PBEM AAR - Long Live the Union!

[fabertong]

ORIGINAL: jchastain

ORIGINAL: fabertong

jchastain.......Thanks for the great AAR.....could you post a turn routine(what you check, in what order)......I can gather the feel of how you play ........but would love to see a simple breakdown.......please.........(always be polite....I tell my 5 year old twins)...........

Believe it or not, the sequence you see is pretty much what I am doing each turn.

• I start with the Event Reports to get an idea of what happened.
• Then I scroll around the map to see how far I got and check out any moves he made.
• I generally decide on a course of action from examining the map and poking my mouse in to look at various armies. Sometimes I'll just go ahead and move - sometimes I'll check the logistics first. It really depends on what has been happening. If the army was sitting still, I'm generally confident logistics are fine. If things are more tenuous, I'll go check the numbers before committing to the moves.
• I then tend to do my builds. The city list is where I tend to do them. Though sometimes when I am tooling around the map making my moves, I'll plop in somewhere to get things going.
• Towards the end, I'll scan a few things. Supplies (Military List) is usually the first. My income and diplomacy (Nation Screen). Sometimes I'll look at Research. Occasionally I might look at governors (though I often rely on the Events report to tell me when I seriously need to do something). I probably should do this much sooner, but I get all excited by the tactics and tend to get caught up in that first. Were I giving recommendations for building good habits though, I'd definitely suggest doing this sooner. I can't tell you how many times I've spent all my resources and then noticed that I really should have built something for a governor instead of whatever I did. At the start of the game, I was pretty good about checking Diplomacy early since that is such a money pit and is so important to everything else.

My nature isn't to be highly orderly or disciplined (which is why it is likely a very good thing that I chose a career in business instead of the military). That probably comes out in watching me meander through my moves. I am truly a casual gamer at best. When you read Hard Sarge's accounts, you are watching a master at work. I continue to be amazed at the depth of thought he applies to his actions. In comparison, I'm a hack. But these types of games are still a nice little diversion that I really enjoy (even though I am quite sure I'll never make the hall of fame for any of them).

Thanks for the info.......love the AAR...............

[jchastain]

The siege in Jackson has begun. And it doesn't look to be a fast one or a painless one. Oh well, that's why we sent the shock troops.

Also, looks like the Rebs are investing heavily in technology and continue to outpace me in advances. Just one more thing to keep in mind.

[jchastain]

Looks like their Navy attempted to react to my invasion force, but we repulsed. He lost 14 ships. That's not insignificant for him.

And... oh my.... Cumberland? Lee came across into Maryland? And it appears he was beaten back. That's a big deal. I didn't think there was any chance he'd come right at me. That was a mistake and one he will have to be made to pay for.

Reinforcements are starting to come in well. Still a long way to go. But we're moving at a good pace now.

Disease in Hatchie? Ut oh. This could be bad.

[jchastain]

Hatchie might have been the last place I wanted disease, but I must admit it isn't as bad as I feared. Looks like a loss of about 100 per unit - couple thousand total. It could have been much much worse.

[jchastain]

The governors are getting restless. I really do need to take a closer look at them.

[jchastain]

OK, the important thing that happened was the battle in cumberland. Let's look at the battle report there and get a feel for the details.

He abandoned a few weapons, but nothing of any significance. One minnie and a few muskets. A few units lost some supply, but not all that many. Other than taking an extra 10K worth of casualties, he wasn't hurt by his move as badly as I had hoped. The real question now is whether I pursue.

[jchastain]

Even with that win, the armies still seem fairly evenly matched. The kenawha division slipped off somewhere. Still he's down right now. If I am going in after him, this is the time to do it.

[jchastain]

It really comes down to supplies. At the end of last turn, I reduced the supply priority of the AoP and that is coming back to haunt me. I just didn't expect him to go on the offensive. But I can't go chasing after him with a supply level of 5. Even with his losses, he is likely at least that well supplied and he would be on the defense this time around. For the sake of a few bucks, I'm not in position to take advantage of my biggest win. The only good news is I suppose the ANV is neutered for a while. He won't come back at me after that loss. My army is bigger than his and starting to make progress. If I can keep his most powerful force here idle, staring at me in a standoff, then that's a win for me because it means his most potent force isn't dealing with my mass of poor quality scavengers.

[jchastain]

My siege guns didn't get nearly as far as I had hoped they would. Oh well, just need to keep pushing them along. But for now, I might as well accept that they won't be in Mississippi where I need them any time soon.

[jchastain]

Which means the siege in Jackson will continue to proceed at a crawl. This will almost certainly go into the winter anyway, so I might as well back off and use encircle him. That will slow progress but it will reduce our casualties since this isn't going to happen soon enough to move on to another location for the winter.

[jchastain]

My second army can move on to Little Rock now and lay siege there through the winter. I would have preferred to take them down to Baton Rouge, but my supply couldn't pass through Jackson while it is still in enemy hands, so this makes more sense as a target for now. Also, it gives me the opportunity to conquer a few defenseless provinces in northern Arkansas to establish an alternate supply route just in case I lose the primary one somehow. Land based supply isn't nearly as effective as rail, but it would be better than nothing.

[jchastain]

Hmmmmm. It appears he went on a full out offensive last turn. By now he'll see the error of that decision and will likely try to retreat from here. But hopefully the fort will keep him engaged and he'll now be stuck in the same web that entangled me earlier. I wish the disease hadn't hit Hatchie and lowered their strength right before this opportunity, but even with that setback this is an opportunity that I have to take. Keyes is the best fighting force at my disposal and I'll have him trapped between that army and Fort Henry. I'll never have a better opportunity to crush him out West than right now, so I have to take it.

[jchastain]

Looking to sea, my Navy also has an inviting target. There is a Rebel ironside sitting just north of me. That is especially interesting sine I included my own ironside in the invasion force to protect my frigates. I haven't upgraded my naval weapons. Now I wish I had. But still, how can I pass up such an opportunity to destroy the most valuable element of his navy while it is sitting there all alone? Again, I must attack.

[jchastain]

OK, last turn I didn't have the labor to build that mint Iowa wanted (and that I need anyway). I'll do that first thing while I'm thinking about it.

[jchastain]

Which reminds me, I do need to check in on the governors. Thanks goodness of Indiana. That extra 15 money each turn has been a blessing. Maryland is being a pain. He comes up for election this year. With any luck, he'll soon be gone. Right now, he is just opposing musters in that one state. There are several actions he could take that would be far more painful.

[jchastain]

Looking on down the list, New York is giving us badly needed support for Logistical research and he's getting impatient. I need to look at that one more closely to be sure.

[jchastain]

And finally, Brown is helping out with iron - though I must confess if there is any one resource that I don't need help with right now, its iron.

[jchastain]

OK, let's go back to the city filter again and take another look from that view. We've already giving Iowa the mint they want. Michigan wants a hospital, but is an ally with strong support and a low temper so it's not a pressing concern.

[jchastain]

Missouri has a bit of a temper on him. I'll put this one in the maybe category for help.

[jchastain]

I worry about New Jersey. He has a temper and pretty low support. But he's asking for a bank and at the end of the day, that's too much ask from a state the provides so little to the war effort.