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This one is a true brother-vs-brother struggle. Dan and I have been playing ACW games against one another for almost 30 years, going back to VGs Civil War and The Gleam of Bayonets for starters which we played when we lived at home.

I've also helped Frank Hunter playtest RFSTA and also playtested all the Talonsoft ACW Battlefront games. That being said... this game ROCKS!

We started this one several versions ago but are now playing under the current patch. We are both feeling things out and consider this a "test" for the real bro-vs-bro war that will ultimately ensue. Dan has been much more agressive than aryaman, landing large forces of amphibious attacks throughout the south. Some of those have been destroyed outright, while others remain a concern.

A bit of action as winter approaches. There were a couple of minor naval battles; I actually managed to sink a US gunboat on the upper Mississippi.

Kentucky is now in complete US control (I "accidentally" attacked a militia there earlier) and Sherman and other forces are pushing into western TN as AS Johnston's army guards Nashville along the TN river line.

In the east, a US corp moved into Stafford VA, and AP Hill was sent from Manassas to engage. After all of the marching to the sound of the guns, the advance was repulsed in the following battle:



I've got some other comments and questions I am going to post elsewhere.

This campaign approaches winter of 1862, 2 major engagements occurred in the past month.

In the most recent, there was a lot of confusion going on in western TN; both sides moving for position before winter set in. Forrest got caught in a bad situation and his entire force was eliminated:



Not sure how that happened as he had a retreat route, but it happened.

The US had held Wilmington since mid 1861 with a significant force that invaded via sea. Some bloody battles (including the surrender of an entire 6000k man US Div) had been fought as a result in NC. This turn, much to my surprise, the US force in Wilmington withdrew! Now my concern is where they will land, as I am certain a force of this size is not going "home".

An assault on Ft. 10 from last turn resulted in 4000 US losses vs. 500 for the CS.

Some major action at the end of 1862:

The CSA embargoes cotton, and the British respond favorably, + 11 points to FE, taking it over 50 for the game.

Jackson has been besieging Ft. Monroe, and after a minor breach decides to assault before full-blown winter sets in. The result is pretty much a disaster with a few interesting items to consider:



Note that despite being bloodily repulsed, Stonewall captured both the fort batteries and the coastal artillery from Monroe! Should this be happening?

In a follow-up assault, the captured artillery even joined in the attack:



Now, the coastal artillery is moving away (well, running away) with Jackson, along with the fort batteries, which show the "unmovable" arrow icon on them. Again, is this working as it should?

Back to the game, several ironclads have been built in Virginia; all of them are named CSS Federicksburg? WAD?

Meanwhile, the large amphib USA force that evacuated Wilmington landed at Galveston, TX (I told you I knew he wasn't going home). Despite having clear paths of retreat, and getting a message that retreat succeeded, the entire 1600 man force at Galveston apparently surrenders without firing a shot:



The shuttling for winter quarters positions continue in west TN, Polk and Rosecrans fight to a near draw, Rosecrans retreats:



Early Jan 1863 ends.

Comments about any of these results?

Edit: Trying to figure out a little more about what happened in Galveston, I went back a turn and looked. There were 3 militia units defending the town at the end of Dec 1862. However, I did some builds in TX that turn to try to reinforce for the invasion. It looks like I got unlucky; an infantry brigade was raised in Galveston just before his attack. This explains why they surrendered so easily w/o firing a shot - they were not even operational yet! It looks like I also lost some ships in the attack:

We called this one quits pretty much as a stalemate (our terms, not victory conditions). I remain convinced that there are just some things you will not learn against the AI.

We are restarting with 1.05g. Unless there is a game breaker play issue involved I think there will be a bet; probably fantasy football money? A car perhaps? Gold dubloons?

Let me know.

About Jackson and coastal artillery. Don't know if it is a bug or not, but it happens. I took Annapolis as CSA many times early in the game and took Union coastal arty. It moves very slooow. Emplaced arty - moved it as well (i.e the one from Alexandria). It seems those units are immovable for the party who owns it in the beginning. Once they change hands it is pretty much becomes "movable". I am not sure if the devs intended it to be so.

I expect that is WAD.

This part is gamey I think - if you incorporate unfrozen coastal artillery or fort batteries into a division, they will move at the same speed as the rest of the division, rather than the other way 'round. Woohoo! Open fire at range 7 boys!

Edit: Apparently, they open fire at the same range as the rest of the division, if they fire at all. Oh well.