Dixicrat (USA) vs Coffee Sergeant (CSA)

[Dixicrat]

I'll be playing this round, for the "DixiMae" team.

I've removed the Confederate Battle flag as my avatar, for the duration of this game. It just didn't seem appropriate for the commander of Union forces to be waving the flag of Dixie!

Kjstrand has sent us the TRN files; Coffee Sergeant has already submitted his first move; and I'll be submitting my first move as soon as possible.

[Dixicrat]

Coffee Sergeant and I have agreed to option 1 in the "PBEM Ethics" thread: No private discussion of the game with friends.

As before, it is understood that my wife and I may discuss the game between us, since we entered this tournament as a team.

[Dixicrat]

I enjoyed reading Aphrodite Mae's account of her game with Coffee Sergeant, and I was a bit disappointed that it had to come to an end. She's a very creative person, and so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when she suggested an interesting idea for this thread.

She and I are going to post updates on my game with Coffee Sergeant in the manner of monthly correspondence between a fictitious Union General (General Bodacious Dixicrat ) and his wife in East Tennessee.

Many of you may not know it, but the area in which we live (Knoxville, Tennessee) was actually predominantly pro-Union at the outbreak of the war. Havely thinks this might be a chance to let y'all know a little bit of the real world history of what was going on here, during the time span covered by the "Far West" Scenario.

[Daxil]

Many of you may not know it, but the area in which we live (Knoxville, Tennessee) was actually predominantly pro-Union at the outbreak of the war. Havely thinks this might be a chance to let y'all know a little bit of the real world history of what was going on here, during the time span covered by the "Far West" Scenario.

Do you two have ancestors from that area contemporary with the Civil War?

[Dixicrat]

Do you two have ancestors from that area contemporary with the Civil War?

Havely's family is "blueblood" from Virginia, but I believe that her ancestors were more of the mercantile persuasion during the war. (Although she has some family member who was some sort of naval hero in the war of 1812, supposedly.)

My family is from Missouri on my father's side and Tennessee on my mother's side; one of my mother's ancestors was a Confederate Cavalry soldier. When I was seventeen, my mom gave me his Cav sabre that had been passed down for generations. Stupidly, I used it to cut a watermelon at a party, thinking it was a cool thing to do. Mom was utterly enraged, in a quiet, contemptuous way, when she found out... and she took back the sabre. She said that I did the heirloom and the man who'd used it in war a great dishonor. Now that I'm older, I agree. It's now in a bank vault, where it will stay until my son becomes of age.

Who it belonged to, I can't say for sure. His surname was Thomas, and he was enlisted. I'm not much into geneology, and until recently, I didn't have much of an interest in the civil war. There are just too many reminders of it around here... cemetaries, monuments to dead heros, and so on. And of course, the ubiquitous Battle Flag displayed on every redneck's truck...

Bill

[Dixicrat]

Dearest Mae,
I have nothing but good news to report! Providence has provided us with fair weather, and our efforts to suppress the rebellion have met with unprecedented success.

I have conceived a bold plan to bring the uprising to a swift end, here in Missouri and Arkansas. Of course, you know that I cannot tell you of the paticulars; but I will say that within the last fortnight we have captured a rebel supply depot near a town known as Rolla, and another one in Springfield. This is good news, because this deprives our misguided Southern brothers of the resources they require to supply their rebellion. We have also taken Charleston, which you may recall is just up the river from Memphis.

Our efforts in Arkansas have also met with success. We have captured a rebel supply depot in northwestern Arkansas near a small town named Fayetteville, and a harbor called Ozark on the Arkansas river not far from Fort Smith.

And now, for the best news: thus far, we have suffered no casualties, nor have we inflicted any upon our misguided brothers. So, there has been no bloodshed.

The only dark note is that there are rumors here in St. Louis of a potential uprising. Even so, I think that rebel rabble rousers will surely think twice about doing anything foolish. St. Louis is a city garrisoned with thousands of soldiers, and we have a large arsenal here.

It is my deepest and most sincere hope that this rebellion will end soon, and I will return to you and our family in East Tennessee. My love to the children.

With fond affection,
Bo

[Daxil]

Havely's family is "blueblood" from Virginia, but I believe that her ancestors were more of the mercantile persuasion during the war. (Although she has some family member who was some sort of naval hero in the war of 1812, supposedly.)

My family is from Missouri on my father's side and Tennessee on my mother's side; one of my mother's ancestors was a Confederate Cavalry soldier. When I was seventeen, my mom gave me his Cav sabre that had been passed down for generations. Stupidly, I used it to cut a watermelon at a party, thinking it was a cool thing to do. Mom was utterly enraged, in a quiet, contemptuous way, when she found out... and she took back the sabre. She said that I did the heirloom and the man who'd used it in war a great dishonor. Now that I'm older, I agree. It's now in a bank vault, where it will stay until my son becomes of age.

