SlimeyRock CSA vs Longhairedlout USA

[slimey.rock]

[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



It is now the heart of Winter in Maryland and Virginia. Everything is covered in ice. However, I have no intentions of making any movements in the near future. After the fall of Washington, Jeb Stuart was promoted to Lieutenant General. Since then he retained command of his division, but now his duties are needed elsewhere. Patrick Cleburne has arrived and was given command of Stuart's division. Stuart is on his way to Corinth. Presumably to replace Holmes .



[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Salem[/size]



I'll start with the worst news first. W.H.F. Lee's cavalry raiders were successful in finishing off the garrison at Salem. All went well until one of the Union divisions at St. Louis arrived and promptly gave my boys a good licking. You will notice that my troops were still in assault posture and didn't have full ammunition and that probably contributed greatly to the massive loss. Now Lee's men are low on supplies and out of ammunition. My plan is to get them to the harbor East of Cairo where hopefully they will be able to draw some supplies. They are scheduled to arrive at day 14 which will give them 1 day to bring up my MC of the region from 0 to 25% to even allow the possibility of supplies to arrive to them . Fate has not smiled upon these weary travelers.















[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



A few hundred miles South, Johnston and his men prepare for a long walk back to Corinth along the chilly roads. Jackson and Holmes were unable to arrive in time to engage Thomas and Pope. Thomas and Pope have now found refuge in Memphis. I've ordered Holmes and Bragg to return to Corinth with Johnston and I intended to leave Jackson to guard the ground that Bragg held before. However, I carelessly left the synchronize move order engaged for Jackson and his troops followed Johnston to Corinth . Just another inevitable error that one makes in every game.







[SIZE="3"]Mobile[/size]



It seems that Kearny foresaw the hopelessness of his attempts to take Mobile and decided to return back to his base of supplies at Mississippi City. I'm glad he didn't go for Meridian, but he still has the option of New Orleans. Luckily for me, mud has made another natural barrier between my largest production city and the enemy. I'm not sure what his intentions will be now. My blockade is currently halting any flow of supplies to his forces, so until he does something about Semmes, he has no choice but to move or starve. His forces have taken considerable cohesion loss on their march through the swamp, so I imagine if he chooses to take a land route anywhere, he will have to wait at least one turn to rest his men.Forrest will stay put for now and react to any movements that Kearny decides to make in the future.

John Hunt Morgan has spawned and is a welcome addition to my cavalry forces. I'm sending him to repair some of the damage that the Union raiders inflicted upon Mississippi.

Also sorry about the cut of text in the picture. I was pointing out the the port at Mississippi City is blockaded. It's hard to tell because Banks' big head is in the way







It is now the start of the new draft season and I've wasted no time taking advantage of mobilization. I opted for partial mobilization as I am not in a desperate situation for troops just yet. Plus, full mobilization would have only given me 200 more conscript companies for double the penalties. I have also called for volunteers and issued 5% war bonds.

This turn, I've only recruited 2 marine elements and a new division is being brought up in Louisiana. Hopefully the Louisiana troops will finish before Kearny is able to get his hands on them. I have also been investing quite a bit in my navy. I've raised quite a few blockade runners and have also invested in some frigates to give my sloops a little bit of support against the Federal ships. So far my navy has only suffered defeats and I'm looking to change that in the future.

I have neglected to mention much about my Mississippi fleet. Currently it subsists of 13 gunboats and the CSS Arkansas. It has been docked at Little Rock since the fall of Memphis and once the weather clears a little on the river, I'll have use for them again.

In the gulf, I have the two ironclads CSS Tennessee and Mississippi. They are currently helping Semmes with blockade duty. I plan on sending them up river once the weather clears a little.

[slimey.rock]

Oh, one question I meant to ask is if you all prefer the higher quality images to lower quality ones. I personally love the high quality images, but after 30 posts filled with images, it takes a long time to load the page. I'm more than happy to upload the larger images, but if you guys are annoyed with having to download so many, I can switch to JPG's.

[mikee64]

No real preference here, I usually click the thread then switch to another tab while it loads anyway.

Keep up the good work, enjoying it. Very nicely done recap.

I recently won my first pbem as the South by taking DC in a move very similar to yours. I then lost and retook it in the same turn to drop the USA NM below the defeat level. I plan to post that very eventful last turn at some point if time allows...

