GraniteStater versus havi - yes, again.

[GraniteStater]

Mid-year 1862

Grant is still alive and scurryin' around in the bottom country of Paducahland. How to extricate? Full blocked on Wilmington and Charleston - overall Blockade percentage is at 50%. That's the Boxes // Ft Monroe/VA/James R. // The easy pickings at Bogue Inlet // Wilmington & Charleston. 50% just for those.

Slow but small steady progress Way Out West. In my other game, I just took El Paso. That's not this game. Baylor has some decent strength.

Big raid by Forrest into Iowa! Troublesome.

Been using cards more. Am rebuilding river fleet. Army is getting bigger, havi is around 90% Land Combat Strength, I think. More coming. WS are starting to look flush, thx to Indy. RR&R in good shape.

Have been Landing Sailors, trying to be annoying. Partisans, too. havi likes to Demonstrate - Habeas & Pinkertons do the best they can. havi likes to annoy, also, with Card units.

European Thoughts: around 60. Emancipation is coming, that drives that down for a while.

NM in the 80s. CSA NM: 130ish

[Gray Fox]

Try using the Cavalry Screen and IIRC Disinformation cards to help Grant vanish.

[GraniteStater]

Try using the Cavalry Screen and IIRC Disinformation cards to help Grant vanish.

Yeah, thinking about it.

[RebelYell]

Yeah, thinking about it.

Do you need to get out? Can you build a fort? Build a big depot also with flat boats, reinforce the bridgehead.

[RebelYell]

GRANT TAKES PADUCAH

Though Grant believed that General Pillow’s men were en route to Paducah, it was not actually the case. No Confederate troops had left Columbus. Nevertheless, rumors of such a march gave let for the Federals to occupy an even more strategic town than Columbus. Paducah not only covered the Ohio River, it was near the mouth of the Tennessee River. Control of the Tennesee meant control of the center of Kentucky.

Even before Grant landed, the Rebel flags had disappeared. He order United States flags to be run up in their stead. In town, he found enough Confederate rations to feed his troops, and took control of the railroad and the telegraph office. During his short stay, he composed and had printed a “Proclamation, To The Citizens of Paducah!”

“I have come among you, not as an enemy,” began General Grant, “but as your friend and fellow-citizen, not to injure or annoy you, but to respect the rights, and to defend and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens.” The Confederates, “an enemy, in rebellion against our common Government,” had invaded Kentucky and were “moving upon your city.”

Grant was there to “defend you against this enemy… and maintain the authority and sovereignty of your Government and mine.”3

http://civilwardailygazette.com/grant-takes-paducah-floyd-and-wise-continue/

[Straight Arrow]

Try using the Cavalry Screen and IIRC Disinformation cards to help Grant vanish.

Yeah, Cavalry Screen and Disinformation cards are great. By using them, I have managed to vanish or avoid contact a number of times. Once, they even allowed me to sneak an army across a river, without combat, into an area where the enemy had 100% MC and a very powerful force.

Disinformation and Cavalry Screens are pretty powerful at what they do. Your opponent can use Spies and Deep Recon to counter, but chances are they will fail to do so. Spies are a 50% chance. But Deep Recon can't be played on regions your foe controls. So, if you just lost a battle and are stuck in the same region as the victor, then your Cavalry Screen is guaranteed to work.

[havi]

Will i take chicago or not?! what do you say?

[havi]

So what happend it is august 1862. In Virginia we are still eyeballing each other's behind the trenches, union tryied to attack but they hit their head to stonewall and lost 25000 men but they r like all unions (soviet) they don't run out of men's or guns.

At west grants expedition is stamped out all he's mans are even bottom of missippi or at pow camp where they belong. The plantation owner Forest and he's cav army is at gates of Chicago looking to take the Windy City and all the meat what he can, there not should be big army to opposite me of the good old wizard of west.

At NM we attacked the Santa Fe but could not took the depo there so now we start siegin it...
Well let's soldier on and see how the empire strike backs! Is the Death Star ready or not we will see.

[Cardinal Ape]

Well let's soldier on and see how the empire strike backs! Is the Death Star ready or not we will see.

It is well known that one of Jefferson Davis' biggest mistakes was trying to assign L. Walker as a Confederate diplomat to Europe instead of assigning him command of an X-Wing division.

