CSA - Unit leader changes & additions

[koheiwatabe]

HOI4 version: 1.12.11 Kaiserreich version: 0.24.2

Describe the specific change you would like:

• [ ] Addition of the theorists Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. and John B. Anderson as starting generals. Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. having the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 2 overall, 3 in attack, 2 in defense, 1 in planning, 1 in logistics, reckless trait, cavalry officer trait, trickster trait, night attack theorist role and army offense (expert) CoA role. And John B. Anderson having the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 2 overall, 2 in attack, 1 in defense, 2 in planning, 2 in logistics, artillery officer trait, artillery specialist trait, career officer trait, and superior firepower theorist role.
• [ ] Removal of the CSA's youngest starting generals: Edward Allen Carter Jr, George Ham Cannon, Milton Wolff, John Tisa, and Benjamin Katine. Either being unlocked later into (or following) the civil war or removed entirely.
• [ ] Addition of Hans Amlie https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/hans-amlie/ as a starting general with the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 1 overall, 1 in attack, defense, planning, and logistics, red guard commander trait, militia officer trait.
• [ ] Addition of Frank Rogers https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/frank-rodgers/ as a starting general with the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 1 overall, 1 in attack, defense, planning, and logistics, red guard commander trait, militia officer trait.
• [ ] Addition of Steve Nelson https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/steve-nelson/ as a starting general with the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 1 overall, 1 in attack, defense, planning, and logisitcs, red guard commander trait, militia officer trait, and organiser trait.
• [ ] Addition of Carl Bradley https://alba-valb.org/volunteers/carl-bradley/ as a starting general with the following skills, traits and MHC roles: level 1 overall, 1 in attack, defense, planning, and logistics, red guard commander trait, and militia officer trait.
• [ ] Rebalance the effects of the 'Red Guard Commander' unit leader trait. Replacing its +10% leader experience gain bonus with a -10% leader experience gain penalty.
• [ ] Reduce the effects of the focus 'European Military Schools' focus. Replacing its +1 stats for every army leader with a 500 xp bonus for every army leader.
• [ ] Removal of James Patrick Murphy as a general for the CSA.

Explain the reasoning behind this actionable change:

1. Both Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. and John B. Anderson hold an odd place in the CSA. Clearly someone on the dev team recognized both as being strong candidates for the CSA's command staff, so why haven't they also been made starting generals? I assume the explanation is neither of their portraits have been completed, but ill suggest this change anyway.
2. These unit leaders are all far too young to realistically be promoted to the rank of general at the onset of the civil war. While there have been cases of 20-year old generals such as Galusha Pennypacker or Marquis de Lafayette, these are extraordinarily rare and would not occur on a large scale like it does in the CSA when there are more senior candidates available. It is debatable whether it would even make sense for them to be promoted later on or following the civil war, as they would still be in in their late 20s or at most early 30s, but it does seem wrong to purge them completely from the mod. Perhaps their portraits could be repurposed as generic/division leaders?
3. Hans Amlie, younger brother of wisconsin congressman Thomas Ryum Amlie, fits perfectly within the current CSA roster. Born in 1900, Amlie served 7 years in the US Armed forces, first in the US Army until 1919 and later as a US Marine for 2 years. He was originally a member of the socialist party of america but left for the communist party after a disappointing turnout of volunteers from the party to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He fought in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and eventually rose to command the Lincoln-Washington battalion. The main thing holding back Amlie from being put in the mod would be his lack of clear photographs. It may be best to use a photo of his aforementioned brother instead as a stand in.
4. Frank Rogers, another veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade OTL, Rogers was born in Finland in 1905 and moved to the US in 1909 where he became an automobile worker, journalist, and full time party organizer of the Communist party by 22. He traveled to Soviet Union in 1930 and later volunteered in Spain were he recieved training at Pozo Rubio OTS, serving as a political commissar for much of the conflict.
5. Steve Nelson was born in modern day Crotia in 1903, immigrating to the US with his family in 1922. He became a carpenter, auto worker, and communist party organizer in the US. Sometime in the 1920s he attended the Lenin school in Moscow and worked for the Comintern in India and China. He became commissar for the Lincoln-Washington battalion and briefly took command of said battalion after the death of Oliver Law. He was later promoted to commissar for the entire Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was recalled by the Communist Party leader Earl Browder to report on the status of Spain in November 1937, he spent the next few decades as a top member of the communist party, and on multiple occasions was the victim of McCarthy-era communist persecution. He eventually broke with the communist party following Khrushchev's revelations of the atrocities that occurred under Stalin's regime in 1957. Spending the rest of his life heavily involved in the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade (VALB) in which he served as National Commander. The primary issue with Steve Nelson, is that he and his family moved to the US in 1922. This occured after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, so it would require some contrivance to explain why he would still have immigrated to the US in the KRTL.
6. Carl Bradley was born in Minsk in 1903, he moved to the US in 1905 where he would grow up to become a steel worker and joined the communist party in 1927. Other than serving in the Lincoln-Washington battalion where he commanded the "American Company", very little detail is provided regarding his actions in the Spanish Civil war. Sometime after the Battle of Belchite he was repatriated for political work.
7. The fact that the Red Guard Commander trait gave only positive bonuses has never made sense to me, especially the +10% leader experience gain bonus. This is an issue due to the existence of politically connected trait. Both these traits are used to represent a unit leader whose political connections have allowed them to rise rapidly in the ranks, yet it is only Red Guard Commander that represents that as being entirely benefitial. I think Red Guard Commander would work much better as the CSA's (or really any revolutionary country's) unique version of the politically connected trait, having the same experience gain penalty but keeping its unique bonuses to recovery rate and equipment capture rate.
8. This would reduce the strength of what is in my opinion, the strongest focus the CSA has. Single handedly turning all of the CSA's generals from the weakest of all ACW factions, to arguably the strongest. Providing a 300 xp bonus to all army leaders instead would be a much more balanced bonus, as it would level up all lvl 1 generals to lvl 2, but due to the scaling nature of unit leader xp gain, it would become gradually less effective the higher lvl the given army leader is. Alternatively, this focus represent the gradual growth of the CSA's command staff as opposed to all generals being introduced at once, perhaps even reintroducing the young generals Milton Wolff, Edward Allen Carter Jr, or George Ham Cannon back into the mix.
9. James Patrick Murphy is a very odd choice for the CSA's roster. While he is not way too young as some of the other starting generals and was also a volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain, very little else is known about him. He had no prior political connections prior to leaving America, and never took any command, in stark contrast with most of the CSA's roster.

