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PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 11:44 am 
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Location: Canada
Hey Al:

Yeah! I like the game too. In fact, I say it is the best Strategic Game on the American Civil War out there, and is likely to be so for quite some time.


I have played about 10 games now against the Confederate AI and have not beaten it yet. Of course, I'm using AI economy so I may just have to learn that aspect of the game too. The AI isn't bad running the economy but it can't possibly know which way the war is going so what it produces may no longer be necessary. I think when I do learn the economic aspect one thing I'm going to do as Union is build up the navy faster.

In my present game with Kennon I received the bulk of my transports too late and not enough of them. Of course initiative is extremely important and I did have some 'dry times' at critical stages in the game.

All of us seem to agree that the learning curve on this one is high and I wouldn't want to criticize the game unduly just because I don't know it.

Highly recommended!





Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:53 am 
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Location: USA
<b>Jan 1863</b>

The union is making safe moves and probes. Grant steps on the force in Lawrence, Tn with an easy overrun. In the East small assaults are sent into Manassas and New Kent. I decide to only oppose the New Kent one. I want to draw the Union down into Manassas so that the force will be out of fortifications and in enemy territory. I will probably cost him more in attrition and lost initiative than the region will gain the Union. It also puts a river between me an his army.

I studied the supply rules a bit and realized I hadn’t checked every region I had troops in to see if they were being supplied at the lowest cost. Unfortunately for me Fort St. Philip was one of the worse cases with a multiplier of 3x. It had 12 units in it costing me 36 supply points. I am going to try to hold the fort but by smoke and mirrors. I move all the heavy artillery to New Orleans and two of the infantry leaving only an infantry force. Hopefully it will be a while before his gunboats test it. Gen. Collins had already moved most of his fleet past the forts (couldn’t take the heat) and used them to attack New Orleans. Next turn he will find a lot more guns there.

Interesting side observation: His moving the ironclads out of the mouth of the Mississippi up to Baton Rouge caused the Mississippi to reopen to trade. I got a big boost in supplies.

I continue to rebuild Lee’s army and move it down to Corinth. I also move Van Dorn’s army south of the Tennessee River east of Corinth so the two armies are in supporting distance. I am making extensive rearrangement of Leaders to make my two Western armies ready for offensive operations once one of the Yankee armies moves close enough. The bad news is with Grant’s move to Lawrence I suspect he plans to consolidate the two armies for a drive on Memphis. Maybe instead of fighting him head on I will be able to slip around and take Nashville or something else in his rear. But it will hurt to lose Memphis.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:57 am 
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<b>Feb 1863</b>

Grant sends a token force to Shiloh probably to see if he can get it cheap without committing his army across the Tennessee River. Because my ability to scout across the river is limited the force size is unknown but I suspect it is nothing larger than a Corps since Mitchel is in command rather than one of his better leaders. Gen. Lee decides to make an example of them and gathers both his and Van Dorn’s armies for a counter attack. It turned out Mitchel brought over just 11,000 men and 40 guns with some gunboat support. Lee’s combined army strikes with 112,000 men and 360 guns. Suffering only 1400 casualties they wipe out the force to practically the last man sending the commanders back to Grant with little more than their staffs.

Supply wise having those guns and troops in Fort St. Philip was my problem. For the first time I accumulate supplies and attrition drops dramatically. Live and learn. I finally am able to build a fort in Richmond. Now the question is how to hold New Orleans with only a token force in the forts? Not only that but my leader down their gets drunk and falls off a pier, drowning. I send Hardee down to take over command of New Orleans.

I also make large concentrations of heavy artillery in Memphis, Vicksburg and New Orleans. If the Union wants to go boating along the Mississippi it will cost them.

With the return of Gen. A. Johnston and a relatively calm month I take time to reorganize my commands. I dismiss Gen. Cooper and promote Bragg to his post as Theater Commander. This works nicely since it gets rid of a mediocre Theatre Commander and opens an Army Commander slot to which Gen. A. Johnston is promoted. All for the cost of only 4 PP. In the West Van Dorn must go. He was a temporary filler until I had some decent Genearls available to AC. Gen. R. Taylor takes his position.

