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

[Gil R.]

Here's how the siege is going. The fact that the Union's army has grown a bit demonstrates to me that the Union has been reinforcing it. I've had some bad luck in that even though I've defeated the Union's fleet it managed to stay close enough to Tallahassee to reinforce and resupply. (If reinforcements are getting in, supplies must be as well.)

It was this that prompted me to send in the 8th Division, since my garrison can't hold on forever if the Union is able to continue its naval presence.

[Gil R.]

And here's why the Union might be able to maintain that presence: the fleet that has been staying off the coast of Virginia is finally on its way.

I had been assuming that to take on some big guns it would have to go in to port first, but that was a bad assumption: Eric has confirmed for me that naval ships can take on new guns while at sea, which means that the enemy is likely to have done so before heading south. So, if that fleet didn't have a formidable array of guns before, now it probably does.

I debate whether I should go to meet that new fleet, but decide to attack the one in Apalache Bay once again, since maybe I can completely destroy it before the Union's larger fleet shows up. And when it does, it might defeat me but it won't destroy my fleet in a single battle, so if I find myself outgunned I can retreat to the shipyards of New Orleans or Norfolk for repairs.

Also, this turn my blockade-runners have an excellent shot at a lot of Guns, which next turn I might be able to use to buy another Dahlgren. So I'm concerned about that fleet, but not changing my strategy at all.

[Gil R.]

Westward, ho! Here's Mississippi.

Hill chased the Union's army to Yazoo, where, unless fog of war is playing tricks (which is possible, now that my Raiders are all gone), it was joined by much of the Union's army in Oxford.

If that happened, the Union could easily drive out the 4th Corps, so I can't leave it sitting there. What I decide to do is fortify its garrison and move out of the province. Jackson's defenses are perilously low, so if the North were to reinitiate a siege it would be a turn or two away from falling, but if I bulk it up it can last long enough for me to bring in all of my western forces for an even bigger battle. So, I take the 73rd Infantry out of the 4th Corps and put it in Jackson, and remove the 12th Infantry from that small division in Aberdeen and send it by rail to Jackson. That's 4000 more men. Plus, now that Jackson has a moment to breath I set the division inside it to a higher supply level, so that the brigades inside can be reinforced.

I also set the 1st Corps so that it will receive reinforcements, and purchase Brigade Artillery for one of its infantry brigades.

[Gil R.]

Here's Tennessee. Since that bulk of the Union's army appears to have moved out of Oxford, that lone division in Hatchie looks like a juicy target...

[Gil R.]

So, even though I keep promising myself not to attack the enemy in its own territory, I can't resist sending in my my larger 1st Corps by rail.

If I get there and win this I'll have retaken Hatchie and again cut off supplies to the other Union forces.

[Gil R.]

To help ensure victory, I send D.H. Hill's division by foot into the Upper Tennessee River province so that it can reinforce the 1st Corps. I then give it the "Support" command, which means that it will only enter Hatchie if the 1st Corps successfully enters that province first. A joint attack by these two forces would absolutely overwhelm the Union's division, even if those forces in Oxford reinforce.

Unfortunately, winter movement restrictions might prevent Hill's division from leaving Tuscumbia.

[Gil R.]

The small 14th Division failed to take over Arkansas-Mississippi River because of winter movement rules last turn, so I try again. You'd think that if they can't march these men could just jump in the river and let the current take them downstream...

[Gil R.]

Next, I try to send the 2nd Army into Meridian. It still has just two brigades in it, since last turn Hill's division in Tuscumbia had been unable to move south to join up with it. Perhaps this turn I'll have better luck, and Stonewall Jackson will have a real army to command. (Seems like a waste of talent to have him commanding two somewhat depleted infantry brigades of low quality.)

[Gil R.]

And then I send A.P. Hill's 4th Corps into Meridian to join up with the 2nd Army.

Plus, I send the Partisans into Oxford, figuring that no matter what there will be a Union force there when the next turn begins.

[Gil R.]

