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All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [American Civil War] >> Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865 >> RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet!

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:41:02 AM

Gil R.

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And the other thing I do is take the combined fleets I had put into Charleston back when I was thinking of my own amphibious assault and sent it out to sea. I set it on "Intercept" in order to increase the odds of a battle, and put it into the same zone as the Ironclads' destination, so they they can be added to one of the fleets.

The odds are against me in this whole endeavor, but these ships might take a few enemy brigades with them, and possibly even delay the landing by a turn.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:48:20 AM

Gil R.

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Back to the land war. First, the Virginia theater.

I don't for a second think that Union army is 831,909 strong -- at best, it's around 100,000, but it's probably smaller.

I don't feel like being pinned down when I am likely to need to send one or two divisions to repel the amphibious invasion, so I try my second desperate move: I decide to invade Cumberland and see if I can't hurt the Union army enough that I can feel free to canibalize the Army of Northern Virginia.

As I see it, I have to have a strong advantage in generals and the Command ratings of my army, corps and divisions, plus my troops are generally of higher quality. On an even playing field, I think I'd win, since the Union's only definite advantage will be in artillery, which I can negate somewhat with my cavalry advantage. The Union can afford more weapons, but I don't think it's weapons are much better than mine -- for one thing, my diplomatic spending has kept the Union from being able to purchase superior European firearms, just as I'm no longer able to acquire Lorenzs.

The danger, of course, is that in fighting in a province that is controled by the Union I will be at a disadvantage. The only question is whether my strengths can overcome that. This could be a disaster, but it could also bring great benefits.

So, first I bring back that division in Abingdon, and then I use my resources to buy Brigade Cavalry for one infantry unit and Minie Rifles and Richmond Muskets for 3-4 other units. Every bit helps.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:52:04 AM

Gil R.

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I messed up on the screenshot showing the strength of the different brigades, but the overall army is at around 90,000 or so.

Here is a screenshot showing the Quality of the units.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:52:46 AM

Gil R.

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And here's Disposition. It used to be much better before disease struck.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:53:38 AM

Gil R.

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And this shows weapons. Note that a few of the ones that are shown with "Improvised" weapons have those new guns on order.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 9:55:14 AM

Gil R.

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And in case you didn't think I'd have the guts to go through with this plan, here's the ANV going into Maryland.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 10:01:19 AM

Gil R.

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Here's the Tennessee area. Fort Donelson is now 100% repaired, so I don't need to stay in Cumberland River. However, I'm torn whether about what to do. The question is, if I'm going to attack somewhere this turn, do I go after this full-size army (again fighting in enemy territory), or do I take one or both corps by rail and try to attack the forces down south?

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 10:05:43 AM

Gil R.

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And here's how things look in Mississippi. If that corps is still in Jackson that means it's likely to attempt a siege. As for that army, I think it wants to cross the Mississippi and start taking over more provinces. Fortunately, those are all poor producers of resources, and I don't have too many important buildings there. (And hell, Little Rock is now valueless to me, anyway.)

Working in my favor is that neither one appears to be heading for New Orleans. More importantly, march attrition and risk of disease striking should certainly help me out. Plus, all I have to do is station a force in Oxford to block the supply line. (Whether the Union will let it stay in Oxford is another matter...) And, of course, every time these forces enter into a siege they will lose thousands of men, and will have trouble reinforcing those brigades quickly enough.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 10:13:41 AM

Gil R.

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I finally decide to try to have both corps attack the army in Hatchie. I'm quite confident that my forces are superior in all respects, and the only thing working in the Union's favor is the home-field advantage, plus some artillery. (As I see it, even if I lose and suffer high casualties, the two corps will still be superior to those forces down south, so if I fail here I can still take out the incursion.)

I decide to go partly by rail and partly by foot, but realize that I might not have enough movement points to cross the river. So I might end up adjacent to Hatchie rather than in Hatchie.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 10:21:44 AM

Gil R.

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At the end of the turn I get a choice of engingeering upgrades. I choose the one that will let me move over rivers more easily, since movement advantages can be quite beneficial. Plus, I get the sense that the Union isn't about to attack my forts and I'm not about to attack their anytime soon, so those other upgrades, each of which I believe was available earlier in the game, are not so appealing. (The screenshot for this is messed up, so I'll quote the description of "Advanced Pontons": "Crossing a river uses only half of a unit's remaining movement points instead of all.")

Next, I get a logistics upgrade. Three of these would be very useful to me. "Extended Service" allows me to increase the size of my brigades, which normally I would be eager to have, but I still have more than enough understrength brigades that I can wait until this comes up again. "Espionage" would help my scouting checks, which is always a good thing, but what with my cavalry, raiders and several brigades with the Scouts attribute I don't feel it's essential. "Signal System," however, is one of those upgrades that instantly makes every unit in a battle potentially better, which is very powerful. If I have better generals and units less likely to go out of command I'll have a clear advantage on the battlefield. ("Balloon Scouts" helps lift the fog of war on the battlefield, but I won't have the resources necessary to purchase this brigade attribute enough times to make it worthwhile.)

