Continuation of the AAR from Battlefront

[Spharv2]

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=019236

That is the link to the first part of this AAR for anyone new joining in. It starts about halfway down the first page of the thread. Let me know if the pictures eat up too much bandwidth and I'll just post links to them instead.

Turn 16 -
The rebels continue to give up the southern colonies without much fight.




I took Charlotte and Cheraw without a fight this turn. After capturing the artillery that had escaped from Charleston, Howe and Clinton will take it and use the rebels' own shells to take one of the last two ports remaining in Georgia or the Carolinas at Georgetown, while Cornwallis moves back to the coast and North to take the other port of New Bern. Both should arrive at their respective sites early next month. Meanwhile Brown, having captured Charlotte, will advance toward Ramseur's Mill and Thickety Fort, where the last of the Colonial troops I can see are holed up. Tryon will advance and scout ahead toward the next objective Which is Hillsboro. Watson, Tarleton and their respective cavalry units will remain in the south to help our support and to be a fast moving group that should be able to help out any garrison's that get into trouble. In the middle colonies, we succeeded in taking Philadelphia and Wilmington last month.




This turn, I'm going to move Col Karl Emil Ulrichvon Donop and a group of Hessians into New Jersey to attempt to take Trenton and Princeton. He's a strong leader and should do well, but he'll remain close to the main army just in case. Delancey, having taken Wilmington, now moves on Head of Elk. His reinforcements should arrive this month, which should strengthen his force. With so many toens so close together here, the urge to split my force further is almost unbearable. But I remember too well what happened the last time I got one of my armies stuck outside of support range. That won't happen again. I'm going to keep things pretty close together here until the southern forces have time to push closer. In the North, Burgoyne continues to creep downriver, maybe someday he'll be useful.




In better news, Butler has raised a force of Rangers in Montreal. I'm going to take them down to scout Ticonderoga to see what the colonists are up to. The force is too weak to stage an attack, but I can at least get a better idea of what I'm up against. Also, my indian allies are preparing an attack to relieve Oswego, which is being hemmed in by three badly understrentgh colonial units. Hopefully this relief goes better than my last one. I'm now in the heart of the campaign season, so I need to get as much done as I can before Winter closes in again.


Turn 17 -
Ouch. I need to consult my leader list before I go into attacks. Didn't realize that the Colonists had defensive guru Henry Knox beseiging Oswego. He kicked my indians around and took the town. Well, time to send the indians back to what they do best...scouting and pillaging. Things went pretty well in the south.




Tryon moved in toward Hillsboro, while Brown kicked four militia out of Ramseur's Mill and will continue on toward Thickety Fort next month. Howe captured Georgetown, and Cornwallis arrived outside of New Bern. Howe can now move up and join with Brown once he takes Thickety Fort and together they will advance on Hillsboro. Things go pretty much as expected in the middle colonies.




Donop and his Hessians succeeded in taking Princeton and Trenton, and Delancey moved into Elk Head. Howe (The overall commander Howe) returned to the scene landing at Wilmington. He will send his troops to join Delancey, while he takes command of the main army in Philadelphia. I'm going to try and split up that army a bit this turn to try and grab what I can during the campaigning season. I'm leaving the main force in Philadelphia, but will be sending another small group of Hessians to take Reading, while I send some newly raised militia to Easton. Donop will scout toward New York. Getting that before the winter hits would be a nice way to cap off the year.




Finally the fleet will return to Halifax to pick up a new Army I've received.




Those troops will probably head for New Jersey for now, if New York is weakly defended, I'll go ahead and move them in there. Burgoyne finally reaches his jumping off point for my recapture of Ticonderoga, I move him down....and hit my first bug. I believe it has to do with accidently dropping him onto the group of Rangers. I just meant to put him in the same territory, but apparently they don't mix. After messing around with it, yes. Don't accidently drop his force onto the group of Rangers, it causes a crash. After resolving that, things go fine.




It will take two months for Burgoyne to reach Ticonderoga, so he will have to end the seige if there is one, quickly, because we'll be getting into the fall and winter months soon. Just in case, I send plenty of supplies with him so if he does get stuck there for a bit, he won't lose his whole army.

