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

[Gil R.]

Westward-ho! My corps in Huntsville failed to move last turn, which means it's out of position for my needs. That's bad, because I had hoped to be on the verge of sending it into Jackson this turn.

Fortunately, the Union still hasn't moved its army from Hatchie -- either because it doesn't want to, or can't. It probably is trying to hold Hatchie in order to keep the southern forces in rail supply.

[Gil R.]

Here's Mississippi. As noted above, Sibley's 4th Corps fought a battle in Oxford and won, forcing the Union army coming from the Arkansas River to retreat into Yazoo. As will be shown below, the corps is significantly weakened -- but my guess is that the Union's army is even weaker, not only because the loser in a battle suffers significantly higher loss of supplies, but because of the march attrition it must have suffered to get to Oxford. If I can keep this army from being supplied for perhaps one more turn, it might begin to disintegrate. But I'm going to try to attack it...

[Gil R.]

And here's the rest of Mississippi, showing my poor 4th Division after it got bounced around like a pinball from one province to the next.

Over in Mobile, my army container is finished, so I put those two infantry brigades in it to keep it from being destroyed by the enemy, and soon move it in the direction of my corps.

[Gil R.]

Here's the 4th Division now. It used to be more than twice as strong. Each of those units is now "depleted" or "badly depleted," which means they risk being disbanded.

[Gil R.]

When unrest strikes a province, there is a chance of lowering it if brigades are stationed there. So, even though march attrition will further weaken this division, I send it to Natchez in the hopes of averting the destruction of buildings there.

Natchez, it should be noted, is adjacent to Jackson, and if there is a battle in Jackson this unit might be called in to reinforce.

Since I can't leave the division's brigades at risk of disbandment, I turn up its supply level, so that reinforcements will be on their way.

[Gil R.]

Before the battle in Oxford, the 4th Corps was at about 50,000 men, and now it's way down. So, since it is on the verge of seeing combat again, I set it to the highest supply level to ensure that most of the 5500 reinforcements go there.

[Gil R.]

The other reason to boost supply so high is that two of these divisions are perilously low in supply. Since a battle against the Union army would cost more than 2 supply levels, this corps cannot risk battle unless its supply levels are boosted.

My guess is that that Union army has similar numbers, but even lower...

[Gil R.]

Here's the quality of these brigades. With the exception of one or two bad apples -- Yeah, I'm talking to you, 70th Infantry! -- this corps is quite battle-hardened and battle-ready.

[Gil R.]

And here are the weapons. I forgot to take screenshots of the Battle Report that lists which Union units lost their weapons, but among them were two brigades that dropped their Improved Springfields... which my two sharpshooter units picked up. (If jchastain didn't show the Battle Report let me know and I'll post it.)

[Gil R.]

Before sending the corps into battle, I spend most of my money to upgrade two brigades with Brigade Artillery. In the case of one unit, I give it that attribute a second time, which starting next turn converts what had been an infantry unit into artillery. Brigades that are converted into artillery lose a significant amount of quality, and therefore are inferior to artillery units that are raised in cities, but I could use an artillery unit in the western theater, even an inferior one. (Plus, whereas infantry brigades with Brigade Artillery have 25% of their attack done by 6-pounders, converted artillery units can have far better guns purchased for them. As soon as I can afford it, the 48th will get an Ordnance Rifle. (One can convert brigades into cavalry by buying two Brigade Cavalry attributes too.)

(In general, doubling-up on brigade attributes makes them much more effective. For example, a sharpshooting unit that has two Sharpshooters attributes rather than one will be much more deadly.)

[Gil R.]

After sending my Partisans from Napoleon into Yazoo, where I hope they'll be able to rob that army of even more supplies, I send the 1st Corps, still at 50,000 strong, into Aberdeen. The reason for doing this is to make sure that rail supply to Jackson remains blocked: when I have units in Oxford it blocks both the rail-line that goes to Jackson through Yazoo and the one through Aberdeen and Meridian, but if I were to move the 4th Corps from Oxford into Yazoo the 1st Corps would again be able to get supplied by rail.

