Confederate AAR

[Ugly Guy]

Alright, here the plan for next turn.

1. Need to shift some resource production to iron. Only 13 units last turn, that hurts. Will need alot more for my mint construction. Until then, I will plan ahead by building camps and plantations, as well as digging a few more iron mines.
2. Going to try and push my labor number to 50. That is a good number for me to be able to do what I want to do.
3. I know the AI is going to push Fredericksburg and getting hit twice there with disease already is going to make my forces vulnerable. Too many more times and I am going to be forced to take money and labor to speed reinforcements there. Which will hurt my depleted forces out west. I have already decided to divert some of my Fredericksburg troops to West Virginia and Tennessee, so losing more to disease in Fredericksburg is a major crimp in my plans. I am contemplating about using some money to build a medical attachment in each division to lessen the disease losses. Hopefully I can repel them with minimal losses.
4. I also know the AI is going to probe down the Mississippi. I am almost tempted to pull Lee back out of the River to Hatchie to try and "bait" the AI into taking the route instead of running the risk of it going into the less defensible Cumberland River. The downside is that I know I will at least get one round of seige damage on Fort Pillow. Since the AI usually waits a few turns to attack again, maybe I can get it repaired before the next attack so I can vacate the river once more to bait it that direction. I also fear that if Kentucky joins the Confederacy the AI might prioritize reconquering it. There aren't many good defense positions in KY. Since I building seige artillery is not in my plans, I really don't want to get into a seige Merry-Go-Round with the Union. I hope for a speedy seige in Pensacola so I can get Braggs forces moving north to help in Tennessee.
5. The damaging of the blockade runner in the first turn is putting a severe hurting on my resource efforts. Especially since the available resources are all west of Florida and it was my southern most BR that was damaged. Not only that but 6 damage will take at least 6 turns to repair. I still don't think 3 BR's is a wise investment, but I have never had one this severely damaged this early before. I will probably prioritize iron/money/weapons.
6. I will continue to purchase Liege rifles with extra cash as my level 2 French support will not last forever without funding, which I don't plan on doing. Losing level 2 British support that soon is surprising and disappointing at the same time. I usually will field more Enfields before I lose access to them.
7. The forces in Tennessee will continue to wait for KY to show its hand whilst providing a mobile reserve for either WV or the Mississippi River if the need arise.
8. I will play it cautiously in WV. WV always tends to be a delicate cat and mouse game with the Union. I liken it to two cats fighting. Both do not want to let go for fear of losing the advantage, but both can't do anything but hold on until the other makes a move first. I will just have to see which one of us can find the chink in the armor before the other one does.

[Ugly Guy]

Turn 3 (Early December 1861):

SecWar Report:
1. We requested that General Lee move north along the Mississippi to intercept the beseiging forces at Ft. DeRussey, however, General Lee reports that he is unable to move forward due to a myriad of supply and training issues.
2. The seige at Fort Monroe is making very good headway, the seige at Pensecola is on schedule, while the seige of Topeka is encountering stiffer than expected resistance.
3. Spies are reporting large contingents of Union troops from around the North gathering at Washington D.C.
4. Spies also report that a large Union force under General Buell is station near Jefferson City, Missouri for the winter.
5. Reinforcements continue to move by rail to bolster Confederate armies around the country.
6. ~1900 minimally trained recruits arrived to help fill out understrength brigades across the Confederacy.
7. Four brigades in the ANV were outfitted with field hospitals in the past two weeks. Several more volunteered to train scouting companies.
8. Four more brigades of Liege rifles were procured from our allies in France.

SecInt Report:
1. Began construction on one mine in Augusta, GA.
2. We report that iron production as nearly doubled, and we are utilizing over 40 units of labor per two weeks. This has come at the expense of our money and horse production.
3. We have enough iron now to build the RR requested by Gov. Pettus.
4. Governor Milton is now requesting a RR be built in Florida. Not enough iron resources to build this yet.
SecNav Report
1. Blockade runners have delivered 20 units of iron into various ports around the Gulf of Mexico.
2. The BR interned for repairs at NO is reporting fantastic progress for its repairs. We believe it could be ready to resume operations as early as six weeks from now.
SecState Report
1. Minor French support is holding steady for the Confederacy, while Britain and Europe Proper seem content to maintain a strictly neutral stance, not aligning with either the North or the South. As always, we endeavour to do as much with the few resources we have at our disposal. We believe that one or more major victories on the battlefield could influence Britain and France as much as money.

[michaelincol]

Thanks for taking the time to write this AAR. I am another who recently started playing again. Really enjoying it - thanks Gil and Eric.