[GraniteStater]

Late August 1862

Well, havi is raising merry hob in Iowa and Illinois, with Forrest, Watie & Co., and in considerable strength. He's now also moved a 1000+ column into the southern tip of Illinois. KY and the lower rivers are going to come into play soon. Northern VA has been static, but forces are growing.

Way out West, Baylor ran into difficulties with Kit Carson. Troops are coming out of the boxes. One theater where it's tough to stop the Union altogether, unless the CSA really wants to put an effort into it.

Stuff is gonna happen.

More men and guns and equipment coming.

havi just raised taxes and printed money. I wonder if a 25% reduction in regular income is having an affect?

[havi]

well it is november 1862. Forrest made raids to iowa and illinois he went in steps of chicago with waties blackhawks, i decided not to attack chicago was afraid of mud and union rail capacity. When the mud hits the iron pony is faster than the original. other wise the raid was great success manage to burn 3 depos and cause havoc and fear of the yankees. Bring the war back to their population maybe they think twice now to invasion of south. Forest and Watie manage come back without of scratch so it was good!
At VA yankees manage to take Norfolk i was anticipating that and hit back with PGT and CO kicked the yankee out to swamp now i got them trapped in there let them starve before going to kill..
At FW everything is going ok yanks have more mens and guns there but they will bleed if they come i promise that.

[GraniteStater]

Yes, the tourist bureau in Norfolk was rather snippy, if you ask me - wouldn't even upgrade the car rental.

But, there are some other things going on...noticed havi put in Sibley to join Baylor in El Paso.

Methinks there's a glitch in the game engine for WoW (Way out West). It's always muddy, harsh weather - almost always. Moving through the Boxes and onto the map has taken a year, basically.

[GraniteStater]

Late November 62

Just sent this Turn.

Landed in Norfolk, took the place, and got kicked out in a pretty fair fight, but them's the breaks with the battle engine. Reboarded my boats from the Dismal Swamp and am sailing back to regroup.

Battle in Springfield against the 4-0-1 ** (Price?), pretty fair odds, defender entrenched - game gave me a technical win, but that's all it is. Defender still ensconced - bringing up more reinforcements.

Blockade at 55%.

Have been playing Cards more, spawning partisans and landing sailors and tearing up track and just being a pain. Most of these guys get kilt in the end, but hey, who's to begrudge a lonely death in fetid swamps if it's for a good cause?

CSA Land at about 85%. havi built a buncha boats - about 50% of US naval strength.

FI at 48%. NM at 79%.

Getting there - things have been static along the Mason-Dixon, not counting the attempt at Norfolk; I have yet to take Bowling Green, havi has Paducah, and the squabbling in MO has begun. Way out West, well, we shall see what we have to report next time, could be interesting.

*****

In my other game against fiddlers25, we're well into the spring of 1863. I took El Paso about six months ago. He ceded Bowling Green and Paducah two Turns ago (and he got the KY Secedes roll). Some Norfolk action. MO is awake. fiddlers25 took Harpers Ferry and kept it early on and kicked me out of Alexandria last fall (!) - the Line is the Potomac.

*********************

NOTE ABOUT KENTUCKY

havi did not get KY Secedes, I finally played the option in early December '61. They still hate my guts, just not as bad as the other game. Note to devs and Phil & Co: - guys, the whole KY thing started out as a mod in AACW. The way it stands right now, how does the Union end up with a favorable KY?

[GraniteStater]

End of 1862

Have cut off El Paso. The weather, as usual, is horrid. I have Wagons and outnumber him. See if his PWR starts to go down. Supply is important.

havi took Forrest and whacked me pretty good in central MO. I managed to hold onto my Stockade and Depot next to Springfield, but was kicked out of the Region and will most probably lose it to Forrest, with only a corporal's guard holding it. I have the MO Army 'corped', albeit under Fremont, which means the Corps commanders stats are awful. Decent Div commanders, but...

He still holds onto Bowling Green and has advanced positions in the Middle Theatre. Got to start a push soon.

In the East, things are static in NoVA. Probing and messing with Norfolk.

He is at about 84% of Land Power; 40% naval (yikes!).

The Blockade is at 60%. FI is at about 45% or so. NM is in the 80s.

All in all, not too bad. This coming campaign season has to have some payoffs.

[GraniteStater]

Late March 63

We're double-hosting, so this is an 'in-between' result, the result of the first Turn of the double Turn, if you will.