Who it belonged to, I can't say for sure. His surname was Thomas, and he was enlisted. I'm not much into geneology, and until recently, I didn't have much of an interest in the civil war. There are just too many reminders of it around here... cemetaries, monuments to dead heros, and so on. And of course, the ubiquitous Battle Flag displayed on every redneck's truck...

Bill

I believe I have a distant relationship with this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Butterfield The reason I say that is I know I am related to the Butterfield stage coach ownership and this guy's father founded the company. Interesting read, and he's in the game!

"Hooker and Butterfield developed a close personal, and political, relationship. To the disgust of many army generals, their headquarters were frequented by women and liquor, being described as a combination of a "bar and brothel". Political infighting became rampant in the high command and Butterfield was widely disliked by most of his colleagues. ......." aHAHAHAHA

Anyways, carry on with the AAR. Sorry for the de-rail.

[Aphrodite Mae]

Dearest Bo,
I've been so very worried. I haven't received a letter from you since May! And so much has happened.

Surely you know by now, but maybe you don't, since you have been out West, in Laredo. Tennessee has seceded, Bo! It happened just a few weeks ago. And before that, both the Union and Confederates were recruiting just two blocks apart, on Gay Street! The Union was recruiting in front of the Lamar House. I've sent a newspaper, to show you.

All through July, the rebels have been sending their soldiers through Knoxville, to Virginia. And I hear that a slew of them fired on a mass meeting of unarmed Unionists, in Strawberry Plains, just up the road! This is terrible, Bo. Whatever shall we do?

The President has said that "If the Union armies could take East Tennessee, we will have the Rebellion by the throat and it must dwindle and die." I'm so afraid, I must tell you. For our friends, for our state... for our nation. This is tearing us apart, Bo. Families are divided, some for the Union, some for the rebels. There is retribution, even murder. It is so horrid... whatever shall happen to us?

I have recently met a gentleman named William Brownlow here in Knoxville, who is a Parson. He is a loyal Unionist, and he has many good ideas. He has also offered to watch over me, and with you being in Missouri, I shall take the good Parson at his offer! He seems to be such a good man.

Hurry home, Bo. Help make this rebellion a short one.

The children send their love.

With much love,
Mae

[Aphrodite Mae]

"...To the disgust of many army generals, their headquarters were frequented by women and liquor, being described as a combination of a "bar and brothel"...

"Tea" and strumpets! How hedonistic!

"Political infighting became rampant in the high command and Butterfield was widely disliked by most of his colleagues"...

A bit too much tea and borrowing somebody elses' favorite strumpet can cause this kinda stuff, ya know. Or at least, so I've heard.

[jastaV]

She's a very creative person, and so I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when she suggested an interesting idea for this thread.

Definitely a great, creative idea!
Congrats to both of you, Dixicrat and Aphodite Mae, this AAR is going to sound like a perfect letters-collection chronicle of the Secession War: you both are good performers, perfectely confident with respective roles.

As a suggestion, looking to your RoP Beta Team memberships hope you could dedicate part of your talent and fantasy to editthe event scrips that usually add flavour to all AGEod games.
No doubt a great advantage could come from such a chance to all gamer-community!

Sincerely

JastaV

[Aphrodite Mae]

Hi, friends!

Coffee Sergeant and Dixicrat are still playing, and the game is a good one from what I've seen! They're on turn 11 or 12. But the reason that we (Dixicrat and I) haven't posted anything is this thread is mostly because of me.

I wanted to do some research and stuff like that so I could write historical letters "from Knoxville", but I just haven't had the time because of the holidays. If any of you have a large family, then maybe you can understand the time it takes: shopping, and gift wrapping, and cooking, and traveling, and visiting, and all of that kind of stuff.

So... I'm sorry. Maybe now that things are calming down a little bit, I'll have time to read the stuff I need to. I'm hoping that all of you will think that the wait was worth it, when I finally get my act together!

Havely

PS Happy New Year, to everyone!

[Coffee Sergeant]

Well here's the first 5 turns of my AAR + screenshots. I"ll post the rest when the game is concluded.



I did not finsih the previous game as well I hoped. winning it by only 12 points. I expect Dixicrat to be much more aggressive than I was. He had sent me a PM to that effect when I was playing Aphrodite Mae. I think in order to win this round, I am going to have to take St. Louis. Hopefully I can draw Dixicrat down South, and rush St. Louis while he is busy trying to take distant objectives like Charleston.

I am not dead set on that strategy though. Lawrence and Fort Leavenworth are vulnerable to raids. If Dixicrat is smart and guards St. Louis well, I will have to play a cat and mouse game of. seizing poorly defended strategic towns and hope to eek out a points victory. At least I cannot lose by more than 12 points, my margin of victory as the USA.

Charleston is a lost cause and I am not going to commit more than a token force (one milita) to it. If Dixicrat sends substantial forces there, hopefully that means an opening against against St. Louis.