Michael

[Ugly Guy]

Thanks for reading, Michael.

Turn 4 Strategy

1. As Buell still hasn't moved, I will try once again to move Lee north to crush the smaller army beseiging Fort DeRussey. The fort may still fall, but if I can capture a few brigades now, it will be less that I face later. Winning against the Union is providing for it a death by 1000 cuts. Every battle defeat for them usually means brigade surrenders and providing weapons for your armies.
2. Pray like crazy diesease doesn't hit Frederiskburg.
3. Continue to move reinforcing brigades by rail as they won't move by normal command in the winter time.
4. Save iron for the RR requested in Florida. I may delay building this, as I really need to build another artillery unit for the Army of Tennessee. I usually convert an existing infantry briagde via two artillery enhancements (40 money, 80 iron total). This doesn't cost MP, labor, or very long to do and I can upgrade the enhancements as I can and still realize a benefit. The lack of an infantry brigade hasn't really hurt me before. I like to convert it early so I can maximize my quality gain.
5. Build a plantation and camp.
6. Continue to buy Liege rifles for my army before I lose level 2 French support.
7. Continue to do low risk tasks with my raider unit in Missouri to build up its quality. I think the partisan displayed risks are wrong. I can never get that unit to survive more than two turns doing <20% risk missions, while the same strategy with the Raider, I can keep him alive for half the game usually. I have never lost the raider before the partisan despite using the same strategy for both with the same level of risk.
8. Continue to plow excess horses into scouting units. While scouts aren't the best enhancement, the extra defense early on will help, and I usually have waaay more horses than I can use. Scouts only cost horses, which make the an ideal enhancement early on while other resources are at a premium. I will also be investing in medical units for my Army of Tennessee as I can afford them. One per container is mandatory to reduce the casualties lost to disease in large army units.

[Ugly Guy]

Turn 4 (Late December 1861):

SecWar Report:
1. General Lee once again refuses to move north to engage the enemy at Fort DeRussey. The fort has fallen, in part to this inaction. Gen. Lee reports his forces are still not yet ready for offensive action.
2. Seiges continue in Topeka, Pensecola, and Fort Monroe. Gen. Magruder reports that the fort is close to falling.
3. Reinforcements continue to move on our limited rail capacity to join the Army of Tennessee.
4. ~2500 minimally trained recruits join 12 existing brigades in furthering our ongoing attempt to bring our existing brigades up to full combat strength. We estimate it will take a further 90,000 men to completely fill out our existing regiments.
5. The Union army still is remaining uncharacteristically inactive. This "Sitzkrieg" has us both perplexed and greatful, as we continue to use this time to bolster our defensive network.
6. Another brigade is outfitted with the Liege rifles. The French have raised their prices by 10%.

SecInt Report:
1. Began construction on one plantation in Augusta, GA.
2. Governor Milton is still requesting a RR be built in Florida. This has been prioritized below the reoutfitting of an artillery battery in the Army of Tennessee.
3. Governor Brown of Georgia is requesting an Iron Works. He already has one in Augusta, besides he can't hate us any more than he already does. Yeah, right. Keep wishing, Governor.

SecNav Report
1. Blockade runners have delivered 50 units of money into various ports around the Gulf of Mexico.
2. The BR interned for repairs at NO is reporting regular progress for its repairs. We believe it could be ready to resume operations as early as six weeks from now.
3. Union ships seem to be gathering near Washington D.C. We fear the rumors of a massive blockading effort of our Atlantic ports may prove to be true.

SecState Report
1. Minor French support continues to hold steady for the Confederacy, while Britain and Europe Proper continue to maintain a strictly neutral stance.

Here is the position of my eastern forces.

[Ugly Guy]

Here is the position of my central forces.

[Ugly Guy]

Here is the position of the western forces.

[michael1776]

I might have missed it in one of the earlier posts, but are you investing much in Foreign Diplomacy? I never found the ROI to be worth spending large amounts of money myself.

MJ

[Ugly Guy]

Michael - I wrote about it in my economic and political post. But the short answer is no, I don't invest anything in diplomacy. Just not worth the money it takes to earn a reward. Unless you just have nothing else to do with your cash.

