So is this why SOW casualties are so high?

[Calvin809]

I think it's difficult to compare a game to real life battles.

I just finished reading Landscape Turned Red (which I really recommend if you are interested in the battle) about the battle of Antietam and there is a lot of factors in the real battle compared to the few that are in the game. For example green units on the Union side when facing veterans on the Confederate side broke almost the first time they were fired upon. Also the size of the new regiments of the 12th Corps caused some of the confederates to retreat out of positions they were holding (because they were large enough to look like brigades). Then you had regimental and company commanders either walking off the field or being killed causing new regiments to have issues getting in the correct formations (also they could not hear orders in all of the firing and they weren't experienced in drill). Friendly fire or not firing due to confusion was also a factor which is not in the game. Some units fought hard too, like the 12th Mass. took 67% casualties (32 out of 334 were left although stragglers came in later) along with the Louisiana Tigers which took 61%. Of course there were a lot more factors in real life but the AI in the game likes to stay and fight a lot longer and more reliably I think than they actually did in real life in a lot of cases. Plus if you are TCing them and making them stay past the point they would break there would be a lot more casualties too. Are there more factors in a unit breaking besides just %casualties?

One thing I really don't like about the game is the amount of hand-to-hand combat that occurs. If you want to add a lot of casualties to the numbers get into hand-to-hand (you can watch the numbers rise quickly when observing a unit in hand-to-hand). I've also never seen a unit that is charging break due to fire even if the defending unit is in the best cover possible and at full strength so there really is not a way to stop a charging unit if you are defending. My units are constantly getting into hand-to-hand combat...maybe I am doing something wrong.

All that to say that I think the casualties at least in the historical scenarios are ok in my opinion (they can vary though different times they are played). I do agree that with random scenarios or player created ones (or GCM battles on single player, haven't tried MP yet) are higher. Maybe it really isn't that way but those are just some of my quick observations. I just consider them to be like a large multi day battle in an hour.

Those are my thoughts...any corrections on how the game works would be great!

[Davinci]

In my opinion the best way of bringing down the casualties is to edit the Mapname.csv file.

By giving the entire battlefield a higher defensive bonus in the Column G section your casualties are greatly reduced.

EDIT Post to add this below.

As for slowing down the units the Unitglobal file as mentioned above by Saddletank , and also the Drills file in the Column K section.

Also, the Mapname.csv file can also be used in the Column C to slow down the units.

davinci

[Garnier]

Are there more factors in a unit breaking besides just %casualties?

It's possible for a unit to break due to morale getting too low. However, units always break at 60% casualties, regardless of morale. Depending on the mod and OOB you're using, in some battles almost all breaking happens due to hitting this 60% casualty line. In GCM this line is marked on the strength bar of each regiment so you know when they'll break.

[SamSmith]

One other thing I'd add is that part of what's being modeled, in my mind, is the constant shaking loose of men from their formations. If a man goes down wounded then one or two healthy men might take him off of the field, small parties get separated in the smoke and lose track of their regiments, etc. Units could drop down to a very low effective strength on the battlefield, and then slowly regain men in the aftermath of the fighting (i.e. when dinner is served).

I think this rapid drop in battlefield strength is expressed by remarks like JB Hood's "Where is your division? Dead on the field," at Antietam and Pickett's "I have no division" at Gettysburg.