An Uncivil War DAR

[Mad Russian]

I'm playing a very long standing friend in FoF. This is our third game. They all use advanced rules and no advantage with extra generals, use instant combat, and we play the long campaign. I've only played the Union side each time, as I am this time as well.

After considerable discussion on the forum and asking lots of questions I think I'm pretty well ready to fight a halfway decent game of FoF.

I started off with a 10 point plan for the first 12 months. April to April I wanted to achieve:

1) Build 2 Naval Academies.

2) Build a location with 3 barracks to allow me to build Army organizations.

3) Make 8 Divisions and 4 Corps.

4) Build the Union rail capacity to 75.

5) Relocate Garrisons from North to South.

6) Build enough fleets to have a blockade at every southern port with no less than 6 ships in each.

7) Take Galveston.

8) Create 3 Armies in the east.

9) Build 9 river monitors.

10) Muster all cities each turn with a success rate at 50% or higher. If there is an excess of brigades on the map move them into southern garrison locations.

Good Hunting.

MR

[terje439]

out of curiosity, why #9?

And look forwards to seing how you do!

[Mad Russian]

I started off with a 10 point plan for the first 12 months. April to April I wanted to achieve:

1) Build 2 Naval Academies. This I did on turn one. After that I alternated between Military academies and Engineer academies. I've already gotten my first naval upgrade by January 62. Have hit 2 of his runners the last one with 6 hits.

2) Build a location with 3 barracks to allow me to build Army organizations. This too was done immediately.

3) Make 8 Divisions and 4 Corps. It is currently late Feb - early March and I have made 12 divisions and 4 Corps.

4) Build the Union rail capacity to 75. Currently I'm at 45 with 4 more being built. I'll have the other 3 being built by the end of April.

5) Relocate Garrisons from North to South. There is absolutely no reason to keep any garrisons to guard against the British. I can buy them off and if they ever enter the war I have more problems than a few garrison troops that are fighting in the south. Taking the troops out of garrison gives me a 40+ brigade pool to start off with.

These 40+ brigades give me much more ability to hold the British off fighting than they do watching the fighting. They give me an immediate manpower pool that is available from turn one to start building corps and armies with.

I don't buy any infantry/artillery/cavalry units. The artillery and cavalry I get I convert. Cheaper and quicker. The experience difference is so small it makes no noticeable difference that I've seen.

Only very select few infantry brigades get anything other than muskets. Artillery I work up to 24 pounders. Cavalry gets the best weaponry money can buy..they attack Confederate cannons....

The armies are set up to have at least one medical in every container and every other infantry brigade to have engineers. I will build no siege artillery except river monitors.

6) Build enough fleets to have a blockade at every southern port with no less than 6 ships in each. At present I've got a blockade on every port in the Confederacy with at least 3 ships most have 4 - 6.

7) Take Galveston. This I may not do. Galveston and Austin are easily accessible whenever I want them to give me points in a single turn or 2. I may just blockade it for a bit and see what happens in Virginia.

8) Create 3 Armies in the east. I have 2 Armies in the East and 1 in the West at the moment. I have another being built. I currently have about 30 brigades not armed or assigned to organizations. They will be built and armed within the next 2 - 4 turns. I intend on attacking Knoxville with one of the armies. Then moving it and another out of the Knoxville/Shenandoah area to threaten the AoNV from the west and south. That army needs to be made to decide where to fight on three fronts. Whenever it moves out of an area a Union army needs to move in behind it.

9) Build 9 river monitors. A force of 9 river monitors in siege using bombard can destroy a fort or city in a single turn. Less than 9 may but I have yet to see all 9 of them fail.

10) Muster all cities each turn with a success rate at 50% or higher. If there is an excess of brigades on the map move them into southern garrison locations. This produces a constant stream of new brigades at a rate of 3 - 4 each turn. I've yet to do anything but muster and move the garrisons and my arming of these brigades is always behind the number I have to arm.



Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Current Campaign status is:

Victory Report:
USA - Victory Points -1 / National Will 0
CSA - Victory Points 3 / National Will 0

Basic Strategy:

Naval blockade FIRST. Most important.

Academies for Naval to get the upgrade for blockade operations or cheaper ships as soon as possible.