[Alpinia]

CSA already has some changes planned to its roster, and will be getting about 3 new generals once their portraits are finished. However, CSA has something of an unique twist on its roster - it is divided between two groups, defecting officers, and Red Guards commanders.

The Red Guard Commander essentially represents that - they are not generals at first, but rather notable militia commanders, and their rising through the ranks is represented by their levelling up to eventually compete with the actual trained officers. The trait is there to both indicate who they are, and to make using them instead of the officers an attractive choice.

As for the focus, it won't be changed. CSA's entire army tree is based around the idea that its army starts off weaker than the others, but will eventually surpass all the other factions and become nigh-unstoppable. Being a later focus, European Military Schools is one of the main "turn the tide" foci.

[koheiwatabe]

CSA already has some changes planned to its roster, and will be getting about 3 new generals once their portraits are finished. However, CSA has something of an unique twist on its roster - it is divided between two groups, defecting officers, and Red Guards commanders. The Red Guard Commander essentially represents that - they are not generals at first, but rather notable militia commanders, and their rising through the ranks is represented by their levelling up to eventually compete with the actual trained officers. The trait is there to both indicate who they are, and to make using them instead of the officers an attractive choice.

Firstly the red guard commanders are all referred to as generals in their leader descriptions, so that should be updated. Secondly, I understand the dynamic the red guard commanders are supposed to have in relation to the defecting officers, but why should their lack of experience outside of commanding militias be purely beneficial? The Militia Officer trait along with the small bonuses they recieve to recovery rate and equipment capture are all already very strong incentives to choose them over the defecting officers, as most of the continental army consists of militias. If you consider a -10% leader experience gain penalty too harsh, then it could be something that could be removed as the civil war progresses, perhaps through the European Military Schools focus. Replacing said trait with 'Revoluntionary Officer Training' or something similar, which would be a buffed/exisiting version of Red Guard Commander.

Also I'm disappointed that you ignored my argument concerning the ages of the exisiting CSA roster, it is imo the biggest issue with the CSA right now. It is the argument that I based much of this suggestion around, and it took a significant amount of time to research other canidates who would both be equally appropriate and have the benefit of seniority

As for the focus, it won't be changed. CSA's entire army tree is based around the idea that its army starts off weaker than the others, but will eventually surpass all the other factions and become nigh-unstoppable. Being a later focus, European Military Schools is one of the main "turn the tide" foci.

The reasoning behind this focus is good, but I still dont believe it needs to be as strong as it is currently. My main issue is that it overstacks skill points. For generals like maurice rose when combined with bonus skill points provided by the officer corps spirits, you could easily have a general with 7-9 extra skill points then normal by the end of the war. 300 xp for a unit leader is still a large amount for generals lvl 2 and beyond, as you only need 500 xp to go from lvl 2 to 3, and 1000 to go from lvl 3 to 4. Perhaps 500 xp would be more reasonable?