JANUARY 1864, Union VP 12 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
The fourth year of the war begins quietly. The remnants of Forrest’s raiders move deftly north through union lines, back towards Tennessee, collecting mustered brigades of hardcore Georgian and Alabamian horseman as they travel north. Grant orders Lyon and Hancock to discontinue pursuit for now, and instead occupy the secessionist seats of governments in the last of these deep south southern states. Lyon is directed to capture Tallahassee and Hancock is to return to Montgomery and take the capital of Alabama. Atlanta falls to the union, and Reynolds, now free from the siege, is directed to keep an eye on the troublesome rebel forces moving around in Alabama.
In late January Natchez finally falls to Buford after 4 months of siege in the province. Buford now moves into Louisiana towards Baton Rouge, one step closer to New Orleans and the opening up of the Mississippi waterway. Sheridan has been in support of Buford, but he is ordered to break off again, moving west of the Mississippi, and liberate some of the secessionist provinces in Arkansas and move unto Little Rock. At the Mississippi/Arkansas River junction a gun boat has floated down from Cairo to help him in this endeavor.
One consolation to the union war efforts – war weariness is now affecting the Confederacy. With many of their cities occupied, the confederacy exists in little islands of government – Richmond and coastal Virginia, a stretch of Louisiana to Texas, some of the Appalachian areas of Knoxville and Chattanooga. Regardless, the meddling European powers continue to support the confederate war efforts. Particularly Napoleon III of France, who, with all the confederate ports blockaded or in Union hands, apparently continues to funnel money and supplies through the Mexican border with Texas towards the south.
FEBRUARY 1864, Union VP 12 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
The renegade force once commanded by Forrest appear headed to Nashville. This time it is Reynolds that catches them near Huntsville in Northern Alabama. Mounted confederates make a good fight of it, but most of their forces are irregulars – field hands, farm boys, equipped with their daddy’s shotguns and old rusty muskets. Capable riders but inexperienced in combat, unable to compete with seasoned Union forces, their mounts are quickly dropped and each of them are either killed or captured. It appears, once and for all, this menace roving about the south has ended.
In late February Lee, recovered from his December defeat, once again heads into Maryland. Again Lincoln and his cabinet go into a frenzy. Grant on the other hand see’s this as an act of desperation on the part of the confederacy. The forts of Maryland have been reinforced since Lee’s last invasion, and Lee will find heavy artillery and abetis if he moves on any of the works around Annapolis. On the contrary to Lincoln’s worry, he sees this as an opportunity. If he can make it up to Virginia in time he can engage Richmond while Lee is occupied in Maryland. He orders McClellan to stay put in Washington for the moment and to not engage Lee.
Thus as Grant sees it, this may be the opportunity to end this war. He knows that the CSA is stalling for time. The union have over half a million troops in the field, not counting garrison and naval troops, to the CSA’s last organized force around Richmond that number less than 100,000.
MARCH 1864, Union VP 12 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
During March Grant moves up to Lynchburg by rail, then to Petersburg. At the same time he orders Sherman into Fredericksburg. The intention is to lure Stuart away from his works around Richmond by squeezing him in, as well as to cut off any retreat by Lee in Maryland. Hopefully, he will be tempted to send some or all of his army out to meet the union as he had sent out Lee.
Robert E. Lee, as expected, is slogging his way through the fortifications of Annapolis, not really making any progress. In spite of complaints from Lincoln’s enemies that Lee should be chased out of northern territory, Grant encourages Lincoln to let Lee stay in place and he will be dealt with at the Union Armies convenience.
Grant also must prepare for a siege of Richmond if all else fails. McClellan is ordered to move into Fredericksburg as well, minus one division that will be kept in Washington as a contingency.
In the west, no less than 5 confederate cities are under siege by various elements of the Union Army. Buford, having taken Baton Rouge in late February, has moved down the Mississippi to take the last remaining block to the Anaconda plan.
