The South Will Rise Again! FightingBuckeye (CSA) vs Tripax (North)

[FightingBuckeye]

If you followed my last AAR, you’ll remember at the end I asked for anyone willing to be in an AAR game. Tripax was the first to respond and so here we are set to duke it out and all of you will have front row seats to the action. Tripax will be playing the North and I’ll take up the mantle of secession. I haven’t played Tripax, so I have no idea of his play style or his ability. With that in mind, I think my safest course of action is to plan on facing a tough opponent who could push me from the get go. This post is just to go over some basic goals of mine for the next year or so as well as our settings. I’ll refrain from the detailed posts of my last game until things get interesting as there's not much going on at the start with locked forces and all that.

My goals early on will be fairly basic. The South can’t realistically hope to win a war of attrition and my best path to victory will be early. The South can still win games in ’63 or later, but I’ll either need to win in ’61-’62 or put a major hurt on Union forces before sheer weight of numbers does me in. The Eastern Theater is an obvious place to seek the early win and most of my builds at the start will be in this area. Ultimately my goal would be the capture of Washington for its political and economic impact. This isn’t always a realistic goal, so I’ll settle for trying to earn a major battlefield victory or three while putting major pressure on DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. I will also seek to stake out a defensive line from Alexandria west to Harper’s Ferry or Fredericktown where I’ll have strong defensive terrain and a river in front of me to stand off hordes of boys in blue.

Out West I’ll hope that Kentucky stays neutral for as long as possible while digging in at Island 10 & Fts Henry & Donelson. In Mizzou I’ll try to hold Springfield as long as possible by putting up a defensive force just NE of the city. From there I’ll be able to threaten StLo as well as providing a staging ground for cavalry raids. I know I’ll have some really fine cavalry leaders and will hope to get three cavalry divisions up and running, although gathering those forces will take me well into ’62 if I can manage even that. I’m pegging Watie, Forrest, and Stuart as my go to choices for division commanders and will look to use them extensively in Mizzou, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and beyond.

My goal with the cavalry forces I hope to use will be as a sort of force multiplier. I’ll be outnumbered in just about every theater, no doubt about it. But I can do a lot to equalize actual front line troop numbers if I can get Tripax worried about my cavalry launching a deep raid to Cincy, Pittsburg, Indianapolis, etc. Either significant forces will have to be sent to garrison likely targets or my troopers will strike with impunity. I’ve had some pretty decent success with my cavalry raids in the past and I’ll hope to emulate that here. If nothing else it should be spectacular if a cavalry division is caught by a Union corps.

In the Far West, the gold fields of Colorado and Nevada will be target of opportunities. If I can capture one or both with minimal forces I will. My rangers will be active burning stockades and trying to isolate Denver and possibly draw off Union strength into the area and away from more critical theaters. I don’t plan on building much out in the FW and will use a scorched earth policy should I become outnumbered in NM. As my builds will be minimal, I see myself falling back at some point.

As far as my coastal cities go, New Orleans is an obvious priority and I’ll see about getting small divisions stationed in the other ones. But that may not be possible and I’ll have to make do with what I can scrape up. I’ll probably seek to get Ironworks and possibly some other economic investment as well as brigs going if I fail to grab DC early. I’ll also seek to help fritter away Union economic might by using demonstrators early and often till at least ’62.

We’re using veteran activation, normal shipping, historical attrition, easy supply off, normal generals, small delay, and FE. I’ll have to double check our HRs since we set this game up weeks ago, but I think the only house rule was no elements behind enemy lines unless a leader is involved or the unit is an irregular. This gets tricky out in some places, so it won't be strictly enforced on my end unless it's an egregious issue. I don't think we covered it, but I won't be building up transports to take advantage of the shipping box bug.

[RebelYell]

I would only try to get as many troops recruited from Missouri as possible, but send most of those east of the Mississippi.
You cant really threaten St.Louis realistically, naturally if left open go for it.

If you build a large Army of the West in the NW it is less troops elsewhere, 1-2 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division, 1 cavalry brigade, few independent brigades /regiments and bushwackers can keep this door closed.
Burn and pillage everything between Kansas and Texas, destroy every depot that is threatened to be captured by the Union.

Keeping a squadron of gunboats and transports in Ft-Smith area could come in handy for stopping or countering Union moves.

[FightingBuckeye]

My apologies if I wasn't clear. My three planned cavalry divisions likely won't all be stationed in Mizzou all at once. I'll have a pretty good start at the numbers I need to form those divisions with the starting brigades, regiments, and horse arty. Not to mention the indians and mounted volunteers. I'll probably have a division in Virginia to start and another 1.5 in Mizzou. Once Kentucky opens up I'll probably transfer a cavalry division or two to that front or possibly swing Stuart's division in Virginia up through W.VA to Ohio and then down into a friendly town in Kentucky somewhere. Those cavalry divisions will go where they're most needed and where they can (hopefully) do the most damage.

Threatening StLo isn't the same as actually taking it; although I have taken it in one game and came within a whisker in another. But grabbing Erie (region between Springfield and Jefferson City) I'll be in position that will force my opponent to garrison it with at least a division or risk me grabbing it. Plus pax may/may not have troops in Jefferson City. Anytime I can split Union forces up will be a good thing as it's harder for 2+ small(er) stacks to conduct a coordinated attack that a single larger one could handle without sweat. And it also gives me better chances when I go onto the attack.

[RebelYell]

My apologies if I wasn't clear. My three planned cavalry divisions likely won't all be stationed in Mizzou all at once. I'll have a pretty good start at the numbers I need to form those divisions with the starting brigades, regiments, and horse arty. Not to mention the indians and mounted volunteers. I'll probably have a division in Virginia to start and another 1.5 in Mizzou. Once Kentucky opens up I'll probably transfer a cavalry division or two to that front or possibly swing Stuart's division in Virginia up through W.VA to Ohio and then down into a friendly town in Kentucky somewhere. Those cavalry divisions will go where they're most needed and where they can (hopefully) do the most damage.

Threatening StLo isn't the same as actually taking it; although I have taken it in one game and came within a whisker in another. But grabbing Erie (region between Springfield and Jefferson City) I'll be in position that will force my opponent to garrison it with at least a division or risk me grabbing it. Plus pax may/may not have troops in Jefferson City. Anytime I can split Union forces up will be a good thing as it's harder for 2+ small(er) stacks to conduct a coordinated attack that a single larger one could handle without sweat. And it also gives me better chances when I go onto the attack.

