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Late July 1863 (Turn 50)



The French back down a bit from fully commiting themsleves, buying me another month. the seige in James river is still costly, but is wearng down their defenses quickly, and the 3rd corp is there now to support.



This is getting a little silly now. Early obviously does not want to engage Freebots forces. so i send him back to finish the seige of Jackson.  I'll chase Early down once I've taken another of his capitals.  Maybe if it burn Jackson to the ground  he'll have to engage me.  I take the opertunity to equip three of the brigades in Freebots army with spencer carbines, just because you can never have to many repeating rifles. that and the force still has a large number of muskets! Op. F.L.G. begins the seige of lexington. soon all of kentucky will be in my greesy fingers!

Early August 1863 (turn 51)



Heavy seige casualties this turn, and loosing Baton rouge has hurt my will - by 2 even though it was a confederate capital! the french are back on the brink of joining, and my siege in Jackson was called off.

I'm not even talking about the CSA technology reports any more.



In Kentucky Cleburns armys popped up again, I don't belive the 100,000 figure, but I'm will in to bet "more than your guys" Earlys not moved. so I restart the siege of Jackson, but in normal mode this time, trying to batter down their doors quickly so that I can move the army north to try and win a big battle to put me back on track.

I'm sorry these reports are getting shorter, but theres little to do but move the armies around, and see how the rebels react, I'd rather plough on until something interesting happens than show how I make every boaring move.

YES! finally some good news, followed by some even better news!



Yes I know that I massively Outnumber them, but i'm going to fight detailed for one reason - so I can make sure that the unit is captured! Theres more of those flipping forts again this time though.

A Garrison unit storms out to meet us, but is quickly surrounded and hammered into submission, the rest of the army is slowed crossing the many rivers. then part of the CSA 15th divison marches into sight, despite the fact that theres two huge forts it could be hiding behind. maybe they rember the last time I was here.



Shame for him this is not the same army as last time. And I plan to win this one. no  matter what the cost! I decide to engage the brigade at range, using my better firepower to hit them before they close.



Take a second to read it. Jeb stuart. a Confederate General. Dead. I like this new start. its like he was the only one holding them together, as the rebels breaks the turn after. unfortunatly before I can get troops into encircling positions. although I do manage to trap the 15th Divsion brigade by the water. and get troops close enough to cause several garrison units to give up as well.

Late August 1863 (turn 53)



The Seige in Jackson cost them hevily, I lost as well, but I can better absorbe those losses. I suffered more elsewhere, but as long as they progress I'm happy. I order Haupt to begin the siege of richmond. having cleared out the other forts in the battle. It'll take a long time, but It'll hurt them.



Earlys back in position, This time i'm going to let him attack - hes been running around a lot, hes got to be low on supplies by now. and Cleburnes off somewhere again. these confederate armies are great on the move, but seem unwilling to engage any of my forces.

All my troops are engaged, so I store my weapons for the first group to be avaible. and I order a mansion in Kentucy so I can appease the governers there. I seem to be universially hated. people are even saying its not my own beard!

you know, I've been here two years now, I could have grown a beard in that time. why didn't that occur to me?

EArly September 1863 (turn 54)



More gun types for me to play with.



and more infantry training.



Uh Oh. We're for it now. French Diplomacy to 9. that means that french troops could enter the war at any moment. that said I've just taken Jackson, and it looks like Lexington and Richmond won't be far behind. then I can start hunting down the armies of the confederacy.

I move Freebot up towards the confederate army. I'm going to have to attack him, but I'd rather wait a turn or so to upgrade as many of my troops weapons as possible. apart from that, nothing much to report with all my troops in sieges.

Late September 1863 (turn 55)



Field hospitals should cut the death toll.



Finally. that should hurt the confederates to at least some degree! and lexington falls straight after.



But thats not good. soon i'm going to have to face french troops on the feild, so I'm going to have to move to smash the Confederacy much quicker than I thought.



