Mon Oct 03, 2011 6:00 am
Hi there,
This AAR will be a bit different, but hopefully no less interesting. It is starting in late November 1864. Now, in case you think we started in the 1864 scenario, we didn't. We started in July 1861. I also hope that in addition to being interesting, it will teach new players some of the aspects of the game. I want to thank Mortar for the game as he's been a great opponent, and we've been at it a while, but are continuing on.
I'm happy to receive corrections on any explanations I make and I'm happy to answer questions. However, please don't give strategic advice as this is an ongoing game.
1.16 without quick fix
Scenario: July 1861 w/Kentucky
No redeployments
Historical Attrition
Full activation
Historical generals
Raiding - basically border states, although I can't exactly remember now
Firstly, I will give you a general overview. Clicking F9.
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The top left section tells you the scenario you are playing, as well as general guidelines on how to achieve victory.
For the Union to:
Destroy the CSA army in VA: Hasn't been done
Capture Fort Henry and Donnellson: Has been done
Consolidate Kentucky and MO: Has been done
Control the Mississippi: Hasn't been done
Capture or blockade southern ports: Hasn't been done
As you can see, it appears to be a mixed bag for the Union.
For the CSA to:
Defeat the Union Armies before being overwhelmed: Hasn't been done
Protect the South from invasion by land and sea: Mostly has been done
Control Kentucky and MO: Hasn't been done
Control the Mississippi river: Has been done
Again, a mixed bag, this time for the CSA.
Of course, these guidelines are mere idea of historically what he objectives were in war. As a player you can do things very differently.
The next section down is National Morale (NM). NM is one of the most important aspects of your ability to wage war. NM impacts the power of your forces and your production values. There are 'sets' where it changes, of which I don't know where they are exactly as I'm not such a big formula person. Having said that, CSA NM is 97 and Union NM is 127. That is a substantial edge. However, 97 is nearly par and I can hold forces still for a number of reasons (high trench values of 7 and 8 being one of them).
The next section down is Capital. This section shows where your capital is. Mine is is Richmond and I've chosen to leave it there no matter what. Foreign entry is -17 for me. You need foreign entry of 100 to activate England (and France too?) I've never had this happen and I believe it is rather rare. Prisoners of war, I hold 7,800 Union prisoners. Unfortunately I don't know how many prisoners the Union holds. Finally, total combat losses, this is interesting as we both have nearly the exact same number of 278,000. Keep in mind that this doesn't include the attrition losses as far as I know which historically were also rather large. Furthermore, the CSA had about 300,000 casualties historically, so I'm approaching that number. The Union's historical number of 600,000 is well off. Mortar has played a very good game!
The next section down is victory points. Victory points do two things. One, in the event where no one wins, the player with the most victory points wins. Secondly, they are used in the game to "make decisions". Promote generals, sell bonds, etc. CSA has 3,639 and the Union has 3,662, a slight edge. I get 46 a turn and the Union gets 49, a slight edge as well. Two points here, I've never been able to mathematically figure out how this is calculated. I always assumed it was simply based on the VP number per village/town/city. However, it doesn't always appear to be the case, or it might be that VPs listed here are the historical one from the previous turn finished and not the one coming up; I think this is the most likely scenario. Secondly, does anyone know how to check how many VPs one will lose when promoting generals? Lastly, the scenario will end early Jan 1866. Yes, this is about 6 months longer than the actual ACW, but it is there to give some time for the war to play out where the CSA can keep on going.
If you now look to your right, you will see the Objectives list. The list shows the names of the cities, the flag (who currently controls the objective), a number in parentheses (I believe this is the NM hit you take or gain by taking the objective. Can someone confirm this?), and the region they are in. A player doesn't pay attention to his or her objectives at their peril. Objectives generally are strategic locations, provide conscripts, WS, $, or are a key harbour. Losing them really hurts your war effort. The CSA has 9 objectives and the Union 6. However, the Union controls St. Louis, Little Rock, and Louisville. That should tell you that the CSA has not made head way or been able to hold MO, Arkansas, and Kentucky. All the objectives are reasonable except for New York City. I've never understood why it was there. The CSA taking New York City is beyond the realm of possibility in history, and should be in this game too. Baltimore MD or Harrisonburg PA would be more realistic objectives.
Well, that is just F9. You can get a huge amount of information from these screens. It is always good to slow down and check in on what is happening.
Charles
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