Seeing the Elephant: Q-Ball (USA) v Gunnulf (CSA)

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Ace1

I would march South overland. The terrain is mostly open, so you can have good marching speeds, wider depots spread and you can put more guns to bear in combat. If he tries to block that path, his casualties will surely mount.
The best counterstrategy to this would be to defend in depth, and try to harras your supply lines. Ultimate goal in this theater are New Orleans and Mobile. Everything else is minor.
Scout ahead with your navy and see what he has got down the Missisipi now that Memphis is taken.

I am marching overland; at the moment, I simply want to force him to keep an army there and bleed him. I have 35,000 men under Sherman detached at the moment assaulting Little Rock, but when they are able to join Grant, we should be able to steamroll him.

We're approaching 1864, so the weight of the Union is beginning to tell. We still are a little behind historical, but catching up pretty quickly. I think Gunnulf is starting to feel the walls cave in a bit.

Oct 1863:

Virginia:

I had pushed a small Corps forward to New Market, but there were smacked back by Jackson. We are retreating to Strasburg, for now, but we will be back. I intend to take Staunton and build a depot, hopefully over the winter. At the moment, only a Cav Division under Stuart is down that part of the Valley.

I Move a Corps to the region east of Fredricksburg, but I think I made a tactical mistake in how I arranged the troops that I will probably pay for in the form of a Reb counterattack that sends me back across the Rappahannock.

West:

After taking Memphis, Grant's very large army divided in two.

One wing of about 35,000 struck out for Little Rock. Gunnulf has about 850 AV, probably somewhere around 10,000 men in Little Rock. There no way he can hold, IMO, that was the idea of overwhelming strength.

Meanwhile, Grant army attacked GW Smith in Mississippi. We outflanked the position in Grenada, hopefully he withdraws so I can build a depot there.

My biggest problem, and why I have to call a halt at the moment, is that we have outrun our supplies. I am constructing new depots, but I don't want to get caught in winter without supplies. Too bad, I may have kept going if it was summer.

Missouri:

There are still 2000 Reb AV in Missouri, at Springfield and Fayetteville.

Gunnulf has played a very good game IMO, but I wonder if his commitment to Missouri was a mistake. Unless I need the VPs, I am content to sit on St. Louis and Little Rock, and those troops will have difficulty doing much other than forcing me to keep a like-size garrison. But tying down an equal number of Union troops isn't really a very good use at the moment, since he is outnumbered in other areas.

[veji1]

interesting, a very good first example of how the game unfolds under 1.02

[Q-Ball]

Nov 1863

With the river opening, we are moving very fast in the Mississippi basin ahead of winter. We are also building supply lines and depots in preparation for the 1864 campaign.

Virginia:

We halted activity for the moment; I need to re-organize my forces for a campaign in 1864. He has sent reinforcements to Virginia, so Lee's army is by far the strongest. This makes sense of course, given the importance of Richmond.

Coastal Campaigns:

Given the coming winter, we have assembled from various sources an army of 30,000 men. We have 4 divisions, including Pontoons, Siege Mortars, Supplies, Marines, a Cav Division. McDowell is in charge; sadly, he's the best 3* I can come up with at the moment, but I have Meade and Hancock along for stronger leadership.

This force is currently at St. Joseph, Florida, in preparation for opening a new front. We have enough shipping at that location to lift the whole force. This is a mighty force with which we intend to open another front TBD......

Western Rivers:

Grant's army is halted in Mississippi, while we construct a new depot at Fulton, AL. Our supply situation is steady, so far. I really thought hard about advancing, but I think I need to make sure we can eat before I lunge for Jackson and points south.

Raiders are in my rear; they tore up rail at Corinth and another region, forcing me to deploy Cav to repair and skirmish with the raiders. Hopefully soon they will move back south. I may be forces to garrison Covington and Humboldt to prevent him from using those points for resupply. I already have garrisons at Holly Springs, Austin, and of course, Memphis.