The French are in Texas!
A new lab comes online, and I've now got a chance of the british joining the french.
but We have richmond. a quick look shows that Its a great prize.



Three camps and a good number of reseach buildings. as well as all the other buildings you'd expect in a capital.  this will boost me while hurting him. I send the AoW onto attack petersburg, leaving 3rd corp defending the new prize.





In Kentucky I move to take the last few provinces. this will mean the entire state is under my control.
In the West I decide to order the attack. I upgrade three brigades with improved springfields, as i can do that for the cost of one spencer rifle. the AotW looks like this at the moment.



That said, I can't wait to build them up any more. I need to start Hitting the rebs. Ive damaged enough of their supply to mean that they will have a hard time rebuilding. I still think I can win this one, as long as I'm agressive from here on out.

And soon I will have Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Kinda wondering if I should start building a larger navy, but i think it may be to late for that....

1st Arkansas Mississippi River.



for once the scouts are right, and I have the advantage in numbers, now we'll see if I have the advantage anywhere else. early on my 16th brigade catch a garrison unit out of position, and decide to warm themselves up on it.



The 16th and the Illonouis Volunteers deployed forward of the army, so I use them to screen the main forces crossing of the river. its late, so I doubt I'll be able to press the attack before morning.



It looks like the rebs are in a hurry, and they would find my poorly supplied flank, wouldn't they! I shift troops in that direction to face the two divisions I know are there. but they hit the F.R.I. Divison hard. they must be well armed, as they break two brigades in a round. killing about 300 men a volley.
I attempt to charge a Supply unit with my calvary, but take 800 casulaties doing so.



Ahh, the second CSA general dies. I don't fell so bad now. even if i do loose the battle, I'll know that I've reached the point where i can chip away at his better generals.



The rebs continue their flanking manuver, even though it seems to be breaking their army up. I wonder if i can concentrate on the dep. of Norfolk long enough to break it. (btw, I like the Army of the Potomac fighting on the Mississippi.)



Berdens Sharpshooters finally live up to their name. and the confederates must begin to realise that they've flank marched themselves into an area surrounded by two rivers.



unfortunatly my troops are beinging to break. so i may not be able to capatalise on this position. then theres is a series of three rallys in the same turn, and it looks as if i might pull it off again.
As night falls I press the attack, trying to force the rebels deeper into my moral zones. the moral has dropped from an advantage to him to equal. which is more than any other army has done in a battle this size.
I loose Lyon to fire, but I'm still 2-1 in this engagement.



I did it again. no sooner do I type those words than Freebot explodes! I was trying to keep him back, but I was pressing for a win that that loss may just have cost me. asn sure enough at 10:00pm the army routs. during which the lincon battery surrenders to the enemy!

At least I hit them for 2,000 more men than they hit me. If Freebot hadn't malfunctioned and gotten itself shot then I could have won.

Early October 1863 (turn 56)



Right. not as planned. not unexpected, but not as planned. I promote Robinson to replace Freebot, and Stahl to replace Robinson. no time to any whitehouse style replacements, this has to be quick. I order the AotW to move to Napoleon, as they are currently cut off, I also increase their supply level and replace some of their guns - luckly only one spencer carbine set fell into enemy hands.
I also being to move op FLG down, they can join up and hit the rebs with greater force. I order the AoW to hit Petersburg. maybe I can still bleed them dry.

Finally I go visit the captives. I walk into the room and then shoot Fremont in the head. I must have a body to show the family, and it would be embarrasing to have him escape and suddenly appear on the streets.

Better ponttons should be usefull in this river war. and no one should ever say no to more training, especially for the big guns.



it seems that the french must have renforced Early, because he has 30,000 more men a turn after i killed 13,000. so that makes about 40,000 frenchment to face!



I decide to do something different, I know that Early is agressive.  so I pull my troops to a defensive line that won't allow me to be flanked. I then start resupplying my men.



