BiteNibbleChomp
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Joined: 9/12/2016
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So, the all important question of 'how do you win?'
In the Civil War, the determinant of victory was always "can the South last long enough for the North to get sick of fighting?", or at least until 1864 when it became apparent that the South wouldn't win no matter what. Thanks to the NM system, I've been able to represent that fairly well.
The Confederates will win the game if they are able to hold on to Richmond until September 1865. Although they came pretty close to achieving this in the real war, it's pretty unlikely that Lincoln or Grant would have stopped fighting at this arbitrary point just because "oh we failed to do this fast". In the time just before the March to the Sea, the Union was however suffering from war weariness, and if a victory did not look possible in the near future (say they never get close to Richmond or Atlanta), they probably would have given up at this time. Within the scenario's context, the Confederates would have run out of NM points if history was exactly followed some time around December 1864 (I calculated 80k NM points necessary to extend it to April 1865, but 60k points means that victory is achieved as soon as it becomes undeniably obvious who will win, without the need to play out half a dozen turns where very little except for random occupations happen).
A more decisive Confederate victory will require them to hold on to various other major locations such as Nashville, and capture Washington. Although the Washington defences themselves are not represented, the combination of the Potomac, nearby hills and lots of AI units means that Washington is pretty hard to capture. Oh yes, and trenches. Trenches are in the campaign, although the lower forcelimits mean that a massive WWI-style line crossing from Virginia to the Mississippi won't be possible.
More commonly however, the Union will simply give up when it runs out of NM. As the screenshot on post #1 indicates, the Union has to maintain control over its own territory or the various NM Objectives will come under threat. Ones close to the border, such as Washington or Cincinnati are worth 20-50% of the Union's total NM each, while anything much beyond the border (New York, Toledo, Chicago...) is worth 125%. Lincoln can't very well deny that the CSA is a nation if Southern forces are launching full-scale invasions of the North after all. Union NM is also heavily affected by events such as the possible entry of the UK or the Emancipation Proclamation, and tends to be lower than CS NM as they have less to lose if they are defeated.
Union victory is accomplished effectively by outright reconquering the Confederacy, much as in real history. This can either be done by conquering the 3 Confederate capitals (Richmond, Atlanta, Charlotte) or by taking most major Southern cities (as happened in history). New Orleans, which is notably difficult to take by land invasion owing to geography, is not required, but a substantial drop in CS NM will occur if it does fall. The Union can also win by forcing CS NM to 0, but unlike the Union, the Confederates do not suffer many major penalties from various events. The most severe, the fall of Richmond, is only worth 20% of the CS total, and most other major CS cities are 5-10%. In order to force Confederate morale low enough, occupying most of their land for at least a year will be necessary, and every step of the way they will be fighting hard to push you back!
- BNC
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< Message edited by BiteNibbleChomp -- 7/9/2018 10:20:45 PM >
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American Civil War Mod by BNC [RELEASED!] - 
. Seeing as the second turn in the scenario is early May, it isn't too different to the historical timeframe. 
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