This is a copy of an AAR I have going over on the ACWGC Forum, http://www.wargame.ch/board/acw/topic.a ... C_ID=12551, but since some of you may not be familiar with it and I have in a word document so I can easily duplicate it, I thought I would also post it over here. It is primarially my commentary on the CSA turns but I will duplicate any posts Gen. Collins adds to the ARR (not sure of his ID over here). Since I am generating this AAR for future posting on our War College I tried to give considerable information on how the game works (or at least how I think it works).
Any way here it goes:
[center]AAR
War Between the States
Lt.Gen. Whitehead (CSA) vs B.Gen. Collins (USA)[/center]
The Beginning
Having played two games, one as the Union versus the AI on Easy and one as the South versus the AI on Easy, I went to war with Gen. Collins, who as done a few more practice games. I immediately found that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The game against the AI is a bit different from playing a real player, the most obvious difference being fewer units and fewer leaders. After one false start where we didn’t have our game versions matched up (they have an update out so be sure to install it) in which my only Theater Commander, Gen. Cooper, got drunk and fell in the James River and drowned leaving the Confederacy in a terrible position, we got things going again and the war was on.
First some general observations about strategy and the game:
The Union Political status is the key to the game. They must maintain a high enough level of points to get pass key decision points in the game. The first is “Emancipation Proclamation”. They must have PP above 1000 and win a Major Victory to be able to declare this. They should also control the Border States before declaring it since any remain Neutral Border State regions will go to the Confederate. There is also a chance Kentucky will become a CSA state. This makes securing the neutral regions, winning a major victory and having more than 1000 PP the main goals of the Union in 1861/62.
The second Union goal is dependent on achieving the first goal, Recruitment of Black Solders. After the Emancipation Proclamation the Recruitment of Black Solders becomes available. It has a down side in that it will cost the Union 50 PP when they do it but it is critical to the ability of the Union player to raise troops after 1863.
And last and all determining, Lincoln’s reelection in Nov of 1864. The Union must have 1000 PP for Lincoln to win. If he loses the Union very quickly loses the game. Likewise if he wins the South very quickly loses the game.
The Southern strategy is to keep the Union PP below 1000. There are a lot of things that affect PP gains and losses including controlling enemy regions, winning and losing battles, choosing commanders, monthly decrease due to war lasting to long, etc.
The method for gaining victories to get those PP’s is through Initiative. This game you live and die on leader initiative. It determines when and how much you can bring to battles. Both sides have Leader problems. The Union lacks Leaders with the kind of Offensive Initiative they need to get their massive amounts of troops and resources moving against the South. The South lacks Leaders at all levels along with troops for them to command.
Since I am playing the CSA I will comment more on their problems:
First, they have no troops to counter the Union. They are out numbered two to one for most of the first year. The Union amphibious ability along with seeming endless numbers of men and Leaders give the South a huge front to cover.
Second, the South starts the war with only one Theater Commander and three Army Commanders. This wouldn’t be a problem except there are no Commanders of sufficient quality to be the second Theater Commander and no Leaders to replace them as Army Commanders. Lee doesn’t arrive until spring of 62 and most of the future Corps commanders have to low a rank to use yet.
The third is supply. The Union has an unlimited amount and only has a problem once they enter enemy regions. The South is slowly dying from lack of supply. As the Union blockade tightens, ports fall, and critical resource regions get occupied the South’s ability to supply its armies will collapse.
Now for the game:
I will post monthly reports for the turns. We are both playing with the AI controlling production so we are stuck with what it gives us and historic leaders. I will include tactical tips and why I made the choices I made but keep in mind this is all based on my vast experience of two round with the AI (one of which I lost). Hopefully Gen. Collins will also make posts on the Union side of this. The commentary will lag about two turns so I don’t give away any great secrets. I also wish I had some great secrets to give away.
AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
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kennonlightfoot
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Jul 1861
The dastardly Yankee’s seized most of West Virginia and all of Missouri whose turn coat inhabitants promptly went over to the Union. The few Rebel troops in Western Virginia are driven out. Kentucky is neutral so serves as a buffer for now. I quickly shift troops to New Orleans, Memphis and Northern Virginia to stop any immediate invasions. The coast is tougher. Some areas have sufficient population to generate militia to throw the enemy back if they land but there are many regions that don’t plus most need fortifications and troops that I don’t have. I do move forces to Norfolk and build a fort there.
This first turn forces me to face the first hard decision the CSA player has to make. What to do about my command situation. I have Gen. Cooper in Richmond as my Theatre Commander. He is relatively good but may drop dead at any time, drinking problem I think. Johnson and Beauregard are my two Army Commanders in Virginia. Neither are great nor up to Theatre Command. In the West I have A. Johnson. If I promote one to Theater Command then I will have to promote a mediocre general to Army Command. If I don’t fill the spots I hurt my Initiative chances as well as reduce the number of Political Points these commanders generate (you get each turn PP equal to the sum of your Commander’s political ratings). I decide to try to get by without the appointment.
I also decide to start some Raider production (this is separate from normal production so the AI doesn’t control it in this game). I plan to make a total of four ships over the coming months. This is an iffy call. It cost the South 31 supply to produce one. Over the long term they will cause 2-3 political points of damage to the North every turn but it is difficult to judge how much value you get for the investment. I compromised and built some but not a lot.
In other areas I am creating cavalry and calling up leaders and trying to get organized for the coming invasions.
The Union of course makes their first Draft. The Draft costs them 50 PP but it’s a must for them to raise their armies quickly. It will also give them more than twice my numbers very quickly. Before everyone points out the Union didn’t have a draft in 1861 be aware that it’s a simplification. In the game the cost of producing Militia changes with each year of the war. So declaring a Draft in 61 or 62 reduces the cost of Militia to 6 population points for two turns. This will be followed by four turns where it will cost the normal population points plus 3. In 1863 this cost changes to 12 and in 64 to 18. So the low cost in 61 and 62 reflect that these are really calls for volunteers not drafts. The normal population cost for militia changes each year. For the North it is 18 in 1861/62 which is why the calling of the Draft is so important. In later years it keeps going up to 24 in 63 and 30 in 64/65. This is why Black recruitment is so important to the Union later in the game.
The South on the other hand has no draft just the normal recruitment. Its numbers are 9 in 61, 6 in 62, 12 in 63 and finally 18 after. Considering the South’s smaller population pool you can see from 63 on the CSA losses the ability to make new units. What little they have will go to repairing damaged units.
The dastardly Yankee’s seized most of West Virginia and all of Missouri whose turn coat inhabitants promptly went over to the Union. The few Rebel troops in Western Virginia are driven out. Kentucky is neutral so serves as a buffer for now. I quickly shift troops to New Orleans, Memphis and Northern Virginia to stop any immediate invasions. The coast is tougher. Some areas have sufficient population to generate militia to throw the enemy back if they land but there are many regions that don’t plus most need fortifications and troops that I don’t have. I do move forces to Norfolk and build a fort there.
This first turn forces me to face the first hard decision the CSA player has to make. What to do about my command situation. I have Gen. Cooper in Richmond as my Theatre Commander. He is relatively good but may drop dead at any time, drinking problem I think. Johnson and Beauregard are my two Army Commanders in Virginia. Neither are great nor up to Theatre Command. In the West I have A. Johnson. If I promote one to Theater Command then I will have to promote a mediocre general to Army Command. If I don’t fill the spots I hurt my Initiative chances as well as reduce the number of Political Points these commanders generate (you get each turn PP equal to the sum of your Commander’s political ratings). I decide to try to get by without the appointment.
I also decide to start some Raider production (this is separate from normal production so the AI doesn’t control it in this game). I plan to make a total of four ships over the coming months. This is an iffy call. It cost the South 31 supply to produce one. Over the long term they will cause 2-3 political points of damage to the North every turn but it is difficult to judge how much value you get for the investment. I compromised and built some but not a lot.
In other areas I am creating cavalry and calling up leaders and trying to get organized for the coming invasions.
The Union of course makes their first Draft. The Draft costs them 50 PP but it’s a must for them to raise their armies quickly. It will also give them more than twice my numbers very quickly. Before everyone points out the Union didn’t have a draft in 1861 be aware that it’s a simplification. In the game the cost of producing Militia changes with each year of the war. So declaring a Draft in 61 or 62 reduces the cost of Militia to 6 population points for two turns. This will be followed by four turns where it will cost the normal population points plus 3. In 1863 this cost changes to 12 and in 64 to 18. So the low cost in 61 and 62 reflect that these are really calls for volunteers not drafts. The normal population cost for militia changes each year. For the North it is 18 in 1861/62 which is why the calling of the Draft is so important. In later years it keeps going up to 24 in 63 and 30 in 64/65. This is why Black recruitment is so important to the Union later in the game.
The South on the other hand has no draft just the normal recruitment. Its numbers are 9 in 61, 6 in 62, 12 in 63 and finally 18 after. Considering the South’s smaller population pool you can see from 63 on the CSA losses the ability to make new units. What little they have will go to repairing damaged units.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Aug 1861
Both sides are nibbling at each other. The Union is probably waiting for the second month of their Draft to yield its results and moving their piles of men into position. They drive my last outpost still in W.Va. territory out by taking the region of Franklin. I got one of those lucky activations where a lone Leader gets initiative even though far from any commanders. Out in Arkansas my little command crosses into Missouri and takes Srpingfield.
