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Having never done an AAR before, and having never experienced the pure joy (at least that's the word on the street) of having the Europeans join the War of Northern Aggression on the side of the beleaguered South (that would be me), I'm considering posting an AAR of my PBEM match against Leibstandarte.

This is an interesting game in that Leibstandarte is doing quite well as the Yankee aggressors. He had some bad luck on the FI rolls, and I have had consistently good luck.

I will post more information about our game as it progresses, but I thought I would test out how to create one of these things by sharing with folks what you get to see when FI fires.

By late July 1863 I had another good result with the cotton embargo and FI hit 100 but nothing else happened (FI wise that is). Next turn FI still at 100 (I later learned that once it hits 100 it stays there, both + or -). By the late August turn I received this happy news.



I don't include a screen shot but the French also provide +5 WS, $50,000 and the CSA gets an additional +1 NM. THANK YOU "OLD EUROPE!" Where would you like that cotton delivered?

(Thank you your Majesty for showing me that I must not check the local references box!)

So I next take a look at the political report and see that the Union seemed to have gotten a jingoistic morale boost.



That's okay, because I get lots of new troops, guns, and ships rallying to our cause. And they come with lots of replacement parts...



And some competent leaders...(I put red boxes around some of the better ones). Is that sir, or suh?



Though I suspect they will count against my meager division cap which I know can be modded but my partner and I did not agree upon that at the start of our game so there you go.

The French manage to scrape together healthy naval forces in the West Indies.

A much larger French fleet weighs anchor back home.




The French also have a sizable army in Mexico. I hear Mexico City is a lovely place to visit this time of year.



Meanwhile, in the UK, the British Navy prepares to set sail to wreck havoc amidst the paltry US naval blockade and shipping lanes. Yep, that's 1,338 points of power.



And the BEF is looking rather imposing in their handsome red coats. The troops have been kept in the dark as to where they are headed, though they will preform ably once they arrive to open a new front.




There are a couple of smaller, division sized British units in Canada, waiting to make mayhem in what they hope are lightly defended Michigan and upstate New York.

That's it for now friends. Hope this will serve of some good purpose and we shall see how it plays out in subsequent posts.

What a great idea, gchristie! I'm looking forward to seeing how the situation evolves! As far as I know, nobody has ever posted an AAR with foreign intervention. Great initiative!

I'll be glad to explain how to post images in a variety of different ways. Shall I do so here, or would you prefer a little tutorial via email?

Aphrodite Mae

Watch out, gchristie.
The real punch of FI are the fleets and the BEF.
French forces in México show well that the 3rd empire was not quite the same as the 1st, and Canadian forces had a rough time, in my game, vs USA AI.

IMHO the USA player's winning strategy must be to try to prevent or delay BEF landing, using all his naval forces to try this.

Thank you, your Majesty. I've sent you an email.

Franciscus, no pressure here. My first AAR, first time playing with FI, and potentially the first person to lose a game with France and Great Britain on my side. Ah well, fortune favors the bold, eh?

Here are the details of where things stand on turn 58.

Beginning in Texas. The Yanks invaded Galveston months ago and captured all of the state with the exception of Houston. They assaulted McLaws’ forces two or three times and were bloodily repulsed each time. The Yanks have been reinforcing, but mostly just sitting there. I'm happy to have Thomas and Meade cooling their heels in Texas rather than making trouble elsewhere. Since they were staying put, I sent out cavalry forces to take back Dallas and most of the rest of Texas and I sent a relief force from Louisiana as a feint which had the desired effect of rattling my opponent. Here is how things look with McLaws’ corps at 974 power facing off against the Union hosts.



Lots of action from Baton Rouge to Ft. Pickens. Around the time when the Yanks landed in Texas, they began landing in Berwick, LA and up to Pierre but were halted by Joe Johnston's forces, principally led by Magruder's division of 542 power in Baton Rouge. The Union has made some inroads into Arkansas with token forces, but as their losses mounted at Houston and southern reinforcements began showing up in East Texas and Louisiana the Union offensive stalled though things are heating up again. H. Berry sits in Berwick with a division or more, Dahlgren is sailing up Grand Lake and Mitchell has a division in Pierre. The Yanks took Ft. Jackson a couple turns ago but G Smith's corps of 742 is dug in at level 7 entrenchment in New Orleans where he also built a fort. The rebels managed to capture Ft. Pickens and Buchanan has a sizable naval force that tangled with Farragut last turn and has him bottled up outside of Mobile. Another potentially dangerous force neutralized for now.