I would also like to replace Beauregard with his attack rating of 2 he isn’t a good AC. I would like to replace him with Kirby Smith but I have no potential AC’s in the wings if any one is wounded or killed so I wait on this.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:11 am 
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<b>Comments on the CSA, Supply and Amphibious Assaults:</b>

From the Southern point of view I see a number of vulnerabilities that the Union can take advantage of that you really don’t realize exist until you have played the CSA side. Having not recently played the USA side I can’t be sure of the tactics for doing this.

First is supply. You get supply based on the number of factories you have, how much gets through the blockade, and a little bit from captures. The South requires about 200 points per turn to maintain their armies. When their ports aren’t heavily blockaded they get about 140 through them which give them the excess supply they need to build forts, raiders, and all those heavy guns.

The Union strategy should be to shut the South’s sources of supply down as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. This requires a two fold strategy. The blockading and amphibious invasions of ports and the taking of production regions of the south. One of the major problems with the AI’s production was it concentrated on Heavy Artillery which the Union doesn’t need and Ironclads which the Union doesn’t need. This AI script does change but I recommend always playing the economy, you can’t do worse. The Union needs Cruisers, Gunboats and Transports early on then Field Guns. They want to dominate the South’s Heavy Artillery and Forts before they get to strong. With these they can blockade the ports shutting off supply and control the rivers restricting movement.

Now for Amphibious Assaults: I think the game models them pretty well. The Union had a lot of successes in 61 and early 62 when the South’s coast was virtually undefended but consistently failed from mid 62 on through 63. Once the South had fortifications and naval guns around their ports the Union could no longer drop a few regiments under the big guns of the ships and take one. Also occupying these ports is of questionable strategic advantage. While they certainly shut them down for trade they usually require far more troops than the 2-3 cruisers who could have blockaded it. Norfolk is a good example. The troops there spent most of the war as virtual prisoners that the South didn’t have to feed. In this game I have had to maintain a garrison of six Heavy Artillery units and some 10,000 men. It is worth while due to its production capacity but holding it has not ever gotten one supply point through.

Making landing on the South’s major East coast ports is very difficult and very risky. Not only must the Union send enough troops to overpower the Militia that is auto generated as well as the garrisons but they must garrison them afterward to prevent them from being retaken. The South can easily put together a relief army in one turn and wipe them out on the next as I demonstrated a number of times. And, any port in reach of Richmond which includes Virginia and North Carolina the ANV can respond to easily.

Which leads us to a tactic that the Union player may not be aware of. A well lead army in Virginia can defeat a Union invasion in the Reaction Phase and still have enough movement left to make an attack anywhere in Virginia and parts of N. Carolina. This is why occupying Norfolk and Elizabeth regions is dangerous to the forces there. I fought a defensive battle in Staunton defeating the main Union army. Knowing that they couldn’t possibly shift to the coast I then moved my whole army to Fort Monroe in the same turn and took it. If they had had a force in Norfolk I could have done the same.

New Orleans is a special case because closing the Mississippi closes four ports at once, if I remember correctly. Historically it was easily taken but because it wasn’t defended not because it was indefensible. The South thought that the two forts at the entrance would stop any ships. They didn’t and they were ill prepared with any kind of Plan B. You can be sure the Confederate Player will not make this mistake. In the first few turns of 61 New Orleans is vulnerable but the Union has the problem of not much to throw at it and it takes them a while to get there. I quickly built up the number of Heavy Guns in the forts so I could take their ships on and sent enough infantry to make any landing less than army size fail. I believe there are some tactics that will take the place but not if the Confederate player wants to commit the resources to holding it. I did. I had 6-8 Heavy Artillery units in the forts most of the time. I had 10,000 men supporting the forts and later almost 10,000 more in New Orleans to reinforce them.

Now for some peculiarities of New Orleans that may affect future tactics. Those forts really cost me in supply. They have a 3x supply penalty which means my garrison was costing me more supply points than having the Mississippi ports open gained me. Also, normally just having a few cruisers in the mouth of the Mississippi was sufficient to close all the ports. This changed somehow in 63 and I got supplies in spite of ships being there. I suspect that the Union must hold the Island and the sea zone as well.

