April 1861 Union campaign

[christof139]

Thanx I learned somethings here. Chris2 in Detroit

[christof139]

Thanx I learned some very informative things here. Chris2 in Detroit

[James D Burns]

Industrial expansion leads to improvements in 7 cities.

Admiral John A. Dahlgren and the USS Monitor become active in New York and are given orders to sail to Hampton Roads to take up blockading positions.

Admiral Palmer’s frigate fleet is refit at Wilmington and ordered out to the Atlantic Shipping box.

With their rations almost used up, I order the rotation of the 3 blockade ships in the Atlantic blockade box with the 2 blockade ships at Atlantic City.

Confederates General Benjamin McCulloch leading 1 cavalry and 1 infantry regiment
has besieged Fort Clark in NC. I’m confident my Fortress garrison there can hold out against this small Confederate force.

In northwest Florida at Fort Pickens along the gulf coast I’m much more concerned however as a Confederate detachment of 1 brigade and 1 regiment has set siege there. Intel also reports another Confederate detachment with this force consisting of 3 units, no further info is provided. This much larger force can very well take the position.

I have a few units in New York that I could send, but given the fact I don’t have enough extra supply wagons to create a supply depot in the fort, I decide against a relief effort at this time. Fort Pickens only has a level 1 harbor and doesn’t generate enough supply to feed any more troops.

Given how slowly supplies trickle in to Forts Jefferson and Zachary in the Florida Keys, I doubt my sea supply is sufficient to supply another division or so of assets at Fort Pickens. Supply Wagons have just been bumped to the top of my priority list for items to produce. I need to get some depots built at my southern forts ASAP. Of all my current southern sea forts, only Fort Monroe has a depot currently.



I note this turn that both Admirals Farragut’s and Foote are promotable so I go ahead and click the promote button. Farragut’s ratings were 5, 4, 4, 1, 5 and Foote’s ratings were 5, 5, 4, 2, 3. Let’s hope they change for the better or stay the same after promotion.

My river ironclads appeared this turn. The USS Neosho appeared at St. Louis MO. and the USS Osage appeared at Jefferson City MO. The Osage will be tough to defend if the confederates I spotted near Springfield have headed north (lost view of them this turn). I only have 2 militias garrisoning Jefferson City.

My Army HQ and 2 Division HQ’s have finished training at D.C. I sent the Army and 1 Division HQ to Cincinnati via rail. The other Division HQ is ordered to Alexandria to merge with Fitzjohn Porter and his 2 PA. Brigades.

With only 1 more Division HQ still training, it’s obvious to me I’ll be needing many more Division HQ’s. A quick count of my muster areas shows I’ll need at least 10 more Division HQ’s, so I build another 4 Division HQ’s and 1 medical unit for my just trained army this turn.

In the east, Harper’s Ferry has been besieged by a large leaderless Confederate force of 5 brigades, 4 militias and 2 artillery units. Confederate General Johnston’s large Army of the Shenandoah is sitting entrenched at Winchester which makes it possible it may move towards Harper’s Ferry this turn, so I decide to send the entire Army of the Potomac to relieve the siege.

Luckily all commanders (even little Mac) passed their strategy rolls this turn, so everyone is given attack posture and synchronized move. It’s only a 12 day march so there should be a good sized battle in the east this turn. Due to the fact my troops have to cross a river to enter the area around Harper’s Ferry, I’m hoping Johnston stays put.

Otherwise the Union may get mauled due to minor river crossing penalties (minor bonus to defender, but I’m not sure what *minor* means) combined with the hills terrain bonus (moderate defender bonus). If the two terrain bonuses combine to give the defender a major bonus, it might be a disaster.

I really wish I knew exactly what the exact bonuses were. I mean if each bonus level tiers up at 10% for a total of 30% for a major bonus that’s not too bad. But if each bonus level tiers up 25% for a total of 75% for major, the defender would almost be doubled. The manual needs to be a little more informative on this point I think.



For those who don’t have the game yet and are wondering what all the map terrains are, here’s a shot of the terrain key:



Even though the terrain key shows an actual hill in the hills terrain graphic, an actual hill need not be present for an area to have hills terrain. For example look at the two areas of Morgan and Harper’s Ferry or Clarke and Loudon in the below example screenshot.



The Morgan area has the actual hill graphic and the area of Harper’s Ferry simply has some brown coloration (a color the terrain key attributes to mountains or impassible mountains only) bleeding over into the very northern tip of the Harpers Ferry area from the Morgan areas hill graphic. Yet Harper’s Ferry is hill terrain.

Between Clarke and Loudon, it’s Clarke with the hill graphic and Loudon has the brown coloration bleeding over into its area, yet the mouse over pop up shows Loudon with hills terrain instead of woods terrain which the terrain key might lead you to believe is what is there if you are using simply visual cues from the map.

So I’ve learned it’s always a good idea to mouse over any areas you plot a move through/into when going into battle to be sure of what you’re getting yourself into instead of simply relying on visual cues from the map.

At Grafton the Confederate 3rd reserve Brigade attacked my defending US Cavalry regiment outside the city and 2 militia regiments garrisoning the city. Although the battle was a Union victory with my units suffering 198 casualties and the Confederates 385 casualties, for some reason the US Cavalry regiment was retreated to the area of Summers WV. East of the city and the Confederates remained and set siege to the place.

I’ve merged the cavalry with the 1st WV Brigade and the WV supply Wagon at Summers and ordered the force west to relieve Grafton.