Missouri. Not much has been happening here. Standard opening by Lyons to grab Rolla and then Springfield. Price and McCulloch in Fayetteville have been staring down Freemont in Springfield and the Yanks have not tried to attack, though they recently sent a cavalry probe south of Springfield and Price had moved to intercept and protect Ft. Smith.



Which has allowed Stand Watie to sneak around Freemont and grab Jefferson City which he vacated when Union troops arrived and then skedaddled to Rolla where he burned the depot and ripped up the rails. He is now merrily wrecking havoc between Jefferson City and St. Louis.

Tennessee and Kentucky

I’m getting anxious here. Grant is steamrolling towards Mississippi and there isn’t a lot to stand in his way. I lost Island 10 last turn to Pope, and I’m falling back to regroup on a line from Memphis to Tuscumbia to Winchester but I think I’m stretched too thin. Vicksburg’s defenses are building up, but the Blunt Force is scouting the area. I’ve been trading space for time and giving ground grudgingly, blowing depots and rails as I fall back onto prepared entrenchments but ASJ and Bory are not earning their pay.



The East.

I’ve done better here than out West. Held Manassas long enough to make the Union take the NM hit and have been counter punching where I can. Jackson sits in the crucial region of Culpepper with a corps at 1,611. Holmes’ corps is at 1,135 and Longstreet sits in Fredericksburg at 1,187. I had intended to build a fort in Richmond, and I paid dearly for not doing so as the Union III Corps led by Dan Butterfield end arounded Holmes and raided Richmond in force three turns ago and the bottom dropped out of my NM (hmmm, did I say I was doing better here than out West?) . I managed to recapture Richmond the next turn and chase him out, but I’ve tried twice to attack him since and both times have gotten creamed, losing 12 NM between two battles. Of course, John Bell Hood was in charge, so what do you expect? Butterfield’s forces aren’t getting supplied so I may try one more attack. The Union has not tried to land on the Peninsula nor have they bothered to raid the coast.



Industrialization/runners

I have 13 brigs in the Gulf of Mexico bringing in 26 Money and 1 WS and another 8 in the Atlantic blockade box bringing in 12 Money. Semmes is prowling the Atlantic Shipping box with the CSS Florida, CSS Alabama and the Plymouth Squadron and this turn they sank 22 Money and 2 WS. I’ve opted for some light industrialization in North Carolina and Texas, the latter so I could get some artillery but have decommissioned the factories as the money is needed elsewhere.

Okay, that is where things stand. I'll post again next turn. BTW, these things are a bit of work, and I've been hurrying to catch up so I'm a little fast and loose on some of the details as I hadn't intended to write an AAR until well into the game so I'm going on memory and expediting the process.

Now that our Queen has shown me how to post the image in the AAR I'm thinking they are a little small. Are folks having a hard time seeing these? If so I'll enlarge them.

Cheers.

gchristie wrote:[...]
Now that our Queen has shown me how to post the image in the AAR I'm thinking they are a little small. Are folks having a hard time seeing these? If so I'll enlarge them.

My personal opinion is that your images are the perfect size, but would benefit from higher resolution.

If you save your image file as a PNG rather than JPG, your "screenies" will have better resolution. With higher resolution images, it's possible for PC users to zoom in on a viewed attachment by holding down the Ctrl key, and then scrolling the mouse wheel.

Aphrodite Mae

Aphrodite Mae wrote:What a great idea, gchristie! I'm looking forward to seeing how the situation evolves! As far as I know, nobody has ever posted an AAR with foreign intervention. Great initiative!

I'll be glad to explain how to post images in a variety of different ways. Shall I do so here, or would you prefer a little tutorial via email?

Aphrodite Mae

He excuses, my queen, if you see this AAR...


http://www.puntadelanza.net/Foro/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=11939

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?21114-AAR-Visual-AACW

Picaron,

Great minds think alike

Must. Not. Look.