Turn 1

Formed Price's division with the units on hand (militia and one calvay regiment), sitting tight at Jefferson city. I decide to build one 10lb and one horse artillery in Arkansas. Artillery takes muchl longer to buidl than infantry, so you want to build it first so that you can get your units in the field more quickly. It is too much of a risk to build them in Missouri now.



Turn 2

Well my opponent ran through Missouri with his calvary, capturing Charleston, Rolla and Springfield. I don't want to split up Price's force so I sit tight. He has not moved Lyon from St. Louis. Fayetteville and Ft. Smith are at risk so I order two militia regiments built.



Turn 3

My opponent captures Fayetteville with his calvary. I decide to move off of Jefferson city towards Springfield, temporarily abandoning my plan to make a quick strike on St. Louis, as Sigel's force there now looks significant and I will not be able to reinforce Price/McCulloch in time, especially with artillery which is trapped in Arkansas.




Turn 4

I drove the Yanks out of Fayetteville, though no battle took place as they appeared to evade me.. He has sent a calvary probe down in Arkansas, luckily I have a militia unit fortified in Madison that will prevent him from capturing this important town which produces cash, conscripts and war supplies.

I recapture Rolla with a lone calvary regiment and it rejoins the main force in Springfield. I want to see whats happening up in Kansas and I may be able to grab Lawrence, so I sent them over there for a looksee.

My artillery units are finished, and I order them to Springifeld although it will take a turn or two before they reach there. Hopefully I will be able to fend him off before then.

Some partisans form in Arkasas, and I send them to Charleston as it appears to be abandoned.



Turn 5

The Yanks recapture Jefferson City and Rolla. The militia unit I ordered built in Missouri unfortunatley spawned at Jefferson city, but it was wiped out before it was formed, losing all 29 men who had shown up for duty.

Stand Watie appears at Fr. Gibson along with his 3 indian regiments. I roder him to Fayetteville, where he will join another calvary regiment and some horse artillery. I hope to be able to use him to do some raiding in Kansas, and possibly Iowa.

My main force composing of Price's division, and led by McCulloch is sitting tight at Springfield, digging in. The Yanks appear to be sitting tight at St. Louis as well.

Charleston was undefended, but the Partisans are unable to capture it. I blow the rail line there and move the partisan unit north to do some further rail busting around St. Louis

[Daxil]

Good AAR so far.

[Coffee Sergeant]

Here's turns 6 through 15

Turn 6

Lyon has popped up out of nowhere in Madison! As that town generates 3 cash per turn, it is a not insignificant part of my war effort. In addition, it threatens Little Rock. As opposed to moving my forces to fend off Lyon, which is impossible, I decide to push towards St. Louis, which I'm hoping is only lightly defended. I send McCulloch's force north, as well as Stand Watie's newly formed division of 3 indian regiments, 2 calvary and one horse artillery.



Turn 7

Suprisingly, Lyon did not take Madison. Dixicrat has been IM'ing me suspecting a bug, or possibly misunderstanding the mechanics of the game, but apparently we are going to play on..

Meanwhile, I send McCulloch/Price's force towards St. Louis, which finally got an artillery battery. There seems to be a force outside the city, but I don't see a leader. I'm not sure if I want to risk assaulting the place, especially with only one arty and most infantry consisting of militia. I also split off an a militia unit and calvary to retake Jefferson city and Rolla.

I also send Watie who was in Springfield to assault Lexington, although I put him on a "conservate" assault stance to avoid a disaster. It is a gamble because I cannot see what is in Lexington, but as the city was not that important from a strategic standpoint I suspect that it was not defended particularly well.

My strategy may have shifted to more of a "points" victory, as Dixicrat appears to be going for Little Rock. I'm hoping that my two gunboats can block him from crossing the rivers, although I have reinforced Little Rock a bit.

I only have 20 cash, so I spend it on two militia units in Missouri.



Turn 8

Lots of action this turn. McCulloch/Price's force intercepted a small yankee force in Union, MO, just below St. Louis, consisting of a sailors regiment and a battery of artillery. I took out the sailors regiment, but was not able to capture the artillery batteyr. In St. Louis, the force was apparently much larger than my previous intel had told me, and McCulloch retreated before giving battle. I decide to move to Rolla which a calvary regiment had just retaken.

My assault on Lexington was similiarly unsucccessful. Fremont was apparently garrison there with substantial forces, and Watie was forced to call off the assault. However as the force is very mobile I move them to Lawrence hoping to recapture it.

Madison held out against an assault by a small union force, although the militia unit there is down to 55 gallant men. One of the militia units I ordered built spawned in Charleston, and I see Lyon coming up to retake it. I'm hopign that my gunboats can block an river crossing. I order them to patrolt he probably routes of approach. Little Rock has but two militia regiments and a artillery battery defending it.

I order a unit for replacments for my militia and an additional unit built in Missouri.





Turn 8 Revisted

Apparently there was a hangup with Dixicrats orders not being executed correctly. Our host Karl resent the turn and things turned out alittle differntly, namely the assault on Madison being successful.