[Gil R.]

And now I send the 4th Corps into Yazoo, figuring that even though it's Union territory that army there must be in very bad shape. I do risk the corps in Jackson coming into Yazoo to reinforce, but that's okay -- it's supplies must also be low.

Note that by positioning the 1st Corps in Aberdeen I both cut off one avenue of escape for the Union and put the corps in a position to reinforce in Yazoo if it gets to Aberdeen in time.

I should note that I set the 1st Corps to "Avoid Battle," since if the army in Hatchie attacks this corps might get beaten up badly. The "Avoid Battle" setting allows this corps to try to avoid any enemies in the same province it's in, but does not prevent it from being called to reinforce the 4th Corps in Yazoo.

[scout1]

Grand AAR ... Hopefully the game will be released soon so I can try one of my own ....

[Gil R.]

I next move the new army container by rail to Aberdeen, so that next turn I'll be able to put this corps in there, and soon thereafter add the second corps. If these two corps are in the army container under Stonewall they will crush either of these Union forces, and will be quite a match for the army in Hatchie if it ever comes south to relieve the other Union forces.

[Gil R.]

And lastly, thinking that the army in Hatchie may indeed move south this turn, I take the miniscule 14th Division and send it by rail into Hatchie. If the Union army leaves Hatchie, this division will make it CSA territory and cut off rail supply to all three Union forces, while if it runs into that army I won't lose much. I do, of course, set it on "Avoid Battle."

At the very top of the screenshot can be seen the Union force in Bowling Green. My guess is that it's heading to Hatchie to secure that province, allowing the army currently there to move into Oxford and convert that back to Union control. This is a very good strategy, but I think I can do serious damage to the Union before it's in place.

[Gil R.]

Since putting units on high supply costs 5 Money/brigade per turn (as opposed to 2 Money for "Normal" and 1 Money for "Low"), resupplying the 4th Corps puts me at -26 Money. If I spend more money than I have I will risk serious unit attrition, so I have to find that money somewhere. I decide to reduce diplomacy with the French by 20 Money and with the Other Europeans by 10 Money for a single turn. I hate to lower my diplomacy levels even for a turn, but there's nowhere else that I can find the money.

Also note that my net Labor production is down, since high supply uses up much more of that, too.

[Gil R.]

At the end of the turn, I discover that my Partisans only made it to Arkansas-Missouri River, and not the Union army in Yazoo, so the best I can do is to caues minor economic damage and deprive the Union of some resources. Next turn, these Partisans will be destroying supplies.

I task both Raiders in Jackson with further depleting the supplies of the besieging corps, with the chance to destroy a total of 45 supply if both succeed. If that works, it would be an average of roughly 2 supply per brigade, which could be devastating.

Also, I use my Horses to build another Camp, which is desperately needed after the 40,000 losses I've suffered in the past few turns.

Finally, I get to appoint a new three-star general, and go with Gen. McCulloch of Texas, who is already in the ANV and therefore won't get killed in Mississippi the way Longstreet did. It's a tough call, since some of the other generals I might choose have special abilities that they can teach to the brigades under them, but I decide to opt for the general with the best ratings.

[spruce]

hey Gil, in post 294 you seem to move the army container from Tombigbee up North-West ... there's also a "greenish" railroadpath displayed from Tombigbee up North-West.

But Tombigbee doesn't has a railroad in it ... does this means your army container will march trough Tombigbee to get to Biloxi to catch the train there ? [&:]

great AAR btw[:)]

[Willmore]

Actually, if you look at post #283, it does have a railroad.

[spruce]

ORIGINAL: Willmore

Actually, if you look at post #283, it does have a railroad.

well spotted ! It has railroads ... [:)]

Well I was just hoping that the game would allow you to make a single move order, including both movement by marching and railroad. But it seems this move order was indeed a 100% rail movement order.