Kentuckian(USA) vs. Elxaime(CSA)

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE JUNE 1861[/color]

Hello everyone and welcome to my very first attempt at a full AAR! As you have already figured out I will be attempting to play the boys in blue (yuck) , against my esteemed opponent elxaime.

Now, before we continue a bit of background info:

This will be the third game between elxaime and myself and his third game as the CSA ever. The first two matches were over rather quickly, but hey lets face it, its hard as the CSA against a somewhat experienced player and even more so if you aren't familiar with them! I went for an all-in-the-east strategy which ended both games rather quickly. As fun as it was building up to that massive force, it ended the game on a rather boring note so I intend to do my best to follow history in this game and attempt to implement the Anaconda plan. With that said, we will also be opening the PBEM in late June now that the main armies have unlocked in VA!

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Here is the current situation in NVA at the moment. I have McDowell with 16/16 CP sitting in Alexandria with around 13k men and 106 cannon, including the fort cannons and 0 CP brigade from fort Alexandria, which is why he is locked. I believe this to be wise as MTSG is nowhere near to being unlocked, so this a one region defense. The rest of his army is continuing to reinforce in the Alexandria fort waiting to see if PGT bolsters his forces before adding to McDowell's CP. Also I am sending a force of about 7k men and 40 cannon northwest to Leesburg to begin digging in. Also you can see that we are in control of Harper's Ferry which we held without a single battle, so I am bringing additional forces in here as well. Basically I will do my very best to hold this three region line across the south of the Potomac and place militia units north of the river to begin forming fallback positions. Its suicide to attack the as the USA this early in the game and after having tried it in multple PBEM's I just can't bring myself to order the senseless murder of so many digital men.

As you can see here I am doing a bit of gathering and training of sharpshooter units in Harrisburg. I usually have Harrisburg as a muster station for any PA troops being built, as well as a large amount of the Vol. Brigades to be trained under Little Mac and Halleck. Harrisburg is just outside the FOW of the south and very close by rail to the NVA front, so it makes it an ideal spot to organize units heading that way. Basically what I am going to do here is my strategy that I usually follow in the east; gather the volunteer brigades/elite brigades/large amounts of offensive cannon and form the hard-hitting backbone of the army of the Potomac. As you will hopefully see as this PBEM goes on, once spring of 62' rolls around, the force here will be outstanding. Almost like the Norths Valley Forge...except we aren't losing. Yet.

In WV we are just waiting for General Floyd to abandon Clarksburg before moving in. We are also trying to get MC of the railways here, connecting this force with Harper's Ferry. Keeping this rail line open while we hold HF will be of vital importance if we need to shift troops, or threaten the upper valley.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Now to the west. Here I have captured Rolla and its supply depot, am obtaining MC of the railways and moving on Jefferson City with a small force. As I said I will be implementing the Anaconda plan so I intend to contest Missou as quickly as possible and will be moving on Springfield in a turn or so. I would like to beat McCullough's army of the west if at all possible.

In the far west we are just sending the forces unlocking in the upper western states down...I don't plan to make many moves out here or spend any resources. If I can hold El Paso and take Tucson, personally that is enough for me. The war will be won on other fronts not in this supply quagmire.

In a few turns I will also be sending out squadrons of 12-13 ships to the larger east coast CSA ports to blockade them and get that blockade % up to around 50. I am really unsure of what effect this has on the CSA's economy but the larger the number the better I suppose. Plus these ships have nothing better to do right now anyway.

Again I want this PBEM to last longer than our last game, so I will be moving slowly and methodically as the USA and begin to strangle the south little by little eventually bringing it to its rightful place. Its knees.

More to come!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY JULY 1861[/color]

The first small battle of the war has occurred! A small skirmish just south of Jefferson City Missouri saw around 200 casualties. Insignificant but it is the first one of the game so hey, here it is!

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Well PGT did bring in some reinforcements and has a very large stack in Mananas at the moment. I have pulled out the rest of the forces in fort Alexandria to merge with McDowell who now fields 25k men and 200 cannon. His CP is waaaay to high for his mental capacity , but on the defensive hopefully he can hold if PGT is feeling frisky.

We have also pulled out various militia's and sent them on there merry ways to begin digging fallback positions in case we are kicked out of any positions south of the Potomac. I would like to hold HF for a while if I can, but won't hesitate to burn the depot and retreat across the river if Leesburg falls. The extra bit of VP's are nice, but its not a big deal to lose it...as long as you don't lose Alexandria in the process. Then it sucks getting back over that river at all. However with Jackson there I will send a volunteer brigade from Harrisburg there as well as a cavalry unit to bolster his numbers a bit, until I can get the WV forces over there.

In WV the CSA has fallen back as predicted, so we will move on Clarksburg even though there is still a cavalry unit there. Hopefully Mansfield is up to the task...

Little Mac has unlocked and is on his way to Harrisburg to begin training up the boys there. Along side Hallack they can put a huge dent in those Vol. brigades by next year.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Shelby moved on up to JC with his two cav regiments, probably to knock out the railroad. Lyon's must have been inactive cause he didn't make it to JC, but we will continue on in then south to one region north of Springfield. It looks like he is recruiting there heavily, if I had to guess its militia but who knows. We are going to attack in two turns nonetheless. We have reinforcements on their way, but will take a couple turns to get there. I just hope they can beat McCoullough, who I believe unlocked this turn. Regardless we will go in, much must be risked in war!

We are also moving a Cavalry regiment on Tucson. It doesn't look like he recruited anything there so we are going to try and get there before he does. Would be nice to dig that little guy in and wait on the cavalr... err infantry.

On the decision front, we got some railroad capacity and I have decided to pay 2 dollars bounty for recruits. I usually don't do this...but I want to see how many the USA actually gets. I believe we can print money next turn so we should be okay to begin some heavy recruitment after that.

I have an idea of where I want to focus recruitment when the time comes. First I will begin constructing as many 20lbers as I can in the east as well as the west. They take a while to come online so getting them going early is important. I will also look at a few sharpshooter units out west, because again, they take forever. Other than that I will begin recruiting some troops out west to hopefully move on either Island 10, or fort Donaldson. I will have to begin scouting them soon, but I don't want to give away my intentions. Having Grant ready to go at the head of a good division in Oct. and striking quickly at either of these locations if possible can get in him promoted immediately. The sooner the better! I will keep him in the west however, at least until 1863 (unless things are going very bad in the east), and see if we can mirror the USA success out west.


