Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: Jim D Burns
P.S. Everything counts on command usage, so supply wagons and artillery will put you over the top easily if you're not careful.

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ORIGINAL: Joe D.

We need to find someone who played the Colonials and won and just ask him/her for an overall strategy

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ORIGINAL: Arsan
I have a question for Pocus!. Maybe its a little bug...
Playing as the american, i lost Charleston after a short siege (just have half a militia regiment fixed as garrison there from the begining).
After the AI took the city (septembre 1975), a rebel army popped just outside the walls (Moultrie, two milita regiments and a big naval battery. Next turn they assaulted and taked the city back but... now, the naval battery is fixed outside the walls, sitting in the swamp, and cant be moved inside the Charleston fort or anywhere.
It´s this working as designed?? The unit is named Charleston battery, so i suppose they are intended to be used inside the fort, "pointing" to the sea... Maybe they should have been in Charleston since the begining??

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ORIGINAL: Markshot

I will share a few of my thoughts. Admittedly I have only played one GC, but I did win.

You can win in two ways:

(1) On points - Points come from holding on to strategic towns and objectives each turn, and winning battles.

(2) Capitulation of the enemy - Capitulation comes about by reaching all your goals before the end of the scenario.

Destroying the enemy's ability to fight will advance you down both of the above paths. There are two means by which you can destroy his ability to fight:

(1) Weaken his units such that they are in no position to engage your units. Weakening his units comes about by:

(a) Winning battles, but not being able to corner him.

(b) Laying siege to his units and cutting off supply, but not concluding the siege.

(c) Having him lay siege to your fortifications, during the Winter months.

(d) Leaving him no place to retire during the Winter months.

(e) Removing his sources reinforcements and replacements.

(f) Capturing his supplies.

(2) Destroy his units such that he has no force with which to engage you. This comes about by:

(a) Winning a siege, such that the enemy surrenders.

(b) Conducting a successful assault such that the enemy is destroyed.

(c) Engaging the enemy in a region such that enemy has no avenue of retreat. The region should be surrounded by regions which you control (all adjacent regions) or has his back to the an impassable body of water.

Here are some strategies which you can employ.

(1) Where the enemy is weak, fight.

There are many opportunities to attack weak enemy garrisons. Do not lay siege and give him time send a relief force, but instead strike with overwhelming force and destroy the garrison. Make sure as you strike that it is not a trap. Have a retreat path and consider having a leader who is capable of retreating. You can use stealthy units to gather information about the enemy. So, these targets of opportunity should not be deep in enemy territory, but preferably within your territory or on the periphery.

(2) Where the enemy is strong, withdraw.

Do not meet strength with strength; run away, you are not looking for a fair fight. Withdraw into your territory. Behind you, you should have a network of garrisons. This should slow his pursuit and keep you safe. The deeper he moves into your territory the more vulnerable he becomes if you should choose to turn and fight a decisive battle. In his territory, he can retreat if the odds do not favor him. In your territory, he may well be trapped. Except for the extreme South, Winter generally brings a halt to operations. Thus, if you can defer battle long enough, Winter will general ring the bell calling an end to the current round.

(3) Where the enemy is of moderate stength, mass and strike a decisive blow.

When he has divided his forces and sends moderate force to engage you, rapidly bring your commanders and units together to form a powerful army. Engage him with this powerful army and destroy him. Make sure the regions around him are in your control before the battle. If a couple are not, then send a small fast force to secure them or march the main strike force through them first.

How do you know that he has divided his forces besides recon? Structures will reveal the large stacks of units within. Also, perhaps he is tied up with sieges at various locations.

Another time to strike with a decisive blow is when he chooses to lay siege to your fortifications, for it is at that moment that you can generally be sure of his location and intentions. So, enemy sieges are not necessarily bad things, they present opportunities if correctly managed.

If the enemy is foolish enough to lay siege in the Winter, then let him. He will weaken through the Winter while your forces refit in shelter. When the Spring comes, resume operations against his sickened units.