[Pocus]

Those troops will probably head for New Jersey for now, if New York is weakly defended, I'll go ahead and move them in there. Burgoyne finally reaches his jumping off point for my recapture of Ticonderoga, I move him down....and hit my first bug. I believe it has to do with accidently dropping him onto the group of Rangers. I just meant to put him in the same territory, but apparently they don't mix. After messing around with it, yes. Don't accidently drop his force onto the group of Rangers, it causes a crash. After resolving that, things go fine.

Save please?

support@ageod.com

[Spharv2]

Save please?

support@ageod.com

File sent before heading out to work this morning.

[Grell]

Great AAR, please do continue.


Regards,

Grell

[Spharv2]

Had an issue with a corrupted save file I believe, so I had to go back and redo a turn. I made the same moves (Even the less than stellar ones) and everything turned out the same aside from my new force landing at Wilmington rather than Halifax. Nothing has really changed though, since they're off to New York as they had been before. Next couple of turns should be up shortly.

[Spharv2]

I'll just be doing a turn tonight, went out...got food, had a drink, got real tired.

Turn 18 -
Lots of small units are showing up around the periphery now. It's getting a bit distracting having to run around stomping out little brushfires everywhere. I can imagine how frustrated the British must have felt.



In the south, Brown fights to a draw at Thickety Fort. That garrison shouldn't last too long. Unfortunately, I see a group of infantry heading toward Ninety-Six. I'm not sure if they came from the west or pulled out of Thickety. Regardless, I'm sending some loyalist forces up from Savannah and a group of cavalry under Col. Watson to help the garrison out, just in case. Howe draws closer to joining up with Tryon, he should arrive this month. Cornwallis takes New Bern with little resistance aside from a small group of Militia who are easily brushed aside. He'll wait there while I bring a fleet down. Once I take Hillsboro, that army will be pushing up into southern Virginia, while Cornwallis will board his ships and attempt to retake Norfolk. I'd like to keep the Colonists efforts divided and not strong enough to defeat any one force. If I can control the Virginia coastal cities, I'll nearly have my armies united. Then will come the major push to the north.



Speaking of the middle colonies, the decision to grab what I can appears to be working out. My loyalist units succeeded in pushing some rebel forces out of Easton. I'm going to have the Hessians and Rangers converge on them next month and hopefully squash them like a bug. Reading fell easily. I am planning to reinforce Delancey a bit more and push him further south to Baltimore. Probably not much further though, I don't want anyone too far out of support range. These are important areas for the rebels, and I expect them to fight for them. New York will be invested this month. John Paul Jones dares to bring his pitiful little naval force out against a British fleet. He can't hope to stop them, but I do hope he tries, so he will learn why the British Navy is so respected.



In the north, the colonials appear to be making a pretty major push into the indian territories. I activated Brandt this turn, so he will lead a fairly large force of indians out to see if I can teach them a lesson about fighting in this kind of territory. If not, Burgoyne is slowly pushing toward Ticonderoga. Once he gets there, that should relieve some pressure on the indians, unless he wants a large (Albeit very slow) army operating in his rear.

[Pocus]

playing on normal diff? (you can change the difficulty at any turn)

[Spharv2]

Turn 19 -
Things are proceeding well. In the south, the Seige of Thickety Fort proceeds. The rebel unit disappeared, so Watson will return to Camden with his cavalry, while Samuel Drake and his two units will join Brown to attempt to hasten the seige. My fleet has almost reached New Bern, so Cornwallis' army will be able to load up soon. Howe managed to join up with Tryon in Ramsey Mill, so I will mose on to Hillsboro this month. Hopefully that group of rangers to the north won't cause too many problems behind me, as I don't have forces to deal with them until Brown is done.



Around Philadelphia, the Hessians were able to take out the group of rebels near Easton.



Unfortunately the landing on Long Island was botched, and currently, the colonials are being beseiged by Sir Charles Grey. All alone, by himself. I believe the landings might have been aborted by the attack of John Paul Jones, who retreated in disgrace after being able to do nothing to the fleet. So the troops will be landed again this turn, hopefully with better results. I'm planning to move Percy's army, which took Reading down to Lancaster this month. I am also reinforcing the group that took Easton so they will be able to advance toward Wilksbarre and Wyoming. My Rangers will be heading up near West Point to scout around a bit and provide me with a tripwire in case a significant rebel force moves down this way. Von Donop's force will move to Stony Point. From this area, they will be in a position to either reinforce the troops on Long Island, or threaten the remainder of New York and Connecticut.