[Berge20]

Slimey--just reading this and still quite a newb.

Where you said "One main strategy I employ in the first year is to wait on the Draft until Early August because that is the turn the Confiscation act fires and you gain more recruits with a higher morale."

Can't you gain more recruits by firing this off immediately and then again as fast as possible (I think Early July) than you can by waiting?

[slimey.rock]

Thanks Mike. I think I'll continue with the BMP's then. I like the higher quality images. Glad to hear of your success as the South. It feels really good to be so successful against the North.


Hey Berge. Mobilization can only be used once a year, so if you use it in March, you won't be able to use until next January. This is different from most of the other financial/political options where they are usually biannual. I've been reading your AAR. Keep up the good work!

[Berge20]

Calling for volunteers and mobilization are both once a year?

[enf91]

No. Drafting is once a year. Volunteers are semiannual.

[slimey.rock]

O.k, back on track . It is now 1863 and another year for Southern hope. The South has been blessed with a quiet new years, but I'm sure the unspoken armistice will not last long.

[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



In the East, my lines stand strong. Longstreet has been able to engineer some hefty fortifications. Only a crazy Yank would dare step onto the fields around Annapolis. So, the standoff continues, but who knows what dry weather will bring.







[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Southern Illinois[/size]



Things have taken another turn for the worse with Lee's cavalry. Last turn, starvation kicked in and severely hampered their movement. Whiteout conditions leave the hungry horsemen with little progress on their march to safety. Already almost all of the horses and men have fallen from a combination of hunger and hypothermia. There is little hope of any of the troopers seeing their native state of Tennessee again.







[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



In Memphis, not much has changed. Grant, Sherman, Thomas, and Meade are still waiting for the ground to dry before continuing their plunge into the South. Jackson, who was given conflicting orders last turn is being send up to Madison, TN where he was a turn ago . I imagine that Longhairedlout will try to bypass Johnston and have a crack at Nashville. His other option would be to push South down the Mississippi. I'll be pretty happy with my positioning once Jackson makes it to Madison. I'll be able to react easily if Grant tries to flank North or South.







[SIZE="3"]Mobile[/size]



Some very good news in this region. It seems that my opponent saw the extensive defense at Mobile and thought better of a direct assault. I wasn't sure what his next move would be, but it seems that instead of making a move against New Orleans or Vicksburg, he chose to withdraw from Mississippi altogether. Also, he abandoned the depot. I'm sure that he will show up again. It is nice to stop an invasion simply with a show of force, but it also means that his forces have lived to fight another day.

Now that there is no need to protect Mobile, Forrest has been ordered to Nashville where I have some plans to take the offensive. It will take him a convenient 15 days to reach there from Mobile so I should be able to actively use Forrest in the field soon.

Wharton's cavalry have been ordered to recapture Mississippi City and destroy the recent depot that the Federals built. Raphael Semmes will be returning to the Blockade box to renew smuggling and the CSS Tennessee and Mississippi are returning to dock at Mobile.







[SIZE="3"]Nashville[/size]



Over in Nashville, Polk has stayed idle for many months. His forces have slightly outnumbered Berry for some time, but haven't been strong enough to threaten Berry. With Forrest's 3 divisions in play, Berry's 2 divisions won't stand much chance against my 5+change divisions. If all goes according to plan, I may even be able to push up to Louisville, but I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

[slimey.rock]

[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Savannah[/size]



This turn a fleet has appeared off of the coast of Savannah. A single division is aboard the fleet under Isaac Stevens. Isaac Stevens was not one of the division commanders from Banks' invasion army that threatened Mobile. I'm not sure exactly where the division came from, but I do know that his Stevens' arrival has coincided with the disappearance of Howard's corps that used to be at Baltimore. I don't have a clue where Howard is now, but I'm guessing that Stevens used to be one of his divisions. Anyways, to deal with this problem, I am railing Kirby Smith's corps South to Savannah. It will take him exactly two turns to make it, so who knows whether he will make it in time or not. I'm worried that this is a preemptive landing to provide Kearny's corps with an easy landing on the East coast.







[SIZE="3"]Maryland[/size]



Up North, Longstreet will be in charge of maintaining the line alone while Smith is gone. I'm confident that he will be able to stop anything the North sends his way. Especially since Howard's corps has gone missing. Even if Howard was in Baltimore, I think the North would need 80,000+ troops to take Longstreet and his level 5 fortifications.







