oops..

[JKM]

There i was, steaming along nicely in my first grand campaign...
I'd scrutinized the forums closely..tried to learn from others' experience..and it seemed to be working.
As CSA I was into april '63..had St Louis and Louisville and was well in control
west and central.
In the east i THOUGHT I was doing well also..sure there were a couple of 500 power stacks wandering around north carolina..but I was gathering forces to deal with them.I had a 1100 Power enemy stack in norfolk that i was also gathering a huge force to crush.
I had a corp holding richmond..and another two regions to the west.
However everything has rather unravelled.
A Union force slipped past my western force, attacked richmond and bottled up my corp( which general idiot had in passive)
..i didn't appreciate that the above mentioned Union forces in NC had controlled provinces from the coast to the hills..within a turn I was out of supply everywhere in virginia.
I tried to break out..but the beseiged force just failed..and the force to the west was a region too far away to get there in one move and attack..meanwhile my norfolk attack forces size counted against it big time. I'd thought, being in Virginia, I'd need minimal supply wagons until I reached the point of invading the north..so, although I had wagons, I didn't have them in the right place.
As of now..units are dissapearing left and right..I've retaken Richmond..but there seeems to be a significant lag before it starts producing again.( at the moment it has no supply stocks) .and ,even then, unless I re-establish a viable land link thru the carolinas I have a feeling ( please offer opinions) that I won't have enough to support the Main army in Virginia.
It's going to be a challenge, and i'm ghoulishy interested to see how any more forces dissapear..

[Ol' Choctaw]

So, how has it turned out?

You do need those wagons even if it is to only build depots near the front.

Big stacks can use up a lot of supply, fast and you need that reserve.

I have had some weird supply problems anyway. Units starving sitting in a depot, or just out side the town it was in.

It takes a turn for the supply to get back to your city if there is a clear path. I don't know if the supply the cities make is disrupted by a siege but that will come back slowly.

[JKM]

Yep, you're so right on all fronts...I had collected some 14 or so divs in virginia at the same time that the carolinas were being mauled...so I spose i was relying on what the bits of Virginia i controlled could actually provide.
I didn't have manassas, fredricksbg. charllotesville ..all seems a bit obvious now I look back !!
Was getting so primed for my own big sweep to DC that I overlooked what the other side might do. and did.
It is tricky, as you say, manipulating your forces back into supply..they have to start the move next to the supply source, as the supply gets done in the first day of turn right?
I think with the citys production it must start from scratch again..so anything you've stockpiled has usually been gobbled up..or, as in my case, if it's fallen the beseigers gain all the supplies anyway, and maybe stop drawing their own supply while they gobble up what they grabbed.
so i went from richmond having about 580 stocked up to having nothing..and Rich. just producing 30 or 40 per turn. Will I ever get back into ther black mmm ? I'm doubting so..unless i can take some of those mentioned above depots and cities...

[Jim-NC]

Without a supply line, you will never be able to feed large numbers of troops in Virginia. The 30-40 from Richmond is not even enough for a good sized corps. You will need to break through NC and re-establish a line (with depots). Until then, your armies will slowly melt away. The CSA has no sea supply routes (they can use the coastal regions for "river" supply travel), so overland is the only way to go. Good luck with opening your supply lines.

[JKM]

Thats why the Veteran is in your title !! Dead right...and now it's prooving
impossible to open those supply routes in time..soon as I take one town back the union force , which is huge and getting bigger, takes another.
They're getting close to a NM win and i can clearly see setting sun for the confederacy. Still , learnt an aweful lot about the game,( well, I hope I have ) and shows just how you can think you're on the cusp of victory..and not be.
bet the vets reading will be chuckling at this...but if anything it makes me like the game more, bring on game 2.
however, might be some time til I tackle a RL player !!

[Ol' Choctaw]

I have played a few games but I think that I am still a beginner.

I have luckily contained their attempts to do the same to me, though a couple of times I think I got them moments before they got me.

They haven’t gotten me yet, but then I have been wargaming for over 50 years... god that is scary...

[JKM]

ah well..as expected the rotten edifice has crashed down and its back to
square one..and onto game 2.

Things for moi to remember..
1/ it's not over til it's over, and , following from that, you haven't actually won til you've won.
2/ supply..supply. supply. use the tool tips, keep up to speed with the state of your network.. and don't let the the enemy get their dirty mitts on your fragile lines of distribution.
3/ remember that while you're trying to something unspeakable to them, they're trying to do the same to you.

hopefully with these thoughts at the forefront, I'll do a bit better next time.

I've had around 35 years gaming myself, , so we're both of the vintage that remembers WGing as table top metal& plastic soldiers, tape measures,
and thick manuals...

ACW was always an interest of mine, but in new zealand it was difficult to find anything other than WW2 or napoleonic , both in terms of lil' soldiers AND opponents.

great to finally get some games, after all these years, for ACW.

thanks for the advice, cheers.

[Chaplain Lovejoy]

My two rules when playing USA: (1) do everything you can to improve and protect your own logistical infrastructure while (2) doing everything you can to degrade your opponent's.

[JKM]

good rules...
this time round i'm doing all i can to do 1/ with rather more success than my first game ..
2/ is a bit harder..I'm certainly spreading havoc everywhere west of virginia...but don't think i've built enough cav to both screen and gather intell AND muck around USA's supply network..still, I spose its hard to tell how effective or not your efforts are.