In the north, Burgoyne continues to creep toward Ticonderoga. Hopefully he reaches it this month. Time is running out on the campaigning season, and I would like to accomplish something in the north this year. In indian territory, Washington has ventured out with a small force. I have James Hamilton, who is has the Anglo-Indian commander trait converging with a group of New York Loyalists, plus Chief Brandt and his group of four tribes. If I can catch Washington with a small force and defeat him, it will definitely boost morale and cause some consternation among the colonies.

[Spharv2]

Turn 20 -
The big fights this turn were in the south with Howe moving on Hillsboro. The rebels attempted to put up a fight early as we see here, and were trounced.

Howe vs. Hillsboro pt 1


They then pulled back to the town itself and again attempted to hold off Howe, and were spectacularly unsuccessful.

Howe vs Hillsboro pt 2


He will pursue Moultrie to Guilford to try to eliminate him as a threat. Brown continues to have no luck with Thickety Fort. That place needs to fall soon to free up a good amount of force there in the deep south. Unfortunately I was correct about the rangers in the North who circled around and took Charlotte. I will have to detach forces from Brown, and join them with Watson's cavalry to try and retake that this turn. As fast as the irregulars move, they can cause quite a few problems. Meanwhile Cornwallis can begin to board the fleet, but I'm unsure whether to send him to Norfolk or not. His force isn't terribly large, and losing it would be a large blow. I think I'll leave him in New Bern to winter, then begin on Virginia next spring. That will give me some time to tie up loose ends down here and move north simultaneously with a much superior force. Caution is the name of the game now after the first year's disasterous losses.



In the middle colonies, my troops have been dispersed to their winter quarters. Clarke and Delancey will remain in Elk Head, while Percy took Lancaster and will stay there. Alexander Leslie and his forces will remain in Reading, Von Knyphausen will winter in Easton, I move Von Donop back to Princeton, and the Rangers will hold an advanced post in Morristown. Add in the remaining forces remaining in Philadelphia, and I have a sizable force in the area, and close enough they can support each other if trouble comes. New York is going to fight, which isn't a good thing. I was frankly hoping for a quick victory there, but they seem determined to hold out. I can't have them holing up long with winter coming, so we may have to assault if the city doesn't fall next month.



There was one battle in the north as I sent Butler's Rangers down south of Ticonderoga and captured Ft. Edward against fairly light opposition.

John Butler's Rangers at Ft. Edward


Burgoyne will arrive at Ticonderoga in three days. Unfortunately, he's inactive, so I can't order him to assault the fort. I'm just going to have to hope he's got enough force to take it quickly. Hamilton missed his appointment with Washington, who has now been reinforced. I'm going to give it one more shot. Chances aren't good of being able to defeat him now, but I would like to at least give him a bloody nose for the invasion of the indian territory.

[Spharv2]

Turn 21 -
Things went all to hell in the south pretty quick. Brown finally took Thickety Fort, but it was too late to stop Moultrie from joining up with the irregulars who took Charlotte last month and are expanding their grip. They moved toward Camden this month, defeating Watson along the way. I have a good sized force led by Samuel Drake about to hit Charlotte, which is defended by only Moultrie and one group of irregulars, so I hope they don't get beat up too badly by the snow and can do so. As for Camden, I have forces around it, and Tarleton will move his cavalry there this month, but there are also a good number of undefended areas there, so if he decides to move out, he can do further damage before I'm able to track him down. Howe has split his army into three parts and will winter in the Ramsey's Mill-Hillsboro-Guilford triangle.



We weren't able to take New York this month, but we did breach the walls and do some damage, so I went ahead and ordered an assault this month to try to end things before winter really sets in.



In the north, Butler continues to hold Ft. Edward, and Burgoyne finally reached Ticonderoga. I'm going to attempt an assault this month, and if that fails, I'll be making a long cold march back to Canada. I can't afford to sit outside in this weather and see my army fall to pieces. Washington again moved out of reach, but this time he left behind a group of irregulars and Knox's artillery. I'm going to attempt to capture those this turn. If I can get some guns for this group, I should be in much better shape. And, in Canada, Daniel Morgan snuck around the eastern shore of Lake Champlain and laid seige to Ft. Chambly. Luckily I had a decent force there. They will hopefully hold out, because Morgan will soon be regretting this march north so close to winter.

