CSA PBEM winning strategy?

[Searry]

Having always been defeated as the CSA, I haven't figured out the way to properly play this side. Union is pretty straightforward with spamming arty and infantry until you just win but CSA feels like a big puzzle.

You are forced on the defense in Virginia because of the local superiority of the enemy from the start but you still might have initiative in other fronts in the west for a time but you're likely to lose that quickly as the Union mobilizes.
That means you're left with being on the defense on all fronts and you have to protect the coast as well.
This time I'm building more artillery to try to make my armies better at least.

[Gray Fox]

Threaten D.C. right from 1861 onward with a powerful stack. If the Union player has to defend his capital, then he has less available to invade the coast, move in the west or do anything else. If he ignores the defense of his capital, then take it and crush his morale.

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Scavenge your rail lines and use the War Supply to build all of the Iron Works. Use artillery in pure artillery Divisions for your strongest stacks.

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Good luck!

[Searry]

Charging into DC sounds like a death wish but I like it. I don't see I could really threathen it unless with a huge NM bonus for me vs the Union.

[Gray Fox]

Most of the locked units in D.C. are trash and they can't be put into Divisions. The fortifications actually have a smaller capacity than the city itself, causing an overcrowding penalty if the Union puts a big stack there. I took it in Oct. 1861 against a maxed out AI. A human opponent has to really set up a strong layered defense. One of the players did a test and posted that the assault only works 40% of the time, but the threat works all of the time. That should slow the Union down well into 1862.

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L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace!

Always be bold!

[Citizen X]

The prevailing doctrine states, that you can either win through morale hit by taking the US capital or by victory points, if you manage to keep enough vp sites long enough.

All other approaches seem to fail sooner or later, like an offensive approach in the Western theatres.

The former is normally achieved by an all East (or most East) approach and an attack as early as possible while you still have the generals advantage. The gap between Harpers Ferry and Washington is used most of the time to get behind the Northern lines. Note that this will jeopardize the defenses of your own capital.

The latter has several routes. Most important is a plan to destroy as much lines of supply of your opponent as possible. Defend key positions of your choice or by opportunity and keep the rest of your army moving. Try to fight in mountains, swamps or hills. Make use of the frontage primer here viewtopic.php?p=129422#p129422

Forget about defending the entire coast.

On the long run it is fresh recrutes that make your main bottleneck. Chose your battles wisely. Then don't falter.

[Searry]

Sound advice.
I think the DC strategy is the best but combined with harassing actions in the west with all units you get for free, protecting at least Charleston or the other objective city near there and most importantly New Orleans.
I think I just have to be very aggressive to force Union resources to be spread wide in '61 and win by early '62.
I forced the Union to move their capital to New York. That seemed to hurt them a lot in NM.

[Gray Fox]

Now that the Union moved their capital, the stack you had to assault D.C. can be used to harass every weak spot in the Union position. Wherever Grant shows up, hammer him. A General gains seniority by causing more casualties than he loses. If you can give Grant a large negative casualty count ASAP, then he won't be promoted to 3-star for a very long time.

[Searry]

I didn't take DC yet. It's under siege with the whole McDowell army inside so they can sortie and other troops can help.
I cannot starve them since the river port is open. It'll have to be a normal siege now.

[Gray Fox]

The conventional wisdom is that capitals get extra supplies and basically never starve out. This may no longer be the case with D.C. as a normal city, but it's something to keep in mind. For the "take D.C. strategy" to work, you must cross the Potomac and assault the capital in one turn before the Union can switch it out. Then it's worth a -50 hit to NM when you take it by storm. As a city, I believe it's only -10 to NM.

[Searry]

I killed half of the garrison before the assault fizled out.

[Gray Fox]

That's a respectable first effort. I'm sure that you gave your opponent quite a shock.

[Searry]

I think the campaign is winnable beause I got 8NM from a battle against McDowell and they changed the capital to NY.

[Gray Fox]

That's the spirit!

"An army of lions lead by a sheep, will always be overcome by an army of sheep lead by a lion." Napoleon

Be the lion.

[Searry]

It's clear going to DC is the winning strategy but what if DC or the flank to DC is not open?

[Gray Fox]

The Union has a finite number of troops. If he has a strong force in D.C., Alexandria, Harper's Ferry and Leesburg, then the threat to the capital succeeded in draining forces from anything else the Union wanted to do.