April 1861 Union campaign

[James D Burns]

Early April 1861

After playing around with the game for about a week now, I feel I’ve got a decent enough grasp on things to try an AAR. I’m still far from an expert, so I’ll try my hand at the Union cause for my first foray into the public theatre with AGEOD’s American Civil War game.

I’m playing the longest possible campaign game because I enjoy messing around with the production options to see what is possible and to try out different strategies.

My first order of business is the economy. There isn’t a lot to purchase yet, but I want to get conscripts and cash raised as soon as possible since there is an x number of turns delay between selecting each option and if you put off using them you simply limit your total income for the entire 115 turn scenario.

Looking over my draft options, I decide to choose to pay a bounty of $1,000 per company in order to raise 256 conscription points (the most I can raise on volunteer callups without taking a national morale hit). I don’t want to pay the national morale hit to start a partial or full mobilization yet, so just the volunteers will have to suffice for now until I can get my national morale out of the 80-90 range.



The real heart of the Union production machine lies in money, and I decide to raise as much as I can without affecting my price increases yet. So I sign both measured exceptional taxes and a 5% war bond measure. In total this will raise $225,000 and cost me 25 victory points and 1 national morale.

I almost decided to forgo the morale hit, but money is simply too important early on, so I decided it was worth the hit in this case. In the future when total cash raised from taxes can exceed $1,000,000 I’ll start signing tax bills that hit my overall prices, but for now I simply can’t raise enough taxes yet to justify the price increases.



With my starting armies starting out so depleted and the fact the Union armies take so much longer to rebuild then the Confederates, I pour all my newly raised cash and conscripts into building up my replacement pools. I can’t build 100% of the available regiments (at least I think they each represent 1 regiment), but I build enough that I’m confident my armies will be well on their way to fleshing out once they start to arrive.

I’ll keep spending on replacements each turn until I’m confident I have enough to rebuild all my on map armies before I start to purchase new units.

Thus ends all my changes to the different options in the ledger for my first turn. The Union simply doesn’t have the money yet to mess with things like industry or transport infrastructure yet.



Given the fact all my on-map units are locked I end my first turn.

Jim

[James D Burns]

I again spend all available cash on building up my replacement pools without actually overspending and placing the next turn into a deficit situation. I don’t actually know if there is a downside to deficit spending but I’ve refrained from doing so in all my games thus far just in case it has some kind of inflationary effect.

The Small Chesapeake squadron at Norfolk becomes active and I give it attack posture and order it to the Hampton Roads sea zone to try and intercept any rebel ships trying to break out into the Atlantic.

A new event I’ve never seen before occurred in Texas. Sam Houston has raised 2 Cavalry units in Dallas. Reading the event it leads me to think I need to recapture a town within 5 turns, but Dallas is now Union controlled already since it was undefended. My national morale is up to 90 now also, so this leads me to believe my hunch is right and Dallas was the intended target mentioned in the event text.

I assume the text was written in anticipation of a confederate occupied Dallas, if not I have no idea which town I need to take. Dallas is the capital so it makes sense Houston would be after the government seat there, so for now I’ll leave the Cavalry units in garrison there until I can raise some troops to help them out.

Currently I have nothing available for purchase in the reinforcements section yet, so I can’t even buy a few militias to bolster Dallas’ defense.



Three other events triggered this turn. Fort Sumter was Bombarded!, Blockade of the Confederacy and The Pratt street Riot. The last is a nuisance as it destroyed the rail in the Baltimore area, so I’ll send a unit there to rebuild it as soon as one is freed up from a locked state.

Brigadier Generals Keyes’s and Wallace appeared in Washington this turn and I’ve ordered them southwest to Alexandria in anticipation of joining the main Union Army when it appears there in another turn or so.

Rebel Partisans appeared at Laredo Texas and captured that town.

Almost all my units are still locked in place, so I advance to the next turn.

Jim

[James D Burns]

May arrives and I am finally able to purchase some new units. I decide to purchase 10 militia units (4 MO, 4 IL and 2 IN) in the more western states to help garrison against cavalry raids and perhaps even send a few towards Texas if they arrive in good position.

I also continue building up my replacement pools as before.



Fort Sumter is directly assaulted by the Confederates in two very bloody Pyrrhic victories for the Confederates. Though I still hold the fort, there are only 143 men left in the garrison regiment and 70 men left in the artillery unit.

The almost 2500 total losses for the confederates make this fortress assault a very bloody start to the war for them.



The steam frigate USS Brooklyn became active at Fort Jefferson in the Florida Keys and I gave it orders to sail to Hampton Roads to join with the USS Cumberland, another steam frigate.

The Chesapeake Scout Squadron brig has split off from the USS Cumberland in order to take on a passenger, Nathaniel P. Banks, a three star general who appeared at Fort Monroe this turn. Next turn the loaded scout squadron will transport Banks to Philadelphia where he will enter as garrison to take advantage of his recruiting officer trait.

The frigate USS St. Louis became active at Fort Pickens in the northwest tip of Florida and has orders to sail to the Atlantic shipping box to join with James Palmer’s fleet of two other frigate units the USS San Jacinto and USS Constellation. The African Scouting Squadron brig unit that was with Palmer’s fleet has been detached and given orders to sail to Philadelphia where it will merge with other brig units I am going to send there.

Four events occurred this turn. Lincoln’s call for volunteers (it’s not readily apparent what this does), The St. Louis Massacre and Martial Law in Maryland. Carl Schurz and his cavalry regiment appeared at New York and have orders to march to Washington.

I’ve split Lyon’s force at St. Louis and ordered Lyon and his cavalry regiment to Jefferson City with attack posture. The 2nd MO Brigade has attack posture set and is ordered to march to Rolla. There is still some harsh weather in this region so I’m doubtful these two moves will reach their objectives even though their plots predict they will.

At Baltimore I’ve merged Hooker, the Washington Brigade and the 1st MD Brigade and ordered them to march to Harper’s Ferry and enter there as garrison in an attempt to hold onto that Strategic town.

The main US army appeared at Alexandria. I’ve assigned Keyes to the 3rd division and Wallace to the 5th division so every division now has a leader. Once Shurz arrives from New York, he’ll take command of the 2nd Division and free up Hunter to become a Corp commander for the army I’ll be forming under McDowell once everyone is unlocked.