[Spharv2]

Turn 22 -
Big turn for the guys in red. A couple of large battles, and they all go our way.

Charlotte falls quickly, but Moultrie is able to retreat to Salisbury.

Battle of Charlotte


Luckily for me, the irregulars pulled back to Cheraw instead of any number of worse things for me that he could have done. At Cheraw, I'm going to be able to surround him and keep him in check until I can get the forces to destroy those pesky irregulars.

New York falls quickly.

Battle of New York


And that wasn't the only action around New York.

Fleet action


The capture of New York really solidifies my position here in the middle colonies. Not to mention the fact that it keeps my army from sitting out in the snow too long. No movement here aside from those two battles.

In the North, Burgoyne comes through in a hardfought battle.

Battle of Ticonderoga


Taking Ticonderoga was a huge boost. That was one of the larger battles in the war so far, and it's nice to be on the winning side for a change. Buygoyne will send a small group of reinforcements to Butler in Ft. Edward, and another larger group back north along the frozen lake to help relieve St. John. Morgan continues his seige, and is not taking much damage from the weather. I have some loyal Canadians and the forces from Burgoyne converging on him this month though, I just hope the fort doesn't fall before they can get there. It's doubtful since they should both be there in under a week.

[Spharv2]

Turn 23 -
Once again, Moultrie is shoved out of his newly acquired town.

Battle of Salisbury


Unfortunately, he is once again able to retreat and rejoin the forces he has remaining in Cheraw. I've got the surrounding towns occupied, so there won't be any more charging around taking undefended towns, but it might take a while to actually gather the forces to root him out. I'm going to send what I can up against him this month though. Basically hoping to finish this off soon so I can be ready for the campaign sesaon to kick off.



The middle colonies remain quiet. In the north, Morgan takes St. John before my forces can arrive, then proceeds to move south down the lake. He manages to avoid any battles along the way unfortunately, and will most likely return without facing battle. I'm not willing (And don't have the available supplies) to send another force chasing him around.

I do finally get an attack in on those troops in Indian territory, but fail to do much real damage.

Battle of Cayuga


I see a lone seige train moving near Ft. Stanwix. I doubt I can capture it, but I'll give it a go.

In other news, I receive some new militia regiments.

[Spharv2]

Turn 24 -
Not a good turn in the south. I had assumed that my regiment of loyal New Englanders had made it to Georgetown. I was wrong. Them not being there yet led to this battle.

Battle of Blackmingo


So now Georgetown is lost for a bit. I went ahead and sent Cornwallis on the fleet to recover the situation. And the results of this battle

Battle of Cheraw



means that I'll have to bring forces back from Howe's army. Honestly, I think I've about reached the limits of my advance in the south until I receive substantial reinforcements. Advancing further will only leave back areas open to this kind of raid in force, which requires a disproportionate amount of force to take down. Things are still quiet in the north. Too much snow to get much accomplished aside from reoccupying St. John.

[Spharv2]

Turn 25 -
I try to gather forces in the south to deal with this good sized army that has sprung up behind me. He's moved a significant force west from Cheraw. I'm going to try again to take the town with some more forces from Salisbury and Crook's Creek. I don't care for his move because he's moving toward the lightest part of my garrisons, and the with the direction he's moving, any number of choices are open for him. I just hope my garrisons can hold out until Howe's forces make it back down here.



The only other movement I see is Greene moving an army in the direction of New York. I'm moving the Hessians in Princeton up to reinforce the City just in case. The weather is clearing up some, but I would really like some reinforcements before I try much offensive movement.



I do decide to move Buygoyne to Skenesboro to try and take the last colonial outpost on Lake Champlain. He should arrive in a month and a half. I also might have spotted an opening near indian territory, where it appears they have left Dayton undefended. I'll go take a peek and see what I can find.

[Spharv2]

Turn 26 -
One more month of consolidation in the south. The rebels attempted to raid Camden, but Tarleton forced them out.

Battle of Camden


The attack on Cheraw failed again, as he was able to move his forces back to defend in time.