[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Southern Illinois[/size]



Lee's cavalry have managed to survive one more turn. However, their supplies are down to 2 and they have no hope of being resupplied this turn. The ground is covered with either snow or mud, so I have decided to sacrifice the river transport and send Lee's men to Stewart, TN. They are supposed to arrive on day 16, so I'm not holding my breath for their survival, but if by some miracle they do survive, I'll be very pleased.







[SIZE="3"]Nashville[/size]



A strange coincidence happened last turn. On his way North by rail, Forrest found Robert Mitchell at Tuscumbia and gave him a good thrashing. I imagine that Mitchell was planning on breaking the rail line there. Another strange coincidence is that on the same turn the battle was fought, Jeb Stuart was also in the region from his trip to Corinth from Annapolis. Stuart, being Forrest's senior, took charge of the battle. It took me a while to realize what exactly happened in this fight, because I never expected to see a battle report with Jeb Stuart as the commander . Oh well, it all worked out. I was able to destroy about 60% of Mitchell's cavalry while taking practically no casualties in return. Mitchell is off my radar, but I doubt if he stays South of the Cumberland River for very much longer.







After his conflict with Mitchell, Nathan Forrest has arrived at Nashville on time. I would like to engage Berry this turn, but the ground is poor and my men can't make the march in 1 turn. Instead, I'm sending Polk to Gallatin and Forrest to Clarksburg. That way I can assault Bowling Green without incurring any river crossing penalties and protect Nashville at the same time. If I were to send Polk and Forrest to the same region, I would run the risk of Berry pulling a fast one and marching around my flank and taking Nashville while my forces walked into an abandoned depot at Bowling Green. Polk's men are in perfect order and Forrest's men have hardly any cohesion loss at all. Weather and activation permitting next turn, I'll have taken the depot at Bowling Green along with (hopefully) a nice victory to boot.







[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



Little has happened around Memphis. Jackson made his march back up to Madison with no hook ups and Jeb Stuart arrived at Corinth from the Eastern Theater. The only orders I've made in this region is for Jeb Stuart to rail South to New Orleans. I'm organizing a new division there under Franklin Gardner and I'm going to go ahead an put that division into Stuart's new corps.

One observation I have made is that Meade's corps has disappeared. This will be the second Federal corps to disappear without a trace this turn. If you count Kearny's corps, that is three sizable federal corps that I don't have a clue where they are. I'm starting to get a little worried about a secret army being produced somewhere. After all, I haven't noticed any sizable reinforcements to the enemy front lines since they called their last draft. Anyways, I will keep my eyes out for suspicious activity.








[SIZE="3"]Jefferson City[/size]
I was a little surprised to find out that a battle took place at Jefferson City, MO this turn. It seems that the Blunt Force, the one everyone is talking about in the general AACW thread , sailed in from the River and attacked Stand Watie and his Indian raiders. Watie put up a good fight, but Blunt is an Indian fighter after all and was able to force Watie to retreat.

I don't have a screen shot, but Nelson has also taken Rolla. I'm sending Watie back to Springfield where Price has been for some time. Currently there is no threat to Price, who has 3 inf reg and 2 cav reg, but things could develop quickly as there has been a sizable host at St. Louis for some time.

[acme]

great progress!

u have huge reserves in manpower.
btw how did u make 90 WS/day? mass industries?

[slimey.rock]

great progress!

u have huge reserves in manpower.
btw how did u make 90 WS/day? mass industries?

Yep

I have neglected talking about my economy, but my basic strategy is to have light industrialization in at least 1 state in the deep south every turn. South Carolina is my golden egg where I industrialize the most. Charleston alone produces 17 WS. Richmond produces 18, but I think that's pretty normal. I got lucky with Brancheville. It is a little level 1 city, but it produces 7 WS! So, my secret is lots of industrialization in the deep South. You won't regret it late game when you've been pushed out of the border states.


I can attribute the manpower to the recent draft. I have only produced 1 division in Louisiana and maybe 7 infantry brigades to help protect the coast. I know my opponent is holding back a lot of troops right now and I'm waiting to see where I need to produce my next divisions.

[slimey.rock]

I'm going to make this update a pretty short one because not very much happened this turn.