But the big action and most dangerous for the South is a Union amphibious landing at Galveston. Texas is an important source of both trade and men for the South. I have a leader and two militia units defending. The Union invades with two brigades (about 4,000 men). And this triggers the save the South rule, Militia Mobilization. Anytime the enemy first attacks a Region with a population center it will cause a Militia Mobilization equal to twice the population plus the number of resources in the region. For Galveston this is two more militia units giving me 8,000 men who drive the Yankees back into the sea. Militia Mobilization is the only thing protecting most of the South’s coast right now until I can raise enough troops for garrisons and leaders to organize them.
I prepare for more amphibious landings as best I can. I move Beauregard down southward so he can command a small force for reaction to any invasion along the East Coast.
One of the “learning curve” problems you have in this game is estimating the reach of units. Beauregard will give the force bonuses if they need to react to an invasion but how much help he gives depends on whether he has initiative or not, the availability of railroad and roads to the region, the terrain in the region and the bonuses of any leaders in command of the units. Until you get a lot more experience with the game it is very difficult to estimate how far you can be from a region to support it against attack.
I will touch more on this when we get to some real combat but first be aware in this game there are two phases in which combat is initiated. The first is during the normal movement phase. Any Leader with initiative can move into an enemy region if he has sufficient movement points and create a combat situation. This is usually the Union player’s specialty. They are usually the attacker. The second phase that combat can be initiated in is the Reaction Movement that occurs at the start of the next players turn. This is usually the Rebel and it is a reaction to the Union attack. During this phase the player can move any troops that can reach the Region being attacked that have sufficient movement points. Leaders don’t need to have initiative in order to move or add their specialty skills to the combat but it helps since they pay an additional 1 point movement penalty if they don’t have it. This means the attacker doesn’t really know how much force will be able to show up in the region he is going to attack but he does have the advantage of knowing how much force he can put into the region since he does know what he has active. The reacting player who is usually the Rebel doesn’t know what can reach a particular region until he sees which Leaders got activation and how far their forces are from the battle.
So there sits Beauregard with his small little army hoping to turn back the Yankee tide that might hit any beach along the South’s coast. Maybe he will be able to reach with his whole force and drive them into the see or maybe he will have to watch helplessly as they land.
Both sides are nibbling at each other. The Union is probably waiting for the second month of their Draft to yield its results and moving their piles of men into position. They drive my last outpost still in W.Va. territory out by taking the region of Franklin. I got one of those lucky activations where a lone Leader gets initiative even though far from any commanders. Out in Arkansas my little command crosses into Missouri and takes Srpingfield.
But the big action and most dangerous for the South is a Union amphibious landing at Galveston. Texas is an important source of both trade and men for the South. I have a leader and two militia units defending. The Union invades with two brigades (about 4,000 men). And this triggers the save the South rule, Militia Mobilization. Anytime the enemy first attacks a Region with a population center it will cause a Militia Mobilization equal to twice the population plus the number of resources in the region. For Galveston this is two more militia units giving me 8,000 men who drive the Yankees back into the sea. Militia Mobilization is the only thing protecting most of the South’s coast right now until I can raise enough troops for garrisons and leaders to organize them.
I prepare for more amphibious landings as best I can. I move Beauregard down southward so he can command a small force for reaction to any invasion along the East Coast.
One of the “learning curve” problems you have in this game is estimating the reach of units. Beauregard will give the force bonuses if they need to react to an invasion but how much help he gives depends on whether he has initiative or not, the availability of railroad and roads to the region, the terrain in the region and the bonuses of any leaders in command of the units. Until you get a lot more experience with the game it is very difficult to estimate how far you can be from a region to support it against attack.
I will touch more on this when we get to some real combat but first be aware in this game there are two phases in which combat is initiated. The first is during the normal movement phase. Any Leader with initiative can move into an enemy region if he has sufficient movement points and create a combat situation. This is usually the Union player’s specialty. They are usually the attacker. The second phase that combat can be initiated in is the Reaction Movement that occurs at the start of the next players turn. This is usually the Rebel and it is a reaction to the Union attack. During this phase the player can move any troops that can reach the Region being attacked that have sufficient movement points. Leaders don’t need to have initiative in order to move or add their specialty skills to the combat but it helps since they pay an additional 1 point movement penalty if they don’t have it. This means the attacker doesn’t really know how much force will be able to show up in the region he is going to attack but he does have the advantage of knowing how much force he can put into the region since he does know what he has active. The reacting player who is usually the Rebel doesn’t know what can reach a particular region until he sees which Leaders got activation and how far their forces are from the battle.
So there sits Beauregard with his small little army hoping to turn back the Yankee tide that might hit any beach along the South’s coast. Maybe he will be able to reach with his whole force and drive them into the see or maybe he will have to watch helplessly as they land.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Sep 1861
Another slow turn, no significant Union action so I must consider if I should act. The Union command is probably massing troops to take Kentucky next turn since in October the odds of breaking their neutrality causing them to go Rebel decrease considerably. When playing the AI it always invades Kentucky first. This has the advantage of seizing a number of regions quickly and with out a fight and most important taking the Paducah region that controls the Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The trouble is I don’t have enough troops. The AI never seemed to have any problem taking and holding it but I think it cheats. There is another advantage of going in September, the Union will not be able to react to it since I am only engaging Neutrals and their next turn for attacking will be October which is a winter month.
Winter occurs in the months of October through March. It affects both Initiative and movement so with luck the Union will just have to sit and watch and I will have time to secure the state and build fortifications. On the other hand he has probably put a huge force in Cairo and if it does activate they will stomp me into the ground. There is also the question of how Kentucky will affect my Political Points. The rules say that the Confederates will suffer a PP loss of 40 and trigger a 20% chance that Kentucky will join the Union. This is straight forward but is then confused by a comment saying that you must subtract the Leader and Partisan Help Value multiplied by 30 which significantly changes these numbers. In addition you will gain political points for the regions you occupy. This is confusing because no where in the manual do they define what a “Leader and Partisan Help Value” is.
But the only way to find out is to do it so gray troops march into Kentucky. It doesn’t look like I took a big PP hit but it is hard to tell all that went on. And, quickly look at the manpower status shows the Union having 180 brigades to my 82, I pray for lack of initiative on the Union side of the river.
Another slow turn, no significant Union action so I must consider if I should act. The Union command is probably massing troops to take Kentucky next turn since in October the odds of breaking their neutrality causing them to go Rebel decrease considerably. When playing the AI it always invades Kentucky first. This has the advantage of seizing a number of regions quickly and with out a fight and most important taking the Paducah region that controls the Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. The trouble is I don’t have enough troops. The AI never seemed to have any problem taking and holding it but I think it cheats. There is another advantage of going in September, the Union will not be able to react to it since I am only engaging Neutrals and their next turn for attacking will be October which is a winter month.
Winter occurs in the months of October through March. It affects both Initiative and movement so with luck the Union will just have to sit and watch and I will have time to secure the state and build fortifications. On the other hand he has probably put a huge force in Cairo and if it does activate they will stomp me into the ground. There is also the question of how Kentucky will affect my Political Points. The rules say that the Confederates will suffer a PP loss of 40 and trigger a 20% chance that Kentucky will join the Union. This is straight forward but is then confused by a comment saying that you must subtract the Leader and Partisan Help Value multiplied by 30 which significantly changes these numbers. In addition you will gain political points for the regions you occupy. This is confusing because no where in the manual do they define what a “Leader and Partisan Help Value” is.
But the only way to find out is to do it so gray troops march into Kentucky. It doesn’t look like I took a big PP hit but it is hard to tell all that went on. And, quickly look at the manpower status shows the Union having 180 brigades to my 82, I pray for lack of initiative on the Union side of the river.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Oct 1861
Unfortunately for me the Yankee Western Armies must have gotten all the initiative they needed. Massive forces move into Kentucky capture most of the remaining areas and worse driving me out of the key area of Paducah. Gen. A. Johnson’s small army doesn’t stand a chance against the 2:1 odds and is easily driven back. Worse one of my potential leaders, Gen. Bragg, is wounded.
To make things worse the Union lands in Pensacola easily driving off the one Militia brigade defending the Region. Winter has started with things turning bad for the Confederacy.
Leaders in this game can be killed or wounded during battles and sometimes they just get mad and resign for a while. The likely hood of it occurring is based on luck and a health factor. Seems some leaders are accident prone. In Bragg’s case he was wounded and will return after a short delay of a few months.
Unfortunately for me the Yankee Western Armies must have gotten all the initiative they needed. Massive forces move into Kentucky capture most of the remaining areas and worse driving me out of the key area of Paducah. Gen. A. Johnson’s small army doesn’t stand a chance against the 2:1 odds and is easily driven back. Worse one of my potential leaders, Gen. Bragg, is wounded.