Halleck fought two battles with Confederate forces outside Louisville. The first battle against General Sibley and 5 militia, 1 light artillery and 2 regular regiments was a defeat with the Union suffering 51 casualties and the Confederates 5.

The second battle against 1 militia, 1 cavalry artillery and 2 regular regiments was a victory with the Union suffering 639 casualties and the Confederates 2014 and the loss of a militia regiment.

Apparently Sibley was forced to retreat after the first battle, because he is now in the area of Meade KY in command of a very large force of Confederates consisting of 11 units (no more info given). Louisville is still under siege by a leaderless Confederate brigade and artillery unit.

Given the size of Sibley’s force, I decided to add McClernand and 2 more militia regiments to Halleck’s command outside the city of Louisville. Halleck’s stack now consists of 8 militias and is using 8 of 8 command points. He again failed his initiative roll so he is set to defensive posture.

Further west in Kentucky, Intel spots Confederate General Leonidas Polk in command of a huge force of 18 units and 3 supply wagons in the area of Trigg KY. South of Evansville IN. Evansville itself is under siege by a leaderless force of 1 brigade and 2 regiments.



With all the recent activity in the region, it looks like the Confederates are making a big push through Kentucky. And I have no commands in the area other than Halleck and his militias.

I considered spreading out the 3 brigades I have mustered together at New Albany into different cities in IN. to protect against Polk’s force, but I decided it was more important to keep my forces together. No sense allowing Polk to defeat them piecemeal in siege combats, better to have them available to mass into an army when HQ’s and commanders become available.

At Springfield MO. Sumner’s force is only 6 days march from joining Fremont. The Mississippi Marine Brigade is 16 days march away, but I’ve decided to divert it to Jefferson City to beef up the defense there until the USS Osage river ironclad is finished.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Industrial expansion results in improvements in 6 cities this turn.

My militia catches up with the Confederate cavalry raider that’s been running around on the Delaware peninsula and destroys it in a battle in the area of Queen Anne’s MD. outside Denton. The Union suffered 0 casualties while the Confederates suffered 253 casualties and 200 prisoners who surrendered.

I realized too late I made a bonehead move by including McClellan in the attacking force that moved to lift the siege at Harper’s Ferry. Of all my generals who I wish not to gain seniority, McClellan tops the list.

The Union won a victory at Harper’s Ferry suffering 449 casualties while the Confederates suffered 1276. The thing I found odd in this battle was when I did a mouse over the Confederates terrain bonus box it stated they received no terrain bonus. The Unions terrain bonus box stated 9 elements of the union force received terrain bonuses.

Does this mean the Confederates were considered the attacker? Or is it impossible for a besieging force to receive terrain bonuses when attacked by a force attempting to lift the siege?



I’ve created the 11th Division under Fitzjohn Porter at Alexandria and ordered him to Manassas where he’ll dig in.

The 9th Division under Mansfield will march to the area of Stafford VA. southeast of Manassas and dig in there.

The 8th Division under Shurze has a Confederate force in his area at Frederick MD., but Schurze failed his strategic roll. Hopefully he’ll engage this turn anyway since his force is so well dug in (I believe this enhances his ability to intercept enemy units in his area).

McClellan will move to the area of Loudon VA. and dig in with his stack consisting of the 4th Division, 2nd Medical unit and 2 supply Wagons. From there he can possibly march to the sound of the guns at Harper’s Ferry if a battle ensues there, but probably won’t receive as much experience as the two Corps commanders McDowell and Hunter from the battle as he’ll be arriving late to the scene.

McDowell and Hunter’s Corps will remain at Harper’s Ferry and dig in to oppose any advance by Johnston’s large force at Winchester.



At Grafton the Confederate force pulled back to Beverly WV. Before Union troops could engage them. The 1st WV. Brigade and the supply wagon will remain outside the city and dig in. the US Cavalry unit will move east to the area of Summers WV. And act as a screening force for that area.

At Prestonburg KY. A small band of Union partisans rose up and captured the undefended town. I’ve ordered the partisans southeast with attack posture set on a route that takes them through many Confederate cities on a nuisance raid.

Hopefully the partisans will change control of several cities necessitating a confederate response to this remote region to recapture those towns. We’ll see, if the AI is like me, he’ll have a garrison in every city to prevent just such a nuisance raid.

The Confederate 1st Tennessee Cavalry unit captured the Harbor at Scioto OH. One area west of Ashland OH. And the 10th Ohio Cavalry unit was spontaneously raised in Columbus due to the incursion. I’ve given them attack posture and ordered them to try and intercept the raiders.

At Louisville Halleck failed to engage the Confederate force outside the city, but did manage to entrench his force. Confederate General Sibley appears to be moving towards Lexington, probably in a bid to rebuild and resupply.

Had I any decent leadership in the area, I’d move to intercept, but Halleck again failed his strategic roll. As Sibley is not apparently attacking just yet, I’ve moved McClernand back inside Louisville to take advantage of his recruiting officer trait again.



At Evansville IN. the confederate detachment that was besieging the city is nowhere to be seen. I have no idea if it went further north into my territory or if it moved away south.

Polk however is now just across the river in the area of Henderson KY. and is leading a Corp command of 3 brigades, 9 regiments and 2 supply wagons. Polk’s brigades are very under strength however (orange numbers to the right of the brigades read 12/134, 25/45 and 16/72), so I don’t fear a deep raid into IN. from him just yet. Evansville however is under serious threat by Polk’s large Corp.

Polk’s apparent Army commander is south of him at Clarksville TN. Intel shows the army commander to be a three star general and his stack consists of 1 artillery ***, 3 regulars and 1 supply. No other details are given.