At Charleston MO, a small 100 man patriotic guerilla unit spontaneously appeared and captured the town from the confederates. I’ve not seen one of these units before so I’m not sure if they are treated like the minutemen units in BOA. Those small units in BOA roll every turn to disband, so I think I’ll assume this unit will as well and will simply leave it in town as a garrison to watch what happens to it over the next few turns.

Not much else to do so I end my turn.

Jim

[James D Burns]

The Confederates have brought in more support for their siege of Fort Sumter. While my garrison has re-grown slightly from being totally red to being ¾ red, I don’t think it can withstand an assault from this larger force.



Tucson has been besieged by the Confederate 11th Texas Cavalry. I outnumber the unit 2 units to one, but both my units are still locked. I’ll switch them to attack posture to see if they launch an attack from within the city.

Nathaniel Banks is aboard the Chesapeake Scout squadron and has orders to sail to Philadelphia.

My militia units purchased last turn has appeared and I’m happy overall with their cities of appearance. One of the Missouri militias appeared in Charleston, the city liberated by the small guerilla band last turn. The small unit is still there and hasn’t disbanded yet, but with the militia unit active now, the Confederates will have to set siege to the place for sure now if they want the town back.

An Illinois militia unit appeared in Cairo, so that city is a lot safer now as it had no defenders as yet.

Further west Lyon took Jefferson City and I’ve ordered him and his cavalry regiment southwest to Springfield with attack posture set. I’ve ordered one of the militia units from MO that appeared north of Jefferson City to march there to take up garrison. Another MO militia is ordered to march to Springfield to take up garrison there should Lyon manage to capture the city.

The 2nd MO Brigade is still marching towards Rolla and should capture the town this coming execution phase I hope.



The KY, OH and IL gunboats became active this turn and all except the OH (rivers still frozen) are given orders to sail to St. Louis to merge with Foote’s fleet when it arrives. The OH gunboat will sail to St. Louis as well as soon as the rivers thaw.

Brigadier General Heintzelman appeared at Alexandria and was placed with the second division. He’ll replace Hunter as soon as the formation is unlocked. Shurz will go to Washington instead and take command of the first new division HQ I build.

Robert Patterson and the 1st and 2nd Divisions appear north of the Shenandoah and I order all units to rail move west to Grafton. Grafton is the closest supply depot and the weather is very bad in the region, so I want to get these formations to town so they can rebuild as fast as possible.

Hooker’s small force is still 12 days march from Harper’s Ferry, but that area is experiencing harsh weather and snow, so I’m unsure if he’ll make it into garrison in time. A large Confederate army is spotted in the area of Warren just southwest of Winchester and may in fact beat Hooker to Harper’s Ferry if it is moving there also, as it has no river to cross.



As this turn ends a new interim patch is released and I patch up to 1.00b. Hopefully my campaign can be continued.

Jim

[James D Burns]

June arrives and things begin to pick up all across the map as my forces begin to unlock at an increasing rate.

At Fort Sumter the Confederates pulled back to Charleston SC., I assume this move is intended to allow them to rebuild and resupply easier before a final assault on the Fort. I could send a ship to evacuate the fort or increase its garrison, but I don’t want to take advantage of the AI, so I’ll let things be and see how it develops.

The Confederates decided to put an embargo on cotton which displeased the British to the tune of -16 engagement points. This is really not a very bright move for the confederates to make. The loss of $150,000 this early in the game could be crippling and I just don’t see it being justified right now. Perhaps it’s simply a simple percentage die roll chance the AI will chose it or something.

If so I think there should be some pre-set conditions before the die roll is even considered as a possibility. Something like extremely low national morale or something that would then justify the expenditure of the cash for the 5 national morale increase. Of course I’m no expert yet so there may be a hidden benefit to this option I simply don’t see or understand yet.



Lots of activity with my fleets this turn. Instead of going over every single move and decision I’ll lay out my overall fleet plan here. I intend to leave a transport/invasion fleet of 3 steam frigates and 2 transports at both Boston and New York.

I’ll send two blockade units south to Fort’s Jefferson and Zachary in the Florida Keys. These ships will rotate with the blockade unit in the southern blockade box as needed in an attempt to keep a fully armed and rested blockade unit in that box at all times.

All my frigate units are going to the Atlantic shipping box to join James Palmer’s fleet in their hunt for Confederate raiders.

All extra transport units are also going to the Atlantic Shipping box to join the transport fleet and bring my overseas imports up and to keep a healthy pool of transport assets available to move supplies around the map coastal areas with.

The Blockade units that start in the Atlantic blockade box will be divided into two fleets when they are unlocked and will rotate duties in that box as needed to try and keep good condition units in the box at all times.

All my brig units’ are going to merge at Philadelphia to form a swift small transport fleet for use as a fast transport force.

I plan to keep a fleet of about 3-5 steam frigates in Hampton Roads to try and intercept Confederate naval moves out of Richmond and help keep the Chesapeake Bay rebel force free. Later this force will be replaced by Ironclads.

Andrew H. Foote arrived at St. Louis and has merged all river boats into a fleet of 4 gunboats and 2 transports. He has orders to sail to New Albany IN. with attack posture set. The OH Gunboat has orders to sail to New Albany as well to merge with Foote next turn.

A confederate gunboat (2nd Alabama Volunteer) is spotted in the Great Confluent, the 3-way river junction near Paducah. I’m hoping Foote’s fleet will engage this unit before it can bombard my militia in Paducah.



In MO, Lyon and his cavalry regiment took Springfield, but a confederate force is spotted just north in the area of Hermitage. It’s lead by Sterling Price and appears to consist of two weak under strength units.

The MO militia moving to Springfield from the north, must now bypass Price to get into Springfield. I’ve given it passive posture and allowed it to keep its current march plot even though it takes it through Price’s area.

I’m hoping that it’ll make it through clean, but even if it doesn’t its possible it’ll retreat towards Springfield since it’s a strategic town and a supply depot.



Hooker’s small force made it into Harper’s Ferry. The confederate force southwest didn’t move on the town as I thought it would.

Nathaniel Banks is now inside Philadelphia and should start mustering conscripts now based on his recruiting officer trait. I wish there was a text report for these officers whenever they succeeded in mustering conscripts. Right now I have no idea if he will muster 1 per year or 1 per month or what and I can’t really tell if it’s a good idea to leave him in the rear like this.