As far as the next turn goes, I am a tad worried about NVA as PGT has amassed a large force and Jackson is in command in Winchester. Not sure where Johnston went, I'm sure he is lurking around somewhere.

Next turn I hope to be able to move on Springfield and pray Lyon's is active. If we can take Springfield before the winter I will consolidate there and I'm not sure if I'll go any further for a long time. Knocking those Missou units out of his force pool will be my first priority.

Stay tuned!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE JULY 1861[/color]

Quite a bit of action this turn. Elxaime went on the offensive this turn, as I thought he might but was foiled in both attempts.

Here you can see Jackson came in to HF with decent size force but the battle itself didn't last long. The reinforcements I sent were timely and the defensive terrain were enough to make Jackson think otherwise.

PGT did make a move, but on Leesburg. This one I thought I was doomed when I saw him moving there, but my boys put up a good fight. Again the battle didn't last long so I'm not sure what is making these generals disengage. Relative casualties compared to the amount of turns in the battle? Not sure. But we get 2 NM for these sharp little affairs and are very content with that!

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Well since he committed PGT to Leesburg and McDowell is active this turn via event, I will try my luck with a counter attack. I'm sure it will fail but I'd like to cause some cohesion loss to him and some casualties to make him refit his forces before trying anything else. We control the rail line so can be there in one day and are leaving 13k men behind in Alexandria in case Longstreet moves in. We can then just rail back next turn win or lose. In HF we are just sitting tight and hoping Jackson doesn't kick us out of there. I have pulled out a cavalry unit to go inside Harper's hoping to be able to blow the depot if we are ejected.

We are moving the WV forces under Mansfield forward to threaten his flank and his retreat path to Winchester. I will not be attacking with Mansfield because we want to get control the Rail line first and foremost. Then his forces will merge with Milroy's boys in HF and I'll have 6 cavalry regiments able to keep an eye on the rail road for a bit.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Lyons took JC but Shelby of course made it out before we even got close. He did continue on south, so we have a decent force just north of Springfield now. One more turn and most of the forces I have will be there and will try our luck with an attack here. I hope Lyon's can carry the day, but we will see.

Further west our cavalry regiment made it to Tucson and is now digging in waiting for reinforcements coming from the north.

On the decision front, look at the amount of conscripts the USA got from the 2 dollar enlistments. 650! We now have over 1000 conscripts ready to go. However we are short on cash but are printing money this turn, so next turn we will unleash a massive recruitment effort. I still believe I didn't have to spend that much and with that many conscripts we will probably have enough to last us through the winter recruitment phase.

I did order some forces to be built around Cairo to prepare for Grants arrival. I also ordered a couple of Timberclads there to support the landing by soaking up some artillery fire from the forts.

I think next turn I will recruit two divisions in the east for a naval landing, as well as one in the west along with as many 20lbers as I can in both regions. We shall see how much I can afford after that massive amount spent on conscripts.

So this turn all eyes turn to McDowell. He is active according to the event so that is good. I don't expect a massive victory, or even a victory at all really. I just want to do some more damage to Elxaime's boys there to force him to refit them rather than recruit new units.

Elsewhere, Little Mac has arrived in Harrisburg to begin the training of the Volunteer brigades there and I believe Halleck pops up soon, so will can send him there to help as well. I have also formed another army under Butler ....Yikes...to head to HF to up the CP there. We will see how that goes. Not good I'm sure, but I'm left with little options. I have Baker in DC as a recruiting officer and Little Mac will be doing his training.

Next turn will be the large recruitment phase and our push on Springfield. Stay tuned!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY AUGUST 1861[/color]

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Pretty quiet turn. McDowell did not bring PGT to battle of course and is on his way back to Alexandria. Interestingly Jackson is still in HF but moving away, so we will see what that will bring next turn. Butler is on his way there, not a big confidence boost but it is in the hills and they are dug in. Here's hoping.

Mansfield is still prodding along in the hills of WV but should be arriving two regions away from Harper's in a couple of days. We will then move him on the region right next to HF and get that MC going if possible.


[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

We are sending Lyon's into Springfield and have him on assault so he can take the town as well if he succeeds. Shelby is a beast in this game so it should be interesting. With the command penalty I'm not confident, but I have to try now cause if I don't it may take forever to eject him out of there. Here's hoping he is activated!

Not much to report other than that. We did recruit 2 exact 18 unit divisions(counting officers) in the east for naval operations, and one in the west. We also have two stacks of 20lbers being built in Penn and Mass.

These will be going to Little Mac's stack to form 2 or 3 artillery divisions and begin getting experience points from a headquarters unit when they are done.

On the political front, the confiscation act is past, so we got a bit of a NM bonus...but in one month we'll be hit with the 10 NM blow from the Manassas event, so I am hoping Lyon's can come through.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE AUGUST 1861[/color]

Well Elxaime continues to go on the offensive, hoping for some early victories but again he is thwarted. Jackson attacked Harper's again unsuccessfully and PGT attacked Alexandria twice. The Alexandria battles were the bloodiest of the war so far and PGT got a bloody nose. We also got 5 NM from these! A big boost since we are losing 10 next turn.

Again it looks like this battle didn't last long at all before Jackson called it quits. Quite unlike Stonewall if you ask me.

Here PGT we stopped cold with twice our loses.

And again on day 13.

As you can see all of these battles seemed to only go one round. Those are some huge casualties for one round of combat in Alexandria. Shows what entrenched positions and an advantage in guns can do.


Out west Lyon's proved his worth and took Springfield. Couldn't be happier with this result. Luckily it looks like Price was in command rather than Shelby or McCullough, a slight mistake on his part probably. The CP would be high either way, so a better general would have been the way to go here. Now we can dig in and begin to get MC of the greater part of Missou and set up a supply line. Hopefully I can get some more cav out here soon to protect it. I doubt we will go much farther out here for sometime because its just not worth heading down to Arkansas. If you don't win, its a very long haul back up to Springfield and the resources needed to do any real damage out here will be needed elsewhere for the time being. Lyon's was not promoted unfortunately, but we will probably send him over to Grant soon and let Sumner take up the defense when he becomes a 2 star.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Basically we are just holding tight for now. There could be some possible counter attack options, but with my poor commanders and no 'active this turn' event, I am just going to let them refit. I am very happy with the results here so far, hold-at-costs seems to be working properly because I find with the standard defense stance they will retreat at times, even when they probably shouldn't. I suspect Elxaime to head back to where he started this turn and I think I will let him. I considered having Mansfield move on Winchester to try and catch Jackson, but in truth he would be outnumbered if Jackson made it back so he will just move on the rail line one region from Harper's to take control. This will give us complete control of the WV line which will be good.

