Erik Rutins
Posts: 37503
Joined: 3/28/2000
From: Vermont, USA
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I did a first test tonight based on the suggested parameters to see how it would go and to give myself some practice. Spring ends when Summer starts on June 21st, so I gave myself until Early June 1862. This was played with the Beta update we're currently testing, which I won't go into much detail on and also used an updated July 1861 scenario which will be included in that update.
First, I would add "Faster Sieges" to those parameters I suggested as a good way to keep on the historical timeline. I was able to get close and I think on a replay I'll be right on the money, but this option would have made it easier on a first try.
I focused on Mustering and careful Impressment to build up my troops and economy. I built few camps, relying on new brigades to fill out the ranks. My ending strengths included various losses to disease, battle, marching, supply attrition, etc. It's probably fair to assume that I raised between 40%-50% more troops than are currently in the field, particularly since the time from early February to early June was very busy in terms of battles and sieges.
Here's where I stand at the end of the Early June, 1862 turn:
In the Northeast region, near Washington:
Rosencrans leads the US 1st Army with 3 Corps and 6 Divisions, totalling 56k troops
- Also includes 1 Artillery brigade with 10 pdr Parrots and several units with the Artillery attribute
Meade leads the US 2nd Army with 1 Corps and 3 Divisions, totalling 37k troops
- Includes 2 Artillery brigades with 10 pdr Parrots
4 Divisions under Hancock, Sedgwick and Buell in Harrisburg, totalling 55k troops
In the fortifications for Maryland and the Potomac: 43k troops
All infantry brigades had at least muskets. The majority had Minies, Springfields or Improved Springfields
Total troops in the Northeast: 148k mobile troops + 43k garrison troops = 191k Total
In my test game, unfortunately Kentucky went with the CSA. This caused me a number of problems in meeting the goals and timelines. I decided to assume that attacking Kentucky would be the equivalent of the planned march on Tennessee from Kentucky had it gone for me. The loss of Horses also was a reason for my lack of emphasis on Camps. In addition to that, it took a few months for me to smack my head and realize I'd mistakenly set some cities that produced far more Horses to produce Iron instead and was handicapping my economy as a result.
So, in the Kentucky Region, I besieged and took Louisville. I'll sub this for Fort Henry (which I would have beseiged had Kentucky gone for the Union). I went on to besiege Frankfort and Lexington with Frankfort likely to fall in 2-3 more turns.
US 2nd Corps (Reynolds) besieging Frankfort with 32k Troops, including several units with artillery and engineer attributes
19th Division (Fremont) with 12k besieging Lexington
1 brigade (1k) garrisoned in Louisville
Total troops in Kentucky Region: 45k
The West:
I took Missouri entirely and advanced into Arkansas. I besieged and took Memphis and have begun to advance down the river, but had to pause in both cases for resupply and securing supply lines.
US 1st Corps (Pope) with 28k, including 1 Siege Artillery unit with 13lb Mortars and 1 Cavalry Brigade in the Tenn-Miss river region, guarding Memphis
1 Brigade (1k) garrisoned in Memphis
8th Division (Lyon) with 14k in Ozarks, Arkansas
Total troops in the West: 43k
Recall my note above about losses. I probably hit my peak strength in Jan/Feb 1862 and it's been a steady decline since, though the initial wave of new musters for 1862 started to alleviate that. Pope's Corps, for example was up to nearly 45k when I sent it in, as was Reynolds' Corps in Kentucky. The upshot is that I had over 100k troops engaged in the Kentucky - Mississippi area when the Spring campaign started.
New Orleans:
Although I would never do this myself (because the AI is never dumb enough to not garrison NO and its forts), I tried it for the purposes of the test. I created a Corps under Butler with a full 45k men and shipped it from NY harbor to NO. Here's where I hit some trouble, likely due to the fact that my skill at amphibious attacks in FoF is very low (i.e. I last tried one months ago). The journey took longer than expected, my supply level for the Corps was set too low. As a result, they took attrition losses en route and more after landing. They are now down to three divisions with a total 15k effectives. They have New Orleans' Ft. St. Phillip besieged, and it looks like they'll take it given more time. However, the AI already counter-attacked with a division and while my Corps held, we exchanged some losses that they can ill afford.
In other words, the invasion of New Orleanse is a big screw-up, as it might have been historically if the CSA had a reasonable garrison there and the Union hadn't had a good naval commander. However, I did prove that I could ship 45k (poorly led) additional troops down to NO in the timeline provided, while doing those other tasks. If it had been up to me, I would have used them to bolster my forces near Washington to allow a more effective attack into Virginia as part of my Spring campaign, or sent them to Kentucky to speed the campaign there, instead of shipping them across the map.
In the end result, I would guess that I raised an army of about 500k for Spring 1862 of which I then lost about 150k through various causes.
Now, let's talk Navy:
I embarked on a naval expansion program in addition to all my land unit recruitment.
Two fleets are in the New Orleans area. One is blockading NO, with 2x 10 Ships and 5x 10 Frigates (this is the fleet that brought Butler's Corps to NO from NY). The other is blockading Mobile River with 1x 10 Ships and 1 x 10 Frigates.
One fleet is in the Virginian Atlantic with 3x 10 Ships and 1x 10 Frigates, blockading Norfolk
One fleet is in the Mid-Atlantic with 2x 10 Ships and 2x 10 Frigates, blockading Wilmington
One fleet is in the Carolinian Atlantic with 2x 10 Ships and 1x 10 Frigates, blockading the Savannah River.
This totals to Five Fleets, 10 x 10 Ships (100 Ships), 10 x 10 Frigates (100 Frigates)
I have three more Ships (x10) in production at the moment.
Edited to add: About half my Ships are upgraded to Dahlgrens, also all of my front-line forts are upgraded to decent weaponry with several also having upgraded attributes
Ok, that's my report from my first test as a player of likely average skill, with the settings I recommended. I'm pretty confident that with the addition of Faster Sieges and a little more practice on my part, I can do significantly better. Getting Kentucky to join the Union instead of the CSA in my next test would also be a big help!
Regards,
- Erik
< Message edited by Erik Rutins -- 1/4/2007 6:50:04 AM >
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