Where is the seven hells did they come from? if they flanked my army through the swamps then they did so crossing the areas I can see at some rate! and how much of the rest of their army is out there? I dispatch my reserve brigade to attack the calvary. Unfotuantly, It, the supply and Beardens Sharpshooters are all routed from the field. My calvery Meets the main reb force halfway up the battlefield, but Sickles is killed in the first skirmish engagement.

I decide to retreat and cut my losses, rather than hand the enemy another decisive victory.

Late October 1863 (Turn 57)



So Robinsons a poor leader is he? well i'm not sure I have anyone better out there to replace him.  and 8k casualties in petersburg. thats going to take all of a turns camps production to replace.

retreating from the battle cost me 3 brigades worth of spencer carbines! I can't afford to be giving those guns away. my attack was based on the fact that I still had more troops than jackson, the appearance of the french really scuppered my plans.



I move Robinson north, If they can hot foot it past Early then they can join up with Op. FLG and go back in with greater numbers. That will give me 110,000 men, and Op. FLG is well armed.  I turn the seige in petersburg to enciclement, as that seems to serve me best.  I move Ramsey from the James river into Lynchberg, so he can set up seige ops there.

1st Yazoo.



I knew Early was agressive, and he must have gotten wind of my intended move north, he strikes before Robinson can get the army moving. although he seems to have 20,000 less troops, so this could be an interesting battle. I said battle? sorry I ment crushing Union Defeat.



Yep, here we go again.
Most of my army is not to badly disorganised, only those troops near the enemy. So I may still be able to hit him on the flank.



I manage to pull most of the army, Bar the 14th divsion, into some sort of order before the rebel attack goes in. but then it hits, one of the french units charges a disorganised one, and this happens.



Shame to think I may run out of generals before this war is over. THe rebles proceed to hit the 14th with a series of devistating charges. but this leaves several of his units disorganised, so I am able to get some measure of revenge.



Take that! thats what you get for joining in our war!



Dammit. and Burnsides been in the thick of it since the start of the war. this is not going well. the rebs are hitting me hard and fast. I've not had time to set up any form of defense. I just have to keep hitting the units I can. Maybe I can make this to bloody for them.



All that supply! and my men raiding the dead for ammunition. I keep up the pressure and manage to break some of their units. but the Army of the Ptomic is yet to engage, and their a full division, I know that once they enter into the battle fully, I'll have a fresh division ploughing into tired and poorly supplyed troops. but they hold back, and I'm able to break the enemy down somewhat.



I manage to push on, casulties seem to be equal, and I do seem to be reducing their moral a little quicker than mine is dropping. I concentrate on the french units and supply, as they are less seasoned and easier to break. but its to late, i get a break warning, anf the next turn he gets one, but my troops are in rout.

The battle ends very close casualties wise, with about 16,000 dead on eather side. not bad seeing as I was attacked by surprise! If i'd had time to prepare a defense then I may even have been able to carry the day.



I'm going to single out the US 40th Brigade. they killed 2500 confederates for the loss of only 250 of their own men.

Early November 1863 (turn 58)



These battles are keeping the will of the confederates up, I may own half their state capitals, but i'm yet to break them in battle.

I burn all my guns and some money to replace the lost weapons in the AotW. some of them are back to muskets, but thats better than throwing rocks and holding pitchforks.



a sad sight really, but All i need to concentrate on is getting them out of there without loosing the whole army!



And as you can see, thats a possibility! i make a run for Munroe, Ordering robinson to force march and avoid battle. once I can form them up again, then I can take another crack, at the moment, I'm worried about 50,000 men surrendering - that would be the war as good as lost. - I order Meridith to continue to move towards the west and releive Robinson. as you can see, there are not many generals left alive in the Army of the West, and I need to use the spares in op FLG to replace the horrendous casualties.

Once Petersburg has fallen, Ill move the AoW out as well. Time to foget the citys and take the war to the rebs!