There are also some other tactics we haven’t explored. I have seen references to placing ships in the mouth of other rivers resulting in a 100% shutdown of trade. Also, the Union needs to use its gunboat advantage to wipe out the South’s transport capacity on the rivers as early as possible, another reason for controlling your own production. This cuts the South up into a bunch of unsupportable sections where major rivers run. By the end of 61 there should be a Confederate transport on any river connected to the Mississippi.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:47 am 
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Just got the game last week, spent the weekend (as much as I could, at least) trying to get into 1863 against the AI. Bear in mind, I'm fighting against the AI on EASY here...

I haven't figured out the Amphib thing. I've landed forces, but agree, you can't get a large enough force to occupy and stick. Not sure I'm understanding the transport math properly.

AS for New Orleans, I did capture Fort St. Philip, and have shut down the Mississippi ports, but my armies are down to Memphis, so it's not that much of an advantage. Kennon is spot on here.

I'll echo the need to run your own Production, but don't try that until you get your hands on the rest of the game, which is taking some time for me! Just tired of getting all these ironclads, when I could use the cruisers more, etc.

The Initiative can be maddening as the Union player! You can see the opportunity, you've positioned yourself for it, and McClellan won't budge! I'm convinced when you go to the Political screen, and hear the pacing footsteps and the teletype clatter that it's simulating Lincoln at the War Office. Now I can have some appreciation for the exasperation he must have felt!

The geographic implications are much easier to see now. Sure, I've read about it in the books, and experienced it on a tactical scale, but having to deal with the rivers and positioning forces strategically is a great tool in knowing more about the history.

Lots of learning going on, should be ready for a human opponent soon! Really love the game!

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General Jeff Laub
Union Chief of the Army
ACWGC Cabinet Member
http://www.geocities.com/laubster22/UnionHQ/


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:17 am 
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I'd really recommend running your own production phase rather then letting the computer do it. As the Union you really need to build artillery and naval forces rather then heavy artillery. The only need for heavy artillery is for the islands you capture and any fortifications you build and plan on just holding. The artillery will really spur your armies along and the Navy is key in winning. You need cruisers to hunt down raiders and enforce the blockade and provide some firepower for your amphibious invasions. You need the transports to get troops to those invasions. I usually only build monitors to put in locations where the Confederates have naval forces and I don't plan on invading. The monitors will make sure that they can't sortie and break the blockade.

General Mark Nelms
6/3/IX/AoO
"Blackhawk Brigade"
Union Military Academy Instructor
Union Cabinet Secretary


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:24 pm 
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<b>Mar 1863</b>

The last month of winter brings a respite for the South. The Union is pretty much played out for the month. Better yet their Political Points fall to 802. If I can cause it to fall below 800 it should really hurt their ability to raise troops for 63. It looks like the Lincoln administration also decided to do some spring cleaning dismissing a number of generals.

Activity wise the Rebs just shift troops to get the two western armies ready for the coming Union offensives. I noticed I am going to have some problems with troop movements in the West. The railroad to Chattanooga crosses the Tennessee before re-crossing to Chattanooga. Once the Union takes that north side region I will not be able to shift troops. I will have to wait and see what my reach is to see what I can do about the problem.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:26 pm 
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<b>Apr 1863</b>

The Union must have had a straight flush in initiatives. They went on the move everywhere. Overrunning or easily brushing aside the small defense forces they took Florence(Al), Humbolt, Dickson(Tn), and Winchester. On the Mississippi the Union gunboats tried the defenses of Memphis and got two of their ships sunk. On the Rebel side not enough men could reach to respond to the attacks in the west.

The only offensive I decided to oppose was Curtis’ attack on Fredericksburg. Gen. A. Johnston pulled his army together and moved to stop them. And stop them he did throwing their forces back to Manassas. The Union had the numbers but not the general. Curtis only managed to commit half of his forces and the resulting even battle lead to a Union loss. Luckily for me since this offset all the points the Union gained for taking so many regions.

I decided in the West rather than oppose the attack into Humbolt to wait for my offensive turn. Then I sent all of Taylor’s army with two of the larges Corps of Lee’s army in to retake it. Lee moved his troops that didn’t get initiative to Corinth so the two armies could support each other.