A Confederate Cavalry unit captured the harbor at Kinsale IL. This caused the state of Illinois to spontaneously raise the 10th Illinois Cavalry regiment in response at Chicago and I’ve given it attack posture and ordered it south towards the offending Confederate cavalry unit’s area.

At Charleston the small guerilla unit is gone so this confirms my suspicion that they act just like the minutemen from BOA. If I get anymore in the future I’ll send them on suicidal raids to burn and pillage Confederate assets instead of simply having them sit around until they disband.

At Annapolis the USMC unit is activated and I ordered it to Alexandria, where it will join with the Corps I’ll be forming there soon.

In the far west most of my units are activated. I order the majority of the infantry and artillery regiments to Leavenworth where they will form a small army to move towards Texas.

The cavalry units are ordered further south to occupy the Indian villages and keep any Indians that appear from racing north and wreaking havoc in my rear.

Supply in this region is precarious, so I’ll refrain from burning any Indian villages until I get some supply wagons down there. Even the few points of supply these villages produce can make the difference between starvation and death in that arid region right now.

The Texas cavalry unit besieging Tucson has pulled back to Henrietta TX., just south of Dallas.

Brigadier General Joseph Mansfield appeared in New York and has orders to march to Washington along with an infantry regiment and artillery regiment that was activated this turn.

I spend points on replacements and some militia units this turn. Next turn I’ll get to raise drafts and taxes again.

Jim

[James D Burns]

A new turn of drafts and taxes and the Union war machine begins to slowly awaken. I repeat my last draft and spend a bounty of $1,000 on volunteers and raise 288 conscription companies. I decide to once again forgo mobilization until I run into problems with conscription points vs. money. Currently I’m cash poor and simply do not need the mobilization yet.

Taxes are my hardest decision. I decide it’s not worth the price increases to sign more than a 5% war bond as the bonds simply don’t raise enough money to justify the inflation they would cause.

Taxes however are another matter all together. I decide to sign exceptional taxes and take a 1% price increase hit and 2 national morale hit. With 92 national morale I can stand to lose two points and my tax collectors rake in a tidy sum of $652,000. Combined with the $181,000 raised in my war bond (no negative effects here except the loss of 25 VP) I bring in a total of 833,000 for my efforts. Not bad considering the minimal costs to my nation.



With money to spend stuffing my national coffers, I finally decide to spend some money on the Unions industrial power. All states get 1 factory to start off with, heavier investments in the more industrialized states will come when my tax bases increases later in the game. I then purchase 100 locomotives and 50 riverine transports to bring these two figures up to respectable levels.



Finally I sign the total blockade bill since I have some room to take any negative hit after the Confederates signed their cotton embargo and took that big hit. This brings in $50,000, 15 victory points and 1 national morale. The downside is there is a chance it will affect foreign intervention 7-15 points, 55%-45% in my favor.

Now I can focus on purchasing new units. First I flesh out my replacement pools a bit and then I spend the remaining income left on support assets. I buy all available division HQ’s and 1 Army HQ. I then buy 2 medical Co.’s (1 for each of my armies) and 2 MO supply wagons.

These two wagons will be heading to Dallas ASAP to build a depot down their since I have none in the deep southwest.



With my financials taken care of, I can focus on my turn. The units at Alexandria have been activated and I formed my first army under McDowell. McDowell’s Army of the Potomac stack contains the 1st and 2nd Divisions, the 2nd Wisconsin regiment and the US cavalry regiment along with 2 supply wagons for a total of 16 out of 16 command points used.

Next I form a Corps under D. Hunter’s command and it consist of the 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions, the USMC regiment and 3 supply wagons for a total of 13 of 16 command points used.

Both McDowell and Hunter passed their strategic rolls, so I decide to take advantage of this opportunity and order a synchronized assault towards Fredericksburg through Manassas. With both formations given assault posture, I’m hoping they take Manassas quickly and have enough movement left to get to Fredericksburg by the end of the turn.

This is a risky move since many units in the two formations are still under strength, but its not often all leaders in a Union army are activated at the same time so I decided the risk is worth it.

I’ve ordered the 8th US regiment and an artillery unit to Manassas from Washington to enter there as garrison behind my hopefully successful attacking army to protect my supply lines. More units will move forward as they are made available.



The 2nd and 4th PA brigades appeared at Harper’s Ferry this turn, so I’ve ordered Hooker and his 2 brigades north to the area of Chambers PA where he will begin entrenching behind the Potomac River. I’ll dispatch one of the new Division HQ’s to hooker ASAP so he can form a division with his two brigades.

Shurz and his cavalry unit have merged with the California Brigade and have orders to move to the area of Frederick to dig in behind the Potomac River. He also will be getting a Division HQ unit ASAP.

The 1st and 3rd PA brigades have orders to march to the area of Montgomery to dig in there behind the Potomac River. They’ll be getting a leader and Divisional HQ ASAP.

These three moves should go a long way to preventing Confederate cavalry raiders from crossing north into the Union rear once they’ve dug in to decent levels.

Now that they are rebuilt at Grafton, the 1st and 2nd Divisions have orders to also take up positions north of the Potomac River in the areas of Fulton and Allegany. Until I’ve got some decent leaders and more Army HQ’s, I don’t want to go on the offensive with leaderless units like these.

With another 15 militia units arriving from last turn’s purchases, I’m starting to feel secure from deep Confederate Cavalry raids. Now I can begin to focus on some mobile troops to hunt down the rebel scum.

I’ve begun moving activated brigades to Cincinnati, New Albany and Cairo. These will be my mustering areas for future armies.

Foote’s River fleet is fully formed up (5 gunboats and 2 transports) and has orders to sail to Cape Girardeau, the three-way river junction just south of Cairo. He’ll maintain an attack posture in the open river there until a more respectable fleet can be raised for offensive purposes.

With a MO militia now in Rolla, the 2nd MO Brigade has attack posture set and is ordered to march to Springfield to join with Lyon who is now under siege there by Price. The MO militia marching south managed to join Lyon inside Springfield but not before being mauled outside the city by Price, so Lyon needs some help.

I’ve also ordered the 2nd US regiment and an artillery unit to Springfield from Jefferson City with attack posture set.