Halleck has appeared so he will be joining Little Mac in Harrisburg to help with the training. I have recruited another division in PA for naval operations as well as another division out west along with some more artillery and some support units for my future naval operation stack. I still have 300 or so conscripts so its a toss up if I would have been able to build anything else had I gone with a lesser enlistment bonus. I would have had the money, but would I have had the conscripts?

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Lyon's will rest this turn and begin constructing a depot. I have to send some cav units towards JC as McCullough has already moved on it with some Cavalry regiments. I have to be very aware of protecting this supply line in the future. I'll will probably just recruit a few militia and have them hold inside the town. I should be able to lift any real threats there from Springfield before they can take it, unless they assault the town in force somehow.

[color="#FF0000"]Far West[/color]

Our cavalry is taking control of Tucson and we have some infantry on the way to take the town. Elxaime must have just given this up. As the CSA you do have to devote some valuable resources out here if you want to keep it for long. I don't blame him for giving it up really. As far as I am concerned once I dig in there that is as far as we go out here. Taking El Paso would be nice, but I think I'll just hold Santa Fe and Tucson and worry about other fronts.

[color="#FF0000"]Atlantic[/color]

We have now blockaded Wilmington and Charleston respectively with another blockade force on its way to Savannah. The blockade % is now up to 45 and I expect it to be 50+ once Savannah is put under blockade. Again, not sure what effect this has on his economy but like I said those ships would be just sitting in harbor's anyway.

We are continuing to just sit tight for the moment, and recruiting various forces around the map. I believe my 3 naval divisions will be ready by late Oct so we should be heading towards a nice sunny area of the CSA just as winter is rolling around. I am still debating on where to go, I will have to send out some brigs to get more info.

More to come.

[havi]

uuf CSA is getting thrashed, bad luck for your oppo...

[Orphan_kentuckian]

uuf CSA is getting thrashed, bad luck for your oppo...

It's still quite early! His NM is around 110 as well so things aren't looking down just yet. He does have a numbers advantage however so I will have to be aware of that when divisions open up soon.

Good to see ya buddy!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY SEPTEMBER 1861[/color]

Nothing big happening this turn. Small skirmish in Missou as McCullough was trying to get out of JC. We have him surrounded now, but I'm confident that he will make it out.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Just a bunch of sitting tight and recovering from the previous turns battles. Elxaime got the worst of it so I expect him to sit tight for a turn or two. At least until divisions open up. The recruitment's are going well and should be done by later Oct. I hope to have them organized and on there way in Nov sometime to a CSA port to be decided on soon.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

We built a depot in Springfield and will look to build one in JC perhaps if the supply situation because worrisome. For now it looks like quite a bit came through so keeping the one in Rolla protected may be enough. Lyon's has moved out towards Cairo to link up with Grant and prepare for a river movement to somewhere. I hope to get them both promoted as soon as possible. Grant at the head of an army with Lyon's as a
Corps commander will go a long way early.

I'm sending out a few scouting vessels towards Ft. Henry/Donaldson and Island 10 to see if he has set up anything in these two regions. I'm sure he has as the last time we played I took island 10 very quickly which got Grant promoted. I look for him to be sitting there already with something.

[color="#FF0000"]Far West[/color]

Nothing to report. Everyone is heading towards Tucson. On think about it I will recruit a ranger out here to scout out El Paso and see if he is devoting anything out here. If not I might try to make a move later on. It would require another supply wagon or two to do so however.

Quiet turn. I'm quite sure the next couple turns will be this way until divisions open up. I might have to send one down from Harrisburg when they from to reinforce NVA as it seems Elxaime is definitely being more aggressive this game.

I was also wrong on the Manassas event. I thought it fired in early Sept but it seems I was wrong on that. It will come in a turn or so though I'm sure. Right now my NM is 97 so I can handle the 10 NM hit. Usually not very high for the USA this early on, but he was aggressive early and paid a price for it.

Here is how it stands so far. We've inflicted double casualties but of course he is earning more VP's and still has a much higher NM for the time being.

More to come.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE SEPT/EARLY OCT[/color]

Nothing much happened in September, we both kinda sat tight and refit our units after the battles in NVA. Divisions are open this turn however so I am expecting Elxaime to make a move soon, where his hammer blow will fall I'm not sure.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Here is how we are looking in NVA at the moment. Still holding our three region defense with a division each in HF and Leesburg and two and half divisions holding Alexandria. I think he will move on Leesburg or Harper's soon, so I will think about trying to send them another division being formed in Harrisburg. They each have 10k men plus artillery so hopefully they can hold their own for a bit. Again, I'll give up Harper's and Leesburg as long as we control Alexandria. Here we have 28k men and around 200 cannon and are well dug in. It is open ground though and he could mass a force in Manassas twice that size under PGT if he wants to I would imagine. If I see that I will have to move a couple volunteer brigades that way.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

We are just holding in Missou and gaining military control over the surrounding area. We have a good division in Springfield with about 50 artillery pieces so I think we are pretty set there. If he wants to commit two or more divisions out here to try and kick us out he is welcome to it.

Here is Grants force hiding in Cairo. He and Lyon's will probably make a move next turn. I'm seeing a force in Island 10 but nothing in Fort Donaldson at the moment.

It is only 2 days rail from Nashville so that could change soon. Grant and Lyon's will be a mean force to deal with though and with 20k men I hope they can push a stack out of wherever they land. I did however forget to recruit Lyon's a marine unit, so that was a bit of a mistake.

We have two divisions being recruited in Louisville with ample artillery being formed as well. I won't make a push in KY for a while as it seems it will remain neutral until next year which is unfortunate but not a big deal for now.

[color="#FF0000"]Atlantic[/color]

We have three major ports under blockade now and have over 55% on that front.