I assume the three * following the artillery unit means it’s the intrinsic unit of the army HQ itself, or perhaps it’s an intrinsic unit for another three star general, I’m not sure.

My units inside Evansville have become activated, so I’ve ordered Foote’s fleet that is in the river area outside of town into harbor there so he can embark the 2 supply wagons inside the city next turn. I don’t want to risk moving the wagons aboard the fleet in the Evans Ford river area as its possible Polk might capture them if they leave the city. Better to board the transports while they are docked and sail away next turn.

At Springfield MO. Sumner has reached Fremont and the units with battered cohesion are ordered inside Springfield to recuperate. Fremont’s command outside the city now consist of 3 brigades, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 artillery unit, 1 balloon unit and 4 supply wagons. Once his HQ’s arrive, he’ll form his army and begin his campaign south into Arkansas and Texas.

At Fort Gibson Stand Watie and his Cherokee’s launched two assaults on the village. The first battle was a Union victory and they suffered 157 casualties while the Cherokee’s suffered 537 casualties and lost 1 of their 3 regiments.

The second battle saw a Texas cavalry unit join the Indians and it also was a Union victory. The Union suffered 59 casualties and the Indians and Texans suffered 390.

The Heroic 3rd Cavalry regiment inside Fort Gibson (not really a fort but an Indian village) enjoyed a 400 bonus for entrenchment levels which probably accounts for their awesome performance. The 3rd Cavalry gained 2 experience stars for the battle.



Fort Gibson’s supply stockpiles are 10/10, so thankfully the 3rd Cavalry has something to draw on to replenish its now depleted ammo stocks. The Cherokee’s can probably replenish their stocks by drawing on the depots at Fayette or Fort Smith AR., but there is snow in the mountains east of Fort Gibson now so they’ll probably have to withdraw to one of those towns for winter.

Jim

[Wardyr]

I have to say that this is probably one of the best and most informative AAR's that I have ever read. Keep it up I am enjoying reading this.

[oldspec4]

This is a great read...thx. Very useful info to apply to my slow learning process.

[Pocus]

About the remarks (subliminal queries ):

terrain matrix: it is complex... We don't quite know how to present it to players. If too much details, then we need a separate document. If we only provide some infos, then perhaps we can add them to a tooltip in the Map Key image.

CSA without terrain benefit: check the posture icon they have: they were in offensive posture. So they were besieging, ready to intercept any relief force. A bit too bold, I admit.

[Alan_Bernardo]

Jim,

Thanks again for the further updates. All this emensely enhances my understanding of this game. There is a lot to learn.

One question-- on this image:





there are two areas filled red. What does this mean? On page 29 of the manual, it says, "Regions your Force is prohibited from entering will pulsate in red. An icon on the Unit Panel provides you with detailed information."

Is that what these red regions mean? The reason I ask is that it looks as if you are plotting a move through the red region to your southeast. If that is the case, then those red regions mean something else.

Thanks,

Alan

[Pocus]

he can plot, but unless he rout the CSA army in the same region has him, he won't move...

[Alan_Bernardo]

he can plot, but unless he rout the CSA army in the same region has him, he won't move...

Got it. I recall reading that in the manual, but had forgotten it.

Keep up the good work.


Alan

[James D Burns]

Jim,
Is that what these red regions mean? The reason I ask is that it looks as if you are plotting a move through the red region to your southeast. If that is the case, then those red regions mean something else.

In the screenshot mentioned, I have the garrison inside Harper's Ferry selected but not plotted to move, so the red regions apply to them. I selected them to give viewers an idea of what kind of Union forces were inside Harper’s Ferry, guess it was a bit misleading with the plot lines underneath them, sorry about that.

The move plots you see are for the Army of the Potomac units at Manassas plotted to move to Harper's Ferry. They had no red regions when selected, so the prohibited regions apply only to the unit you currently have selected.

Jim

[christof139]

Industrial expansion results in improvements in 6 cities this turn.

At Fort Gibson Stand Watie and his Cherokee’s launched two assaults on the village. The first battle was a Union victory and they suffered 157 casualties while the Cherokee’s suffered 537 casualties and lost 1 of their 3 regiments.

The second battle saw a Texas cavalry unit join the Indians and it also was a Union victory. The Union suffered 59 casualties and the Indians and Texans suffered 390.

The Heroic 3rd Cavalry regiment inside Fort Gibson ***(not really a fort but an Indian village)*** enjoyed a 400 bonus for entrenchment levels which probably accounts for their awesome performance. The 3rd Cavalry gained 2 experience stars for the battle. Jim

Fort Gibson in Indian territory was a substantial fort, and not just an Indian village. Here are links:

http://www.civilwaralbum.com/indian/fortgibson1.htm

http://www.civilwaralbum.com/indian/index.htm

http://www.civilwaralbum.com/links.htm#Indian%20Territory

http://tinyurl.com/24yck5



[ATTACH]369[/ATTACH]

Even though the picture says 1874, at the time of the ACW this was a very substantial post and fort, and it was used as the main bade of USA forces in Indian territory.

Fort Scott in Kansas was also substantial and Fort Smith in Arkansas was more of a smaller post but with a village/town around it.

Chris 1/39

[James D Burns]

Even though the picture says 1874, at the time of the ACW this was a very substantial post and fort, and it was used as the main bade of USA forces in Indian territory.Chris 1/39

Of course you are 100% correct, my statement was a bit misleading as written. I wasn't stating that it shouldn't be a fort, rather I was referring to the fact that the name given on map didn't suit the fact that there is no fortress there, just an Indian Village. Sorry about the confusion.

