PBEM AAR - Long Live the Union!

[jchastain]

Lots of battles to report.

It appears Lee did not return to the Shenandoah after all and allowed me to trounce his lone division.
There was a minor skirmish in Bowling Green. I don't think either of us has anything there of substance.

Hmmmm. He gets a win in Oxford and it is a real battle, not a small one. The casualty figures don't concern me. We'll win a war of attrition so I'll take that ratio. And when you combine that with the rest of the losses across the small battles, it is pretty darned even which is definitely a win for me. But did he fight Keyes or just a junk army? If that was Keyes, then that could be a concern.

National Will now -3? That is also concerning. Do the people not realize that even losses are good for our side?

And a minor skirmish in Yazoo. The big news is that he let me take Shenandoah and he won a fairly large fight in Oxford that will need a little more examination.

[jchastain]

Ahhh, one last little battle in Jackson. But didn't the last line above say battle was avoided in Jackson? Did he send in two and only 1 fought? Hmmmmm. I'll take a look at that too.

Replacement needs now top 110K. Still not even close to turning the corner on that one.

And disease hits the AoP. Luckily the losses do not seem overly burdensome.

[jchastain]

The numbers in each brigade aren't all that bad, but they certainly do add up in total.

[jchastain]

Diplomacy is thankfully quiet. Darn. I lost Cullum. He will be missed.

[jchastain]

OK, on to the battle report to get a better sense of these fights. Oxford was clearly the big fight and it was my best army that didn't perform so well. Some of my best brigades fled the field and let me down. 2 of my 3 Cav units dropped their weapons and ran. And 2 of my 5 divisional core brigades did likewise. That is doubly disturbing because I have now put those Improved Springfields in the hands of the enemy.

I also keep seeing CSA gains points towards Experience upgrade with far greater occurance than I see the same for USA. Unlike other upgrades, experience can only be earned in battle and even then only occasionally. It appears he is doing far better than I am in that regard.

[jchastain]

And a small skirmish in Jackson to round things out.

[jchastain]

Looking out west, it is alarming to see that Sibley apparently did all of that damage to Keyes all by himself. He again has my supply lines cut and now my best troops have been beaten back and are likely not in position to retake Oxford.

[jchastain]

Nashville is wide open and my newest siege force has collected at Bowling Green.

[jchastain]

While in Mississippi, Orme's corp continues the siege and the second army has secured Yazoo - though the benefit is reduces with his occupation of Oxford.

[jchastain]

Seeing Sibley alone, it is tempting to bring Keyes and the 2nd Army together against him. But looking at Keyes' supply, that clearly couldn't work. The army is badly depleted. Having just lost when well stocked, my hopes for a positive outcome in attack right now would not be good. It would take guts far beyond anything he has shown to date for him to come at me. And even with such low supplies, the numbers would be in my favor as well as the benefits of the defender. All-in-all, I suppose my only recourse is to sit and resupply for now as I am likely safe from attack but unable to myself strike. I need this army back on its feet though. If ever there was a case to be made for high supply priority, this is it.

[jchastain]

In the east, I hope to bait him to come at me. Being the defender should be the deciding factor for either of us as I suspect these armies are reasonably well matched based on our earlier experience in Cumberland. He can't be happy to see Gregg sitting in the Shenandoah. na na na na booo boooo. Come and get me sucker.

[jchastain]

With no decent siege weapons at my disposal, I'll change Tallahassee to an encircling siege as well.

[jchastain]

And I'll move my siege guns and river boats back towards Nashville while he is otherwise diverted.

[jchastain]

Mississippi is the hard one to decide on. I suspect Sibley will not sit still as he'll not know the extent of my supply woes and will fear being crushed between my two army. He could charge Yazoo and attempt to take on one of the two armies alone. But my fear is that he'll come down the rails to Meridian and come to Jackson to relieve that siege. After seeing him best Keyes, I am not sure I can beat him here regardless of what I throw at it. But the armies together have a better chance that either of them apart. Worst case, I'll reinforce my siege. But the 2nd Army will fall back to Jackson in support of Orme.

[jchastain]

I can't ignore the east. Let's ensure Gregg is getting the supply he needs. Hopefully he will be the defender within the week. If not, it is best if he be ready to consider other alternatives.

[jchastain]

In rebuilding Keyes, I also need to replace some of those weapons that were lost. While they took a beating, the good news is their quality continues to improve. Their record isn't what I'd like it to be, but they are continuing to develop into an elite force. If only I can get them supplied and back into the fight.

[jchastain]

The resupply effort is consuming everything I've got. Income for next turn will once again be next to nothing. In the mean time, I have a few horses and iron bars I could put to work. Another camp is always a good idea for the horses and I'll build a couple of mints with the iron.

[jchastain]

At the end of my turn, I have another advance. Bayonet Practice is tempting with all my infantry, but instead I decide to give the benefits to my biggest guns and train the Artillery.

[jchastain]

And the largely ignore Naval research program made progress as well. Since he isn't really proving a challenge at sea, I'll eschew the Reinforced Hulls for better Blockade Operations which will help me catch and destroy his runners.

[jchastain]

I did a demotion last turn in order to make room for Chamberlain to have a second star. With Cullum's loss, I have a three star slot open as well. Chamberlain ascends as planned - though higher than originally expected.