Nevertheless my orders largely remain unchanged, but I did decide against sending Van Dorn/Watie to Lawrence, but decided to send them to join up with McCulloch/Price in Rolla. I did split off a lone calvary regiment to probe and potentially capture the area, however.



Turn 9

Turns out the Union was entrenched around Madison, and as my gunboat fleet moved back and forth to prevent a crossing, they got blown out of the water. So much for that plan. Little Rock is now endangered, and I order two units which were making there way to reinforce McCulloch/Price.back to Little Rock. Van Dorn is promoted to 3 stars, so I can formy my Army HQ which luckily happens to be in Little Rock. I transport Van Dorn and form the Army. Right now LIttle Rock only has a line infantry, a miliita and a 10 lb. defending it.

Lawrence was defended, so my calvary regiment didn't take it. I order that regiment back to Springfield, as it is out of supplies anyway.



Turn 10

Well this a strange turn, as a militia spawned in Madison, AK and took it over. I can't remember ordering a militia build, and its possible the city could have rebelled, but I don't have a message to that effect. I also got a strange message saying the militia had razed Madison and buit a new city, because mine was better.

Hopefully that strange event bought me a few more turns to get better entrenched in Little Rock. I am currently ahead in points 90 to 87. If i can prevent a capture of Little Rock I believe I can hold on for a points victory. Dixicrat does not seem interested in grabbing weakly defended strategic objectives, and I am collecting 11 points every turn to his 8 at the moment. It is late November, and some snow has already fallen and more should be on the way. Tahat should make it very hard for Dixicrat to attack.

Stand Watie's force arrives at Springfield along with a dead-tired calvary regiment. I see some Yank calvary that looks to be making its way towards Fayetteville. That is a fairly critical supply depot, that controls the flow to Rolla where McCulloch/Price are located, so I order Watie to drive them off. It only looks like a sole regiment so it shouldn't be much problem. Fortunatley I also had a regiment of calvary on the way to fayetteville anyway. They should get there before the Yanks and protect the depot from being captured.

A few of my miliia have converted to infantry, but they need some replacemnts so I use a chit. LIttle Rock is now defended by three line infantry, one sharpshooter, and a 10 lb and a 12lb, all commanded by Van Dorn with a entrechment value of 3. I also order a militia built in Missouri, as I can't build any more in Arkansas.





Turn 13

I took little Hiatus from my AAR, however not a whole lot happpened since.Turn 10. with the excepiton of the recapture of Madison by the Yanks. Winter has set it in and its tough for units to mount an offensive.

Charleston is recaptured by the Union this turn, and my two militia units entrencehed get wiped out by Lyon's division, which is small (only 2000 men), but apparently very effective against my uncommanded militia with no artillery support..



I currently lead in points 124 to 116. I still hold enough strategic objectives to be gathering 11 points every turn to Dixicrats 10. Dixicrat has to beat me by at least 10 points. With 5 turns remaining, I do not believe he will be able to overcome this gap, so I expect a move on Little Rock. My entrenched force there now has power 220, and since Price got promoted to 2 stars I sent McCulloch to form a divison to spread the benefit of the sharpshooter unit to the other elements.



Turn 14

Price unexpectedly completely ran out of supply, and his forces are melting away. I order my now full supply wagon from Springfield north, escorted but it will not get there next turn. This may turn into a disaster if it can't get there in time Price's force is destoryed.

Jefferson City looks open, so I send Stand Watie's force from Springfield to probe it.

I lead 135-126, with 4 turns remaining. I also I'm not sure what Dixicrat is waiting for. He will need to make a move on Little Rock and if he wants to win, by buth Lyon and Fremont and nowhere near Madison.



Turn 15

Disaster strikes, as Price's force runs out of supply and is obliterated, including Price himself. Rolla is now only defended by the sole partisans units. I don't think I am getting any points from it, however, as I am only gaining 10 points per turn to the enemies' 9, whereas previously I was getting 11 per turn.

Watie's force captures Jefferson City which was completey undefended. he will stay there and entrench, and I redirect my supply wagon and calvary regiment to reinforce him.

Another few Arkansas militia units appear under my reinforcements screen. I only have 13k, so I can only build one.

[Coffee Sergeant]

Ok not alot happened between turn 16-18 although Dixiecrat did manage to capture two forts with which pushed his VP up to 193, compared to my 185.



The final combined scores were me 189 +185 = 374, Dixiecrat/Aphrodite Mae 193+177 = 370. I win by 4 points.

[Rafiki]

That's pretty close!

Thanks for a great AAR

[Daxil]

Congrats I'll update my bracket.

[Dixicrat]

This is Section XI from my AAR. I'm publishing it first because it's "the good stuff". (The other ten sections are a bit dry, I think.) I'll post the other ten sections later.