Battle of Cheraw


Next month, Howe's forces will join Valentine Jones, so he should have the numbers to deal with Cheraw, barring more reinforcements.



I've begun to move out of my winter quarters in the middle colonies. I've got attacks on York, Sunbury, and Wilkesbarre to the West, and to the north part of the New York Garrison will move to Ridgefield.

Well, Dayton wasn't undefended, but the capture of some artillery units meant that I was able to force the rebels out of there.

Battle of Mohawk


This is just one piece of good news in an otherwise dismal scene along the border. Both Ft. Niagra and Presqu'ile are under seige. The forces aren't large, but I have nothing left to send them. In worse news, somehow the colonists managed to slip an army past all of mine and beseige Montreal too. I might be able to relieve it without diverting forces from the south end of the lake, but I wouldn't call the chances great. I have to try though, otherwise, it will most likely ruin any chance of an offensive in this area this year, and I definitely can't afford to lose that city.



Well, I've been wrangled into going to play pool tonight, so this will probably be it, even though I'd rather stay here and play this. I doubt I'll be in any condition to think about playing by the time I get home.

[Spharv2]

Well, pool night was awful. Two fights were about the only entertainment, so I managed to get out and come back to something I actually wanted to do.

Turn 27 -
In the south, I finally have enough force collected to squash this annoying little army in Cheraw once and for all. Clinton will move into the territory this month and crush the remainder of the rebels once and for all. Cornwallis will be leaving Georgetown again once the fleet arrives back offshore.



Lots of activity in the middle colonies. I begin to push for Baltimore which has a sizable army in it. Edward Matthew will move across the Susquehana and advance on to Baltimore while Percy swings around to the west and tries to take Annapolis south of Baltimore. Leslie should reach Sudbury this month, and Von Knyphausen continues to move toward Wilksbarre. We have major problems around New York. Green has managed to interpose his army between three of mine. If I can coordinate an attack, I should have a chance to beat him, but if I go into this battle piecemeal, I'm going to get trounced. So I'm going to bring my force in Ridgefield back by sea, and the force in Morristown will move to the south and join from there.



Had an odd battle report in the north when Burgoyne moved into Skenesboro.

Odd battle screen


Regardless, he moved in and took control. The rebels have now collected a large force in Saratoga. Burgoyne will now advance on that force and see if he can throw them back.



I did manage to push the rebels back fron Montreal...unfortunately they merely moved back into St. John. So I will once again have to push them out of there. Luckily Gates' army is pretty well beat up, and shouldn't put up too much resistance.

Battle of Montreal


In the northwest, I reinforce Ft. Niagra and lift the seige. Presqu'ile is still under seige, but I'm moving a unit there to try and lift that one also.

[Spharv2]

Turn 28 -
After so much frustration and chasing of our own tails in the south, Sir Henry Clinton finally corrals and destroys the rebel army. Unfortunately, it will be his last battle, as he is killed in the fight.

Battle of Cheraw


This brings up a question. I know Clinton was scheduled to take overall command of the British forces at the end of '77. With him dead, who will take command? Will Howe stay in command? Or does the next most senior commander take his place? And if so, does the new commander gain a star? It would seem a bit odd to have a two star general in overall command.

In Maryland, Percy has no problem swinging behind Baltimore and taking Annapolis.

Battle of Annapolis


After taking Annapolis and laying seige to Baltimore, our forces also move into Sudbury, and Wilkesbarre has now been invested. The plan to reunite the army at New York was carried off without a hitch. I am again going to move into Ridgefield, but this time with a much more powerful army. Sir Charles Grey, my one man seige force, has now taken command of three ranger units. He should be a good fit for them as he is a fast mover, and has the Surprise trait. Those two should go well with the ranger's abilities. They will move toward West Point while the remainder of the army moves to Ridgefield.



The battle to reclaim St. John results in the complete destruction of the rebel army.

Battle at St. John


Burgoyne continues to frustrate me with his slowness. Knox and Alexander are literally running rings around him. They attacked Ft. Edward last month, luckily, Butler and his Rangers slipped out easily and returned to Ticonderoga. If Burgoyne doesn't catch up with them soon, I may lose Ticonderoga again. Hamilton has been sitting in Dayton long enough to regain most of his lost strength, so it's time for him to make some kind of move. I decide to send him to Albany. I still don't feel good having the indians trying to conduct seiges, but the hope here is that it will force Knox and Alexander to pull back to defend the city. If so, maybe that will give Burgoyne a chance to catch up. If they actually manage to take it, that's all gravy.



