Naturamix
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Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:01 pm

Greetings All,

Murtagks and I decided to risk spamming the forum once again with a dual-view AAR.

Unusually for me I will be the CSA. This is our tenth game and Murtagks has vowed to use my own dastardly Yankee tactics against me. I will certainly be stealing his good CSA ideas too.

Turns 1-4

We had an even more bloodless firing on Ft Sumter than in history as not even a confederate horse was killed.

1_Fort Sumter.png
1_Fort Sumter.png (2.11 MiB) Viewed 13947 times


My overall strategy for 1861 is to focus a great deal on Virginia, but with one other adventurous move.
I'm putting a some resources into building some troops in northwest Texas to invade New Mexico and hopefully also Arizona. Tuscon is a victory city and holding it will get me some NM and some victory points.

Usually given the low stakes in the Area Murtagks and I have just used to starting troops against one another, but this time I want to spring a little surprise.

2_Far West Build.png
2_Far West Build.png (3.21 MiB) Viewed 13947 times


In Texas proper the Sam Houston event fired.

3_Houston.png
3_Houston.png (2.49 MiB) Viewed 13947 times


I should be able to take back Dallas.

In terms of buildup I will go with coastal iron works and two arsenal decisions. Murtagks made a compelling case that arsenals do pay for themselves in terms of money through the game, and this is often a limiting factor later on so I'm going to steal his idea (sorry not sorry).

As New Orleans will be getting a fair bit of investment I'll need to be sure to defend it well. Murtagks brought price down with some of the militia he spawns for the MO defense last game and I will steal this idea too (again, sorry-not-sorry)

4_Louisiana Defense.png
4_Louisiana Defense.png (3.24 MiB) Viewed 13947 times


The buildup decisions need to be spaced out as I have pumped a lot of WS into canon and brigades for Virginia for the push I'm planning.

5_Virginia.png
5_Virginia.png (3.61 MiB) Viewed 13947 times


I will threaten DC to the north and try to find the right moment to hit McDowell in Alexandria. Taking the city will prevent garrisons spawning and will keep Murtagks constantly worried about DC's safety. I may not be able take DC in 1861, but I want to set up a good position to keep it under threat to help secure Virginia.

My focus on far west and East will leave the center fairly exposed. In MO I will just worry Murtagks with Shelby's cavalry and blow any depots he looks like he may capture. I'll slow his advance to the victory cities, but I won't make a play for St Louis.

Fingers crossed Kentucky takes its time to join the war.

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:09 pm

Turns 5-9 West

We have had some light skirmishing in MO.

6_MO.png
6_MO.png (4.05 MiB) Viewed 13929 times


Shelby has been running around trying to rip rail lines and generally cause trouble whilst Lyon laid siege to Rolla, but fortunately I had already managed to blow the depot.

9_Rolla.png
9_Rolla.png (1.89 MiB) Viewed 13929 times


After a couple of rounds the defenders were finally overcome, RIP.

Murtagks also managed to advance on Springfield with the non-commanded stack from Lexington.
McCulloch is on his way up from Little Rock with some infantry and I will concentrate my forces again in Springfield to drive out the Union forces.

12_MO.png
12_MO.png (3.62 MiB) Viewed 13929 times


My strategy here is to just hold on to Springfield as it is a victory city which is reasonably easy to defend and guards the quickest route to Little Rock. My troops will be purely defensive forces. I have already shipped off all heavy arty to either NO or elsewhere, including building the last MO Parrott gun card and sending it south.

It is entirely possible that I lose Springfield eventually, but before then I want to tie down union troops with limited forces of my own to spare combat power for other areas.

In New Mexico I Thompson has laid siege to Ft Craig.

11_FW.png
11_FW.png (3.85 MiB) Viewed 13929 times


Murtagks said he was surprised by this which is good. It is too early to tell whether it will be worth it, but hopefully the small investment of an infantry brigade and a little light artillery will get me the objective city Santa Fe and (what I think becomes) a victory city in Tuscon AZ.

A lack of activity in Virginia has made me very concerned that Murtagks is planning an early naval invasion (which is what I often do to him). I have therefore kept Price's Parrott guns from AR with him and he is guarding NO.

13_LA.png
13_LA.png (3.83 MiB) Viewed 13929 times


If more than one division turns up to face him then his current forces will certainly crumble. I am therefore recruiting fresh troops in New Orleans, boosting its loyalty with the defensive works decision and investing in railway points to potentially reinforce it later.

Holding it is critical for the CSA.
Last edited by Naturamix on Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:20 pm

Turn 5-9 Virginia

In the East things are very comfortable for the CSA. This is deeply troubling.

When the armies unlocked I paused briefly to ensure Stonewall's elite brigade was properly reinforced and then I threw the union out of Harpers Ferry region (I had held the town itself with militia since turn 2).

7_VA.png
7_VA.png (3.97 MiB) Viewed 13927 times


8_VA.png
8_VA.png (2.22 MiB) Viewed 13927 times


After a little more outmaneuver I had brought my lines right up to the Union troops and found that I outnumbered what I could see by about 2:1.

This is intensely worrying as the Union has approximately 30% more power in total than I do and so must have around 2000 power waiting around in the rear where I can't see them for some sort of plan.

