Dealing with Mounted Partisans and Bushwackers

[deguerra]

Me again

Playing a PBEM with a friend currently (very slowly). Due to some rampant success in Missouri by August 1861, he (CSA) has had one unit each of Bushwackers and Mounted Partisans pop up. And fair enough.

On their first turn of existence they moved from southern Missouri to just below the Missouri river. Other than raiding the land they did nothing bad as all my towns in Missouri were garrisoned, though none of the garrisons managed to engage them. Still, fair enough.

On their second turn the Bushwackers moved to upper Missouri, bypassing two units of Cavalry I had sent to intercept them. Neither did (chance was given at something like 17%). The Mounted Partisans moved even further north, and out of Missouri and into Quincy, IL where they auto-destroyed a depot.

How do I stop them? I do not seem capable of intercepting them, so they can effectively just meander through any defensive line I set up. And they do not seem to have any supply issues as they can presumably live off the land. I will garrison all important places, obviously, but I would rather like to be able to kill them at some stage.

Thanks

[Fingolfin]

IMO, Don't expect to catch them any soon. The best way to deal with them is to cut them from their supply base, as they carry only 1 month of food with them. If they crossed the Missouri to Illinois, then the proper response would be to deny them the possibility to cross Missouri back with some gunboats, and garrison your structures.

[deguerra]

Ah, that is an important bit of information, thank you. I thought, being partisans, that they might be able to 'live off the land' more or less indefinitely.

So do they get supply from depots/towns like other units? Because in that case even Missouri is no good to them, as I control all structures in it.

Thanks a lot for this answer!

[Jim-NC]

They function as normal units (needing supply, how they get it, etc.). Your opponent may be willing to sacrifice them as they are free, and so may be ignoring their supply situation. Your best bet is to garrison all depot territories, and attempt to get lucy with calvary chasing them down (at 17%, you will get lucky 1 out of 6 times). Expect a lot of rail destruction from them. They may even capture a harbor or two (the ones not attached to a town), from which they can resupply.

[Mickey3D]

They may even capture a harbor or two (the ones not attached to a town), from which they can resupply.

That's why you should garrison your harbor. A militia unit will be sufficient.

[deguerra]

thanks guys! As its only September 1861, my garrison situation wasn't ideal but its getting better. Same regarding river gunboats. Fortunately my opponent is as inexperienced in the game as I am.