XI. What I've learned
This game was a first for me in a couple of ways. It was my first PBEM of any game; and it was the first time I've played AACW against anyone other than my wife. (Athena doesn't count.) I learned a lot, both in preparing for the game and while actually playing it. Here is some of what I've learned.


1. You must have at least 25% military control (mc) of a region, to be able to teleport ... uh, I mean transfer units into or out of the region.

2. Transferable Support units (Medical, Naval Engineers, etc.) have 20/20 supply. Exactly the same as one supply wagon. Thus, they can be used to resupply units that are out of supply! Poof: they appear, and share their supply. Then, Poof: they go back, to be resupplied.

[Edit 08Oct11: I've been away from active forum participation for almost two years. I recently discovered to my surprise that this Exploit hasn't been resolved, as of release 1.15. I've brought this to the attention of the Beta Team, so releases after 1.16 will likely have this Exploit solved.]

3. Just because a unit is within a structure and locked doesn't mean that it can't be moved out of the structure, in the same region. So: in St. Louis for example, you can place your Shipyard Engineer in the main line of battle stack... and after the stack is attacked, the Engineer will be unlocked. Poof...

4. Regions with 100% enemy loyalty can spawn an enemy unit that will appear within a structure that you've left ungarrisoned... even if you have units in the region. I propose that these units, which appear unannounced and haven't been paid for, be called "bastards", since their origin is uncertain, their existence is an embarrassment, and that's what you'll probably call them anyway.

5. Swamps suck. If it's not "Epidemics have stricken our units in Godforesaken, AR", then it's "21 days to enter this region (only)". I already knew this, but during the game I was reminded of it over and over again.

6. Horses don't like mud and bad weather. This is something else I already knew, but during this game the fact was underlined, capitalized, and put in 24-point red font. In bold.

7. I've learned that really unexpected, bizarre results can occur in what seems like the most simple and straight-forward circumstances.

8. While I was wondering why everybody was so tired in Arkansas, it suddenly hit me: enemy military control increases the cohesion costs for movement. In my case, Cav that was patrolling to increase mc were getting worn out fast, since almost every region was 100% controlled by the CSA.

[Edit 08Oct11: I may have been mistaken, in this point. The low cohesion values were probably due to something else. It's been too long for me to remember, unfortunately.]

9. Indians and Partisans can only take control of a city if the area has 51% loyalty or better.

10. Rather obscure: a supply wagon that is used to "bridge" supply won't provide any supply to adjoining regions if it arrives in the bridging region after Day 10. If this is true, then it might be because of the three supply pushes: since there are 15 days in a turn, it seems likely that each push begins on a day that's a multiple of 5, plus 1. In other words, Day 1, Day 6, and Day 11.

11. I learned to "throttle" supply during skirmish scenarios. In this scenario, I didn't want large quantities of supplies to accumulate in places where the CSA could capture and use them. This was primarily because a large part of my Missouri strategy involved supply starvation for Price's forces, even while I was taking and then surrendering objectives there. It occurred to me that I could reduce my rail and river transport capacity by giving rail and river tickets to units that weren't going to use them.

[Edit 08Oct11: This is the most valuable thing that I learned, I think.]

12. I learned that Militia units can be combined, much like when creating divisions. Furthermore, your chit count goes up on the reinforcements page. So, if you had 3 MO militia available to purchase before the combination, you'll have 4 after you combine two elements into one unit.

13. Units besieged in a structure with a harbor don't suffer from a lack of supply, if the harbor isn't blockaded. However, it occurs to me that if the besieging force has sufficient artillery which is set to "bombard", this may interdict supply. I haven't play tested this last part, yet.

14. I learned that a HQ unit can be set to "bombard"... and that a single turn of bombardment can sink a squadron of two gunboats (24 hits), without receiving a single hit in return. Wow!

15. I learned that Fremont is less than worthless. He's a detriment. I think that next time, on the turn that he appears I'm going to send him down the river in a festively painted steamboat (hide -2), with orders to "investigate" New Madrid and Island 10.

16. I learned that Medical units do not increase cohesion at their advertised rate of 15%. Instead, their cohesion recovery bonus is only 5%. I believe that this has been fixed, in a patch.

17. I learned that when a unit is ordered to "join forces", it takes one more day after entering the region to do so.

18. This next one is almost embarrassing, because I feel like everybody already knew this, except me: Just because a region is green when filtered for supply doesn't mean that it's red, for the other guy. Maybe the bigger lesson here is "question your fundamental assumptions".

19. It takes 10 days to repair rail; and the repairing unit can move by rail, the turn of the repair.

20. Critically important: weather can change, from what's predicted. My current conjecture is that weather forecasts are good for one week. Case in point: I ordered Lyon to assault Charleston; Charleston and all regions in his path were "frozen". (I still have the turn, and so I'm sure.) Even so, the assault was conducted during "snow"... which is what the weather was, the next turn.