[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Savannah[/size]



Isaac Stevens' division successfully made a coastal assault upon fort Pulaski offshore of Savannah. I'm not exactly sure why Isaac Steven's was chosen for the assault. For one, he isn't exactly a competent leader and secondly, he can't be looking for a promotion, because Stevens cant get one. I imagine that it was simply a case of Stevens being the convenient division to use, but I was still a little puzzled. Anyways, that does make Stevens any less of a threat because he is reckless. Currently, I have 1 marine regiment, 1 infantry regiment, 1 20lb parrot, and 1 fort battery guarding Savannah and that won't stand a chance against a division. So, I'm evacuating the marine regiment because they are the only element that isn't locked to the region.

Smith is due to arrive in Savannah at day 15. Hopefully, Stevens will assault the town and take it. Then, Smith will arrive and Stevens will still be in assault posture and attack Smith where he will certainly be defeated. If Stevens does not assault the mainland this turn, Smith will arrive and successfully save Savannah. Sounds like a win-win right?











[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Southern Illinois[/size]



More bad news with W.H.F. Lee. Massive starvation in the deathly cold took place. All but two of Lee's regiments are dead and in those two regiments only a few are still alive. For some reason, Lee's men barely went anywhere even though they were boarding river transports. Anyways, I'm going to make one last ditch effort to save them because I would hate to see Lee and Alexander starve. I will attempt to send them by river again, but this time to Clarksburg, TN where Forrest is currently at. If I can save both of those cavalry regiments, I will be very pleased, but again, I'm not holding my breath.








[SIZE="3"]Nashville/Bowling Green[/size]



Egad! It seems that the unthinkable has happened. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the savior of Mobile, has decided to become inactive at the brink of battle. Polk is furious. Forrest has a strategic rating of 8 with the bonus from Johnston, so you would think the odds of him being inactive are pretty low . In fact, I believe those odds are 1/36. Enf can correct me if I'm wrong

Anyways, I've called off the attack because Forrest is inactive with the bulk of my troops and also Bowling Green is covered with snow and I'd prefer it if my troops didn't get their boots cold . Hopefully I haven't ruined my plans by exposing my hand, but there's nothing I can do about it, now. I don't think that there's any reinforcements within range to make it to Bowling Green by next turn, so I should be able to go ahead with plans in two weeks.

I'm not showing it in the screen shot, but it seems that my opponent has been busy over in Louisville. I don't have accurate intel, but a new army has been formed there: The army of the Tennessee. Meade is also there, but I don't know if he brought his corps with him from Memphis. There is also a corps under L. Rousseau with one division. I don't know how many troops I can expect to march down come spring, but I'm guessing Louisville is where all the troops Longhairedlout has been holding back will be organized. I would be more worried about Berry being reinforced with some of these forces, but luckily I have 100% MC in the two railroad regions South of Louisville and those regions are covered in snow, so a quick march South from Louisville to Bowling Green is out of the question.







I have come up with a small plan to gain some ground against the North. It is still undecided yet because I may need the troops in Tennessee, but I am organizing a new division in the Georgia/Florida area. If all goes smoothly, I'm planning on taking Ft. Pickens. If successful, it will severely hamper the enemies naval operations in the gulf.

[enf91]

I think you're right with the 1/36 thing. I read it in some other thread, which I can't remember. Am I the official corrector or something? Because that would be really cool. Of course, I'm just a player, so I'm there are some things that are to me.

[slimey.rock]

I think you're right with the 1/36 thing. I read it in some other thread, which I can't remember. Am I the official corrector or something? Because that would be really cool. Of course, I'm just a player, so I'm there are some things that are to me.

I don't know about official , but you are more than welcome to correct any mistakes (non-grammatical) that I make . Anyways, I'm just glad to know that people are reading. It's been a slow winter, but I swear that things pick up hard in the Spring



[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Maryland[/size]



The Maryland line is much the same as it has been. A few forces have been gathering at Baltimore, so I know that he is reinforcing his troops there. It is hard to make sense of the jumble of units he has at Baltimore, but it is clear that he has two full corps under Reno and Franklin with what looks like another on the way with Dodge. I'm not worried right now, but I'm not sure how long even Longstreet can hold against impossible odds. I'll feel a lot better once Smith comes back North from Savannah, but that won't be for at least 4 turns.







