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Longshanks
AGEod Grognard
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Wed Jan 30, 2013 7:29 pm

Game has slowed down due to issues with "Real Life" (TM) from one of the players. We're in July 62, with rebs holding Kentucky and Virginia, but the Union pressing in other spots. Hope to have a legitimate update with maps, battles, etc. after the SuperBowl weekend.
Two Rules: 1. The Tournament Director is always right. 2. When the Tournament Director is wrong, see Rule 1.
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Longshanks
AGEod Grognard
Posts: 842
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:48 pm
Location: Fairfax Virginia

Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:46 pm

FINAL GAME OVER! SERAPHIM WINS IT ... and the Tournament.

Details to be posted asap. Thanks to Pat Cleburne, our runner-up as well!

The tournament ran for about 15 months, and involved about 16 players. Thanks to all of you for this epic journey!
Two Rules: 1. The Tournament Director is always right. 2. When the Tournament Director is wrong, see Rule 1.

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Gen. Monkey-Bear
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 262
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:35 am
Location: The San Francisco Bay Area

Sun Feb 10, 2013 6:55 pm

Don't tell us . . . show us! :w00t:

Altaris
Posts: 1551
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:20 pm

Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:29 pm

This doesn't surprise me, Seraphim is insanely good at this game. Pat was very good too, but Seraphim is kinda in a league of his own.

Congrats Seraphim! (And congrats to Pat on his runner-up position!)

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Longshanks
AGEod Grognard
Posts: 842
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:48 pm
Location: Fairfax Virginia

Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:13 pm

Final Tournament Game - Pat Cleburne (USA) vs Seraphim (CSA)
August 61 - August 62


E Aug 61
Rebels Take Tuscon and Laredo!
From USA HQ: "I was half tempted to dive towards Fburg. Alas, I didn't set up good surveillance yet. It seems, like a good portion of his forces aren't on the front lines. I need to find them. Probably at Fburg.
My other big decision was whether or not to go after empty Fayetteville. I'm pretty sure he'll stop me, but if he doesn't..."

L Aug 61
Milroy Takes Jacksonville Florida!
Yanks Repelled at Shreveport!
Lyon Takes Fayetteville Arkansas!
from CSA HQ: "Polk was a little late..." (at Fayetteville)
USA HQ: " Darn. 4% away from being able to fight a defensive battle in Fayetteville. I'm worried about Lyon's hothead trait. I was tempted to remove him from command but he went in with them, let's see if he can get them out."

E Sep 61
Joe Johnston Appears in Arkansas! Barely Defeats Lyon at Fayetteville!
Yanks Take Springfield MO!
Rebs Take Jefferson City MO!
CSA HQ: So far I didn't lost anything important. I may end the year without much problems this time...
USA HQ: Hmm. Not sure what to do.

L Sep 61
Yanks Take WInchester!
Rebs Take Lexington and Bloomington in Missouri! Also Dallas Texas!
CSA HQ: I would have preferred that Kentucky made secession. But I can't afford to wait any longer. My forces are in place and Union seems focused elsewhere...

E Oct 61
CSA Invades Kentucky!
Hooker Takes Ft. Sumter from Secessionists!
Union Retakes Jeff City and Lexington in MO!
CSA HQ: An unexpected Union move... However Ft Sumter is nothing more than a symbolic location. I actually prefer having lost it than another (more vital) position.
USA HQ: I'm sure you've seen the attack on Fayetteville plenty of times already, and I doubt it has worked once. Can US Grant change that? (probably not, but my only other choice is to retreat...)

L Oct 61
Stalemate in Fayetteville as Grant Hits Polk!
Sid Johnston Takes Paducah!
Joe Johnston Takes Bowling Green!
Correction from last turn: Hooker took Ft. Sumter, not Burnsides!
Union Expands Holdings in Florida, Taking Palatka
Yanks Retake Bloomington MO, Take Charleston MO Too!
Yanks Hit Louisiana, Take Berwick Port!
Rebel Bushwackers Retake Jefferson City, Rolla MO as the Chase Continues!
CSA HQ: I may have made an error by invading Kentucky. My fast attack force is lost in the middle of nowhere and the Union attack Island 10 !
It seems that my plan was too audacious...

I have a question : what about the Union's Manassas event ? By now the Union should have lost 10NM...

USA HQ: Not even Grant can help in that Godforsaken wilderness. ... I was actually wondering that as well. I don't know what happened and I don't think I sent you anything. I think I may have held Manassas for a few days on one turn, but I never owned it at the end of a turn did I?