Here's what the 2nd Army will look like if all of these forces succeed in moving to Meridian. It would be at 50,000 men which is a good size, but there is room for thousands of reinforcements to squeeze in, especially now that I have the "Extended Service I" upgrade that lets brigades expand by 20% of their previous maximum strength. So even without adding the 1st Corps, this army has the potential to reach more than 70,000 men. (Of course, disease and march attrition will keep this army from ever reaching its full potential.)

I greatly doubt that the Union is about to enter Meridian this turn, but just in case I set the 2nd Army on "Avoid Battle." It will have plenty of opportunities for battles, but those are at least a turn away.

[Gil R.]

Finally, I make one additional purchase: I've been ignoring the governor of Mississippi each turn as he has become more and more desperate for a Barracks to be built in his state (partly because I couldn't afford it, partly because I figured that if Jackson were to fall he would no longer be governor anyway), but now I finally build it for him, at a cost of 20 Labor and 50 Horses. (This leaves me with enough Horses that I should still have the 100 Horses needed to produce a new Raiders unit next turn.)

I then hit "End Turn" and get my choice of Weaponry upgrades. Here I got very lucky: so many of the upgrades obtainable through weapons research enable one to purchase expensive new guns that the South can't easily afford, but here I got "Rifle Manufacture," which will boost my output of Guns resources each turn by at least enough to buy new Minie Rifles for a brigade each turn. Previously I haven't been building many Armories -- which produce Guns -- because I could rely on my blockade-runners and raiders/partisans to capture Guns, but now I will have a new incentive for building them.

[Gil R.]

And lastly, I promote Cleburne to command a division. As discussed above, I might soon promote him to command the entire corps, but for now I think I'll keep Hood in charge, since I want him to teach some special abilities to his brigades (and, secondarily, since I don't want to anger the governor of Texas when his Attitude is so favorable). I'll probably make a change soon, though.

[Gil R.]

Oh, I should have noted that when I added those infantry brigades to Jackson I did so in the knowledge that I can always send them elsewhere once the threat to the city is gone.

[Joram]

ORIGINAL: Jonathan Palfrey

ORIGINAL: Joram
May I suggest some kind of "battle-log" that contains approximately what happened so a player could inspect it if he wishes. I think it would at a minimum show the firing unit, the target unit and any modifiers (flanking, morale, leadership, etc...).

Are instant battles really resolved by shuffling invisible units around behind the scenes and having them fire at each other? It seems very complicated to me and not guaranteed to produce sensible results. I would have expected some kind of formula (including a random element) into which you put in the various input parameters and out pop the results.

An advantage of the formula method is that it's probably easier to tweak if the results are not coming out quite right.

Actually, I have no idea - I just assumed so considering the way quick combat was done. My point was that it would be nice to have some kind of battle report so you have some kind of inkling on why you won or lost. Right now it looks like it is pure guesswork.

[Gil R.]

You're right about that, and we're already cogitating upon how to get more information to the player after PBEM battles.

[Joram]

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

You're right about that, and we're already cogitating upon how to get more information to the player after PBEM battles.

Perfect.

[Tophat1815]

ORIGINAL: Joram

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

You're right about that, and we're already cogitating upon how to get more information to the player after PBEM battles.

Perfect.

I agree as well,glad you fellows are already on this!

[spruce]

seems like the intelligence pop up and the number of sieging troops displayed to you are not the same (post 401) ... is this intended - are both prone to errors - or is one of them the real figure - making it not logical to have 2 different displayed numbers?

[Gil R.]

ORIGINAL: spruce

seems like the intelligence pop up and the number of sieging troops displayed to you are not the same (post 401) ... is this intended - are both prone to errors - or is one of them the real figure - making it not logical to have 2 different displayed numbers?

The pop-up is the fog of war figure, the one in the siege report the accurate one. I admit that it looks odd, but it might not be worth the programming effort to make the pop-up box disappear whenever one clicks on the siegeworks (the thing with the besieging country's flag that is located next to the city/fort). Since I'm not the programmer, I don't know...

[genie144]

The question/comment from reading this AAR is the lack of intelligence acquired from battle.  It seems to me that when you battle an army whether you win or lose the fog of war shouldn't as disastrously inaccurate as the fog of war appears to be...  Anyways, I think I will go post in the other thread to get a move on...  Need reading material for tomorrow, and this half a turn a day business is killing me...
 
Sam