Speaking of Garrisons, I pretty much have to keep at least a Brigade at every Depot well dug-in. I have a small division at Critical depots. Basically, I need to make them impervious to a 300-AV Cav Division; this to me takes about 120 AV well dug-in with a generic leader.

Arkansas:

Sherman took Little Rock easily. We are pursuing Holmes's command to Camden, and will take the Redoubt there. I had my doubts about whether it's worth it, as there are no production structures there, but decided it would be a good outpost to keep him out of Central Arkansas, and away from Little Rock. Can't hurt.

If we do take Camden, however, we're not going to advance overland toward Shreveport. I don't see the point.

[bugwar]

Loving the AAR.

[veji1]

Yep me too, great read, and your maps are very helpful. Interesting to see how every little counts for the CSA. How to properly use Missouri forces for example, and how to organize cavalry raiding forces so that they can create some real pain...

[Q-Ball]

Thanks gents for the kind words! Glad you are enjoying it

Dec 1863:

This turn was a mixture of bad on the ground, but we also successfully uncorked what I hope will be a game-changing amphib invasion of Louisiana.

East:

We are re-organizing our army in the Valley. We hold the important towns, but each time we attempt to advance a little, we get whacked. Not good.

I am also extending my flank past Fredricksburg.

I need to make a demonstration here shortly, in order to prevent him from railing troops to New Orleans from Richmond

Overall, though I lost 1862 to McClellan, I am not happy with my lack of progress out here.

Western Rivers:

Happy with this, though......supplies are still a problem, but GW Smith has fallen back on Meridian. The position at Grenada is tenuous at best for him, once my wagons are full I think I can flank him out of it and force a retreat to Jackson area.

Raiders continue to be bothersome. I also have to make ever depot a size-2 depot to prevent "Partisan Raid" cards from trashing them. That's a pain, but better than having everyone suddenly halt due to a depot being burnt

Camden, AK:

This was a disaster that I am attempting to turn into Lemonade.

Sherman entered Camden on posture to assault the fortress. Bad idea, because the whole Rebel army was inside! 30,000 Union troops spent themselves on fruitless assaults against 16,000 CSA defenders, losing 8500 men to about 6000 for them. More importantly, we lost 5 NM. OUCH!

At the end of the turn, though, they were inside, me outside. I put Sherman on defensive posture, and he is now beseiging the place. I think I am too strong for him to attack outward, but he may be able to sortie out and escape. We'll see. He probably shouldn't stay inside. He definitely cannot get troops there to relieve them in any numbers, not with me knocking on the door of New Orleans

Missouri:

Quiet. I did notice that Joe Johnston has left Springfield, and took some troops with him. They are probably being moved, slowly, toward other theaters where they are more urgently needed. I don't feel he'll make another try for St. Louis.

Invasion of Louisiana:

This is the big news. Scouting by ship revealed that he had a 400-ish AV division well dug in at New Orleands, which is unassailable, but also that he didn't have significant batteries blocking the river. Other scouting revealed that Plaquemine was undefended.

Farragut ran past New Orleans with a Corps under Greene, and army commander McDowell, taking Baton Rouge. Meade takes Plaquemine. I have depots under construction in both places now, using flatboats. Even if he blocks the river at New Orleans, supplies should pull to Plaquemine via sea, then over the river to Baton Rouge. At Plaquemine, I am going to mount Coastal guns to block the river (These coastal guns, BTW, are among the many I have taken from Forts; I had to evacuate Ft. Moultrie, these particular guns I took with me).

Foote came down as well to ward-off any river interference, and ran the batteries at Vicksburg

At this point, the only downside is that the Union River fleet is now divided between a Northern half and Southern Half; each half is about as strong as the total estimated CSA strength. I built 3 new ironclads recently in anticipation of this, so I have 8 now on the river, and I've built almost all the Cottonclads (which I prefer over Ironclads, BTW)

The objective is to isolate and invest New Orleans, and also link-up with Grant's army coming down the river; Grant is approaching Jackson.