As previously described I reinforced New Orleans, but it also occurred to me that if Murtagks is feeling very sneaky he could just perform a naval invasion of Richmond!

I opted to move back Magruder's stack since I outnumber the union anyway to dig in around Richmond. 500 power should hold off any naval invasion at this stage for long enough to get reinforced.

10_VA.png
10_VA.png (4.27 MiB) Viewed 13927 times


Given my superiority in troops I also decided to attack across the river next turn. I have a local numerical advantage and I need to capitalise.

Hopefully I can force Murtagks to postpone any other plans he has and fall back to defend his capital.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sun Aug 18, 2019 9:57 pm

Turn 10-12 Virginia

Apart from one very significant fact Virginia has been a great success.

14_JEJ.png
14_JEJ.png (2.75 MiB) Viewed 13915 times


JEJ pushed Milroy, which was great apart from a very significant fact.

15_Dead.png
15_Dead.png (3.65 MiB) Viewed 13915 times


Stonewall Jackson died!!!

I really am not too pleased about losing my best future Corps commander. It's going to be difficult to get a good replacement. I am sending Hardee to Virginia since he may be a decent stop-gap offensive Corps commander, but really it's not ideal.

The next turn Longstreet hit Milroy in a small battle and 800 or so more power showed up to reinforce McDowell. I'm glad that I'm bringing the union troops out of the shadows to where I can see them.

17_VA.png
17_VA.png (3.94 MiB) Viewed 13915 times


Murtagks is (wisely) guarding DC. I don't want to lose a bunch of troops in a vain attempt to seize it so instead I decided to make a bid for Anapolis. This also cuts DC off from the rest of the north.

As I maneuvered around DC Hooker lead a stack towards Fredericksburg. As the "Onto Richmond" event is about to expire I finally decided to move Beauregard and hit Hooker.
The result was in my favour.

18_Hooked.png
18_Hooked.png (2.2 MiB) Viewed 13915 times


This leaves Virginia in a good place for the CSA.

19_VA.png
19_VA.png (3.68 MiB) Viewed 13915 times


I will make a play for Baltimore to put further pressure on Murtagks. My strength is certainly here in VA so I should use it to the max to draw forces away from areas I hold more lightly. I'd like some surrenders from the large garrisons in these cities to clock up victory points and NM.

It is possible that Murtagks tries to take Manassas next and so Beauregard will be reinforced with Magruder and redeploy there. If I can get another good win against Union forces outside their entrenchments that would be ideal.

Last game Grant showed up at a time like this with 1000 power and I am anticipating something similar this time.
I've invested in railway points to get out of the north quickly if necessary as I don't want to lose JE Johnston or Longstreet if a larger force appears.

The rail lines are cut to the West, so I expect any attack to meet Johnston's stack around Baltimore.

I'm keeping some troops guarding Richmond, but I think I am pushing him enough to prevent a significant naval invasion for the moment.

He may prove me wrong though.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Mon Aug 19, 2019 8:17 pm

Turn 10-12 West

Very little happened outside VA.

I'm beginning to question the wisdom of building two brigades in New Mexico as they are stalled outside of Ft Craig.

21_FW.png
21_FW.png (3.39 MiB) Viewed 13900 times


Maybe I should have bypassed it and gone straight to Santa Fe, but at this point I'll take it as quickly as possible and then move to take the objective city.

In MO I have Shelby and McCulloch.

20_MO.png
20_MO.png (3.33 MiB) Viewed 13900 times


I will send some more 6 pdr canon and commanders, but for the moment I am confident I can hold back and tie down Lyon's forces with what is left in MO.

LA and TN are not active fronts yet. Hopefully my attacks in Virginia are causing Murtagks to delay naval invasions, and the longer Kentucky stays out the better for me.

22_LA.png
22_LA.png (3.3 MiB) Viewed 13900 times


23_TN.png
23_TN.png (3.27 MiB) Viewed 13900 times


I have slightly more than one defensive division in LA and hopefully this will be enough to hold any attack initially.

In Tennessee I have two mostly built divisions, but this won't stand against any significant force. Now that Virginia is going well I hope to bring up my strength in Tennessee as quickly as possible both to hold when Kentucky joins and to leave a force to respond to amphibious invasions.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Tue Aug 27, 2019 9:34 pm

Turn 13-16 Virginia

After our relatively long hiatus Murtagks and I have got back to the past.

These turns were to my mind certainly in the Confederacy's favour.

JE Johnston took Baltimore, though I had to pull Longstreet back from Anapolis to prevent Johnston from getting encircled.

26_Baltimore.png
26_Baltimore.png (2.64 MiB) Viewed 13777 times


Even if difficult to hold it was good to take Baltimore to cash in a few VPs and NM from the battle and blow the depot to make the Union's supply situation marginally more difficult.

Longstreet had a win and loss (not shown) protecting Johnston's supply line where casualties were fairly even.

Meanwhile Magruder and McDowell ran into each other and Magruder came off worse.

27_Magruder Loss.png
27_Magruder Loss.png (2.12 MiB) Viewed 13777 times


That battle left Virginia looking as below.

29_Virginia.png
29_Virginia.png (3.14 MiB) Viewed 13777 times


Although Magruder was mauled by McDowell it weakened the latter significantly to put my original goal of taking Alexandria within my reach. Furthermore McDowell is on the move and not entrenched.