The Indian Village does provide some protection and a few supplies, so perhaps that’s all the designers felt was justified for this specific fort, I don’t know.

Jim

[christof139]

Of course you are 100% correct, my statement was a bit misleading as written. I wasn't stating that it shouldn't be a fort, rather I was referring to the fact that the name given on map didn't suit the fact that there is no fortress there, just an Indian Village. Sorry about the confusion.

The Indian Village does provide some protection and a few supplies, so perhaps that’s all the designers felt was justified for this specific fort, I don’t know.

Jim

None of the Forts out west were like the coastal masonry Forts. There were some earthworks, log and low stone walls at Ft. Gibson, plus the stone buildings were stout and the terrain the fort was buit on was defensible. There were also usually a decent amount of troops there, so actually it was fortress, but not the same as a coastal masonry fortress, just a scanty fort/post/facility in comparison to the coastal forts.

Yeah, I see what you mean, and perhaps the only way to depict these western forts would be to use and entrenchment icon or a low level fort icon if there is such a thing in the game, I don't know.

Chris

[James D Burns]

None of the Forts out west were like the coastal masonry Forts. There were some earthworks, log and low stone walls at Ft. Gibson, plus the stone buildings were stout and the terrain the fort was buit on was defensible. There were also usually a decent amount of troops there, so actually it was fortress, but not the same as a coastal masonry fortress, just a scanty fort/post/facility in comparison to the coastal forts.

Yeah, I see what you mean, and perhaps the only way to depict these western forts would be to use and entrenchment icon or a low level fort icon if there is such a thing in the game, I don't know.

Chris

The game has stockades I believe (yep just checked the manual, page 53), that would work very well I'd think. The problem would then be with supply generation, Indian Villages generate a few measly points, stockades probably do not.

Jim

[christof139]

The game has stockades I believe (yep just checked the manual, page 53), that would work very well I'd think. The problem would then be with supply generation, Indian Villages generate a few measly points, stockades probably do not.

Jim

Yeah, the Stockade would work!!! I don't know either about the supply generation, but if we condiered the whole province and Ft. Gibson's links with Kansas, then some supply would be OK, as it was also a supply center during the ACW, but it was hard stockpiling supplies there.

Chris

[Alan_Bernardo]

James,

Are you finishing this? I was enjoying it so far but now with the delay I'm wondering what's going on.


Alan

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments lead to 3 city improvements this turn.

Palmer’s frigate fleet arrives in the Atlantic shipping box, but 100% of the frigate units suffered cohesion hits and two of the ships were damaged. Palmer and his fleet is ordered back to port for refit once again.

No battles were fought, so this damage is again caused due to unknown reasons, I sent a zip of the turn to Pocus hoping it might help track down the bug.

In the Atlantic blockade box, both ships suffered cohesion hits, so they have also been ordered to port for refits. Two of the Blockade ship units at Atlantic City are ready and ordered to sea to replace these units on blockade duties.

Currently all three of the blockade units stationed in the Gulf are in port at my Florida Keys ports trying to repair the extensive damaged caused to their ships by transiting to and from blockade duty. Ammo and supply are also very slow to recoup at these two Forts, even though I have ample sea transport capacity available.

Here’s a screenshot of the most heavily damaged blockade unit. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I may even have lost one or two of the intrinsic ships from within these blockade units to this weird transit damage.



I’ve got to start building more fleets, my blockade percentage is down to 0% and with all this trouble trying to keep my ships at sea, it looks like I’ll be needing dozens more ships if I ever plan to get my blockade percentage above 0% again.

Fort Pickens was directly assaulted in two desperate attacks by Braxton Bragg and his large force of confederates consisting of 2 militia, 1 light artillery, 2 cavalry and 7 infantry regiments. Bragg was soundly defeated in the first assault losing 6,913 men while the Union only lost 488.

Bragg’s second assault was again heavily repulsed costing the Confederates 2,356 men and the loss of 4 infantry and 1 cavalry regiments. The Union also captured 1,200 prisoners. The loss to the Union was only 194 casualties.

With a defensive bonus of 700, I can’t for the life of me understand why the AI would launch this assault. This fortress bonus effectively turned my garrison of 2 infantry, 1 heavy artillery and 1 emplaced artillery regiments into 14 infantry, 7 heavy artillery and 7 emplaced artillery units. The AI needs the ability to understand this in its decision making process lest it shatter itself repeatedly upon the walls of such strong fortresses.

I am playing with give the AI extra time, so it’s a fundamental weakness of the AI right now to assault fortified positions before they are reduced.



In the east both Porter and Mansfield’s divisions are in place behind the Rappahannock River in the areas of Manassas and Stafford VA. I’ve ordered Shurze and his division to Clarke VA. to complete the divisional defense line behind that river.

The small Confederate force in Frederick MD. tried to move south through Harper’s Ferry and was intercepted and soundly defeated by the Army of the Potomac. Union losses were 646 and the Confederates lost 3,090. the command then retreated back to Frederick MD.

I’ve decided to reshuffle my defenses in the area and have both Hooker’s division and the 6th Division ordered to move to Harper’s Ferry to merge there with McDowell and Hunter’s Corps to make both those Corps three division Corps.

The 1st Division NVA is ordered to the area of Summers WV. just east of Grafton and the 2nd Division NVA is ordered to Grafton.

The 1st West Virginia Brigade and its supply wagon are ordered to the area of Susquehanna just east of Summers and the US Cavalry unit at Summers is ordered to the area of Allegany.

