AAR Jon Pyle (Union) vs Joel Billings (Confederate) - Confederate POV

[Joel Billings]

No intiative for either side in March, thus no ground activity. Sheridan is still unspotted. Pope now has a 35,000 man force next to Columbia, while Grant is still sitting in Macon with his large army. At this point, Sheridan is either in Memphis (ready to attack Little Rock or perhaps double team with Lyon to attack Jackson/Meridian) or he's in Aiken with Pope. I know he's not in Baldwin next to Mobile and the depot in Norfolk was disbanded so he's probably not there. Last turn the Union gunboats attacked Vicksburg. It started well for the Union with the Union hitting a heavy artillery and only losing 1 gunboat fleet damaged. However, on a follow up bombardment, 5 gunboat fleets were damaged with no loss to Vicksburg. Later, a gunboat fleet was destroyed for the loss of 1 heavy artillery damaged. There appear to be only 3 gunboat fleets left on the river regrouping north of Vicksburg. Vicksburg still controls the river. In the south, a cruiser and gunboat force sailed up the river and lost a cruiser fleet to my artillery near New Orleans.

The Political Score now is: Union 1006 Confederate 1064

With April comes good weather and no doubt Union offensive operations.

[Grotius]

I'm really enjoying this. I love that most recent map -- the simple overview of the situation.

Can't wait to buy this one. Is it still a couple months away?

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Grotius

I'm really enjoying this. I love that most recent map -- the simple overview of the situation.

Can't wait to buy this one. Is it still a couple months away?

Yes, the manual is in final layout now (should go to print next week) and we're working to have the game released before Origins (which is in late June). We want to be working full time on our next Russian Front game in June.

[oldspec4]

Yep..a definitite buy for me also.

[GShock]

Is Pyle ever gonna post his AARs? I think not. It's bad because it would have been wonderful to also see his POV on the game and why he did what he did and how he reacted to what you did and why he didn't do what you had expected him to do and so on.

Anyway i think this is gonna be another big hit by Matrix games. I sincerely hope the development will carry on to further support the several hundred new gamers about to join our community. I am sure however that many users, not belonging to these forums, have been alerted by the imminent release of this game.

Counting FoF and AACW, this is the third title on this subject which definitely proves it's a worthy subject for videogaming sales.

[Joel Billings]

The Gods of War smiled on the Confederacy in April. Three major Union commanders got initiative, and all three launched major offensives. In the west, Lyon took his army toward Jackson once again. This time, Stonewall Jackson was there to meet him. Calling all major commanders to Jackson (Hood, Taylor, Pemberton), Jackson was able to outmaneuver and outnumber Lyon and throw him back to Tupelo. Confederate losses were 8600/40 guns, while Union losses were 7000/80 guns, showing that having more troops can often mean taking more losses. Jackson did capture 20 guns, but the attrition of 1 to 1 overall is not good. Politically though, it was a goldmine. Also, if Jackson wins one more major battle as an Army Commander (he's won 2 so far), his Army Mod of -1 will go to 0, making him equal to Robert E. Lee as an Army Commander (4 attack and 4 defense rating).

In Georgia, Grant moved to Columbus to cut Atlanta's southwestern rail link to Alabama. Lee shadowed the Union army and Grant's 70,000 men and 340 guns engaged Lee's slightly smaller army in the forests of west-central Georgia. Losses were even, with Confederate losses of 10300/70 guns versus 11000/60 guns for the Union, but the Confederates captured 40 guns. Also, John Reynolds was killed. Another bad loss ratio for the south, but Atlanta's link with the west was maintained and Grant was sent reeling back to Macon. Another strategic victory and political gain for the Confederacy.

In Virginia, Sherman attacked Winchester with his large army. Beauregard met him with Longstreet and Early. Although outnumbered by about 62000/260 guns to 40000/180 guns, Beauregard pulled out a victory. The Union forces in Virginia are fairly inexperienced and have weaker commanders (Grant has most of the best Union corps commanders with him). More of the Confederate troops have rotated in from other fronts, and have gained experience from beating off attacks on Wilmington and most recently Fredericksburg. These advantages all added up to Union losses of 12200/80 guns versus Confederate losses of 7500/60 guns, with 60 guns captured after the battle making up these losses. A note about captured guns. Whenever a force retreats, there is a chance that guns will be captured. This represents not just cannons captured, but also the other weapons of war that the victorious army can salvage from the battlefield. Because this was more important for the less industrialized south, Confederates are three times as likely to capture guns after a victory than Union forces. In addition, heavy artillery cannot retreat, but are destroyed (if not captured) when an army is forced to retreat. In this battle, David Hunter was killed and John Sedgwick was wounded. All in all, a great Confederate victory. Beauregard has now won 8 major victories during the war. If he wins two more, his defense rating of 3 will improve to 4.