Late August 1863 orders

Naval orders – the French 12th Fleet (356 power) in the West Indies and the West Indies Squadron (145 power) currently in Jamaica will both move to the Gulf of Mexico blockade box to engage the 4th Fleet (247 power). This will take 18 days or so. The Flotte de l’Antigue (1,094 power) under Admiral J. Graviere shall sail from France to the Atlantic blockade box to take on Admiral James Palmer and his Atlantic Blockade at 216 power and are due to arrive in 18 days. All fleets will move in green/green posture to save cohesion for the first 15 days then switch to offensive posture next turn when the fireworks begin.

The Bahamas Squadron at 72 power will sail to the Gulf blockade box next turn as they can arrive in 13 days but will be badly outnumbered until their French “friends” arrive 5 days later. The American Squadron under Admiral A Milne will transport the BEF to a destination yet to be revealed. Suffice it to say that they are heading in a westerly direction. Not too sure what to do with the Erie Flotilla stationed in Amherstburg. At 72 power and no transports they are of limited usefulness but they are sent to bombard Buffalo to help out Genl. Williams’ troops. The St. Lawrence Flotilla in Quebec packs 72 power and has the ironclad HMS Terror. They can’t sail anywhere except Lake Ontario, so maybe when Buffalo is ours they can move into the lower Great Lakes and link up with the Erie Flotilla.

Foreign troop movements – The British Expeditionary Force under Sir Charles Windham is made up of the 1st Corps under Genl. James Lindsay with 655 power, the 2nd Corps under Genl. G. Wolsely at 640 power, the 3rd Corps under Genl. A Prentiss at 495 power and the Cavalry Division under Lord Uxbridge at 114 power. Lord Uxbridge is known for his fondness for destroying rail lines, making him the Gomez Addams of his day. It will take the BEF 19 days to arrive at their destination. The Amhertburg forces in Ontario are weak and leaderless at 81 power. Detroit’s garrison is at 226 power but I think a large part of that are coastal guns. They will sit tight for now. The Upper Canada Force in Toronto, led by Genl. Sir William Williams, has a weak division of 161 power which has been ordered to take Buffalo, NY and will arrive in 10 days by rail. The Army of Canada under Genl. Sir Charles Doyle is stronger at 295 power and has been ordered to attack Rochester, NY scheduled to arrive in 16 days by rail. Both leaders are 3-2-3 so they aren’t great but both are active this turn so off they go.

The Expedition du Mexique under Genl. Elie Forey will decamp from Vera Cruz and march on Mexico City. Forey is a mediocre leader with stats of 2-2-2, but his division commanders are quite good. Gen. A Bazaine is a 5-4-2 leader and Gen. F. Douay is a 5-3-2 leader. Forey is inactive and will stay behind with the Vera Cruz garrison while his more offensive-minded underlings move out. Our intel reports Mexico City is guarded by 8 units of Mexico Militia at 46 power and a “union detachment” of 11 units with power of 65. I think 1.16 does not allow you to march and assault on the same turn so Bazaine and Co. at 662 power will move out in offensive posture and scout out Mexico City and hopefully take the city next turn. From there I think the French will make the Union troops’ lives in Texas a little more miserable, or they may be ferried to a more important front like Louisiana and Mississippi.

I shift some CSA forces around in reaction to Union moves but nothing too significant. Order up 50 rail, some cavalry replacements and a heavy MS brigade and two AL brigades to shore up my defenses along the Mississippi River. Save the turn, send it to the host and fingers crossed.

FYI - try to not mix different nationalities in fleets.

Also, blockade boxes are handled differently than regular water regions.

Jim-NC wrote:FYI - try to not mix different nationalities in fleets.

Also, blockade boxes are handled differently than regular water regions.

Thanks Jim,

I wasn't planning to combine the fleets, neither side would abide by that.

Do you mean they are handled differently for combat purposes? I'm hoping to send the US Navy down to Davey Jones' Locker. Perhaps I best peruse the wiki.

Results for late August 1863 turn.

First the numbers, with CSA first and Union second:
NM 95/146
Losses 152,293/113,718
VPs 2,343/2,363
Points per turn from cities 43/43

I try to be fairly methodical every turn, first I go through all the reports, then I look at the map, then I cycle through all my naval forces then my land forces, then I give orders.