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 10:27:26 AM

Gil R.

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To my disappointment, I didn't get the submarines upgrade. "Reinforced Hulls" improves the defensive quality of ships, which is good to have but not essential, while "Naval College" gives added quality to new ships -- and I have no plans to build new ships anytime soon. That leaves "Organized Privateers," which reduces the cost of blockade-runners 25%, and "Blockade Operations." I choose the latter because it will improve the performance of the runners I have, which means I won't need to spend resources on additional runners fleets. And since runners fleets cost 150 Money, the savings isn't as much as I'll be able to earn by having an upgrade the makes my existing runners tougher to destroy.

On the whole, I didn't get any of the upgrades I was hoping for, but this one and "Signal System" are still very good to have.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/17/2006 4:44:24 PM

elmo3

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Gil R.

...I set it on "Intercept" in order to increase the odds of a battle...

Is there an "Intercept" command for land forces too that would have the same effect? Thanks.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 2:18:59 AM

Gil R.

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If you put any division/corps/army on "Seek Battle" you have a 100% chance of battle if the enemy is on the same setting, and a 50% chance if they're on "Avoid Battle."

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:02:42 AM

Gil R.

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Twenty-third Turn

Well, that didn't work out quite the way I hoped...

As expected, my rather desperate attack on the Union fleet hurt the Confederate's already inferior navy. But more importantly, the battle in Cumberland was a major setback. I did know that the Union would enjoy the advantage of fighting in its own territory, and probably had superior firepower in terms of artillery, but I would have thought that my superior generals and staff officers as well as troops would negate those advantages to some extent. Instead, the Army of Northern Virginia took about 75% of the casualties in this battle. Part of the reason must be the presence of that fort, since forts give a combat bonus to damage done, ability to receive damage, and to morale -- had the same two forces met in a province that's not fortified the results might have been different, or at least not as imbalanced in terms of casualties.

The people of the Confederacy are none too pleased, as National Will dropped once they got the news.

Out west, my two corps did not have enough movement points to reach Hatchie and attack the Union army -- which, judging from how home-field advantage helped the Union in Cumberland, is probably a very good thing.

The one piece of good news this turn is that the Union forces besieging Jackson took nearly 5000 casualties, and that has got to be 20% (or more?) of their overall strength. I think that Jackson can probably hold out for at least two more turns. And I'm already figuring out ways to rescue those besieged there.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:09:05 AM

Gil R.

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Here's the rest of the Event Report, where more bad news can be found. The worst -- and most shocking, is that I lost both corps commanders, Early and Hardee. (Over the next two turns I'll get to promote new 3-star generals, and in looking over the ANV it becomes clear that Wheeler will be the first I promote.)

Also, the governor of Mississippi is becoming more upset that I haven't built that superfluous Barracks there, so his Attitude will be dropping further. (You'd think he'd be more concerned with that siege of Jackson, wouldn't you?)

One thing that's very nice to see is that all three blockade-runner fleets were successful. That third fleet that I built a few turns ago has already paid for itself.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:13:43 AM

Grifman

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Is there anything that tells you what drove battle results? It would be nice to see something that gives the factors involved - numbers, weapons bonuses, training bonuses, etc. so that one could make sense of the results.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:14:22 AM

Gil R.

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This seems like the perfect time to show the Battle Report again. At the top there is a record of the battles that occurred this past turn.

This report, being more detailed than the one in the Event Report, reveals that the CSA actually had a naval victory. This must be referring to the ironclads that I sent from James River to the fleets at Charleston -- evidently, the Union fleet off the coast of Virginia wasn't large enough to harm them, since so many ships are being used to support that amphibious assault.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:16:45 AM

Gil R.

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Next, I find out that some of my brigades threw down their weapons as they ran back to Virginia.

Muskets are a pretty lousy weapon, since it has very little range -- the Union's welcome to have them.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:28:20 AM

Gil R.

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Here are casualty figures, plus information on ways in which the two armies' increased battle experience is manifested. The Army of Northern Virginia's staff officers must have learned some lessons despite the defeat, since their Command rating is now even better. The CSA also gets 15 points in the "Experience Upgrades" category -- a category which, unlike the research-based ones, grows only through experience in large battles, and eventually lets one choose an upgrade from one of the other categories. (In other words, upgrades can be obtained either from research buildings or fighting numerous large battles.)

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:31:37 AM

Gil R.

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Here's how Virginia looks now. Pretty placid, and just like it did before the invasion. Except that the ANV is much weaker.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:35:04 AM

Bungo_Pete

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these casaulty figures seem awfully dispoportional

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:35:29 AM

Gil R.