Academies for Leadership, since the fighting will occur in 1862. Later or intermixed Academies for Engineering since most sieges will occur in 1863 if all goes according to plan.

Build as many combat units as possible to create the flood. I want so many Union formatinons moving in the south that he can't counter them all.

Most formations only armed with muskets. Where there are no Confederate troops I win the battle. No matter how my men are armed.

For the siege formations every other brigade has an engineering attribute. For the attack formations every brigade is armed with the best rifles I can get and have medical and Zouve attributes.

I build no siege artillery. It's too expensive and slow. Let the Engineers do it.

Artillery brigades are upgraded to 24 pounders as soon as possible.

Cavalry gets the best weapons I can buy.


I will reassess the weaponry issue in 1863 if need be.

I make my campaign plans a single year in advance.

1862:

Build the fleets to blockade the ports to six ships each. Once that's done the resources can then concentrate on the land campaign for the rest of the game. Affecting the blockade runners is the single most important function to complete.

The overall plan is hold the Confederate forces in Dixie and then to take Knoxville and deal with the Army of Northern Virginia in the East. The AoNV needs to be moved out of the Richmond area or surrounded and destroyed in the first fighting campaign of the game....April - Nov 62. The capture of Knoxville to the rear of the AoNV is the first step in accomplishing that goal.

If I can break the hold the single Confederate Army has in Virginia the terrain opens up for a flood of Union units to move south. I am seriously contemplating changing the Galveston invasion to one behind the AoNV. If I can trap it I can possibly get it to surrender. Then again April isn't here yet.

I spend no money on the Europeans in 1861 at all. Starting in 1862 I'll see how the victory conditions go and if there is a need start to control the involvement of them.



1863:
1863 is the year of decision. The strategic situation should be such that the Confederacy will be so damaged by the fighting of 1862 that it all starts to fall apart. This is the historical time table. One that was realistic. It didn't work historically for a number of reasons. That could happen here as well.



Current Situation:

IMO, the Confederate battle plan is bad. He is going to wait for me to move to him. That means I get to pick where and when we fight. It's Feb 62 and Kentucky is still neutral. For the first part of the game he moved the AoNV up to Maryland one time for a single turn and 2 divisions to Missouri where he very nearly got them trapped.


I'm moving the forces I was using to protect Missouri south towards Little Rock. That will keep him occupied for a bit. I have units moving at both ends of his line. Little Rock and Knoxville. That should spread the Confederates in Tennessee out. I have plenty of brigades in garrison to produce entire Corps if an opportunity arises from that stretching process. Arming them will be the issue.

My overall strategy is simple. The Union Army needs to be big enough that I win battles because he's not there to fight me. Wherever I can send divisions into Confederate territory to occupy the areas I will. A very select few places will be targeted for penetration. Such as Richmond and Knoxville where I intend on winning the battles. The rest is maneuver and disruption.


Of course the key to winning will be taking what opportunities my opponent offers me. He's a very good gamer so we'll see where this all goes.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Late March 1862.

The situation in the Union is as follows:

Union forces close the last Confederate port to blockade. I have decided to just blockade Galveston for the time being.

Union forces moving south of Missouri towards Little Rock get attacked by a Confederate Corps and win a small battle. Threatening Little Rock and Memphis with Union forces on the march south.

All other units moving to staging areas. Army, Corps and Divisions moving just west of AoNV in the Shenandoah Valley and just to the east of Knoxville. The Army is just to the east of Knoxville and can go either way. The moment I get all my forces together I will start to move towards outmaneuvering the AoNV.

Need more Corps HQ to be built next few turns.


