TC - some advice

[Blaugrana]

I'm still confused about the workings of TC.

Artillery: I read somewhere a tip about TC-ing & limbering each gun individually one after the other. I've been doing this, but it's a faff. Is it necessary? Or, if I TC a battery commander (not engaged) and hit 'limber battery' then click on his destination and a formation, can I rely on all the guns limbering up and going there?

Infantry: I'm a div commander. If I TC a brigade commander, and give him a destination and formation, can I assume his regiments will go with him? Or do I need to TC each egiment too?

If I TC a brigade commander AND his regiments, THEN give a regiment a different destination, THEN order a new brigade destination and formation, will the regiment take that order (coming from a TC'd superior officer)?

I'm having probs with 'To the Round Tops' ...

Any advice gratefully accepted.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

Blaugrana wrote:

Any advice gratefully accepted.

Don't do it. The TC button is like heroin. The more you use it, the more you'll want to use it. But the satisfaction you get from it becomes less and less. Finally, your strategic skills will atrophy to the point that using the courier system and/or commanding from the saddle will seem overwhelming. Your scores won't be as high and you might actually lose. :ohmy: Then you'll want to go back to button's warm caress, even though you know it's destructive :blink: ...the proverbial monkey is on your back.

Now with that out of the way, I know that playing the stock scenarios requires the TC button.

If I TC a brigade commander AND his regiments, THEN give a regiment a different destination, THEN order a new brigade destination and formation, will the regiment take that order (coming from a TC'd superior officer)?

Your last order will be the one followed. So that regiment will follow the brigade commander. You'll have to give the regiment it's own order again.

[Blaugrana]

:laugh:

Thanks MTG, for the 'Just say "No"' advice and for the info re priorities of orders. I'll go play again and see where I get.

[garyknowz]

Or, if I TC a battery commander (not engaged) and hit 'limber battery' then click on his destination and a formation, can I rely on all the guns limbering up and going there?

You generally can rely on the battery commander to keep his guns moving without TCing each gun. The exception might be if an individual gun is under fire and starts taking casualties. In that case, its programed to defend itself and might unlimber without orders from the battery commander. In this case, give it a direct order. If it continues to unlimber and refuses to move, then consider briefly TCing it. Other than that, I'd limit TCing your big guns.

Infantry: I'm a div commander. If I TC a brigade commander, and give him a destination and formation, can I assume his regiments will go with him? Or do I need to TC each egiment too?

A regiment will follow the orders of its brigade commander unless it is TCed or detached (look for the chain link icon). The same goes for the battery commander and it's guns.

Speaking for myself, I always TC my division commanders and often my brigade commanders and battery commanders. I very rarely TC a regiment or gun unless the friendly AI is showing signs of confusion that could disrupt or jeopardize my position (e.g., when it oscillate its facing between two targets).


Edit: BTW, "To the Round Tops" is a fun one. No single strategy will work given the numerous variant attributed to this scenario. The only general advise I could give is not to get bogged down in the Devil's Den. Good luck.

[Jack ONeill]

Gary is right.
The only exception I make is to TC a regt./Battalion if it has decided to do the monkey dance or spin around or retreat TOWARDS the enemy instead of away from it. OR it's brutally obvious the Colonel has been drinking and is incapable of command.

Jack B)

[RebBugler]

For fast paced play, and making sure it's your battle-plan, TC is the obvious choice. And, you must be pretty much of a micro manager once those officers are TC'd. I TC a lot, but I unTC a lot also. Once most regiments in a brigade become engaged, I almost always unTC the CO (but not when holding defensive positions)...if they don't get themselves killed, they usually lead and support their troops well. The more officers you can unTC, the more your micro managing eases up, and it's your battle-plan.

Arty battery COs must always be TC'd to get them to cooperate...they're the most stubborn of all, think even MTG has to use some extra courier magic to get them to approach the action.

[Garnier]

To answer the specific questions:

Artillery: I read somewhere a tip about TC-ing & limbering each gun individually one after the other. I've been doing this, but it's a faff. Is it necessary? Or, if I TC a battery commander (not engaged) and hit 'limber battery' then click on his destination and a formation, can I rely on all the guns limbering up and going there?

You can leave the guns without TC, as long as they're not close to enemy infantry they will move where you order the battery, as long as the battery commander is TCed.

Infantry: I'm a div commander. If I TC a brigade commander, and give him a destination and formation, can I assume his regiments will go with him? Or do I need to TC each egiment too?

If I TC a brigade commander AND his regiments, THEN give a regiment a different destination, THEN order a new brigade destination and formation, will the regiment take that order (coming from a TC'd superior officer)?

If a regiment is TCed, it will only obey orders you give it directly. So if you TC a regiment, no orders you give to any of it's commanders will have any effect on it. This should answer both of the above questions.

Unless I'm reading it wrong, MTG's answer is not correct, since TCed regiments do not respond to orders you give to their brigade commanders.



Once you understand the technicalities of exactly how the regiments react to orders, you can get them to do exactly what you want almost always. Once one is better at the game than the AI he should always TC, if he wants to do well.

If you're playing singleplayer then it may be more fun not to TC, if you like the realism of feeling that you're really not in control. It's the difference between an experience or simulation, and a game. SOW provides both. When you're playing multiplayer, you should treat it as a game if your team mates do. In singleplayer, play however you want.

[Blaugrana]

Thanks again, all.

Garnier: I'm going to copy out your reply longhand and hope it thus sinks in and stays. If I can get this down I might brave another GCM battle...

[KG_Soldier]

Playing multiplayer, I first give a divisional movement and formation command to get my boys moving. Then, I tc all commanders and the ammo wagon.

I use brigade commands and arty battery commands to get them where I want them.

Once contact is made, I tc individual regiments and put them in column when I need to move them. Once in place, I put them in line, un-tc them, and double-quick them into formation.

[Garnier]

I do the same at first, give a division move order to the general direction I want to go, just to start everyone moving. I also click double quick on the division. Then I TC each brigade and battery commander, looking at the ground I'm moving to, and tell each brigade and battery where to go via their commanders. After each order I give the double quick command again to keep them running.

Then, when I'm near the destination, I go to each brigade commander and give the halt order, quickly followed by the lie-down order. After that I TC each regiment, and as soon as a regiment is almost rested I stand it up and start moving it where I want it. I generally don't un-TC for the rest of the battle.