Intel report after battle - just fluff or?

[Dirlinger]

Being impressed by Ultimate Admiral Dreadnought game, I wanted to try out other games in DEVs portfolio and bought UGCW.

So far so good, relied upon History Guys youtube channel and this forum for tips and tricks when objectives seems confusing (or make no logical sense and seem like trap).

Anyway, one thing that I cant figure out or find answer for is what it means when I receive in the message that "your engagement in Chickamauga has definitely lured more Confederates into attacking  you. One full corps  of 16900 men has been spotted some miles away from your position "

So does that mean that I will face 16900 more enemies in minor battle, next battle I play or the "major battle"? Or is it just fluff?

 

[pandakraut]

Want to make sure I'm answering the right question. Is this a message you received during the battle? Or after the battle when you returned to the campaign map?

Edited March 7, 2020 by pandakraut

[Dirlinger]

12 hours ago, pandakraut said:

Want to make sure I'm answering the right question. Is this a message you received during the battle? Or after the battle when you returned to the campaign map?

After the battle when returning to the campaign map

[pandakraut]

While not fluff, the affects of these numbers in game are not always as significant as they might appear. The reinforcement reports you see after the battle are somewhat randomized. The AI can receive additional recruits, additional veterans, training, weapons, or some combination of two of these options. 

The reinforcements affect the army size intelligence value, referred to as AISize going forward. This value translates into a multiplier that is applied when scaling is calculated. There are minimums that apply to the AISize that increase throughout the campaign. These reinforcements are a form of snowballing for the AI. They will gain some amount of men after every battle and if you are not killing a corresponding amount the AI Size will continue to grow and you will face larger enemy units going forward. Reducing this value is the only way to damage the AI from one battle to another. This is accomplished by killing its units. Capturing a unit is the only way to completely remove it's numbers from the AI Size. Men left alive when a unit shatters escape.

Lowering the AISize also has an impact on training and technology. However, all three values have a minimum amount based on the current timeline of the campaign. For example, if the AI size is 60k prior to 2nd bull run. You inflict 40k casualties and then post battle the AISize is now 65k. The resulting size is lower than it could have been, but limited by a minimum. On the harder difficulties this means that it is not always worth it to kill everything if you take to many losses to do it as the AI always gets 'free' troops back. You do still want to kill as many as possible to try and keep the AI size near the minimum though.

Also note, the AISize is not actually a limit on what you will face in battle. A variety of scaling factors can push that number higher or lower.

Hopefully that helps, if anything isn't clear or you have additional questions just let me know.

[Dirlinger]

 Thanks for the explanation.

I have just about completed Union campaign with one minor battle and Richmond grand battle remaining. 🙂