To make things worse the Union lands in Pensacola easily driving off the one Militia brigade defending the Region. Winter has started with things turning bad for the Confederacy.
Leaders in this game can be killed or wounded during battles and sometimes they just get mad and resign for a while. The likely hood of it occurring is based on luck and a health factor. Seems some leaders are accident prone. In Bragg’s case he was wounded and will return after a short delay of a few months.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Nov 1861
This is a good month. Nothing bad happens to me. I shift Beauregard with Early in tow south into the Atlanta region to see if he will get initiative and be able to reach Pensacola. I would like to retake it but can’t afford to expose too much of the East coast to invasion.
Note for future: They couldn’t reach. One of the gotchas of Winter campaigning is there is an automatic +1 tagged on to movement costs for a region. This significantly reduces the reach of reaction troops unless rail lines (which don’t suffer the penalty) are available. Trying to figure who can move to where is complex in this game. For one thing the number of movement points a force has is very dependent on its leader. Unlike HPS with fixed total movement points for each type and very specific movement costs for entering various terrains, WbS it depends. For example the base movement of infantry is one and artillery is two. Unlike HPS having one MP does not mean you get to at least move one hex or in this case region. If you don’t have sufficient MP’s you don’t move.
Well it doesn’t take much time glancing through the terrain cost chart to see a unit can’t move anywhere. The cost to enter clear terrain is 2 and for mountainous its 5. So how does anyone get anywhere? Luckily your friendly leader makes you march a lot faster. Every leader has what is called “special skills”. A number from 1-4 for infantry, artillery, and cavalry. This number is added to the base movement cost of the type of unit in his command and the stack moves at the lowest of these rates. For example, Jackson with an infantry rating of 4 can make an all infantry stack assigned to him move at the rate of 5 MP. Now we can enter West Virginia with him in command. Also, since he has a rating of 3 for artillery he is capable of also moving artillery that far (3+2).
But this brings the question how the devil do the lousy leaders move? Luckily for them there are roads and railroads to reduce the cost of movement to one. But the Rebel has to be careful of these especially ones that cross rivers. The Union can easily block these which can increase the cost (and ability to move into) a region considerably. The South also labors under the additional handicap of usually moving in the Reaction Phase where all costs are increased by one except rail. And, just when you think that “except rail” solves your problem you realize it depends on whether you have sufficient rail capacity to move all your troops. Many of the regions in the South have poor or no rail capacity and as the war progresses you can be sure the North will send cavalry raids deep into your territory to reduce it further.
To make a long story short I found I had to get old Beau almost adjacent to Pensacola before he could move into it.
(Note: There is an Undo command for movement that will roll it back but it must be used before the force does any other action.)
This is a good month. Nothing bad happens to me. I shift Beauregard with Early in tow south into the Atlanta region to see if he will get initiative and be able to reach Pensacola. I would like to retake it but can’t afford to expose too much of the East coast to invasion.
Note for future: They couldn’t reach. One of the gotchas of Winter campaigning is there is an automatic +1 tagged on to movement costs for a region. This significantly reduces the reach of reaction troops unless rail lines (which don’t suffer the penalty) are available. Trying to figure who can move to where is complex in this game. For one thing the number of movement points a force has is very dependent on its leader. Unlike HPS with fixed total movement points for each type and very specific movement costs for entering various terrains, WbS it depends. For example the base movement of infantry is one and artillery is two. Unlike HPS having one MP does not mean you get to at least move one hex or in this case region. If you don’t have sufficient MP’s you don’t move.
Well it doesn’t take much time glancing through the terrain cost chart to see a unit can’t move anywhere. The cost to enter clear terrain is 2 and for mountainous its 5. So how does anyone get anywhere? Luckily your friendly leader makes you march a lot faster. Every leader has what is called “special skills”. A number from 1-4 for infantry, artillery, and cavalry. This number is added to the base movement cost of the type of unit in his command and the stack moves at the lowest of these rates. For example, Jackson with an infantry rating of 4 can make an all infantry stack assigned to him move at the rate of 5 MP. Now we can enter West Virginia with him in command. Also, since he has a rating of 3 for artillery he is capable of also moving artillery that far (3+2).
But this brings the question how the devil do the lousy leaders move? Luckily for them there are roads and railroads to reduce the cost of movement to one. But the Rebel has to be careful of these especially ones that cross rivers. The Union can easily block these which can increase the cost (and ability to move into) a region considerably. The South also labors under the additional handicap of usually moving in the Reaction Phase where all costs are increased by one except rail. And, just when you think that “except rail” solves your problem you realize it depends on whether you have sufficient rail capacity to move all your troops. Many of the regions in the South have poor or no rail capacity and as the war progresses you can be sure the North will send cavalry raids deep into your territory to reduce it further.
To make a long story short I found I had to get old Beau almost adjacent to Pensacola before he could move into it.
(Note: There is an Undo command for movement that will roll it back but it must be used before the force does any other action.)
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Dec 1861
Pensacola is abandoned! I am not sure whether this was due to attrition or accident. Gen. Collins indicated he isn’t sure what happened either. I guess to make up for it the Union makes a landing at Norfolk and tries to take the port. Unfortunately for them most of Gen. Johnson’s army has initiative and moves by rail to support the garrison. The Union is driven if off after a short fight.
Pensacola highlights one of the curses of winter. Movement is restricted with an additional cost of 1 MP per region unless you have rail. I have units active all around Pensacola but not one can reach to take the undefended port. I move Beauregard adjacent and risk the East coast.
Pensacola is abandoned! I am not sure whether this was due to attrition or accident. Gen. Collins indicated he isn’t sure what happened either. I guess to make up for it the Union makes a landing at Norfolk and tries to take the port. Unfortunately for them most of Gen. Johnson’s army has initiative and moves by rail to support the garrison. The Union is driven if off after a short fight.
Pensacola highlights one of the curses of winter. Movement is restricted with an additional cost of 1 MP per region unless you have rail. I have units active all around Pensacola but not one can reach to take the undefended port. I move Beauregard adjacent and risk the East coast.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Jan 1862
The New Year brings some success but a dark cloud as well. Pensacola was not reoccupied. Probably the Yankees moved their transports away and are delayed a turn while they move them back. Beauregard marches in retaking the region for the South.
The dark cloud is the Union calling for a new Draft. This means they are preparing for major offensives I am still out numbered by over 2:1. It may be 3:1 if I can’t raise militia faster. 1862 is the best year for the South recruitment wise. The cost of Militia drops to 6 PP’s. Things will never be this good again but it’s only for one year and it will take time to raise and train them. The question is will I survive long enough for it to happen.
The New Year brings some success but a dark cloud as well. Pensacola was not reoccupied. Probably the Yankees moved their transports away and are delayed a turn while they move them back. Beauregard marches in retaking the region for the South.
The dark cloud is the Union calling for a new Draft. This means they are preparing for major offensives I am still out numbered by over 2:1. It may be 3:1 if I can’t raise militia faster. 1862 is the best year for the South recruitment wise. The cost of Militia drops to 6 PP’s. Things will never be this good again but it’s only for one year and it will take time to raise and train them. The question is will I survive long enough for it to happen.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Posted by Gen. Collins:
Excellent summary there Kennon!
Ok, a few comments from the Union point of view in this person to person game of Gary's 'War Between the States' (here in WBTS)
At the outset I would like to point out that Union play and Confederate play are quite different in this game as opposed to the HPS tactical system. In HPS the Union and Confederate armies are quite similar in makeup, and the unit capabilities when you get down to it are virtually the same. By that I mean that a Union or Confederate infantry are each going to have 12 mps in line no matter what happens. The same goes for cavalry and infantry. Generally speaking Union artillery will tend to be better but in the end both armies are the same.
While superficially this is true for infantry, cavalry and artillery in WBTS, it is not true for the way the game works. Leadership and activation is everything in this game. The movement capability of your troops is going to depend on leadership and activation and so is combat.
This makes game play entirely different than HPS and accents the differences in the armies not the similarities.
OK, some particulars of Union play. Kennon has given a very lucid description of Confederate play so I will try not to repeat the same informatio for the Union, but players must keep in mind that some of the problems that the Rebels must face, also face the Union, particularly initiative.
One of the first things the Union must do is secure the Border States as quickly as he can. Lincoln understood this clearly and stated that 'to lose them is to lose the entire game'. Missouri and West Virginia are not too difficult to secure. On turn 1 where certain leaders are automatically activated, take advantage of it and secure Missouri and West Virginia.
Kentucky is an entirely different case. As in the actual war, Kentucky had declared herself neautral and threatened both North and South to stay out of her territory. Gary has built in a great little subsystem to simulate the dilemna both sides had regarding this most important state. To make a long story short he has devised a kind of matrix probability chart that will trigger a random event when one party invades the state.
In practice this means that it is very risky to invade Kentucky in July of 1861. This is because if you invade too early, there is a better chance the state will go over to the other side. August is still risky but less so than July. By September with Kentucky's position being so critical to eventual success both parties should be seriously looking at invasion and to the devil with the consequences. The Kentucky dilemna makes the early part of the game critical, interesting and very exciting. Incidentally, Kentucky had southern sympathies and the odds that Kentucky will join the confederacy are slightly in her favour. Historically the Confederacy added Kentucky's star to her flag but Kentucky provided troops to both sides.
