript. The cost of mustering is worsened relations with Gov (you "owe him" for helping you out) or potential risk of Civil Unrest in the Province for Consription.

With a rare exception, new units generted from any of these methods do not have appropriate weapons (Artillery can only be "produced" in cities with a Foundry, and these units come equipped with the type of artillery you specified either field or siege guns) but simply have "Improvised Weapons" (pistols and sabers). You have to procure weapons for them, and this costs either money, or "Guns" resources (certain number generated every turn depending on how many Arsenals you have) and/or both, and in some cases costs some iron too (e.g., upgrading 6pounder canon to 12" howitzers costs some iron).

You can at any time a unit is not in enemy territory, and you have sufficient resources buy them new or better weapons. They will then have those weapons next time they enter combat. There is a pretty long list of weapons in the game: several different types of muskets, various breechloaders and rifled muskets, various carbines, various cannon and siege guns. Each type has slightly varying characteristics (weight, cost, range, damage, accuracy, reliability, speed of fire, etc.) that get figured in to combat results.

Now to answer your question: I would say about 2/3rds of the CSA's starting units have some sort of appropriate shoulder arms at game start, so I have been spending quite a bit on outfitting brigades with proper weapons. The CSA has very few arty at game start (which makes sieges of forts and cities a troublesome affair) and I've also been trying to get a few Arty Brigades into my containers.

Now about the "containers" these are are just higher-order milit organizations:
Divisions, Corps, and Armies. Each can hold a certain number of units (Armies can contain Corps, Div or "loose" Brigades; Corps cannot contain Armies but all else; Div can only contain brigades). Generals can also be put "inside" these "containers" and by doing so you are assigning the General to command over one or more units in that container. Generals ranks affect how many sub-units within their assigned unit they can impact with their attributes.

Generals have many attibutes apart from rank: special abilities, military expertise that they might successful teach to a Brigade (e.g, foraging for supplies, or better shooting accuracy, or charging in battle, etc., etc.) and they also have scores on several basic ratings: Initiative, Leadership, Tactics, Command, Cavalry (all rated as Terrible=1 Bad=2 Poor=3 Normal=4 Fair=5 Good=6 Great=7 Excellent=8 Superb=9). Each rating has a slightly different effect on the troops under the guys command, and a guys rank determines how many units are affected. A one star Brigadier only affects one Brigades; a two-star Major Gen affects all in a Div he is commanding; a 3-star Lieutenant Gen affects all in a Corp (or Div) he is command; a 4-Star affects all in an Army, Corps, or Div he is commanding; a 5-Star benefits the entire Army to some degree and benefits all units in any given combat engagement.

Just as example of how some CSA Generals differ (without Gen attributes randomized):
Longstreet: In=7 Ld=7 Tc=8 Cm=8 Cv=0
TH Jackson: In=9 Ld=9 Tc=9 Cm=8 Cv=0
Sibley: In=1 Ld=2 Tc=3 Cm=3 Cv=0

Guys with any ability at Cav are pretty rare and the CSA tends to have more. You can if you want set it so some (random) General's abilities are hidden until they have been tested in combat and you progressively learn more about them. You can also set it to random.

Clever permutations of particular Brigades, and Generals has a VERY big impact on how battles play out.

It is in this respect that I think this is one of the finest strategy games I've ever played. Indeed, this is I think the best wargame engine I have ever encountered. For this reason I have extolled the makers to apply this engine to additional historical periods: Vietnam, Hundred Years War, The Cold War, etc.