Naval units:
Traditionally the naval side of ACW was a non-starter. The AI doesn't build naval units, so there is little incentive for the human player to spend much on this side of the game as well. In 20+ games of ACW I never built anything bigger than an ironclad (and then only because I wanted to try it out). There is no threat from the AI. The extra units are nice, but I doubt they will get built.
It might be different in PBEM games, since in the two I have played there is considerably more dynamic action going on. (In my current game as the CSA, I've bombarded New York and Boston, one step ahead of the Union naval sloops chasing me. I can tell from spying that my opponent has built additional naval units to hunt me down).
The Union mortar boat would appear to be only useful on inland rivers / lakes. Have we overcome the problem of being able to build naval units on coastal only rivers?
Are you planning on increasing naval movement costs in Coastal squares? Given the moment points allocated, a moderately equipped ship could run in, bombard, and run away before ever coming under the guns of the harbour. This could be a problem for the CSA in defending its terrain enhancements around the bigger cities.
Transports might be open to abuse early in the game. If you allow two units per transport, then the Union could transport two divisions of troops per transport. Its not the kind of thing the AI would do, but a human player would. (Imagine four divisions of Union troops from Louisville, landing next to Clarksville. That would cook the AI and would be totally unrealistic). The AI has a tendency to never put more than 1 unit on a transport anyway, so why not reduce the first transport to capacity 1, the improved transport to capacity 2 and the advanced to capacity 3? It might provide better balance. A human player can still invade, since the transports now move faster, he would just have to work a little harder at it (and build more transports). You might also need two classes of transports; river and ocean. River transports might have lower movement points (assuming you don't increase the movement cost of coastal squares).
EDIT: The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a class of river transport with a max. transport capacity of 1.
I like the improved horse artillery. Its good enough that I would build them and use their superior movement to keep up with my divisions. (What tech would they show up in?)
The new cost allocations look good. I can try them out in ACW C3C to see what the AI thinks is a good buy.
Regards,
Misfit