Edit note: At this point it occurs to me I am not getting all my city victory points. I hold 13 confederate cites and I have 6 “city” VP’s. This is a recognized bug on the support forums and it appears it will be addressed. However in my scenario it may mean I can never win, thus I am going to manually track my VP’s to see if I make the 24 VP’s required by the game to achieve victory.
APRIL 1864, Union VP 12/corrected to 20 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
McClellan, already insulted that he has to leave a division of his army behind in Washington, is further incensed when he is ordered to give up a corps of his Army of the Potomac to Sherman, in preparation for an attack on Richmond. Grant try’s to sooth his ego, and assigns him the easy but rewarding task of defeating Lee in Maryland. McClellan, overcautious as he is, takes 4 weeks to move his remaining 68,000 into Maryland to meet Lee’s besieging force of 19,000. Now it is Grant that is beside himself, having wanted Lee dealt with and McClellan back in Fredericksburg for the move on Richmond before the end of April.
But McClellan finally does bring his army north to Maryland to engage Lee and relieve the besieged forts. General Lee tries to make the best of a hopeless situation, attacking the union right in the morning fog and momentarily throwing McClellan off-kilter. But the fog clears and McClellan is able to move around Lee, while at the same time pounding his lines with deadly artillery fire. Lee expertly withdraws under fire, although a few of his brigades are overrun. But several hours into the battle, the brave general is wounded trying to rally his troops against all odds. Seeing their beloved leader down, the remaining rebel brigades show the white flag.
Although now a hero to the Union, Grant is not all to pleased with McClellan’s slow pace. Tallahassee was captured in early April, and with that siege over Grant pulls Howard Hunt from General Lyon’s command in Florida. Hunt, a general that fought well under him during the Tennessee River campaigns the previous year, will be groomed to replace McClellan.
MAY 1864, Union VP 13/corrected to 21 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
The nature of combat has changed in the last 6 month. With a few exceptions, no longer are masses of troops meeting on the field of battle to exchange volley after volley in line formation. Various confederate and southern home guard fight on in cut off cities and remaining state capitals. But, outnumbered, unable to organize, they entrench and fortify. Trenches become the front line, and siege cannon and sniper rifles the weapon of choice. Not that the war has become any less bloody – both sides incur over 20,000 casualties in the first two weeks in siege/trench warfare ranging from the Arkansas River to the coast of North Carolina. This level of losses had been going on since the beginning of the year.
But one large battle remains. Grant is preparing to assault Richmond head on, and to that end he has accumulated an army of a quarter of a million around the confederate capital. The bulk of his army will be moving in from Fredericksburg, and while he has one general there who he trusts with his life, Sherman, he has another that he cannot trust to follow his commands. Thus he gives the news to McClellan, he will be demoted to three stars, and Hunt promoted to 4 stars to take his place. McClellan, to no ones surprise, resigns in protest. With that done, Grant gives the command – on to Richmond.
LATE MAY 1864, Union VP 13/corrected to 21 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
At the end of May over 350,000 soldiers meet in battle outside of Richmond. Grant and his 60,000 Department of the West move in from Petersburg, Sherman and his 125,000 man army (simply known as “4th Army”) move in from Fredericksburg, with Hunt’s 62,000 Army of the Potomac following behind. Stuart has 101,000 entrenched in a series of 6 fortifications on clear flat ground, each one emplaced with overlapping cannon fire from adjacent forts.
Battle of Richmond
To march into the forts would result in extremely heavy casualties. Instead, Grant decides that he will move on the forts during cover of darkness and storm them in the morning. Grant stays in cover waiting for dusk; however a rebel division move to Grant’s right in the late afternoon, where Grant has his own division behind tree cover. Here Grant takes heavy casualties, as rebel troops punish them with enfilade fire from a position where they are covered by the guns of there forts. Finally, the sun sets, and as the rebel fire dies down Grant gives the order to move unto the rebel breastwork. By 2AM a number of brigades are hunkered down in front of 3 rebel works, having approached successfully without casualties, ready to open fire at the morning light.
