PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet!

[Gil R.]

Since I mentioned that high-quality brigade, the 123rd Infantry (you can see it in the center column, sporting a 5.06 quality rating), I might as well show that I think it an important enough unit that I invest 60 Money (out of 78 available) to buy it the Sharpshooter attribute -- instantly making it among my most deadly and effective units. (The Lorenz has the highest sharpshooter rating of any gun my army has, which is why it was a no-brainer to give this unit this attribute rather than, say, brigade cavalry.)

[Gil R.]

Here's how the troop strength levels of the units in Shenandoah look in the aftermath of the Black Plague. It's down to just 79000 now.

As you might recall, I have deliberately been keeping most of these divisions on "No Supply" so that my 4000 reinforcements each turn would pump up my forces in the west. Now that those forces are sufficiently plump -- some of those brigades are now at full strength, or slightly below it -- I reverse my policy and cut them off from new reinforcements and direct those instead into the ANV. Within 5-6 turns the army should be at about the strength it was previously at, but this is still a major setback, since I wanted to make it bigger than it was before the disease struck.

I also build yet another camp (in New Orleans), since those 500 reinforcement per turn will be greatly needed now.

[Gil R.]

Here are those western forces. As you can see, only one division, the third, has brigades that are in urgent need of reinforcements, while many brigades are at 3K and 4K. So I can afford to stop reinforcing all but the 3rd, which I set to continue to receive reinforcements. (The screenshot shows me first putting one of the two corps on "No Support."

[Gil R.]

And now I do what I wish I had done a turn earlier -- I move the ANV to Lynchburg which, like Richmond, has two Hospitals and therefore tremendously cuts down on the effects of disease. I leave behind that division that held the province against the Union attack several turns ago. Unless absolutely necessary, I plan not to move that brigade out until I've built a fort there. (And with the ANV in Lynchburg it's close enough to reinforce this division if there should be another incursion.)

I move by rail, since with the completion of my most recent Railroad Station and the benefit of "Centralized Railways" I'm starting off with 72 RR movement points each turn -- enough to move every brigade I have that's not doing garrison duty one province per turn.

Another good thing about moving to Lynchburg is that I'll be far enough away from the Union that my army should be in fog of war, so it will be even harder for the Union to figure out that I just lost 20% of my troop strength.

[Gil R.]

Before looking at the main action in the western theater, I thought I'd show that the empty container for the 6th Division has made it to Montgomery, so this turn I try to get it into Yazoo, where those two brigades can join it. (Remember, the way to convert those blue Union provinces back to red Confederate ones is to send a division, corps or army in there.) The container, which represents the officers staffing the division, marches to Mobile, where it can again move by rail.

[Gil R.]

And once the division gets there, I attach the two brigades to it and send it into Oxford. With any luck, I'll have enough movement points to do all of this in a single turn, and Oxford will be CSA red when the next turn begins. Otherwise, it'll just take another turn, but at least I can start reclaiming my territory.

And then I'll send the 6th Division into Missouri to take over some territory and give the Union a taste of its own medicine...

[Gil R.]

Here's how the western theater is looking. The Union is sitting in the Lower Tennessee River area with a massive army that must be over 100,000, but the presence of a division in Kaskaskia suggests to me that maybe some forces are being moved out of this theater (which would mean that they're being sent eastward by rail, I'd think). It's also possible that that's a new division being sent in to reinforce -- there's just no way to tell.

I'd love to invade Bowling Green and trounce the forces there, which are still weak after the recent battle. But those forces in Lower Tennessee River would be available to reinforce, and I might go down in defeat.

It occurs to me that my 6th Division, the one flipping blue province back to red, can be sent into Paducah to draw off some of those forces. If that happened, the size of the reinforcements available to the Union might not be large enough to make a difference in Bowling Green. It's something to think about, but I'd be surprised if it actually worked out that way.

It also occurs to me that I might be able to use my railroad advantage to get a corps from the ANV out west and attack with three corps before the Union realizes what has happened. Ideally, though, this would be done after my two western corps has been put into an army container, so that they would fight more effectively. I think I'll produce an army container soon, and use this strategy of rapidly moving a corps at some point, when the opportunity presents itself.

[Gil R.]

Here is how Fort Donelson is looking now that the siege is over. It's up to 51% strength now (as is shown at the bottom), and its walls are still just faint traces.

[Gil R.]

Here's another thing I do this turn. Last turn, I got a new general, Gen. C. Clark, and since his ratings were mediocre I decided not to put him in one of my divisions as a brigadier general, but instead to add him to the garrison of a crucial fort. Generals give defensive bonuses during sieges, so this is a good thing to do with spare generals, especially bad or merely okay ones. So this turn, I helped him complete his journey from Richmond, sending him from Tuscaloosa into Island No. 10

[Gil R.]

The only other thing of note that I do is move the two western corps back into Cumberland River, to defend the province until Fort Donelson's strength is back up (and to help in the process of fixing the fort, which I'll do by giving it an engineering order next turn). These two corps are at a strength of roughly 104,000, and there are still roughly 20,000 men in the fort and Nashville itself, so I think I can probably hold off another invasion, especially since so many of the enemy's brigades lost their weapons in that last battle.

I do send my weakest division into Pulaski in order to make it red again.

