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

[Gil R.]

Last turn, I botched the job of showing the Hospital overlays, so here they are:

[Gil R.]

And here's the western theater.

[Grotius]

Thanks for showing the hospital coverage overlay. Hmm, I find it a bit hard to see which province each "Hospital Coverage" message points to. I take it coverage in Shenandoah is zero, or am I misreading the map? Maybe it's clearer when you're moving the screen around.

Also, I assume higher numbers are better?

[Gil R.]

Higher numbers are indeed better.

Shenandoah gets 14. Rappahanock is getting none -- I'm not sure why.

[Gil R.]

Twenty-second Turn

This turn, I have no choice but to go on the warpath.

First, the Events Report, which has a big setback: not only was there unrest in Little Rock, but it was the bad kind of unrest, and it destroyed the Capitol. Capitols are essential because one cannot receive income in a province unless there's a Capitol there. Little Rock only had a Capitol and a Mansion, so there was a 50% chance of the Capitol being taken out if unrest were to occur -- I guess there's something to impressing in cities with numerous buildings because it lessens the chance of losing something important.

Rebuilding the Capitol will be expensive, and I won't be able to afford it until winter, and it will take months to build, so essentially I've lost the modest amount of income that Little Rock was providing for at least 3-4 months. On the plus side, the 40 Money I received is enough for me to start production of that army container for the two Cumberland River corps, now that the third Barracks in Mobile River is done.

[Gil R.]

And of all the rotten luck, disease strikes my Cumberland River corps again. Since it's fall and there's a Hospital there the loss in men isn't much, but several units, including some of my best, have their Disposition reduced. It will take many turns to restore these reductions, and these corps will be fighting long before then.

Hmm. The screenshot is too big, but you know what disease's effects look like by now. Also, the third screenshot is too big, but I can easily summarize: two runners fleets brought in 60 Weapons, and Gov. Lubbock of Texas is supporting logistical research.

[Gil R.]

And here's Arkansas with its unrest.

[Gil R.]

Here's the purchase of the army container in Mobile.

[Gil R.]

I notice that for the first time the Union is attempting an amphibious invasion... somewhere. In the Mid-Atlantic sea zone there is a large Union fleet carrying troops, as represented by the green squares. I have no idea what the target is -- to me, the most logical target would be New Orleans, where it could join up with the other forces. Or, for that matter, anywhere on the eastern seaboard. If it lands in the east I can use railroad movement to send down enough forces to dislodge it, but while I'm doing that the Union army in Cumberland could take advantage of the reduced size of the Army of Northern Virginia and invade.

So, in the first of my desperation moves, I decide to see if I might be able to get lucky and win a naval battle, or lose one while causing damage to the fleet. If I destroy enough ships, there will be insufficient capacity for all of the brigades, and when that happens the brigades go overboard. The Union has superior naval forces, but I might win -- especially if I get lucky and when I get to choose a naval upgrade at the end of this round I am able to get the submarines upgrade, which could give me an advantage.

So, the first thing I do is take my ironclads out of James River. I've left them there for the whole game so far because there has always been a large fleet stationed off the coast. But if these can slip by one fleet they might attack the one with the troops. They won't fight that effectively since they're not in a container, but if they can destroy a few enemy ships they'll have done their job.

[Gil R.]

Here's a better view of that enemy fleet, showing estimated troop strength.

[Gil R.]

And the other thing I do is take the combined fleets I had put into Charleston back when I was thinking of my own amphibious assault and sent it out to sea. I set it on "Intercept" in order to increase the odds of a battle, and put it into the same zone as the Ironclads' destination, so they they can be added to one of the fleets.

The odds are against me in this whole endeavor, but these ships might take a few enemy brigades with them, and possibly even delay the landing by a turn.

[Gil R.]

Back to the land war. First, the Virginia theater.

I don't for a second think that Union army is 831,909 strong -- at best, it's around 100,000, but it's probably smaller.

I don't feel like being pinned down when I am likely to need to send one or two divisions to repel the amphibious invasion, so I try my second desperate move: I decide to invade Cumberland and see if I can't hurt the Union army enough that I can feel free to canibalize the Army of Northern Virginia.