[Edit 08Oct11: I was wrong. Ignore everything I said, in #20! ]

21. I learned that forces in a region can disappear from enemy detection, when combined into a division. This is because the units originally have a total CP greater than four, but after combining into a Division, the Division has 4 CP... and in the manual, it states that units with 4 and less CP are considered a "small" force, with a +1 hide bonus.

22. I'd never noticed before that units with 2 stars of experience have increased Police value.

23. Just tonight, I've realized that point number 15, above, just won't work since I've discovered that 3 star generals are effectively immortal: no death. What a bummer, for the Union.

24. I learned to not forget to check that the "evade" button is clicked, before moving a Division of Marines downriver to conduct an amphibious assault against a fort.

25. If you want to move a unit to an adjacent region which is a swamp, and both regions adjoin a river, it may be much faster to move the unit by river transport. This may seem obvious, but I tended to overlook this during the game at least once or twice, and so I've decided to mention it.

[Daxil]

2. Transferable Support units (Medical, Naval Engineers, etc.) have 20/20 supply. Exactly the same as one supply wagon. Thus, they can be used to resupply units that are out of supply! Poof: they appear, and share their supply. Then, Poof: they go back, to be resupplied.

Now that is about as gamey as it gets.

. Swamps suck. If it's not "Epidemics have stricken our units in Godforesaken, AR", then it's "21 days to enter this region (only)". I already

One way to neutralize epidemics is to divide up your divisions when you consider it safe.

Good stuff there. You should add it to the Whats not in the Manual thread.

[Dixicrat]

Dixicrat (USA) vs. Coffee Sergeant
I'm Dixicrat. This is the AAR of my tournament game with Coffee Sergeant.

I. Victory Conditions
There are four ways for USA to win this scenario.

1. Take one or both of the NM objectives
2. Take the forts on the Mississippi: New Madrid, Island 10, and Ft. Pillow
3. Decisively win several major engagements
4. Take and hold more strategic objectives, longer

II. Parameters
Of course, the USA must also

1. Defend St. Louis at all costs, and
2. Maintain a rough parity of VP for controlled strategic objectives, for 2 and 3 in (I).

III. Principles
Fundamental strategic principles particularly relevant to the USA for this scenario are

1. Reduce enemy resources while increasing your own
2. Only engage the enemy when you know that you'll win decisively
3. Correctly evaluate the basics of "Command, Power, Mobility, and Supply" for both sides
4. Disperse and misdirect the enemy while concentrating the power of your forces

IV. Map & Economic Analysis
A few of the more important conclusions I made are

1. Little Rock and Madison are the only sources of money, conscripts, and war supplies for the CSA.
2. Leavenworth and ST. Louis are the only sources of money, conscripts, and war supplies for USA.
3. Council Bluffs is the only source of Cavalry and 12 lbrs for the USA.
4. No militia is availible to be built in Kansas.
5. Jefferson City is the only source for Siege Artillery for the CSA.
6. Charleston has no harbor, and must either be supplied from St. Louis with a transport in an adjoining river space, or by an overland route.
7. Sullivan, MO appeared to be a prospective site to build a supply depot to support operations in Eastern AR and Charleston.
8. The CSA has no significant supply sources in MO; without taking Lexington or St. Louis, supply must come from Arkansas.
9. Central MO and most of Arkansas features difficult terrain. This effectively divides the map into a western and eastern side.

I divided the map into Districts:
Northwest: Council Bluffs, Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Lexington
North MO: St. Joseph, Bloomington, Carrolton Harbor, St. Charles Harbor
West MO: Lexington, Jefferson City, Springfield Depot
St. Louis: Jefferson City, St. Louis, Rolla Depot
East MO: St. Louis, Charleston
Northeast AR: Charleston, New Madrid Fortifications, Island 10, Sullivan region and the regions which surround it
East AR: Madison, Edmund Harbor, Ft. Pillow, Helena, Jacksonport Harbor, Itta Harbor
Central AR: Little Rock, adjoining regions, Itta Harbor, and Brown region
Western AR: Fayetteville Depot, Ft. Smith, Ozark Harbor, Indian Territory

As you can see, some of the districts overlapped.
Towns, forts, regions and harbors in bold are those I consider to be geographically strategic. No doubt, there are others.

Each district had its own set of operational guidelines. For example, for the Northwest district, the plan was 1) establish and improve entrenchment levels both inside and outside structures, 2) don't break entrenchments, no matter how badly the unit is needed elsewhere, 3) send OOB builds from Council Bluffs to the reserve in Lexington, and 4) have Sigel train the conscripts in Leavenworth and Lexington.

1 and 2 were common to all districts, except for North MO district (which I decided to abandon without contest) and East AR district, where the need for Policing patrols to establish and maintain supply corridors had a greater priority than maintaining entrenchments.

V. My Strategy
I decided to divide the game into three operational phases: Fair Weather (Summer and early Autumn), Cold Weather (late Autumn and early Winter), and Wet Weather (late Winter and early Spring). I'll refer to these as phases I, II, and III. Here are the objectives of my original plan.