Beauregard therefore moved in, with Hardee and Magruder folded into the stack.

31_Beauregard win.png
31_Beauregard win.png (2.25 MiB) Viewed 13777 times


This threw McDowell back across the Potomac and now it's only a matter of time before Alexandria falls.

With winter closing in though I had to recognise that the party is over across the Potomac.
Murtagks had gathered approximately a 50% numerical advantage against me and so after taking Baltimore Johnston really has no other feasible objective to aim for. I pulled back the Army of the Shenandoah, disbanded the Baltimore artillery and Johnston beat up Freemont on his way out of Marlyand.

32_Johnston Win.png
32_Johnston Win.png (2.15 MiB) Viewed 13777 times


Over into the new year I will form a line from Harpers Ferry to Alexandria and prepare to receive the next Union assault.

On a strategic level I am very happy with the 1861 Virginia campaign. Casualties were slightly worse for the Union overall, but the most important part was about initiative. I initially had a 50% advantage in Virginia in terms of numbers, but by the end of the year this was reversed (whilst the overall balance of power remained roughly constant. This means that Murtagks had to pull troops from other areas to hold Virginia and react to my movements. It seems counter-intuitive to count success as forcing Murtagks to tip the balance of power in the theater against me, but on a strategic level there was not a single naval invasion in 1861 (though Murtagks has 2 weeks left of the year).
Murtagks stated that the aggression in Virginia prevented him from launching any invasions along my coast.
This alone is a fantastic result.

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Ripster8
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Wed Aug 28, 2019 1:26 am

Good to see you lads back at it! Exciting stuff already. I will be very interested in how you fare as the Confederates, since you dominated last game as the Union. Let fly the Bonnie Blue Flag, boys!

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:21 pm

Thank you, sir!

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:44 pm

Turn 13-16 West and Strategy

The previous entry was very heavy on battles, but in the West things were quiet and so I'll take more time to describe how I see the strategic information.

In the far west Ft Craig finally fell to Thompson's force.

35_FW.png
35_FW.png (3.4 MiB) Viewed 13756 times


I have also taken all the towns before Santa Fe and so I'll resupply my forces and then march to take the city. I was hoping to get this done more quickly, but supply issues were more difficult than I anticipated. Overall I'm not too sure of this strategy.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Grant finally showed up.

33_Grant.png
33_Grant.png (3.13 MiB) Viewed 13756 times


I moved Van Dorn and a small cavalry division under Sibley around his flank to start interdicting supplies in the rear. Hopefully I can catch juicy stray units like those marines that are making their way to reinforce Grant and constantly worry him about getting enough food through to the Union force.

I have tried this line of advance with Grant myself and found it difficult as the terrain saps your cohesion and it is all too easy for the CSA to rush superior forces to counter it. Polk is digging in around Island 10, but doesn't have anywhere near enough to meet Grant in an open battle.
I'll play a delay game in the theater.

In MO Lyon is waiting outside Springfield where McCulloch has dug in.

34_MO.png
34_MO.png (3.38 MiB) Viewed 13756 times


Currently it doesn't really look all that uneven.

To start with Shelby and various cavalry stacks can get around the flanks and start breaking up the supply routes. Ideally I'd like to blow the depot where Rolla used to be. If Lyon is forced to move and has low cohesion there may be an opportunity to hit him with my smaller force and rout him.

Lastly here is a shot of Virginia after all the action in the previous entry.

36_Virginia.png
36_Virginia.png (4.74 MiB) Viewed 13756 times


My plan is to fall back to the Harpers Ferry - Alexandria line and wait for Murtagks to have to come to me in the spring. The main goal for 1862 is to prevent Murtagks from meeting the "Onto Richmond" event and so have him eat -20 national morale.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:07 pm

Turns 17-19 Virginia

In the East Johnston successfully pulled back from Maryland to Harpers Ferry and took a nice bite out of the Union forces as he left.

37_JEJ Battle.png
37_JEJ Battle.png (2.68 MiB) Viewed 13730 times


The army was unfortunately much depleted in cohesion afterwards and so each of the divisions will need substantial rest before further use.

38_VA.png
38_VA.png (3.31 MiB) Viewed 13730 times


At the same time Beauregard assaulted and took Alexandria giving some seniority all round to his divisional commanders and clearing the path to Washington.

Unfortunately Murtagks made two good plays against me.

Firstly McDowell managed to cross the river and clear out the divisions I had rushed to hold it.

40_McDowell.png
40_McDowell.png (2.11 MiB) Viewed 13730 times


Subsequently sizable naval forces arrived to prevent me from crossing the Potomac straight to Washington.

44_Virginia.png
44_Virginia.png (3.33 MiB) Viewed 13730 times


My plan is to hold Harpers Ferry and Alexandria, since without these two any Union army must fear being cut off as it advances into Virginia. It also constantly threatens Washington (one I have bombarded the Naval units enough to force a retreat).

McDowell is the central problem on this front. With his position at Leesburg he can threaten my supply lines and potentially form a jumping off point for a Union assault towards Richmond.

I had sent Hardee with two divisions to through him back across the river, but McDowell recovered his cohesion and so I am likely to suffer a defeat next turn (though I am pulling back to form a new line).
The best strategy for now is to allow my exhausted divisions to recover whilst I dig in and then hit McDowell as soon as he leaves his entrenchments.