As for recruiting, the naval operations units will be done next turn and will be formed into 3 divisions. I think I will only have a 2 star to command them however so we will see how that goes. I am contemplating sending them all they way to Mobile or Pensacola Fl. The reason here is because I have a huge amount of forces being prepared in PA for the NVA front but not a ton out west just yet. This could make him shift some of his forces in Tenn south to deal with our naval threat and allow Grant to move onto somewhere unmolested. My other thought is to go straight for Norfolk as it seems his other eastern cities have defenses already. I don't want to land a crappy commander and three divisions somewhere he has even a division dug in.

I am expecting the next few turns to contain a lot of action, so stay tuned!

[Gray Fox]

FYI, if you use your best Commander in the stack as a unit commander, Grant in charge of a Division or Jackson in charge of a brigade, then these esteemed gentlemen cannot act as stack Commanders. The stack has their picture because they are the senior man, and the battle report shows them on top. However, you can't be a kindergarten teacher and the principal. Have them loose in the stack if you want them to be stack Commander. You'll gain about 3% of the combat power that your stack has with an overall Commander. It's a game of inches. Good AAR!

[havi]

well csa have loosed tennesee and kentucky when u take donalson what u will take at grant?! and in Virginia he can only hit leesburg if he wants to win a fight and u know it so he will bumb bunch of guns and guys with blue bellies right? then u will stabilize the front bush him back and have a army to go behind him at charleston or savannah at same time u pressure him at virginia and tennessee! is it right?

[Cardinal Ape]

As fun as it was building up to that massive force, it ended the game on a rather boring note so I intend to do my best to follow history in this game and attempt to implement the Anaconda plan.

I find this type of play to be more fun and rewarding than an eastern steamroller. Looks to be a good read. Though, it seems most of your action is in the east so far. When do you sail for New Orleans? Get it early and raise its loyalty, it has the potential to make you more money than New York, strangely.

It seems your opponent is severely underestimating how much it takes to launch a successful attack. Without a stack commander like Lee, he will need a lot more on the quantity side of things..

Gray Fox is right about dual stack and unit commanders; they can't be both. In your pic with Grant and Lyons, Lyons division will fight 6% better than Grant's on the offensive. Grant would become the stack commander and become unable to provide unit/divisional bonuses to his own division.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

FYI, if you use your best Commander in the stack as a unit commander, Grant in charge of a Division or Jackson in charge of a brigade, then these esteemed gentlemen cannot act as stack Commanders. The stack has their picture because they are the senior man, and the battle report shows them on top. However, you can't be a kindergarten teacher and the principal. Have them loose in the stack if you want them to be stack Commander. You'll gain about 3% of the combat power that your stack has with an overall Commander. It's a game of inches. Good AAR!

Interesting! I was not aware. Love this game, always learning something. I don't have another general here and I want all the forces I can get to move, so I will have to send another General out here asap. Thank you kind sir.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY NOVEMBER 1861[/color]

Quiet few turns for the most part. We are both organizing our forces for the year to come.

But the North will be on the move out west this turn even with winter setting in. I am hoping he sits back thinking I won't risk anything in the colder weather, but I have quite a few chits sitting in replacements for any hits we may take because of it. The north can handle it.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

We are again just sitting tight out here. PGT is amassing quite a large force in Manassas, over 2k power but I only see 3 divisions and a lot of loose troops. So he isn't done organizing here yet I think and will hopefully stay put. But with 2k power and still more divisions to be formed it seems I will have to keep an eye on this.

This is what Little Mac and Halleck are training up in Harrisburg. Almost 70k men there with already close to 300 cannon, with more in production. I will more than likely form two corps out of this and send the other few divisions to HF and Leesburg respectively. The two corps I do from will be my assault forces in the future. They will keep on training right through the winter and if elxaime remains dormant they will all be trained up by Feb/Mar I would guess. But I am prepared to send out a few if he goes on the offensive.

We are also heading out to the Gulf with Milroy's stack. He will have about 30k men and around 70 cannon. I would have liked to get him some more artillery but I feel I need to go now before he can raise more troops in the coming months. I think our target will be one region above New Orleans rather than landing in the region itself. This will allow us to hopefully cut that rail (its swampy) and send a small detachment one more region north to do the same, while moving on New Orleans from land. Way safer than an all out assault from the sea with a crappy commander. My goal is to hopefully take New Orleans before the year is out and coupled with Grant moving on Island 10, put some pressure on him out here early and commit to building some forces here rather than VA. With KY neutral I don't want him thinking he can raise everything in the east for now.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Speaking of Grant here he is with Lyon's about to move on Donaldson. I was told he will have a worse combat performance while commanding a division and not be in true command of the stack. But I was hoping they could destroy some units and get at least one of them promoted. I unfortunately don't have another general here and I want to send in both divisions so we will keep it like it is. The Flotilla brigade did arrive so I can send its general there next turn....if we take it. It is a huge risk going by river movement, they could get caught and totally annihilated. I am debating shrinking the size down and sending by boats, then reinforcing after. This is a decision I will have to make pretty soon. But he has not moved a force to Island 10 yet and its almost December...

Still just getting MC in Missou. Its been pretty quiet here since we took Springfield. I have two very small militia divisions in JC and Rolla respectively just sitting quietly in the town. They will more than likely have an easy war. I am also recruiting some cavalry out here to from a cav division to perhaps counter him if he does the same under Shelby. If not, I can move it east to KY or even VA if I need to.

[color="#FF0000"]Far West[/color]

Nothing to report here as always. I think I will just leave this out for the next few updates until something interesting happens. If he doesn't make any moves out here then it will remain the way it is. Us in Tucson and Santa Fe him in El Paso. I'm fine with that.


So, we are hoping Grant can take island 10 this turn and elxaime won't have a large force close by to launch a quick counter attack. Milroy's naval expedition won't be in the Gulf for two turns so hopefully that might relieve some pressure on Grant's force when he lands.

Now we just have to decide if we want to send the entire force by river movement, or knock it down and just send around one division by fleet. Decisions, decisions.

More to come.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

I find this type of play to be more fun and rewarding than an eastern steamroller. Looks to be a good read. Though, it seems most of your action is in the east so far. When do you sail for New Orleans? Get it early and raise its loyalty, it has the potential to make you more money than New York, strangely.

We are on the way! I was debating where to send them, but you are right. If I want to follow history, albeit loosely, I should move on NO. We shall see in the next few turns what he has there.

