Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation?

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [American Civil War] >> Gary Grigsby's War Between the States >> Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation?

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Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/1/2008 8:54:05 PM

jalefkowit

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I've been playing through this game for a couple weeks now and I am slowly but surely getting to the point where I think I understand most facets of it. But one thing that eludes me is how to keep the Union player's PP total up.

Building an army that can simultaneously threaten the CSA in Virginia and Kentucky/Tennessee while garrisoning Missouri typically takes me until mid-1862 (assuming no key leaders get sick or die). To get there, I have to launch at least two drafts, which knock me off my PP pedestal. Then when I start making offensive moves with this new army, I typically see a few reverses on the battlefield before I start to get traction, which makes me lucky if I can hold my PP total in the 800s. Meanwhile Confederate raiders and other annoyances nip away at my PPs in tiny bites.

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how the Union can get to a position where it can declare emancipation in 1862. It's just possible that I could grind out enough victories to get me to 1000 by 1864 or so, but 1862 seems impossible. I've managed to get the necessary strategic victory in 1862 (though it takes a healthy dose of luck), but I've never been anywhere near the required PP level then.

What's the Union player supposed to do to recover the PPs lost to drafts and early reverses in time for an historical EP? The only thing I can think of is "don't draft" and "don't get beat so often early on", but neither of these seem like realistic strategies -- without drafts you can't build an army large enough to win, and without great leaders (who don't seem to start showing up until late '62/early '63) at least some losses are a foregone conclusion...

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RE: Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/1/2008 9:58:53 PM

Erik Rutins

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I tend to make up those PPs by grabbing territory in the central and western states, as well as along the coastal regions with amphibious ops. It's quite possible for Union players to draft twice and still declare the EP in 1862. You do have to be careful to not give up a big win to the Confederacy without it having a strategic purpose, but overall the CSA can't defend everywhere at once and generally will have to give up some territory to a strong Union army (which two drafts makes possible).

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RE: Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/1/2008 10:06:46 PM

jalefkowit

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quote:

I tend to make up those PPs by grabbing territory in the central and western states, as well as along the coastal regions with amphibious ops.

Interesting. In the games I've played I've tended to concentrate my Western offensive along two axes, one south from Cairo aimed towards Memphis and one south from Cincinnati aimed at securing Kentucky and driving towards Nashville, with Grant and Buell as ACs. Both these thrusts tend to bog down pretty quickly, to the point where in my latest game I've actually shifted the Army of the Potomac to a completely defensive hold-Washington posture and shifted lots of its strength West instead. This has been a little more successful, but the PPs I've gained have been offset by losing the ones I'd get from an offensive towards Richmond...

I've also considered trying to run the tables in the Transmississippi region as an easy way to score PPs, but there just aren't enough troops available to do that without either abandoning one of my other Western advances, or cutting the AotP to such a level that a Confederate breakout into Pennsylvania seems possible.

< Message edited by jalefkowit -- 12/1/2008 10:09:16 PM >

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RE: Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/1/2008 10:34:32 PM

GShock

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Lyon is very good in the West (generally) and you should have few problems to reach Little Rock. That's a state capital worth lot of points and hurting CSA. Jacksonville is another one and if you catch Galveston you are 1 step away from Bouie. Like Erik said, your goal should be to gnaw slowly at CSA until you are safe for the EP and then you can risk whatever for 2 years until the elections come. The real objective in the East is to force CSA to defend the VA borders with much needed forces for you to gnaw towards Memphis. Once that falls the CSA slowly drifts down with production and you can block the cumberland to isolate Clarksville from reinforcements...yes the def stance in Washington not only is correct imo but also historically taken.

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RE: Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/1/2008 11:21:11 PM

jalefkowit

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So here's a question that springs to mind -- to date, all my amphibious moves have been aimed at seizing coastal islands to improve the strength of the blockade. Should I be aiming amphibious invasions at population centers instead? Ideally one would do both, of course, but resources/troops are limited...

My only real attempt to use amphibious landings beyond the islands was a landing at Jacksonville in a previous game, which I tried in an attempt to create a "third front" to draw Confederate troops away from Virginia and Tennessee. It was easy to take Jacksonville proper, but I was never able to strike inland from that beachhead because my troops there never got initiative (despite having depots), and I couldn't justify putting an AC in such a peripheral front. Maybe I should have been focusing on picking off other coastal cities rather than trying to drive inland?

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RE: Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation? - 12/2/2008 3:35:38 AM

Erik Rutins

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Yes, I don't think you can properly stretch the CSA without a real amphibious strategy. I use an AC to launch amphibious invasions (Corps-strength and AC-led, in most cases) along the Eastern seaboard whenever I can and wherever it looks like there's a weakness.

Concentration of ACs is also a good way to break open a front. If two ACs in the central and western regions are being stymied, try sending a third there as well to give you more axes of attack that the CSA will need to deal with in the same area. If you keep your generals back, they won't know for sure where the attacks will be coming from either and will have to defend a wider front. Ideally, wait until all ACs in a region have initiative together and attack at once. Chances are one will succeed.

The war in the west is very much one of speed. The earlier you move, the easier it is. If you give the CSA too much breathing room in the west, it bogs down. I often have Grant, Lyon and Butler in the west/central area early on to try and build momentum there, while McClellan holds on around Maryland/DC and launches amphib ops as opportunities present themselves. I've also pursued a strategy of having McClellan in DC/Harpers, another AC in West Virginia and another in Baltimore, to hit Virginia in three areas at once.

Keep in mind that in v1.030, attacking towards Richmond is not as costly for the Union as it was before in terms of PPs and thus is a good way to keep the CSA honest about maintaining a good army in VA rather than sending its troops off to the west in large numbers. The more pressure you apply across multiple areas, the sooner the CSA will crack.

But be smart about how you attack. Frequent piecemeal attacks will just waste your men and cost you PPs. Attack as often as you can when your troops are prepared and ideally you have more than one attack to launch in a region. Don't stint on supporting your attacks in any way you can and of course do your best to put the best generals in charge.

If you draft twice (once on Turn 1 in 1861 and again as early as is prudent, you should have the manpower to do all these things. If things are going well, a third draft can help increase the strain on the CSA through 1862 and 1863.

Regards,

- Erik

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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [American Civil War] >> Gary Grigsby's War Between the States >> Union PPs and an historical Emancipation Proclamation?

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