Just like real life, all this should sever the Confederacy in two. I plan to take all the plantations and production structures down here, New Orleans, then make for Mobile.

Reb Moves: What will Gunnulf do with this?

I don't think he can pull together the troops necessary to boot me out. He has a division at New Orleans that is well dug-in. I think he can:

1. Evacuated New Orleans, and save that division.
2. Send a few forces, enough to screen my guys and keep them honest, while also trying to hold me off in Central Mississippi
3. Turn Beauregard's army around and attempt to kick McDowell out. That would mean surrendering Jackson/Vicksburg. I don't think he'll do that, but it's an option
4. Leave the New Orleans troops there, for a seige: He may do this......he probably has alot of supplies there, and it's a swamp; won't be an easy nut to crack. The difficulty of course is that New Orleans is a dead-end for him

[veji1]

Great move in Louisiana. To be honest though, if the Plaquemines landing feels great, the fact that you could sail through New Orleans unmolested to land all the way up at Baton Rouge makes me feel unconfortable. I am not saying it is gamey or anything, and it might have been perfectly historically possible, it just feels a bit strange to see a big Union fleet and army just sail past New Orleans and up 300 kms of the Mississippi all the way to Baton Rouge, but again it might very well be totally feasible, if the CSA player makes the mistake of not having strong batteries In New Orleans.

Let me say again that your AAR style is awesome and we are having great fun reading.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: veji1

Great move in Louisiana. To be honest though, if the Plaquemines landing feels great, the fact that you could sail through New Orleans unmolested to land all the way up at Baton Rouge makes me feel unconfortable. I am not saying it is gamey or anything, and it might have been perfectly historically possible, it just feels a bit strange to see a big Union fleet and army just sail past New Orleans and up 300 kms of the Mississippi all the way to Baton Rouge, but again it might very well be totally feasible, if the CSA player makes the mistake of not having strong batteries In New Orleans.

Let me say again that your AAR style is awesome and we are having great fun reading.

I hear you......I do think it's kosher though.

First, Farragut actually sailed to Vicksburg, so clearly the river is navigable to Baton Rouge. Second, he ran the forts at the Head of the Passes to New Orleans, why not run past the city? I control the forts at the passes myself, so it's just skipping one spot. And with support from the Atchalafiya.

I do think it would be a bit beyond kosher if it was ONLY a move to Baton Rouge.

I also think it's gamey or unrealistic to sail way inland in spots like Macon, GA.....possible in game, but not IRL. If it was, Sherman would have been resupplied from there

[veji1]

Fair enough, this is a very valuable AAR as it shows us that as a CSA player for example one needs strong batteries in New Orleans AND not forget about the back door as well. regarding excessive inland navigating, I agree with you. I always find it frustrating that one can sail all the way to the middle of the Appalaches in Tennessee or close to Atlanta. There should just be a block on those rivers around Tuscumbia for example.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: veji1

Fair enough, this is a very valuable AAR as it shows us that as a CSA player for example one needs strong batteries in New Orleans AND not forget about the back door as well. regarding excessive inland navigating, I agree with you. I always find it frustrating that one can sail all the way to the middle of the Appalaches in Tennessee or close to Atlanta. There should just be a block on those rivers around Tuscumbia for example.

I think CSA player should play with a reasonable opponent, and maybe identify spots on major rivers where there should not be military navigation past. Transports I think are OK for moving things to areas you already control. But if the Union could sail fleets into Central Georgia, why didn't they do that IRL?

Because they actually couldn't, that's why.....

[Ace1_slith]

Just to be sure, I am not sure Plaquemine is a sea or river port. It may and it may not be. Look if it receives supply from the sea. Safer port to receive sea supply is Berwick. You should build depots inthere asap.

By the way, great move. I feel he is by now looking at VP ratio and is thinking how to run the clock down.