[Ugly Guy]

Early January 1862 strategy:

1. I do not think I will attempt any further northen attacks with Lee. He has not attacked yet, and now with Fort DeRussey gone, the Union will have the +fort advantage in addition to being on the defense. With Buell's army lurking within a turns travel from reinforcing the Federal army there, an attack could be disasterous. I think the stakes are now to high to proceed north. I believe I will try to move Lee into Hatchie to bait the Union into attacking down the Mississippi.
2. I will be using some iron to convert an infantry regiment in the AoT into an artillery regiment.
3. Still having level 2 French support will allow the purchase of more Liege rifles although the price is beginning to go up as I am exceeding the support limit. I wish it had been French support that declined instead of British. I will have to start using weapons to upgrade my forces and hope the Union attacks soon so I can leech some free Springfields from them.
4. I will also use some weapons to get all of my cannons upgraded to Napoleans if they are not already.
5. Excess horses will continue to be converted to scouting enhancements until I can get some extra money/iron to build other enhancements.
6. The railroad in Florida will probably be an early Feb turn build.
7. I will continue to bring up my reinforcing brigades. Hopefully Pensacola falls soon so Bragg can reinforce the AoT.
8. I am seriously beginning to contemplate demoting some of my high ranking generals. Overall, it doesn't seem like I got the luck of the draw with stats, and probably because of that, I have already identified many talented one and two star generals. It will be a major hit to some Governors, but maybe I can keep it somewhat neutral if I can promote generals from the same states.

[Ugly Guy]

Turn 5 (Early January 1862):

SecWar Report:
1. Lee once again refused to move from his base in Memphis to the western Tennessee country side. We have three brigades under Gen. Breckenridge encamped there.
2. Rumors report that Gen. Buell's army in Missouri has moved east towards the Mississippi river to join with the Federal division that beseiged Fort DeRussey.
3. The seige of Fort Monroe was successful! Gen. Magruders division will now be able to provide on demand reinforcements to Gen. Beauregard's ANV.
4. Disease struck the AoT. We are happy to report that our newly built field hospital enhancements were able to save many a valuable soldier from the epidemic.
5. The 1st Mississippi Volunteers were converted to the 1st Mississippi Volunteer Artillery Battery. It will probably be early February before we are able to refit the battery with Napolean cannons.
6. Our four understrength divisions were attacked in Kenewah. Battle reports will follow the summary departmental reporting.
7. An additional ~2500 minimally trained recruits joined existing brigades. Between the battle in Kenewah and the disease epidemics, our commanders are still reporting a need for an additional 90,000 men to fill out existing regiments.
8. Our spies in Washington D.C. continue to report massive troop concentrations there. They are advising an attack south into Virginia is imminent, especially given the recent loss of Fort Monroe.
9. Enough shoulder arms were scavanged from the battles in Kenewah to refit the 24th CSA Infantry with Minie rifles.
10. Spies in Kentucky report that Thomas' division has moved inot south-eastern KY. This is disturbing as it puts it in position to strike Knoxville, Nashville, or reinforce an attack on Kenawha.

SecInt Report:
1. Began construction on a camp in Galveston and a camp in Knoxville.

SecNav Report
1. Our blockade runners in the Gulf of Mexico managed to bring in 20 units for iron.
2. The forts off the coast of Virginia still continue to report sightings of large amounts of Union frigates gathering there.

SecState Report
1. British support for the Union is reportedly on the rise, while our position is continuing to be coldly received by the British and Europeans. France continues its covert support, but the current inflated price of its Liege rifles has diminished the value of that support.

[Ugly Guy]

Battle of Kenawha: Starting strengths

[Ugly Guy]

Battle of Kenawha: Starting positions

I think the Union called in more reinforcements judging by the initial deployment.

[Ugly Guy]

Battle of Kenawha: Final Results

Judging from the results, either the RNG hates me or the Union army I fought was better equipped than I was. Smart money is on "all of the above". But I pulled out a victory in a strategically critical area. That is what matters. Plus I walked away with a brigade full of shiny new, only slightly blood-stained Minie rifles.

[terje439]

How did the generals perform? What side had the most rallies? I am guessing the Northern Agressors [;)]

Terje

[Ugly Guy]

Very few rallies. I think two each if IIRC. The battle was fairly short.

[Ugly Guy]

Late January 1862 Strategy

1. This is the last winter turn before action begins again in earnest. I was wrong in my initial assesment about the cost of army, corps, and divisions, so I will probably build a corp or two to help manage my armies and give me more flexibility. Some may be under-brigade limits for awhile, but that is ok. The Union usually emancipates around spring/summer 1863, which will drive alot of brigades into my armies. I would like to have the organizational infrastructure in place before then to speed their integration into the fight.
2. I am still going to try and bait the Union down the Mississippi. Having played other games at this difficulty and scenario, I can't afford to have the Union going crazy in Kentucky.
3. I am leaning towards prioritizing St. Louis in my capture plans. The population there will be a perfect place for camps if it doesn't come under constant attack. I will have to see how it plays out.
4. I need more camps. Camps and Mints at the beginning. I will probably hold off on plantations for a few months given that camps don't count against my building limits and I have a decent amount of room in New Orleans, Charleston, and Atlanta for mints. My iron shortage will hold off my mint building some, which just means more camps. I don't know if other people build this many camps, but its usually the only thing that allows me to survive the mid-1863 attrition fest the Union always likes to engage in.
5. So this will probably be the last boring turn. I am sure the Federals are just as itchy for a fight as my troops are.