The only Union victory in April came when two Union corps advancing from Louisville overran the brigade in Glasgow, Kentucky. Now only London, KY on the Cumberland Gap is in Confederate hands. If this area is taken, Kentucky will become a Union aligned state and Kentucky's four factories can be used by the Union army. I've been surprised that Jon hasn't tried to take these Kentucky areas earlier in the war to boost his production capacity. It would require an army commander and/or some good corps commanders, along with some depots, but it could have been done. It turns out Jon had Sheridan in Louisville this past turn, but Sheridan didn't get initiative so he moved him to Aiken in order to threaten Columbia. Even though Sheridan didn't get initiative, Schofield and Manson did and he used those troops to take Glasgow. In hindsight, Jon told me he wishes he had only moved Manson into Glasgow and moved Schofield with Sheridan to Aiken to give Sheridan a bigger force in South Carolina.

The net of all the April action was that the Confederate lines held, and their political points went up, while the Union points fell. However, at this point I can only replace about 5,000 men per month (plus occasional militia federalized when new areas are attacked), while the Union forces can replace 19000 men per month (1/3 are black troops). If I can keep winning major battles, Lincoln could lose the election.

The Political score is Union 976 Confederate 1120

[GShock]

Joel, how does this thing with initiative work exactly? You keep mentioning it and i think it's important but how does it work?

Another question: Is there anything about PoWs in the game?

[Joel Billings]

Each turn leader's check to see if they have initiative. It depends on the leader ratings, where they are (friendly or hostile territory), and whether they have a stocked depot in their area (if in enemy areas). Without initiative, leader's don't add their skill ratings to the movement points of the units. So an infantry unit with 1 movement point attached to a leader with initiative would have between 2-5 movement points (depending on leader's infantry skill rating which is 1-4), but if his leader didn't have initiative he'd have just 1 MP which is not enough to attack. Unit's moving in the reaction phase pay more MP's if their leader's don't have initiative. It's important to note that if an Army Commander gets initiative, all the leader's in his area get initiative, so having AC's get initiative is extremely important. In bad weather months (Nov-Mar), it's less likely that leaders will get initiative. Theatre Commanders that get initiative will help leaders within range of them to get initiative, so good TC's and AC's are very important.

As for POW's, no, there's nothing about POW's. Units destroyed are gone from the game. Leader's that are captured (nowhere to retreat) automatically come back from between 1-12 months of when they were captured (assumed to be exchanged).

[Terminus]

ORIGINAL: Joel Billings

ORIGINAL: Grotius

I'm really enjoying this. I love that most recent map -- the simple overview of the situation.

Can't wait to buy this one. Is it still a couple months away?

Yes, the manual is in final layout now (should go to print next week) and we're working to have the game released before Origins (which is in late June). We want to be working full time on our next Russian Front game in June.

So do plenty of other people...[;)]

[GShock]

PoWs released on parole often went back to fight. The PoWs exchanges, for the little they were used, helped more the CSA than the Union...it would have been historical to have such an option though...marginal. As of the generals, they go back in 1-12 months time...this is not clear, does there have to be an agreement between the parts or not? I would never EVER release Grant for example...

Sorry to pester you, another question. Is there an army structure similar to FoF or to AACW in GGWbtS or is it just men+cannons as i see in the after-battle screens?

[Joel Billings]

There are units attached to leaders (generally corps, but sometimes independent divisions. Advanced rules allow leaders to be attached to these corps leaders and effectively serving as division commanders under the corps. Each side can have up to 4 army commanders, so there is a defacto army structure because you need to keep units together with the AC to get the AC benefits.

Leaders automatically are assumed exchanged. The random 1-12 months before returning to play is how we account for this automatic swapping. You don't choose who you release, they just get released.