I also thought about taking some of the forts on the NC coast, as in history. I could easily take one of the divisions out of Harrisburg for that. It would also definitely get someone promoted. Hooker would be the best choice rather than Burnside in this fiction. Or I could get one promoted then send another. We shall see.

[Gray Fox]

You're most welcome!

IIRC, the trainers (McClellan and Halleck) have to be in separate stacks so that they both upgrade units.

Also, a good recon is the difference between a battle plan and a battle wish. One little cavalry element set to green/green and evade combat can slip down to Fort Donnelson and tell you what guards it. The force in Donnelson doesn't look too large, but they are entrenched, so any artillery they have may fire at Grant's boats that don't seem to have any combat ships from the Mississippi fleet with him. (I assume from the pic that Grant is moving on Donnelson and not Island 10.)

Also, if you send a brig to prowl the coast by NO and a few other CSA ports, then you should get intel on what defends your target without tipping your hand.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

You're most welcome!

IIRC, the trainers (McClellan and Halleck) have to be in separate stacks so that they both upgrade units.

Quite right. I simply merged their stack so I wouldn't have to post two pics. I separated them afterwards. Halleck is training one division while the rest are in the stack with Little Mac and the headquarters unit.

Yes of course I meant Donaldson and not Island 10, mistake on my part. I will edit it. But yes, at Donaldson my brig tells me its only the fort garrison that is spawned there initially.

As far as spying out the coast, I considered it, but then I have the other ports already under blockade and if I send a few lone brigs to this area it will probably tip it off even more. I will just go in blindly and hope he isn't entrenched above NO. (most people don't)

I am confident my three divisions can push out anything he could have formed in NO this early, but then again I could be sending 30k men to their deaths.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE NOVEMBER 1861[/color]

Grant was successful in Donaldson. There really wasn't enough there to destroy much, just the garrison units. We did capture the supply and a 10lber that was there though.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Another round of sitting tight. We are still training in Harrisburg 4 elements a turn so its moving right along. Two full divisions under Hooker and Burnside are done and even under Little Mac they have a power floating around 750. Three more months of training under the headquarters unit will also help that.

We printed money last turn but aren't building anything else here for the time being. We switched our focus to the west to get some forces built up in case KY opens early next year, but I highly doubt it will.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

We already saw Grants victory, but neither he nor Lyon's were promoted. They did each gain 2 seniority so I hope another successful battle will see them move up the command chain. I considered moving on Nashville immediately, but its muddy and his force needs to rest. I think we will just defend Donaldson for the rest of the year so we have a bridgehead into Northern Tenn so we don't have to wait on KY. If we can take the initiative here early next year, we might just be able to deny elxaime those awesome KY units in Bowling Green! Those large brigades and shiny 20lbers are a god send to the CSA.


Our naval fleet won't have enough time to move to New Orleans and unload. It will take us 12 days to reach our landing site but another 5 to unload I believe. We don't want to give our hand so we will move a little closer and hopefully remain in FOW along the coast, while we wait another turn to be able to move and land in one fell swoop. The force is losing cohesion however so we better hope he isn't defending north of New Orleans.

We are training 3 more divisions in Ohio/Ind/KY with a few units being made up in IA. I think so far we will have something around 6 divisions in Louisville by next year, with 2 under Grant and one in Cairo for the moment. We may even recruit more when the new year kicks in.

In Missou there is nothing to say. The weather is crappy and moving around out here is a death wish for both sides if your force happens not to be activated. Seems we are both content to just stay put.

Far West

Elxaime is making a few moves out here. So far I think it is just ranger elements, but they are moving out and gaining MC from what I can see.


On the home front we got some more railroad and again began recruiting heavily in the West.

We also got the 'YMCA' and 'capital defenses beefed up' events. This gave us 7 NM!

As a die hard confederate fanboy I hate seeing some of the events the North gets. Why even try to take Manassas? Why try to get close to Richmond? Your NM will just recover on its own and not to mention through events like this. Its a bit much I think.


[color="#FF0000"]***[/color]

As a side note; In my older PBEM vs. Charles that he posted on YouTube, I had him on the ropes early on and his NM was hovering around the 70's. Then he got these events PLUS the rare Trent event where it increased the Foreign Entry but gave him 10 NM! He received around 17 NM for literally doing nothing which in my opinion saved his bacon. I was sitting in the 130's! He shot back up to 90 something in just a few turns. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. I know that event is pretty rare, but there is a chance. Plus I have NEVER seen Foreign Entry get to 100. I know it can happen, I've just never seen it. I thought I had him when our NM difference was so big just because my attacks would have been more successful with the max cohesion bonus. Bah. I'm still kinda salty about it, but only because its on YouTube forever. lol. Okay Confederate fan biased rant off.

[color="#FF0000"]***[/color]

So, again we will hopefully be moving on NO in a couple of turns while everyone else around the nation begins to celebrate the holidays.

[color="#FF0000"]1862 Strategy[/color]

I suppose now would be a good time to outline my spring 1862 offensive plans. Hopefully NO will fall, if not that will mess up the plans a bit.

In Virginia I will more than likely send Rosecrans here to command (Grant stays in the west) and we will move the highly trained and formidable 2 corps out of Harrisburg toward NVA. I think we will push on the Shenandoah to cut off that region to end any flanking maneuvers he may try and use against DC. We will reinforce Leesburg and Alexandria with divisions each and they should be able to MTSG with each other in March.

We will also begin recruiting forces to reinforce the NO front. We want to send another Army commander down here as well and actually push north quickly, unlike historically.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

With reinforcements arriving in NO and and our push from there, likewise we will look to try and cut off KY by moving on Nashville. My goal here is to reinforce Grant, move on Nashville and look to cut rail lines leading south with partisans and loose cavalry elements. From Louisville we will push south taking MC over KY, esp Bowling Green and the rail lines, while leaving residual forces dug in inside Louisville and my hometown of Lexington.

I will also move on the west bank of the Mississippi (which will happen late this year) to take the last Missou town he can recruit elements from.

With these massive offensives I'm sure everything will not go according to plan, but I look to be aggressive and actively seek to engage Elxaime. If there is one thing I've learned playing as the CSA, its that having to spend resources constantly on replacements most definitely frustrates your ability to field more forces. My goal is to attack Elxaime whenever I can, of course aside from strongly fortified positions. Those I will seek to flank, with hopefully superior forces and number of corps commanders at my disposal.