It is crucial that I keep the areas around Richmond free of Yankee troops during 1862.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:02 pm

Turns 17-19 West,

Murtagks made a bold play in the West around which I need to build the CSA strategy for at least spring 1862.

41_Butler.png
41_Butler.png (2.15 MiB) Viewed 13708 times


Butler hit me in New Orleans. He didn't take an amphibious penalty because as far as I can tell Murtagks landed him next to NO and then marched him up all in one round.

Price's force is one and a half ragged, largely militia divisions with 6 or 12 pdr artillery, but he is perfect to command this motley crew. The Militiaman and Patriot traits together give additional discipline, cohesion and cohesion recovery to all the otherwise bad infantry in this stack and so he has the best chance of holding on.

There is certainly a good chance New Orleans will fall, however, as Butler has four armed-to-the-teeth divisions of regulars with marine support. The only thing that is sub par is Bulter's leadership.

Butler hit Price again the turn after the initial attack.

45_Butler.png
45_Butler.png (2.65 MiB) Viewed 13708 times


Murtagks was pretty cocky in chat, but I think he is actually in a more precarious position than he may realise.

43_NewOrleans.png
43_NewOrleans.png (3.86 MiB) Viewed 13708 times


As soon as the first battle occurred I loaded ABS Johnston, heavy artillery and my best aggressive division under Bragg from Tennessee on rail and rushed south.
Although Casualties are even and Butler is certainly not running out of manpower, Union cohesion and supplies are not looking so good. Murtagks also went straight for New Orleans rather than taking a port or fort first. This is a ballsy move which carries surprise and maximum force concentration, but if he fails to capture a supply base the Union troops will run out of ammo and starve.

If ABS Johnston in his newly formed Army of the Mississippi can arrive before Price is destroyed or forced away from New Orleans the balance of forces should tip in the Confederacy's favour.

Price is on "Hold-at-all-costs" as I want to defend New Orleans to the last man.

With this priority I have stripped Tennessee of a great many forces. One and a half infantry divisions under Polk with some cavalry has to hold back Grant and any forces coming down from Kentucky if it joins the war.

Fortunately for me Grant has been on a wild goose chase after Van Dorn.

42_Grant.png
42_Grant.png (3.69 MiB) Viewed 13708 times


Just three cards of cavalry keeping two divisions and the best Union commander busy at this time is a dream.

I have to hope that Kentucky stays out for as long as possible. If Murtagks really wants to up the ante he will invade Kentucky before it joins and try to take Nashville. Even with this risk I must send my divisions south to hold New Orleans.

In MO Lyon is chasing Shelby around, but not before the latter managed to blow the new Union Depot.

39_MO.png
39_MO.png (3.4 MiB) Viewed 13708 times


McCulloch will now advance as the other Union depot is now also undefended. Hopefully I can keep Lyon chasing these two back and forth whilst spending all his wagons on building new depots.

In terms of buildup I am pouring everything into building up my western forces. I will build a couple of cards in MO in case I am forced to abandon Springfield during 1862. The other troops are being built in Mississippi.
The elite MO brigade will form a strong offensive division to help create a new offensive stack four future counterattacks, but until these new forces arrive I am throwing all I can at Butler.

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Ripster8
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:26 am

Exciting stuff! Your opponent is following your aggressive lead from the last game. The situation at New Orleans hangs by a thread. Can't wait to see what happens next. Thanks for taking the time to post all this!

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:04 am

Thank you :) I'm glad the narrative is engaging.
I'm excited to see how our game plays out next, but we will probably wait until Murtagks can catch up on his AAR (in fairness to him he is writing in his second language).
Naturally I won't read it until the end as he and I have a gentleman's agreement not to look at each other's plans ahead of time.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:26 pm

Turns 20-21 New Orleans,

We only did 2 turns, but it was a bit of a roller coaster.

Butler once again flung his army at Price.

46_Price.png
46_Price.png (2.64 MiB) Viewed 13639 times


Price inflicted good casualties and technically won a victory, but...

48_NewOrleans.png
48_NewOrleans.png (3.28 MiB) Viewed 13639 times


Subsequently Price decided that discretion was the better part of valour and abandoned the city.
This was particularly infuriating as ABS Johnston arrived that turn and merged his forces with Price.

We were then left in a strange situation. Murtagks held the field but had not taken the city, whereas I had strong forces close by and forces within the besieged New Orleans. If I attacked a dug in Butler there was a good chance I would take heavy casualties, unless Butler himself decided to go on the offensive...

We both went for the more aggressive strategy.

51_New Orleans.png
51_New Orleans.png (2.08 MiB) Viewed 13639 times


Butler took the city, easily clearing the small garrison, but during the same turn ABS Johnston arrived just a couple of days later.

52_ABSJ arrival.png
52_ABSJ arrival.png (2.23 MiB) Viewed 13639 times


ABS Johnston retook the field with Price's forces in tow, but now stiffened with Bragg's Tennessee division and some artillery.
I feel a little sorry for Murtagks in the way the mechanics work out here. Butler took New Orleans, but supplies are done at the beginning of each 15 day turn and so I besieged the depot (having defeated Butler) before Butler could restock his supplies. Therefore he was actually partly out of ammunition when ABS Johnston hit him.
It really was on a knife edge, with only a few days in it either way.

