How I take New Orleans

[GraniteStater]

Thought I'd repost this from another thread, in case anyone is curious or can make suggestions:

How to take New Orleans

This works against the AI. A human is not going to let NO sit unguarded. Athena never, in my experience, does enough here.

* First, I'm always puzzled about people decrying the Mighty Forts. Piffle, I say, piffle. I have never failed to sail past them and land. Occasionally, yes, I get shot up, but that doesn't stop the landing and with, what, 2000 Supply or more, a big city and harbor, your naval elements have a more than adequate rest stop after the shouting's over.

* For a very long time, I would wait for the Armored Frigate, Hartford, to deploy and go down with Farragut. Then I got smart, which has only been quite recently. I use Palmer (hmm..., there is a point to Farragut - maybe I'll start using him again, a Leader switch is not terribly time consuming) and the All-Sail fleet I almost always build around him. Why? Because the Sailers are faster. Maybe it's just a day or two, but those days might be the difference in getting there before Athena rails something in or builds and deploys unwanted hosts there. Also, I know I'm going to be there in no more than two Turns. Four TPs, maybe more.

* Your NOEF (New Orleans Expeditionary Force) should be (this is all my preferences, supposedly for reasons, but, then again, I'm an ornery cuss), ideally (I do go with the NOEF Lite sometimes, but this is what I really want):

> At least two Divs, but you really want at least three and four is much better, for reasons I shall come to in a bit. You want at least moderate to full Divs, the smallest at least 300 PWR. The total I seek is darn near 1000 PWR; I'll kick it off with 750; 600 is a bit too skimpy. You want to descend like an Assyrian in purple and gold (14,735 brownie points to those who catch the allusion without Google), you want to impress posteriors first and worry about nomenclature later.

> You want 12-lbers in those Divs, at a minimum; no foolin' around, no economy-size cannon. If I can, no 12-lbers, but 10-lb Parrots. Try to have three in each one, I like to have four.

> A 3* as NOEF overall Top Guy, at least one 2*, preferably two. Naturally, a 1* for each Div. Two batteries of 20-lb persuaders loose in the NOEF. At least two Wagons, three or four is better.

> To make this an Army? Yes, no, whatever gets you going - I've done it both ways. A slim edge to an Army, maybe more than slim - the 2*s, naturally, can form Corps, which are always to be desired. I've used Butler and Banks - room for improvement here, I'm sure.

* Sail these bad boys down there in two Turns with all your Buttons set. Evade Combat, G/G; you wanna land, not get into fishing disputes. Sail past those vaunted piles of brick at the mouth of the Mississip'. Take your lumps as they come - I have never, never lost a TP - ever.

* Land and attack on All Out Crazy. If you have Activation issues (a Landing forces R/R, AFAIK), break out a Div, maybe two, separately - someone's gonna be Active soon enough.

* Take the city, which I usually do very quickly.

* Split off about 500 Pwr and dash to Ft Pike and seize it in an R/R Crazy, if you can. Bring a Wagon and both 20-lb convincers. If not, siege. You have more than enough Supply to party 'til Mardi Gras in '65. Try to make it a short siege, if that's the deal, and use those Parrots!

* Park the naval elements in NO & recover.

Hey, guess what? If all went well, you have NO in considerable strength, Wagons to tote with you, good Arty and Ft Pike. Pike is important, not for Supply (you have oodles in NO), but so reinforcements can sail or steam in without getting the brasswork dinged.

Let those awesome piles of masonry at the mouth of the river gather moss and, we hope, starve. Now, it's up to you. I put a high priority on Baton Rouge. Do not let sneaky Rebs backdoor you from the swamps. 500 PWR in NO at almost all times.

Go from there. Who needs Grant on the upper river? NO and a push north is not very far from Vicksburg. If Johnny Reb is touchy about this, go for Mobile. Bring in More and make out like the Allies in Normandy.

[pgr]

Once Ft.Pike falls, do transports automatically path find to NO through that route? And as long as you are experimenting, how long does it take for those two cut off forts to starve out?

[GraniteStater]

* AFAIK, no. Maybe. Lake P. can be navigated, but I think the last wet mile doesn't connect or s. t. like that. Frankly, never really tried that hard - I can get troops into Pike from the sea, which is all I'm really interested in.

* Actually never seen them do so, but Athena has never, AFAICS, operated from them. So, again, to me, it's moot.

Ya gotta watch your Regional pathing down there - some is swamp, some not.

[GraniteStater]

Also...

Brigs can sail up the Mississippi. Yes, Brigs can sail up rivers - I know I've done it. You can't Build Stuff in NO, so this is key if you want a South Mississippi naval presence that can go upriver beyond BR or PH, can't remember the exact point.

Sail the Brigs in from the Gulf, lick wounds in NO if the Two Forts have shot you up. One can always have a bunch in the original landing fleet, of course.