<b>October 1861 – Turns 13 & 14</b>
Beauregard is still in Winchester and still beating the hell out of McDowell. Even though McDowell out numbers him and Beauregard has no supplies, which have yet to affect combat. The second battle there resulted in the Union taking 4 Morale losses for it but I finally saw the number of troops in supply drop from 100% to 70%. I tried to tighten the circle I have formed around him so when he does start losing he will lose the whole force. But in this game it is very easy for an army to slip away especially if you can’t control the surrounding regions with very large forces. I do have the help of winter and the taking of Warren allowed me to destroy the Strasburg Depot.
To further distract Athena I launch a force against Fredericksburg which finds K. Smith in its way and continue my raids and rail burnings in southwest Virginia.
Out West things get a little better. McClellan doesn’t get initiative but does manage to force A. Johnston back into the Bowling Green defenses where he is besieged. Grant moves on Fort Henry but Gen. Halleck in a sudden frenzy of activity managed to take Fort Henry and Donelson. Also a small force in eastern Kentucky takes Clarksburg.
While I wait for a miracle to activate McDowell or Beauregard’s army to starve to death I thought I would visit the Navy. The game has an extensive naval system that covers blockades, commerce raiding, bombardment of forts, river operations and amphibious landings. You have some 30+ types of ships you can build. In the screen shot below I show the two key parts of naval allocations, the Blockade box (Atlantic shown but also one for Gulf) and the Atlantic Shipping Box:
You can allocate ships to the Blockade box to implement what is called a blue water blockade of the south. Here you can see my blockade level is 25%. Below it in the Shipping Box you can allocate ships for trade and transport. To the left of these are the outer coastal regions and the coastal regions which you can also blockade and move troops through on transports. Since I am not that familiar with it I had asked on the AGEOD Forums whether blockading was worthwhile and how to do it. Here is a very good summary of naval tactics a member posted:
<font color="yellow">You need to be blockading both the Gulf and Atlantic blockade boxes with about equal strength, because the overall effectiveness of your blockade is weighted towards the weakest box.
You should have started with 5 blockcade squadrons in the Atlantic box but only 1 in the Gulf box, so unless you have added more to the Gulf, you're not going to get your blockade numbers up.
The most effective ships for blockades are, not surprisingly, blockade squadrons. In addition to the ones that start in the blockade boxes, you get a few of these squadrons for free in 1861, but they'll be locked for several turns. When they unlock, send them to the blockade boxes -- especially the Gulf. You certainly have the resources to buy a few more blockade squadrons, and I think it's a good idea to.
Also, when you send more blockade squadrons to the Gulf, make sure to send a couple of transports with them. Transports carry tons of supplies, so they'll keep your blockade squadrons happily fed for much longer before they have to return to port.
The biggest issue with the Gulf is that it's a longer trip to get there from your Atlantic ports. But, you don't have to send them all the way back to resupply -- they can get supplies from any harbor, and the US owned Fort Pickens on the Gulf coast has a level 1 harbor.
For catching blockade runners, the regular blockade squadrons are fine, and can be augmented with additional frigates.
Also, don't neglect the shipping box. You need transports in the shipping box to get supplies transferred between coastal ports, and you need some fighting ships -- frigates -- to hunt down raiders.
I honestly don't know whether it makes any difference whether units in the naval boxes are stacked or separate, but for myself I always stack my unions fleets together and separate my CSA ones (except shipping box raiders).
The way detection works is that it's the larger force's patrol value compared with the weaker force's evasion value that determines whether you can locate them and attack. On land, patrol values are added for all elements, while evasion is based on the average for a unit. I assume it's the same for naval units. I don't know if patrol value is added at the stack level or for the entire box. It might be the entire box, because on land the patrol value is added for the entire region. Either way, I'd rather have the stack together so that when I do locate the raiders I have overwhelming force and can inflict maximum damage.
Evasion is not added up but averaged across all elements. On land this is done at the stack level. Not sure about the naval boxes. But, there is a small stack bonus for less than 4 units, so it definitely pays for blockade runners to spread out.
I have found that squadrons grouped together, and some independent steam frigates or sloops (or whatever) operating independently are the best way to up your box percentage. Of course, don't forget to put some ships in the shipping box, as well, as protection for your supply boats.
Also, make a naval engineer or two and put them on a small fleet (couple of men-of-war and two supply boats). Then send them to Ft. Pickens (if you still have it). When the fleet arrives, build a depot and drop off the naval engineer. You will have supply and the engineer will help you get the ships to recover cohesion quicker. Plus, the depot pulls replacements for you fleets and the fort's garrison more efficiently (I think).
Like airpower in a certain WWII game, ya gotta make a commitment to The Blockade. I play with the Standard Rule, being a salty type.
* The investment is worth it, IMO. 'Sides, I like my jolly tars - one area where those perfidious Rebs take a back seat.
* Various people say that BlkSqdns are best for the BlkBoxes. I haven't crunched the numbers, but am willing to grant the point. Use BlkSqdns with a Frigate or two, and one or two Brigs (the latter for the scouting component).
* In the early game, 40% or so is all you can reasonably expect - you have other things to do, you can't pour everything into the Navy. As you build a bigger Navy, you can get to 60%, maybe more. These are the Boxes, natch. I keep enough Union Shipping with a modest escort force to ensure 100% Sea Supply/Transport abilities - I could care less about the $$ and WS; even with Light Industrialization, I have more than enough WS by mid-'62.
* Now, for the close blockade - I effect a 'semi-close' Brown Blockade. Some spots you can do a true Close Block - Bogue's Inlet to block Morehead City, NC, is an example. CSA guns can't hurt you there, although there's a fort nearby. Hover the mouse over the Harbor icon on CSA cities to see where the Block Point is. In the example just mentioned, you can effect a true ClsBlk and suffer no damage from the shore batteries. For other spots, e. g., Charleston, SC, I park myself off the river mouth. I'm not truly blockading the Harbor (see Tooltip per above), but I'll engage a fair amount of Runners. I'll miss a bunch too, no matter my Aggression, but...well, I dislike having to build new ships for sunken ones. If your units lose a battle (rare) or are weakened, they can end up shorewards a water region, inside an estuary. Not Good. You'll lose ships on the way out to the batteries. Ships are expensive and take months to replace. I don't like losing ships, at all, unless it's for a major objective.
* My BrownBlock Sqdns are one (1) BlkSqdn with 2 Brig Sqdns (four Brigs altogether) and one (1) Transport Sqdn. 12 Elements, enough for any region on the charts (only a landlubber would say 'map').
* I don't build a whole lot of Frigates - *sigh*. Too bad, lovely vessels (I don't mean the stinkpots). I generally use these for my 'semi-Blue Block': cruising one region outwards, to sea - you'll catch the occasional Runner out at sea.
* Put Transports with as many fleets as you can - they stay out longer. Keep some TPs at Pickens, the Keys, Monroe, and anyplace you grab, also, to attract Supplies.
By mid-'63, you should be able to effect a 50%+ Blue Block, have a more than good sized Navy and be putting the squeeze on up close and personal. If you wanna bring Monitors south beyond the VA Capes, ya gotta seize the NC coastal forts, otherwise it's just throwing tin at the bottom of Cape Hatteras.
Don't forget the River Navy either!
!!! What the heck is the difference between a Monitor and an Ironclad??? I don't mean River Ironclad - if you build Monitors, some come out with the "weather canopy" on them in the GIF and are denoted 'Ironclad'. Flavor only, or is there a real distinction?</font id="yellow">
LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)