State of the Economy:
32 - Mint
9 - Factory
3 - Mine
4 - Horse Farm
32 - Arsenal
8 - Railroad Stations
10 - Banks
12 - Iron Works
26 - Barracks
12 - Foundry
3 - Shipyards
21 - Training Grounds
10 - Manufacturing Centers
3 - Academies
3 - Armory
0 - Laboratory
6 - War College
3 - Engineering College
4 - Naval College
3 - Schools
5 - University
12 - Camp
5 - Hospitals
6 - Telegraph
1 - Signal Tower
36 - Capital
78 - Mansions
0 - Planations

Under Construction:
Albany - 2 Mints, 1 Railroad, 1 Horse Farm
Augusta, Maine - 1 Camp
Columbus - 3 Arsenals
Indianapolis - 2 Arsenals, 1 Horse Farm
Lansing - 1 Laboratory
Springfield - 1 Railroad
Topeka - 2 Railroads
Trenton - 1 Mansion

Production:
2 Divisions


State of the Army:
3 Armies
5 Corps
19 Divisions

Generals:
0 - 5 Star Generals
4 - 4 Star Generals
6 - 3 Star Generals
15 - 2 Star Generals
40 - 1 Star Generals

Good Hunting.

MR

[terje439]

ah yes had forgotten that the Union is seriously short on horses.

Seems you have more or less won this battle allready. At this point the South should have swallowed away some 15-25 Union brigades imo.

[Mad Russian]

While in the middle of the ship building program it's not such a big deal to be short of horses. Now that the land fighting is about to start it will be. The Union can concentrate on it's weaknesses though and in a couple of months fix most ills. A couple of mansions and 8 horse farms later I'll be just fine.

The part about his losing the battle before it starts I agree with. I don't think the Confederate player can sit back and wait for the tidal wave to hit them while only building their own forces. At the start the Union is fairly fragile. The last thing the Confederate wants to do is sit back and let the Union get ready for war in their own leisure.

The second game we played, in which we made alot of mistakes, he did the same thing. I curshed the Confederacy in the campaign in 1862. Neither Richmond or New Orleans fell but the Confederacy did. He attributed that loss to several issues, none of which, was his strategy of sitting back and letting me come to him. Now we are about to see if he was right.

This time I'm not going through Tennessee as I did the last game I'm wanting to see how an Attack the East strategy works. I think if the AoNV is outmaneuvered or destroyed then the flood gates are open and the South loses again.

To me it doesn't matter how or where I break the crust. As the Union I just want into the heart of the Confederacy to start taking ground. I don't even have to take the cities at first. Spreading unrest for turns at a time is a very good answer for me. That starts the process that just keeps getting worse and worse. That starts the process of the Confederacy having to go on the attack and be the attacker. Until then I'm fine with fighting no battles. The objective is not to win battles early on but to win the war.

I want to fight the battles of the war at my discretion. If you allow me to do that, which my opponent is at the moment, I think you will lose everytime.

Good Hunting.

MR

[terje439]

could not agree more. The key for the South is to use its early advantage in morale and by all means keep the number of Union brigades down, and hopefully "borrow" a few arty pieces from the Union as well.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: terje439

could not agree more. The key for the South is to use its early advantage in morale and by all means keep the number of Union brigades down, and hopefully "borrow" a few arty pieces from the Union as well.

I think the reason he isn't doing that is that he very nearly got 2 Divisions trapped as he tried to invade Missouri out of the western bottom lands. The Union can manufacture units right before your eyes. All those infantry brigades that come out of garrison put into divisions that were made in a single turn can be deadly if they can surround you. He just barely got them back in time.

Winter helped him with that but the South should start moving north on turn one. Do some fighting. Even if it's just to spread unrest through the north. That unrest costs the Union in terms of time and energy both.

Sitting in the south watching your armies grow costs the Union nothing.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: terje439

could not agree more. The key for the South is to use its early advantage in morale and by all means keep the number of Union brigades down, and hopefully "borrow" a few arty pieces from the Union as well.

It's for that very reason that early on I don't buy expensive weapons. If the south "borrows" them from you they should be of low quality. The only thing I spend money on early is for cavalry weapons. I want them armed with the best money can buy. They attack Confederate artillery in combat. That can make all the difference.

Otherwise I'll make the difference up with numbers. Everywhere I have troops, and the Confederacy doesn't, I win that battle everytime. This is all about quality over quantity.

A study of the Eastern Front in WWII will give you some interesting insites into the ACW. Both lasted 5 years. Both were offense/defense. Both have a quality vs quantity situation.

I used my Eastern Front strategy to win the last campaign in a single campaigning season. This time I intend on doing it in two. My goal is to crush the Confederacy with a tidal wave of very inferior troops. They won't win many battles, all they will do is take the country.....