But real threat only will make him commit more than he would position in that theater anyways, but you clarified you will keep your own commitment limited so all good.
Missouri theater is a good place to cause attritional losses for the Union, if they venture too boldly in to chasing you they might even get a good whooping at times.

IMHO cavalry divisions/corps should mainly support field armies or independent forces, the infantry cant operate without them very well so they get a dedicated cavalry formation that remains at all times in their area of operations.
Usually when you give an cavalry force some independent mission they are suddenly needed by their parent army.

The cavalry brigades like Shelbys or Morgans units I do give more freedoms to make havoc.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Early July 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW & History:[/color] Well, things have gotten interesting out in Virginia! Lots of troop movement this turn. But first a little history before I jump into what’s happening in Virginia. First, my demonstrations seem to be having the desired effect; I have six in progress, one that just fired, and have ordered two more. So tripax’s CI teams have their hands full. Basically I always put down whatever demonstration RGDs I have. And here’s a little bit of bad news . . . Kentucky has seceded. There was some discussion a little bit ago about a possible bug with the newest update and I’m starting to think there might be. Kentucky has fired in early July in 2 out of 3 of my PBEM games started since the update.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] So Virginia. I was unable to hold Harpers Ferry before I could get troops into the area. Winder retired to Winchester without a fight after facing a couple thousand blue bellies with only a single militia regiment at his command. I gather 5K troops including a couple batteries and tried pressing back into Harpers Ferry, just in time to meet a slew of reinforcements and I was defeated. At that point, the armies unlocked and I moved most of the Shenandoah army to reinforce Winder’s column who continued to hold in enemy controlled Harper’s Ferry.

While I was struggling to hold and then retake Harper’s Ferry, I also sent several brigades and a battery under Macgruder to push out a brigade of volunteers out of Leesburg before tripax could consolidate there. That attack went swimmingly unlike the one in Harper’s Ferry. The very next turn, all armies unlocked. I left Longstreet at Manassas with 16-17K men while Beauregard took the rest of the army to Leesburg. They got there just in time to meet McDowell which resulted in a battle Beauregard won. I think tripax planned on railing back to Alexandria after pushing out my light force. But Beauregard’s arrival changed things up and gives me a shot at Alexandria I’m going to take.

[ATTACH]34265[/ATTACH]

My original plan was to have Harper’s Ferry and then push up from Leesburg to Montgomery, MD with most of Beauregard’s army. At the same time, Johnston would take over the defense of Manassas while Longstreet moved to Leesburg. I would a decent sized force at Harper’s Ferry to ensure that I could hold that region. However, I’m now sensing an opportunity to do something else instead. Having defeated McDowell’s 35K, Alexandria is pretty open. The only other large pack of them Damn Yankees is at Harper’s Ferry where I have troops. Beauregard will move towards Alexandria and should arrive in 11 days. Longstreet will take just about everyone from Manassas and also head towards Manassas with an ETA of 7 days.

[ATTACH]34266[/ATTACH]

Meanwhile in Harper’s Ferry, Johnston will take 16K to Leesburg and Winder will take the remainder and fall back to Winchester. I have enough MC in Leesburg to deny McDowell the rail while I will cut the rail on my way out of Harper’s Ferry to preclude those troops from moving to Alexandria. My hope is that at least Longstreet and Beauregard are active and that McDowell is inactive (in case tripax tries splitting his force to remove the over CP penalty). Hopefully I get to Alexandria first and can be there to greet McDowell when he arrives. If nothing else, there are no current works for McDowell to hide behind at Alexandria. So it should be an even fight except I’ll have a better regular to volunteer ratio and much better generals. Against that, my forces are split about evenly which could result in a defeat in detail. After that who knows what I’ll do, but I’ll try to press into Maryland if I have the advantage.

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Regardless of any question about bugs, I am pressing on and that could get a little dicey in Kentucky because I was NOT ready at all. Luckily the Little Rock forces unlocked because they’re the only troops I have handy. The hope here is that Kentucky opening up will also catch tripax off guard. Next turn I’ll have the Nashville force, various other unlocked forces, and a couple builds that will be available to try and hold Bowling Green.

Mizzou has gone much better for me, at least thus far. I was able to secure Erie, at least for the time being. Tripax tried pushing me out, but I had reinforcements that helped move the odds into my favor and that made all the difference. I should hopefully hold at Erie for at least a little bit longer. How much longer depends on how much tripax wants it. I have built a couple units in Mizzou, but the majority of my builds are in Virginia, N. Carolina, and Georgia. A couple other builds went to New Orleans to start building that force up. Price holds at Springfield with a couple volunteer regiments with a couple cavalry units moving up to reinforce.

[ATTACH]34264[/ATTACH]

[color="#808080"]FAR WEST:[/color] I only have 3 ranger units and a militia unit operating out here. Tripax caught me sleeping a little at Ft Whipple, but I have a ranger unit onsite and he’s trying to burn everything before he gets pushed out. The other units are running around trying to secure stockades in N. Texas or burn others in New Mexico.

[ATTACH]34267[/ATTACH]
Don't put stock into the 'difference' column, this is the first report so it's all kinds of off.

[ifailmore]

looking forward to this

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Late July 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW & History:[/color] Here I thought I was living in interesting times in Virginia last turn! But this turn has proven to be a little crazy. A series of four NM changing battles was fought from Harper’s Ferry through Leesburg and on to Alexandria. The Union won two of those battles and the South won the other two; which kept total NM change from those battles exactly at zero. Harper’s Ferry is wide open with no troops, Leesburg has both CSA armies and both large Union stacks, and Longstreet is besieging Alexandria. Additionally, I’ve offered $1K enlistment bonus and ordered three more demonstrations after two were countered and another one successfully ran its course.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] I considered sending Johnston to Leesburg with an offensive posture and then changed my mind and put his army on a defensive posture. Or at least I thought I made the change, I had to go back and look again and I did leave him in attack posture. He wasted no time in bringing Gen Patterson to battle on day one. The battle goes up as a Union win with 1 NM lost from the battle. But it was a pyrrhic one as the Union took more casualties and took a further 27 hits when they retreated. Johnston then found two reinforcing regiments on day 2 and quickly destroyed and captured them for a CSA victory and 1NM up to counteract the previous loss. By this point Patterson had just a little over 8K left under his command and he was running hard for ‘safety’, right to Leesburg. Johnston completed his orders and arrived in Leesburg while Winder took the remainder of the force to Winchester. This leaves Harper’s Ferry, a region both tripax and I have prioritized, with the unique distinction of being completely free of any soldiers regardless of the color of their uniform.