The Confederate 11th Texas Cavalry unit returned to Tucson again and I’ve ordered the now activated infantry and cavalry regiments there outside the town to attack the interlopers.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments begin to pay off and the Union sees 14 different increases of various materials across the nation. Given that I have a negative value for war materials spending at the start of this turn, I reduced industrial spending to one factory for each state rated as good industrial potential or above.

I purchase an additional 4 Divisional and 1 Army HQ’s this turn. I then purchase another 16 militia units since there is a shortage of war materials for purchasing better formations.

With one last heroic effort, the garrison troops at Fort Sumter again win a victory against a confederate assault, causing 593 casualties while suffering 397. Unfortunately this eliminated the regiment and left only the emplaced gun unit in the fort and the confederates took the fort.

The Union total blockade goes into effect and we begin inspecting any ship cruising near Confederate shores. The measure leads to a -8 British engagement points, leaving foreign intervention currently at -20.

Nathaniel Banks is angered over being passed over for command, and the Union loses 16 victory points and 2 national morale.

2 Confederate Frigates attempt to move through Hampton Roads and are intercepted by 4 Union steam frigates. It’s a union victory and the Confederates suffer 180 casualties while the Union suffers none.

In the Atlantic Shipping box, Union frigates from J. Palmer’s command intercept raiders from R. Semme’s command and inflict 11 losses while suffering 8 losses. I’m not sure what the losses translate to, but I’ve ordered Palmer’s entire fleet to Wilmington for refit.

This will leave my Transports unprotected, so I’ve dispatched a steam frigate from Hampton roads to the Atlantic Box until the frigates can return.

The NY Squadron Blockade unit arrived in the Gulf of Mexico Blockade box after being dispatched there by me last turn to relieve the Gulf Squadron 1 unit which is down to half rations. However the NY unit arrived with damaged vessels and depleted cohesion. It was full strength and in 100% tip top shape when it left Fort Jefferson.

There was no battle fought/reported, so I assume the unit hit a storm or something en route. However there is no text alert to this damage and this kind of non-reported heavy damage can prove disastrous if a player misses it and leaves a unit at sea. I would love to see a text message generated whenever a unit takes damage like this from weather (unknown sources?) or whatever.

I checked all sea zones the unit moved through and they list weather as fair, so I’m really confused by this damage now. Later in the game with dozens of ships flying all over the place it will be hard to keep track of this kind of thing without text reports to alert the player.



I’ve ordered the NY unit back to Fort Jefferson and ordered the full strength NE Squadron #1 from Fort Zachary to the Gulf of Mexico box to try and relieve the Gulf Squadron 1 unit next turn.

The Army of the Potomac took Manassas by storm causing 735 casualties and taking 200 prisoners and suffered only 3 casualties in return. Personally I think 3 Union casualties are a bit unrealistic given the 700+ Confederates casualties caused here. Perhaps some examination of the code when extremely large armies attack tiny units needs to be looked at. Either the defenders should surrender or the victor’s casualties should be in line with what you’d expect when 700+ guys fight to the death.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the army failed to make it to Fredericksburg and stopped north of that city in the area of Stafford. Intel reports the 2nd Virginia (brigade strength I bet) and the Fredericksburg militia inside the city.

Upon further reflection I determined the Army probably couldn’t take the city by storm and casualties would probably be very high even if they managed to take it in a rush. Also there’s a good possibility Confederate reinforcements will move to Fredericksburg in response to my armies recent advance through Manassas.

So I’ve determined to halt the offensive and dig in so my army can finish rebuilding its strength. D. Hunter’s Corps shall remain in place and McDowell’s stack will move to the area of Fauquier outside Manassas. Both stacks will dig in and draw replacements until full strength.



The 10th Illinois Cavalry unit caught the Brewer Cavalry bn. In the area of Alton IL. just east of St. Louis and won a battle against them. The Confederates suffered 338 casualties and the Union suffered 102. Both units remain in Alton and the 10th has attack posture set.

All units marching to Springfield MO have arrived and Lyon now commands a respectable force. Supplies and ammunition are low however, so no forays are planned until some supply wagons can be brought up. The 2 MO supply wagons I built appeared at St. Louis and are waiting for an escort unit or two to be unlocked before heading west.

In the deep southwest my 1st and 2nd cavalry regiments arrived and took the Cherokee and Creek Indian villages. Both regiments have entered garrison and shall remain in place for now to repel any attempt by the Confederates to retake the villages.

At Tucson I’ve placed the 4th Cavalry regiment outside the town to try and engage the Confederate Texas cavalry unit should it return. The 5th infantry regiment remains inside Tucson as garrison.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Late July 1861

AARRGGHH!!

Well it looks like the new patch will necessitate a restart. Confederate forces entered the area around Norfolk this turn and I gained control of the CSS Virginia and the Confederate commander Franklin Buchanan. The patch was stated to have fixed this so it looks like patching up didn’t help my game out.



I’ll be stopping my AAR here and perhaps will do another AAR someday after my morale recovers.

GROAN! leure:

Jim

Edit: AAR continued further down.

[Hohenlohe]

Late July 1861

AARRGGHH!!

Well it looks like the new patch will necessitate a restart. Confederate forces entered the area around Norfolk this turn and I gained control of the CSS Virginia and the Confederate commander Franklin Buchanan. The patch was stated to have fixed this so it looks like patching up didn’t help my game out.



I’ll be stopping my AAR here and perhaps will do another AAR someday after my morale recovers.



GROAN! leure:

Jim

Take it easy I got the same results before the patch came out and so I give the south some revenge with his own ship.And relating to Buchanan see him simply as southern defecter like B.Arnold in the Independance War.But I know you American grognards like it more historical.But Frederick the Greats Wars will do the same to me...

greetings Hohenlohe

[Wilhammer]

Your AAR thus far is excellent!

I've learned a lot reading it.

[marecone]

Great AAR . Like it a lot.

[Pocus]

The NY Squadron Blockade unit arrived in the Gulf of Mexico Blockade box after being dispatched there by me last turn to relieve the Gulf Squadron 1 unit which is down to half rations. However the NY unit arrived with damaged vessels and depleted cohesion. It was full strength and in 100% tip top shape when it left Fort Jefferson.

There was no battle fought/reported, so I assume the unit hit a storm or something en route. However there is no text alert to this damage and this kind of non-reported heavy damage can prove disastrous if a player misses it and leaves a unit at sea. I would love to see a text message generated whenever a unit takes damage like this from weather (unknown sources?) or whatever.