As Kennon pointed out the Union Navy's Invasion capability is tremendous and powerful. But it is a two edged sword. Remember, you still have to have initiative to marshal those invasions and if you don't have initiative where you need it, nothing is going to happen. The other thing is that with initiative being so important you have to prioritize to a large degree. Do I make that naval invasion down to New Bern North Carolina, or do I marshall the Army of the Potomac for an attack at Manassas? Or should I do both? Would marshalling one and not the other insure success? If I launch both will it be a catastrophic blow to the Confederacy or will this insure failure of both expeditions?
It takes a lot of resources to mount a successful Naval invasion and there is no guarantee of success. Hitting a larger population centre may give you more political points if captured, but it also insures a stiffer defence because Confederate militia automatically appear at any threatened point and militia size is dependent on population.
In our game I launched a successful invasion of Pensacola and closed down the port. But I accidentally missed a mouse click and sent the invading forces all the way back to Washington! So watch those mouse clicks as there is no 'undo' button.
That's it for now, I will add commentary as our game progresses and like Kennon's comments will be based on information from several turns previously as to not compromise our game.
In closing though, I think this game is a winner and definitely should be added to the club's roster of games.
Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade
Excellent summary there Kennon!
Ok, a few comments from the Union point of view in this person to person game of Gary's 'War Between the States' (here in WBTS)
At the outset I would like to point out that Union play and Confederate play are quite different in this game as opposed to the HPS tactical system. In HPS the Union and Confederate armies are quite similar in makeup, and the unit capabilities when you get down to it are virtually the same. By that I mean that a Union or Confederate infantry are each going to have 12 mps in line no matter what happens. The same goes for cavalry and infantry. Generally speaking Union artillery will tend to be better but in the end both armies are the same.
While superficially this is true for infantry, cavalry and artillery in WBTS, it is not true for the way the game works. Leadership and activation is everything in this game. The movement capability of your troops is going to depend on leadership and activation and so is combat.
This makes game play entirely different than HPS and accents the differences in the armies not the similarities.
OK, some particulars of Union play. Kennon has given a very lucid description of Confederate play so I will try not to repeat the same informatio for the Union, but players must keep in mind that some of the problems that the Rebels must face, also face the Union, particularly initiative.
One of the first things the Union must do is secure the Border States as quickly as he can. Lincoln understood this clearly and stated that 'to lose them is to lose the entire game'. Missouri and West Virginia are not too difficult to secure. On turn 1 where certain leaders are automatically activated, take advantage of it and secure Missouri and West Virginia.
Kentucky is an entirely different case. As in the actual war, Kentucky had declared herself neautral and threatened both North and South to stay out of her territory. Gary has built in a great little subsystem to simulate the dilemna both sides had regarding this most important state. To make a long story short he has devised a kind of matrix probability chart that will trigger a random event when one party invades the state.
In practice this means that it is very risky to invade Kentucky in July of 1861. This is because if you invade too early, there is a better chance the state will go over to the other side. August is still risky but less so than July. By September with Kentucky's position being so critical to eventual success both parties should be seriously looking at invasion and to the devil with the consequences. The Kentucky dilemna makes the early part of the game critical, interesting and very exciting. Incidentally, Kentucky had southern sympathies and the odds that Kentucky will join the confederacy are slightly in her favour. Historically the Confederacy added Kentucky's star to her flag but Kentucky provided troops to both sides.
As Kennon pointed out the Union Navy's Invasion capability is tremendous and powerful. But it is a two edged sword. Remember, you still have to have initiative to marshal those invasions and if you don't have initiative where you need it, nothing is going to happen. The other thing is that with initiative being so important you have to prioritize to a large degree. Do I make that naval invasion down to New Bern North Carolina, or do I marshall the Army of the Potomac for an attack at Manassas? Or should I do both? Would marshalling one and not the other insure success? If I launch both will it be a catastrophic blow to the Confederacy or will this insure failure of both expeditions?
It takes a lot of resources to mount a successful Naval invasion and there is no guarantee of success. Hitting a larger population centre may give you more political points if captured, but it also insures a stiffer defence because Confederate militia automatically appear at any threatened point and militia size is dependent on population.
In our game I launched a successful invasion of Pensacola and closed down the port. But I accidentally missed a mouse click and sent the invading forces all the way back to Washington! So watch those mouse clicks as there is no 'undo' button.
That's it for now, I will add commentary as our game progresses and like Kennon's comments will be based on information from several turns previously as to not compromise our game.
In closing though, I think this game is a winner and definitely should be added to the club's roster of games.
Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Feb 1862
The Yankees went on the offensive, mostly exploiting their being everywhere. Grant marches into Bowling Green and amphibious landings in New Bern and Pensacola. I am only partially able to respond.
New Bern is an easy one. Even though Beauregard hasn’t been able to reform his army on the East Coast New Bern is to near other fortified areas and Virginia. I easily pull in enough troops to win this one. Banks is driven back into the sea.
Pensacola again is an easy one too. Early hasn’t had time to leave so Hunter lands his Yankees into a region with a full division waiting for him. He is easily driven back.
Bowling Green is another story. Not a single brigade gets initiative to go help so the troops under Gen. Pillow are left to fight 77,000 Yankees with just 6,000 men. Unfortunately Pillow is an idiot and actually stands and fights instead of running losing most of his command.
As for my turn the fighting has gotten most of my men out of position so except for cavalry raids I most shuffle troops. A. Johnson moves most of his command to a central position to try place himself between the two armies advancing on Tennessee but his situation is still hopeless. Either Army can defeat his small force. I desperately need time to rebuild my armies so they can even stand a chance against these huge Yankee forces. The South needs a lot of luck on the next two turns.
Gen. Bragg after a short convalescence has returned to active duty giving me one offensive general in the west. Lee should be available next month. Hopefully the Union gives me a breathing space to reorganize my armies but I doubt it.
The Yankees went on the offensive, mostly exploiting their being everywhere. Grant marches into Bowling Green and amphibious landings in New Bern and Pensacola. I am only partially able to respond.
New Bern is an easy one. Even though Beauregard hasn’t been able to reform his army on the East Coast New Bern is to near other fortified areas and Virginia. I easily pull in enough troops to win this one. Banks is driven back into the sea.
Pensacola again is an easy one too. Early hasn’t had time to leave so Hunter lands his Yankees into a region with a full division waiting for him. He is easily driven back.
Bowling Green is another story. Not a single brigade gets initiative to go help so the troops under Gen. Pillow are left to fight 77,000 Yankees with just 6,000 men. Unfortunately Pillow is an idiot and actually stands and fights instead of running losing most of his command.
As for my turn the fighting has gotten most of my men out of position so except for cavalry raids I most shuffle troops. A. Johnson moves most of his command to a central position to try place himself between the two armies advancing on Tennessee but his situation is still hopeless. Either Army can defeat his small force. I desperately need time to rebuild my armies so they can even stand a chance against these huge Yankee forces. The South needs a lot of luck on the next two turns.
Gen. Bragg after a short convalescence has returned to active duty giving me one offensive general in the west. Lee should be available next month. Hopefully the Union gives me a breathing space to reorganize my armies but I doubt it.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Mar 1862
March is still winter but it’s a hot time in the border states. Gen. Collins seems to be probing for weaknesses in the Virginia front and makes an all out assault in Kentucky. I’ll give a detail description of the Humbolt assault since it’s the first full battle. I turned back all the attacks but it fixed my units in place so that I couldn’t make any significant shift of troops. This is quite important in Kentucky/Tennessee are because the Union has concentrated huge armies there. About 80,000 men in Paducah and maybe 100,000 in Bowling Green. I don’t know why he made the smaller attack out of Paducah this turn. One of the problems with winter offensives is you can seldom move some of your poorer commanders even if they have initiative.
The Virginia probes were all small attacks against different areas of the state. Attacks were made on Norfolk, New Kent (next to Fort Monroe), and Manassas but none were overpowering and I easily had enough men with initiative to move substantial forces into each area. In Manassas I sent Jackson in giving the force there 27,000 men against 6,000. I wanted to make sure Jackson got some points to his promotion. In New Kent I sent Longstreet who brought the numbers up to about 17,000 against 7,000 under Tyler. Here I won handily but at great cost. Longstreet is wounded and out of action for a while.
The Norfolk fight was peculiar because it involve ships and heavy artillery. The numbers were much closer too. Smith was sent by Beauregard with 18,000 men against an invasion force of 19,000 under McDowell. But Norfolk has 4 heavy artillery units (in game terms this is 80 guns) against the Yankee’s who sent three Fleets. The Fleets attack first damaging some of my artillery but my force easily wipes McDowell. Then follows something different. My Heavy Guns execute an attack against the ships after the main battle sinking two of them.
Naval forces have some unique operations when engaged in land support operations. They can bombard during the movement phase to attempt to destroy the artillery in forts. They can support the infantry attack with a bombardment phase during battle. And if they are still in the adjacent waters at the end of the turn they are subject to a bombardment from shore batteries.