Meanwhile Leesburg saw another Union win as Beauregard went on the attack. I’d always thought a unit didn’t switch to an offensive posture until they arrived at their destination, it appears that I was off. Johnston got smacked around some and lost 1 NM and took 17 hits in the retreat. This canceled his movement, which left Longstreet attacking into Alexandria unsupported. But Longstreet was not to be denied and won a battlefield victory against an overmatched foe and gained back the NM that was lost at Leesburg and inflicted some hits to the retreating blue bellies.

[ATTACH]34280[/ATTACH]

Longstreet will stay in offensive posture and attempt to bring Hamilton’s defenders to battle. I am currently sieging Alexandria, so I assume Hamilton is in a passive posture. That could change though and I need to either eliminate that force or push it out of Alexandria if I want to carry out the siege without distraction. I’m bringing in approximately 12K & 4 batteries from parts south to reinforce Longstreet. Meanwhile I merged my two armies at Leesburg and then started splitting my forces up as I needed. Johnston with Macgruder & Huger will take a very small skeleton of the Army of Shenandoah on ahead with a brigade and single regiment of cavalry to take command of Longstreet’s force. Meanwhile Gen Beauregard will take the some of the worst hit units to recover at Manassass under the aegis of the Army of the Potomac. It looks like I lost two elements (including a complete battery from a brigade) during those battles and a couple other regiments are close to being destroyed. Lastly Jackson, now in command due to sending higher ranking generals under the 3*s, will also move towards Longstreet at Alexandria.

My command of the rail systems at Leesburg and Alexandria gives me the ability to quickly marshal my forces to Alexandria. While Leesburg is Union controlled, I have enough MC at Alexandria to deny the enemy the use of that rail. But with Union forces in both regions, I’m concerned that tripax could cut rail at either or both regions. So Johnston with his cavalry will still get to Alexandria in 3 days if I can’t rail in and Jackson’s fast mover trait will see him reach Alexandria in 9 days despite being way over the CP limit.

Winder will once again advance on Harper’s Ferry. With it being currently unoccupied I trust Winder might actually take the region! The rail system was torn up as I left the region, so I should get to the region before major Union forces arrive. With my threat on Alexandria and possibly DC, I doubt Harper’s Ferry holds the same priority for tripax that it once had. We’ll see what tripax does. McDowell’s army is largely intact. While my two armies have been bloodied after Johnston fought two battles and spent most of the turn marching and Beauregard got a bloody nose.

[ATTACH]34281[/ATTACH]

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Only a single Union brigade moved adjacent to Munfordville. So it appears that my suspicion (read hope) that tripax didn’t have forces ready to swoop into Kentucky was correct. Had I the rail capacity, I would move up to Munfordville with Polk’s force at Bowling Green and contest any further Union advance. But my current capacity is a big fat zero thanks to all the movement in Virginia. So I can’t travel fast enough. Instead, I’ll sit tight and continue to bring up whatever forces I can as far forward as I can without the rail movement they need to reach the front lines. Island 10, Donelson, and Bowling Green should be reasonably secured. But Paducah and Columbus in far western Kentucky are wide open to invasion and I can’t do anything about either this turn.

[ATTACH]34282[/ATTACH]

In Missouri, Shelby is strongly entrenched with just about 9K troops at his forward position. I’m going to take a little over half that force under Shelby and advance towards StLo. There’s a small Union force in my path that I hope to bring to battle. I’m also trying to divert Union attention away from Kentucky by demonstrating an admittedly weak threat to StLo. Gen Price and various reinforcements should ensure my forward position remain in my hands while Shelby’s gallivanting about.

[ATTACH]34283[/ATTACH]
I'm just going to keep track of the ground power difference as I really can't even get within spitting distance of the Union naval power.

[FightingBuckeye]

looking forward to this

I'll try to give you a reason to continue looking forward to this. I think my position in Alexandria and the potential of what could happen right next to DC should be raising tripax's level of concern over the conduct of the war.

[Andswaru]

This could be a swift and glorious victory for the boys in Grey.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Early August 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW & History:[/color] Rejoicing can be heard throughout the South as the people celebrate two great victories and the announcement of the Confiscation Act. Two Northern cities are now more favorable to the Confederated States of America thanks to those victories and demonstrations against the war that have captured the hearts of the people. CSA forces performed admirably under Johnston and inflicted close to five enemy casualties for every Southern hero wounded or killed in the battles.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] Beauregard just can’t seem to catch a break. He was again brought to battle, lost a battle despite a favorable exchange in the battle, and did not arrive at his intended destination. Instead he took it into his head to assist Johnston and Longstreet at Alexandria, well that’s the official story anyways. The real one is his men refused to continue moving on to Manassas and they instead fled towards Alexandria and the strong Army of the Shenandoah. It is hard to blame him or his men as they have fought at least one battle every two weeks for the past 1.5 months, with Macgruder’s men in combat for two whole months. They need a rest to recover lost men and low cohesion and they have not been given it. The good news was that no NM changed hands from that battle.

Meanwhile, Johnston gathered his army at Alexandria; aided by intact rail lines in the two frontline regions. First Hamilton’s forces were brought to battle and the survivors quickly surrendered in mass for less than 200 Southern casualties. That victory pocketed 2 NM, a supply unit, and fort batteries for the Southern cause. Next McDowell arrived and in a blink of an eye, (only a single round of combat) 10K Union boys were no longer capable of continuing the War of Northern Aggression. A further 49 hits were dealt to the boys in blue as they skedaddled from the 6 NM gaining victory. Johnston’s experience rose two full points during the turn and Jackson and Longstreet both are on the cusp of both promotion and gaining a star themselves. Things are starting to look really dicey for the North in this theater. At the very least I should be able to form that defensive line anchored at Alexandria that I wanted. But I’m going to continue to press my advantage and will try to inflict further damage as I can in order to possibly win the war.

[ATTACH]34286[/ATTACH]

Johnston’s swollen army will assault Alexandria and I hope to capture the depot intact. Beauregard with some force additions in need of recuperation will again attempt to move his army back to Manassas in order to give his men a much needed break. Several additional regiments or batteries are missing from his order of battle thanks to the loss at Leesburg and the hits inflicted on them as they ran. Johnston’s army could also use some time to refit themselves, but I need to continue pressing while I have a decided advantage. Additional forces are in the process of railing to Alexandria. Last turn I needed to use up just about every scrap of rail capacity, but the supply and more pressing, the ammo situation at the front is starting to become a pressing concern. I can’t keep up this pace of battles without running out of bullets before I run out of enemy. So I’ll keep enough unused capacity to give me one round of supply movement and a buffer to account for expected attrition loss. I ordered some additional rail last turn and will again order additional cars and locomotives to help ease movement.

