AAR CSA vs Union AI

[RedArgo]

Here is my attempt at an AAR. Since Nelsm is playing as the Union, which is how I like to play, I thought I'd give the Confederates a shot. I usually play the Union on challenging which is the third level and that gives me a good game, but for this game I choose normal level AI since I'm not as familiar with the CSA. I started with the 1861 scenario which starts just before the first battle of Manassas.

The CSA doesn't have a chance to win the war outright, all you can do is try to keep the Union off balance and make sure the Unions political points are below 1000 when the November 1864 election rolls around.

Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

BTW, I've played Jon and Joel in 6 or 7 PBEM games and only won once, so that should give you so idea of my skill level (not so good).

[RedArgo]

Here is the first turn view of the western theater. I'm building up to hold back a Union invasion of Kentucky and perhaps launch my own preemptive attack if I get the chance.

[RedArgo]

Here is the eastern front. I've pulled back a lot of my milita to Richmond where I have a concentration of leaders ready to train them in to full fledged infantry. Once they are trained, I'll send them back to the front. Hopefully, the Union won't attack until they return.

[RedArgo]

The Union has invaded Kentucky! They gain some points even though they took a penalty for the early move in to Kentucky. Fortunately for me, Kentucky has joined the Confederacy which means it will take over double the normal amount of troops for the Union to garrison the state and keep the population quelled.

You can see in the red circle where I already messed up and let the Union cavarly get all the way into Tennessee. I didn't get initiative with my near by army so I was unable to kick them out. If they are able to reinforce that position I could be in trouble already.

[RedArgo]

Here is a picture of the overrun I executed against the Union forces in Tennessee. They actually took another region south, but I retook that the next turn.

[RedArgo]

Every turn you get a report of how the Union blockade is going. So far, it isn't too bad for me, but in the spring there will likely be a large increase in Union naval activity. Also, the Union has been grabbing all the costal islands which, when garrisoned and supplied increase the effectiveness of the blockade.

[RedArgo]

The situation in the west isn't looking too good right now. The Union hasn't attacked yet, but you can see the huge advantage in troops they enjoy. I'm trying to keep my small army in Nashville in position to respond north or west. I'll probably combine my armies into one and send one of my army commanders east, because one of my eastern army commanders resigned and I don't have any decent replacements yet.

[RedArgo]

And finally the situation in the east in November. Hopefully, winter will stop the Union from launching too many attacks while I try to build up and wait for General Lee to become available. You can see how large the army is in Washington DC, but it has a lot of militia, so it's not as bad as it looks. (I hope!)

[PyleDriver]

Bill keep it up your doing a great job on your post. It looks like you have a better grasp of the game now. The Union has so much power, and the AI cheats...Is this normal level?

[8D]
Jon

[RedArgo]

Yes, it is normal. I don't play the CSA much so I figured this would be hard enough.

[Forwarn45]

ORIGINAL: PyleDriver
Bill keep it up your doing a great job on your post. It looks like you have a better grasp of the game now. The Union has so much power, and the AI cheats...Is this normal level?
[8D]
Jon

This may be explained elsewhere, but how does the AI cheat?

[Joel Billings]

ORIGINAL: Forwarn45

ORIGINAL: PyleDriver
Bill keep it up your doing a great job on your post. It looks like you have a better grasp of the game now. The Union has so much power, and the AI cheats...Is this normal level?
[8D]
Jon

This may be explained elsewhere, but how does the AI cheat?

The AI does not play with the Fog of War rules (like all AI's it's always in a fog of its own making). It still has to scout units so that they don't get a surprise bonus in combat, but it does know where the enemy units are on the map. At the normal level, the computer gets double transport capacity (rail and naval), however this can be taken away if you don't want it to have this advantage. Those are the only "cheats".

At harder difficulty levels, the computer gets a supply production bonus, and a Leader/Partisan Help value that does the following (this value can be manually modified to the value desired):

Leader & Partisan Help: Provides a positive or negative modifier that impacts the following -
Training – Adds/Subtracts Leader Help/Die(3), rounded down, to a leader’s training rating during each training attempt.
Political - Adds/Subtracts political points each turn to the player’s score equal to the Leader Help level.
- Impacts the cost in political cost to invade neutral Kentucky as well as changing the percentage chance that Kentucky will become a permanent state for the non-invading side (14.2.1).
Commitment - Provides a small benefit/penalty in the commitment of ground units to combat formulas, with the more the help the larger the benefit.
Initiative - Subtracts/Adds two times the leader help value from the die roll made when Army and Unit commanders are making initiative die rolls. For example, when playing at the hard level (+2), an AI Army Commander determining initiative in July 1861 will compare against Random(17) instead of against Random(21).

Partisans - The Leader and Partisan Help Value can cause additional partisans to be created. In any enemy controlled permanent state land region that would create partisans that contains at least one resource (even if damaged), the Partisan Help Value of the player the partisans are fighting for is added to the number of partisans created in that region each turn. A negative Leader and Partisan Help value will not result in the generation of fewer partisans.

[RedArgo]

It's now December of 1861. The main Union armies have been quiet, but they continue to pick of lightly defended costal areas. This picture shows the Union invasion of Ft St Phillip south of New Orleans. They overwhelmed the small garrison with 18,000 troops, artillery and naval support.

They also took two more costal islands.

[RedArgo]

Here is the status of my naval raider force so far. These units can interdict Union support and draw off Union ships that would otherwise be blockading my ports.

[RedArgo]

Finally, in February the a Union army has struck with some general named Grant leading a force of over 64,000 against Johnson and his 42,000 men. We fought bravely, but were eventully driven back to Memphis. This will make it much harder for one army to support the western front because of the rail lines we lost. As you can see we inflicted heavy casualties on the Yankees, but there were just too many of them.

There are now two Union armies in the west that are bigger than my army which has now moved south from Memphis to Corinth to regroup. This could get ugly fast. On the positive side Robert E. Lee just became available in Richmond. I think I will move him west as I don't have much respect for the current Union commanders in the east.

[RedArgo]

Here is a summary of the current score and army commanders as of February 1862. If the Union had been over 1000 points they could have declare emancipation due to Grant's strategic victory, but since they aren't they will have to wait.

[RedArgo]

It is now March of 1862. The Union overran Shiloh which is west of Memphis. Grant is still in Humbolt to the north of Memphis. This is the last turn of winter which hampers Union offensive movements. I'd expect the Union to begin many more attacks in the coming months. Currently, there are four armies in the west.

[RedArgo]

In the east Lee is now in charge of the main army in Gordonsville. Last we know Buell was in charge of the Union forces in Washington. McDowell was relieved from command at Ft. Monroe. Pope has replaced his position, but hasn't gotten his army yet.

I'm hoping Buell will attack as he is a mediocre general and that Lee will decisively beat him to buy me more time.

[RedArgo]

April/May wasn't good for me. Grant overran Dickson just west of Nashville and Lyon took Murfreesburo just east of Nashville. Hopefully, AS Johnston will be able to escape from Nashville. After Grant's move, he moved his HQ to Shiloh leaving the bulk of his force in Dickson. Joseph Johnston took this opportunity to counter attack hoping to catch Grant sleeping at Shiloh. Unfortunately, a good chuck of Johnston's army didn't make it to the battle and although we gave as good as we got, we were outmatched and forced to retreat. I really wish I had moved Lee west now.

[RedArgo]

In the Union's May turn, Grant followed up his defensive victory with a crushing defeat of Johnston's army at Corinth. This shows the known forces before the battle began. Things are going from bad to worse in the west and this is only the spring.