Pushing up from NO and south from KY/Tenn should put tremendous pressure on Elxaime in the west and hopefully make him recruit heavily here rather than in VA. (again watch Charles' YouTube series, as he did this to me, very well I might add! I was forced to rail back and forth to check his advances!)

Taking the Shenandoah should let us avoid the large force he has in Manassas but we will see where he positions his boys when the year turns over. I hope to go straight at Winchester with 60k well-trained men and around 300 cannon. Should he reinforce heavily in Winchester, we will look to flank through Fredericksburg or Culpepper.

So those are my plans. Again I'm sure all that will change, nothing is as easy as it sounds. However, out of all these plans my main focus is to engage him wherever we can, while trying to avoid attacking heavily entrenched positions. If we can catch smaller corps and attack with greater numbers, his MTSG forces won't have the entrenchment bonus and will be less effective defensively while taking heavier casualties. This is what we want.

We shall see!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY DECEMBER 1861[/color]

We are moving Grant to fort Henry, and our naval force is scheduled to land around day 12 one region above NO. Will not be a quiet Christmas for either side out west. In the east however, the troops are still enjoying the holiday ceasefire.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Still a bit of a standoff here in VA. PGT does have some massive forces in Manassas still, but as you can see from the picture he doesn't have them fully organized yet. I suppose he is waiting on his new 62' generals to fill out some divisions. When he does though, that will be at least 5-6 divisions and around 40k men. I need to keep an eye here.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Grant will move one region over to Ft. Henry and try to destroy that cav unit and hopefully see a promotion! Taking Donaldson and then Henry is the opposite of what happened historically, but then again both sides had already entered my old KY home at this point. I would guess the cav unit will retreat but worth a shot. He could possibly rail a force here so we shall see. Grant will be there in 11 days, so this is a bit risky. I have faith that Grant will fall back if outnumbered however.

I am also sending the Flotilla brigade forward on the western side of the Mississippi to eventually take Reel, the last town MO units can be recruited from. Also I am going to send a militia unit to the region next to Nashville to tear up the rail and prevent a counter attack while also spying out Nashville itself. Decided on this after I had taken this screenshot.

In New Orleans our fleet will be at along side Pearl LA in 7 days and I believe its 5 to unload so hopefully will have 3 days rest and be ready to move straight to NO. He could have 2-3 divisions here for all I know but I'm taking the risk. Its only 1861 and if its just one division I am hoping we will have the chops to kick him out. I don't see a fort built here yet either which means it will be a lot easier to take the town in case he can retreat inside it.

All in all not to much to report, we still have massive recruitment's going on out west and training in the east. The next turn will hopefully shed some light on our NO expedition!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE DECEMBER 1861[/color]

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Starting in the west this round since its all quiet on the eastern front.

[color="#FF0000"]New Orleans[/color]

So Milroy's boys made land fall in Pearl, LA, one region above NO and are worn out. Worse they weren't able to get enough military control to prevent rail movement. From what we can see there looks to be a division under the overall command of Hardee dug in at NO. There are also looks to be a few volunteer units loose in his stack so I am hoping that is what the division is made up of. Good thing we didn't land here. What we will do is this:

We are going to pull out a few units and send them north to blow the railroad to hopefully stall a counter attack or reinforcement to NO next turn. The bad thing is that on a turn before you have MC or have blown a railroad it can still be used by the enemy even if its destroyed during turn phase. So this could allow him to rail down reinforcements if they are within 15 days rail time and I think Memphis is only 12-14 days away. So Milroy with the remainder of his stack, even though about half on cohesion, will immediately move on NO. I know I should probably wait and let them recover but I am paranoid of him somehow miraculously getting reinforcements through here. If he does, two divisions in trenches not to mention in a swampy region, will be a hard nut to crack. We have three really good divisions and though low on cohesion, should be able to push out Hardee even with diminished combat prowess. I hope. I just think its worth moving now and not waiting around. We could lose the battle and not accomplish anything, which will force us to hop back on the boats and head to Fort Pickens. Yet that outcome would be no different than if he gets another division here because then we couldn't take it anyway. However, he may not send any reinforcements at all and we could recover fully next turn...but this is a big 'if' as well.

The up side to moving now is we beat any reinforcement potential and we manage to win and take NO. Its worth it in my opinion. As Napoleon said, "Ground I may recover, time never." We're going in now.

[color="#FF0000"]Tenn[/color]

Further north, we can see Johnston is commanding the army of Mississippi in Nashville with two divisions. Can't see his power but looks like we'll need to get some forces to Donaldson if we are to eject Johnston at some point. It also seems as though he abandoned Island 10 after Grants landing. I see McGruder in Humbolt below Grant, but he may put a division inside the fort. I doubt he would have done that and given up his fixed position in the region, so we are sending in Grant by river on just attack and will assault next turn if nothing is there. This may well get us that promotion. This will leave Lyon's at Donaldson alone, but he is a good commander and already has level 3 entrenchments. I think he can hold against two divisions if JJ wants to bring the pain.

[color="#FF0000"]KY[/color]

Here is what we have gathered in Louisville so far. Not enough generals to go around or artillery, but enough men to fill out a Corps with more on the way + some arty. We are also making a few flatboats, one in Louisville and one in Donaldson. These are cheap ways to build depots.




Someone asked me a short time ago in a PM how I was getting such massive numbers so quickly and the answer is simple. Don't spend your resources on anything other than land forces.

1)You start out with a Navy that does the job, no need to make more. Plus you get a few more made for free.

2)Do not industrialize early! Why? The north has plenty of Industrial Capacity. What both sides end up needing the most is $ and you can offset that a little, but not by much. At some point you will be on low funds for months and not able to recruit heavily. During that time your WS will start to build up. Before you know it, by the time your money events come around you'll have like 600+ WS just sitting there. If you industrialize heavily early on, you'll miss out on large numbers of troops and instead of 600 or more WS, you may have 1000 or more. You may use it up, but by going this route you'll already have the forces you make then in the field. I industrialize in 62' usually. I spend everything I have on troops early in the game to get some advantages early if possible.

3)I find building a large river fleet to be somewhat useless as well. Not saying don't build some, but I usually stick with building 3-4 ironclads. No more. You get a free one or two? can't remember, then I just try and match the CSA's number, 4-5 total. You do run the risk of the CSA building some more and controlling the river for a bit, but that will waste precious resources and I pray the CSA players do this. What use is a navy when all they will be able to do is block some river movement? As you take the coastal regions of the river, set up some bombardments along strategic areas and throw some holes in them. Then as their ports fall one by because they built a navy and you have massive numbers, that fleet will eventually find a port far away and sit there because you'll be rampaging in mid Tenn and Mississippi.