Anyway all these Virginia battles ended up minor victories for me. Minor victories don’t generate as many Political Points as Major so only a small gain here. They do give the leaders a chance to improve though. The unusual thing about minor battles is both the winner and the loser can improve leaders. In major battles losing is always bad for leaders I think.
Now for the big battle in Humbolt. Gen. A. Johnson reacts to this one with everything he can get hold of. Unfortunately he didn’t get initiative but most of his subordinates did. In Reaction phase all you need is sufficient movement points so some units could make it without initiative but I had a few who couldn’t. This is where cavalry scouting is important. Since I had scouted Paducah I had spotted all the Union forces there so I had a pretty good idea of how many were attacking. The USA forces consisted of 17 Infantry, 7 Militia, 10 Field Guns, 2 Heavy Guns, and 2 Cavalry. To counter this invasion I was able to move 18 Infantry, 5 Militia, 7 Field Guns, 2 Heavy Guns, and 3 Cavalry into the region. Cavalry scouting yields another dividend in that units spotted don’t fight as goods as unspotted units. This is to simulate surprise.
Here is where a lot of things get iffy. One problem is using Heavy Guns. If you lose they are usually lost in the retreat. The other is our forces are very much the same size. Each infantry unit has about 2,000 men and each artillery unit is equivalent to 20 guns. The Union probably also has some gunboats that don’t show up. The good thing for me is most of my units are not spotted and its winter. Unspotted units get a bonus. Also the Union movement cost more and hopefully it is poorly commanded, Gen. Lyon being in overall command. In battles your troops are feed in slowly based on their Leader’s ability and how far they moved to get there. I hope I have the edge there.
The battle starts slowly with only about 6,000 on each side fighting and then begins building as more Leaders arrive with their troops. At its height the following forces are involved:
USA 52,400 men and 240 guns
CSA 53,800 men and 180 guns
But old Albert is a much better general than Lyon. He drives the Yankees off with heavy losses:
USA loses: 13,160 men and 30 guns
CSA loses: 7,660 men and 10 guns
And here is where the problem with heavy guns as well as the commande’rs ability to retreat come in. The final USA loses are 13,460 men and 60 guns. Your artillery takes a beating when you lose especially if you have heavy artillery with you.
The other big plus for winning a Major Victory is many of your officers get their command points improved and points to promotion. The important ones for me are Bragg to 16 and A. Johnston to 18 since I plan to make major changes to my command structure this turn. I will cover my leader selection in a separate column.
The down side of all this is my troops are now shifted out of place for what will come on the first summer turn of April. Most have used up their movement and can’t be shifted back to support positions for the coming attacks. All I can hope for is bad Union initiative to give me another turn to reorganize.
March is still winter but it’s a hot time in the border states. Gen. Collins seems to be probing for weaknesses in the Virginia front and makes an all out assault in Kentucky. I’ll give a detail description of the Humbolt assault since it’s the first full battle. I turned back all the attacks but it fixed my units in place so that I couldn’t make any significant shift of troops. This is quite important in Kentucky/Tennessee are because the Union has concentrated huge armies there. About 80,000 men in Paducah and maybe 100,000 in Bowling Green. I don’t know why he made the smaller attack out of Paducah this turn. One of the problems with winter offensives is you can seldom move some of your poorer commanders even if they have initiative.
The Virginia probes were all small attacks against different areas of the state. Attacks were made on Norfolk, New Kent (next to Fort Monroe), and Manassas but none were overpowering and I easily had enough men with initiative to move substantial forces into each area. In Manassas I sent Jackson in giving the force there 27,000 men against 6,000. I wanted to make sure Jackson got some points to his promotion. In New Kent I sent Longstreet who brought the numbers up to about 17,000 against 7,000 under Tyler. Here I won handily but at great cost. Longstreet is wounded and out of action for a while.
The Norfolk fight was peculiar because it involve ships and heavy artillery. The numbers were much closer too. Smith was sent by Beauregard with 18,000 men against an invasion force of 19,000 under McDowell. But Norfolk has 4 heavy artillery units (in game terms this is 80 guns) against the Yankee’s who sent three Fleets. The Fleets attack first damaging some of my artillery but my force easily wipes McDowell. Then follows something different. My Heavy Guns execute an attack against the ships after the main battle sinking two of them.
Naval forces have some unique operations when engaged in land support operations. They can bombard during the movement phase to attempt to destroy the artillery in forts. They can support the infantry attack with a bombardment phase during battle. And if they are still in the adjacent waters at the end of the turn they are subject to a bombardment from shore batteries.
Anyway all these Virginia battles ended up minor victories for me. Minor victories don’t generate as many Political Points as Major so only a small gain here. They do give the leaders a chance to improve though. The unusual thing about minor battles is both the winner and the loser can improve leaders. In major battles losing is always bad for leaders I think.
Now for the big battle in Humbolt. Gen. A. Johnson reacts to this one with everything he can get hold of. Unfortunately he didn’t get initiative but most of his subordinates did. In Reaction phase all you need is sufficient movement points so some units could make it without initiative but I had a few who couldn’t. This is where cavalry scouting is important. Since I had scouted Paducah I had spotted all the Union forces there so I had a pretty good idea of how many were attacking. The USA forces consisted of 17 Infantry, 7 Militia, 10 Field Guns, 2 Heavy Guns, and 2 Cavalry. To counter this invasion I was able to move 18 Infantry, 5 Militia, 7 Field Guns, 2 Heavy Guns, and 3 Cavalry into the region. Cavalry scouting yields another dividend in that units spotted don’t fight as goods as unspotted units. This is to simulate surprise.
Here is where a lot of things get iffy. One problem is using Heavy Guns. If you lose they are usually lost in the retreat. The other is our forces are very much the same size. Each infantry unit has about 2,000 men and each artillery unit is equivalent to 20 guns. The Union probably also has some gunboats that don’t show up. The good thing for me is most of my units are not spotted and its winter. Unspotted units get a bonus. Also the Union movement cost more and hopefully it is poorly commanded, Gen. Lyon being in overall command. In battles your troops are feed in slowly based on their Leader’s ability and how far they moved to get there. I hope I have the edge there.
The battle starts slowly with only about 6,000 on each side fighting and then begins building as more Leaders arrive with their troops. At its height the following forces are involved:
USA 52,400 men and 240 guns
CSA 53,800 men and 180 guns
But old Albert is a much better general than Lyon. He drives the Yankees off with heavy losses:
USA loses: 13,160 men and 30 guns
CSA loses: 7,660 men and 10 guns
And here is where the problem with heavy guns as well as the commande’rs ability to retreat come in. The final USA loses are 13,460 men and 60 guns. Your artillery takes a beating when you lose especially if you have heavy artillery with you.
The other big plus for winning a Major Victory is many of your officers get their command points improved and points to promotion. The important ones for me are Bragg to 16 and A. Johnston to 18 since I plan to make major changes to my command structure this turn. I will cover my leader selection in a separate column.
The down side of all this is my troops are now shifted out of place for what will come on the first summer turn of April. Most have used up their movement and can’t be shifted back to support positions for the coming attacks. All I can hope for is bad Union initiative to give me another turn to reorganize.
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Leader Promotions:
In March R. E. Lee became available and it was time for me to fix my fractured command structure so I thought I would make a separate write up on it so people could see some of what goes into Commanders and Leaders in the game. Leaders have a lot of attributes that affect different parts of the game depending on their role in it. Here are some of the most important one grouped by type:
Rank: Which is of course how high level a General they are. Most are 1-4 star generals but a few leaders start off colonels. In the game Rank determines who can be promoted to command Armies and Theaters. You must be three or four start or two star with more than 10 command points. Rank is also used as part of the initiative roll for TC (Theater Commanders) so is important to that assignment.
Command Points: This is the number that determines how many units can be under the Leader. For the TC it also is used in the Initiative roll.
Attack and Defense Ratings: Every Leader has a number 1-4 assigned to these. They are added to the combat values of troops below them for offensive and defensive situations. But most importantly the Attack rating is used in determining if a Leader and in particular the AC (Army Commander) has initiative.
Special Ability Ratings: Every Leader has a number 1-4 assigned to his ability to command different types of troops (infantry, artillery, cavalry, and naval). These numbers are added to the combat values of troops assigned to them and for AC are passed down to troops they activate. And almost as important the number is added to the movement factor of the unit type to determine the groups overall number of MP’s.
Political Rating and Administrative Rating: These two are the support ratings of the Leaders. Political is used in a number of functions but for TC’s and AC’s is added to the sides total Political Points for the month. The Administrative Rating is used to reduce the cost of building fortifications but for the TC is also used to determine initiative.
Training Ratings: Are used to help turn militia or mounted cavalry into trained infantry and cavalry.
Army Modifier: And last but not least is the army modifier which is 0 through -2. It is used to reduce the attack and defense ratings of the Leader if he is appointed to Army Command. Since this is so critical to an AC a leader having a negative number here is out of the running.