[SIZE="3"]Savannah[/size]



I'm not sure if he knew Smith was coming or not, but one thing is sure; Isaac Stevens had no intention of coming onto the main shore of the South. Last turn his forces boarded ships and I'm guessing will be off this turn. They may keep fort hopping and that is fine for now. In the meantime, I'm sending Smith to clean up the mess that Stevens made and retake the fort. It is a little overkill to send two divisions and it will keep Smith from returning back North faster, but I want that fort back and I definitely don't want to leave an easy invasion point for Kearny's raiders.







[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



In Memphis, I have a significant advantage in numbers right now, but not enough to warrant an attack in good weather, let alone bad. Stuart has assembled a new division under Franklin Gardner is Louisiana. They will arrive back in Corinth by the end of the turn. While I feel very comfortable in this position, I am going to have to shift a lot of troops very soon for a new threat is looming in Kentucky.








[SIZE="3"]Bowling Green[/size]



There's some pretty good news in this neck of the woods. Because Forrest was inactive last turn, I chose to delay the attack until this turn, but it turns out that the enemy chose to withdraw instead of facing a superior enemy. I'm fine with the enemies decision and I'm happy to take Bowling Green without a shot. So, I'm sending Forrest to officially capture the city. Polk will stay put for two reasons. The first is to protect Nashville from a possible flank attack. This way the enemy will have to swing way around to threaten Nashville. The second reason is that Polk is inactive . Another 1/36 chance in a row because Polk has a strategic rating of 6!

W.H.F. Lee is still alive. He didn't make it to his destination, but at least he's a good ways there. I'm shifting his route to make him dock in Nashville. He has no supply left, but there may be a chance he can make it to Nashville. I think he's been through enough for now.







[SIZE="3"]Louisville[/size]



O.k. so here's the looming threat I mentioned earlier. A few turns ago there were 3 missing corps that I didn't know where they went. Two of them have shown up here at Louisville. Howard apparently sneaked in from Baltimore. Meade may have traveled by river from Memphis and Dix, the other corps commander, apparently has a decent sized corps under his belt. I don't have good information on them, but I do know that Howard's corps is made up of 4 divisions under Hancock, Reynolds, Meagher, and Corcoran. All of them are very capable division leaders and I'm going to need to watch my step around them.

There is no way that Forrest and Polk can hold that force alone, but luckily for now there is a wall of snow between us and them, so I have some time before I need to rail a corps or two in from Corinth.







I started recruiting some cavalry to replace Lee's lost cavalry division. It will be a few turns until they are active, but it is good to know that I'll have a replacement cavalry division soon.

[slimey.rock]

First off, I apologize for the delay in my update. I've been kind of busy and very lazy Anyways, I'm proud to present turn 47.



[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Carolina Coast[/size]



Last turn, Isaac Stevens abandoned Fort Pulaski outside of Savannah. Smith with his two divisions was inclined to retake it which he did successfully. Meanwhile, Stevens floated North along the coast to Fort Caswell, one of the forts that protects the mouth of the Cape River. I anticipate that Stevens isn't on a mission of conquest, but I expect he will take 1 if not both of the Fort's protecting Wilmington. Smith's men will march back to the mainland from Fort Pulaski and rail up to Smithville to protect Wilmington. They won't arrive this turn, but they will be able to arrive well before Stevens will have a chance at Wilmington. I'm still not sure what the purpose of Stevens' fort busting is, but it is effective at drawing my attention. I have a feeling that Longhairedlout is happy to keep Smith away from the front line at Maryland.











[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Kentucky[/size]



Over in Kentucky, Forrest waltzed into Bowling Green without a shot. It's always nice when you can secure a strategic defensive location like Bowling Green without a conflict. Berry is just across the river in Barren, KY. I would be inclined to attack his isolated forces, but the weather is bad, he is fortified, and there's no way I could coordinate Forrest and Polk's corps for the attack. For now, I'm content to fortify and await the coming onslaught that Spring will inevitably bring. I still don't know exactly what his troop strength are in Louisville, but he definitely has 4 corps and a handful of loose units waiting to be incorporated. I'm definitely going to have to reinforce this region once Buell's army of Tennessee starts lumbering towards Nashville.