I checked all sea zones the unit moved through and they list weather as fair, so I’m really confused by this damage now. Later in the game with dozens of ships flying all over the place it will be hard to keep track of this kind of thing without text reports to alert the player.

Can you send me the saved game? [email="support@ageod.com"]support@ageod.com[/email]

give me all the turns please, so I can check this Norfolk problem too.

thanks

[Alan_Bernardo]

Your AAR thus far is excellent!

I've learned a lot reading it.

Yes. But I wish the poster could post the complete images instead of us needing to go to another site to look at them in full. As they are in the post, they are too small to see a thing.

I've used photobucket before and was always able to post completely sized images right on the post itself. Maybe this site doesn't allow that-- I don't know.

Photobucket is quite good and free to boot!

Alan

[James D Burns]

Can you send me the saved game? [email="support@ageod.com"]support@ageod.com[/email]

give me all the turns please, so I can check this Norfolk problem too.

thanks

File sent, thanks Pocus.

Jim

[Spharv2]

Yes. But I wish the poster could post the complete images instead of us needing to go to another site to look at them in full. As they are in the post, they are too small to see a thing.

I've used photobucket before and was always able to post completely sized images right on the post itself. Maybe this site doesn't allow that-- I don't know.

Photobucket is quite good and free to boot!

Alan

You can, but it causes hell for those with low speed connections, especially with this many pictures.

[James D Burns]

Photobucket is quite good and free to boot!

Alan

Hi Alan,

They used to include code for the full images at image shack, but that is no longer provided by them. I assume their revenue is generated from add impressions so full images do them no good, hence their recent change to thumbnails only. If I continue this AAR or start a new one I'll look into Photo bucket.

Jim

[Spharv2]

Hi Alan,

They used to include code for the full images at image shack, but that is no longer provided by them. I assume their revenue is generated from add impressions so full images do them no good, hence their recent change to thumbnails only. If I continue this AAR or start a new one I'll look into Photo bucket.

Jim

Actually, you can still do it using Image Shack. Just take the code for the direct link to the pictures and insert it using the insert image button in the reply tools. I use Image Shack for all of my pictures. Do you use the imageshack toolbar? Handy little thing when posting AARs with lots of pictures.

[James D Burns]

Actually, you can still do it using Image Shack. Just take the code for the direct link to the pictures and insert it using the insert image button in the reply tools. I use Image Shack for all of my pictures. Do you use the imageshack toolbar? Handy little thing when posting AARs with lots of pictures.

I've been simply using two internet explorer windows, one for the forum the other has image shack and my images, and I simply cut and paste the image code they provide into the text of my posts here. I'll investigate the insert image options you mention next time I post images, thanks for the tip.

Jim

[Alan_Bernardo]

Hi Alan,

They used to include code for the full images at image shack, but that is no longer provided by them. I assume their revenue is generated from add impressions so full images do them no good, hence their recent change to thumbnails only. If I continue this AAR or start a new one I'll look into Photo bucket.

Jim

No problem. I'm in no way telling you how to run things. I like your AAR so far, and reading these is the primary way I go about understanding a game like this.

With Photobucket, all you do is upload the image to their server. Then you copy-paste the site address from Photobucket to the site to post.

Alan

[WallysWorld]

James, fantastic reading!

[Pocus]

Fixed the two problems reported, thanks James.

[James D Burns]

Huzzah! With the new patch I was able to restore my previous turns save and re-execute the turn and Norfolk appears to be working as intended now. So I can continue my AAR, Thank you Pocus!

I start my turn looking over my fleets and do some maintenance shuffling of units. I send those with low cohesion to ports and send those in ports that have recovered back to sea.

In the Gulf of Mexico Blockade box, the NE Squadron #1 Blockade unit arrived with full cohesion, but one of its ships was damaged (again no text message explains what happened to it) slightly. I decide to go ahead and leave it in the box for now and send the Gulf Squadron #1 unit to Fort Zachary for resupply.

The Steam Frigate USS Niagara was on its way to the Atlantic shipping box for temporary escort duty, but it is damaged and has low cohesion, so I divert it to port. My transports will have to go it alone for a while until James Palmer’s fleet refits and returns, as I simply don’t have any spare Steam Frigates to send right now.

Of the 5 blockade ships that start in the Atlantic blockade box, I detached two last turn and gave them orders to move to port to act as replacements for when I need to rotate the other three to port for resupply and maintenance. Both are still at sea moving and have taken cohesion hits and one has several damaged vessels (4 of its 8 ships damaged).

It irks me a bit that my ships are damaged so easily simply moving around the map and I have no idea why it is happening. I could understand a storm hitting my ships once in a while, but the weather is reported as fair in every sea zone these units are in or have moved through.



Industrial expansion occurs in 5 cities.

Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Shenandoah leading T. Jackson’s Corp of 8 units appears in the area of Fairfax VA. and sets siege to Alexandria. Given that Alexandria isn’t a supply depot and Manassas is, I determine to not react to this move with the Army of the Potomac.

Instead I’ll leave McDowell where he is and Hunter will march to join him so they can draw replacements and guard the now very large Union supply cache at Manassas. Once the Army of the Potomac is at or near full strength, then I’ll perhaps consider engaging a full confederate Corp in an offensive field battle.

There is also a Corps sized leaderless confederate force at Culpeper (I think it should be spelled Culpepper, not sure though so I used the games spelling), two areas southwest of Manassas, any move by me towards Johnston would leave Manassas at the mercy of this force. Also the fact that this confederate force is full strength, leads me to assume T. Jackson’s Corp is full strength as well, so chances are I’d lose any sizable battles since my army is only at about 2/3rds full strength right now.

I must admit though this bold move by Johnston does cause me some concern. If he manages to storm Alexandria he’ll isolate my army from their supply lines. Hopefully my troops will flesh out enough in the next turn or two that I can consider an offensive move to push Johnston out of my rear.

As it is however, Johnston is isolated from his supply lines right now, so perhaps he’ll withdraw to his own lines during this coming execution phase.

General P.G.T. Beauregard’s Army of the Potomac at Winchester is reported to consist of T. Holmes’ Corp (3 units) and M. Bonham’ Corp (5 units), along with the 1st Virginia. I’m a bit nervous about what the AI intends to do with this army this turn as well.