First the TC, Theatre Commander, whose main duty is to generate initiative bonuses to the two AC’s under them. The TC gets initiative based off of Rank, Administrative and Command ratings. Here Lee has trumps across the board but you hate to waste a general with a 4 Attack Rating on a desk job. So I will keep Cooper as the TC in the East. He has a 4 star rank, 4 admin, and a slightly low 16 command but not bad and to dismiss him would cost me political points. Only really serious negative for him is a 2 Political Rating so he doesn’t give me much in PP each month.
My second TC for the West is a much tougher choice. I have only four generals with sufficient rank for the position (J. Johnston, A. Johnston, Beauregard, and Lee). Lee it isn’t going to be and of the other three each has problems. Albert has the best political rating but also the best Attack rating so I would rather have him for an AC. Beauregard is only a three star general so the job goes to Joe Johnson.
For AC’s I have more choices since two star generals are allowed as long as they have Command Points above 10. This gives me a choice of Beauregard (already an AC), A. Johnston (also an AC), Lee, Van Dorn, Jackson, Polk, and Bragg. Jackson and Polk are out of the running because they have a -1 Army Modifier which means they will be much less effective as an AC than as Leaders. Lee of course is a sure in for the third AC. That leaves who is fourth since it will cost me PP to dismiss any existing AC’s. Bragg is the winner bringing only a two star rank to the job but a 4 Political Rating and a 3 Attack Rating.
So here’s my team going into the summer of 1862:
Gen. Cooper TC in East
Gen. J. Johnston TC in West
Supported by the following AC’s:
Gen. R. Lee
Gen. A. Johnston
Gen. P. Beauregard
Gen. B. Bragg
[:D]And no, Bragg doesn’t cause all his subordinate’s ratings to decrease by one.[:D]
In March R. E. Lee became available and it was time for me to fix my fractured command structure so I thought I would make a separate write up on it so people could see some of what goes into Commanders and Leaders in the game. Leaders have a lot of attributes that affect different parts of the game depending on their role in it. Here are some of the most important one grouped by type:
Rank: Which is of course how high level a General they are. Most are 1-4 star generals but a few leaders start off colonels. In the game Rank determines who can be promoted to command Armies and Theaters. You must be three or four start or two star with more than 10 command points. Rank is also used as part of the initiative roll for TC (Theater Commanders) so is important to that assignment.
Command Points: This is the number that determines how many units can be under the Leader. For the TC it also is used in the Initiative roll.
Attack and Defense Ratings: Every Leader has a number 1-4 assigned to these. They are added to the combat values of troops below them for offensive and defensive situations. But most importantly the Attack rating is used in determining if a Leader and in particular the AC (Army Commander) has initiative.
Special Ability Ratings: Every Leader has a number 1-4 assigned to his ability to command different types of troops (infantry, artillery, cavalry, and naval). These numbers are added to the combat values of troops assigned to them and for AC are passed down to troops they activate. And almost as important the number is added to the movement factor of the unit type to determine the groups overall number of MP’s.
Political Rating and Administrative Rating: These two are the support ratings of the Leaders. Political is used in a number of functions but for TC’s and AC’s is added to the sides total Political Points for the month. The Administrative Rating is used to reduce the cost of building fortifications but for the TC is also used to determine initiative.
Training Ratings: Are used to help turn militia or mounted cavalry into trained infantry and cavalry.
Army Modifier: And last but not least is the army modifier which is 0 through -2. It is used to reduce the attack and defense ratings of the Leader if he is appointed to Army Command. Since this is so critical to an AC a leader having a negative number here is out of the running.
First the TC, Theatre Commander, whose main duty is to generate initiative bonuses to the two AC’s under them. The TC gets initiative based off of Rank, Administrative and Command ratings. Here Lee has trumps across the board but you hate to waste a general with a 4 Attack Rating on a desk job. So I will keep Cooper as the TC in the East. He has a 4 star rank, 4 admin, and a slightly low 16 command but not bad and to dismiss him would cost me political points. Only really serious negative for him is a 2 Political Rating so he doesn’t give me much in PP each month.
My second TC for the West is a much tougher choice. I have only four generals with sufficient rank for the position (J. Johnston, A. Johnston, Beauregard, and Lee). Lee it isn’t going to be and of the other three each has problems. Albert has the best political rating but also the best Attack rating so I would rather have him for an AC. Beauregard is only a three star general so the job goes to Joe Johnson.
For AC’s I have more choices since two star generals are allowed as long as they have Command Points above 10. This gives me a choice of Beauregard (already an AC), A. Johnston (also an AC), Lee, Van Dorn, Jackson, Polk, and Bragg. Jackson and Polk are out of the running because they have a -1 Army Modifier which means they will be much less effective as an AC than as Leaders. Lee of course is a sure in for the third AC. That leaves who is fourth since it will cost me PP to dismiss any existing AC’s. Bragg is the winner bringing only a two star rank to the job but a 4 Political Rating and a 3 Attack Rating.
So here’s my team going into the summer of 1862:
Gen. Cooper TC in East
Gen. J. Johnston TC in West
Supported by the following AC’s:
Gen. R. Lee
Gen. A. Johnston
Gen. P. Beauregard
Gen. B. Bragg
[:D]And no, Bragg doesn’t cause all his subordinate’s ratings to decrease by one.[:D]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Apr 1862
Must have got lucky or to be more exact the Yankees got unlucky. Most of the offensive this turn were minor operations. The large Yankee army in Bowling Green moved into my weakly held Tennessee region of Clarksville easily overrunning it. They also sent a side force to take Glasglow, Kentucky.
The only offensives I attempt to resist was another landing in Elizabeth City below Norfolk. There I was able to send Early, Smith and Alexander’s artillery to support dealing McDowell another defeat.
For the first time the Union attempted a Naval only assault against the Mississippi forts. Admiral Farragut easily dispatched the Confederate Navy then bombarded my forts. My heavy artillery sank one ship then in the Shore Bombardment counterattack sent another two to Davy Jones. Unfortunately the Union fleet was still occupying the mouth of the Mississippi at the end of the turn shutting down all the Mississippi ports. This dropped my import supplies to 90 from 120. This is going to hurt because my ability to supply my armies is already deteriorating rapidly.
Otherwise I spend the turn trying to reorganize my army except for a minor attack against Franklin by Ewell to see if I can distract the Union. The big decision was whether to send Lee West. Lee would give the Western armies a much needed leadership advantage but at the cost of risking Virginia. I have already decided to give up Manassas without a fight and probably Winchester as well but I still need a AC there that can fight against hopeless odds.
Which brings us to Strategic Strategy. There is a reason during the Civil War the Southern generals withdrew behind the Rivers. It draws the Union away from their bases and places the CSA armies in positions from which to react to any move. A. Johnston withdrew below the Tennessee River because it is almost impossible to defend the areas above against an enemy with river movement. Tennessee is cut into four sections by first the southward Tennessee River which then runs east and back up to the north cutting Tennessee into a Western, Central and Eastern sections. And flowing across the top of Tennessee the Cumberland River cuts the northern section off. This is why I didn’t attempt to hold Clarksville above the Cumberland. I am not sure I can defend Nashville in the Center area without cutting myself off from supporting Memphis. I’ll know more once I see how far the reaction movement reaches from holding a central position between Nashville and Memphis.
Must have got lucky or to be more exact the Yankees got unlucky. Most of the offensive this turn were minor operations. The large Yankee army in Bowling Green moved into my weakly held Tennessee region of Clarksville easily overrunning it. They also sent a side force to take Glasglow, Kentucky.
The only offensives I attempt to resist was another landing in Elizabeth City below Norfolk. There I was able to send Early, Smith and Alexander’s artillery to support dealing McDowell another defeat.
For the first time the Union attempted a Naval only assault against the Mississippi forts. Admiral Farragut easily dispatched the Confederate Navy then bombarded my forts. My heavy artillery sank one ship then in the Shore Bombardment counterattack sent another two to Davy Jones. Unfortunately the Union fleet was still occupying the mouth of the Mississippi at the end of the turn shutting down all the Mississippi ports. This dropped my import supplies to 90 from 120. This is going to hurt because my ability to supply my armies is already deteriorating rapidly.
Otherwise I spend the turn trying to reorganize my army except for a minor attack against Franklin by Ewell to see if I can distract the Union. The big decision was whether to send Lee West. Lee would give the Western armies a much needed leadership advantage but at the cost of risking Virginia. I have already decided to give up Manassas without a fight and probably Winchester as well but I still need a AC there that can fight against hopeless odds.
Which brings us to Strategic Strategy. There is a reason during the Civil War the Southern generals withdrew behind the Rivers. It draws the Union away from their bases and places the CSA armies in positions from which to react to any move. A. Johnston withdrew below the Tennessee River because it is almost impossible to defend the areas above against an enemy with river movement. Tennessee is cut into four sections by first the southward Tennessee River which then runs east and back up to the north cutting Tennessee into a Western, Central and Eastern sections. And flowing across the top of Tennessee the Cumberland River cuts the northern section off. This is why I didn’t attempt to hold Clarksville above the Cumberland. I am not sure I can defend Nashville in the Center area without cutting myself off from supporting Memphis. I’ll know more once I see how far the reaction movement reaches from holding a central position between Nashville and Memphis.