All the seiges in the northwest have now been lifted, and I have the remainder of my indian allies out burning, pillaging, and in general, just having a good ole time.

[Spharv2]

Turn 29 -
In the south, it's just a matter of rearranging my forces to see if I have enough to make any kind of real push further north. In a month or so I should be able to make a better estimate.



Things are going pretty much as planned in the middle colonies. Baltimore's walls are completely breached, but Mathew refuses to active and move in. Wilksbarre remains under seige. Once it falls, I'll be able to combine that force and Leslie to try and take Wyoming. My forces from New York are poised to take Ridgefield.

Hamilton gave it a good go at trying to take Albany in a two day battle.

Battle at Albany Day 1


Battle at Albany Day 2


Him not managing to take it isn't a big deal because I found Greene's army, which is moving to relieve Albany from the east. Hamilton will leave Albany this turn and head south to try and link up with the main army from New York. Burgoyne chased Knox out of Ft. Edward, but I'm not going to try and attack him across the Hudson until I get some reinforcements. The forces are too equal to be going in at a disadvantage.



Morgan refuses to leave St John alone. He attacks once again, and is defeated, but he remains in the area. He's going to force me to station a larger force in the area.

Battle at St. John (Again)



Resoloution from this turn:
St John falls...again. This town is ending up like Winchester in the Civil War. I don't know if I'll hit 72 times changing hands, but it might be close.



Hey what do you know, I take it back...


Ridgefield and West Point both fall, but Baltimore and Wilksbarre still hold out. After a long time in colonial hands, Oswego returns to it's rightful owner. I'll get moves and my next turn in tomorrow.

[Spharv2]

Turn 30 -
Not much movement this turn. I continue my consolidation in the south. In the north, the New York army and Hamilton's Indians move closer together north of New York.


Turn 31 -

Well, I lost yet another high ranking general when Burgoyne went down in this little non-battle at Ft. Edward. The way I'm losing generals, I'm going to run out before too long.

Ft. Edward


Sunbury


This one was a bit odd in that I won the battle, but my forces left the town for the colonists and retreated.

Hamilton moves into Peekskill and my main force continues to move on New Haven. Hamilton will stay where he is for now, the two battles outside Albany really took a lot out of his army, so I'll give him a chance to recuperate. Mathew finally decided to listen to orders and will take Baltimore this month, after three months of waiting. Leslie, after retreating from the battle he won, joined up with the force that finally took Wilksbarre. They will move on Wyoming this month, while Delancey and Clarke will take a regiment of Pennsylvania loyalists to retake the towns that Leslie moved out of.



In the south, my forces are finally gathered, and I'm going to begin a small push toward Virginia. It's going to be very cautious, because if I lose anything major, the south will be wide open for the rebels. Howe wil be moving on Warrenton, while Cornwallis boards and moves up the coast toward Norfolk.



With Burgoyne gone, I decide not to try and move against the colonial forces around Ft. Edward for now. I built a depot at Ticonderoga last turn, I'm considering the possibility of building one at Ft. Edward too, since with the immense army in Albany, it doesn't look like I'll be pressing south anytime soon.

[Spharv2]

Turn 32 -
Hopefully I have time to get control of Warrenton and Norfolk before winter really sets in. Cornwallis is landing his small force this month at Norfolk, and Howe should reach Warrenton this month also.



Finally, and just in time, Baltimore is finally mine.

Baltimore


With the coming of the winter months, I pull back from Wyoming. Leslie will winter in Wilksbarre and Clarke and Delancy will remain in Sunbury.



New Haven was reinforced and could hold out for a bit, but I have plenty of supplies, so I'll maintain the seige for now despite the snow. Hamilton will stick in Pekeskill for the winter. The colonials finally got around to recapturing Dayton. I'm a bit worried as the huge army in Albany has disappeared. I don't know where they went, but I hope they stay gone for a good long while.



The colonial army near Ft. Edward has split up. I'm sending Butler and his rangers down to Skenesboro for the winter. Hopefully they can hold that for me through the winter.