So, here is the "!" report



We lost 1 NM due to food riots, and another 5 as my French “allies” are getting pushy about Mexican Concessions. With friends like these... We will gain 1 NM from the Battle of Corinth but I must get NM up as we are running out of manpower.

Naval report:

The French and English squadrons are 3 days out from the Gulf Blockade box so they switch to offensive posture and we should have some fireworks next turn. Likewise for the French squadron headed for the Atlantic blockade box.



But I spy a Union detachment, unescorted, ferrying the artillery from Ft. Jackson to Berwick. Too juicy a target to ignore, so I order a brig from the blockade box to try an intercept, and a French squadron is rerouted from the blockade box to try to do the same.



Bad news reported from Amherstburg, the British fleet got pulverized by the guns of Detroit and all ships were sunk.

Report from land:

Mexico just got interesting. Looks like our intel around Mexico City was correct and a small battle was fought resulting in a stalemate. The Mexicans ran after just one hour of fighting. Buh bye, amigos . Perhaps they thought they were facing brave Achilles rather than Achille Bazaine? His wrath is equally fearsome.



But looking north Aiy Chihuahua! Who are these guys?

Battle of Corinth. Forney’s division gives Dix the boot and recaptures this crucial rail head. That's Tippecanoe and 9 more hits in the backside for you. But will Forney have time to dig in?



And Wharton’s force catches the Blunt Force and blunts it considerably.



Note: I considered doing this AAR in character of my avatar (Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog) but I just couldn't reconcile the risk of my opponent taking it the wrong way. His English is better than my Spanish, but too much gets lost in translation. Capiche?

Now that you found, them I should let you know that it's the other half of the Mexican army (for some reason, most of the army is up north, and not guarding Mexico City).

Also, as you found out the coastal artillery in Detroit destroys most of the Canadian fleet when it sails by.

As to why don't mix the ships, (it's like Ghostbusters - don't cross the streams). There is actually a command cost, and potential command penalty for having more than 1 nation's ships in a fleet.

Who you gonna call? Jimmmmm N Ceeeeee!

Thanks for the tips.

If the nothern half of the Mexican army is as yellow as the southern half I should be in like Flynn.

Being originally from the Detroit area, I felt a small sense of pride (grudgingly) in the performance of those guns. Funny how we connect with "just a game" isn't it?

For role-playing purposes I wasn't going to mix force nationalities as I think they never would have stood for that, but good to know about the other reasons not to do so.

Thank you for this. I always wondered what happens in the case of a military intervention.

How strong are the Mexicans ?

Narwhal wrote:Thank you for this. I always wondered what happens in the case of a military intervention.

How strong are the Mexicans ?

Glad this is of some help, and you are most welcome.

When I mouse over the force in Chihuahua I see an army under Porfirio Diaz, the 29th division at 296/296 and ancillaries: Cacadores 17/18, a cav bde 10/12 and an arty bde 13/16. Plus the "Union detachment" Pwr: 247 and a unit of militia. That's the size of the dog in the fight, I've yet to see the size of the fight in the dog.

On paper they look powerful enough to cause me headaches if they link up with the southern Mexican force. I shall endeavor to defeat them both in detail .

I've been reading through past threads to get a sense of what might happen when the three navies clash, and it appears that there is little to find in the posts to predict how combat will play out. It is all rather "abstract" as people have indicated. It appears that sinking ships is rare, but bouncing them out of a region is common and something I've seen with regularity. That would be a great outcome as it would accomplish my goal of sinking the blockade percentage. So perhaps we shall all learn a thing or two about what happens when big fleets clash in the blockade and shipping boxes. I shall take careful note of the combat reports as this seems a unique opportunity to observe major naval engagements.

So pull up a chair and "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!"

Turn Orders.

Mexico. A Bazeine’s division Pwr: 547 will assault Mexico City Pwr: 67. Douray’s division will set up in defensive posture in case the Chihuahua force tries to interfere.

Missouri. Fremont appears in Cass, MO leading three divisions with a combined Pwr: 900. McCollouch and Whiting are well entrenched (level 6) in the hills of Fayette Pwr: 606 and Price orders his men Pwer: 422 to force march (65% chance) from Fort Smith to combine with McCulloch. This could be a costly affair for Fremont.