This realignment of force is due to two things. First I noticed this turn that the area of Loudon VA. is directly connected to the area Winchester VA. by a tiny little shared river border where Joseph E. Johnston’s large Army of the Shenandoah is currently massed. This exposes McClellan and his small 1 division strength Army of the Potomac stack to direct assault.

Second there doesn’t appear to be any real need of a divisional line of defense going all the way to Grafton from the areas north of Harper’s Ferry as no incursions into Union territory have been observed in this region. The only Confederate move was against Grafton itself, thus the readjustment of the two NVA divisions to the Grafton area.

Next turn once I’ve beefed up the two AotP Corps, I’ll move McClellan north of the Potomac River and leave McDowell’s Corp in Harpers Ferry while Hunter and his Corp take up position in Loudon.

Then I’ll work on getting a third 3 division Corps organized containing the divisions guarding the Rappahannock River before I launch an assault on Johnston’s force. Of course this necessitates a third Corp level commander being available, so hopefully I’ll be getting one soon.

I’ve ordered a brigade to the area of Montgomery MD. and another brigade and a cavalry unit to the area of Frederick MD. to take up duties of trying to intercept Confederate raiders moving into my territory.



Owing to Confederate raiders currently operating in OH. north of Cincinnati I’ve diverted the 13th Division HQ from its rail move to Cincinnati and ordered it to New York instead. No sense taking a chance losing it to a lucky Confederate intercept, and I have a sizable force mustering in New York currently and some HQ’s will be needed before I launch any sea invasions.

At Evansville it appears Foote’s fleet dissuaded Polk from crossing the Ohio River and he’s moved south and merged with Albert S. Johnston’s Army of the Tennessee in the area of Muhlenberg KY.

I’ve decided not to evacuate the supply units just yet and I’ve left part of Foote’s fleet in port to recover cohesion and ordered the rest (4 gunboats total) back out into the Ohio to hopefully prevent any move north by A. S. Johnston’s army.

Its possible Johnston is going to head northeast to the Louisville area to confront Halleck’s militia command. I contemplated sending my mustered troops at New Albany across into Louisville this turn, but I prefer to wait until I can manage to hobble them together into an actual fighting command before sending them to face the Army of Tennasee if I can.

Inside Louisville I have McClernand in command of 11 militia regiments (6 have converted to line infantry elements), 1 brigade, 1 artillery and 1 supply wagon. Outside the city in low level trenches Halleck is in command of 6 militia regiments.

This force should be large enough to be at least a moderate challenge to Johnston’s Army if he comes their way.

Sibley’s Confederates are in the area of Mercer KY. just east of Louisville and are almost to Lexington. If Sibley manages to combine with Johnston’s army it will be formidable indeed. But Johnston is still quite a ways southwest and may still head towards Evansville.

At Jefferson City MO., the Army HQ medical unit and 2 divisional HQ’s arrived and have merged with the Mississippi Marine Brigade which will act as their escort as they march to Springfield MO to join with Fremont and form his army.

Fort Gibson has been besieged by 2 Texas cavalry units. I decided not to try and engage them as the 3rd Cavalry is still under strength from their recent fight.

Tucson is also under siege by 2 Texas cavalry units and I again decide not to engage them. With Fremont’s army so close to being formed and heading south, I don’t want to create any opportunities for the Confederates. Patience will see a depot in the region soon and then offensive operations will have a much better chance of reaping some real rewards other than a simple skirmish or two fought now and again.

Jim

[James D Burns]

James,

Are you finishing this? I was enjoying it so far but now with the delay I'm wondering what's going on.


Alan

Been building a new backyard fence the past few weekends. No gaming allowed on weekends till the jobs done. leure:

I'm going to need at least one more weekend, maybe two depending on the weather. So look for pauses in my writing on weekends, sorry about that.

Jim

[pasternakski]

Been building a new backyard fence the past few weekends. No gaming allowed on weekends till the jobs done. leure:

I'm going to need at least one more weekend, maybe two depending on the weather. So look for pauses in my writing on weekends, sorry about that.

Jim

As a devoted fan of your most excellent AAR, I'm hoping for rain...

And don't mash your hand with a hammer. We'll be SOL for a month.

I commiserate with ya on the project, Jim. My favorite saying about home ownership is, "I have a running battle with the house, and, as it's so much bigger than I am, it usually wins."

Good luck, and good fencing.

[James D Burns]

Industrial expansion results in improvements in 2 cities this turn.

Ouch! This naval transit damage is starting to really hurt. The 6th fleet out of Atlantic City en route to the Atlantic blockade box consists of 2 blockade units totaling 16 ship elements. It made it only 2 sea areas to the Northern Basin area and now 7 of the 16 ships have damage and 1 of those is 50% damaged. Both units also took cohesion damage.

The 7th Fleet in the Atlantic Blockade box also consists of 2 blockade ships totaling 16 individual ship elements. It had orders to Atlantic City last turn but stayed in the Atlantic blockade box. Now 10 of its 16 ships are damaged. 4 of those have 50% damage and 1 has 75% damage. Both units have cohesion problems as well.

Palmer’s fleet also failed to leave its box in the Atlantic Shipping box and now 3 ships are damaged (2 were damaged last turn) and all units have more cohesion damage.

John A. Dahlgren’s fleet of 5 steamships in the Hampton Roads sea zone engaged a Confederate fleet of 2 gunboats and won. The union took 4 casualties and the Confederates took 98 and lost 1 of the gunboats. Too bad my ironclad was in port at Annapolis refitting its cohesion damage from its trip south, I’d have liked it to gain the experience.