I’ve looked at all the enemy forces I can see and I’m really starting to think there are some forces lurking somewhere in the fog of war. There should be more Union troops on the map somewhere and I’m also not seeing all the generals I’d expect to see. The losses on the Virginian front over the last two months could explain some of it and so could tripax’s ordering of, if memory serves, 3 different factory building options over the course of the game thus far. But until this turn, I’ve taken losses comparable to the North and have still managed to add a significant amount of units to the front. I’m estimating there are 10-15K men under Gen Nelson outside Munfordville and there are probably another 10-15K under Lyon at Jefferson City or in the nearby region. Aside from locked garrison forces, there’s another brigade at StLo and there are unknown but significant number of forces at Cincinnati & Cairo, and an estimated couple thousand at Charleston, WV south of Morgantown. It’s likely most of Nelson’s forces in Kentucky were from the camp and not ordered by tripax. So the question remains where are the additional forces tripax should have and where are they?

This has all served to raise my concerns about the possibility of a naval invasion. I don’t see any significant number of naval forces at any port except a fleet at Boston. There’s also a small fleet adjacent to Ft Monroe with three transports. Aside from New Orleans with 3K men, I haven’t sent any troops to any of my coastal cities and I also stripped the garrison I had at Richmond to send up to Alexandria. And a Union force hitting Richmond is my biggest fear and something that could undo all the progress I’ve made in Virginia. New Orleans should be stronger as well, but Kentucky has drawn resources and forces that would otherwise be there. I can’t do anything about New Orleans this turn, but I will do something about Richmond. General Winder, two batteries, and several brigades from central Virginia will rail to Richmond. I also have a large brigade coming up from NC that will reinforce the capital. You might or might not have noticed that you almost never see garrison units inside a city or fort and that’s true of Richmond. Any invader will be met on the beach with strongly entrenched and now reinforced units. And I have several brigades that will come online inside the capital this coming turn to give me a secondary defensive line for my capital.

[ATTACH]34287[/ATTACH]

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] As mentioned earlier, Gen Nelson has arrived in Munfordville and I will likely lose it this coming turn. I now have a pretty decent force holding at Bowling Green that could rail to meet Nelson and possibly save the city. But I again don’t have the capacity to rail with everything devoted to supply runs or moving bodies in Virginia. The large force in Cincinnati that could quickly rail down pretty much puts the nail in the cities chances. Munfordville may be lost, but I everything else in this front is looking better. I should have some additional forces at Paducah and Columbus. They won’t be enough to stop a dedicated landing by large forces, but they should stop any smaller landings. Salem, Illinois (just North of Cairo) now has loyalty to the South and is free of Union forces. I’m sending up a single cavalry regiment to assume control of the city and will look to burn the depot and raze the city. It probably is not the action those town people expected when they decided to support the Southern cause. War is hell.

Shelby arrived ready to conduct a battle only to have his quarry escape unhindered to Gen Lyon. I’m splitting my force and will send the majority up to try to assault the single militia unit garrisoning Bloomington. The rest will move back to Erie to help hold it against the now stronger General Lyon.

[ATTACH]34288[/ATTACH]

15K Union losses against only 3K Southern ones is always very welcome.

[FightingBuckeye]

This could be a swift and glorious victory for the boys in Grey.

It's certainly looking like it is heading in that direction. I don't know if I'll be able to deliver the coup de grace. But I'll certainly be looking to do so before tripax can recover and setup a strong defensive line. I still have a river to cross after all and there are those missing Union forces that are likely lurking somewhere hidden.

[RebelYell]

It's certainly looking like it is heading in that direction. I don't know if I'll be able to deliver the coup de grace. But I'll certainly be looking to do so before tripax can recover and setup a strong defensive line. I still have a river to cross after all and there are those missing Union forces that are likely lurking somewhere hidden.

I bet he will go for New Orleans and other ports after that and is building two armies for the West, very historical if he does not loose East before he gets going.

[Andswaru]

I bet he will go for New Orleans and other ports after that and is building two armies for the West, very historical if he does not loose East before he gets going.

Tried that strategy twice, once one a raging success altho winning in the West doesnt help as much as I hoped it might, the second time I got mushed by the summer of 62 was "humilating". Very interested to see how this pans out in the next few rounds.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Late August 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW & History:[/color] Gen Johnston captures Alexandria and sends McDowell’s army scampering across the river to DC. The CSS Alabama and Florida are laid down in Europe. People calm down, costing me demonstration cards this turn. And those not professing allegiance to our rightful country are to be banished.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] The Army of the Shenandoah is victorious over McDowell’s forces once more. Once a militia unit captures Leesburg this turn, all vestiges of Union presence in the great state of Virginia will be forever expunged. No rest for the weary though as Johnston will take his 36.5K strong army north into Union land in a bid to end this righteous war. As I want to end it on my terms and not with a loss, Johnston will avoid attempting a forced river crossing and will instead cross into Montgomery where he can threaten multiple Union targets, including DC. Joining him there will be another 8.5K fresh forces and a supply unit.

[ATTACH]34302[/ATTACH]

Beauregard will join my rear guard at Alexandria with approximately another 10-12K dependent on how many units recover. A couple of the worst hit units will remain behind to fully recover. Winder faces comparable forces at HF for now, but most of the Union forces are beat up and could pose a greater threat to HF if they recover their lost men. In this situation, tripax can’t get very far into the valley if I control HF. So I’ll leave Winchester relatively open and send a brigade to join Winder while some volunteers move back to Strasburg.

[ATTACH]34303[/ATTACH]

All told, my reinforcement of Richmond netted over 16K men. I’m leaving 10K to continue holding Richmond until at least those expected missing Union forces make an appearance. The rest will move up to the front. A couple volunteer brigades from WV will also move to Richmond. And I’ve taken another step to increase security at my capital by continuing to build new forces there instead of Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a place I like to build units as they can reach Manassas in one turn without using up rail. I’ll trade some rail capacity though for a stronger secondary position in my capital, at least until the ghost units make their appearance.