Mississippi. Richard Taylor will lead his division Pwr: 416 from Natchez and rail north to combine with Forney at Corinth, leaving Carter Stevenson behind with a small division Pwr: 146 to keep an eye on Yankee incursions.

Tennessee. Gardner’s division Pwr: 348 will rail from Memphis to join Forney in Corinth, leaving Albert S Johnson commanding a force of Pwr: 849. The Army of the Potomoc under Bory remains entrenched at Pulaski and there are now three linked corps under Polk, Bonham and Johnson stretching from Columbia to Winchester.



Virginia. This one I had to think about, but the Union continues to move men around Holmes' left flank towards Richmond, and this aggression will not stand. So Jackson’s Corp Pwr: 1,237 is ordered to decamp from Culpepper and head south to smash the III Corps which by now is badly out of supply. Jackson will move through Amherst hoping to catch Lew Wallace’s 12 division Pwr: (I forget but it's smallish) on the fly then hit Butterfield. Jubal Early will take his division Pwr: 211 and fall back to R E Lee’s position to maintain integrity of the defensive line. Whipple’s Corp Pwr: 1,386 has entered Charlottesville (look closely and you can see Whipple's stack just underneath Holmes') where Holmes Corp Pwr:1,111 is heavily entrenched and holding at all cost, but the corps did not engage. Holmes will stay in his level 7 entrenchments and dare Whipple to attack. Everyone else stays put.



The BEF will arrive next turn to a yet to be disclosed location with orders to amphibiously assault. I’m anxious about how their cohesion will hold up, and picking an obvious place to land which might therefore be well defended could have disastrous consequences. So I have picked a spot guaranteed to be a thorn in the Union side but it shall remain a surprise for now.

Buchanan was sent into Mobile Bay to try to destroy Farragut's force.

Manpower is low so I was not able to purchase all of the replacements that I would like, but my rail and river transport capacities are well stocked.

Saved the turn and sent it to my host.

Will Forney hold? Will the BEF make it ashore? Will the US Navy go up in smoke and ash?

Stay tuned.

Oh oh, I just noticed that Jackson has decided to move through Charlottesville first putting him on a collision course with Whipple. Maybe that is a good thing, but one thing I know, sparks will fly this turn.

gchristie wrote:Who you gonna call? Jimmmmm N Ceeeeee!

Thanks for the tips.

If the nothern half of the Mexican army is as yellow as the southern half I should be in like Flynn.

Being originally from the Detroit area, I felt a small sense of pride (grudgingly) in the performance of those guns. Funny how we connect with "just a game" isn't it?

For role-playing purposes I wasn't going to mix force nationalities as I think they never would have stood for that, but good to know about the other reasons not to do so.

Thanks for the call.

I am going from memory, as I have had intervention fire only once, and that was a while back. The Brits won the game for me, as I had them land near Baltimore (they captured the city that time), and surround Washington DC, cutting off supplies. Then my ANV pushed the invaders from around Richmond, and I was able to capture Washington and win the war.

Results for Early September 1863 turn.

First the numbers, with CSA first and Union second:
NM 86/154
Losses 166,905/126,865
VPs 2,395/2,477
Points per turn from cities 42/45

Friends, let us begin this update with a poem, titled To a Mouse by Robert Burns.

But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane [you aren't alone]
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley, [often go awry]
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy.

For there is grief an’ pain a plenty for our tattered southern heroes as this turn did not turn out as I had hoped.

First, a little good news as A. Bezaine’s forces captured Mexico City! Battle opened on day 1, and continued with three more battles concluding on day 13. The Ejercito de Mexico (the Northern Mexican Army, i.e. The Bad Guys) has left Chihuahua and took Laredo so Chihuahua and its depot are open if our valiant French forces wish to secure all of Mexico. Thomas and Meade continue to sit tight and my guess is that the Ejercito hombres are going to join them and try to take Houston finally.

The Gulf proved anti-climactic as Dahlgren’s force sailed out to escort the guns from Ft. Jackson and we lost the resulting Battle of Atchafalaya Bay.



William Franklin’s division took Ft. St. Philip.



And Grant ousted Forney from Corinth but Forney gave better than he took.