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Early April 1862

The situation in the Union is as follows:

There were three fights at the end of March.

Shenandoah Valley - CSA victory.
Paducah Region - USA victory.
Cape Girardeau - USA victory.

CSA was attacker in all 3 battles.

CSA moved a force into Knoxville. I did not attack it. Reaction moves were against the AoNV. We'll see how that works out in the coming turn.

Victory Report:
USA - Victory Points 4 / National Will 1
CSA - Victory Points 0 / National Will 0

State of the Economy:
32 - Mint
9 - Factory
3 - Mine
5- Horse Farm (+1)
34 - Arsenal (+2)
8 - Railroad Stations
10 - Banks
12 - Iron Works
26 - Barracks
12 - Foundry
3 - Shipyards
21 - Training Grounds
10 - Manufacturing Centers
3 - Academies
3 - Armory
1- Laboratory (+1)
6 - War College
3 - Engineering College
4 - Naval College
3 - Schools
5 - University
12 - Camp
5 - Hospitals
6 - Telegraph
1 - Signal Tower
36 - Capital
78 - Mansions
0 - Planations

Under Construction:
Albany - 2 Mints, 1 Railroad, 1 Horse Farm
Augusta, Maine - 1 Camp
Columbus - 3 Arsenals
Springfield - 1 Railroad
Topeka - 2 Railroads
Trenton - 1 Mansion

Production:
2 Armies
2 Corps
2 Divisions
1 Fleet
1 Gunboat


Recruited:
5 Brigades


Upgrades To Date:

USA: (7)
Rifle Manufacture
Moisture Proof Cartridges
Siege Techniques I
Invalid Corps
Target Practice I
Target Practice II
Naval Infastructure I

CSA: (3)
Rifle Manufacture
Fortified Techniques
Taget Practice I

Good Hunting

MR

[Mad Russian]

First Year in Review.

I started off with a 10 point plan for the first 12 months. April to April I wanted to achieve:

1) Build 2 Naval Academies. Done

2) Build a location with 3 barracks to allow me to build Army organizations.  Done

3) Make 8 Divisions and 4 Corps. Done

4) Build the Union rail capacity to 75. Not completed. Level is at 40 with 20 more points being built at the moment.

5) Relocate Garrisons from North to South. Done

6) Build enough fleets to have a blockade at every southern port with no less than 6 ships in each. Not completed. Not all fleets are at 6 ships.

7) Take Galveston. Cancelled. Will just blockade the port for awhile instead.

8) Create 3 Armies in the east. Not complete. There are 3 armies but only 2 of them are in the east. There are two more Armies being built that will be completed by the first turn in May.

9) Build 9 river monitors. Not complete. I didn't start building them quick enough. Which is okay. Kentucky hasn't joined sides yet so I've still got time to do some building. At the moment I'm building my 2nd one. I made a choice to cut this building program to promote academies and railroad construction.

10) Muster all cities each turn with a success rate at 50% or higher. If there is an excess of brigades on the map move them into southern garrison locations. Done.


The CSA stayed home and allowed me to build unimpeded. That will come back to haunt him by at least 1863.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

April 1862 to April 1863 I want to achieve:

1) Build up the river monitors to 9. This is absolutely imperative at this time. The summer of 1863 will be when the war is won or lost. The river monitors insure extreme violence on his forts and cities on the rivers. So much so he can't afford to ignore them.

2) Take and hold the Cumberland Gap. I start the campaigning season in control of this terrain and I need to keep control of it. The gap itself is easily accessible for the Union and CSA both.

3) Outmaneuver or destroy the AoNV. Move this unit out of the Richmond area.

4) 3 Armies operating in the East with possilby an independant Corps using amphibious warfare in support. I start the campaign season with 2 Armies and the 3rd one being built. The Corps is also in the process of being built.

5) 2 Armies operating in the West with possibly 3 independant Corps in support for maneuver. There is 1 Army in the West at the moment with another under construction at this time.

6) The summer of 1862 is a battle campaign summer. I'm not really after geographical locations so much as I am to break the crust of the CSA. That crust consists of a line from Richmond, Fredricksburg, Knoxville, Chatanooga, Nashville and Memphis. At some point I want a hole in that crust to move Union forces through. The CSA will have to repair whatever damage I do to the crust and when they come to do that we will fight. On my terms.