Aside from McDowell’s army, I am seeing 38 units inside DC. Those are quite a number and are probably 10-15 more than the locked garrison units. And almost all are under Scott’s command, leading me to believe those are building units and not recent arrivals from the small fleet with transports at the Potomac River or railed in units. I’ll keep my eye on them as right now at least I don’t know their quality.

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Munfordville continues to fly the CSA flag despite an estimated 10-15K Union soldiers facing off against a single militia unit. I’m assuming Gen Nelson’s been inactive and that’s what is delaying the attack and Union movement further south. I’ll take whatever delays Union forces from advancing! I made a mistake when I sent that cavalry regiment to Salem. We’d previously agreed no units behind enemy lines without a leader or unless it was an irregular. Tripax didn’t say anything, but I apologized when I realized my goof. That unit will not be burning anything and I’m withdrawing it back to friendly lines. The only other action in Kentucky/Illinois is another solo cavalry regiment moving on Lexington. There are no Union forces there and no lines for me to operate behind.

[ATTACH]34300[/ATTACH]

In Mizzou, tripax tried to take advantage of Shelby’s absence in Erie to renew his attack on my position. Price though arrived with the various reinforcements and dealt a stinging blow to Lyon’s force. Shelby meanwhile took Bloomington and destroyed a single volunteer unit in the process. Shelby will move back south to threaten Lexington or reinforce Price as needed. Price will retain the majority of his force at Erie, but has dispatched several cavalry units to secure my supply line that’s been threatened by the arrival of Gen Summer with a brigade and cavalry unit.

[ATTACH]34301[/ATTACH]


New Orleans remains understrength, but I’ve ordered the recruitment of multiple units at Jackson, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. I’d prefer to build them in NO, but I can’t risk the city falling and those units being wiped out before they’re completed. In another 2-3 turns, NO should be reasonably safe from attack. Until then, I’ve ordered the CSS Manassas to Koney Island in order to disrupt any Union direct landing attempt. Out in the Far West, I’m starting to feel the pinch of not building additional forces for New Mexico. A ranger unit was killed at Fort Whipple and I’ve written that fort off. I’ve started to burn various stockades and such in preparation for my withdrawal from this theater. On the burn list is Tucson, that should slow the Union advance down a little.

[ATTACH]34299[/ATTACH]
1 NM from battle and 1 NM from event

[seathom]

I'm really enjoying this AAR, but I fear it may be ending just a tad earlier than expected (like 2 years!!). Are you lining up another victim ... err, opponent just in case? You should also get a medal for posting quickly, it's greatly appreciated.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Early September 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW:[/color] Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah now directly threatens DC without the Potomac blocking its path. Generals Lee & Cooper lend their services to the cause & new commissioners are sent to Europe to garner foreign support. With CSA forces concentrated against DC, Union forces are on the march in the valley. Union forces are also on the move in Kentucky but are stopped in Missouri.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] I have been struggling between taking three different but very appealing actions this turn. I could send Johnston with 45K+ behind him straight into DC and put Beauregard with close to another 25K in position to hammer at the weakened defenders at DC next turn if I should need it. I could end the war right then and there in the next two rounds. And it is a thought that is very very appealing to me. I could also join all the able bodied men I could under Johnston this turn and send one massive army at DC. If I went this route, I’d send 4-5 independent cavalry regiments on G/G to Baltimore in order to ensure the rail was cut to stop any last minute reinforcements. The other option would be moving in force against Baltimore while maintaining a threat to DC. This would completely isolate DC to all but the naval route. I’ve already inflicted some heavy casualties to the small fleet in the Potomac and could continue to do so to any arriving fleet(s), especially if I put more guns at Alexandria. So trying to move any large number of troops via transports would not be bloodless for tripax.

I’ve got the initiative in this theater and I’m fairly confident I have the numbers as well, barring a massive number of Union reinforcements. I’ve got a window of opportunity and if I hesitate too long, my chance will vanish. Against this I have to consider my ammo situation. The Army of the Shenandoah only has enough ammo for two battles, so a series of prolonged battles or over multiple turns could give tripax the advantage. And my army probably only has about 60% of its cohesion. So those two factors argue against immediate action. I’ve considered using scorched earth tactics to bump up my cohesion, but I’m none too sure if the cohesion will be applied to the elements that need it most. And there’s still the ammo situation.

There’s something else too that could indicate I’ve got more time then I might’ve otherwise thought. A lot of those units that appeared at DC last turn seem to be mostly support type units. Not including an HQ unit and balloon unit, I’m counting 19 additional support units with 3-6 each of Signal, Hospital, Pontoneer, and Engineer units. There are two more units inside DC with 5 PWR, indicating they could also be support units. Even discounting the garrison or free support units, that’s a lot of support units and they are all none too cheap either. Their presence and events in Kentucky assuages me that there won’t be a massive blue force showing up unexpectedly. After all, the situation in DC is pretty dire and there’s been plenty of time for troops to have railed in from out West or to debark from transports and/or land in one of my cities.

[ATTACH]34307[/ATTACH]

As much as I want to go after DC this turn and try a possibly iffy battle with low cohesion and with little extra ammunition in case of a series of battles, I’m going to wait for both those situations to improve. Although at this point I doubt there’s not some large unaccounted army out there, I still want to seal off DC and prevent large numbers of reinforcements from reaching DC. So Johnston’s going to take 30K into Baltimore and attempt to take the city. While that’s happening, Beauregard’s going to move 14K to fall into the 14.5K I’m leaving in Montgomery. I’m sending a couple supply wagons back in some cases as far as Richmond in order to try to gather the ammunition I need to fight a series of battles. With General Lee in charge of Richmond’s defenses, General Bee will join Beauregard while Magruder will take over the defense of Alexandria. I’m also pulling some units from the defense of Richmond since I’ve deemed the possibility to be considerably less than it was previously. I’m still leaving 7K behind just in case and to provide a reserve in case I need them and another couple brigades should be coming on line this turn as well.

[ATTACH]34308[/ATTACH]

With all the force I’ve concentrated against DC, I’ve basically given Union forces a free hand in the Shenandoah Valley. And this past turn tripax took advantage of it and moved against both Winchester and Strasburg. The timing of me pulling troops out of Winchester could not have been worse either. Had I kept them in Winchester, they could have contested that. Had I moved them earlier, they could have helped hold Strasburg. As it was though, they did neither and were pushed out of both without a fight. Both cities are now under siege while Harper’s Ferry remains under threat of a larger Union force. At this point I’m not going to send anything else to the valley as I don’t want to ease up the pressure. I’ll either have to live with trying to dig them out later or the war will be over. As things stand, their numbers aren’t large enough to really hurt me.