Not much else going on at the moment.

[Spharv2]

Turn 33 -
Howe captures Warrenton without a fight, and Cornwallis settles in for a bit of a seige.



Erskine will have to try and assault New Haven this turn. Those supplies get eaten up fast, and I want that town for my winter quarters.



Burgoyne's replacement William Phillips catches some rebels wandering around outside of Ft. Edward and gives them the what for...

Ft. Edward


Pretty much it for this turn. Everyone aside from Erskine and Cornwallis are snug in their winter quarters, and nobody has much desire to stir from what I've seen.

[Spharv2]

Turn 34 -
Bloody battle in New Haven this month, but it comes out as a victory against a determined Henry Knox.



There was no action aside from this battle. Cornwallis continues to beseige Norfolk.

Turn 35 -
I raise three new militia regiments, but that doesn't make up for the 6 or so that disbanded this winter. It's about time for Parliment to get off their collective hindquarters and send me some reinforcements.

This month there was a small battle in Oswego.



Norfolk surrendered this turn also. As soon as the weather clears, I'll continue pushing along the Virginia coast.

[Spharv2]

Turn 36 -
Well, the only news this turn is bad news, as Alexander came up the river and captured Montreal. I have had to strip my army in Ticonderoga of pretty much all of it's strength to try and recapture it. I don't think even that will be enough, so I'll probably end up taking some units from Ft. Edward too, which will leave that whole area open to be recaptured.




Turn 37 -
This turn I recaptured Oswegatchie. I have to find something to garrison that with, because that's the path these attacks on Montreal and St. John appear to be taking. I continue to consolidate forces to attempt to recapture Montreal. I'm also recombining my forces to try again to take Wyoming.

The weather has cleared in the south, so I begin to move. Howe heads toward Charlotte, while Cornwallis moves toward Portsmouth. Have I mentioned that I could use some reinforcements? Because I could really use some reinforcements.




Turn 38 -
I'm now moving on Viginia from both the north and south. Howe and Cornwallis continue to push up from the Carolinas, while Percy moves his army from Annapolis and Baltimore down from the north on Alexandria.



Leslie has invested Wyoming, but the colonists have gathered a large force to the south. If they come to relieve the city, Leslie could be in trouble.



Erskine's army isn't in the best shape, but I need to keep the pressure on and pin down colonial forces, so they will move on Hartford where a large army is in garrison. Hamilton will again move against Albany. With the southern Champlain forces so depleted, I need to keep him from moving into that area.



My force has gathered to attempt to retake Montreal. It's going to be tough, but hopefully I have enough to pull it off. It looks like they will retake Oswegatchie. Once I get Montreal back, I'll send a sizable force down there to recapture and hold that area.




Turn 39 -
The Colonists appear to be trying their "Death by a thousand cuts" strategy again. Lots of small units running around trying to capture what they can. In the south, I have various units chasing one colonial unit. Cornwallis has been diverted to attempt to deal with a unit trying to slip around into his rear areas. Howe has beseiged Richmond. I don't expect it to hold out too long.



Percy succeeded in taking Alexandria

Battle of Alexandria


But now he's got a few weaker armies around him, so I can't move him out for fear of losing what I just gained. Plus, another unit is approaching Philadelphia, which is pretty lightly defended. I'll have to make do with what I have and hope it holds him off.

Another month of stalemate in Wyoming, although how this is considered a stalemate is beyond me.

Battle of Wyoming


Now we get to the bloodiest battle of the war, and the one that might have finally doomed my cause.

Battle of Hartford


This HURTS. I now have no major armies in the north once more, and it basically opens up the entire middle colony area to an advance. I pulled Erskine back to New York, but all he has left is Von Donop's regiment, artillery, and supplies. I hurt them badly, but they destroyed my army. And looking back, I now realize that I forgot to change Erskine's stance from assault to attack or defense. You have to watch that, that screw up on my part might have killed me.

Further north,Albany was attacked.

Battle of Albany


I'm hoping it falls this turn, as I've moved the remaining portion of Burgoyne's old force down to join in the seige.

Montreal should be retaken soon also. It needs to be soon. This is now the largest army anywhere north of Alexandria.

[seminole]

Would you hurry up and lose to the AI so we can start a PBEM game...