As I see it, I have to have a strong advantage in generals and the Command ratings of my army, corps and divisions, plus my troops are generally of higher quality. On an even playing field, I think I'd win, since the Union's only definite advantage will be in artillery, which I can negate somewhat with my cavalry advantage. The Union can afford more weapons, but I don't think it's weapons are much better than mine -- for one thing, my diplomatic spending has kept the Union from being able to purchase superior European firearms, just as I'm no longer able to acquire Lorenzs.

The danger, of course, is that in fighting in a province that is controled by the Union I will be at a disadvantage. The only question is whether my strengths can overcome that. This could be a disaster, but it could also bring great benefits.

So, first I bring back that division in Abingdon, and then I use my resources to buy Brigade Cavalry for one infantry unit and Minie Rifles and Richmond Muskets for 3-4 other units. Every bit helps.

[Gil R.]

I messed up on the screenshot showing the strength of the different brigades, but the overall army is at around 90,000 or so.

Here is a screenshot showing the Quality of the units.

[Gil R.]

And here's Disposition. It used to be much better before disease struck.

[Gil R.]

And this shows weapons. Note that a few of the ones that are shown with "Improvised" weapons have those new guns on order.

[Gil R.]

And in case you didn't think I'd have the guts to go through with this plan, here's the ANV going into Maryland.

[Gil R.]

Here's the Tennessee area. Fort Donelson is now 100% repaired, so I don't need to stay in Cumberland River. However, I'm torn whether about what to do. The question is, if I'm going to attack somewhere this turn, do I go after this full-size army (again fighting in enemy territory), or do I take one or both corps by rail and try to attack the forces down south?

[Gil R.]

And here's how things look in Mississippi. If that corps is still in Jackson that means it's likely to attempt a siege. As for that army, I think it wants to cross the Mississippi and start taking over more provinces. Fortunately, those are all poor producers of resources, and I don't have too many important buildings there. (And hell, Little Rock is now valueless to me, anyway.)

Working in my favor is that neither one appears to be heading for New Orleans. More importantly, march attrition and risk of disease striking should certainly help me out. Plus, all I have to do is station a force in Oxford to block the supply line. (Whether the Union will let it stay in Oxford is another matter...) And, of course, every time these forces enter into a siege they will lose thousands of men, and will have trouble reinforcing those brigades quickly enough.

[Gil R.]

I finally decide to try to have both corps attack the army in Hatchie. I'm quite confident that my forces are superior in all respects, and the only thing working in the Union's favor is the home-field advantage, plus some artillery. (As I see it, even if I lose and suffer high casualties, the two corps will still be superior to those forces down south, so if I fail here I can still take out the incursion.)

I decide to go partly by rail and partly by foot, but realize that I might not have enough movement points to cross the river. So I might end up adjacent to Hatchie rather than in Hatchie.

[Gil R.]

At the end of the turn I get a choice of engingeering upgrades. I choose the one that will let me move over rivers more easily, since movement advantages can be quite beneficial. Plus, I get the sense that the Union isn't about to attack my forts and I'm not about to attack their anytime soon, so those other upgrades, each of which I believe was available earlier in the game, are not so appealing. (The screenshot for this is messed up, so I'll quote the description of "Advanced Pontons": "Crossing a river uses only half of a unit's remaining movement points instead of all.")

Next, I get a logistics upgrade. Three of these would be very useful to me. "Extended Service" allows me to increase the size of my brigades, which normally I would be eager to have, but I still have more than enough understrength brigades that I can wait until this comes up again. "Espionage" would help my scouting checks, which is always a good thing, but what with my cavalry, raiders and several brigades with the Scouts attribute I don't feel it's essential. "Signal System," however, is one of those upgrades that instantly makes every unit in a battle potentially better, which is very powerful. If I have better generals and units less likely to go out of command I'll have a clear advantage on the battlefield. ("Balloon Scouts" helps lift the fog of war on the battlefield, but I won't have the resources necessary to purchase this brigade attribute enough times to make it worthwhile.)