Dahlgren’s fleet is ordered to port for refit and the Monitor and 1 Steam Frigate is ordered to Hampton Roads.



In the Florida Keys, supplies have finally accumulated at my two forts and the blockade unit NY squadron is now refit and resupplied. It is ordered to the Gulf Blockade Box, I’m keeping my fingers crossed it makes it there in good shape, that box has been wide open for several turns now. The other two blockade units still have damaged vessels and will remain in port.

General K. Schurze and his 8th division saw some fighting this turn in two separate battles. First he fought the leaderless Confederate force in Frederick MD. which resulted in a stalemate. Schurze lost 105 men and the Confederates lost 102.

The second battle fought by Schurze took place in the area of Clarke VA. against a brigade sized leaderless confederate force of 2 infantry and 1 cavalry regiments. Schurze lost 304 men and the Confederates 203, though the battle was a Union victory.

General Fitzjohn Porter’s division saw action at Manassas against 2 Confederate cavalry regiments and won decisively. The Union lost only 60 men while the Confederates lost 1,861 and another 400 prisoners. Both cavalry regiments were destroyed.

Winter arrives and most areas on map are now experiencing mud or snow. The snow is sporadic at best right now, but I assume the next few turns will see cold weather increase all across the map.

With bad weather upon us, I’ve decided to order most of my large commands into winter quarters to protect them. The Army of the Potomac will winter at Harper’s Ferry, while the three divisions along the Rappahannock will move to winter in Manassas.

All units west of Harper’s Ferry and north of the Potomac River are ordered to Grafton for the winter.

All across the map I move units into garrison into the closest city near them. No sense burning through my replacement pools this winter trying to repair winter damages by keeping units entrenched outside of my cities.

I’ll let the confederate raiders decimate my rail lines if they want, once spring arrives I’ll go about a repair campaign if needed.

At Evansville I decide this is probably my last chance to evacuate the two supply wagons via river transport before the river freezes. Looking over the map I observe no supply depot at Louisville KY., which I’ll need if I plan to launch any offensives from there. Foote and his river gunboats are ordered to Louisville for the winter and take the wagons with them.

The Army of the Tennessee is still at Muhlenberg KY., hopefully the departure of Foote’s gunboats doesn’t spell doom for that city this winter.



The Mississippi Marine Brigade and the HQ commands it is escorting are still 16 days march from Springfield in harsh winter weather. Hopefully the damage they suffer won’t be too extreme as HQ replacements are very expensive to buy.

The Scott Resigns and YMCA events happened this turn.

Epidemics were reported in the Mid-Atlantic (Brooklyn), Deep South (Fort Morgan) and West Departments (Charleston MO.). No major commands appear to have been hit yet and effects were light this turn.

I forgot to report that last turn I placed 8 transport ships into production. This turn I placed another 12 into production, which leaves 12 more yet to be built in my production pools.

I can’t believe I didn’t build these sooner as these units are my only means of increasing my turn by turn money income. The 6 transports I currently have in the Atlantic Shipping box produced 24 money and 4 war supplies this turn.

With the 32 transports added to the 6 I have now, I can increase this income by a factor of 6, which means I’ll be producing 144 money and 24 war supplies for a similar result in the future. Unless of course there is a decreasing return for you ships as their numbers increase. Guess I’ll find out soon enough, it only takes a few months for the produced transports to become active.

I should have built these ships ASAP. From now on my very first build as the Union after the initial replacement pool builds used to rebuild the AotP with, will be 100% of the available transport shipping. It can practically double my income per turn if each ship continues to be worth the same regardless of how many you add to the Atlantic Shipping Box.

Jim

[Pocus]

I forgot to report that last turn I placed 8 transport ships into production. This turn I placed another 12 into production, which leaves 12 more yet to be built in my production pools.

I can’t believe I didn’t build these sooner as these units are my only means of increasing my turn by turn money income. The 6 transports I currently have in the Atlantic Shipping box produced 24 money and 4 war supplies this turn.

With the 32 transports added to the 6 I have now, I can increase this income by a factor of 6, which means I’ll be producing 144 money and 24 war supplies for a similar result in the future. Unless of course there is a decreasing return for you ships as their numbers increase. Guess I’ll find out soon enough, it only takes a few months for the produced transports to become active.

You don't really think you will have a linear ROI, don't you?

The AI will take more notice of the entrench level in the next update. Note though that entrench level above 4 is only providing something for the artillery (more firepower and allow them to fire at passing ships). Your infantry at Pickens received the bonus of a level 4 trench.

I'll be checking the ship damages issue as soon as I can.

[frank7350]

Jim...

Great read! Saw your allowing the AI more time. What about the other options? Fog of War, etc?

[Hohenlohe]

Wonderful AAR!!

greetings Hohenlohe

[NewAgeNapolean]

[quote="James D Burns"] With a defensive bonus of 700, I can’t for the life of me understand why the AI would launch this assault. This fortress bonus effectively turned my garrison of 2 infantry, 1 heavy artillery and 1 emplaced artillery regiments into 14 infantry, 7 heavy artillery and 7 emplaced artillery units. The AI needs the ability to understand this in its decision making process lest it shatter itself repeatedly upon the walls of such strong fortresses.

Great AAR! If the AI made better use of the command structure, is it possible the outcome of this siege could have been different? Mybe not the end result but in the number of casualties? Bragg had to be suffering from maximium command penalties.

Thanks Jim!