I took Charleston. Old Glory flies over the courthouse. Landed in fair strength; he had a single Div and some militia - I knew that (as in know) because of, ta-da, the Blockade!

Forrest is on his way to try to take St. Loo, it looks. He's building a redoubt at Paducah. His river fleet is almost half my former 'clads, which he captured - pretty gruesome.

El Paso is cut off, I believe. I have a distinct PWR advantage, but want to see if a steady diet of fried cactus starts to whittle him down.

NoVA is deadlocked.

But Charleston is showing only 1 for the Objective?

I had to give some guys some rest and temporarily withdrew some Fleets from the Blockade. Still at 40%, and now folks are going back out to sea. Mobile is blocked, as well as Pensacola, Savannah, Wilmington and the NC freebie (Bogue's Inlet).

Charleston, of course, ain't supplyin' nuttin to the CSA.

We shall see if the beach-head can be held. Have to finish the Turn and email it.

[GraniteStater]

SURRENDER

Just sent an apology to havi and fiddler25 and to vicberg - can't go through with the PbeMs anymore, just too much piling up in RL. There are priorities, after all, especially career and the people in your life.

I'm satisfied with the events in both games with havi and fiddlers25 - I think HiTek Union with a Blockade is quite viable. By 1863, the Union can hold the line and start to invade on the coasts and follow up in strength. It's all just flanking, really. With havi, we are ending with me in Charleston with two Divisions and more coming. With fiddlers25, I'm in Norfolk, am on the Arkansas and heading for Little Rock and threatening the Valley in Virginia, and am making the Tennessee untenable for him in Nashville.

Would I have won? Don't know for sure - my game against havi with 1.03 was not this approach and it was a technical, narrow win on points. Is my approach a sure thing? Not at all; I just wanted to see what this way could do.

Once the Union starts threatening the 'underbelly', takes a major coastal city, follows up, threatens to march on interior points, it's a different ballgame.

The idea is to catch the CSA 'up ice', so to speak - a CSA player can meet you at the fifty yard line (love this mixed metaphor?) and make you run running plays for two yards at a time, using the terrain and topography in VA and KY/TN. It's a bit more difficult for him in MO - not so favorable for that, the Union can just eventually kick in the door with numbers and support units and guns and the rivers aren't as favorable, it's more open.

So, freeze him where he chooses to dig in and then go around him - take Norfolk, take Charleston, Mobile, Savannah, whatever is suitable, and then, just go from there. Make your invasion from the coast a Normandy.

What the Union has to watch is NM and time.

Maybe Big Navy on the rivers? Dispatch Hollins, land at points downriver? Don't know - would still want a Blockade, myself.

Finally, the Blockade - I feel you either do it big (at least big enough) or settle on another strategy. Either settle for the 'default' blockade, or go for 65%+. Norfolk/Richmond, Bogue Inlet, Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Pensacola, Mobile and Galveston was getting me to 70% territory (I had to relieve some guys at certain points - I think all those places will put you at 70 - 75%). You need to decide from the first Turn - Blockade Flotillas are too expensive and take too long to build (six months, more or less) to piddle around with the idea. You do it for real or forget it, 40 or 50 percent is not worth the investment, imho.

Incidentally, a BF/Brig/Brig/TP squadron can stay there forever, I think I had a couple of these guys floating there for darn near a year. They just stay there, blocking away, Turn after Turn, month after month.

I'll still be posting now and again, I'm not in the hospital. Maybe in the future, I'll post in the PbeM Wanted section.

And, of course, if we get a Tournament again...

Best wishes to my opponents, all of them.

[havi]

News at north screams Lincoln has resigned, the overwhelming loss of men and litlle processing to south has made Lincoln to step down as seat of the presindent. The truce will come active straigh away all the troops wil stop the engagements and will stay behind their trenches. Peace talks between President Jefferson and president McDowell will start at Washington soon as possible. Rumors tell that union is willing to let south states to leave and confederacy will have reginition of the north.

So it has gone that way that my esteem opponent GS have stop the invading south and RL has become way of our war. I hope him all the best and will hope we will meet soon again.

[GraniteStater]

You're a great guy and a helluva player.

[Gray Fox]

I hope that everything works out in RL and that you can continue to post. I missed you for a year.

[GraniteStater]

Aw, geez. Makes a granite guy soften up a little bit...

but, thanks, GF.