PBEM AAR - Long Live the Union!

[jchastain]

ORIGINAL: AU Tiger

ORIGINAL: jchastain

Time isn't on my side, but I've got economic muscle he doesn't and diplomacy is finally working to where his oversea support should be drying up big time.

I don't understand why time isn't on your side. Is there something I am missing?

By 1865, the CSA gets one victory point per turn. I'm no where close to the desperation point now... it's is still reasonably early. But we're coming up on the 1 year mark and I haven't made a whole lot of progress. Sieges aren't exactly fast, so you have to allow yourself time to chug through the mechanics of winning.

[jchastain]

OK, looks like we caught a minor skirmish in our movement south. All the better! If we can get some cheap experience for those junk troops, a few of them might turn into something useful.

[jchastain]

Now that I've finally stopped spending any real money on diplomacy, it does nothing but improve. Hopefully that means he's given up on that front and I can start paying little to no attention to that.

It is nothing but a stroke of luck that the two governors demanding troops are maryland and kentucky.

[jchastain]

Let's peek in on the Nashville area.

[jchastain]

And review how far we got into Mississippi.

[jchastain]

OK, the corp is the lesser force, so it will move to Jackson to begin the siege.

[jchastain]

While the second army attempts to crush his 6th division. He is almost sure to run, but at least this moves us forward.

[jchastain]

He will see just as I do that I am dependent upon a narrow corridor for my supplies. It is risky trying to intercept that huge army of his, but at least I'll be the defender if we meet down there somewhere. I kepp my main battle army up here for a reason and losing my supply source would be... in a word... bad. Keyes needs to move to Hatchie. I just hope he comes at me with a portion of his forces.

[jchastain]

Looking to the East, we've spotted the ANV. Sure enough, he's not really up to anything. Having the AoP in Cumberland likely has him scared and wondering what's next. He might think that core looks like an easy target and come forward to meet me. But this isn't the fight I'm looking for so I'll just sit right here. Having that corp waste away in Washington isn't the right answer though. If I am going to try to spread him out by giving him too many threats to address, then I need to get them in action and the best way I see to throw him off is to use that fleet that has thus far been inactive. I think it is time to mobilize the Navy.

[jchastain]

there is no way the fleet will dock, load a full corp, and then sail all the way down to key west. I'll be lucky to set sail withthe army at at all. But I'll send them as far as they'll go so let's give them the full stretch goals and see how far they get.

[jchastain]

I'm still not exactly sure where they are heading. The Rebs never laid siege to Pensacola so I still hold the fort there. Perhaps I should use that as a base of operations and then move to take Tallahassee. Another advantage to landing in that area is I'm not too far from meeting the Mississippi forces. That's both good and bad. Good, because a better supply network is within reach. Bad, because the goal of this thing is to spread him out so I don't want the threats all clumped together. Oh well, there is time to make those decisions and I'll get a lot more visibility into my options when I get some ships off the coast.

The obvious worry is that he does have a Navy. With all he must have spent on Diplomacy and the obvious need for his army, I doubt he was able to invest in it in any meaningful way. But there's still a chance something will come after me. But that's a chance I'm willing to take.

[jchastain]

My first siege artillery has been completed. I'll move that towards the front.

[jchastain]

Once combined with a few others, we'll see if it can get down to the reserve army I have sitting in Southern Illinois.

[jchastain]

My New Jersey siege Arty shouldn't be far behind now. Yup, looks like I'll have it next turn. I just need to get these things down to Jackson somehow. And I need to remember to upgrade the guns to something big before they leave friendly territory.

[jchastain]

The army must continue to grow. I'll place another order for Artillery. The fighting kind, not the sieging kind. His forces are still the biggest threat I face.

[jchastain]

While I'm thinking about it, might as well go ahead and pander to the folks back home. Now... by popular demand... allow me to introduce you to.... the US 11th Corp.

[jchastain]

Check supply once again. As usual, a few tweaks are in order.

[jchastain]

Check income. It was slightly negative, but I made one more reduction in the diplomacy spending to keep us even since the treasury is a bit low. Surely someone will ask what happens if you go negative. The answer is, I don't know. But I'm guessing it wouldn't be a positive thing so I'm going to avoid that happening.

[jchastain]

End of turn. That was quite a lot actually. And now, there's another advance. Logistics this time and the option for a badly needed boost to my camps. Done.

[jchastain]

And while no one was looking last turn, I did another little demotion to make room for Thomas to get a well deserved 2nd star.

That's it. Lots going on now. Let's hope it pays off. Also, it is getting close to time to start paying attention to the calendar. In another couple of turns, we'll be positioning for winter and I'll want to ensure I have open supply lines and, ideally, I'll position to siege through the winter while he can't interfere.