E Nov 61
Union Chased from Berwick!
Porter Stalemated at Island #10!
Fort Johnson Bombards Union Fleet Near Charleston!
Yanks Chase Bushwackers Out of Jeff City, Rolla!
Federals Take P'burg Kentucky!
USA HQ: I'm not playing a good game so far. No major losses though. Let's see what his reaction is to my moves.
CSA HQ For information, I just had an answer from Lodilefty:
Verbatim : "The script disables the loss of NM if the USA has Military Control >26 at any time before September 15.
So control before the warning will meet the requirements, negationg the penalty regardless of ensuing control"
...Good simple mod opportunity.... [? put a MinDate in the event *evt_nam_USA_ArmyInManassas *found in USA Events.sct]"
So maybe my MC was <= 26 when my opponents counterattacked in my previous games.
It's good to know that attacking Manassas as soon as possible is now a must do for the Union.
However, I think this is ruining the whole Manassas 1861 event...

L Nov 61
Nelson Takes Lexington in the Bluegrass!
Florida: CSA Retakes Palatka, Hooker Lands at Ft. Gadsden!
Several Skirmishes in Virginia!
CSA HQ Some interesting tactical situations in Virginia and Kentucky...
USA HQ Blargh... Not starting out good. I'm at a disadvantage in KY and who knows what will happen in VA.

E Dec 61
Bragg Retakes Ft. Sumter While Stewart Retakes Lexington KY!
Union Assaults Island#10! Porter Praised! +1 USA NM
McDowell and Jackson Square Off in Culpeper!
CSA HQ A mistake at Island#10. But I have gained valuable time...
If the Union conquers Richmond, it's Game Over for the CSA. So there is no need for rewards nor penalties.
If fact, if the Union can only come close to Richmond in 1861, and conserve the gained ground, it still will be in good (maybe very good) position for the remainder of the game.

But indeed, Manassas's importance was overrated. But now, with this "new rule" it's underrated : a couple of cavalry and elites units who take it for a few days is all the union need to satisfy its press... Not very credible !

USA HQ [Pat Cleburne was foiled for a couple of weeks due to a cable access issue, which was finally resolved in his favor!]

L Dec 61
Grant Loses at Paducah in Close Fight, But Takes the City When Rebs Withdraw! +1 NM CSA
USA HQ I wasn't completely sure last turn (after the layoff), but I know I ordered an assault on Ft Gadsden this turn. That's 2 turns in a row that nothing has happened. Can you check this turn to make sure it goes through. I'm not sure what is going on.
CSA HQ Bad decision in Kentucky : I could have crushed Grant's landing, now I have lost Paducah for no gain at Island#10.
My troops have hold the fort however...

Whatever happen in this turn, I can tell you that I consider 1861 a success : none of the key's points of CSA have fallen. The Union have taken a few "strategic" cities but none are vital for the Confederation and I have taken some "compensation" (Tucson and Lexington KY).

I had several objective for this year, only one truly failed :
1. Not losing anything important (like Savannah, Wilmington, Norfolk, Texas and so on...) : success!
2. Taking Tucson (a strategic city, a gate to the Far-West and an easily defendable position) : success!
3. Holding Springfield MO : a failure! At least Union's progression was stopped in Arkansas.
4. Attack first and take the majority of Kentucky. An half success at best. This state will be a battleground. Actually, it already is...
In my previous games with the CSA, by the end of 1861 I had serious problems. I'm pleased to see that this time I don't have cohorts of Union's troop roaming Texas, Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee.

Appendix: from USA HQ: Well, I just figured it out. Ft Gadsden isn't in Franklin FL. It's in... Ft Gadsden FL. you have to actually target the fort. Bad mistake by me. Ocean forts all have their own region. Ft Gadsden appears to be the only one without the little red line and dot showing that though. I thought it was like the river forts. I suppose submitting a new turn changing that would be out of order? I'll just have to go after it next turn.

The E Jan 62 was due here, but:
Gentlemen:
My apologies. In trying to fix a problem I had discovered in the game (which turned out not to be a problem!) I hit the "restore turn" button one too many times.
This means we have to rerun the attached turn.
Fortunately, this is only one turn back, but I think it would be unfair for me to use the ORD you already sent me.
I think you will need to back your game up one turn, but perhaps you can just load these files and it will work. WARNING. Best to copy ALL the files into a backup BEFORE you restore a turn, as you can't get that turn back!
Sorry about the mess.
-Longshanks
(sigh) ... fortunately such mishaps didn't happen too often in the tourney!
Note: The turn was re-run, and there were some minor changes, but it was mostly the same.