[Ugly Guy]

Turn 6 (Late January 1862):

SecWar Report:
1. We started construction of a new corp headquarter in Jackson.
2. We continued to move brigades through the snowy weather by rail to reinforce our existing armies.
3. Gen. Lee once again refused to move east into western Tennessee from his base at Fort Pillow. This seems to be a factor of the poor weather in that area, the threat of a Union offensive into Memphis, and his desire to further train is soldiers before moving camps.
4. ~3200 men minimally trained soldiers were dispersed into existing brigades from training camps throughout the South.
5. We advise that the President undertake a shuffling of the command structure before the summer campaign season.
6. The seige of Pensacola has been won. Gen. Bragg has been ordered to rendezvous with General Lee in western Tennessee.
7. A brigade of N. Carolina volunteers has been ordered interned at Knoxville given the Federal movements into south-eastern Kentucky.
8. Confederate raiders in Missouri continue to cause economic damage there.

SecInt Report:
1. We began construction on a camp in Shreveport and another camp in Tallahassee.
2. We report that camps in Galvestone and Knoxville have finished construction.

SecNav Report:
1. The blockade runners damaged in Novemeber have completed repairs and are ready to begin BR operations around the southern coast. We will emphasize money, iron, and weapons.

SecState Report:
1. It is unfortunate to report that the British seem to be increasing their report for the Union, despite the long-standing disagreements between the two countries. Again, we advise that battlefield victories will be a must to win over the Europeans given our low budget for moaking diplomatic overtures.

[Ugly Guy]

Early February 1862 Strategy

1. I am almost certain attacks are imminent all across the front. I should be in a good position to defend them now. By the time they get organized, my spring reinforcements will have arrived.
2. I am going to make a division structure in Mobile. This will group with the corp being made in Jackson. I am also going to make another barracks in Jackson so that I can make army containers in the future.
3. I will probably start another corp structure in Jackson when this one is done. That should provide enough containers for my armies in the west.
4. I will continue to build camps and make sure my artillery is properly upgraded. I would also like to convert a unit in each of the Army of Kentucky and Jackson's corp to artillery. I am almost positive the Union will have artillery in those areas sooner rather than later.
5. I am glad to have my second BR repaired. Hopefully I can avoid it again in the future.
6. My odds on weapon stealing missions with my raider are improving. Hopefully I can supplement my weapons production this way given purchasing weapons from Europe is no longer an option. Victories against the Union will also help in this endeavour.

[Ugly Guy]

Turn 7 (Early February 1862):

SecWar Report:
1. We continued to move up brigades into existing units.
2. ~3900 minimally trained reinforcements were integrated into existing brigades.
3. Fighting broke out all across the border states. Battles in Topeka, Kenewha, Grafton, Franklin, and Fredericksburg were reported. Detailed reports to follow.
4. Gen. Bragg has begun moving north.
5. The seige at Topeka was thwarted due to overwhelming Union pressure.
6. Our raiders in Missouri were effective in stealing some Union weapons, but the local militia managed to ambush them after their raid. It is doubtful that they will continue as an effective fighting force.
7. Disease struck Gen. Lee's army in Hatchie. Estimated losses are over the 2,000. There is a rumor that Gen. Lee signed his letter with "I told you so."
8. The Union army under General Buell has moved into the Mississippi river area vacated by Gen. Lee. It appears our baiting worked. We expect them to begin seige operations within the next two weeks. Gen. Lee has been given instructions to prepare to attack.


SecInt Report:
1. Began construction on a barracks in Jackson and a camp in Austin.
2. The camps in Tallehassee and Shreveport have finished construction.

SecNav Report:
1. Blockade runners brought in 40 units of money and 50 units of iron in the past two weeks. It is good to have them fully effective again. We look to begin resuming BR operations along the eastern seaboard within the next two weeks.

SecState Report:
1. French support for us has declined slightly. We have been unsuccessful in finding any more sellers of arms for our forces.
2. European proper support for the Union has increased slightly.
3. Although our military fortunes were good in the past few weeks, the Europeans powers remained unconvinced of our viability. We need a large victory to resume effective negotiations.