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Here's how the strength of the ANV's brigades looks now. One brigade, the 36th Infantry, now has less than 1000 men left. If disease hits, it might be disbanded.

Fortunately, some key units are reasonably strong, especially the Jeff Davis Battery, my one artillery unit.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:40:40 AM

Gil R.

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And here's how supply looks. Each of these units went in with 7-9 supply levels.

As a result, I'm forced to put the whole army on "Normal" supply, which costs a lot more money overall than "Low" supply. But this is necessary because I can't afford to risk fighting off a northern incursion with units that are virtually out of supply, which could lead to the destruction of multiple units. Also, setting the supply priority to "Normal" when every other brigade is set to "Low" or no supply at all will steer the 5000 reinforcements this turn to the ANV. (Reinforcements first go, if possible, to units set to receive more supply.)

I'll have to evaluate next turn whether I can afford to keep this army at that supply level, since so long as I'm doing that I don't have enough money for anything else.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:42:37 AM

Bungo_Pete

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what does that arty represent in terms of size?

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:45:34 AM

Gil R.

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Bungo_Pete

what does that arty represent in terms of size?

I don't get the question. Do you mean gun type? It has an Ordnance Rifle.

Please do not post here until I'm done posting -- it breaks up the flow of the thread, plus I am constantly editing earlier parts of my description of each turn so my posting isn't finished until I reach the end of the turn.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:51:09 AM

Gil R.

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Here's something else worth showing and explaining. I've previously showed the Supply Report, which keeps track of what each unit received this turn in terms of supply (the column under the word "Chat") and reinforcements (the column next to it, showing that two brigades each received 300). In the next column, it keeps track of an increase in unit Disposition. As I've described, some of the damage done to Disposition by disease (or low supply, or other factors not yet encountered) is fixed by nearby Hospitals. As we can see here, two units had their Disposition increased to "Normal" (from "Low"). I have not explained, however, that Hospitals only get units back to "Normal" -- any Disposition level better than that, i.e. "Inspired" or "Zealous," is reached through the influence of generals with high leadership ratings. Robert E. Lee will need a few more turns to get these units that are down to "Normal" in the aftermath of that recent bout of disease, but I'm confident they'll get there. (Disposition levels impact how well units do in combat, so this is an essential stat.)

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 5:59:52 AM

Gil R.

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Leaving Virginia, here's what that Union fleet was up to -- invading, of all places, Florida (!?). Florida is the Arkansas of the east, a state that produces relatively little and doesn't see much action. Still, Tallahassee has some useful buildings, and capturing it and plundering it would lead to their destruction. Attacking down here also makes sense because I have no forces in the area, and cannot quickly get them here.

This army might also be planning on going after Georgia, since I have some very valuable buildings there (all those research institutions in Milledgeville and mines in Augusta, for example), but I can easily reinforce Georgia by rail. But I'm assuming that Tallahassee must be the target, since if Georgia was then the landing would be in Okefenokee, which is closer to those targets.

I'm a bit concerned, but if this force is just 22,000 or so then it might not succeed. First, Tallahassee's garrison will kill several thousand, buying me time to get a division down there. Also, there's a rule that when disease strikes a province with swamps in the area it is significantly worse -- if I get lucky, disease might take a major toll on these forces within the next few turns.

If I can't get land forces down there soon because of events elsewhere I'll see if I can attack the fleet. For this force to survive, it needs to remain in supply by sea, and if I can chase away that fleet then their supply will drop, and units might even be lost.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 6:01:17 AM

Gil R.

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Here's what I mean about how Florida doesn't produce all that much in the way of resources. Jacksonville is now providing nothing, thanks to the invaders' presence there.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 6:05:59 AM

Gil R.

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Here's how my naval forces look at the beginning of the turn. The ironclad fleet made it down, which is definitely key -- I want it in one of my fleet containers, and now that should be possible. Also, the CSA lost 14 ships in that naval battle, but luckily those losses were evenly distributed, so I'm not in danger of losing one of my squadrons of ships. (The way to get them back up to strength is to move the fleets to a province with a Shipyard, but that's either Norfolk, which has a Union fleet off the coast, or New Orleans, which these fleets can't get to without first getting past that fleet off the coast of Florida. Maybe a few turns from now it will be safe to move them for repairs.

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RE: PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet! - 11/18/2006 6:10:53 AM

Gil R.

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Heck, I moved on from Virginia too soon -- there are more screenshots to show.

As I mentioned, I can't afford to let the ANV lose more men, since some units might be disbanded, so I can't afford disease hitting. Disease, of course, is inevitable, and targets specific brigades rather than provinces, so the only thing to do is move the ANV by rail (to avoid march attrition) to Lynchburg, which has those two Hospitals. (If there's one thing that's been proven, it's that I should build even more Hospitals in those cities where my forces like to hang out.)

I really could use those railroad movement points out west, but keeping the ANV from suffering further harm is the top priority.

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