[Pocus]

I have sometime more fun to loose than to win. I bet Sharpv2 is enjoying much his long suffering

the stalemate is decided when the battle end with the 2 opposing sides still having troops. It is not decided when both have roughly the same losses. Perhaps it has to be changed...

[Spharv2]

[quote="Pocus"]I have sometime more fun to loose than to win. I bet Sharpv2 is enjoying much his long suffering ]

Yes, I am having fun with it. Just not enough time to play as much as I'd like.

In the battle for Wyoming that ended in a stalemate, I killed all the units in the battle. Do you mean it's still considered a stalemate if I kill everything in the battle but he still has uncommitted troops available?

[Pocus]

yes I think its that: some enemy troops where still here and thus the report concluded in a draw. Not very realistic I know... we will change that after having made the additional UI requests of the week

[Spharv2]

yes I think its that: some enemy troops where still here and thus the report concluded in a draw. Not very realistic I know... we will change that after having made the additional UI requests of the week

Okay, it's not a huge deal, I was just wondering why it was a draw when I wiped him out.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back to this in the next day or two. I'm going to try and finish it off this weekend if possible.

[Spharv2]

Turn 40 -
Montral falls to me again this turn.

Battle of Montreal



Parts of that force will move back down to Ft. Edward. Spreading out the forces to defend what I have means that my offensive power here is going to be seriously weakened, but I have no choice. The only other option is to be running back and forth retaking cities I've already lost.

Albany continues to hold out, but barring an intervention by a large force of colonials, it should fall soon.

Battle of Albany



There isn't enough force that I can see nearby to hold me off much longer. I just hope that it falls soon, this force could use some time to rest and recuperate. The force in Hartford, which beat up on my New York army was pretty well mauled in the battle. I'm going to take a chance here and send the New York army, that has now added some garrison units to reinforce it, back to Hartford to try and beseige it again. This time I'm making sure I'm not going to leave them under the assault posture.




There are still many small units around the middle colonies. I'm not wanting to run around chasing them, so I'm going to wait and see if they combine into a force I can go after. Wyoming will probably be sending some forces to reclaim the smaller towns once I can destroy the forces in the region.




In Virginia, I'm converging on the last towns now. Richmond should fall this turn, and Percy is advancing on Fredricksburg. After taking Richmond, W. Howe will split off some forces to move down the penninsula and capture Williamsburg and Yorktown. Cornwallis continues to chase the militia unit in southern Virginia.




Further south, Haldimand has some forces gathered. Hopefully enough to take care of the lone militia unit to the north. Once he gathers all the forces in the region, he will proceed to Ft Chiswell and Lynchburg where Seneca is currently rampaging.

[Spharv2]

Turn 41 -
Very active turn, as numerous battles were fought. In good news I got some militia reinforcements this month.



These will help out a good bit. The New York and New Jersey units will move up to Hartford which fell without as much of a fight as I expected this month

Battle of Hartford



Once they join the army in Hartford, I'll advance on Springfield, where the Hartford army pulled back to. The colonists moved into Ft. Edward before I could get back to defend it, which isn't a good thing, since I had imroved both the fort and built a depot there. Hopefully the forces moving down from Montreal can recapture it. Albany remains under seige, I still don't see any forces available to make me break off the seige, so that will continue until I do.




I was able to take out some of the units near Wyoming this month.

Battle of Wyoming



That will allow me to disperse that army a bit. Part will move to recapture Sunbury, while another part will head west to Loganton. One of the new militia units in Philadelphia will head to Lancaster to reclaim that.




Richmond falls this month, and Cornwallis is able to track down the militia running around central Virginia

Battle of Richmond



Battle of Roanoke



With these two victories, Howe will split off Watson's cavalry to make a run doen the penninsula, while Tarleton takes his cavalry north to reinforce Annapolis and Baltimore. The remaining force will split in two. Howe will take half and attempt to put paid to the Continentals outside the city, before being joined by Cornwallis. The remaining half will remain in the city as a mobile troubleshooting force.




Haldiman is able to destroy the militia in SW Virginia in a two day battle.

Battle in SW Virginia pt.1


Battle of SW Virginia pt.2



This eliminates the last garrison here, so forces will move on Ft. Chiswell and Lynchburg next.