(4) Generally, keep lone units in structures. If outside of structures, they are too likely to yield territory easily to the enemy. The main purpose of doing this is to limit the enemy's mobility. He cannot march and leave your fortifications in his rear. Consider holding such positions a long key road junctures that allow rapid movement.

(5) Winter is your friend. Whenever possible, try to encourage the enemy to brave it.

(6) Use your leaders well. Don't neglect them. Forces move quicker with them. Leaders convey different bonuses. For example, a training officer with a large force will vastly improve that force over the years. Every time new militias are raised or supplies are assembled, allocate some leaders to rapidly move individual units or supplies and form new armies. In other words, have the leader collect the units. (Leaders on their own move very fast.) This is much faster than having the units move to the leaders.

(7) Defend best your built up and civilized areas. You will need these areas to recruit and to assemble armies. If you have to reliquish some control to the enemy, than let him advance and march through the wilderness. It will be very slow going for him, supplies will be limited, and their is always the risk of being caught by the Winter.

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Well, the above are just some initial thoughts which have had after my first GC. Probably obvious to everyone who has been playing for a while now.

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ORIGINAL: MarkShot
My initial thoughts on stealthy units is:

- Use them in wilderness-mountains/woods where there are no structures. They should effectively become invisible. Units in regions with structures are always visible no matter how stealthy they are.

- Use them to ambush the enemy trying to move up reinforcements.

- Use them on the periphery of your control to see what the enemy is up to.

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ORIGINAL: MarkShot
I just started playing the 1775 GC from the British side; I am little past a year into the struggle. An interesting change from the American side:

- No territorial control of the high value areas.
- Largely blind due to lack of popular support; really need to use your irregulars and cav scouts to sea (also the fleet is good recon too).
- Fewer leaders and half the time, they are in no mood to follow orders.
- Ah, G_d bless his Majesty's Fleet. It makes up for some of the above in terms of mobility and fire support.

It will be interesting to see how the conflict progresses. One thing as the Americans which was tiresome was the constant disbanding of militia at the end of year making your forces evaporate and then having to round up your armies again. Perhaps, in command of the British, there will be much less of that.

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Just finished first campaignas the Americans, 1775 all the way through.

1. Game ran well

2. I won rather easily by points (over 1700 more points than the Brits). In the end, the Brits held Quebec, Ft. Detroit and Norfolk -- the latter they grabbed on the last couple turns of the game when my militia there disbanded in Jan of 1783.

3. The French intervention turns the tide...no doubt about it. The "big" battle of the game was the French fleet catching some unescorted British transports and destroying what was the largest British Army on the continent. I landed the French in the vicinity of Danbury, and marched them to New York and captured that back from the Brits, then the French marched up the Hudson and finally captured Montreal. The hike to Quebec turned out to be a bit too much, and I was never able to effect a decent seige of that fortress.

4. Washington and the main Continental army never left New England. They kept the New York-to-Boston axis open and clobbered several smaller British incursions.

5. Hint: in the early part of the game as the American do yourself a favor....burn every Indian villiage you can!

6. The AI played generally well, but I noted one thing that probably needs to be looked at: the Brit AI never took forces to winter quarters until the snow was already waist deep. I saw a couple of British stacks disappear -- and I assume it was due to weather. You learn really quick that in about September/October, you better be in or close to some sort of structure.

7. Why can troops that are in a fort still entrench? Is there any value to doing so?

8. Hint: it is a game of posts and pitched battle. Do not underestimate the value of a single militia regiment entrenched within a city. The AI will almost always lay seige, and you can slow down/stop a much larger force if you play your cards smart. Also, as noted above, the Brit AI will continue to seige while the snows start -- and I am quite sure that I killed many many more Brits on the outskirts of cities due to weather than they killed by laying seige.

9. Hint: as the American simply retreat when the British advance into an area, and attack when they abandon (or reduce forces) in an area. Do not go head-to-head with large British stacks: 1) there is no need to, and 2) you will lose. Be willing to lose any city for a period of time.

I am going to download the patch and give it a try as the Brits now.