LATE MAY 1864 continued, Union VP 13/corrected to 21 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
Battle of Richmond continued
The union has a surprise for the confederate division that caused so much damage the previous afternoon. Hunt arrived late on the battlefield, behind Grant’s lines. Grant directs him to move his forces above this rebel division and quietly surround them during the night. Morning finds the rebels behind Union lines, encircled, and quickly cut down by withering musket fire. By 9AM the survivors throw down their guns and surrender.
At the forts themselves, casualties are horrendous in the first 20 minutes of daylight as both sides have clear fire without the obstacle of musket smoke, fatigue, and jammed weapons. Union soldiers fire toe to toe across the earthen and logged walls of the fortification, able to deliver fire to those inside, but unable to scale the works to take them. One fort to the south is finally taken, but two others hold fast, even while being battered down by union artillery. Rebels are able to move into an effective battle line to prevent these two forts from being surrounded, while at the same time trying to find a flank to exploit.
By 10 AM Union forces are into a second fort, collapsed by the fury of the battle, with fighting at times hand to hand. Jeb Stuart, the confederate commander, is wounded. John Pope, one of Grant’s corps commanders, is also wounded. A number of Union troops in the first wave have fallen back by this time, fought out after a night of marching and a morning of battle. But the numbers are on Grant’s side, and finally the confederate army, overwhelmed by casualties, retreats. Richmond is not quite taken, garrison troops hold onto other forts in the area, but the main confederate army is forced off the field and into Norfolk. Union losses are 19,000, confederates dead and wounded number 31,000 with another estimated 30,000 taken prisoner (9 brigades).
JUNE 1864, Union VP 16/corrected to 24 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
Edit note: I know by my calculation I have enough victory points to win the game (corrected from the game bug), but for closure I wanted the game to record New Orleans as fallen, which it will not do until the next turn.
Richmond and a few fortifications around the city are defended now by only 14,000 home guard garrison troops. The confederate army in nearby Norfolk number less than 50,000 tired, starving, and beaten rebels. New Orleans is declared an open city, battered by union artillery fire, the garrison troops there have either surrendered or deserted. Talk of the end of war is near. But Jefferson Davis, stuck in the besieged city of Richmond, vows to fight on until death. The south shall rise again. Lincoln and Grant, demanding unconditional surrender including the emancipation of slavery, prepare for an aggressive siege of Richmond. Hunt meanwhile maneuvers into Petersburg while Doubleday, having liberated Wilmington, moves up north to pen in the confederate army, thus surrounding them on three sides and pinning them against the Atlantic Ocean.
LATE JUNE 1864 continued, Union VP 19/corrected to 27 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
Bloodshed continues. Grant bombards Richmond and the forts surrounding them in a series of aggressive siege attacks during late June that cost Grant over 12,000 casualties. But Grant has manpower to spare, and is welcome to trade men for time if it means an end to the war.
Jefferson Davis compels the trusted and beloved Robert E. Lee, still recovering from his wound and escape from capture in Maryland, to engage in one last all or nothing offensive to relieve Richmond. Thus 51,000 confederates, loyal to the end to Virginia and the confederacy, march into the James River to confront an enemy of almost four times their number.
2nd Battle of Richmond
Lee’s movement takes Grant by surprise, engaged as they are by his siege of Richmond. Union troops are momentarily shaken, forced to move into line, unlimber artillery, and move supply wagons to the rear under fire. But these are battle tested troops, the Army of the West. The relatively green Army of the Potomac had moved south to camp near Petersburg after the first battle. Thus Grant and Sherman’s forces recover quickly and return fire. Lee, outnumbered, is forced back to his fortifications and flanked on both sides.
Union take casualties as they approach Lee’s forts, cannon fire opening up huge gaps in their lines. But northern soldiers, seeming to know the end is near, stay in good order and move up against the rebel works. Lines of rebels line up in front of the forts, futily attempting to keep the union at bay with musket fire. But the Virginians are flanked, fired on from enfilade, fall back leaving behind hundreds dead, and the action continues. As in Maryland, again Lee is wounded. Rebels fight on beyond the limits of normal endurance, seeming to know that with this defeat the confederate cause will end. Finally, with one of every two rebel on the field dead, dying, or wounded, the battle ends. Barely 7,000 confederates leave the field that day, scattered around fleeing into the Virginia countryside. The Union’s second victory ends the confederate Virginian army as a threat – 24,000 rebel casualties are recorded, along with 21,000 prisoners (6 brigades). Union casualties are 13,000.