North of the Potomac River, most of my 2 brigade blocking forces are about 1 week from their destinations, so any move north by the Confederates should meet at least some minor resistance. I’ll feel a lot safer though later on when they are heavily entrenched behind the river. Right now the confederates will simply view them as a speed bump.



The McClellan event fired this turn stating he was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. I’ve begun to move him via rail to the East (to Washington this turn) so I can place him in command of the army as soon as practicable (need to slip past Johnston somehow).

I’m a stickler for historical realities and feel it’s not fair to the south if I intentionally keep him in the rear with the gear. I strongly feel the Union should have to pay a price if they want a more active army in the east early in the war.

Expiration of the first term event occurred this turn as well. As far as I can tell some Union brigades were removed from the map, but I’m not 100% sure as I didn’t keep close track of them. I know historically a very large percentage of the 90 day volunteers simply reenlisted so I hope not too many units got disbanded.

The confederates have begun moving units into Southern Kentucky. Bowling Greene is besieged this turn by what appears to be 3 southern militia units.



At Alton IL. The confederate cavalry unit cut the rail lines in the area. Three engagements were then fought between the 10th IL. Cavalry and the confederate cavalry, but it appears both units were low on ammo and supplies as all three fights saw very minor casualties. The Union lost 54, 5 and 5 for a total of 64 losses. The South lost 0, 94 and 45 for a total of 139 losses.

I found it strange that the confederate cavalry unit found time to tear up the rail lines given the fact it was attacked both last turn and this turn. Perhaps rail line repair/destruction checks should come after any combats are resolved in an area?

Foote’s River fleet suffered some cohesion losses sitting in the 3-way river junction, so I’ve ordered them to Cairo for refit.

John C. Fremont has arrived at St. Louis and has formed a force of 1 brigade, 2 militias and 3 supply wagons. Once the brigade is unlocked next turn he will march to Springfield to merge with Lyon before heading south. Hopefully I’ll be able to get an Army HQ and Division HQ out there from Washington soon to help with limited command issues.

Edwin Sumner has reached Leavenworth KS. And has formed a force consisting of 6 regular infantry regiments, 2 artillery units and 1 Balloon unit of all things. He has orders to march to Springfield as well to merge with Lyon and Fremont.

With Springfield’s supply stocks only at 90/23 I’m hoping the automated system can push enough stocks out there to supply all these units I’m sending. Can’t fight a very effective war without any beans and bullets.

I spend all available funds on my replacement pools.

Jim

[Alan_Bernardo]

Jim,

Nice work on the AAR. It's nice to see the full pics on site, also.

I'll be following this one for sure.

Alan

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments lead to increases in 7 cities.

The confederates have pulled back and consolidated their forces at Winchester. According to my Intel, the Army of the Shenandoah is lead by Johnston and consists of 11 brigades, 4 independent units, 3 artillery units and 3 supply wagons. I have no idea how it is structured as far as Corps go and I assume its also possible Intel hasn’t spotted everything that is present.

In the below screenshot, I’ve selected my most depleted division, so as you can see my Army of the Potomac is almost completely rebuilt. Another turn or two and I’ll start to think about producing the wars first big engagement with the south. Assuming he doesn’t come after me first of course.



North of the Potomac River I have lots of moves plotted shuffling small units about, but the main defense line is in place covering every province almost all the way to Grafton PA.

Now they just have to dig in to decent levels and I’ll feel comfortable that I can stop any raids into my territory in this region. One confederate cavalry unit crossed the line this turn and I’ve dispatched Shurz Cavalry unit and the 10th PA Cavalry unit (spontaneously appeared in Philadelphia due to this raid) to attack it this turn.

At Norfolk the confederates launched a determined assault and captured the city after 6 separate battles. Casualties for the Union were 392, 196, 98, 196, 98 and 49 which finally saw the destruction of the defending garrison regiment. The Confederate losses were 548, 9, 58, 9, 58 and 9. It’s a bit strange that battles 2 and 4 were identical and battles 3 and 5 were also identical. I’d thought there would be more randomness to the combat routines.

Nevertheless I’m very happy with the performance of my lone infantry garrison regiment against 5 militia, 8 supply, 1 sharpshooter and 2 light regiments. I’m sure the 400 entrenchment level bonus helped my guys a lot. And only the tenacity of General Benjamin Huger in launching 6 separate assaults allowed his Corps to carry the position.

Unfortunately the CSS Virginia event didn’t see the destruction of the USS Merrimack as it should have. Instead the Frigate was bumped out to sea to the Cape Henry sea zone. Intel reports the Chesapeake Squadron in the now confederate controlled Norfolk Harbor, so I assume the CSS Virginia and Buchanan appeared as they should have and are now locked in the port.



In the Hampton Roads sea area, Admiral Farragut’s New York area transport fleet has arrived with 2 Brigades and a supply unit aboard and I’ve ordered them to debark into Fort Monroe. The port fix in the recent patch for Fort Monroe does not appear to be backwards compatible with saved games as I’m unable to plot a navel move into the fort. Also highlighting the fort shows no harbor in the pop-up text, only a level 1 fort and level 1 depot.

At Louisville KY, I’ve detached 4 KY militia units and ordered them to march south along the rail line to Bowling Greene. I’ve left them in a defensive posture with orders to enter the city upon arrival. Once they merge with the two militia units already there, then I’ll contemplate an attack posture.

The 4 confederate units besieging Bowling Greene have breached the walls and may assault my two damaged militia units there now. Hopefully they’ll fail and my relief column from Louisville will arrive in time to save that strategic city.

At Paducah KY., Confederate General Henry H. Sibley leading 4 units has set siege to the town. With only 1 defending militia inside I don’t hold out a lot of hope of managing to hold onto the town.

Cairo simply doesn’t have any spare units to create a relief column with, so Paducah will have to hold out as long as possible on its own. The real pain is my industrial workers set up a small ironworks there this turn which produces +4 war supplies each turn. I’ll need to retake the town ASAP once I get an army together in the region.



At St. Louis all of Fremont’s units are unlocked so he has orders to march to Springfield. I also dispatch 2 MO militia units south to the city of Charleston to beef up its single militia unit garrison.