Phase I: "Disperse CSA forces and damage the CSA war effort"
Missouri
1. Avoid engagements, except where force is 5 to 1 or better
2. Keep CSA forces in MO, primarily by...
3. ...Surrendering Rolla and Jefferson City (so supplies from St. Louis aren't stockpiled there)
4. Increase military control of regions with rail in East MO district (i.e., St. Louis to Ironton)
5. Mass forces in Lexington and St. Louis so that offensive operations can be performed in Phase II, while leaving a strong garrison in multi-level entrenchments

Arkansas
1. Draw enemy forces westward by a diversionary attack in Western AR, then move to Eastern AR
2. Transfer Lyon to Western AR ("Welcome" region), in anticipation of establishing a Divisonal command in the East AR district
3. Present the appearance of an immediate attack on Little Rock...
4. ...but take Madison, instead

Phase II: "Destroy Price's Division in MO; take New Madrid and Island 10"
Missouri
1. Converge upon Price when his supply drops into the red, with a pincer movement of two converging forces in a staggered attack: one from Lexington, and the other from St. Louis.
2. Afterwards, shift forces which have gained combat experience to Northeast AR district.
3. Build a river ironclad for use in Phase III, to destroy CSA gunboats

Arkansas
1. Build a supply depot in Sullivan, MO region
2. Police regions linking Madison and Sullivan, to develop a broad supply path
3. Assault New Madrid and Island 10 as soon as possible
4. Besiege Ft. Pillow with Madison forces to create breeches

Phase III: "Take Ft Pillow, Little Rock, and Ft. Smith"
Missouri
1. Maintain strong garrisons
2. Maintain a reaction force in reserve, to deal with incursions and opportunities

Arkansas
1. Take Ft. Pillow
2. Seek and Destroy CSA gunboats
3. Assemble forces "in plain sight" near Little Rock, then
4. take Ft. Smith, instead
5. ... then take Little Rock

I didn't actually expect that I would accomplish all of the "take..." objectives, but it seemed reasonable to assume that progress made toward any and all would result in enough victory points for a margin of victory of at least 13 points... which is what I needed to overcome Mae's valiant defeat in the first game of the bracket.

VI. Order of Battle
"Ordered" means I paid for the unit; "Mustered" means the unit appeared on the map; and "ready for duty" means the unit was... well.

Early July: Ordered a Field Hospital unit; ordered a 12 lbr.
Late July: Field Hospital mustered in St. Louis; 12 lbr mustered in Council Bluffs; Sigel successfully trains conscripts in Lexington.
Early August: Ordered 4x Marines; ordered 2x 6 lbrs in MO; 16 conscripts respond to a "Call for Volunteers"; General Fremont musters in St. Louis.
Late August: 4x Marines, 2x 6 lbrs mustered in St. Louis; ordered Cav in IA; 12 lbr ready for duty, in Council Bluffs
Early September: Field Hospital ready for duty, in St. Louis; Cav mustered, in Council Bluffs; fully operational Cav unit mustered in Leavenworth KS, in reaction to enemy incursion. Sigel successfully trains conscripts in St. Louis.
Late September: Sigel successfully trains conscripts in Ft. Leavenworth; 2nd Marine Bde ready for duty in St. Louis; 2x 6 lbrs ready for duty in St. Louis, one of which is upgraded to a 10 lb Parrott; ordered an Infantry Bde in IA (2x Inf)
Early October: "Tuttle's Bde" (2x Inf) mustered in Council Bluffs; "Arsenal Garrion" receives one conscript, in St. Louis; 1st, 3rd, and 4th Marine Bde ready for duty in St. Louis; ordered an Infantry Bde in KS (1x Inf, 1x Militia)
Late October: Sigel successfully trains conscripts in St. Louis; "Jennison's Bde" mustered in Lawrence KS (Note: a miscalculation on my part, since I intended the unit to muster in Leavenworth); Tuttle's Bde ready for duty, in Council Bluffs; The 2nd 6 lbr in St. Louis upgraded to 10 lb Parrott.
Early November: Jennison's Bde (1x Inf, 1x Militia) reports for duty, in Lawrence; order militia in IA.
Late November: Militia musters in Council Bluffs; General Curtis musters in St. Louis.
Early December: Ordered MO militia
Late December: Militia musters and reports for duty in Bloomington; MO Cav Bde receives new element in St. Louis.
Early January: No orders or musters; Lyon is eligible for promotion.
Late January: Sigel successfully trains conscripts in St. Louis; Lyon is promoted to General
All of February and the first half of March: no orders or musters
Late March: Ordered two MO militia
Early April: Militia musters and reports for duty in Bloomington, and Charleston. Lyon and Curtis are eligible for promotion.