[veji1]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball


I think CSA player should play with a reasonable opponent, and maybe identify spots on major rivers where there should not be military navigation past. Transports I think are OK for moving things to areas you already control. But if the Union could sail fleets into Central Georgia, why didn't they do that IRL?

Because they actually couldn't, that's why.....

True, but in terms of design it wouldn't be very difficult to put a block between 2 rivers provinces so that ships cannot sail through. But one could still use the river for supply purposes if secured for example. This for me should be the case in the Tennessee river at least, and on a couple of other "major" rivers in game.

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Ace1

Just to be sure, I am not sure Plaquemine is a sea or river port. It may and it may not be. Look if it receives supply from the sea. Safer port to receive sea supply is Berwick. You should build depots inthere asap.

By the way, great move. I feel he is by now looking at VP ratio and is thinking how to run the clock down.

Good suggestion on the Depot at Berwick; I think Plaquemine is a river, but putting a depot at Berwick will ensure supply flow

RE: VPs, I am already ahead, and the per-turn VPs I am ahead as well. So technically, I could just sit here and win on VPs. That ain't right, though.

I think while the balance in the game is improved, the VPs need to be addressed because the Union player can technically just sit on Tennessee and run the clock out. That's not right. The CSA needs more VPs, or the Union needs fewer automatic ones, some sort of adjustment.

Towns like Toledo, Cleveland can be made non-VP hexes. If the Rebs make it that far, the Union is probably toast anyway, so that would be a way to better balance it. not sure how many, but Union gets too many VPs at the moment, IMO.

[Q-Ball]

Jan 1864

Overall Assessment:

Overall, I think I could be doing a bit better. In the minus column, I haven't been aggressive enough in Virginia, or overall. I am not sure I have leveraged my Navy well enough until recently. We are a bit behind historical in terms of territory.

We have taken the following Strategic Locations: El Paso, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville. We have taken the following Objective Towns: Island 10, Corinth, Madison AK, Jacksonville FL, Winchester, Baton Rouge.

Our relative strength now:
445,000 Union Troops (not counting forts and fixed garrisons)
295,000 CSA (not counting forts, etc)

The trajectory is clearly upward for Union, though he is still growing the Confederate Army.

In terms of losses, he has lost 180,000 men, with another 25,000 POWs. I have lost about 200,000, with probably 15,000 or so POWs. I think the losses are not heavy for either side.

We are ahead in VPs over 200 points, and gaining 18 per turn organically. I think the VPs need to be looked at, because we SHOULD be at about the tipping point now, maybe slightly ahead.

One thing is that Gunnulf has made extensive use of MOBILIZATION, which is costly in NM and VP. I have never used it. He has also purchased recruits, drafted, he's basically maxed-out every economic lever he could in order to expand the CSA army.

I have bought recruits, and done requisitions, etc, the main limitation now is MONEY. I have yet to turn down a Treasury option, I am trying to resist taxes right now because I don't want the morale hit.

WEST:

I'll post a map later, but the Confederates are pulling back after my landing at Baton Rouge.

Most of Beauregard's army is now at Meridian; he seems to be abandoning Jackson. There is a large force at Vicksburg as well. Other than that, he seems to be pulling back off the Mississippi.

Buchanan's fleet of Ironclads ran the forts and made for Mobile, so he is leaving the river as well.

We are marching 2 Corps toward New Orleans, where there is a 400 AV force dug-in to Level 8. In a swamp hex. How many troops will it take to assault that do you think?

Out in Arkansas, we pursued Holmes's forces to Arkadelphia, and he is very low in cohesion, with snow gripping Arkansas. It's a long march to safety, I wonder if we'll get lucky and some of his troops will starve. Either way, as soon as Sherman recovers cohesion, we are moving his forces toward Vicksburg.

[Jim D Burns]

The trajectory is clearly upward for Union, though he is still growing the Confederate Army.