[Joel Billings]

There was little activity in May as the Union shifted their forces. The Union launched small amphibious invasions against Corpus Christi, Texas and Gainesville, Florida which easily took control of those areas. Lyon moved to Pine Bluff Arkansas with at least 35,000 men, created a depot, and clearly intends to capture Little Rock and possibly the rest of Arkansas (and Texas?). Sizable forces remained in Northern Mississippi and Alabama, but not enough to threaten further attacks. I considered a counterattack in this area, and depending on how things go, may try one in the coming months. Grant remained opposite Atlanta, while Sheridan left Pope in South Carolina and went back to Kentucky with at least 25,000 men and looks to take the rest of Kentucky and possibly move into Tennessee. Sherman remained in Northern Virginia.

The political score at the end of May 1864 was Union 985 Confederate 1107

[SpharV2]

I like the way it looks so far aside from one pretty major point.  There is no pressure on the North to perform any kind of offensive action in Virginia, which is leading to completely a-historical numbers of troops involved in the amphibious landings.  Basically he's just using Washington as a big training base for troops to be sent down the coast.  If the North had tried that in the war, they newspapers and Democrats would have crucified them.  THE theater of the war should be the eastern...politically, it has to be.  It's not generally going to be the war-winning front, that will most likely be the west, but there should be some kind of political penalty for sitting around Northern Virginia, a mere 50-70 miles from the most important city in the CSA, doing absolutely nothing.  But here, all we've seen is a few minor raids and not much else.   We all know the reasons that it's not a good idea to attack in the east, but there was no option in the matter.

[PyleDriver]

Your right, we talked about that (Joel and I). But should a player be handcuffed. I think I'm paying the price now, pressure on Richmond is a must and I'm about to loose this one because of it...I just tried a different approch, which this game has...Plus loosing key leaders in battles has killed me. Joel is bound to loose some leaders soon. I need the election and a 300 PP swing to win this one. Big month coming, Grant and Sherman are on the move. Lyon's army is hittng Arkansas hard but left his command to his generals, and is on the prowl, and Sheridan has built a huge army somewhere...lol...Not telling where...Sorry need this one...Theres to many spies...

[8D]
Jon

[PyleDriver]

Sorry Joel I think this is a double post now with no screenshots...I just can't be quiet anymore, I fell in here by mistake wanting to answer SaharV2... The battles coming up are the war. Grants attacking Atlanta in force, and Sherman is moving deeper into Virginia with his huge army. With Lyon and Sheridan unseen alot of the CSA should be in check. This month is the whole war. If Grant and Sherman can't win Lincoln is doomed...

[X(]
Jon

[Joel Billings]

I'll have to be careful what info I give out here since the enemy appears to have access to my reports (in Jon's defense he's had to send me his password so I can check out possible bugs that have come up during our game, so I've seen a few things as well).

June was a big month, with action in six different areas, from Arkansas to Virginia. Little Rock fell, although a smaller attack on Camden (just to the southeast of Little Rock) was repulsed. The Arkansas militia was pretty useless, but Rodes division sent from Vicksburg made the difference in Camden. The net Confederate losses of these two battles were 8700/20 guns while the Union lost 4200/10 guns (the Confederates did gain 6000 militia that offset most of these losses). It appears that this is as far as the Union forces intend to push as they disbanded their depots and Sheridan did not participate in the attacks.

In Kentucky, 14000 Union troops moved into London and brushed aside 8000 Confederates (2600 Confederate losses versus 1400 Union losses).

South of Macon, Georgia, 8000 Union troops occupied Cordele. The big action in Georgia, however, was Grant's assault on Atlanta. Advancing with 88,000 troops, Grant tried to force Lee out of Atlanta. Thanks to near 100% Confederate leader initiative (both Theatre Commanders, all four Army Commanders, and most independent Commanders), Lee was able to call in reinforcements from several surrounding areas, including a division sent from Tennessee. Lee brought 100,000 troops to the battle, including 10,000 newly mobilized Georgia militia. Of course, sometimes, having more troops just means more casualties. The Union artillery advantage (420 guns to 280 guns) meant high Confederate artillery casualties. Confederate losses were 18,000/130 guns while Union losses were only 12,000/90 guns. The loss of Patrick Cleburne (KIA) didn't help either. However, Grant was forced to retreat back to Macon. It was a costly victory, but a Confederate victory nonetheless. Lee's proved it will be hard to take Atlanta from him.