Regards,
Feltan

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ORIGINAL: Dinsdale

Run. Run. Keep running.

At least until 78.

I've been able to win on hard, but I suspect that's about to change with 1.06.

The key to the game is getting French and Spanish help as quickly as possible. That means that you need to try and maintain 1 or more strategic cities in each Region. If the British have an entire region, it's 15% less chance of French intervention. Letting the British get 2 regions may be irreversibly fatal.

I leave the Deep South to it's fate. Only options are to siege outlying positions and try and prevent the British from having every city. Even with Cornwallis and a few reinforcements, they don't have enough men to adequately garrison everywhere. Provided you don't get caught by Tarleton or other roving bands, you can usually win a city back, and force the British to find another regular unit to garrison it with (that all takes them time, and you'll be somewhere else doing the same.

Having said that, my current game saw Cornwallis land in New York. The Deep South is entirely mine, and the north is a death trap, so your mileage may vary.

The South Central tend to be quiet in my games until late. There are too many cities for the British to do anything about you, and they tend to not have enough troops to take more than a couple anyway, provided you keep Howe and the Germans up north.

Middle States
I used to work near Morristown and visited the Contintental site several times. Until playing though, I often wondered what the hell Washington was doing out there The British tend to march through, so I find Easton to be a perfect depot site and place to keep the army intact. From there you can hit detachments trying to take Wyoming, retake Phillie+Manhattan, and run back to Easton. You can tie 2 British armies up in this region if you're lucky.

North New England and Canada
For me, the key to every campaign in the game is Albany. If you can hold Albany then the British have logistical problems, can't ever unite Burgoyne with the Germans or Howe/Clinton, and can't move out of New England. That keeps South Central safe, and allows Washington to maneuver the Middle States.

Albany is well protected, if you hold Dayton, then the British can't use it for supply. Holding (and retaking whenever empty) Battlebro and Pittsfield will prevent the New England force from being able to walk in. With it's depot and horrendously short campaign season, Albany should never fall.

After Albany, I try and hold Norwich. It's a nightmare for the British to take, and when they move their army north, you can send some raids south into Southern New England:

I don't know if there's a rule, but it seems that Boston triggers many more colonial militias and Continentals to form. If the British army is off hunting you in the Middle States, and stalled in the North, then a capable force can retake Boston, Newport and Hartford. The British tend to react angrily to these moves, so be prepared to run, and don't disperse. Better to abandon every city but Boston than garrison and allow the Brits to siege you one by one.

Provided you avoid battle, don't get unlucky and run into 20,000 Germans, and prevent the Brits from holding a region, by 78 or 79 you'll be strong enough to start threatening them and fighting pitched battles. When the French arrive, it's fairly straightforward to maneuver and fight, or better still, trap the British in sieges. You still need to be careful as British quality will still see off all but much larger American armies.

Other things I do:

Depots:
When you are going on the offensive, then it's faster than lugging supply wagons around with every army. A select few can supply the whole of New England and Virginia.

Leaders:
After the yearly disbands, send plenty of 1 star leaders off to likely recruiting centres. A regiment suffers a 50% penalty without an officer, and they tend to arrive in clumps. Campaigning season is short, and you need to concentrate those forces as quickly as possible.

Washington:
GW is a skirmisher, but if his forces outnumber a British army, he'll fight it even if the quality differential results in the complete destruction of your army. Don't group too many units under his command, and he'll instead look to retreat from every battle, typically with no loss. I lost a game very early when GW stood and fought. Our "victory" destroyed the entire army and barely scratched the Brits.

Indians:
They can be a pain in the ass, and sometimes supplement small British regulars. Although it's a brutal tactic, I try and exterminate them from the outset. Morgan's rifles, or Marblehead are good independent leaders and their 1 unit is generally enough to assault any Indian village. After you burn it to the ground, they don't come back next year.