56_LA.png
56_LA.png (4.58 MiB) Viewed 13639 times


These events, in strangely circular way, left the Union in command of the city of New Orleans itself with the Confederacy in command of the field outside.
ABS Johnston has deactivated and so Bragg will take command to sweep Butler back into the sea.
Hopefully he will get some seniority so I can promote him to Corps command. 2* generals are really scarce for the CSA so I will have to use Bragg.
His "insufferable shit" traits (Arrogant, dispirited leader) mean that I will not try to get him army command. The cohesion and command debufs are too horrible, but as commander for a shock Corps of an army these disadvantages are mitigated and the 5 strategic rating & 3 offensive is as good as I can get at this stage in the game.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:40 pm

Turn 20-21 Rest of West,

Outside the New Orleans drama the fighting things have been relatively quiet.

Grant made himself known at island 10 unfortunately. I now slightly regret moving Polk.

47_Island_10.png
47_Island_10.png (1.97 MiB) Viewed 13637 times


On the other hand the movement and weather have left Grant dangerously low on cohesion.

57_Grant vs Polk.png
57_Grant vs Polk.png (3.13 MiB) Viewed 13637 times


On the face of it sending Polk to attack Grant seems... counter intuitive at best, but if Grant's army doesn't recover by next turn the relative competences of the generals don't matter so much. Polk's divisions can chase away an exhausted band of Union soldiers even if they are lead by Polk.

Whether or not I manage to recapture New Orleans I have been hurting for war supply and so I have made some new investments.

49_Iron.png
49_Iron.png (3.09 MiB) Viewed 13637 times


Building in the Confederate heartland away from the Union pirates on the coast will boost war supply in relative safety.
I also have the opportunity to build a redoubt and have selected Memphis as the best location.

50_Memphis redoubt.png
50_Memphis redoubt.png (3.17 MiB) Viewed 13637 times


The locations is suitable for several reasons.
- Forward enough to act as an operating base
- Protects the victory city of Memphis
- Protects the railway to Littlerock AR, and therefore my western supply network
- Can bombard Mississippi river
- Far back enough to allow me to protect it during construction

Finally in Missouri it would appear that the Union has pulled away their forces.

54_Missouri.png
54_Missouri.png (3.62 MiB) Viewed 13637 times


If Murtagks no longer wants to threaten Springfield I may have a hand free in the state.
McCulloch is not strong enough to take St Louis, which can be reinforced too easily.
On the other hand the strategic town Leavenworth in northern MO looks poorly defended and can help me stay ahead on those victory points. If Lyon is nowhere to be found when the snow thaws I will probe towards the city.
Currently the VP score is 2233 to 1311 in the Confederacy's favour with the CSA earning 50 per turn to the Union's 45.

It gets harder and harder to keep the income in my favour as the game progresses, but if I can push for a large lead now it will put me in a good position should the war drag on.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:46 pm

Turn 20-21 Virginia

I managed to get Hardee (subsequently redeployed to the New Orleans front) away from McDowell without any casualties, but then I thought it would be a good idea to try to dislodge McDowell.

53_Beauregard.png
53_Beauregard.png (2.17 MiB) Viewed 13635 times


The battle was not in my favour, but it does have a silver lining.
The way Military control mechanics work it means that McDowell will have to fight Beauregard if he wants to move into Virginia.
Beauregard therefore has a chance to entrench and prepare to receive a union assault.
Hopefully I can force Murtagks into having to charge my entrenchments rather than the other way around.

55_VA.png
55_VA.png (3.84 MiB) Viewed 13635 times


Another avenue open to me is to threaten Washington and so force the Union to get out of Virginia.
The boats on the Potomac make it easier to stay where I am, but even if I don't take the city a threatening movement may give me some breathing space to fortify the path to Richmond.

Again the crucial strategic point is to force the Union to eat -20 National Morale in 1862

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Thu Sep 05, 2019 8:23 pm

Turn 22-23

In Louisiana things are, I think, reaching their conclusion.

I was under the impression that Butler would retreat towards the sea, but instead Murtagks chose to hold his ground within the city of New Orleans itself!

This made my decision to try to storm the city with the Missouri brigade seem very foolish in hindsight.

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58_LA.png (2.55 MiB) Viewed 13554 times


I lost the entire elite brigade, RIP.
I also tanked Hardee's seniority. I really am giving the more competent generals a very bad run. Hopefully I'll get some decent ones to promote soon.

The reason I did not think Murtagks would try to hold on within New Orleans is of course that it puts Butler and is 4 premium divisions under siege in the city!

The turn after with Butler resupplied from the New Orleans depot Murtagks tried to move Butler out.

What followed where about 4 engagements where Butler slammed into ABS Johnston's dug in army. (One shown for illustration)

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I counted over 7000 casualties for the Union with mine numbering around 3000 across the engagements. Following this string of battles the Union army was still bottled up in New Orleans and with only 50% of the besieging Confederates' power left.

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Murtagks said he thought I may send ABS Johnston up to deal with Grant, but oh no sunshine, I am not leaving New Orleans until I defeat Butler's entire stack. Taking 4 Yankee divisions out of the fight may well keep the odds close to even well into 1863. It is possible that Murtagks may send some sort of relief force and I am trying to deduce where those may come from.