Kennon
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Bo Rearguard
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
Great insights into the game here gentleman. Thanks! [:)]
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist ...." Union General John Sedgwick, 1864
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]May 1862[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankees come swarming south. Two large armies move from Paducah to Humbolt and another from D.C. to Manassas. My little side expedition into W.Va. by Ewell captured Franklin without trouble but I am not sure the Union noticed. A fleet of six gunboats came up the river attacking Nashville’s artillery knocking out two units.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Battle of Manassas with Lee versus McClellan was a sure thing. Lee easily concentrated enough force to turn him back with heavy losses. Some 27,000 Yankees lost in the attempt at the cost of only 6,000 Rebs. Unfortunately the great victory was offset by the loss of Jackson to a serious wound.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Battle for Humbolt though reflects the problems the Western armies have. Poor leadership so many troops not activated to respond to the invasion and poor transportation so those that were could reach. The river system is killing me. I managed to mass enough infantry to match the Union but most of my artillery couldn’t make it. The result being a defeat and putting the Union in easy reach of Memphis. With their other army next to Nashville with the rivers separating them and my forces even more badly scattered by the defeat, next turn is going to be worse in the West.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I would like to transfer Lee to the Western theater but to do it I have to have a pause in these constant battles so I can make the move and reorganize my armies. And, to make things worse I am almost out of supplies. The only ray of hope here is the Union found the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi to hot to handle and withdrew thus restoring supplies to the Mississippi ports.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankees come swarming south. Two large armies move from Paducah to Humbolt and another from D.C. to Manassas. My little side expedition into W.Va. by Ewell captured Franklin without trouble but I am not sure the Union noticed. A fleet of six gunboats came up the river attacking Nashville’s artillery knocking out two units.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Battle of Manassas with Lee versus McClellan was a sure thing. Lee easily concentrated enough force to turn him back with heavy losses. Some 27,000 Yankees lost in the attempt at the cost of only 6,000 Rebs. Unfortunately the great victory was offset by the loss of Jackson to a serious wound.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Battle for Humbolt though reflects the problems the Western armies have. Poor leadership so many troops not activated to respond to the invasion and poor transportation so those that were could reach. The river system is killing me. I managed to mass enough infantry to match the Union but most of my artillery couldn’t make it. The result being a defeat and putting the Union in easy reach of Memphis. With their other army next to Nashville with the rivers separating them and my forces even more badly scattered by the defeat, next turn is going to be worse in the West.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I would like to transfer Lee to the Western theater but to do it I have to have a pause in these constant battles so I can make the move and reorganize my armies. And, to make things worse I am almost out of supplies. The only ray of hope here is the Union found the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi to hot to handle and withdrew thus restoring supplies to the Mississippi ports.[/font]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]Posted by Gen. Collins(USA):[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]One thing I did early in the game was to call up the draft. I did this in July of 1861. A lot of people over on the Matrix Board were recommending it as a good strategy. [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I had already done it against the AI and sure enough you certainly get lots and lots of units. In a game against the AI I think I would still go with this strategy.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]But in a person to person game, I'm not so sure. I do have lots of units but I DO NOT have enough leadership to command them all. This wasn't as much of a problem in the AI game but definitely comes into play here. My armies are larger than the command structure to efficiently move them.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I think this is a good thing, and goes to show all of the hidden nuances of the game that we have yet to discover. Now the draft does cost you, and in an AI game those 50 political points you lose don't seem too much. But in this present game I sure wish I had them now.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]The confederates have won a large battle in the east at [/i]Manassas[/i]. Fortunately for me it was counter balanced by a large Union win in the west at Humbolt. This would have triggered the "Emancipation Proclamation" had I the 1000 Political Points. Unfortunately for the [/i]Union[/i] I"m a bit short in that department. So I have learned an important lesson - those Political Points ARE important - even 50 of them.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I have still have not been successful in getting any large force to land of the Confederate coast. The islands have all been secured but an attack on [/i]New Orleans[/i] would be a pipe dream at this point.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Bg. General [/i]Gilbert Collins[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
Army of [/i]Alabama[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
III/I/2nd Brigade[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]One thing I did early in the game was to call up the draft. I did this in July of 1861. A lot of people over on the Matrix Board were recommending it as a good strategy. [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I had already done it against the AI and sure enough you certainly get lots and lots of units. In a game against the AI I think I would still go with this strategy.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]But in a person to person game, I'm not so sure. I do have lots of units but I DO NOT have enough leadership to command them all. This wasn't as much of a problem in the AI game but definitely comes into play here. My armies are larger than the command structure to efficiently move them.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I think this is a good thing, and goes to show all of the hidden nuances of the game that we have yet to discover. Now the draft does cost you, and in an AI game those 50 political points you lose don't seem too much. But in this present game I sure wish I had them now.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]The confederates have won a large battle in the east at [/i]Manassas[/i]. Fortunately for me it was counter balanced by a large Union win in the west at Humbolt. This would have triggered the "Emancipation Proclamation" had I the 1000 Political Points. Unfortunately for the [/i]Union[/i] I"m a bit short in that department. So I have learned an important lesson - those Political Points ARE important - even 50 of them.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I have still have not been successful in getting any large force to land of the Confederate coast. The islands have all been secured but an attack on [/i]New Orleans[/i] would be a pipe dream at this point.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Bg. General [/i]Gilbert Collins[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
Army of [/i]Alabama[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
III/I/2nd Brigade[/font][/i]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]Jun 1862[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Another amphibious landing but this time the Union played it safe and hit Jacksonville, Fl. Two militia units are created but my Leader, Baldwin, down there isn’t rated high enough to even use them. So the port falls and the Union navy moves back into the mouth of the Mississippi to close it. The South is now out of supplies. I will have to wait and see what that does to me. For sure it shut down my fort building. Hopefully sometime soon I at least get enough to finish the fortifications in Richmond and Petersburg.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Supply is something I don’t know how to control. Since I don’t have management of production I can’t affect how much I have being created. I am not sure if I have much control over how much is used by the armies.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I send Lee west to reorganize my defense of Memphis. I positioned him at Corinth to give him some flexibility and to build a mobile army around him. Nashville is probably a goner as soon as that massive army across the Cumberland gets initiative. I send A. Johnson east and Bragg to central Tennessee where I hope to organize a new army around him to defend Chattanooga.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Another amphibious landing but this time the Union played it safe and hit Jacksonville, Fl. Two militia units are created but my Leader, Baldwin, down there isn’t rated high enough to even use them. So the port falls and the Union navy moves back into the mouth of the Mississippi to close it. The South is now out of supplies. I will have to wait and see what that does to me. For sure it shut down my fort building. Hopefully sometime soon I at least get enough to finish the fortifications in Richmond and Petersburg.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Supply is something I don’t know how to control. Since I don’t have management of production I can’t affect how much I have being created. I am not sure if I have much control over how much is used by the armies.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I send Lee west to reorganize my defense of Memphis. I positioned him at Corinth to give him some flexibility and to build a mobile army around him. Nashville is probably a goner as soon as that massive army across the Cumberland gets initiative. I send A. Johnson east and Bragg to central Tennessee where I hope to organize a new army around him to defend Chattanooga.[/font]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]Jul 1862[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Well my reorganized command didn’t last long. Gen. A. Johnston got hemorrhoids or something and quite for 7 or 8 months. I sent Bragg East to replace him and replaced Bragg with one of my best cavalry leaders, Van Dorn, because I had no one else qualified. The only good news on the leader front was Forest becoming available next turn and Longstreet returning from his wound.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My little testing of the waters in W.Va. paid off. No resistance was found in Charleston and it was taken without a fight. That worked so well I sent another one brigade command into Ashland, Kentucky to see if I get lucky twice.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Gen. Collins only got one activation this turn which grounded most of his huge armies. However, he put together a strong amphibious landing of some 14,000 men with fleet support and landed in Savannah. Unfortunately for him he picked the wrong city since I was using it to concentrate a force under Beauregard to retake Jacksonville. Instead of finding a garrison with some militia activations he found the little Napoleon with an army of 33,000 with 100 guns of support. Mansfield was killed and his force driven back to sea leaving 8,280 casualties behind.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankee fleet still holds the mouth of the Mississippi cutting off my supplies but at least this time they paid for it with two ships sunk. I moved more heavy artillery in. Maybe I can drive them off.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]For the first time since the war began I saw the total number of Union brigades drop from a high of 280 in May to 237 this turn. Gen. Collins didn’t declare a draft this turn. Maybe the Political status, dropped to 941, is beginning to hurt. He must get it above 1000 and win a major victory before winter to be able to declare Emancipation. It could be done in winter but much less likely. That will make Aug and Sep critical months for the union and their need for Initiative.