E Jan 62
Sid Johnston Defeats Porter at Columbus!
Hooker Takes Ft. Gadsden!
CSA HQ: It's time to mobilize !
In my previous games with the CSA, by the end of 1861 I had serious problems. I'm pleased to see that this time I don't have cohorts of Union's troop roaming Texas, Georgia, North Carolina or Tennessee.

L Jan 62
Quiet turn!
USA HQ: I wonder how long our odd situation in NVA can last? Corps will make it more complicated.
Note: The "odd situation" to which Gen. Cleburne refers is this: The CSA is well entrenched in Manassas, but the Union hold the railroad to the south, and the coastal area to the East, thus surrounding the Rebels. The question was: can the Rebs hold out until relieved or will the Union prevail in the position and potentially bag an entire Rebel army?

E Feb 62
Hamilton Chases Rebs Out of Stafford!
CSA HQ: I'm in trouble in North Virginia...
USA HQ I need to work on achieving critical mass in one theatre. The question is which one?

L Feb 62
Union Takes Island #10
Bragg Retakes Jacksonville from Milroy!
Frankfort Ky Fought Over!
Indians Raid Jeff City Missouri!
Yanks Grab Natchez!
CSA HQ (referring to VA situation): No retreat ! For now...

E Mar 62
Fleets Battle in Gulf!
Hooker Takes Blakely, AL!
McClellan Drives on Bowling Green!

CSA HQ: I have supplies problems in MO: the bad weather has taken his toll…
USA HQ: I have no momentum whatsoever. And now I get to deal with the crappy union command structure. I almost forgot about that.

I actually found something of a glitch that lets you redeploy a general after you give him a corps command. You have to click the redeploy button, then corps him up, then click where you want him to go. For a second I you could redeploy whole corps, but it only works if the leader is alone. I won't be using it though.

L Mar 62
Lyons on Move in West Tennessee!
Pemberton Threatens to Retake Ft. Gadsden!
Rebs Surprise Massive Wagon Train in Charleston MO!
Union Takes Wakassa in Florida! All Yanks Now on West Florida Coast!
Rebs Retake Natchez as Union Takes Harrisonburg LA on Sabine River!

E Apr 62
[Longshanks: Happy New Year! We are heading into the Spring fighting season! Best wishes!]
Joe Johnston Wins Pyrrhic Victory at Humboldt TN over Lyon!
Kearny's Large Force Takes Tappahannock!
Gen. Davis Beats Stand Watie's Warriors at Jeff City!
Gen. Forrest Defeats Union Cav at Boone KY!
Rebs Chase Union Out of Harrisonburg LA as Union Takes Alexandria LA!
Yanks Move Into Central Tennessee, Taking Livingstone!
Rebs Take Ft. Smith, Move on Ft. Leavenworth!
CSA HQ (on the Kearny landing at Tappanhannock) Pat is tough!
He will escape the 10 NM penalty: I will not counterattack his landing. I knew better than that…
I try something else because I think he had made a mistake. If I won, I will retake North Virginia. If I lose, it will be time to retreat…

L Apr 62
BIG FIGHT AT CULPEPER! Bory Hangs on to Manassas!
Union Fleet Crushed at Cape Girardeau!
CSA HQ: It was not what I expected but it could have been worse…
Let’s scrap the plan of attacking the Valley! Next target: Alexandria!

E May 62
Month of Destiny?
Two Battles at Alexandria!
Bloody Confederate Victory as Bory Moves on Alexandria! Over 12,000 Casualties for Each Side! Union Routed! +1 NM CSA
Days Later Hamilton Defeats Rebels and Retakes the County! +3 NM USA
Hooker Takes Ft. Pike Near N'Orleans!
Joe Johnston's Boys Clean Up Yanks in West Tennessee, Defeating Lyon at Humboldt County!
Cherokees Defeat a Union Force Twice its Size at Ft. Smith AR! +1 NM CSA
Rebs Retake All of Florida But For Ft. Gadsden!
CSA HQ: I have lost this battle...
USA HQ: Fiddlesticks. I thought I could sneak on Ft Smith. I keep trying these single division attacks. I had a rule in my first Union game that anything that took more than a half division to attack needed 2+ divisions. He has interior lines and entrenchments everywhere. An attack has to have enough men to keep him from just gathering garrisons and defeating me. Diversionary half divisions achieve the same thing as a full division. 2 divisions are strong enough to beat any number of garrisons. I seem to have forgotten that rule this time.