There would in fairness be reason though for me to move away since a the Confederacy just got a piece of bad news.

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Kentucky is likely to join the Union, opening up a great deal more front to defend in the process.

JE Johnston has now been transferred west and now commands the Army of the Tennessee with Polk as a Corps commander under Johnston.
I'm going to have to rely on Nathan B Forrest and his cavalry to disrupt the Yankee advance whilst I reinforce the main army, which currently stands at barely 2.5 divisions.
Murtagks correctly called Johnston's transfer over to Tennessee about 5 turns ago, so I'm sure he won't be surprised when he meets him.

Virginia has been quiet, but looking ahead some of the Union forces have got out of their entrenchments, so I think it very likely that I am about to receive an attack. Murtagks is on the clock to threaten Richmond and my aim in the theater is still to prevent him.

61_Virginia.png
61_Virginia.png (4.3 MiB) Viewed 13554 times

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:22 am

Turn 24-25 Virginia

Murtagks chickened out of attacking Longstreet (this was probably wise given the balance of forces and entrenchment.

There may nonetheless soon be movement on this front.

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Due to a lack of supply I need to retreat to Manassas with Beauregard. This will leave the area between the Shenandoah and Manassas rail line open to a union advance.

As Murtagks needs to advance threaten Richmond he may well try to surround Longstreet and choke off his supply.
If he does this may present opportunities for me. Our forces are approximately evenly matched and I may try to strike one portion of the army on the move and defeat it in detail.
The Army of Northern Virginia is still a little under-gunned and I am working to remedy this, but I won't be committing any further infantry to this theater beyond the division I am building to guard Richmond itself (to ward off naval invasions).
There is not much advantage to me attempting some great maneuver against the Army of the Potomac, it is still better to let them come to me and then strike them as opportunities present themselves.

To get a bit more cash and WS flow I am building arsenals and armouries in Virginia and Sourth Carolina.

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This will probably be the last industrialization I do unless supplies start running low as my WS is getting close to being sufficient for my builds. Ultimately money is the main limiter.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:53 am

Turn 24-25 West

I didn't have to wait long to see the relief force that Murtagks was sending for Butler.

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Hooker turned up with two divisions and took Ft St Phillip.
This brings Union forces in the theater to 6 divisions and 3.5 + heavy artillery for the Confederacy.

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Despite the numerical advantage the Union has I am rather confident that I can still destroy Butler's army.
The Union forces are divided and must each attack my entrenched Army of the Mississippi to combine. I could inflict terrible casualties on them if they do.
Butler will grow weaker each turn. He may run out of supply (though New Orleans is very rich so he may not) but my heavy guns, of which I am sending more, will chip away at him each turn and he cannot be reinforced whilst under siege.

There is also the fact that moving through the Louisiana swamps is slow going and Hooker would take a while to reach the city unless he wants to risk meeting my ironclads on the river.

The only danger for the CSA is the possibility of Hooker slowly choking off ABS Johnston's supplies and so force him to abandon the siege. I know that if I move out of my entrenchments and lift the siege Butler can move out of the city and himself entrench there preventing me from ever retaking New Orleans. Naturally I want to avoid this outcome at almost any cost.

Therefore I have detached Hardee with the elite Texas brigade (that historically for in Virginia) to clear away the single card sailor units that are trying to establish control of the swamps around the city.

I will wait as long as necessary to force a surrender from Butler. This is my greatest strategic opportunity to crush a large Union force and then free up several, by then experienced, CSA divisions to redeploy to other fronts.

In the Far West I finally took Santa Fe

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Not sure if it was worth it, but oh well I have it now.

In Missouri my cavalry and Indians are advancing towards Leavenworth. Meanwhile McCulloch moved adjacent to St Louis.

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Surprisingly Murtagks has stationed 1000 power in the city. McCulloch therefore has orders to retreat if he is engaged as I simply want to tie down Union forces with the threat of an attack. It would not be prudent to invest enough forces in MO to launch a significant attack on the city. In fact I still want to send unit cards produced in MO south to reinforce my other armies.

Finally the Upper Mississippi probably contains the greatest threat to the CSA. Murtagks has deployed both Grant and Sherman with 4 divisions between them to hi foothold here.

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Polk and Breckenridge have 3 divisions between them and I'll try to force the Union to attack by boxing Grant in. Unfortunately my gunboats need to be in the Lower Mississippi for the New Orleans theater, but I'll guard the river batteries in Ft Pillow and Memphis as best I can to at least obstruct any amphibious operations.

My other concern is that Kentucky is likely to join the Union shortly.Based on the overall force balance and count of Murtagk's troops I estimate that he may have 4 divisions preparing to march through Kentucky to threaten Nashville. I expect Freemont will be the overall commander as he had an Army command and recently vanished from VA, though McClellan Commanding would not surprise me either.

I am rapidly trying to build two divisions in Nashville under the Army Command of JE Johnston, but I may well have to trade space for time in Upper Tennessee. Forrest is at least ready with about 1 division of cavalry.

That will be the last post for a while as Murtagks needs to focus on some exams next week (I fortunately left the exam portion of my life behind a couple of years ago), but I hope we will resume our game next weekend.