I deicide to finally solve the real reason for the loss of the war, I send to kentucky for some fried chicken. only to be told theres no such thing! damation! I'm nearly a 100 years early. So I look through the rosters, and detach a Col. P. Saunders from his regiment with orders to make some spicy deep fried chicken, or to prepare to spend the rest of his life on latrine duty!

Late November 1863 (Turn 63)



some more weapons technology, abeat one thats not much use. I've rarely seen a battle with rain. but it was the best of my choices.



Looks Like Cleburnes forces have popped up again. but I retreat before I can be engaged. No point in taking on the enemy when your outnumbered two to one.



More french troops have arrived. as long as they are as ill trained and poorly equipped as the last lot, it shouldn't be a problem. I give into a governers demands for his son to become part of the army - I can't afford to loose any more support.



I decide to abandon the siege of petersburg and retreat my forces to Fredricksburg. there I can take up a defensive posture and have all my forces dug in for the rebels attack. I use some of my weapons to improve the armys there, as this is the main rebel force, and the one I need to break. - Early may be the one who is giving me the trouble, but crushing Cleburne would swing things around my way.



Speaking of Early, Robinson managed to get his forces out just in time. as soon as he abandoned jackson Early's troops moved in. Robinson continues to move on munroe, as this will secure a retreat route. Meridith moves into Oxford to continue down, with Cleburne in Lynchburg, he has no sizable forces behind him to worry about. I notice hes low on supplys, so I up him to normal.

To finish I order a calvery unit in Kentucy. the rebel calvery is causing me problems, so I'm going to try and match it.

Time to commit to building a calvery wing.

Robinson is attacked, but I have him retreat back into jackson. There is no way I'm letting him fact a confederate force that outnumbers him by 20,000.



Cleburnes forces, on the other hand, are right where I want them.
Unfortunatly, the terrain I'm forced to fight on has no decent features, so I'm forced to go for the "great big long line" (GBLL) formation. which I'll hook around once I know where in the line hes hitting me.



First contact. looks like their going to hit me over a fairly long strech of line, this is good as it means that we're trading blows evenly. I begin to curve my flank, but one of the confederate calvary units charges into the now exposed flanks of one of my 13th Div, brigades



I'm pritty sure that thats not what was planned. a dead CSA general, and 400 of his men along side.
I manage to use the range in the first volley to inflict some fairly serious damage on the confederates. but nothing thats going to dent their numbers. any victory here is going to be bought in blood.



I manage to compleate stage one of my hook, the more I can roll up the line, the more of my brigades I can have on each of his. I just wish I had more spencers, the two or three units armed with them are doing great damage.
In the south I try the same thing, the CSA 5th infantry tries a charge, but looses 1000 men to my 250,



The brigade routs and I continue to curl up both sides of the confederate force. they react by moving troops to my stronger left hook, but that leaves the units in the right open. they also begin to blose the range on my troops, in hopes of cutting down the losses from my ranged fire. I begin to break the line up in places to hit isolated units. although that does cost me Ayres.



General Johnston falls soon after, making it 2-1 for me so far on the generals front. and the Army of the shennadoah tried a flanking move around the lake, but it'll be at least an hour before they can compleate it. i concentrate on hammering the units in range, rather than chasing one divison.



The left hook is proceeding well, the rebs can't shift enough troops north to stop me encircling their units and hitting them from all sides, I force one brigade off and another to surrender, a similer thing is happening in the south, but in lower numbers. The confenderate centre soon forms into a tight knot, with me hammering the outliying units.



the fire is to much for some of my units, who break and flee, but the vast majority sense victory and press on.
my 136th brigade takes 1,500 casualties from two charges, things like that at this stage can make or break the battle. but its only the army of the Shennedoah in reserve for him now, although all my men are commited. Prince is wounded, but at least thats not dead.



unlike him. thats a third dead confederate general.
The enemys moral fails, I begin to box in as many units as possible before he breaks. every unit that surrenders here is one more they have to replace. be it paid for from their pockets or replaced with french mercenaries.
as they break I manage to catch several units in my net.



Come on! thats got to be a desisive battle!