Sherman returned to Winchester, but once again was not able to coordinate his larger army, and in a small engagement was sent back to Manassas by Beauregard's now experienced army. Confederate losses of 4800/10 guns was almost more than offset by Union losses of 8400/120 guns (60 captured by the Confederates).

The total net losses were 17,500 Confederates versus 26,000 Union. Confederate strength dropped a little, while Union strength remained about the same (they captured another area that will generate black troops, and their replacement rate is 4-5x mine at the moment).

Entering July, what is interesting is that both Lyon and Sheridan have disappeared from the map. Union depots appeared in several areas meaning many places that these leaders could be, as shown on the map below. They could be looking to hit Louisiana or Mobile from the Gulf, South Carolina from Charleston, Chattanooga from Nashville, or Mississippi/Alabama from Corinth/Memphis. The map shows some of my blocking forces (I don't want to say at this moment where my armies are).

[Joel Billings]

The screenshot below shows Confederate forces and estimated Union forces (I think it is 5-15% low for the Union forces).

Good news from the commerce raiders. With two at sea, Semmes's raider was successful enough to cost the Union a political point and 8 supply points, and gain me 6 supply points. Every point counts with the election only 4 months away. Union supply stocks are very low now as well.

Political points are now: Union 993 Confederate 1114

[PyleDriver]

June brought highs and lows for the Union. Kentucky after years has joined the Union. I now have much needed additional production (40 supply). Central Arkansas (Little Rock) was taken also, the loss of their factory there and a population base will hurt their cause, also black recruits from their are pouring in, 2000 just this month. The downside Grant and Sherman were defeated agian. I'm still short of the 1000 PP's needed to reelect, at 981...My hopes were dashed in July as both Lyon and Sheridan didn't get initiative. They both have large armys that are unspotted and were to do follow up assults. Unspotted units have a bonus in their attack of +3 and -1 on defense on the die rolls. Grant moved to Augusta, the supply lines were to hard to maintain as Hampton's Cav was reaking havok on them. From Augusta Grant's Army threatens both Atlanta and Columbia, and will pin both Lee and Johnston to watch him. Grant has regrouped, reinforced, and resupplyed. In Virginia Wilson and Stugis's Cav raided. With the lack of screening forces, they ripped up the raillines in 4 areas, because of this, Sherman has made a move on Fredricksburg. The raids are going to hurt the CSA bad, it will cost them 40 supply to repair and double supply costs for units in those areas. He moved most of his Cav into SC and GA, and it cost him bad. Confederate forces are starting to take a toll. His Cav and Art Corps are hurting now. If I can get Lincoln reelected, then in 65, I should be able to break their back...If I get initiative in August this might turn ugly, Joel is spread thin and has only a small idea of where Lyon and Sheridan are.

[8D]
Jon

[Joel Billings]

In July, Sherman advanced on Fredericksburg with 95,000 men, while Grant with 80,000 men rested his army in Augusta, GA, placing his main army in a position to attack Columbia, SC or Atlanta. Lyon and Sheridan apparently did not get initiative and there whereabouts are still unknown. Likely at least one is probably in Corinth or Memphis, with the other likely to be either in Nashville or Charleston, although that's just a guess at this point. Beauregard did not get initiative, and was unable to move to Fredericksburg. That left 15,000 men to be steamrolled by Sherman. Two precious divisions were lost and the senior Confederate commander, Henry Walker, was killed. Had Beauregard gotten initiative (about a 75% chance), I would have been able to show up with between 50-65,000 troops, which in the Wilderness would have had a good chance to beat Sherman. Fortunes of war however, as Sherman stole a march on Beauregard. Beauregard is a good case study of leadership. He started with a 2 attack rating and a 3 defense rating. When he won his 5th major victory, his attack rating improved to 3 (increasing his chance for initiative by about 10%). He now has 9 major victories, and if he wins another, his attack rating will go up to 4. If he manages to win 11 major victories, his defense rating will also go up to 4. This would be an amazing accomplishment, as few leaders are able to win this many major battles during a normal game (I've never seen it happen yet in the test games I've played).