Are you guys playing with historical attrition? I would think with such large force numbers on map most of your conscripts would be going into replacement chits every turn at this point. If you are playing with historical attrition, what percentage of your conscripts do you think you spend each turn to maintain force levels?

Jim

[Q-Ball]

ORIGINAL: Jim D Burns

The trajectory is clearly upward for Union, though he is still growing the Confederate Army.

Are you guys playing with historical attrition? I would think with such large force numbers on map most of your conscripts would be going into replacement chits every turn at this point. If you are playing with historical attrition, what percentage of your conscripts do you think you spend each turn to maintain force levels?

Jim

We are not, but that gave us the idea to turn it on. It's on now. We'll see how large the impact.

Feb 1864

Very little fighting but lots of moving, as the Rebels pull everyone back to Meridian. This means that Vicksburg has been abandoned, save for the fixed units. In fact, aside from New Orleans, which I am confident will fall shortly, he's pretty much abandoned the entire Mississippi River system.

Sherman's Corps is arriving shortly from Camden, AK, and will take Vicksburg. I hope to get him promoted to 3*.

I really would like to get the Reb Army under battle, but we're spending time overrunning Mississippi instead, so I guess that's progress

Jackson fell this turn, and I expect Vicksburg and New Orleands shortly. After that, rather than assault Meridian, we'll probably send a wing south toward Mobile/Pensacola, clear that, then swing back up toward Montgomery

[veji1]

He seems to be trying to milk out the clock, which in terms of VP doesn't work because the model is Kaput, but makes sense from a game play perspective (ie "I want to hold pas the historical surrender line"). He could try to smack some of your forces with his regrouped AoT but I suppose he would incurr useless losses... So the point for him is a mix of force conservation and trying to get you to attack him on a terrain that is favorable to him, instead of managing to manouver him out of position... very much like the Overland and Atlanta campaigns of 64...

[Jim D Burns]

They have a real dilemma with VP’s if they try and fix it as it’s tied to foreign entry and if the CSA gets way ahead in the early years the Union will never be able to prevent foreign entry from firing. I think the only thing they can do is make a few key southern objectives more valuable if the CSA still holds them as the yeas wear on. So places like Richmond, Atlanta, New Orleans, etc. would be worth normal in 61 and 62, then x2 in 63, x3 in 64 and finally x4 in 65. That may be the only fix that will still preserve some kind of balance in the foreign entry system.

We are not, but that gave us the idea to turn it on. It's on now. We'll see how large the impact.

Not sure if you’ll be able to change it or not. I think some of the settings get set upon initiation of the scenario and cannot be changed, but I may be wrong about that. If it is working you will see a huge surge in the hits number each turn above each of the replacement chits. Warn your opponent about this, you may both be so large now that about 100% of your incomes will need to go into chits and only mobilizations will give you enough income to do any new builds in the future.

Jim

[Ace1_slith]

I do not see a lot of teared railroads and burned depots.
If I were on a retreat of this scale, I would leave a torched landscape behind me. It is all he can do right now. His Meridian position is untenable. He should have detached 3 divisions to New Orleans, and another 3 to Mobile The rest should retreat eastwards to more favorable terrain.

[veji1]

ORIGINAL: Ace1

I do not see a lot of teared railroads and burned depots.
If I were on a retreat of this scale, I would leave a torched landscape behind me. It is all he can do right now. His Meridian position is untenable. He should have detached 3 divisions to New Orleans, and another 3 to Mobile The rest should retreat eastwards to more favorable terrain.

Agreed, since he has been retiring in 63 he hasn't used all those defensive tricks enough (as far as we can see). For him now every bullet or can of beef less in the Union's wagons because of supply issues he caused is better than an extra soldier on his side.

Once the CSA player is on the retreat he should really think coldly about what he wants to do : destroy everything, play RGDs that allow him to get more stuff out before he leaves like impressment, try to cut production for several turns after he leaves etc...