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Ripster8
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:00 pm

Thanks, as always, for sharing your war with us! Riveting theater, and different every time you two go at it. The New Orleans front is starting to remind me of Gallipoli, but it is still not clear who will be on the losing end of what could be the deciding battles of the war. Can't wait for the next chapter!

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sun Sep 08, 2019 9:08 am

Thank you for the interest :)
I think Murtagks and I each try to vary our strategies each time partly so that the other doesn't get used to counter-playing one strategy.
I am hoping not to allow the union a chance to pull off an evacuation as good as the one at Gallipoli.
I predict that next session Tennessee and Virginia are each going to hot up as well.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:49 pm

Turns 26-29 Louisiana

We are back! In the one sessions so far things exploded a little almost everywhere.

Hooker has unfortunately taken Ft Jackson.

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This opens up the mouth of the river entirely for the union unfortunately.
Farragut's fleet also raced up to blockade Baton Rouge, I tried to move him away but I was unsuccessful.

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There weren't any pitched land battles and the theater was left as below.

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Hardee is chasing after the sailor cards that have landed all over the Louisiana swamps and will try to maintain Confederate control of the surrounding countryside.

I now have fantastic entrenchment for my New Orleans siege force and am shipping them all the heavy guns that I can manage.
I even railroaded the captured siege artillery from Norfolk Virginia all the way over to Louisiana to join the stack.
The critical concern in the theater is that I cannot move ABS Johnston's army. If Butler's army ever gets out the 4 divisions, when brought up to strength, will be far stronger than 1300 power bottled up in New Orleans.

My best bet is to hold firm with the main army whilst I use smaller forces to fend off any attempts to sneak around my flanks and hope that Butler eventually surrenders!

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:05 pm

Turns 26-29 Missouri,

In Missouri McCulloch was chased back by Edwin Sumner and fell back to Jefferson City.

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There he repulsed an attack from Phil Kearny, but was forced away by Sumner again.

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McCulloch then dug in south of the Osage river and this time held firm against Sumner's attack.

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He is doing a good job at the moment.
3 union divisions vs 1 Confederate division + 1 cavalry brigade, but at this rate the Union is not likely to take Springfield.
As Mentioned previously I won't try to launch any offensives in MO, I simply want to tie down Union forces and so far this objective is being met.

Therefore McCulloch won't be getting any reinforcements (in fact I built an MO parrot gun card and sent it south to New Orleans).

I may take Ft Leavenworth next turn in east Kansas, which is being covered by my positions in western Missouri so it would be ideal if McCulloch holds on for as long as possible.

85_MO.png
85_MO.png (3.86 MiB) Viewed 13313 times

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:51 am

Turn 26-29 Upper Mississippi,

Grant decided to hit Polk.

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Polk has additional defensive skill from being a corps commander under JE Johnston and the numbers were equal, so I'm not surprised that he held Grant.

A Couple of turns later Grant had another go but again no luck.

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There is no strategic objective in this region for me to drive for, I just need to defend economically.
Polk will simply hold position for now and may pursue Grant later if an opportunity presents itself.

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Grant and Sherman (the latter having just chased after Van Dorn's cavalry) have 5 divisions between them. Polk has 3 decent divisions under Breckenridge, Cleburne and Stewart to hold back these 5, which should be sufficient.
There is also a further volunteer division in Memphis which has now been fortified. If Butler ever surrenders I may redeploy some heavy artillery to Memphis to bombard any passing river boats.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 9:48 am

Turn 26-29 Kentucky

As predicted John C Freemont stormed south as soon as Kentucky joined the Union, though I overestimated the number of divisions he would have. Turns out he only had 2.

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This was fortunate, since if Freemont had the forces I thought he would then he would easily have pushed JE Johnston aside.
Freemont made a second unsuccessful attempt to shift me from Bowling Green.

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During this time Forrest ripped up the railroad from Louisville and took control of the region immediately east of Bowling Green.
JE Johnston, having been reinforced, then drove Freemont away from Bowling Green.

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It would appear that I have a slight superiority in forces in the region. The Union overall only has 20% more combat power than me so it is perhaps not so surprising that I would be superior somewhere.

Therefore the Army of the Tennessee will advance to take Munfordville as the rail lines are still open to me. It may force a confrontation and give me an opportunity to shred Freemont's army.

The other advantages are moving the battle away from Bowling Green where I am rapidly trying to build all the Kentucky heavy artillery cards, since it is likely I will lose the area sooner or later.

An advance it Kentucky also adds yet another threat that Murtagks must respond to and so limits his ability to open further fronts against me around my key cities.

87_Kentucky.png
87_Kentucky.png (3.67 MiB) Viewed 13300 times

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:00 am

Turn 26-29 Virginia,

Virginia exploded.

After Beauregard retreated Murtagks, as predicted, attempted to surround Longstreet's army.

McDowell took Winchester VA and I moved Beauregard to Leesburg to cut him off.
This resulted in two huge clashes with Milroy's Corps (where most others also marched to the sound of the guns)

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78_Beauregard.png (2.31 MiB) Viewed 13299 times


Casualties were quite even (though I lost many guns, which I am not too happy about), but the Confederate army held the field.

This battle was in itself not a great win for me due to the high casualties but it now gives me a golden opportunity.