West Point/Manhattan
I don't like tying up precious artillery in a fort, so I don't tend to make one. I've been able to defend the Hudson with hit and run sieges after the Brits move on. But, this might be impacted by 1.06. If the British are more efficient at rolling up 1 unit defended towns, then it may be necessary to fortify and hold with a garrison. WP is harder to take logistically, though Manhattan is surrounded by empty areas and is also a challenge. It will be interesting to see how these areas are handled with the new patch

Charisma
One of the goals is to gain more units each year. That can be accelerated by not suffering disbandments, charasmatic leaders can help keep the army together, thus grow faster with the next season's recruitment. Washington and Arnold are good for the large armies, but don't neglect small detachments. Try to get all your charasmatic leaders employed somewhere. Keeping an extra 2-3 regiments per year may not seem like much, but by '80 it makes your force overwhelming.

Leaders
Pulaski should go wherever the cavalry is, Kosciusko whereever you want to siege (or hold.) Sad irony, that two of the most congested stretches of road on earth are named after these fellows

Use other leaders where their attributes help. After playing the British for a while, it's nice to have decent leaders, and they can make a small but significant contribution. Fast Mover is very useful, especially for ferrying troops or supplies between armies. It only takes 1 fast mover to get the bonus, so lump them with larger forces when needed.

Command Limit
More than anything else, once I started to pay attention to command limit I had success. Everything from speed of movement to combat is affected. I'd rather have fewer troops than exceed the command limit. With American leaders there should be no excuse to let any group exceed command for too long. Much more a problem with the British, as it forces people like Burgoyne and his slow moving subordinate on you for the entire game!

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ORIGINAL: Ardie

Woah! Excellent post, Dinsdale!!

I agree with you on most points. I tend to form the regional departments and assign leaders, regiments and supply by priorities/needs. So far New England and Georgia & Carolinas are the most urgent ones.

One of my strategies is to take out Norfolk, VA as quickly as possible in order to deny British landing there.

Yes, Albany is the key for the survival in New England. Losing Albany hurts more than losing NYC. I tend to take Ticonderoga to trigger the Canadian regimental uppgrade and to protect Knox's guns but I dare not to venture further north.

I've mostly tried to keep Charleston, SC garrisoned but if Cornwallis tries open southern front I'm thinking about abandoning it and hold Camden/ Charlotte instead. This should be easier if the tories in Norfolk are eliminated.

A good point on Washy. I have seemed to handle him well as I try to "grow" a solid experienced core group of regular regiments with him. Too bad that I seem to get unlucky and lose several regulars come January even with Charismatic leaders commanding them. Usually the 1st Dragoons.

I usually leave the Indians alone, they otherwise provide really good scouts for the enemy. The Brits could really use them.

Still some very good tips, Thanks!

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ORIGINAL: Dinsdale
That's the beauty of the 75 campaign, each theatre has an affect on the next, and within each theatre, each town affects the next. There's a series of old boardgames, with a smaller scale, which plays very similarly: Avalon Hill's Struggle Of Nations, and the 1814 and 1815 campaigns. There might even be one for Italy 1796. All about maneuver and threats, rather than a series of battles.

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One of my strategies is to take out Norfolk, VA as quickly as possible in order to deny British landing there.

I never seem to have enough units to hold Norfolk, though I imagine games are shaped by the towns you hold: thus where reinfocements and the new intake of regiments appear.


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Yes, Albany is the key for the survival in New England. Losing Albany hurts more than losing NYC. I tend to take Ticonderoga to trigger the Canadian regimental uppgrade and to protect Knox's guns but I dare not to venture further north.


Agree. One thing I forgot to write, was not to invade Canada. It's not worth the losses, and it's impossible to face Burgoyne when he arrives and hold anything.


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I've mostly tried to keep Charleston, SC garrisoned but if Cornwallis tries open southern front I'm thinking about abandoning it and hold Camden/ Charlotte instead. This should be easier if the tories in Norfolk are eliminated.

The bastard usually lands at Charleston when I play. Though the last one, he never made it to the South. Charleston seems like a great place to hold as 2-3 regiments show up there each year, instead of having them scattered all over the place.