Supplies at Springfield have increased to 325/101, so it looks like my army I’ll be forming there soon will have the logistics support it will need. Most of my newly produced Armies and Divisions at Washington D.C. will be available for orders next turn, so I’ll dispatch some HQ commands west next turn.

Dallas has been besieged by the 4th Texas Brigade and 2 Texas Cavalry units. I guess my relief column won’t be able to get there in time, but you never know. Supplies are scare around Dallas and Intel doesn’t spot any Confederate supply wagons with the small force. Also it appears the 4th Texas brigade is not at 100% strength.



This turns production has me building my first regular infantry brigades. I build 2 KS brigades (cheapest to build costing only 1 war supply), 3 MO brigades and 2 IL brigades. I build the smallest brigades for each state since my war supplies are so low right now. I also focus on the west since I’m very short of regular troops out there compared to the central or eastern parts of the map.

With all my war supplies used up I then build quite a few militia units (56 total). I made sure each on map state had at least 4 militia units on map, and then maxed out or beefed up Border States like KY, WV, MD, etc.

So next turn I should have no more worries about cavalry raids and most of my border towns should have sizable militia garrisons to help withstand these 3-4 unit Confederate raids I’m beginning to see develop against my weaker isolated towns.

Jim

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments lead to increases in 4 cities.

Rebel negotiations with the British are fruitful and lead to +3 engagement points. Foreign help now sits at -17 engagement points.

4 of my Division HQ have become active in D.C. and I send them to the 2 brigade blocking forces along the north bank of the Potomac River. I would have sent some west via rail, but 3 confederate cavalry brigades are active in the areas north of D.C. this turn and I didn’t want to risk losing an undefended lone HQ until I’ve hunted down the rebel scum.

Next turn several Division HQ’s and one or both of my army HQ’s should become active and they’ll head west if my rail lines are cleared of the rebel raiders.

I’ve switched commanders of the Army of the Potomac and little Mac is now in charge with the 5th division, 2nd Medical unit and 2 supply wagons under his direct command. McDowell formed a new Corps consisting of the 1st and 2nd Divisions, the 2nd Wisconsin and 2 supply wagons. Hunter’s Corp consists of the 3rd and 4th Divisions, the USMC and US Cavalry units and 2 supply wagons.

Ambrose Burnside appeared at Annapolis and I’ve ordered him to Baltimore where he’ll enter garrison to take advantage of his recruiting officer trait. Does anyone know how this trait works (does a size 15 city matter vs. a size 7 city, etc.?) and how many conscripts it musters?

Fitzjohn Porter appeared at Manassas and I’ve ordered him to D.C. for now. He’ll take command of a new division as soon as I can clear the confederate raiders in my rear and make it safe for lone Generals to travel again.

At D.C. I’ve merged the Washington Brigade with the US engineer unit and ordered it north to Adams PA. to begin repairs on all my damaged rail lines.



Bowling Greene falls to a direct Confederate assault. Again Southern tenacity pays off and the city is taken after 5 separate battles. Union casualties were 335, 482, 188, 90 (1 of the 2 regiments destroyed) and 90 (2nd regiment destroyed). Confederate casualties were 344, 197, 148, 99 and 50.

The two defending KY militia regiments are to be commended at their tenacity. Of the 2 militia, 4 supply and 2 regular Confederate regiments that attacked, none were reported lost.

My relief column from Louisville only made it half way and suffered cohesion hits, so it has orders to return to Louisville. I’ll have to mount a more competent counteroffensive once some leadership and HQ’s can be cobbled together in the region.

With the aggressive moves in the south of KY by the confederates, the Kentucky’s Neutrality event triggers and Kentucky declares against the invaders. I hope that means they went with the Union.

The fact I’ve been spending on industrialization in Kentucky for the past few turns confuses me as I thought that meant they were already on my side. Nothing is readily apparent in my favor regarding this event as all KY militias were already active due to Confederate attacks.

The fact that Paducah is besieged and Bowling Greene fell to the Confederates caused all KY militias I built last turn to appear at Louisville. I now have 9 militias in that city and 4 more are returning there from the south. 13 militias will make a sizable little raiding force once they have some leaders to guide them.

General John A. McClernand who appeared in Illinois last turn is almost to Louisville KY where he will enter garrison to take advantage of his recruiting officer trait.



The siege at Paducah causes no damage and no assault materializes yet.

General Henry W. Halleck appears at St. Louis MO. and is ordered to move to Louisville KY via rail to see if his training officer trait has any affect on the mass of militia units concentrated there. The trait says he will train up to 2 regiments of conscripts to regular status each turn, but I’ve never seen an infantry unit called conscript yet, so I assume militias are conscripts.

The 4th Texas Brigade and 2 Cavalry units have moved to Tucson from Dallas and set siege there. 2 new Texas Cavalry units appeared at Dallas to continue the siege there. I have ordered my two Cavalry units inside Dallas outside the city with attack posture set to try and repel the Confederate Cavalry.

With only $62,000 projected for next turn’s budget, I opt to make no purchases this turn except to replace the 2 just destroyed KY militias, which leaves a projected surplus of $48,000 for next turn. I want to build up enough cash reserves to build a few sea going and river going ironclads and some artillery and supply wagons, so I may need to forgo purchases for a while to allow my cash stocks to slowly build up.

Jim

[Pocus]

It irks me a bit that my ships are damaged so easily simply moving around the map and I have no idea why it is happening. I could understand a storm hitting my ships once in a while, but the weather is reported as fair in every sea zone these units are in or have moved through.

I think its a left over of the previous version, but I was unable to find anything wrong in the new one. From now on, if you have a brand new ship which is damaged, then send me again the save.

[Pocus]

I'm taking notes of your remarks.

The fact I’ve been spending on industrialization in Kentucky for the past few turns confuses me as I thought that meant they were already on my side. Nothing is readily apparent in my favor regarding this event as all KY militias were already active due to Confederate attacks.

check the loyalty. if in your favor, then KY is with you. The higher the loyalty, the more the workshops will produce Also you should have received a gunboat or two in St Louis, if I recall well. (the script was done by PhilThib, so my memory is fuzzy on that)

[Pocus]

about the missing harbor, yes this is not retroactive sorry.

[Rafiki]

This is quite an interesting read; both the AAR itself and the questions/comments/replies about game matters. Keep it coming!