4)When you build infantry try and build whole divisions at a time. Remember to count the officer, so you will need to build 17 elements for the division. Start by recruiting the sharpshooter units/marine etc. then counting down from there how many more elements you will need to fill out that division. 17+General=18. This saves a ton of resources by managing your builds to fit your specific needs at the time. You can build your divisions however you like them, just make sure to count as you recruit brigades so build the exact amount if possible.

Anyway, I hope that answers your question. That is how I do it at least.


[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

We are still training up in Harrisburg, but we are going to send one almost full volunteer division to Leesburg.

I am doing this because I'm not sure if they will be fully trained by the time hostilities break out again and I want two divisions there at some point anyway. We can always have Halleck train them later if need be. The rest should be trained in around 5 turns, which is Early March so hopefully right on time!

As a small note our small cavalry division was kicked out of a WV region because of the weather, right into the enemy held Strasburg as you can see in message #61. Yikes!

I hope we can get these boys out because we are recruiting some cav elements to fill out this division...

So we will see how we fare in New Orleans and in Island 10. I could be making a huge mistake by going in now, but like I said I am just crazy paranoid he will send a relief force...I would. Its a big gamble, but the rewards if we win will far outweigh the negatives if we lose!

We shall see.

[Cardinal Ape]

What to do with your troops around NO, that is a tough choice.. Its interesting that there is a fort in Baton Rouge. I'd be tempted to try to capture that artillery unit there. I can't find ASJ in your pics, he should have an army somewhere by now, shouldn't he?

If you are going heavy on the Anaconda plan, you may want to consider building a couple pairs of timberclads. I found that they do a good job of interdicting river crossings. They are fairly cheap, they come with 2 elements, and they are much more durable than gunboats.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY JANUARY 1862[/color]

Bells ring out across the North! "New Orleans has fallen!" is shouted in every street. The largest city in the south is now in the firm hands of the Union. The news of this victory is on the front page of every paper to drown out the bad news in Virginia. There, PGT assaulted our forces in Leesburg while Jackson did the same in Harper's Ferry.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Here is the battle for Leesburg.

During the fight it seems PGT may have been injured or perhaps killed. He disappeared half way through the battle and Huger took command. Even with this change of command the disparity of forces was too much, though our boys fought bravely giving more than they got. Bad luck for Elxaime as he will have no other 3 stars anywhere in the immediate vicinity. It seems my decision to send a division there was one turn to late.

In HF it was an interesting little fight. It seems we fared better in the battle but somehow still lost? Weird to me.

I considered staying here for another turn, but after the battle we also got it with the epidemics event so bad luck all around. So we will sacrifice a cavalry unit to stay and blow the depot and rail Butler across the Potomac. Alexandria is now the last Union bastion across the Potomac.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

So here was the epic showdown for New Orleans.

Not much of a battle considering the prize that awaited us. I also just realized I left two batteries of 10lb cannons sitting inside Philadelphia. We got lucky here I think. Very lucky. But we are now in full control of the region with Hardee in retreat but still lingering around. We won't attempt another attack though and will let our forces begin to dig in and recover. With the new years decisions we are making a fort here as well as bringing in some cannon from ships and disembarking some sailors in surrounding regions. I would like to get one more division down here ASAP so we can move one on the forts guarding the Mississippi entrance. New Orleans makes a ton of supplies however so I think we will be okay on that front for a while. Our goal is to simply hold onto what we have for now until we can get the necessary reinforcements needed for an offensive.

Grant moved on Island 10 and nothing is there but the garrison. We will hopefully assault this turn and pray that Grant gets his promotion. (You can tell by now I want this badly)

The Flotilla brigade will now move on Reel, MO and take the last bastion of MO support for the South.

All the new year decisions are available and we are pretty much taking advantage of most of them. We are not however paying for enlistments this time around as we already have around 400 and our NM is at 99.

We will also play a lot of the RGD cards such as requisitions and drafts. I usually just do all of these immediately to get their effect asap.

The new crop of generals are also on their way to their respective posts. We will keep a group of them in DC for any future plans I made need some for . It always amazes me how many generals the USA actually gets.

As far as the next turn actions we will send our battered Leesburg force to the prepared defenses in Montgomery Maryland and build a stockade there. I am considering leaving the battered division with McDowell on the depot and sending a fresh division to Montgomery. I doubt elxaime will be able to attack with much as I think PGT is put out of commission for now and Longstreet won't have the CP for a large assault on Alexandria. We will again defend across three regions, this time with a river between us. It seems that Harper's may be our first goal for our training forces in Harrisburg. Yet to be determined.

Out west we will be resting everyone except Grant and the Flotilla brigade. They will be assaulting their targets I previously mentioned.

I am not going to recruit anything this turn as I will be getting taxes and bonds next turn and want as much $ and WS as I can get to plan some large new forces.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

If you are going heavy on the Anaconda plan, you may want to consider building a couple pairs of timberclads. I found that they do a good job of interdicting river crossings. They are fairly cheap, they come with 2 elements, and they are much more durable than gunboats.

Very true. I have recruited a few in Cairo and I think I might build a fleet of them instead of Ironclads. They are much cheaper and are still armored. I think I will attempt that this game and see how it fairs. Thanks!

[Ripster8]

Thanks for posting this AAR, amigo. It is always interesting to hear the details of force composition and the use of RGD's, the two elements that are so critical to success in AGEOD games. I remain your avid reader and pupil - teach on!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

Thanks for posting this AAR, amigo. It is always interesting to hear the details of force composition and the use of RGD's, the two elements that are so critical to success in AGEOD games. I remain your avid reader and pupil - teach on!

Many thanks sir! This fails in comparison to your epic Thirty Years War AAR which I read in its entirety but never posted . Please do another one soon so we can enjoy your work even more!

