Straight Arrow wrote:Great game and very skillful play by our hairy eminence.
However, the pace makes Sitzkrieg looks lighting fast.
Check out the ARR; it is most excellent, but soooooo slow.
Thanks. Yes, the game is currently going at a near real-time pace, around two weeks a turn... Sometimes I wonder if I am playing against George R. R. Martin.
It is really tough to play at that pace. And to be honest, if I didn't give him my word that I wouldn't bail on him, I would bail now. I know he has tried to write a few AARs before, but they came to a premature end. Hopefully this one will have a proper finish, though it may take till 2018..
vicberg wrote:A few comments on your game Cardinal with the limited screen shots provided
1) What happened to Grant? Did he die?
2) If CSA is able to secure Alexandria -> Harpers, the way to loosen that up is Norfolk. CSA will generally respond with troops from the Eastern Front, increaseing opportuniies to break the line. Any further south and the CSA may not respond from the East. It's a psyche battle.
3) The Alexandria->Harper's Ferry front line is the most important line in the game for the Rebels. It has to be broken by the Union. If it can't by frontal assault, then maneuver. There's plenty of cities and supply depots in WV to be able to flank south from PA through WV into Shenandoah. If they take this, all production needs to go towards breaking it.
4) Cav raids in the Shenendoah go a long way to loosening up Harper's Ferry
5) I love taking NO, but hate expanding out from it. Terrible terrain and too many ways to cut supply. I like to take it, hold it with a division and use troops to invade Mobile or other places. If they look like they are mounting an assault, my troops are heavily entrenched by then and I can transfer to reinforce NO. The goal is to tie up their troops. Stretch them.
6) You did an awesome job in MO with the exception of the 600 monster division under Shelby. That one needs a small corp to kill and lots of rail.
1) Hmmm? My opponent must be quite behind on the AAR... The last I recall Grant being off the front was when I recalled him to Cairo. Originally, he had been sent to secure the MO build pool in New Madrid. In the battle the CSA forces got boned by the retreat rolls and ended up retreating north... One thing led to another, and after a few turns of trying to chase the force down I realized that I was caught in tunnel vision.
After Grant caught his breath in Cairo, he charged out again and has been active since. I won't spoil the AAR, but I will say that we managed to have the best recreation of the battle of Shiloh that I have seen.
2,3&4) Right from the start I set the goal of taking the historical Union objectives for mid 62'. With a lot of my early forces going west, the VA front went silent after Alexandria. Each time I opened up a new front out west the CSA responded in kind, diverting her forces out west. After Anaconda, the Peninsular campaign began - Your points are fairly accurate predictions, though my opponent did not react like I figured he would. He may be winning the mind battle, if I was more aggressive and risky with my post-landing maneuvers, Richmond might be mine, but I was overly cautious. With the Union having such an economic advantage I don't feel an urgent need to win the war now. One major mistake by me and things could turn right back around.
5) I feel the same way. I ended up taking Vicksburg also. I did it because it was historical and now I have divisions stuck defending it. I really don't think it is worth the effort. Vicksburg makes very little, it is nice to have a clear river, but it's loss doesn't hurt the CSA much. Plus, it threw me through a loop when Union generals started spawning there instead of Cairo and other places.
6) I love some early action with Lyons out west. But Shelby.... speak not of him. Union high command does not recognize the existence of him and his supposed ghost cavalry. Its tough to let him run rampant out west, but as you say, it would take too many resources to put an end to his raids. The Union forces in the theater have been hunkered down on the supply lines while Shelby's troops get fat raiding Iowa.. The goal was to shut down any Confederate recruitment in MO, as long as that is maintained then I'm fine with Shelby rampaging the country side.