GShock
Posts: 1245
Joined: 12/9/2007
From: San Francisco, CA - USA
Status: offline
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RJH's e-mail this morning brought very bad news...and the mocking tone of one who knows what he's doing and who knows his opponent is already in distress. Damn Yankee!
The delay in processing this turn was caused by a new release that was subsequently immediately updated. Rest assured, we're doing our best to give you the best! 
Dawn marks the beginning of the invasion of TX on behalf of the Union forces. Galveston, poorly defended by a single INF unit mobilizes its militia and gets ready to fight after surviving the fleet bombardment. You might be wondering why Galveston and not Corpus Christi that was better defended? Eh...lady luck kissed me again. The odds however are not too bad in the Union's favor and we might be able to beat them.
This AAR begins with 3 vids: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CLIP8CG8
(small files but very good quality. No more youtube, takes time and wastes quality. Open the VIDS in the order listed in the AAR in brackets and look at them when the time comes.)
(Start)
The turn begins with the reaction phase. Galveston is being invaded from the sea! The first thing to do is to see who can help...the factors computed do not show the militia hastily mobilized. Unfortunately, all the units you see on the map that are closeby, are just newly spawned and unattached. Hence, they can't move without a leader...and Herbert's force in Corpus Christi is unfortunately too far away. Before going to battle, let's have a look at the log. (Pause and read). The Union suffered severe attrition losses in KY. When time comes we will see if we can exploit this temporary weakness.
If you look closely to the log, you will see that one of my 2 Raiders has sunk a Union Merchant. 7 Supply units are lost and 4 are captured. Most notably, 1PP is lost by the Union and with more raiders coming, these losses are bound to increase.
(Battle)
The die rolls are hidden but you can see each unit firing on the enemy with ships and Arty firing first. We have no arty of course and remember that when a unit is not hit (fire icon) it still adds some attrition to the "queue". The numbers and losses are roughly equivalent but my men are mostly composed of MIL and it's not a coincidence the only clean hit scored is by the INF unit. The overwhelmed forces of Sibley's retreat northwards and Galveston is lost to the Union.
Sibley meets newly spawned MIL who are further joined from E and W by new MIL and one of these comes with a happy companion: a ARTY unit. However, i do not trust Sibley anymore to be able to make up for this loss, and I activate Crittenden. It is December 61 and CSA is now allowed to build Divisions/Corps for the army structure. Another minor arty leader is activated, and, as you see from the SS, Crittenden's stack is now attaching 2 leaders. These leaders actually represent STACKS of troops....the troops of those sub-leader's stacks.
Only ** generals can employ corps and only if they have a good number of CP. They sum up their stats with those of their subleaders helping them to perform better. The union will begin to form their corps in January.
(Mississipi)
The turn can now officially begin. My newly built gunboat joins forces in Humbolt area and advances to the confluent where an Union transport is destroyed. This risky manouver will cut off reinforcements to Paducah and allow me to turn around and support forces in TN. However i haven't taken this decision yet...those gunboats might even not survive...Clarksville is in danger but the gunboats might not arrive...hence Johnston dispatches 1 ART and 1 INF from the rear lines to the fort...let's hope it holds for the winter.
The number of borders to keep, compared to the shortage of men, is apparent in this SS. I have just 2 MIL to send to the front. One goes to Hardee and one goes to Humbolt (which also receives another H ART). The third MIL goes S to merge with Crittenden. As you can see, it's choices everywhere and there's no way to defend everywhere but only somewhere and hope to be able to exploit an opportunity, which depends on initiative and on the opponent's moves. Price and Mc Culloch have received no reinforcements and even those dashed green arrows might just be a dream. Springfield is still very weak but i decide to hold my cavalry in reserve. Terrain is very hard here, there's no railway and troops move very slowly. Sinking that transport is a good result but the Union has rails just behind the river where troops are waiting to be boarded and cross by more and more transports. Van Dorn has scouted and uncovered about 14 units in Paducah. They almost outnumber us by 2 to 1.
In LA Ft. St. James is further reinforced. 1 MIL goes to the other side of the Mississipi mouth from New Orleans, who also delivers 2 Hvy ART to the front. Ft. St. James is the possible counterattack spot...unfortunately, the very poor cavalry leader there, has not enough MP to give and even a scouting on the enemy position is impossible. He's bound to be dismissed next turn because with the corps kicking in, more activations are now allowed. I have spawned 2 very competent Arty leaders in VA.
Lyon's position is very strong and he has the initiative. Ewell sends 4 INF units to Magruder and Smith delivers to Beuregard and Johnston. Magruder is not a good commander but there's no other choice. More Arty join the front in VA coming from NC and the newly spawned Arty leaders take over. I now feel confident if the Union attacks our men will make their stand. New Kent is a critical territory. I am already diverting many forces there and neglecting offensive in Harper's Ferry but if New Kent falls, i'll have to divert even more to protect Richmond.
Mistake of this turn: a detached MTD to send to Steuart to scout the enemy fort, the leader in New Kent has 0/1 CP available. Bonham is complaining of course...but even if i sent back the MTD, Bonham would be unable to employ it.
Lawton builds a new fort on the VA western front and Bee again is unable to enter WV. Ashby is luckily very active and marauds the WV supplies again, destroying/capturing about 12 out of 20. Good. JEB insteads raids Harper's Ferry and tears down the rail in HF following up almost again to Washington and plundering 15 Union supplies.
Nothing more to add...the long wait is tiring me more than action and i can't wait to see the Union hit me where i am prepared, for a change!
Bad news from the seas...the capture of one side of the Mississipi mouth ends the whole trade on the river. Other ports are blockaded 100% and bound to shut down operations soon...a sparkle of light...one of my leaders in LA has been promoted to *. More units can be handled now and perhaps if he gets the initiative...
The production queue, as usual. I am building a factory in NC to increase output. Gonna take a while before it's ready. Since Buchannan has been activated, a new Ironclad is build in VA. Perhaps we can hit them by surprise in Norfolk and open a window for the runners to produce some more supplies.
The political situation is bad but let's look at the good side, i can explain how the political generals work. Every turn a high ranking "political" general (u're thinking of Mc Clellan but in CSA there were quite a few too!) is not appointed to command, PP are paid every turn. That's why I'm so down on PP !!! This AAR will be remembered as one of the most affected by the player's mistakes! Got to give command or pay...if you give command perhaps you'll lose battles, but you can also dismiss, and pay a "one time fee".
Choices, choices, choices...
Pyle said it right: Took him a year to learn the game and us newcomers can't really know how some things work if not by trial and error.
The manual? Yes i've read it many times...but eventually i must have forgotten this detail...RJ reminded me, but he did just after i had appointed AS Johnston...well...i fixed it myself, better late than never!
Let's hope things get better for CSA
< Message edited by GShock -- 6/8/2008 11:54:31 PM >
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