[James D Burns]

As requested I’ll list what options I have selected for my game. I’ll only list those I have checked, so any option not listed is not used.

Game:
Use Fog of War
Allow Retreat
Delayed Commitment
Generals = Non-randomized
Foreign Entry = Normal

AI:
Activate AI
No Detect Bonus
Difficulty Level = Normal
Aggressiveness = Normal
Use All Behaviors
Give AI More Time

Investments in industry resulted in improvements in 6 cities this turn.

Winter weather actually cleared up some across the map. Many areas experiencing mud are fair this turn and there are fewer snow and harsh weather areas this turn then last.

My units did suffer hits at the hands of winter however and I think I’ve found a problem with supply wagons. The manual states supply wagons are supposed to take the damage hits for units caught in bad weather. However as the below screenshot shows, the 4th Division attached to McClellan’s stack suffered quite a bit of damage even though it has a supply wagon in its stack.

The wagon unit itself has 61% of its food and water stocks still on hand and hasn’t taken any damage to its elements. This isn’t a huge deal here, but had I a massive army out on campaign caught like this, the damage would be astronomical and very expensive to repair.



The single Blockade units I sent to both the Atlantic and gulf Blockade Boxes both suffered damage and are both ordered back to port. Other than my transports in the Atlantic shipping and a few units at Hampton Roads, my entire navy is in port or en route to port to refit transit damages now.

Dahlgren and 4 of his 5 Steam Frigates are fully refit and ordered to Hampton roads to merge with the Ironclad and Steam Frigate currently there now.

Most of the units ordered into winter quarters made it, however both NVA divisions and the US Cavalry regiment ordered to Grafton are still quite a ways from their destination. The 1st Division NVA (and the US Cavalry regiment) finds itself in snow weather again this turn and after having already suffered damage similar to the 4th division above, I expect it will be in pretty bad shape next turn after another turn of winter hits.

Thankfully the 2nd Division NVA isn’t in hostile weather this turn and can hopefully make it into town without suffering further damage.

All my units are hunkered down into winter quarters in KY., and I’ve ordered the two supply wagons in Louisville to build a depot this turn.

The Confederate Army of Tennessee is still sitting in Muhlenberg. I wish the AI knew how to go into winter quarters. Thankfully there isn’t winter in its area yet, but it’ll get slammed if it continues to stay outside over the next few months.

Both my MO riverboat ironclads are done and both have orders to sail to Cairo.

Having completed their long march through the hill country of Eastern Tennessee, the remaining 20 men of the Preston Guerilla band burn the depot at Knoxville destroying 472 crates of supply and 160 crates of ammunition. Until this turn I had completely forgotten about these guys, I was surprised they are still on the map. The unit is now ordered to march to Chattanooga.

Personally I think the ability to destroy depots and supply/ammo crates should be heavily dependant on the number of men in a unit. No way a city like Knoxville is going to let 20 armed men waltz in and burn down their supply hub. At best some stores might get damaged in a warehouse fire covertly set by the small band, but to destroy an entire supply hub in a large city?

Perhaps requiring a minimum of 500 men per city level before allowing a depot to go up in smoke. Less than that and you can destroy 1 crate per 10 men or something?



The Mississippi Marine Brigade is still 12 days march from Springfield. Thankfully the group only took 7 weather hits and doesn’t appear to be damaged too heavily. I guess the winter weather really slowed them down last turn. This turn they have fair weather so I’m hoping they’ll make better progress on their march.

For production this turn I had to spend some income on replacements as my pools are getting low and one was empty, so only 4 new transports are produced.

This gives me 24 new transports to add to the Atlantic Shipping box once they are ready, exactly 4 times what I have there now. I’ll hold off producing the remaining 8 until I see how these 24 affect my income.

Pocus’ cryptic statement above concerning a non-linear return has me worried I’ve over-spent on transports. If it is a decreasing return on investment, I guess some experimentation on the numbers of transports committed to the box is in order to try and figure out the best return on my money.

Given how slow things are right now, I decided a screenshot of the objectives screen might give readers something to hold their interest a bit.



The Trent affair occurred this turn.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments result in improvements in 6 cities this turn.

Gulf Squadron #1 is refit at Fort Zachary in the Florida Keys and is ordered to the gulf Blockade Box.

At Atlantic City the 4th Fleet is formed with all 5 Blockade units and ordered to the Atlantic Blockade Box.

At Boston I’ve made a new transport fleet with 6 recently activated Transport units and ordered it to the Atlantic Shipping Box. This turn saw 26 money and 2 war supplies produced by the 6 transports currently there. Let’s see what double that number will produce.

Winter weather has arrived in earnest now, with all areas of the map experiencing winter except the southeast (North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida).

With all my units securely in winter quarters, the Confederates decide to go on the offensive. Ugh this is bad news as it surely spells doom for those big Confederate forces caught out in the cold. I’ll have to be overly passive in the spring to allow time for the AI to recover from this poor decision to attack in winter.

In the East Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s entire Army of the Shenandoah left Winchester and set siege to Harper’s Ferry. Inside is the entire 7 division Army of the Potomac with a combined combat power of 1,747.

I consolidated every unit (militias and all) in Harper’s Ferry into the different command HQ’s to reduce any command penalties. Right now each stack has a command penalty of 5% which I can see no way of reducing further.

Intel reports Johnston’s army to have a command penalty of 35%, so I’m confident I’ll do well against any direct assaults. Some of my units still have winter damage, but most are in tip top shape. As Johnston is sitting in the middle of a blizzard and very harsh weather, I predict he will probably be ravaged by the cold before he can launch any assaults this turn.