LATE JUNE 1864 continued, Union VP 19/corrected to 27 (national will -5), Conf VP -4 (national will -3)
Concurrent with this victory in front of Richmond, New Orleans falls and the “Anaconda Plan”, somewhat archaic now with Grant now having fought to Richmond’s doorsteps, has been accomplished. However, New Orleans is the last great city of the west to fall. Also to fall during July is Columbus in Georgia, Wilmington, Montgomery (the capital of Alabama), Chattanooga had fallen the month before. Little Rock and Augusts are on the verge of being captured. Richmond, with no defensive army and a garrison force left, is doomed to fall as well. Remnants of the former 100,000 strong Rebel Army of Richmond are scattered in Norfolk, leaderless, numbering only a few depleted brigades, no longer a threat to the union.
Jefferson Davis is without options. Outside of Richmond, envoys from the Confederate States of America meet with Grant and his staff. Grant, speaking on behalf of President Lincoln, accepts the surrender of all southern armed forces. The Civil War has ended!
UNION VICTORY!!
edit note: Again, note the victory point bug. I really need one of those victory screen that the game gives me. I actually played this through, auto resolving the battles, to see if the game would give me enought victory points with Richmond taken and a few additional cities taken. It didn't.
The three years of battle had seen 36 battles, 6 had been decisive. The bloodiest had been The First Battle for Nashville with 60,438 casualties combined. The CSA won 14 battles and the Union won 22 battles.
Total battle casualties are estimated at 860,000, with 297,032 killed. This is estimated below:
Union:
Battle casualties: 262,000
Siege casualties: 150,000 (estimated)
Total casualties: 412,000
Total Killed: 117,832
Confederate:
Battle casualties: 373,000
Siege casualties: 75,000 (estimated)
Total casualties: 448,000
Total Killed: 179,200
An additional estimated 30,000 union soldiers perished from disease in camp. This number is unknown for the CSA.
Edit note: Siege casualties estimated based on results reports where I note that sieges last an average of 4 turns, about 1,500 casualties a turn for besieger (although I’ve seen as much as 14,000 for an aggressive siege), 750 for defender. I estimated I engaged in 25 sieges between all the forts and cities. Death rates vs. casualty rates gleamed from Wikipedia sources (28.6% for union, 40% for confederate), reflected inadequate medical care for the CSA.
Very cool. Good job! Too bad there isn't a timeline on that manpower chart. I'm guessing the big dip was a result of a major battle that CSA couldn't recover from.
As far as the VP, isn't it listed twice? VP's at the beginning of the turn (which you show) and then VP's at the end of the turn (which you didn't show).
Very cool. Good job! Too bad there isn't a timeline on that manpower chart. I'm guessing the big dip was a result of a major battle that CSA couldn't recover from.
As far as the VP, isn't it listed twice? VP's at the beginning of the turn (which you show) and then VP's at the end of the turn (which you didn't show).
Yes I was thinking that to, a timeline would have been nice. The dip was the result of the union starting to win the offensive in the west around Nashville, just kept of fighting them and capturing brigades.
Yes starting VP is listed at the beginning of the events report and ending VP is listed at the end. At the end of this final report it listed 19 VP - I got my 2 for achieving the "anaconca plan" as specified in the game manual, and 1 I think for capturing the capital of Alabama, but no others for capturing the other cities.
I hope my prose wasn’t overly melodramatic. I tried to keep it more of a historical narrative style rather than a document of the game playing mechanics. Behind the scenes I was doing a lot of stuff I just could not document without writing paragraphs – building this building or unit in this province at a certain time, moving this or that general around, buying this type of rifle at a certain time, or moving production from labor to money, or vice versa, at certain times.