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Munfordville has finally fallen to Gen Nelson and Gen McClernand has landed in Madisonville, KY to threaten Bowling Green from the north. Cairo’s been stripped of all but its locked garrison to give McClernand his invasion force. Gen Halleck is present at Evansville with a decent sized force as well. I’ve got 14K holding Bowling Green to make it my largest force in the theater. I’ve got various brigades holding other defensive positions, but I don’t have much of a reserve. Any unit I pull from one region is only going to expose another one. Otherwise I’d be awfully tempted to try and storm a relatively open Cairo. I’ll keep it in mind and I’ll definitely try it if I ever feel like I can spare the troops.

Gen Summer tried to take Springfield from me, but the reinforcements I sent south were able to get there in time to help hold. It was a relatively minor battle. But losing Springfield could have endangered my forward defense I’ve taken up and force me back. Lyon continues to hold in Erie with Price’s force and until Shelby returns I don’t have the strength to dislodge him. But Shelby’s going to attempt to return the favor and endanger Lyon’s supply by moving against Jefferson City and its single militia unit.

[ATTACH]34309[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]34310[/ATTACH]
This turn's been relatively bloodless. It marks the first time since early July that the total casualty count was under 7K for the turn and didn't have at least one major battle. My armies in VA have needed the rest, but it also gives the heavier hit Union army a chance to replace lost elements.

[FightingBuckeye]

I forgot to highlight McDowell's absence from the DC stack. He could be one of the two 'units' inside the city, but I'm not really sure as I didn't catch him leaving the region.

And I'm hoping I don't regret my decision not to go for the capital now in the turns to come.

I'm really enjoying this AAR, but I fear it may be ending just a tad earlier than expected (like 2 years!!). Are you lining up another victim ... err, opponent just in case? You should also get a medal for posting quickly, it's greatly appreciated.

It's still too early for me to be thinking about the next AAR. Even if I take DC, this could still be a long game if tripax moves his capital to NYC. And there's no guarantee in war that you'll take what you're expecting. Even if tripax threw in the towel today, I probably wouldn't immediately do another one. Not that I'm expecting tripax to just roll over today or anytime soon. If he does go down, I think he'll go down swinging. After this AAR though I'll have done one from each perspective, so I'm not really sure if I'll even do a 3rd; at least in the near future. But I'm glad you and others have enjoyed it.

[Cardinal Ape]

Wow, that is a massive amount of support units in D.C. It seems to me that early game build choices are a major factor in your success so far.

tripax history first play style does not match up well against your cut-throat style. Kudos to him for pursuing history, but I fear he may have doomed himself. Well, at least he should make it out the war alive and with all limbs intact considering he has 7 field hospital units.

[FightingBuckeye]

Wow, that is a massive amount of support units in D.C. It seems to me that early game build choices are a major factor in your success so far.

I wouldn't disagree with that at all. Closely related is my paranoia about that 'missing' Union stack I just 'knew' was out there. At its peak I had 16K men in Richmond, protecting it from what is more and more looking like a nonexistent threat. Another 10K men at Montgomery possibly could've ended the game if they were in good shape. Looks like the money I thought went into units instead went into all those support units. I haven't mentioned it but I did spot two supply wagons crossing the great plains and starting to make their way down to Santa Fe. His forces seem to have lots of tail and not enough oomh in their fists.

tripax history first play style does not match up well against your cut-throat style. Kudos to him for pursuing history, but I fear he may have doomed himself.

I did not realize to what extent he'd be playing like that when the game began. But I knew I wanted to apply massive pressure on DC from the get go. I've had early success in two other games that led to a Union capitulation, so I knew it could be effective. Build choices aside, I think the first tactical unraveling was when McDowell got tied up in Leesburg. That exposed Alexandria and also gave me a couple cracks at his army out in the open and not behind strong entrenchments. A lot of units have also been tied up in the valley, that probably could've been better used in and around DC. Its kind of surprising he didn't start railing forces from Ohio, Kentucky, etc to Maryland sooner.

Well, at least he should make it out the war alive and with all limbs intact considering he has 7 field hospital units.

From what I know of Civil War era doctor's proclivity towards amputations, extra field hospitals might actually increase the chances of losing a limb or two!

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Late September 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW:[/color] Jubilant crowds take to the street as news of DC’s encirclement travels back from the front lines. Shelby fails in his attack last turn and Gen Lyon retains his supply base for now. Sieges continue in the valley and things are looking grim for the garrisons. Many new generals including AS Johnston and Bragg join the fight while the European and Texas Ranger Brigades are formed up. Inflation drops for the 2nd turn in a row to bring the number down to 4%, something any CSA commander is always happy to see.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] It was a bloody struggle as I had to cross the river if I wanted all my force to reach Annapolis in time, but Annapolis has joined our cause. The two fixed batteries have also been captured and I’m sending them on a long slog back to rail points. They’ll be useful at Alexandria in helping close down all naval movement into DC. It is hard to tell, but I think I may have sunk all or most of the small fleet carrying an infantry brigade into the city and the other small fleet is one bombardment from being sunk as well.

A force under McClellan was able to slip into the city before the rail was closed to enemy movement. Based on the OOB, it appears to be the force that was at Cincinnati two turns ago. I didn’t quite catch the power of the unit as it railed in the first time around, I want to say it was 300-400 or so. And there was nothing on that force at all on replay. Based on my low cohesion and the arrival of fresh forces before I could hit DC, I think it is a good thing I didn’t try to force the issue quite yet.

I now have 10K at Alexandria and 31K each at Montgomery and Annapolis. Although the Annapolis force will grow larger as replacements fill out holes caused by casualties. I’ll probably wait for some more units to come online as well as the formation of divisions in the near future before making an attempt on DC. Unfortunately, both Jackson and Longstreet still aren’t promotable as they sit at 6th and 5th respectively in seniority. I’m tempted to go after York where some units are building or into Baltimore that is open aside from locked garrison units. But my cohesion is still low and I don’t want the Union forces to take advantage of me if I spread out too much before corps formations are possible.

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] It looks like our old friend McDowell has made an appearance in this theater and is at Evansville. All major formations have held fast in Kentucky this past turn. Johnston’s on his way up to take over the defense of Bowling Green and is in command of the Army of Tennessee. My other new generals have been parceled out with most moving towards Kentucky and Bragg moving to NO. In Missouri I either missed the fact that there were a couple more militia units inside Jefferson City then expected or something else went wrong. Although I won, I didn’t have enough manpower to actually take the city. And now my cohesion is almost completely spent. So Shelby’s force will head down to Erie.