[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



I have a little plan that I've started to develop in this region. Currently, there is no land route connecting Grant's army to supply. He is relying completely on Memphis' harbor. There are two major tasks that I wish to accomplish to force Grant to wither on the vine. First, Jackson will march North and West to Island 10. Right now the weather is fair in both regions that he will have to traverse and if the weather holds his corps will be at Island 10 in 2 turns. This will accomplish two things: cut down the amount of supply that can reach Grant and isolate the Federal Fleet from leaving the lower Mississippi River. The second part of the plan is to heavily reinforce my brown water fleet to allow me to safely blockade Memphis. If all goes according to plan, Grant will be forced to create an overland supply route, withdraw North, or starve. And I don't plan on giving him an easy time of creating an overland supply route.







On a slightly minor note, I have decided to create a coastal defense divisions for the Gulf. I haven't decided a leader yet, but I'm thinking that Cleburne would be the perfect commander. The division will be assembled at Milton, FL where they will proceed to capture Fort Pickens.

[slimey.rock]

[SIZE="4"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Maryland[/size]



Once again little has changed, but I felt a screen shot would be helpful. Rosecrans still has three corps under Reno, Franklin, and Dodge. Currently, I believe that Longstreet could withstand a frontal assault from all three corps, but it is a gamble. If you look closely, you'll find that Jubal Early has replaced Patrick Cleburne as division commander. Cleburne has been teleported to Milton, FL, but we will continue that topic later.







[SIZE="3"]Carolina Coast[/size]



Once again, I've raised a false alarm. It seems that Longhairedlout is throwing me for a loop. Instead of attacking Fort Caswell, he withdrew Stevens to Fort Monroe. Probably because Stevens' men had pretty low cohesion. Either way, I just spent a handful of money trying to rail Smith to Wilmington...

Now, reason would dictate that I send Smith back North to bolster the front line. I, however, am not so reasonable. I have a feeling that I haven't seen the last of the coastal assaults, so I've decided to keep Smith exactly where he is. Smack dab in the middle of my Eastern Coast. From here, he should be able to react in time to most coastal threats. Instead of being tied up in Maryland. It is a gamble that Longhairedlout will send another coastal attack, but I'm going to take that bet.







[SIZE="4"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Kentucky[/size]



Things are going as expected in Kentucky. I'm waiting for him and he's waiting for the weather to clear. So far, most of the snow has melted and fortunately turned to mud. I'm not sure how long the mud will last, but Buell will certainly be able to march forward soon.

I'm finally able to send a cavalry regiment to spy on the Federals. I'm planning on cutting the rails South of Louisville, even though I have 100% MC there. After the rails are cut, I should be able to get some more information on the strengths of the Army of Tennessee.







[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



Mud is the word of the day around Memphis as well. In fact, the only region that isn't covered in mud is the one region I want to travel to: Island 10. This is pretty fortunate for me as it means that Jackson will be able to retake the fort on schedule and his flanks will be protected by the weather. I know that sending an entire corps to take out Island 10 is a little overkill, but I'd rather not separate my forces in case Grant decides to come out of his shell. Once I take Island 10, I will have helped stop the Federal fleet from going upstream to Cairo and it will also keep new ships from straying down. It will be one step closer to Grant being cut off from resupply and reinforcements.







[SIZE="3"]Gulf Coast[/size]



Over in Milton, FL; next to Pensacola; Patrick Cleburne is assembling the first of his troops that will act as the strike force against Fort Pickens. I'm sending the Tigers Brigade from the Pulaski depot so that the men will have a little bonus cohesion. If successful, the federals will have a much harder time organizing coastal assaults in the Gulf and will also have to travel farther to resupply their blockade ships.

[Degataga]

Glad to see you're still keeping this up, was worried you stopped there for a bit.

Excellent updates, I never would've thought of the move by Jackson.

[slimey.rock]

Hey Degataga, glad to see your interest. Yeah, I got a little lazy there for a bit, but I'm almost half way through, so I can't stop now!



[SIZE="3"]Eastern Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Maryland[/size]



I don't think I really needed to include this screenshot, but this is the turn where Longhairedlout finishes organizing his troops under Rosecrans. It gives a much better idea the kind of strength he has. I estimate that he has about 70-80,000 green troops, while I'm looking at almost 40,000 battle hardened veterans. If he decides to make a frontal assault, Longstreet will surely pummel him.

Just to let you all know, Winter is officially over. I don't think there's a single region on the map that isn't fair. It is a relief that the Winter is over, but that also means the North will surely continue to advance in the West. By the grace of God, we may just be able to hold in the East.