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I wanted to make the situation even worse for them. Lee had the forces necessary to retake Humbolt but a critical force, his artillery reserve, failed to get initiative. The enemy having over 20 artillery units in its army I couldn’t move without them.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Well my reorganized command didn’t last long. Gen. A. Johnston got hemorrhoids or something and quite for 7 or 8 months. I sent Bragg East to replace him and replaced Bragg with one of my best cavalry leaders, Van Dorn, because I had no one else qualified. The only good news on the leader front was Forest becoming available next turn and Longstreet returning from his wound.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My little testing of the waters in W.Va. paid off. No resistance was found in Charleston and it was taken without a fight. That worked so well I sent another one brigade command into Ashland, Kentucky to see if I get lucky twice.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Gen. Collins only got one activation this turn which grounded most of his huge armies. However, he put together a strong amphibious landing of some 14,000 men with fleet support and landed in Savannah. Unfortunately for him he picked the wrong city since I was using it to concentrate a force under Beauregard to retake Jacksonville. Instead of finding a garrison with some militia activations he found the little Napoleon with an army of 33,000 with 100 guns of support. Mansfield was killed and his force driven back to sea leaving 8,280 casualties behind.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankee fleet still holds the mouth of the Mississippi cutting off my supplies but at least this time they paid for it with two ships sunk. I moved more heavy artillery in. Maybe I can drive them off.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]For the first time since the war began I saw the total number of Union brigades drop from a high of 280 in May to 237 this turn. Gen. Collins didn’t declare a draft this turn. Maybe the Political status, dropped to 941, is beginning to hurt. He must get it above 1000 and win a major victory before winter to be able to declare Emancipation. It could be done in winter but much less likely. That will make Aug and Sep critical months for the union and their need for Initiative.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I wanted to make the situation even worse for them. Lee had the forces necessary to retake Humbolt but a critical force, his artillery reserve, failed to get initiative. The enemy having over 20 artillery units in its army I couldn’t move without them.[/font]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]Aug 1862[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I couldn’t tell what happened to my incursion into Ashland other than it didn’t succeed. I don’t know whether the Union didn’t get enough initiative or Grant just wanted to clean up loose ends in his rear. Maybe my annoying little attacks are having an affect. Any way Grant took his massive army of some 90,000 men even after leaving a garrison force behind and stomped on Gallatin, TN. There my stout defender unlike Pillow fought a stand up fight with a mere 6,000 men. They inflicted as many casualties as they took then retreated across the Cumberland. Grant also sent a smaller force to clean up on his western side taking Henderson, KY. The Union now controls most of Kentucky except a few eastern regions in the mountains and all of Tennessee above the Cumberland River.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The question is with the last non-winter turn of Sep coming up will Grant and his huge army cross the Cumberland and take Nashville or will he keep moving southeast around the Cumberland than turn back into central Tennessee or even go for Chattanooga? I suspect Nashville if he get the needed initiative. He needs a major victory to declare Emancipation. Unfortunately, the Union PP is now at 946 and the victory might not give him the 1000 minimum he will also need to declare.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Meanwhile on the water front Union gunboats move into the Tennessee River cutting off most of the state. It is now questionable whether Lee and his army in western Tennessee will be able to support the central area when its attacked. Further south Farragut tries to subdue the forts protecting New Orleans and gets his butt kicked. I had moved Artillery Leaders into Fort Philip. Apparently that gave my gunners the edge they needed and they sent three cruisers to the bottom.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]On other fronts Beauregard hoping that the Union set back at Savannah will give him some breathing room shifted his army to Tallahassee in preparation to retake Florida.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]But the main offensive will be carried out by Lee. This turn he gets initiative for all his command and his army of 90,000 I put together in Corinth moves north to retake Humbolt. For a change Gen. Collins will get to watch the gray and blue bars of the battle display rise and fall. This is not the safest move since if I lose the Union will have the PP they need combined with a Nashville victory to declare Emancipation. But if I win a victory in Nashville will not be enough and there will be pressure to reinforce Lyon’s army or risk losing Paducah as well.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I also sent Van Dorn with Longstreet who has returned to duty to Nashville to start building an army around them. This may be a mistake since they are not large enough to fight Grant but are large enough to give Grant a major victory if he attacks. I am hoping the move against Humbolt forces Grant to send troops rather than attack. A lot depends on initiative next turn, the outcome of Lee’s attack, and how much confidence Gen. Collins has that Lee can’t cross the Tennessee River to reinforce Nashville if he attacks there. We will see.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I couldn’t tell what happened to my incursion into Ashland other than it didn’t succeed. I don’t know whether the Union didn’t get enough initiative or Grant just wanted to clean up loose ends in his rear. Maybe my annoying little attacks are having an affect. Any way Grant took his massive army of some 90,000 men even after leaving a garrison force behind and stomped on Gallatin, TN. There my stout defender unlike Pillow fought a stand up fight with a mere 6,000 men. They inflicted as many casualties as they took then retreated across the Cumberland. Grant also sent a smaller force to clean up on his western side taking Henderson, KY. The Union now controls most of Kentucky except a few eastern regions in the mountains and all of Tennessee above the Cumberland River.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The question is with the last non-winter turn of Sep coming up will Grant and his huge army cross the Cumberland and take Nashville or will he keep moving southeast around the Cumberland than turn back into central Tennessee or even go for Chattanooga? I suspect Nashville if he get the needed initiative. He needs a major victory to declare Emancipation. Unfortunately, the Union PP is now at 946 and the victory might not give him the 1000 minimum he will also need to declare.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Meanwhile on the water front Union gunboats move into the Tennessee River cutting off most of the state. It is now questionable whether Lee and his army in western Tennessee will be able to support the central area when its attacked. Further south Farragut tries to subdue the forts protecting New Orleans and gets his butt kicked. I had moved Artillery Leaders into Fort Philip. Apparently that gave my gunners the edge they needed and they sent three cruisers to the bottom.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]On other fronts Beauregard hoping that the Union set back at Savannah will give him some breathing room shifted his army to Tallahassee in preparation to retake Florida.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]But the main offensive will be carried out by Lee. This turn he gets initiative for all his command and his army of 90,000 I put together in Corinth moves north to retake Humbolt. For a change Gen. Collins will get to watch the gray and blue bars of the battle display rise and fall. This is not the safest move since if I lose the Union will have the PP they need combined with a Nashville victory to declare Emancipation. But if I win a victory in Nashville will not be enough and there will be pressure to reinforce Lyon’s army or risk losing Paducah as well.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I also sent Van Dorn with Longstreet who has returned to duty to Nashville to start building an army around them. This may be a mistake since they are not large enough to fight Grant but are large enough to give Grant a major victory if he attacks. I am hoping the move against Humbolt forces Grant to send troops rather than attack. A lot depends on initiative next turn, the outcome of Lee’s attack, and how much confidence Gen. Collins has that Lee can’t cross the Tennessee River to reinforce Nashville if he attacks there. We will see.[/font]
Kennon
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kennonlightfoot
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RE: AAR WbtS Gen. Whitehead vs Gen. Collins
[font="times new roman"]Posted by Gen. Collins:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankee armies are still unable to make a lodgement on fortress CSA. The blockade is having some effect but could be better. [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Kentucky[/i] is still unowned by either side but we both have major forces there or near the [/i]Tennessee[/i] border. The rebs are engaging in all kinds of Cavalry raids and the northern democratic newspapers are having a field day ridiculing the [/i]Lincoln[/i] administration. The countryside around [/i]Baltimore[/i] is being ravaged by these Rebels and the Union army does not have sufficiently trained cavalry in any great numbers to stop them as yet.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Political points for [/i]Union[/i] are still under 1000, which is not good. You want to have 1000 points just in case you win a major battle and then can emancipate the slaves.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I'm still finding it nearly impossible to capture [/i]New Orleans[/i] via water and utilizing the navy. In a practice AI game I'm trying to learn the secret. It must be a combination of naval movement, the leader chosen and the terrain that is preventing me landing there. I still have to work that one out.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Again I say, this is a great game and is easily becoming one of my favourite strategic games.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Bg. General [/i]Gilbert Collins[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
Army of [/i]Alabama[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
III/I/2nd Brigade[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Yankee armies are still unable to make a lodgement on fortress CSA. The blockade is having some effect but could be better. [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Kentucky[/i] is still unowned by either side but we both have major forces there or near the [/i]Tennessee[/i] border. The rebs are engaging in all kinds of Cavalry raids and the northern democratic newspapers are having a field day ridiculing the [/i]Lincoln[/i] administration. The countryside around [/i]Baltimore[/i] is being ravaged by these Rebels and the Union army does not have sufficiently trained cavalry in any great numbers to stop them as yet.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Political points for [/i]Union[/i] are still under 1000, which is not good. You want to have 1000 points just in case you win a major battle and then can emancipate the slaves.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]I'm still finding it nearly impossible to capture [/i]New Orleans[/i] via water and utilizing the navy. In a practice AI game I'm trying to learn the secret. It must be a combination of naval movement, the leader chosen and the terrain that is preventing me landing there. I still have to work that one out.[/i][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Again I say, this is a great game and is easily becoming one of my favourite strategic games.[/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"] [/font][/i]
[font="times new roman"]Bg. General [/i]Gilbert Collins[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
Army of [/i]Alabama[/i][/font][font="times new roman"]
III/I/2nd Brigade[/font][/i]
Kennon