[ATTACH]34319[/ATTACH]
FE continues to creep up slowly.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Early October 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW:[/color] Union forces are on the march and the valley falls to the oppressive regime of the North. Union forces gather outside of Bowling Green as well as in Missouri. An Indian Treaty is reached, giving us the very capable Gen Watie and his Indian forces. Divisional formations are now able to form. One demonstration is brewing in NYC and another just fired in Boston. That event that took away my demonstration cards a couple turns ago is really putting a crimp in my bid to erode support in Northern cities while my armies battle in Virginia and now Maryland.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] First the bad news, Winchester surrendered and Strasburg easily fell to assault. Winder was also forced out of Harper’s Ferry when he was attacked with overwhelming force. It looks like Winder chose to withdraw before he was swarmed under. His men did what they could by inflicting heavy losses before giving ground though. Additionally, another force has been steadily moving south through the mountains of WV and western Virginia and now occupies Covington, VA. While these Northern advances could pose trouble down the road, for now these advances have potentially weakened the defense of DC by 13 brigades (mostly volunteer ones), 5 batteries, 1 cavalry regiment, and the USMC regiment. And those are just the forces in the valley. I’m not able to get a good count on the ones in or near Covington, but they appear to be another couple cavalry regiments, some regular and volunteer brigades, and 1 artillery battery.

[ATTACH]34321[/ATTACH]

I had forgotten completely about the North needing to take Manassas by now. They obviously aren’t anywhere close to taking the city and lost 10 NM. This is an unlooked for benefit in waiting for the formation of divisions before marching on DC as I have an almost 50 point advantage in NM and that will greatly help my attack. I’m going to combine most of my forces in Montgomery in preparation for an attack on DC next turn. At Annapolis, I’m leaving a small division to continue holding the city while the rest of my army moves into position for an attack on DC. The small division at Annapolis is cavalry heavy and I’m also moving up a large cavalry brigade up from Montgmery to increase my cavalry presence in that stack. My hope is that plethora of cavalry will keep tripax in the dark about what exactly I have there. My ammo situation is a lot better off than it has been the past couple of turns, but I still need to move a couple full wagons to the front and send 1-2 low ammo wagons to Alexandria to pick up more ammo. I should have 10 divisions in Montgomery and I will strike for Washington next turn as long as the weathe holds.

Floyd will hold Alexandria with a cavalry heavy 7K while Magruder will take the other division’s worth of men to Montgomery. Winder will take his small beat up division to Manassas where he’ll be reinforced by a couple brigades coming up from Richmond. Since I’ve placed a priority on minimizing the impact to my rail network and getting as many troops to the front as possible, I’ve almost used up all the sharpshooter and cavalry brigades and started up building those large brigades. The first of those brigades will finally come online next turn in Richmond and that frees a couple regular brigades to rail up and help secure my supply lines while the vast majority of my forces are in Maryland.

[ATTACH]34322[/ATTACH]

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Unfortunately, it appears my Johnston was inactive last turn as Nelson’s force crossed the Green River north of Bowling Green without taking any fire from my dug in defenders at Bowling Green. That force and a couple other disparate units, including Gen Grant, are at Muhlenburg, KY. In response I’m railing in multiple units from my forces west of the Cumberland to join the small garrison I’ve placed at Clarksville. Polk will move over to take over command of that building force. This leaves me pretty weak west of the Cumberland and there’s still that force in Evansville that could land somewhere and really spread me thin. It’s a risk I feel I need to take though and I’ll just have to scrape up whatever I can together if that does happen.

[ATTACH]34323[/ATTACH]

General Fremont took 7K men out of StLo and caught Shelby before he could leave Jefferson City. Frankly I feel lucky to escape without taking too much damage considering my low cohesion. Gen Lyon once against tried to kick Price’s force out of Erie and he was unsuccessful in doing so. The battle goes down as a draw, but I dealt just about three times as many losses as I took and I retained control of the region. Meanwhile, Summer’s force has been beat up and is now out of supply as they try to withdraw to I’m assuming the forts west of Springfield. Gen Watie will attempt to catch them and see if he can’t get in a parting shot at them.

[ATTACH]34324[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]34320[/ATTACH]
This will be interesting as I haven't played with veteran activation with divisions enabled in the past. I'd started one game almost 2 months ago with veteran activation, but my opponent went MIA before we got to divisions. Last I heard he was going on vacation for a couple weeks, but it's almost been a month so I'm not sure if that game will continue or not. Someone said that divisions will always form, but I'm not really sure what the case will be. To be honest, I really haven't worried about it too much, as both tripax and I will be in the same boat regardless. With 10 divisions gathering at Montgomery, I'm sure I'll find at least 4-5 to hit DC with even if the formation of divisions is dependent on whether a general is active or not. I don't have a CSA prisoner count as I usually wait until I've heard from tripax before posting the AAR. This time though, I had some free time and decided to knock two AARs out in a row. I'm sure he's at least doubled the number of prisoners he holds if not tripled it. Lots of pretty pictures this time around.

[Cardinal Ape]

With veteran activation everyone will be able to form divisions.

[FightingBuckeye]

[color="#808080"]Late October 1861[/color]

[color="#808080"]OVERVIEW:[/color] Clear weather in DC! Johnston prepares to lead the Army of the Shenandoah against Washington DC. Confederate forces lose battles in Bowling Green, KY and Erie, MO but win a key battle at Manassas. Demonstrations fail to take in Boston and are countered in NYC, both will be re attempted.

[color="#808080"]EAST:[/color] As Cardinal Ape indicated, all divisions formed last turn are fully ready to go this turn. I have 8 infantry and 2 artillery divisions to give me a total of 10 divisions within the two army stacks. Tripax probably knows I need to attack DC in the near future and to take it, I will need to fight off a large powerful force. The time for finesse is over and it’s simply a matter of being able to absorb damage and still hitting back hard, which should give me the advantage as I have two armies to one. I’m going to send in one army now and will hold the second in reserve for a likely needed 2nd attack next turn. Because of Johnston’s 4-3-5 stats, I’ve decided to give his army first crack at DC and have given him most of the strongest divisions. I’ve also weakened Beauregard’s artillery division to just 3 batteries and transferred those guns to the Army of the Shenandoah.