BUGS NOTED:
1.) I could never emancipate for some reason. I know the last patch restricted emancipation to certain conditions until 1864. But still, in Jan 1864, I did not see the emancipation button, which I wanted to do just for historical effect. I have read others in the forum having this problem.
2.) As noted, the victory point bug kept me from getting an “official” win. I even played it through capturing Richmond and other cities and it never gave me enough victory points. One problem is it does not give you all your victory points for capturing cities, another problem is that if you lose a decisive battle it will sometimes take 6 victory points away. I am not sure it is capturing national will correctly either. This is being addressed by game developers.
3.) Miscellaneous bugs – a.) When I did an amphibious attack from a fleet originating in Annapolis, with my troops disembarking into Charleston, the events report listed it as a “siege of Annapolis”. B.) I lost an empty fleet container once as “container alone in enemy territory”. Strange since the CSA never had there own fleet. Maybe a runner moved into the province. C.) Sometimes the text on certain parts of the event report went crazy – listed in bold and larger text. Not a big deal, just strange. D.) Sometimes the engineer and artillery advantages would change from siege to siege with the same sieging units. Sometimes the artillery advantage would be “great”, then the next siege “average”. Maybe this is working as intended based on the defensive attributes of the fort being seiged, not sure.
4.) Confederate hordes – obviously the confederates created some ahistorical force levels. At one point Jackson had a force of 180,000 in Memphis. This is being addressed by game developers as I understand it.
TIPS FOR WINNING AS THE NORTH
Obviously my “anaconda plan” did not work as I planned. The AI seemed to read my mind and built a massive army in the west. However, note that I put the difficulty level as +2 for the confederates, and as “2nd lieutenant”. I also used the historical settings for the June 1861 start. That definitely gave me a starting resource boost, which seemed to give me a surplus in resources until about January 1862. After that it seemed I had tons of horses and iron, but was always lacking in labor and, in particular, money. I had so many horses I wish there was an option to feed my troops horse meat and thus save on money spent for hardtack and bacon. In 1863 I was forced to abandon my house rules and united my western forces because I was making no progress at all, but by that time I was just starting to achieve the benefits of the northern industrial might. Note that my amphibious attack into South Carolina was very effective and probably the turning point of the war. The key there is to have another force sneak in through undefended provinces to link up from the north. Once you get that link up you can officially occupy the province and expand outwards. My tips for winning as the north:
1.) Do not fight toe to toe with the CSA army unless you have 3 to 1 advantage – At least until you have well trained troops, maybe by 1863. Their morale, weapons, leadership, will be superior until this time and you will get your butt kicked. Also confederate brigades are larger than yours.
2.) Try to get the CSA to attack you, not the other way around - You get some good advantages to being the defender. Most importantly you get to choose your defensive ground – see #5.
3.) Draft and muster – some disagree because the quality of troops are not there and you risk a city going into unrest. However I found it the only way to fight the “confederate hordes” problem. You can put them with a good general for a few turns to improve their quality. At the very least you can use them as cheap garrison troops for the provinces you conquered. Be aware of risk however, you don’t want to draft from a huge resource rich city like New York if they have 30% risk of unrest.
4.) Capture enemy brigades – The confederate AI builds so many camps that just inflicting casualties does not work, you will find them back to full brigade strength next turn. Usually you must surround an enemy brigade to compel them to surrender. If the CSA is close to routing move your brigades into column so you have the range to move your brigades around them and encircle them. Cavalry helps. Also chase down and eliminate those CSA containers because if you leave them alone with 3 depleted brigades they will be back in a month with 12 full strength brigades.
5.) Chose your ground well in detailed combat – In my opinion the game does not reflect defensive good ground well in terms of the high ground, or, for instance, “the sunken road” type of defensive hexes. What they do model well is movement. If you want to flank, or are outnumbered and are at risk of being flanked (which the AI loves to do) be aware of rivers, swamp, mud, etc and use them to protect your flanks. If you get a map with plenty of rivers or swamps you can forget about any numerical advantage you have. It will be very difficult to maneuver and extend your line. If you get to choose a map and you have the numerical advantage choose an open map without many rivers or woods, if you do not have the numerical advantage choose “many rivers, many woods”.