Union offensive into central Tennessee puts me into a dilemma. My two
Western armies individually aren’t strong enough to defeat the two Union armies. Grant is positioning his army so he can attack south, southwest or southeast when he crosses the Tennessee River. If I try to defend both Memphis and Chattanooga I will probably fail at both. But I am not sure I can defend one and lose the other and still win the war. I hope not to have to make the choice. If I damage the Mississippi army enough maybe Grant will have to back off. If not hopefully I can shift to focus on Grant and screen the crippled (I hope) Mississippi army of Lyon’s.

Down in New Orleans I am going to try to move my heavy guns back into Fort St. Philip for one turn. Maybe I can damage their fleet enough to force them to withdraw but it is going to cost me in supplying them.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:00 am 
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<b>May 1863</b>

And the wave breaks and recedes. My counter offensive in Humbolt drives back Lyon’s army. Apparently moving my heavy guns back into Fort St. Philip worked. Two ships are sunk along with Adm. Farragut and the Mississippi is open to trade again. Unfortunately I can’t afford the supply costs of keeping those guns there so I pull them back to New Orleans hoping the enemy won’t notice. I badly need a turn or two of excess supply to get a fort in Petersburg and improve both Richmond and Vicksburg fortifications.

The Union isn’t idle. They desperately want those victories that will make issue Emancipation possible. Grant continues to expand his hold on central Tennessee sending another expedition to take Livingston which I don’t oppose. In Virginia they try again to get the On To Richmond campaign going. Their main army advancing this time on Gordonsville while a secondary attack is made further south against Elizabeth City. I bet that the Elizabeth City one is only a small force and send only one group from Norfolk to counter. The main army moves on Gordonsville. Both are victories for the South with the Union suffering about twice the casualties.

I spend the month shifting my armies back to more central positions. In the West I move Lee into supporting distance of Chattanooga and send Beauregard with Early to occupy the region. I am hoping to get a shot at Grant’s army but the terrain is difficult. My slower moving forces end up in Shiloh and Corinth with Gen. Taylor in command at Corinth. Moving Beauregard exposes the East coast to landings but I am hoping to be able to stop Grant during the next few turns before that or Gen. Lyon’s can advance again.

The Union on the other hand has some serious problems, one being their Political Points. After increasing with their April offensives it took a dramatic drop with my counter successes. For the first time it fell below 800 to 790. Plus their number of brigades fell to just 201 (although I am still not sure if this number reports all). My forces are almost a match to this at 173. They really need a new Draft but can’t afford taking another 50 point political hit for it. But they must act soon to use those troops before winter. The tide may have already turned with my two victories in a row. They have eaten up the indefensible regions in Northern Virginia and Central Tennessee. From now on everything is going to get much more difficult and they will have fewer resources for the undertaking.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:07 am 
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<b>Jun 1863</b>

The tide has definitely turned. The Union goes on a massive number of offensives attacking into Decatur, Hunteville, Shiloh, Humbolt, Staunton and Chattanooga. Only Staunton and Chattanooga are major efforts. The others are to pin troops in place or to distract.

Grant’s attack against Chattanooga was probably based on the hope that the other attacks would pin my main forces in place and that only a token force was in the city. His force is small and best of all spotted so I know what to expect. And, he is wrong about the defenses of Chattanooga. I had moved Beauregard with Early’s hard hitting command into the region. Wade Hampton’s cavalry is able to move to reinforce from Decatur evening up the odds to about 10,000 a side. That combined with great defensive terrain sends Grant back across the Tennessee.

The pinning attack against Decatur where Lee and some 80,000 men sit apparently didn’t work. Apparently sending just a brigade against a large force has no effect what so ever on them. Lee moves most of his army to Hunteville easily overwhelming the Union attack there. This will leave Lee’s army in a nice central position to move against the different parts of Grant’s command in Central Tennessee.

The other two attacks in the west against Humbolt and Shiloh are easily turned back after reinforcements from Memphis and Taylor’s army give both over two to one advantages.

Meanwhile the Union attempt to move down the Valley to Staunton is met by Gen. A. Johnston with the Virginia army. The Union again has trouble getting its army which should have out numbered Johnston to commit. Only 26,000 men do the fighting against Johnston’s 36,000. Combined with one of the best commands, Jackson heading one Corps and K. Smith the other, they inflict 11,000 casualties at the cost of 1800.