[SIZE="3"]Virginia Coast[/size]



I'm also going to include an update of the Richmond/Norfolk area. As you can see, Stevens' division has returned to Fort Monroe to rest and refit. McClellan's army stack is also here, so who knows what kind of mischief they might try to cause this Summer.

I have a division at Norfolk and at Richmond. I'm making sure to keep my rear well protected, because I am in no mood to push a corps of Yanks out of Richmond or Norfolk.







[SIZE="3"]Florida Gulf Coast[/size]



You're probably surprised to see the Florida Gulf Coast heading. I was as well, to tell you the truth. It seems that Daniel Butterfield, the pesky cavalry commander who caused the trouble around Mobile, has decided to waltz in and take control of St. Joseph, FL. I'm afraid that a larger Union force might follow behind Butterfield like last time. If the North was to take Ft. Gadsden then it would expose a nice little highway up to Columbus, GA. Also, it may be just another diversion, but I can't take that chance. If they do get a foothold on the Apalachicola River, then the soft underbelly of the South will be exposed. So, Smith is ordered to take to the railroads again and make his way as quickly as possible to Tallahassee. He should be able to arrive in two turns, so we will see if he can react fast enough.







[SIZE="3"]Western Theater[/size]



[SIZE="3"]Kentucky[/size]



I haven't included any troop strengths in this screenshot, because my troops are the same and I can't see Meade's troops. Anyways, I mentioned earlier that the weather is all fair, and I don't see any reason why Meade won't begin his March South. I'm beginning to cut the rails from Bowling Green to Louisville because the regions will surely belong to the North very soon.







[SIZE="3"]Memphis[/size]



Jackson's overland march to Island 10 was successful. His troops easily dealt with the Northern Garrison and now we have retaken control of the vital fort. Also, the North was good enough to restock the fort with another coastal defense battery. I've decided to garrison the fort with a 2inf 1cav brigade and the fort also has my old coastal battery with a few guns left. The garrison is certainly not huge, but it should be enough to deter an uninspired attack.

Now my plan to strangle Grant is underway. With the loss of Island 10, I now control his easy route back home. This turn I'm raising 4 new ironclads for the Mississippi fleet. Currently the Mississippi fleet only has the CSS Arkansas as the other two ironclads are in Mobile protecting the bay. Hopefully with 5 ironclads in my fleet, I'll be able to protect myself from the massive Northern brownwater fleet.

I decided to leave Jackson at Island 10 this turn (which was a mistake. I should have begun marching to Nashville this turn.). I'm not planning any movements at all, actually. I'm curious to see exactly what Longhairedlout decides to do with Grant this turn. With Jackson I outnumber his forces, but if you only count Bragg and Stuart, I'm even matched with him. With my forces heavily dug in, I don't see any way for him to cause any harm to me without a brilliant flank.











[SIZE="3"]Pensacola Bay[/size]



Over towards Pensacola, Cleburne has mostly organized his division. He still lacks the Tigers brigade and also another brigade with the last element of artillery for him, but I think his forces are strong enough to go ahead and siege Fort Pickens. The Tigers brigade will follow Cleburne to Fort Pickens and will arrive there at day 15. The other brigade will be a few turns back, but before long, I should have a breech and be able to assault the fort.

[acme]

very good movements.
union seems to be weak, where are his massive armies?

pls post a screenie about overall standing,/losses, FI, etc./

thx!

[M_T]

Hi, I just finished reading your excellent AAR. After few first posts, I thought that war will end before christmas 1861

I hope for an update soon!

[enf91]

Welcome to the forum. However, this thread has not been updated for almost 2 months now, so it can be fairly safely concluded to be "dead". Hopefully, it's just sleeping.

[acme]

what happened to his interesting game?

had it been called?

[Longhairedlout]

Hi Acme and everybody, I was Slimeys rocks opponent is this game, we started playing this Pbem almost a year ago I think and I lost, it was my first time playing as the North and I wasnt very good , Slimey beat me and we got to around turn 100, Slimey was doing the AAR from old save game files as he was the host, I haven't heard from Slimey in quite some time, I hope he is OK

[acme]

100 turns means a game ran into '65. would be nice to see an endgame report, conclusions, sreenies.
i really enjoyed this AAR.

[Longhairedlout]

Ok I will try and get my old brain going and remember what happened....post to come soon

[acme]

that would be nice!