During the reorganization, I’m left with one runt infantry division with only 7 combat units. So I’ve removed Huger from divisional command and will have him with Johnston’s 37.5K army just for his artillery bonus. Floyd is moving up from Alexandria with a couple brigades and batteries in divisional formation to flesh out the weak artillery division and give me that 4th infantry division for that army. I’m also bringing another couple brigades and a battery up from DC and Annapolis to fully bring Beauregard’s army up to snuff. And I’ll need that army at full strength.

I’ll need it to be ready as I expect heavy casualties on both sides and I doubt one turn will see me in control of DC. As such, I’m not attempting to assault quite yet and just want to focus on beating the field army first. My plan is to weaken the Union force as much as possible with Johnston and then come in with a 2nd fresh army to continue the attack. Thanks to my HQ units in both armies, I can handle five divisions in both without penalty which will give me a pretty decent advantage over the Union force that is way over CP. I should also have a decided advantage in leadership with Jackson, Longstreet, Magruder, and Evans all with divisional commands to go against Little Mac, Porter, Hooker, and Ambrose. PGT has Edmund Smith and Bee to give him a couple good generals along with the 3-1-1s and Floyd’s 3-0-0. The Union advantages will likely be numbers, their strong entrenchments, and fighting defensively. Tripax has 6 divisions and many many loose units at his command. But I feel I’ve got a decent shot at making this happen.

My hope also is that Annapolis will hold off any Union reinforcements from arriving to assist DC against my 1-2 punch. At the very least, that force should delay any relief effort. I’m also leaving the rail network wrecked as a further hindrance should Union forces push me out. I had considered sending Winder’s weak division up to Montgomery last turn as I knew I wouldn’t have 8 full infantry divisions. But I thought I’d need something in Manassas to counter any Union forces in the valley moving east and threatening my supply line for my armies in Maryland. I just didn’t think I’d need that division that very turn. But tripax surprised me and was able to reach Manassas this past turn with a division. Luckily though, Winder’s weak division plus a couple brigades from Richmond and Alexandria gave me enough to hold my supply lines. Good thing too as things could have gotten pretty interesting if my armies didn’t have a source of supply.

[ATTACH]34330[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]34334[/ATTACH]

[color="#808080"]WEST:[/color] Tripax moved against Bowling Green instead of Clarksville like I thought he might. And Grant’s force caught my reinforcing units and destroyed my small infantry brigade as well as 2 batteries. My army showed up in the battle, but it was too late to rescue any of the arriving forces. I do however have a brand new large Kentucky brigade that is now ready for action, so my force has grown some despite that loss. I’m more upset though about losing those two batteries then the small brigade. My estimation of tripax’s strength was pretty much on the money and that gives me numbers (at least for now), but I have too many militia and volunteers in my force to feel really confident. But fighting defensively should help me retain control of BG.
I now have two complete divisions at Bowling Green and 1.3 at Clarksville. With Grant still facing me at BG, I’m taking my partial division at Clarksville and will move up to retake the currently undefended Madisonville. I intend to raze the city and complicate Union supply lines to Grant’s force. I have exactly one battery in progress in this theater and no real mobile reserves at this point, so I’m really counting on the Army of Tennessee and Polk’s force holding the line. Halleck’s force in Evansville is now at Cairo and that raises the very real and frightening concern of tripax opening up a 2nd front in the battle for Kentucky by boating over to Paducah. So my riverine fleet will sally for the first time as a complete force this war and move between Paducah and Cairo in an attempt to guard that flank.
[ATTACH]34332[/ATTACH]

Fremont’s force added its numbers in the attack against Erie and Price continues to hold my forward position despite facing 2-1 odds in that battle. I killed a volunteer regiment and lost a cavalry regiment in the battle, but I inflicted more damage than I took even though it goes up as another Union win. With Shelby’s return, I have a better hold of the region and I expect Fremont and Lyon to retire back to Jefferson City to regroup. This is all good news, but Price has moved up in seniority thanks to the battle and now McCullough would be under Price’s command instead of the other way around. So McCullough will head south to meet a couple cavalry regiments in Springfield where he can form a division without worrying about the temporary stat loss, then he’ll move back north and will take over Price’s division and Price will move back to Springfield. Something I’d like to try if I get a breather is taking a cavalry division under Shelby to StLo which is pretty wide open thanks to Fremont’s presence in Erie. I will take the shot if I see the opening next turn.

[ATTACH]34333[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]34329[/ATTACH]
I lost 1 NM from the attack on Bowling Green.

Tripax tried unsuccessfully to get a couple support units to I'm assuming Banks in DC. I intercepted three of them by the large cavalry brigade I'd moved up to reinforce Annapolis. I destroyed at least one of them in a short battle and possibly the others once they routed. Thankfully this battle took place while my army was still in the city, otherwise they could have given tripax one last service in battle by showing what number I have in Annapolis. I'm not sure if tripax can get a good count on my blocking force in Annapolis or not. With permission, the below is a quote from tripax in a recent email.

I tried to break out some of my support units to no avail, so you should know that if you attack Washington you may get signaled at quite vigorously.
I'm really hoping it brought at least a smile to your guys' face as I could not stop laughing for a good 30 seconds. The delivery and the imagery I got picturing this is probably the funniest thing I've read recently.

[Suidlander]

Great AAR, I always like it when there s hope for the South. Just a silly qeustion you mentioned earlier that you removed Huger from divisional command and assigned him to Johnstons army for the artillery bonus? Right? Is he assigned loosely in the army stack? Or is he in control of a artillery command? My understanding of that artillery bonus is that the leader in this case Huger needs to be the highest ranking commander in the area or leader of stack for that trait to work/ give the bonus? Hopefully I'm wrong.

[FightingBuckeye]

Sorry for the delay. I got a little busy and then capped my weekend off with a couple nights stay at the hospital. Nothing major and I'm fine now, should have a turn out in another day or so.

[Cardinal Ape]

I know a cliffhanger when I see one. Your fake hospital visit does not fool me.

[FightingBuckeye]

Unfortunately, I wish you were right. :-p

But this is my 3rd hospital visit in the past 1.5 years due to my condition .. . so I'm really getting tired of hospital food about now.

[Cardinal Ape]

Sorry to hear that. Hope ya get well soon.

It would be tough to find a better spot for a cliffhanger. Will the signal corps defend Washington with their vigorous flag waving? Would make a great T.V. commercial.

[FightingBuckeye]

Well, I'll end that speculation right now. No DC has not fallen and maybe vigorous flag waving may have played a part.

[BattleVonWar]

How is my ole Buddy Buckeye, still kicking it?