1st Battle of Alexandria
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2nd Battle of Alexandria
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SITUATION IN EAST
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SITUATION IN KENTUCKY-TENNESSEE
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SITUATION IN MISSOURI
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L May 62
Everyone seems to be recovering, out of supply, or otherwise in jeopardy!
CSA HQ: Not very surprising...
USA HQ {commenting on Lyons isolated position on the Mississippi in W Tennessee] Blech! I couldn't figure out where to move Lyons last turn so I ended up forgetting and not doing anything with him. I hope the whole damn division doesn't starve to death. Ewell abandoned the go on Denver looks like. He's gotta be having supply problems too.

E Jun 62
Kearny Storms into Norfolk!
Ft. Leavenworth Falls to Rebs!
Rebs March Deep Into the West, Take Denver!
Stuart Takes Harper's Ferry!
Union Jumps Lake Pontchartrain to Take Springfield Louisiana!
Standoff at Stafford Virginia!
USA HQ [commenting on taking Springfield LA] Another error. I plotted into Springfield LA to see the amount of days it took, but I apparently forgot to delete the move. Let's see what happens now.
CSA HQ: The good news :
In the west (actually the Far West) my troops are advancing.
Norfolk and soon Baton Rouge are the only valuable place theUnion have taken in my territory. The rest of the CSA is safe for now.
I still have half of Kentucky, Union barely invade Tennessee.
I lead in NM, VP and VP gain per turn.

The bad news :
Norfolk have fallen, the situation in Virginia worsen rapidly.
Baton rouge will fall. With Norfolk this prove the increasing difficulty of keeping the CSA's important place.
And it will get worse and worse...

So far, my strategy is a success : Union had made only little progress and CSA is still in good shape. And I have conquered a lot of land in the Far West.
It will be difficult for the Union to retake Kansas, Denver or Arizona. Nor that my opponent seems very interested in doing so. That mean 3 VP each turn for me...
This victory has a price however : it had required the equivalent of one division and I have lost men (and a lot of time) when bad weather jeopardized my expeditionary force.

Now, I have to make choices : I can't keep all the ground anymore. I have no real use of some positions in Kentucky or Tennessee, and I have more troop in this region than I need for fighting a defensive war. This means the Union will be allowed to get close to Memphis or Nashville. But I will have 3 divisions available for other duties.

I was tempted to send all the 3 in Virginia but I will try something more ambitious.

L Jun 62
REBELS INVADE INDIANA! New Phase of the War Makes Northern States a Target! Vincennes, Indianapolis Fall!
Stuart Withdraws from Harper's Ferry!
Columbus Kentucky Falls as Rebs Withdraw!
Note from Longshanks: Re: Baton Rouge.... you can know an enemy's strength, but you can never know his intentions.
CSA HQ Now is the most perilous phase of my plan...
USA HQ Lots of Crises to deal with. I need to start turning the tide fast.

E Jul 62
Rebs Win Naval Battle Near Baton Rouge!
Grant Takes Ft. Henry While Rebs Are Away Up North!
CSA's Holmes Crushes Crittenden at Bowling Green! +1 CSA NM
Hooker Relieves Indianapolis!
CSA HQ: A naval battle with the Atlantic fleet ! That was unexpected but at least building ironclad was not for nothing.
I see that the Union morale suddenly drops : Pat didn't escape the 10NM penalty ?
It's true that he send "only" 2 divisions, with 34 elements, not 40...
USA HQ Ugh. Kearny's corps only had 39 "units" in it. I thought leaders counted. -10 NM for me.
I've thought about resigning on a few of these last turns. I'm just gonna try to be more aggressive and let the chips land where they may. I'm guessing the game will be over sooner rather than later.

L Jul 62
Rosecrans Catches Johnston at Vincennes; Rebs Counterattack and Win! +2 CSA NM
Stalemate at Bowling Green, Followed by Reb Victory Before Grant Shows Up and Takes the City!
Keyes Takes Baton Rouge!
France Declines to Recognize CSA!

CSA HQ That was a close call. OK, the mission in Indiana is a success, let's withdraw.
Quickly !
USA HQ: Finally fired it up. I've got a new strategy now. We should see pretty quickly how it works. I really wish I hadn't lost that extra 10 NM for not counting Kearny's units properly though. The cohesion deficit probably dooms me to failure.

E Aug 62 [FINAL TURN]
BLOODY FREDERICKSBURG! Union Loses 20,000! (+7 CSA NM)
Grant Moves to Gallatin!
Rebs Take Ft. Smith in Kansas!
CSA HQ: I have won a great victory but at a great cost!
Longstreet, one of the best CSA's generals, is no more, [dead on the battlefield]. Troops can be replaced, excellent leaders not...
USA HQ: That went about as well as I thought it would. I guess I've made my last charge. I don't know how many people have come back from a NM deficit this big, but I bet not many did it against a good opponent. I'll ride off into the sunset and wait for AACW2 I suppose. A big thanks to you for organizing the tourney and putting up with my waning turn output. And congrats to Seraphim. He whipped me twice.

BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG
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Two Rules: 1. The Tournament Director is always right. 2. When the Tournament Director is wrong, see Rule 1.

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Seraphim
Corporal
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2010 4:00 pm

Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:49 pm

15 month ago, when I decided to play this tournament, I more or less expected a quick and painful defeat. After all, it was my first PBEM tournament and I had only moderate experience in AACW at this time while some others players were experienced veterans.

Now, I'm the winner !

It's ... strange !

But it was fun ! I take a real pleasure to play this tournament and I will have great memories of some events (mostly battles).

Why have I won ? I don't think I'm a league of my own but I don't think it was pure luck either.

My first opponent, CitizenX, was good. But unfortunately for him, he made a big mistake in his orders.
And this game don't forgive big mistakes. That is partly why we like it, isn't it ?

My second match was the most difficult of all (sorry Pat !). It was brutal and bloody !
When the long range landing order became available, I was afraid to use this untried new possibility. Charlesonmission was not !
He landed Union's troops at Norfolk, Savannah, Wilmington, Mobile... He invaded Georgia, decimated my troops in Missouri, wreak havoc on Virginia and North Carolina...
At some time, I honestly thought he will defeat me. But ultimately, his success were his downfall : he left me with no other choice than a defensive strategy with lots of troops entrenched in key's positions (with some counterattacks).
At Richmond, Atlanta and Chattanooga, my troops managed to hold the line and ultimately I prevailed.

My third (and also my last) opponent was Pat Cleburne. He is a very tactical and cunning opponent. Progress against him are slow at best because he don't let you much opportunities of victory. In our last game, he tried imaginative tactics to force me out of Manassas.
Again I prevailed, perhaps because I'm more patient than he is.
But, I will not fail to remember that he inflicted me the worst defeat I have ever suffered. He nearly took Washington, slaughtered several corps and inflicted me a 10NM lose and more than 30k casualties in one battle ! He nearly turn the table and won the match (go to page 6 for more details) !

My fourth opponent, Altaris, was a newcomer in AACW when the tournament began. I think he is not a novice anymore !
He tried a very aggressive strategy (too much aggressive strategy actually) with an awfully lot of landings and incursions of all sort. He could have succeeded, if I had not fought Charlesonmission before...
When his strategy failed, most of his troops were undersupplied and he had no choice but to surrender.



Forgive me for this lengthy post but like I said earlier, it was fun and memorable !


Thanks to my opponents, to Longshanks for organising this tournament, to Altaris and the others who had hosted some matches, to Lodilefty for his answers.


I hope everyone (hosts, participant or spectator) had fun !


If Longshanks, or someone else, want to organise another tournament in the future, I will gladly accept to put my champion title at stake.


Regards


Seraphim

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Ace
Posts: 3503
Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 4:33 pm
Location: Croatia

Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:51 am

Congratulations to Seraphim!
If the new tournament is unveiling, count me in as well.

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Captain_Orso
Posts: 5766
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:02 pm
Location: Stuttgart, Germany

Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:44 pm

Finally getting around to this Image

My congratulations to Seraphim for his well deserved win Image. I would be honored to be trounced by you any time ;) .

Congratulations are also in order for Pat Cleburne for playing such a great tournament. I was so disappointed that the push on Richmond failed by such a tiny margin. I was looking forward to more turns of this excellent last match Image.

Many thanks to Longshanks for taking the time and putting so much effort into running a great tournament :thumbsup: . I'm going to miss the excitement of the periodical reports.

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Citizen X
AGEod Veteran
Posts: 795
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:34 pm

Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:38 pm

Congatulations, Seraphim.
Allthough a bit late in coming. I just came back to the forums after long absence. I even had to get my password resetted because I forgot it. I enjoyed very much participating in this tournament. Unfortunately I had to resign due to real life issues which kept me busy untill just recently. Just wanted to drop by to apologize for this, congratulate the winner and thank everybody here, especially lodilefty and longshanks for their remarkable work.
Cheers.
"I am here already.", said the hedgehog to the hare.

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Longshanks
AGEod Grognard
Posts: 842
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:48 pm
Location: Fairfax Virginia

Sat Mar 16, 2013 1:35 am

:hat:
Two Rules: 1. The Tournament Director is always right. 2. When the Tournament Director is wrong, see Rule 1.

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