9 Brigades captured. thats two divisions worth, on top of the thousands killed.

Late November 1863 (Turn 61)



Prince healing means that it looks like 3 confederate generals killed for the loss of one of my own.



Add 8 more generals to the list surrendered. 11 generals removed in one battle, and it only cost me more troops in casualties, those nine brigades equal between 9,000-27,000 men themselves!  unfortunatly, I can't take the risk of attack Cleburne again, as many of my units are low after the battle and the losses to the victory parade (note to self, 21 gun salute + double caniser = bad)



In the west i finally give the orders to link Robinson and Meridiths forces. this should allow me to engage  Early at some point - Or I may get lucky and he may repeat Cleburnes mistake.

I order up some more arsnels. I've been loosing a lot of expensive guns to the enemy, and I need to replace them.

Great battle. This is the best part of the game - when you win.

ORIGINAL: Drex

Great battle. This is the best part of the game - when you win.

Yeah, but it has t be a well earned win. I like to play just above my level of compitance. meaning I tend to loose, but when I do win, I can take a lot more satisfaction from the win.

Early December 1863 (Turn 62)



I spy a spy.



I really wish Europe would stop giving things to the rebels.
Meridith Finally Links up with Robinson. giving me 110,000 to Early (poor) reported strength of 180,000. but Op F.L.G. has good equipment, even if they aren't seasoned in battle.
In the west Cleburne moves off again. I start to give chase. If hes runninng then hes hurt worse than I thought. If I return to attacking Petersburg then I may draw him out again.

I order two more Arsenals and wait to see If Early will attack the larger force of Meridith and Robinson.

1st Jackson

Meridith and Robinson link up, just before Early attacks. the moral is equal on 23 each.



this should help me out with the battle though, and the numbers are evenly matched, even if Meridiths force is low on supply from the forced marching.

I begin to deploy my troops to the only hill on the battlefeild, hoping to chew up his army with superiour firepower. the appearance of a calvery unit near the victory point on my left flank makes me worried. - if the rebs go for that rather than my main force, I'm in trouble. lets hope its just the calvery - the three brigades there can hold them.



for now I continue to build up my strongpoint. Just as its finished my scouts detect the main rebel force, and it seems to be bearing down on me. I can only hope so, as I don't want to break it down, and I'm sure i can cause some hell on the confederates by forcing them to attack this hill.



Three more calvery units arrive on the left to hit my brigades there, now I have to think about shifting troops to meet them. I shift one brigade, but the Calvary move off. At the hill, two French brigades march into the line of fire.



Although a number of other brigades move into the line, it looks like their going to try flanking to the east. I may have to shift the bulk of my forces on the lower hill to meet this push. I decide to detact 8 brigades an march them up to the enemies main push.


I begin to advance down off the hill, one of my units manages to pick off Lewis at long range., then Strong is killed by a charge put in at the base of my lines. The line develops into a series of charges and counter charges, I kill Maigault with a volley to the rear of one of the French units. The Shoup dies when I charge an encircled brigade.



In the East of the battlefield, The new troops arrive, ready to hit the army of the Ptomic hard, the three brigades there have managed to hold them long enough for a sizable part of my army to come up.


The area around the hill becomes a large encirclement for me, and its only a matter of time until I get another crop of surrendering units. And I manage to bag a good few when the enemy being to retreat.

Early Jan 1864 (turn 63)



The win in jackson slightly overshadowed when Cleburn hits Ramsey, whos move into petersburg on his own, outnumbered 2-1 and suprised attack, I retreat, It costs me Grant and 8,000 men, but at least I removed a good chunk of earlys army in the west.  - and I reclaim some of my spencers off a captured french unit.

I decide to march the captured french troops through washington, then have photos taken of the officers pointing to where they were captured, and signing statements that they beilve that all french troops should be out of America.

I decide to put off attacking the two rebel armies. if only because of the weather. that and Early has, by reports, 12 brigades of garrison troops to renforce his postion.