VII. Replacements
I didn't keep careful notes of the replacements I ordered, so my memory must serve. As I recall, I ordered the following:
2x Elite Infantry (Marines)
2x Cav
2x Line Infantry
1x Field Artillery
2x Supply Trains

Of those replacements, I finished with 2x Elite, 1x Cav, 1x Line, 1x Field Artillery, and 2x Supply.

VIII. Economy
1. I didn't order industrialization in any state.

2. Because I didn't want stockpiles of supplies accumulating where they could be easily taken by the CSA, I didn't maintain or improve my rail or river trasport capacity throughout the game. Near the end, I added 10 to my river capacity, so I'd have the ability to move Lyon's Corps for Marine assaults.

IX. Loyalties
I anticipated that I would have a large margin of VP by the time that I took either NM objective in AR, and so I intended to declare Martial Law in AR. It didn't work out that way.

X. Battles
There were ten engagements in the game. Where numbers are listed, the first is USA, no matter who the actual attacker was.
1. Late August: Jefferson City
Attacker: USA
Force ratio: 82 to 0.
Hits suffered: 0 vs 2
Summary: A newly mustered CSA militia unit is annihilated by a Union Brigade out of Lexington.
Results: CSA defeat; Jefferson City is taken by USA

2. Early October: Union County, MO Hills, Fair weather
Attacker: CSA
Force ratio: 73 to 168
Opened fire (range): 4/4
Hits suffered: 8 vs 4 in battle; 4 hits taken by USA in retreat
Summary: A small USA patrol unexpectedly encounters McColloch's Division in Union County.
Results: USA defeat; patrol retreats to St. Louis

3. Early October: St. Louis, MO Clear, Fair weather
Attacker: CSA
Force ratio: 256 to 127
Opened fire (range): 7/6
Hits suffered: 5 vs 30 in battle; 4 hits taken by CSA in retreat
Summary: McColloch makes a probing attack against St. Louis, unaware that the forces there have been reinforced since his Cavalry scouted the position last turn.
Result: CSA defeat; USA St. Louis units unlocked.

4. Early October: Lexington, MO Clear, Fair weather
Attacker: CSA
Opened fire (range): 6/5
Force ratio: 129 to 100
Hits suffered: 3 vs 8 in battle
Summary: Stand Watie makes an assault against Lexington, unaware that the forces which took Jefferson City last turn have returned to their entrenchments, in Lexington.
Result: CSA defeat

5. Early October: Madison, AR Swamp, Fair weather
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): 2/2
Force ratio: 56 to 14
Hits suffered: 4 vs 6 in battle
Summary: I discuss this attack in the discussion section
Result: The first of three CSA defeats in Madison, this turn

6. Early October: Madison, AR Swamp, Fair weather
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): 2/2
Force ratio: 38 to 0
Hits suffered: 0 vs 6 in battle
Summary: I discuss this attack in the discussion section
Result: The second of three CSA defeats in Madison, this turn


7. Early October: Madison, AR Swamp, Fair weather
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): 2/2
Force ratio: 58 to 0
Hits suffered: 0 vs 6 in battle
Summary: I discuss this attack in the discussion section
Result: The third of three CSA defeats in Madison, this turn

8. Late December: Charleston, MO Clear, Snow
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): 4/3
Force ratio: 118 to 28
Hits suffered: 3 vs 32 in battle
Summary: Lyon marches to take an objective that's important for assaulting New Madrid.
Result: CSA defeat; the USA takes Charleston

I've misplaced my notes for this next battle
9. Early March: New Madrid Fortifications, MO Swamp, (Mud or Fair)
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): unknown
Force ratio: unknown
Hits suffered: unknown
Summary: Curtis, operating independantly of Lyon's Corps, assaults New Madrid (with 1 breech)
Result: CSA defeat; the USA takes New Madrid Fortifications.


10.Late March: Island 10, TN Swamp, Fair
Attacker: USA
Opened fire (range): 3/2
Force ratio: 217 to 111
Hits suffered: 20 vs 42 in battle; 29 suffered by USA while crossing the river.
Summary: Lyon's Corps takes heavy casualties on the river, then assaults the fort.
Result: CSA defeat; the USA takes New Madrid Fortifications; VPs sufficient to win the game.

XI. What I've learned
This was presented first, in the preceding post, and so I won't repeat it here.

I'll conclude with the final section, "XII. Discussion", in another post.

[tagwyn]

Havely: Look in the files of the Knoxville newspapers for evets and color during the ACW. I was raised in Memphis and frequently used that resource for my own enjoyment!! t

[Dixicrat]

I want to take a moment to thank Coffee Sergeant for a great game. I learned a lot, and had a great time. There were times when I was going nuts with impatience and anxiety, waiting for the next turn to arrive! That's the mark of a great game, for sure.

I also want to thank our host, kjstrand, for doing a great job of hosting. This was my first PBEM game, and kjstrand showed me how important it is to have a third party host for resolving problems when they arise. So: if any of y'all need a reliable, sensible, sociable host, I recommend kjstrand!