The real head scratcher for me was the Battle of Charlottesville. Jackson’s Corp was sent to attack Butterfield and railed through Charlottesville where Holmes and Whipple were facing off. Although Whipple was at entrenchment level 1, and Lee MTSG, and Lee/Jackson/Holmes’ combined force had a global power of twice that of Whipple’s, Lee got creamed and CSA lost 8 NM. Whipple's luck was 50 and Lee's was 47 and both sides guns opened at range 5. Whipple had 8 10 lb parrots, 4 20 lb parrots and 4 12 pounders to Lee's 3 20 lb. parrots, 7 12 pounders, 2 10 lb. parrots and 3 6 pounders, and Whipple's guns rained carnage upon our brave soldiers.



Milroy’s corps MSTG but Lee is a 6-5-5 leader against Whipple 2-1-1. I don’t know how Lee lost so badly. All of our forces were in good shape, lots of cohesion and brigades all filled out. Sometime I am at a loss to understand how battles get resolved, but I’m not complaining and our boys soldier on. Oddly enough, Lee, Jackson and Holmes all retreated to Culpepper together and are at entrenchment level 1. I don't know why they didn't return to Lee's original starting point and the level 7 entrenchments.



Finally, Williams’ forces were repulsed at Buffalo, and they now sit in Niagara nursing their wounds.

The big story of this turn is what didn’t happen. I thought the Flotte d’ lAtlantique would make short work of the Union force in the Atlantic Shipping box but they inflicted 25 hits and were hit 19 times and the Union force remains in the box. The blockade is down to 25% so progress is being made.

And last, the BEF has arrived in the Lower Bay and have orders to disembark at Essex, NJ (Newark) and if all goes well will march into New York in 6 days. I chose Newark as I thought that my opponent would anticipate that the BEF would land either close to DC perhaps in Baltimore or Philadelphia, or NYC and he would not suspect Newark. Uxbridge will cut the rails next turn and hopefully NYC with all the money it contributes to the Union cause will be ours soon. Or at a minimum siphon off a large Union force that is rampaging across Virginia. The American Squadron will not bombard as word of the disaster at Fort Detroit spread quickly through the Royal Navy. The fleet will divide and a squadron will head to the shipping box in order to support Semme's harassment of Union shipping and to supply the BEF as they reclaim the colonies, er um, assist their southern allies… That is, if things don’t again go aft a-gley.

Shipping box combat is not handled like regular combat. You give a few hits, take a few hits, and sit there until next turn. Really bad luck with Stonewall's attack.

Late September Orders.

The East.

Lee’s forces will form a defensive line running north to south anchored by Longstreet’s corp in Spotsylvania. Early’s division will detach and join Jackson’s corp Pwr: 935 and the corp will move to Louisa and begin digging in. Bee’s division, which was decimated from the battle, will join Lee and rail to Richmond and collect replacements. Holmes’ corp Pwr: 1,145 will move to Buckingham and entrench, thus shielding Richmond for now. Attacking this turn would be suicidal, as Butterfield’s corp is now in supply again. D H Hill Pwr: 871 has started construction on Fort Hill around Richmond.



Sir Charles Windham and the BEF will land at Newark and march on New York City and should arrive in 10 days.

Kentucky/Tennessee.

Taylor’s division Pwr: 427 is marching from Stark, MS to join Forney’s corp Pwr: 527 in Pontotoc, MS in 4 days. Forney’s men swithc to defensive posture and dig in and await Grant’s next move. I hate to surrender the initiative but I don’t see great options for attacking here. The Tuscumbia to Winchester line under Bory’s command has yet to be tested, but I’m anxious about Cheatham’s force in Chattanooga. I make him a division commander to get his Pwr to 450 as Rosecrans and Lyons are in striking distance. Cheatham is dug in at level six in the mountains and it is muddy this turn so he should hold.



West.

Fremont did not attack Fayette and Price was able to join McCullough and they are at Pwr: 923. Nothing new in Texas, and in Mexico A. Bezaine’s division will rest and recover cohesion and Douray’s division Pwr: 438 will strike out for Chihuahua and will arrive in 17 days.

Naval.