The very bad news for the Confederacy in July was not Fredericksburg. It was the effectiveness of the Union cavalry. With JEB Stuart wounded and out of action, and most of the Confederate cavalry pulled over to the Shenandoah Valley, Union cavalry rode around the Confederate troops in Fredericksburg, destroying rail lines and supplies in the Richmond, Petersburg and Gordonsville areas. Beauregard's army found it difficult to get supplies, and rail movement was impossible. After supplies were consumed by my units at the beginning of my turn, I had 0 supplies left. This meant I could not repair the damaged rail. A large part of my forces in Virginia marched to Richmond, where they will more easily be able to resupply themselves from the Richmond factories. I was forced to use almost all of my factories to produce supplies. The Union forces have more cavalry now than I do, and since there are many areas I need to keep constantly scouted in order not to be surprised, my cavalry is more spread out. Union naval transport capability can shift large numbers of troops into any number of Union controlled coastal locations in the south. Given this situation, and better Union cavalry commanders that are now leading the more numerous Union cavalry, it looks like a major new threat has emerged to counter the Confederate interior lines. I repositioned some of my cavalry to counter some of the worst threats, but could only do so much. I attempted several raids of my own, but they were not effective. Hopefully things will even out a little in the future. Having no supply reserves is a scary thing. It means I can't build fortifications, can't create additional cavalry units, and cannot repair rail lines that get damaged.

In the war at sea, Union cruisers sank Semmes raider, but Buchanan's was successful, capturing another 5 supplies and costing the Union another very important political point.

The political score at the end of the July 64 was: Union 992 Confederate 1110

At this time, it's worth a note about political points. At the beginning of each Union turn, the Union player loses 27 political points. They then gain PPs equal to the combined total of the political ratings of their six Theatre and Army Commanders. Currently this total is 15. So the Union is losing 12 PPs per turn. The Union player has to keep taking territory or winning major battles in order to offset this loss. At the beginning of the Confederate turn, the Confederate player loses 9 PPs per turn, but also gains points for their TCs and ACs. Currently my leaders political ratings add up to 17, so I'm gaining a new 8 PPs per turn. At the beginning of November, before the Union player loses points, the Presidential election is held. If the Union player has 1000 Political Points, Lincoln is reelected. So assuming the Union player loses 12 PPs at the beginning of August, September and October, the Union player needs to gain 44 political points in the next three months. Capturing either Atlanta or Columbia via a strategic victory in battle would do this, although strategic losses can lose the Union points, and I could always retake a lost area if I'm willing to risk a counterattack. This is a very close game. If Lincoln loses the election, the Confederacy will win. If Lincoln wins the election, there's still a chance for a Confederate victory depending on how well the Union does in the first half of 1865. This game is as close as they come.

[PyleDriver]

August brought good and bad news agian. All my AC's got intiative except Grant, but 2 of his corps commanders did, Schofield, and McPherson. Parke is sitting on his corps of 30,000 men. These are the best corps commanders the Union have and I needed them with Grant to be on the move. So I had to make some changes. Lyon was in Nashville, and is moving into eastern TN. In order to keep Lee and Hood in GA and not react into TN, Schofield and McPherson are attacking Athens just east of Atlanta, with artillery and Cav support (I don't expect to win this one). I had hoped to attack Columbia with this army. Sheridan exploded out of Charleston with a huge unseen force, and is looking to cut the rail line between Columbia and Wilmington and position his army to dive on Charlotte NC, or turn back to Columbia, or even go towards Wilmington. Sherman sent a corps commander Reynolds via sea with 16,000 men and 80 guns to attack Wilmington. Sherman then pulled his other troops from Fredricksburg, rolled around Longstreets corps in Gordonsville and is once agian attacking Winchester. I'm betting once agian Joel's army with his pet general are stuck in Richmond...lol...New Kent was overrun also, as CSA forces withdrew to Richmond. In the west my Cav went crazy, cutting the rail lines in Selma and Jackson. The cost of repair is going to hurt the CSA, and east-west movement is cut...Time is short for Lincoln, these are some must win battles...Recrutment was high 16,000 new men, 8,000 are black. The fact that I haven't had a draft since 62, has kept me in this game...

[8D]
Jon

Edit... The fresh recruits play in well because they can garrison and train, while trained troops can go to the front. I'm getting close to a 3 to 1 advantage in infantry but 1/3 of my troops are in garrisons duties. So these fresh recruits do the same as trained troops behind the lines, and allow me rotate trained troops to front line action. My black solders make up 20% of the Union army now. I hoped to bust into rear to black rich recruitment areas, but Joel has kept from that...He can't handle this attrition much longer...But my time is running short...