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Still some very good tips, Thanks!
You're welcome! But, after playing a little 1.06 over the weekend, I think many of them are now invalid.

I had my ass handed to me on hard. The British assaulted and destroyed a significant force in Albany, took Stanwick and Dayton Forts, and crushed Washington in New Jersey. They managed to combine Burgoyne with the New England force and march south. Fortunately I crushed Cornwallis, otherwise almost the entire British army would have been flooding south into Virginia, and I had just enough men to keep Clinton and the Germans distracted.

At one point, the northern "front" was Washington, and a bunch of refugees in the wilderness outside Wilkes-Barre. Eventually the French, and moving reinforcements up from the South each year helped retake parts of the North, but the game ended in a virtual points tie.

I've never really assaulted forts before, but watching the British make mincemeat of them all, and ordering a successful assault on the West Indies, I'm wondering if Jagger is correct in http://www.ageod.com/forums/showthread.php?t=682 that forts may be a little underpowered. I did fortify West Point, it held against a 4 regiment attack, and Pittsburgh held off a similar sized force, but any large army was able to take a fort without much in the way of losses.

Perhaps there needs to be a cap on the number of regiments which can take part in any assault. But on the other hand, during the Peninsular War, Almeida, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz and San Sebastian all fell very quickly, and would probably be considered level 2 or level 3 forts in the game context. I would prefer the assaulting force to at least take more losses though.

Another thing I noticed was a much more aggresive British AI towards any armies they located. They would break off sieges and ignore towns if they had a crack at hitting any significant formation.

I played about 18 months on 1.05, but I think that starting the game on 1.06 would have resulted in a British win. It's a breath of fresh air to face an AI which plays such a strong game.

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ORIGINAL: Jhdeersmayer
Yea I noticed the 1.06 AI seems to bring a wave of death down upon my poor Rebels. Though I hold Boston for a few years after the French retook it, it proceeded to capture everything in NE and then proceeded towards Phily and hammered everything there after I updated to 1.06. There was no stopping it. The AI eventually formed a Death Star stack and I stayed away. Best I could do was double back and take some NE back which I did. The AI then gave up on heading further south and now chasing me around in NE again.

Staying in one region longer than one turn is a kiss of death as the AI heads right at you it seems. Especially if you are in a strategic city. Forgot holding out in a fort. Run like hell. I already had Washy's army get slaughtered once because I stayed in one place too long.

Seems you have to just get out of the way and then hit it where it is not. There are lots of lone Brit units around and you can even catch some artillery/supply on occasion.

You have to watch as sometime the Death Star will jump five regions and pounce on you and Washy. Goes to my Washy stack like flies on ....

But all this is allowing my other army to retake the south in 1782. Capturing endless supply (need a way to destroy it please!) Spanish got totally wiped out though as I got a little cocky with them and that damn AI took New Orleans and all of Florida back. The AI is irritating in a good way!

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ORIGINAL: Ardie
Ok. I do call the AI now as "evil bitch", the mean-spirited, crony mother-in-law of all bad karma

The forts are meant to be as a strongpoint and/or to significantly slow the enemy down. So far as I just installed 1.06 I've had no fort sieges but the AI (forever cursed she must be) takes towns in 2 turns. I have to change my strategy again!!

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ORIGINAL: Blackbellamy

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Agree. One thing I forgot to write, was not to invade Canada. It's not worth the losses, and it's impossible to face Burgoyne when he arrives and hold anything.

Who wants to hold anything ? Burn it all to the ground and get the hell out.

First thing I do any 75 campaign - send Arnold and all Albany reinforcements straight to Montreal, storm the place, burn down the Depot, exterminate the Indian village, destroy every fort in the nearby regions, then march back south to Albany, throw a big party for the loyal and erstwhile commander, then send him down South so his charismatic ass can rally the militia. Meanwhile, a smaller force takes Oswego, heads down to Ft. Niagra to show the lobsterbacks what time it is, then marches back to Albany for the grand reunion, burning down anything that can be burned in between.