The British Bahamas Squadron Pwr: 13 will join the West Indies Squadron Pwr: 139 in the Gulf Blockade box to take on the Union 12 fleet Pwr: 49. The French 12 Fleet, Pwr: 304 is in the GBB in a separate stack. The Union is sending the powerful 12 Fleet Pwr: 515 south, likely to the Gulf Blockade box so we will need to reinforce there quickly. The French Flotte d’lAntique Pwr: 682 hunts for the Union Palmer Blockade Pwr: 82 in the Atlantic Blockade Box. The American Squadron will defend the landing of the BEF this turn, then a portion will be sent to the Atlantic Shipping Box to help Semme’s sink Union shipping.

Builds.

I order up replacements for elite and line infantry, 20 rail and an ironclad in Alabama and that’s all she wrote for this turn.

Message received from Leibstandarte in reaction to the BEF landing at Newark.

"The evil is at our shores!
again the perfidious Albion in our soil!"

I admire our forum colleagues for whom English is not their native language yet they are so much better with it than I could do with their language. Makes me wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to learn another language while I was in school. Too busy studying the le langage de l'amour back then...

Watch for another exciting update later this evening.

Ciao!

Welcome back, gentle reader.

It is now early October, 1863 and it is turn 61 with 54 turns remaining. The numbers continue to trend in the wrong direction:

NM 85/155
Losses 174,698/133,186
VPs 2,439/2,468
Points per turn from cities 41/46

Situation East.

The BEF landed in Newark unopposed. Sir Windham’s force at Pwr: 1,346 has used up half their ammo?! They haven’t fired a shot yet. Grr. Union Genl. Francis Barlow sits in New York City with a division at Pwr: 430 and the Fort Richmond garrison is at Pwr: 362.



A Union naval force tried to upset the landing but the American Squadron defeated them.



Looks like the BEF has one shot so I better get this right.

In Virginia McClellan took Charlottesville and the North picked up another point of NM. Butterfield’s corp does not look like it has any support, so if Jackson and Holmes’ corps attack him he won’t have any MTSG pals showing up.



In the Atlantic Blockade box the French fleet finds Palmer’s fleet and inflicts 25 hits and is hit 13 times.

Situation North.

The Army of Canada at Pwr: 452 sits in Erie and Oliver Howard’s corp of one full division under Rousseau and a small division under Ord are now in Buffalo at Pwr: 304. And Edwin Sumner has shown up in Detriot with two divisions at Pwr: 368. Amherstburg looks like it is toast.

Situation West.

Grant attacks Memphis twice, with a small battle on day 12



And an assault on day 15 and those cannons took their toll.



ASJ’s force is now at Pwr: 211 but Grant is looking low on supply and his Pwr is 691. Wouldn’t you know Forney is inactive this turn. His corp is at Pwr: 1,179 and two of his division commanders A.P. Hill and F. Gardner are itching to attack Grant.

The rest of the situation in this theatre remains unchanged.



Situation Gulf.

Nothing to report around New Orleans but Dahlgren is about to arrive in the Gulf Blockade box with a large fleet.



Situation Mexico.

Douay’s division of Pwr: 438 is about to arrive in Chihuahua to engage Juan Alverez’ 57th division at Pwr: 242. My hopes are with Douay but my money is not.

Next post, what in the heck am I going to do next…

It's half their supply, not ammo. So they will be a little hungry shortly.

What a great thread, George! It's like a tutorial for foreign intervention, with the added bonus of advice from experienced players! Plus, it's great to learn all of the pitfalls and "wishIwoodaknowed"s!

Thanks for all of your hard work!

I must say I do very much fancy this report, gentlemen.

Thank you, your Majesty and Palpat.

I've been fortunate to have Jim-NC's advice. He is a real gem.

While I wish that I could instruct from a place of great competence and brilliance, perhaps my many mistakes and lack of knowledge will provide some useful lessons. I tend to rush things and though I try to take my time and think things through with this game, I can be rather careless. Case in point, I should have taken the time to organize the BEF better so that I could have made a couple simultaneous landings. Instead I was all "yahoo, let's go" and packed em up without bringing along more rations and now they are half starved.

The Easter Break and the breakneck pace of work have conspired to keep me from updating the AAR, but I shall post my moves and send my turn to my opponent within a day.

Cheers.