[Ripster8]

Thank you for you kind words and for reading my AAR. I must confess that one reason I like TYW so much is that it is perhaps the simplest of all AGEOD games. I do OK with AJE, too, and RoP is fairly straightforward, but the monster games like TEAW and CW2 are much more difficult - so many options, so many decisions! Shoot, I am barely keeping my head above water playing as the Reds against the AI in RUS! Which is why I find your AAR so valuable, both for overall strategy, force construction and composition, and RGD's. It is a 'light to those walking in darkness' and much appreciated! Looking forward to more as you have the time and inclination...

[Orphan_kentuckian]

The pleasure was all mine. I do not have the talent to create a story driven like AAR as you did, but I do hope to shed some light on the game for those who are still learning. However as Ape and Fox have already shown, there is always more to learn in these games!

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]EARLY MARCH 1862[/color]

Well we are now mostly through the winter with nothing major happening after the turns in January.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Corps are now open and we have formed 5 in the eastern front. Our three original defensive positions are all now Corps with MTSG and we have formed two in Harrisburg with our training forces.

So we are moving our 2 corps out of Harrisburg and toward Alexandria. I still don't see a 3 star here for Elxaime so not sure what he is planning, he can't form corps without a army commander. So what I am doing is sending my small cavalry division to Stafford VA, one region across from Fredericksburg. We will look to make a move behind Longstreet on either Culpepper or Fredericksburg itself and perhaps cut him off from Richmond. We are also forming two more divisions to reinforce New Orleans and sending General Buell there to take command. He raises loyalty levels up to 75%, so we will form 2 corps down there with him remaining in NO with an entrenched division and some artillery from the forts we are beginning to take in the area.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

As you can see here there will be no actions in the West for the time being. We are sending a new division from Louisville to Donaldson and look to maybe move on Nashville soon. Grant will prepare to take the next fort on the Mississippi river when the weather clears. He did't get a chance to assault Island 10 before they surrendered so still no promotion here. :/

We have taken fort St. Phillip at the mouth of the Mississippi and look to take fort Jackson in a turn or two. Hardee is still sitting across the bay in fort Pike so I don't see us being able to move on it just yet.

[color="#FF0000"]Far West[/color]

We are going to make a move here. Canby will move out from Tucson and will take 2 full turns to arrive near El Paso. We will then send Carson down as well and see if two divisions may have the chops to take it. If not, we might starve to death but eh, it's not that important here so why not take the risk.

As you can see we are doing well in the NM department but still falling short in VP's. I look for that to change especially when we get on the move again in the west. I hope to have most of LA and western Tenn in our posession at the end of this campaign season. Big hopes I know, but I think our boys are up for it.

Overall a quiet few turns so not much to report. Now that corps are open and our forces in the east are ready for action, I look for things to heat up fairly soon.

[Orphan_kentuckian]

[color="#FF0000"]LATE APRIL 1862[/color]

The spring campaign season is a officially here, and the Union is on the move in the east and the far west.

[color="#FF0000"]Virginia[/color]

Our two assault corps plus the Alexandria corps will attempt to storm Fredericksburg this turn. It is over a river and Lee will be within MTSG from Culpepper, but Longstreet is in Manassas with over 4k power without MTSG to Fredericksburg. Lee and Forney will only have around 2500 PWR while we should be around 6k....if everyone participates. I am also going to move the small Corps watching Harper's Ferry back to Alexandria, along with our Corps guarding the River in Maryland. These two will now protect the right flank and Alexandria by combining together and entering the trenches. The reason for this is, he has abandoned HF and blown the rail, which tells me he won't be attempting a crossing from there. We will also form another corps with locked units in D.C. so our Alexandria force can MTSG if her were to remarkably cross through Maryland, even though our forces were there this turn.

This is a risky attack as Longstreet could easily move forces to Lee and Forney or completely move his entire corps back, but if he doesn't, we could catch part of the CSA army under Lee without entrenchments which is our main goal. If Longstreet does move away from Manassas, well we could be slaughtered like the original Fredericksburg. Our NM is still around 100 so we can afford a defeat or two by taking some calculated risks. If we manage to defeat Lee and Forney we will have a foothold over the Rappahannock.

Halleck and Little Mac will remain in Philadelphia training the mass of conscript regiments we have ordered there. It will be sometime before we can form more divisions here but Our NVA army is already around 100k strong, with over 600 cannon. If we have to fall back, I am confident they can hold on the defensive if need be.

We are also sending Buell to New Orleans with 20k more troops and some cannon. We got the Butler event last turn which increased our loyalty in NO to over 75%, but I had planned on sending him anyway because at 2-2-2 he is literally the best 3 star I have at the moment. Yikes. When he does arrive, we should be able to form 2 corps under him there and begin to SLOWLY push up LA towards Baton Rouge and beyond.

[color="#FF0000"]West[/color]

Grant is finally able to be promoted. We will lose 4 NM for this, but I really don't care. He needs to be our commander in the west right now as we have none. He will fall back on Paducah to meet Sherman and some reinforcements and relinquish his division to another general so he can take up command of the entire theater. Pope has moved from Donaldson to one region away from Nashville while half of our Louisville force has moved on Bowling Green (KY entered on the Union side BTW). At this point Exlaime is basically cut off from KY and the remarkable units you can create there. He will begin to feel the hurt from that as time goes on.

So this turn we will organize the western theater to prepare for Grants promotion, while Sumner is moving from Springfield to within range to be able to form a corps and then will head back to Springfield next turn.

In New Orleans we will try for the THIRD time to assault the Fort here. We just can't get this general activated! We will await the reinforcements before doing anything else here. I hope he can take the fort this turn because our reinforcements will take some hits when they arrive if he doesn't.

[color="#FF0000"]Far West[/color]

Our two divisions out here have meet up and will immediately push on El Paso. Unfortunately I can't see whats there, but Baylor is sitting one region up, so we are gonna try our best to take it. We have over 300 supplies in this stack so I'm confident we at least won't starve if we are defeated.

As far as recruitment goes we are just continuing to pump out forces on a unbelievable scale, as only the north can do. 5 more divisions will be formed in a few turns along with 100's more artillery.

The Northern War machine is beginning to hum. Now its people look to the battlefield with anxious eyes to see if their hard work and sacrifice will pay off.

Stay tuned!

[Ripster8]

Amazing level of coordination between your production, organization for combat and actual prosecution of the war towards your objectives! And the Union capacity for production is just terrifying - I almost feel sorry for your opponent, who is obviously no slouch at CW2 either. I foresee an early end to this conflict and you with a cabinet position in the next Lincoln administration! On to Richmond, boys!