6.) Move in close in detailed combat – Again, you just can’t fight toe to toe with rebel troops and expect to win. The best you can do is approach from the front to pin a CSA unit down in place, do not even bother to engage from the front, but approach another unit on the flank and engage with that one. Keep your brigades together from the same division – you get a boost to your flanking attacks.
7.) Watch your supply carefully in detailed combat – The AI has this advantage as they must use some complex algorithm to determine exactly which of their brigades to supply at any given time. I rarely see an AI unit go out of supply. Keep a good eye on your brigade supplies, I had to click on each brigade each turn to check supply levels. A pain to do, but you will be at a severe combat disadvantage if they fall out of supply. Also be aware of the penalties for fatigued troops. Most of the time they will be pinned in combat, but if you can move them back do it and move a fresh brigade into line.
8.) Shift your resources carefully. I had plenty of iron and horses, I am not sure if that was because I set the historical setting. But I always had a shortage of money and, to a lesser extent, labor. Also weapons. Don’t be afraid to shift resources from labor to money, or to impress funds from the states (at the risk of aggravating the governors). By late1863 resources should not be a problem at all. Also, to increase money, put some of your armies on “no supply” for a turn or two if they are not facing combat.
9.) What to build – during the early years I built camps, mints, armories, hospitals where my troops were stationed, arsenals because I had a tough time competing with the CSA weapons improvements, and at least one of each of the research buildings in the first 4 months or so. Mustered as much as I could (didn’t start drafting until later) to save money and built a few artillery and cavalry units.
10.) Don’t bother digging in unless you have brigades with the “no fatigue” quality. I just did not find the benefits worth it. Must of my brigades end up fatigued after I dug in and then the CSA would just flank around the trenches. Wish this was modeled better in this game because in the war digging-in was extremely effective, even in the beginning of the war (remember Lee was nicknamed “the king of spades” back in 1862.
11.) Best advancements: a.) Invalid corps – gives you a 33% boost to replacements from your camps. You’ll need them. b.) Moisture proof cartridges – I lost a major battle due to rain. c.) Extended service – this increases corps size by 20%, from 3,000 to 3,600 so at least you got a fighting one on one chance against a CSA brigade. d.) Fortification and siege technique improvements – because during the later part of the game you will be engaging in tons of sieges. E.) Improved Springfields – big improvement over regular springfields and at a certain point you will run out of regular springfields and pay a premium for them, these will actually be cheaper. F.) Dragoon tactics – if you have cavalry, lets them attack as much as three times in a turn, can be devastating to be on the receiving end of this.
I found it quite entertaining and helped me get interested in the game again. Thanks D17.
As far as the artillery, I don't know for certain but isn't that directly related to the guns in the fort? So maybe that's it? Not sure. Also not quite sure on the engineer advantage unless the fort size has something to do with that?
No doubt there's a confederate horde issue not seen since the likes of Genghis Khan but is the fog-of-war skewing your estimate?
Also note the Improved Springfield have the exact same QC rating as the regular springfield so unless you do detailed battles, you won't really see much of a benefit as best as I can tell. The cost advantage you mention is still there.
Outstanding AAR, DI7! (And good to see one played through to the end...)
Thanks for the bug reports, which I've drawn to Eric's attention. Regarding the Victory Points bug, that does appear to be fixed, so once we release the next patch it won't be an issue. Same for the giant CSA armies, which will be limited in growth potential now.
Your points for winning as the USA are excellent -- perhaps you might start a thread in the main forum in which you quote that post, so as to complement the CSA advice thread?
EDIT: The giant CSA armies issue is not a bug, as might be inferred from my post. It's simply an issue of a tweak in the last patch having had an unintended consequence, and we're now working on a new tweak that minimizes the effect of the other tweak.
Michael Jordan plays ball. Charles Manson kills people. I torment eager potential customers by not sharing screenshots of "Brother Against Brother." Everyone has a talent.