Now that I think of it, that might have been a mistake -- the Union can now attack it and draw in my two corps as reinforcements, forcing me to fight in USA territory. If that happens, the USA gets an advantage for fighting in its own territory, but I still have an advantage in the quality of my generals and troops. Fortunately, unless the Union is sending forces into Pulaski this turn as well, I'll probably be able to get this division back safely into its corps. But this is a bigger risk than I recognized at the time, since if the USA gets the initiative to attack it can get this division into a fight.

And the last thing I do this turn is to use both Partisans and Raiders to sabotage the railroad, just in case the Union is trying to move its forces somewhere by rail.

[Gil R.]

Twentieth Turn

I just got two very good generals, Hood and Wheeler. That's got to help. And my railroad sabotages were successful, though I don't know whether the Union was trying to move anywhere.

[Gil R.]

And now something very bad happens -- disease strikes Cumberland River. Fortunately, I have a Hospital there, which is why the damage and loss of disposition isn't as bad as it was in Shenandoah. But still, with that giant Union army a province away this is pretty bad. And since I'm using my camps to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia, I can't bulk these forces up more.

And the really irksome thing is that I'm 4 Horses short of being able to build another Camp this turn.

[Gil R.]

The only good news is that two blockade-runners fleets got me a total of 70 Money, which is about twice what I'm netting each turn after upkeep expenses and diplomacy.

Unfortunately, Gof. Brown of Georgia is demanding a Foundry, something that it would be a complete waste to build in Georgia, when I already have enough Foundries for the number of artillery units I'm likely to build. The guy already has a negative Attitude, and it will only go down onw.

[Gil R.]

Here are the strength levels of my two Cumberland River corps. You can compare them with the screenshot taken in the last turn, which reveals that I lost about six thousand men (plus the ones garrisoned in Fort Donelson and Nashville.

Luckily, this force is still very strong.

(I should note that the 13th Division, which I had sent into Pulaski to regain control of that territory, escaped the disease. I returned it to Cumberland River at the beginning of this turn.)

[Gil R.]

Even though my Virginia army was significantly weakened by disease last turn, the greater threat is in the west. (By definition, any time you have the enemy in an adjacent province that is the greatest threat.) So, I decide to send a single division, the 4th Division, by rail to Cumberland River as reinforcements. Its strength is 9000, and it's an okay division -- I'm leaving my best divisions in Lynchburg, but this one can be spared for now.

Also, I should point out that this army is now up to 81000, after being at 79000 in the aftermath of the disease. So, it's starting to creep back up...

[Gil R.]

Now that I'm starting the turn with 110 Money I would finally be able to afford that much-needed fort in Shenandoah, but I'm short on Labor. So this turn I'll spend a little, but leave myself in a position to begin working on that fort next turn.

The first thing I purchase is Rifle Pits for Fort Evans back in Fredericksburg (20 Money). The should help the province to hold off an invasion a bit longer, though I really need to get that fort a real gun instead of "Improvised."

Next, I decide to upgrade the 4th Cavalry, which is in the division I just sent out west. I purchase horse artillery, and really nice thing to have. (Horse artillery, as you can see, slows down unit movement, but this cavalry unit already has "Quality Horses," which gives a +6 movement rate. So even with the artillery slowing down the horses, they still move farther/faster than normal cavalry brigades. Not bad...)

[Gil R.]

I've gotten a bit ahead of myself. Here's the western theater at the start of the turn.

As I mentioned, I sent that division in Pulaski back. You can see that it succeeded in converting the province, which after two turns of unrest will start giving me 2 Money each turn again.

Also, I have given an engineering order to both corps to help repair Fort Donelson. The sooner that's done, the better.

The figure standing in Bowling Green represents my Partisans and my Raiders, FYI. Looks like the Union forces there left. I'll have to retask these units.

I don't for a second believe that the Union has 363000 men in that province. I need better intelligence...

[Gil R.]

Last turn the 6th Division container reached those two brigades, but didn't advance. So, now I can send it into Oxford in order to reclaim my territory.

[Gil R.]

And here's the third and final unit movement that I make out west, sending the Partisans and then the Raiders into Lower Tennessee River, so that they can have a juicier target.

It's also worth noting that these units help with scouting checks before battle, so if I were to invade that province in a surprise attack having these units there would help to level the playing field somewhat. It sure would be nice to have another Raiders unit...

[Gil R.]

It occurs to me that I haven't shown the Hospitals overlay, and since all of my non-garrison brigades (with the exception of the division in Pulaski and the one that is now entering Oxford) just suffered serious drops in Disposition as a result of disease, it is especially timely to show how effective my Hospitals can be.

Every turn, units that are in cities with Hospital or direct rail contact have a chance to have their Disposition raised, though the number of brigades that can benefit from this is limited to the total Hospital coverage. In both the eastern and western theaters I'm in pretty good shape, so my forces should be able to bounce back.

Here's the Virginia area. Lynchburg has the potential for up to ten hospitals in rail contact to be able to help raise the Disposition of the troops there, and each hospital can restore up to two brigades in a turn.

(Unfortunately, the screenshot for the western theater is 3KB too big to upload, so I'll just state that the Hospital Coverage for Cumberland River is 8.


EDIT: Oh, heck, I forgot to attach the screenshot. I'll do that later.