Now for the Coup de’tat, Lee moves his army against Grant’s reduced force now in Tullahoma. W. Lee’s cavalry is detached to move into Murfreesboro to pen the unit there and hopefully cut off Grant from supports. If successful Lee’s army will be positioned to retake all of Central Tennessee.

The Union has taken a major hit these last few turns. They have now made a Draft call but it will take a while for the troops to show up. The heavy losses incurred will probably choke up there repair production as well. There army size has fallen to the lowest it has been since August of 1861 with only 179 brigades active. Of these almost one third are militia. The Confederate armies actually out number the Union for the first time with 190 active infantry brigades of which only 24 are militia. And, with the expected victory against Grant there Political Points will probably fall below 700.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:11 pm 
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<b>Jul 1863</b>

Grant was defeated losing almost 11,000 men to my 3,000. I think we are beginning to see the affects of brigade quality. As units fight they gain quality. If they are damaged they will lose a level. Once one side starts consistently winning and causing more of the enemy units to be damaged and repaired the over all quality improves relative to the enemy. Most of my troops now are at least on first star. The Union Political Points fall below 700. There Draft runs out this month so for the rest of the year between the Draft penalty, the high 1863 militia cost, and the extra 6 PP cost for the low Political Points there ability to raise troops or even repair is shutdown.

The Union only does some shifting of troops in the West but Curtis again tries to move into the upper valley but this time they hit A. Johnston already in place with all the advantages. He is easily defeated.

I didn’t have any major formations in the West get initiative so I most shift troops toward Decatur and Huntsville so they can attack on either side of the Tennessee.

In the East rather than do the Union mistake of trying to fight in the mountains I take advantage of their initiative to march the whole army on Fort Monroe. It isn’t a critical objective but it will take a thorn out of my side and hopefully draw the Union deeper into Virginia for a solid counter attack.

Note: For some reason I am receiving supply through the Mississippi ports even though they have a fleet in the mouth blocking it. Or at least it use to do it.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:12 pm 
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<b>Comments on the CSA, Supply and Amphibious Assaults:</b>

From the Southern point of view I see a number of vulnerabilities that the Union can take advantage of the that you really don’t realize exist until you have played the CSA side. Having not recently played the USA side I can’t be sure of the tactics for doing this.

First is supply. You get supply based on the number of factories you have, how much gets through the blockade, and a little bit from captures. The South requires about 200 points per turn to maintain their armies. When their ports aren’t heavily blockaded they get about 140 through them which give them the excess supply they need to build forts, raiders, and all those heavy guns.

The Union strategy should be to shut the South’s sources of supply down as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. This requires a two fold strategy. The blockading and amphibious invasions of ports and the taking of production regions of the south. One of the major problems with the AI’s production was it concentrated on Heavy Artillery which the Union doesn’t need and Ironclads which the Union doesn’t need. This AI script does change but I recommend always playing the economy, you can’t do worse. The Union needs Cruisers, Gunboats and Transports early on then Field Guns. They want to dominate the South’s Heavy Artillery and Forts before they get to strong. With these they can blockade the ports shutting off supply and control the rivers restricting movement.

Now for Amphibious Assaults: I think the game models them pretty well. The Union had a lot of successes in 61 and early 62 when the South’s coast was virtually undefended but consistently failed from mid 62 on through 63. Once the South had fortifications and naval guns around their ports the Union could no longer drop a few regiments under the big guns of the ships and take one. Also occupying these ports is of questionable strategic advantage. While they certainly shut them down for trade they usually require far more troops than the 2-3 cruisers who could have blockaded it. Norfolk is a good example. The troops there spent most of the war as virtual prisoners that the South didn’t have to feed. In this game I have had to maintain a garrison of six Heavy Artillery units and some 10,000 men. It is worth while due to its production capacity but holding it has not ever gotten one supply point through.

Making landing on the South’s major East coast ports is very difficult and very risky. Not only must the Union send enough troops to overpower the Militia that is auto generated as well as the garrisons but they must garrison them afterward to prevent them from being retaken. The South can easily put together a relief army in one turn and wipe them out on the next as I demonstrated a number of times. And, any port in reach of Richmond which includes Virginia and North Carolina the ANV can respond to easily.