7) Build up the Union supply of money. Later in the war I'll need more and more money. I need to continue to build the money supply as much as possible while I still can.

8) Build an amphibious attack fleet. One fleet with at least 6 ships in it.

9) Finish building the blockade fleet to get 6 ships in each blockade.

10) Continue to raise troops. All cities with a success rate of 50% or higher will be tested to gain Muster if they will support them. Excess troops raised will go into garrisons until I can arm them.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Mad Russian]

Late April 1862

The situation in the Union is as follows:

There was a single fight at the first of April. This involved two Union Armies vs the AoNV in the Fredricksburg area. The CSA won and took roughly half as many losses as the Union did. This was the first test battle vs the AoNV. In the previous game I ignored them and let them sit and play cards. This game they will be much busier.


Battle History:
Fredricksburg Area - CSA victory. USA was the attacker in the battle.



Victory Report:
USA - Victory Points 1 / National Will -1
CSA - Victory Points 3 / National Will 1

State of the Economy:
32 - Mint
9 - Factory
3 - Mine
5- Horse Farm
36 - Arsenal
9- Railroad Stations (+1)
10 - Banks
12 - Iron Works
26 - Barracks
12 - Foundry
3 - Shipyards
21 - Training Grounds
10 - Manufacturing Centers
3 - Academies
3 - Armory
1- Laboratory
6 - War College
3 - Engineering College
4 - Naval College
3 - Schools
5 - University
13 - Camp (+1)
5 - Hospitals
6 - Telegraph
1 - Signal Tower
36 - Capital
78 - Mansions
0 - Planations


In Production:
2 Armies
3 Corps
2 Divisions
1 Fleet
1 Frigate
1 Gunboat


Recruited:
7 Brigades


Upgrades To Date:

USA: (9)
Rifle Manufacture
Moisture Proof Cartridges
Siege Techniques I
Invalid Corps
Target Practice I
Target Practice II
Naval Infastructure I
Blockade Operations
Heavy Artillery Infrastructure

CSA: (5)
Rifle Manufacture
Fortified Techniques
Taget Practice I
Nursing Corps
Sharpshooter Training

Good Hunting

MR

[terje439]

why do you chose the research upgrades you do?

[Mad Russian]

Upgrades To Date:

USA: (9)

Rifle Manufacture - allows me to get more guns and arm my brigades faster.

Moisture Proof Cartridges - allows me to fight in bad weather with only half the penalty. I am one that will push the campaign season as long as the computer will allow me to move my men. I also have been known to "stack" an Army with very high initiative ratings to allow it to move when I want it to. I've captured cities and forts during winter this way.

Siege Techniques I - This increases my effectiveness during sieges. At the moment this isn't real important since I'm not doing any sieges. During the latter half of 1862 and during 1863 it will become critical. It was offered now so I took it.

Invalid Corps - This increases the effectiveness of my camps.

Target Practice I - This increases the effectiveness of my units during combat.

Target Practice II - This increases the effectiveness of my units during combat.

Naval Infastructure I - This decreases the cost of building ships. That makes it cheaper to do the blockade of CSA ports.

Blockade Operations - This increases the effectiveness of my operations against his blockade runners. Until the CSA also gets this upgrade I can really hurt him. At present he has 3 runners active. You can count them yourself during the replay, but in this case we are discussing the game as we go to a certain extent.

Heavy Artillery Infrastructure - This increases the choices I have for ever heavier artillery for my brigades. I usually go with 24 pounders but during this game I'm going to go heavier than that. I am also wanting to gain the rapid fire attribute this game to see how that works for giving him more casualties.


General Comments on Upgrades:

You have to have a plan. My plan is hold in 1861, combat in 1862 and smashing the Confederacy in 1863. I chose the options presented to me in that order.

For the most part I'm currently taking upgrades that will allow for greater offensive and defensive battlefield results. Siege options I'll take later unless there is nothing better on the list. I don't put off choosing something each time they are offered.