[James D Burns]

Industrial investments lead to new developments in 5 cities.

Although I’m unable to engage the Confederate raiders in my eastern territories, their moves allow me an opportunity to get some HQ units out of the D.C. area via rail moves. 1 Army HQ, 2 Division HQ’s and the 1st Medical unit are ordered to move via rail to Jefferson City MO. via a northern rail route.

General Fitzjohn Porter is ordered to merge with the 1st and 3rd PA Brigades currently at Annapolis with orders to march to Alexandria and enter garrison there.

In Chambers PA., Hooker forms the 7th division with his two brigades. In Frederick MD., Shurz forms the 8th Division with his 2 brigades and 1 artillery unit. Mansfield forms the 9th Division in Montgomery MD. with his two brigades. I now have a division in each area north of the Potomac River except Susquehanna. The 6th division is still en route there and should arrive in a turn or two.

These units will eventually help expand the Army of the Potomac to truly massive size when more Corps level leadership is available, but for now they’ll simply entrench behind the river and help defend against those annoying southern cavalry raids.

The Confederates are getting busy in Kentucky around Louisville. Several units appeared in or around Jefferson KY. the area the city of Louisville occupies. Additionally a confederate riverboat transport appeared in Fall Creek, the river just to the west of Louisville, carrying Confederate General H. Sibley’s command.

I’ve ordered Foote’s fleet from the Cairo area to pursue and engage this riverboat. Intel also spots another Confederate riverboat at Warrick Creek to the east of Evansville carrying more Confederate troops. Hopefully Foote’s fleet can catch these two transports before they discharge their cargo.

Halleck managed to enter Louisville before the Confederate troops set siege to the city. I’ve formed 6 militia units under him and ordered them outside the city. Halleck failed his strategic roll, but perhaps he’ll engage the Confederates as they enter the area of Jefferson piecemeal instead of waiting for the entire force to merge together outside the city walls.

McClernand passed his strategy roll, but he’s only a one star general and he can’t command enough militias without severe command penalties to make an open field battle feasible. Halleck’s 4,632 militia troops (most of his units max strengths are near 750) might actually have a chance to do some damage if they manage to engage the incoming rebels.



Paducah fell to 3 separate confederate assaults. Amazingly Sibley’s force participated in the assault on day one before boarding the riverboat transport and sailing away towards Louisville.

Union casualties were 249, 396 and 102 with 200 prisoners surrendering in the last battle as the lone militia regiment was destroyed. The first battle saw 3 militia, 1 light artillery and 2 cavalry regiments of the Confederates attacking and they lost 203 casualties. The next two battles were fought only by the 2 Confederate cavalry units and their losses were 154 and 7.

The Confederates are on the move near Springfield MO. as well. 1 Confederate cavalry regiment is spotted in the area of Cass MO. just southwest of Springfield. In the area of Carthage MO. just to the west of Springfield Intel spots General S. Price’s command of 3 brigades and the 1st AR Pulaski Lancers (cavalry perhaps?).

I’ve placed Fremont and Lyon and their now considerable forces outside the City with attack posture to engage any moves towards Springfield. Edwin Sumner and his command of 6 regular regiments, 2 artillery units and 1 balloon unit are two areas north of Springfield with marching orders to join Fremont.

Sumner’s command has severely depleted cohesion, so I hope he can make it to Fremont before Price can engage him.

I’ve also ordered the just activated Mississippi Marine Brigade at Lexington to march south to Springfield to join Fremont as well.



By the end of this turns plotted moves, I should have a minimum of 1 unit garrisoned in every city I control (including Indian Villages).

Fremont’s army will have 1 balloon unit, 4 brigades, 7 independent regular infantry regiments, 3 artillery units, 1 cavalry unit and 4 supply wagons when formed. Unfortunately I have no Corp capable leaders present so he’ll be directly commanding 2 divisions lead by Sumner and Lyon and his army HQ.

I’ve cobbled together 6 brigades at Cincinnati with 2 more almost there. This will be the next large army I form after Springfield MO, but currently I have no leaders present in Cincinnati.

I’ve got 3 brigades at New Albany with 1 more en route. Again no leaders present here either.

At Cairo I’ve currently got 2 Brigades with 2 more en route. No leaders here yet either.

The 3rd Cavalry regiment at Fort Gibson has been besieged by the Indian General Stand Watie and his command of 3 Cherokee units. Hopefully the 3rd Cavalry can hold on, because I have nothing to send to its aid without exposing a currently occupied Indian Village to recapture.



For production I built 2 MO river ironclads, hopefully these will appear at St. Louis where they are easily defended while under construction. I also rebuilt the destroyed KY militia from Paducah. I made no other purchases.

Nine more turns before I can draft or tax again, ugh. I need more cash now, but if I reduce my turn by turn industrialization spending any further I’m afraid I won’t build up to good levels by the end of 1862, so I’ll keep the spending levels firm for now.

I did notice this turn that Kentucky went from good industrial potential the last time I looked to excellent potential now. I don’t know if this is a result of the choosing sides event a few turns ago or if this is because I only own Louisville now and it his an excellent city. Or perhaps it’s simply a result of the accumulated money I’ve spent in Kentucky each turn. I’m not sure what the cause is, but it’s nice to see the improvement.

With a little experimentation I found out what the recruiting officer trait does this turn. Apparently each officer actually inside a size 5+ city increases the conscripts received each turn by 6 or 7 (you can see the number change in the display at the top of the screen as you drop a leader inside or outisde of the city). This may be based on the provinces loyalty where the city is, because both Banks and McClernand increase my points by 7 and Burnside by only 6.

McClernand is in Louisville (size 7 city) and the area surrounding that city is 0% Rebel and 100% Union. Banks is in Philadelphia (size 15), 2% Rebel and 98% Union. Burnside is in Baltimore (size 10), 15% Rebel and 85% Union. So apparently city size (other than needing to be size 5+) doesn’t affect the amount of conscripts received.

Once Baltimore’s area loyalty increases I’ll know if loyalty affects the number received for sure by checking if Burnside starts to increase conscript points by 7 instead of 6.

Altogether my three recruiting officers are pulling in 20 extra conscripts a turn which is 240 a year. Not bad at all considering the cash bounty I would have to pay to buy these conscripts outright in the volunteer ledger. Definitely worth it to keep them in garrison mode if you ask me.

Jim