Manassas Conceded without a shot?!

[Glitch]

Hello all,

My Confederate Army of the Potomac has been holding firm at Manassas junction from April 1861 to Oct 1861. In Oct 1861, a 121 power force moved in. P.G.T. Beauregard and his 900 power force with 3 entrenchment and entrenchment card bonus, simply left the region and parked himself at Culpeper. I have no idea why. The message board provides no information what so ever. Could someone pleas explain, so that I can better understand the game mechanics?

If it helps, he was in the field, entrenched and the Union possessed Leesburg (although it was not garrisoned at the time of this movement. Beauregard's posture was blue orange (defend defend).

I play with veteran activation rules and it appears his stack was inactive at the time of the movement.

[Gray Fox]

Did you perhaps accidentally move Beau's stack to Culpepper? Go back and reload the previous turn to check it out.

[Glitch]

I feel like a COMPLETE idiot. But yes, I accidentally moved the Army haha!!!

I guess a side question while we're at it: I am having difficulty stemming the union blue tide. After the union makes their initial attack on Harper's Ferry for example and I win that battle, the next stack just moves through Harper's Ferry to the region in my rear the next turn because I'm blue orange. Now, I'll have a union stack in my rear and in my current region. How do you maintain a strong front while at the same time maintaining an effective reserve? Seems quite difficult with limited resources of the rebs. In fact, it seems near impossible to me to hold Manassas and Harper's Ferry. Granted, I'm fairly new to the game and do not find it enjoyable to pursue the all out DC attack in 1861, as I find that ahistorical.

I've read many of the posts in the forums (including Points to know as the Confederates), so I apologize if this question has been asked before.

[Gray Fox]

Hey, I've done that once (or twice) myself.

The CSA has about a hundred variations of two basic strategies. Take Washington D.C. as soon as possible and crush the Union NM or take advantage of the defense by fighting them to a standstill for Victory Points.

To blitz D.C., make an Army under Beauregard with all the 20 lbers you start with, Divisions of your best troops led by Jackson, Longstreet and Shelby etc. with Huger along to boost the artillery effectiveness. Put a Marine unit in each Division so you can cross the Potomac quickly. I took the Union Capital from a maxed out Athena in Oct. 1861. The statisticians figure this only works about 40% of the time, but the threat works 100% of the time. If the Union player wants to concentrate on the Mississippi or take New Orleans or just set back and build the largest blockade fleet, then take D.C. Veteran human players know this is coming and keep D.C. covered. If they don't...

So plan B would be to dig in your heels and fight it out. I prefer to have a thin line of one Division with a supply unit (SU) per region entrenched inside a stockade or redoubt backed up by Lee with an Army in VA. A stockade adds a big bonus to your lone Division's Zone of Control so that a Union Army entering the region is stopped dead. The defensive position is a hard nut to crack if they assault without preparation. With the SU, the Division only has a 5% chance to surrender. If the blue bellies lay siege, then Lee can go around them to cut off their resupply/retreat path (it's called a line of communications). You have enough Region Decision Cards to build a redoubt in Manassas in '62 along with stockades to your left and right (Clarke and Stafford VA). Lee can react to any of these from Culpepper. If the Union tries to go down the Shenandoah Valley, then the door to D.C. should be open a crack or two. They can't be strong everywhere and any attack will be half stepping if they have to cover their Capital.

You can also put 3 stockades in the so called West between Fort Pillow and the Fort in Dover TN (Dyer, Gibson and Henry, TN). An Army under Johnston can be your reaction force there. This should take a strong Union force to beat and they will be missed in the East.

Good luck!

P.S. After First Bull Run, Jeff Davis ordered the Army to march on Washington, but the troops were too spread out chasing fleeing Yankees. By the time the Army reformed, the opportunity was lost. So blitzing D.C. is not ahistorical.

[Glitch]

Thank you for taking the time to write this well thoughtout and detailed response. That was precisely the sort of strategic thinking I was looking for. I had no idea a stockade could block the opposition from marching thru. Thank you!

[Gray Fox]

You're most welcome!

In order to build a stockade, the region must not have a town. Fortunately, you can raze a small town so that a stockade can be built. IIRC, that's the case in Stafford, VA.

To accomplish this, click on the unit in the region. At the bottom of the page, this unit's icon will have three smaller icons above it. Click the hammer icon. The "Raze Structure" allows you to remove the town.

[Blood and Thunder Brigade]

Did you perhaps accidentally move Beau's stack to Culpepper? Go back and reload the previous turn to check it out.

How does one go about reloading a previous turn?

[Gray Fox]

Start the CW2 program. From the main screen, click the "LOAD" option. Click once on the game you want, but don't start it. At the top right-hand corner an icon will appear that looks sort of like a micro-circuit. Click this and you get three more icons. The one in the middle allows you to restore the previous turn. IIRC, you can repeat this 10 times or so to go back that many turns.

[Blood and Thunder Brigade]

Start the CW2 program. From the main screen, click the "LOAD" option. Click once on the game you want, but don't start it. At the top right-hand corner an icon will appear that looks sort of like a micro-circuit. Click this and you get three more icons. The one in the middle allows you to restore the previous turn. IIRC, you can repeat this 10 times or so to go back that many turns.

Very helpful. Thank you kindly, sir.

[Gray Fox]

My pleasure. Good luck!