None of the units ordered to Grafton (2 divisions and 1 cavalry regiment) made it inside and they are all sitting in winter weather again. I’ve definitely learned my lesson here, head to winter quarters in October for units in rough terrain, it simply takes to long if you wait till the last minute to move like I did here.

Confederate General Albert S. Johnston’s large Army of the Tennessee is still just sitting in the area of Muhlenberg and is now surrounded by Frozen, Harsh Weather. Hopefully he’ll head for cover this turn or he’ll get creamed this winter.

The Confederate AR Division set siege to Cairo IL. I have sufficient forces inside the city to easily repel this invader. Cairo is defended by 4 brigades, 7 militia, 1 Shipyard Engineer, 1 heavy artillery and 1 emplaced artillery unit. It’ll take far more than a single small division to reduce Cairo.



John C. Fremont finally forms his Army of the West at Springfield consisting of 2 large divisions, 1 Cavalry regiment, 1 artillery regiment, 1 medical unit, 1 balloon and 4 supply wagons. Now he simply has to wait for the weather to clear and he can launch his campaign south.



Tucson and Dallas are both under siege, but the winter weather should do its work to reduce the attackers.

The Cherokee’s have reappeared outside the Creek village.

Epidemics hit 4 departments, but thankfully no major commands are affected.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Just a quick update to keep everyone informed. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the pesky naval transit bug has been tracked down and squashed. Given all the trouble I’ve been having with my navy, I’ve decided to await the next patch before continuing my game.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Investments in industry resulted in improvements in 4 cities this turn.

Palmer’s Fleet is again refit and ordered out to the Atlantic shipping box.

2 of the 5 blockade units en route to the Atlantic blockade box took cohesion damage and are ordered back to port. The other 3 will continue on.

Another 6 transport units fleet is formed at Boston and ordered to the Atlantic Shipping box. Last turns 6 unit fleet is still en route as well. When both fleets arrive there will be 18 transport units in the box.

Troops at Fort Monroe have been reported to be low on supply, so I’ve ordered one of my new transport units to sail to Hampton Roads to join Dahlgren’s Fleet. Hopefully the naval transport in an adjoining sea zone will provide enough supply to keep Fort Monroe in beans.

If not I’ll need to contemplate sending a larger force there to start a campaign up the peninsula to capture a city or two so I can build a depot or two to help generate more supply for Butler’s troops. I tried to upgrade Fort Monroe’s depot level, but when I selected the two supply units the only option available was to destroy the existing depot.

In the Gulf Blockade Box, my blockade unit arrives intact and I finally have some naval presence active in the south again. The other two blockade units down south are still in port repairing damage.

I’m able to sign drafts and financials again this turn and this time the Union can truly raise some serious amounts of cash. First I sign a basic call for volunteers and raise 176 conscript companies which cost me nothing. I have over 1,000 companies in reserve, so I felt no need to spend any bounty for additional conscript companies this turn.

In the financial section I sign an 8% war bond which raises $956,000 and costs me 75 victory points and a price increase of 2%. I also sign exceptional taxes which raise $1,147,000 and cost me 2 national morale and a 1% price increase.

Overall I raised $2,103,000 for a cost of 2 national morale, 75 victory points and a 3% price increase.



For production I spend all available war supplies (my limiting resource) on fleshing out my replacement pools this turn as I’ve let them run pretty low. After all expenditures I’ll have a surplus of $1,202,000 and 703 conscript companies carrying over for future expenditures.



I may have found a new bug. At Harper’s Ferry, my entire army is within city walls and besieged by General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah. The weird part is, both my Corps stacks took 20 or so winter weather hits this turn.

Many other Union troops suffered winter hits as well, but I can’t say for sure they were inside the cities they occupy all turn. I’m positive about both McDowell’s and Hunter’s Corps however, so I used them as my example.

The manual states units inside a city are protected from winter, so I think this is a bug. It doesn’t appear McClellan’s stack took hits (of the three stacks in Harper’s Ferry his is the one listed on the left hand side/top stack), so perhaps the code only sees one stack for purposes of protection from winter. Thus leaving any additional stacks exposed to bad weather.



Lots of units received additional regimental elements this turn. I’m not sure if those are scripted reinforcements or simply text reports of full regiments pulled from the replacement pools.

Foote’s Fleet is ordered to Cape Girardeau, the three-way river junction just south of Cairo to join with the two river ironclads in Cairo who are also moving there. If the Mississippi doesn’t freeze up I’ll maintain his fleet out in the river this winter, as the Confederates bombarded Cairo this turn. Damage was light and the Union suffered 14 hits while the Confederate fleet took 4 in return.

All across the Union my forces have hunkered down inside winter quarters. The Confederates remain conspicuously outside this winter all across the front.

Both large Confederate armies I reported on last turn remain in their respective locations and no other major changes in Confederate dispositions occurred that I feel need to be reported on this turn.

Confederate forces besieging Tucson launched an assault this turn and were repulsed. Confederate losses were 639 and the Union lost 296. The Confederate siege at Tucson continues.



The Trent Affair Union Apologizes event occurs this turn. Foreign intervention is at -20, so I can’t tell if this had an effect or not. Last time I looked I think it was at -17 or -18, so perhaps this event gave me a couple of points.

Jim

[Pocus]

I may have found a new bug. At Harper’s Ferry, my entire army is within city walls and besieged by General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah. The weird part is, both my Corps stacks took 20 or so winter weather hits this turn.

if the loyalty is under 50%, you are not entirely safe from winter damages