83_VA.png
83_VA.png (3.67 MiB) Viewed 13299 times


McDowell is taking the long way around Longstreet's Corps to get back to Marlyand and in the process has removed half the strength of the Union army from between the ANVA and Washington.

Forney's Corps will attack across the Potomac upstream of Washington with Longstreet rushing to support.
By a stroke of luck I also happened to have moved JEB Stewart's cavalry to the ideal point to cut off the rail line between most of the Union army and Washington, slowing any attempt to reinforce the city.

Attempting to storm DC would be suicide given the defenses, but if I am able to put the city under siege Murtagks will have not choice but to throw everything he has at my stacks to move me off.

I may be able to extract large casualties from the Union in a series of defensive battles around the city, though I must be careful not to allow them to cut off my line of retreat into Virginia.

I also now have Robert E Lee...

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:28 pm

Excellent! More dispatches from the front. A brutal set of turns with the outcome still in doubt. I worry about your casualties - 1 for 1 is not a game-winning rate of exchange with the Federals (but of course you know that). And New Orleans is still very much on a knife's edge. Very exciting! This may be your best match yet - congrats to you and your opponent, and thanks for taking the time to share your campaign. On to Washington, boys!

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:18 pm

Turns 30-35 Virginia,

Things went rather well in Virginia.

Forney and Longstreet brushed Milroy aside and R. E. Lee is now in command of the Army of Northern Virginia

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Murtagks naturally had to scramble all of his forces together to retake the field around DC.

94_VA.png
94_VA.png (4.15 MiB) Viewed 13283 times


But due to poor coordination between the stacks (as far as we understand this is indirectly tied to the activation state of the terrible Union generals) Murtagks sent his troops piecemeal into Longstreet's entrenched Corps.

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97_Longstreet.png (2.32 MiB) Viewed 13283 times


98_RELee.png
98_RELee.png (2.35 MiB) Viewed 13283 times


The Union lost nearly 10 national morale from this catastrophe.
I am naturally rather pleased with how this went.
Halleck is still bottled up in Washington, but I'm not sure if it's even worth assaulting it. If the Union is forced to throw itself against my entrenchments and bleed troops that is also fantastic.

These battles finally allowed me to get some decent Corps commanders.

99_Promotions.png
99_Promotions.png (3.32 MiB) Viewed 13283 times


Kirby Smith is getting the Corps loosely tied to ABS Johnston's siege of New Orleans. It will be critical to have a good general to thwart Murtagks' attempts to flank me and cut my supply lines.

Magruder is taking over from Polk because the latter is only good as a bad in-joke between Murtagks and myself.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sat Sep 14, 2019 10:33 pm

Turn 30-35 Tennessee,

Polk once again held back Grant's forces in Western Tennessee.

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Sherman unfortunately had a little more success, taking Ft Donaldson and so opening the path to Nashville.

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I had not reinforced the fort to any significant degree so its loss is not so surprising.

At this point I wondered whether Sherman was about to make a dash to Nashville and so had moved Talliaferro from Memphis.
As Polk was doing ok I moved Breckenridge to Nashiville under the overall command of Beauregard who has now moved west from Virginia.

92_Ten.png
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Turns out I was right about Murtagks' intenions.

93_Nashville.png
93_Nashville.png (2.09 MiB) Viewed 13276 times


Unfortunately I then got Breckenridge killed in the pursuit and also lost a fair few troops (another combat not shown).

96_Breckenridge.png
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The rivers really favour the Union in this area. I don't have the resources to contest them, but the Union can continuously use them to move forces.

Ideally I'd like to destroy Sherman's stack, but I think I'm more likely to be successful in defending key points and keeping him running around without meeting his objectives.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Freedom!* (exclusions may apply)

Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:08 am

Turn 30-35 Rest of West,

Johnston hit the Union forces before pulling back to southern Kentucky.

89_Johnston.png
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Given Sherman's and Grant's presence in Tennessee I felt that further attempts to expand my hold on Kentucky would not be prudent.

Freemont now seems to be sitting with 3 or so divisions up in Louisville and he'll probably be slow to get back down into the fight.

100_KY.png
100_KY.png (4.48 MiB) Viewed 13248 times


This frees up Johnston to help rid Tennessee of Sherman.

In Missouri Edwin Sumner and McCulloch are still chasing each other around with no significant gains either way, though Jefferson city did change hands a couple of times.

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These maneuvers have given me a free hand to finally take Leavenworth though.

102_West_MO.png
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As there is really nothing stopping the Confederacy in Kansas and West Missouri I may just invade Iowa as well to take Council Bluffs as that is also an objective city.

102_West_MO.png
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In Louisiana things are fairly static, though Murtagks did make a rather smart move against me.

103_LA.png
103_LA.png (3.37 MiB) Viewed 13248 times


Gilbert has taken Baton Rouge. It's of course a shame to lose the state capital, but the more threatening part is the possibility of him cutting the rail link to ABS Johnston's forces.
I'm not really sure if I'll ever be able to break Butler, but nonetheless holding him in place helps the CSA. ABS Johnston's stack also serves as a good fire base to bombard ships on the Mississippi (particularly as I have sent the army a lot of guns).
It will mostly be down to Kirby Smith's corps to keep the supply lines open to the north.

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