I'll need it all eventually anyway so take what you need in the order you are going to need it.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Joram]

I'm quite surprised your opponent hasn't taken invalid corps.  In my opinion that's critical for the south.  But then again, I usually play the north.  Like how you organize your AAR.

[Mad Russian]

ORIGINAL: Joram

I'm quite surprised your opponent hasn't taken invalid corps. In my opinion that's critical for the south. But then again, I usually play the north.

You aren't given every option available every time. Maybe he hasn't gotten the choice to pick the invalid corps yet.

Like how you organize your AAR.

Thanks. I'm trying to make it as informative as possible while not giving out anything too far down the road in case my opponent stumbles across this and starts reading it. We are playing it for the fun of it but make no mistake we are both playing to win.
He won our first game with a crushing Confederate victory and I won the second game with a crushing Union victory.

This being our third game we feel like we are on the road to knowing the game well enough to fight the strategies and not so much the game interface at this point. That however remains to be seen and we are both still making small mistakes.

In war the side that makes the fewest mistakes wins. I hope to win this war in spite of my own mistakes.

Good Hunting.

MR

[Randomizer]

Yes, very nice.  You are certainly broadening my FoF horizons.  Thanks.

[Mad Russian]

Early May 1862

The situation in the Union is as follows:

All quiet. The calm before the storm. I reoccupied the Cumberland Gap. There is a CSA force in Knoxville. Which is good. Unless he uses it they will sit there and watch the war in the East develop.

I've moved an Army into the Shenandoah Valley, the Cumberland Gap and Maryland. The AoNV is outnumbered about 2-1. That's not enough yet. For my rematch I want a 3-1 or more advantage.

Out west I'm moving a division down towards Little Rock. Building an Army just outside of Louisville for when Kentucky joins whichever side they want to join. At the moment they are still neutral. I've also moved a river monitor over to the far side by Missouri. I want them over there when the opportunity arises to start smashing forts on the rivers.

Up to a point, the longer I wait before combat the more troops I put under arms. The bigger my armies are when we start doing battle the better it will be. That's only good if the CSA doesn't match it or bring in other forces in support.

I'm still recruiting more brigades per turn than I can arm but I've started arming the infantry brigades with Springfields. I've got to get more firepower on top of the 3-1 advantage in numbers I'm looking for. I'd like to have at least a third of my army equipped with Springfields the next time I fight the AoNV. About 2 months from now I would think. I can do alot in 4 turns. The recruiting will slow down from now on. I won't ask for a muster on any city with less than a 50% chance of success.

Next turn I will turn my entire economy to producing money. That will give me the extra cash I need to get the weapons and organizations that need to be made for the upcoming fight.

I've still not spent a penny on the Europeans. I will begin to look at their situation pretty soon. Especially if the victory levels start moving in the CSA's favor. Until then I'll let them sit there and just try to sink the runners as they go for whatever they can get. The Blockade Operations upgrade gives me a much better chance at catching and sinking runners. Hopefully that will take effect this turn.


Victory Report: (No Change this turn)
USA - Victory Points 1 / National Will -1
CSA - Victory Points 3 / National Will 1

State of the Economy: (No Change this turn)
32 - Mint
9 - Factory
3 - Mine
5- Horse Farm
36 - Arsenal
9- Railroad Stations
10 - Banks
12 - Iron Works
26 - Barracks
12 - Foundry
3 - Shipyards
21 - Training Grounds
10 - Manufacturing Centers
3 - Academies
3 - Armory
1- Laboratory
6 - War College
3 - Engineering College
4 - Naval College
3 - Schools
5 - University
13 - Camp
5 - Hospitals
6 - Telegraph
1 - Signal Tower
36 - Capital
78 - Mansions
0 - Planations


In Production:
1 Corps
1 Gunboat


Recruited:
11 Brigades


Upgrades To Date:(No Change this turn)

USA: (9)
Rifle Manufacture
Moisture Proof Cartridges
Siege Techniques I
Invalid Corps
Target Practice I
Target Practice II
Naval Infastructure I
Blockade Operations
Heavy Artillery Infrastructure

CSA: (5)
Rifle Manufacture
Fortified Techniques
Taget Practice I
Nursing Corps
Sharpshooter Training

Good Hunting

MR