Which leads us to a tactic that the Union player may not be aware of. A well lead army in Virginia can defeat a Union invasion in the Reaction Phase and still have enough movement left to make an attack anywhere in Virginia and parts of N. Carolina. This is why occupying Norfolk and Elizabeth regions is dangerous to the forces there. I fought a defensive battle in Staunton defeating the main Union army. Knowing that they couldn’t possibly shift to the coast I then moved my whole army to Fort Monroe in the same turn and took it. If they had had a force in Norfolk I could have done the same.

New Orleans is a special case because closing the Mississippi closes four ports at once, if I remember correctly. Historically it was easily taken but because it wasn’t defended not because it was indefensible. The South thought that the two forts at the entrance would stop any ships. They didn’t and they were ill prepared with any kind of Plan B. You can be sure the Confederate Player will not make this mistake. In the first few turns of 61 New Orleans is vulnerable but the Union has the problem of not much to throw at it and it takes them a while to get there. I quickly built up the number of Heavy Guns in the forts so I could take their ships on and sent enough infantry to make any landing less than army size fail. I believe there are some tactics that will take the place but not if the Confederate player wants to commit the resources to holding it. I did. I had 6-8 Heavy Artillery units in the forts most of the time. I had 10,000 men supporting the forts and later almost 10,000 more in New Orleans to reinforce them.

Now for some peculiarities of New Orleans that may affect future tactics. Those forts really cost me in supply. They have a 3x supply penalty which means my garrison was costing me more supply points than having the Mississippi ports open gained me. Also, normally just having a few cruisers in the mouth of the Mississippi was sufficient to close all the ports. This changed somehow in 63 and I got supplies in spite of ships being there. I suspect that the Union must hold the Island and the sea zone as well.

There are also some other tactics we haven’t explored. I have seen references to placing ships in the mouth of other rivers resulting in a 100% shutdown of trade. Also, the Union needs to use its gunboat advantage to wipe out the South’s transport capacity on the rivers as early as possible, another reason for controlling your own production. This cuts the South up into a bunch of unsupportable sections where major rivers run. By the end of 61 there should be a Confederate transport on any river connected to the Mississippi.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:13 pm 
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<b>Aug 1863</b>

Grant is defeated in the West by Lee, but the Union has pulled to far back leaving a buffer zone between. Lee has to be satisfied with overrunning Murfreesboro and sending A.P. Hill to occupy Livingston, Ky. In the East Johnston has taken Fort Monroe and not wanting to take on a mountain attack just shifts troops back to Richmond. Supplies are still passing through New Orleans but don’t know why. My armies are running out of supplies which mean I have more units fighting in an unsupplied state which is going to cost me. September will probably be my last turn for offensive operations then I will have to pull back to better terrain.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 4:50 pm 
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Winter 1863-1864

The Union is not getting initiative and as a result armies are not on the move. The confederates aren't getting much either but as I have said before, they don't have to move, the Union does.

It's the winter of the Cavalry raids and repairing track as fast as the Rebs can bust it. The Union are getting their raids in too and hopefully the Rebs are feeling the pinch in repair capability.

I am a little concerned about initiative (and the lack of it). When I play the Rebs I want to defeat the Union with better play and strategy. I don't want to win because my opponent can't move his forces.

The Union cannot possibly win the present game and we are playing only to see what 'other stuff' we can do and to learn the system.

I fear managing the economy yourself is going to be absolutely necessary for historical play. The AI is producing for me waaaaaaaay toooooooooo many heavy artillery units when infantry is what I need.

I am also concerned about a confederate army that is larger than the Union. There is no way that could have happened. Sorry Gary, I don't agree with you on that one no matter how bad the political situation was in the north. According to Shelby Foote and many other authors the confederacy was having man power problems by the end of 1861. I don't need to pull the population figures here but the confederates could never produce an army larger than the North. Everyone knows this except maybe McClellan and Pinkerton.

It was the confederates that passed the first conscription act not the Union to make up for this deficit. And they never were able to make up for it.

Still, this game is light years ahead of "Forge of Freedom" with its Confederate armies of hundreds of thousands of men.

Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:52 am 
I'm quite enjoying the AAR on this but was wondering - could one or both of you perhaps take some screenshots to provide visuals? I would love to see a bit of what you guys are talking about.

Regards,

Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn
CSA Chief of Staff
3rd Bgde, 3rd Cav Div, II Corps, AoA

God Bless <><


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