Foreign Intervention

[Vegetius]

No problem to call me Veg ! I agree with you, it is better to loose Canada than the Canadian army.

In my opinion, a successeful landing of the BEF in Boston and the meeting of BEF and Canadian army (especially now that british troops can be supplied by confederate transports in trade box) is a great thread over the rear lines of Union.

[phantomfeather]

No problem to call me Veg ! I agree with you, it is better to loose Canada than the Canadian army.

In my opinion, a successeful landing of the BEF in Boston and the meeting of BEF and Canadian army (especially now that british troops can be supplied by confederate transports in trade box) is a great thread over the rear lines of Union.

I know Lensman was talking about doing this in a new patch. I need to find that patch, not the beta.

Perhaps you could expound somewhat on your "Boston Strategy".As I said in a previous post I got HAMMERED doing that.

[CFC67]

How do you actually achieve a Foriegn intervention? I've played as the CSA on several occasions but the Foreign Intervention points on the Objectives page never seems to get above 40 and I am unable to move any foreign forces. As an Englishman I would like to get the BEF involved.

Any advice is welcome.

[Vegetius]

The only way to see France and Grand-Britain declaring war to USA is to have a lot of chance !

First, you must stay ahead in victory and moral points, wich give 1 or 2 points of FI a turn. You can also attempt to get much more with the cotton embargo but it is not cheap and a single bad result means that you probably never see the allied forces. The other cautious way is to sign trade treaties wich can give 3-6 points of FI with 90% of success.

And the Union player can help you with the blocus but you cannot contol it and it is quite fifty-fifty.

Considering the Emancipation declaration of september 62 wich involves at least 22 points lost for FI, you really have to be lucky to see foreign forces anyway.

[W.Barksdale]

How do you actually achieve a Foriegn intervention? I've played as the CSA on several occasions but the Foreign Intervention points on the Objectives page never seems to get above 40 and I am unable to move any foreign forces. As an Englishman I would like to get the BEF involved.

Any advice is welcome.

As in the above post, keep your NM and VP above the Federals and your FI score will increase by 1 each turn you can keep this lead. I'd advise ALWAYS using the cotton embargo. For 150k +3 NM is a steal! More often than not you get an increase in your FI score too!

I've been playing this game about a year and a half and I've had FI trigger once (on the standard setting). IIRC there is an option to make it easier to achieve. Enjoy.

[phantomfeather]

How do you actually achieve a Foriegn intervention? I've played as the CSA on several occasions but the Foreign Intervention points on the Objectives page never seems to get above 40 and I am unable to move any foreign forces. As an Englishman I would like to get the BEF involved.

Any advice is welcome.

When you first open the game click on the "options" box (logo) once the initial game screen comes on (top center). You'll see four tabs (Media, Game, AI & System). Click on the Game tab & you will see Foreign Entry as the third choice in the right column. There are four boxes here; the options are Easy, Normal, Hard & Disabled. By clicking on these boxes you will see the settings. You can set it on easy which gives you a better chance for triggering the Entry.

[Vegetius]

As i already said in several posts, you need a HUGE piece of chance to see the foreign powers .

The probability to get 1 point each turn by leading in VP and NM is only 50%, wich means that in practice your progression will be 1 point a turn only. I could count with one hand the number of times i get 2 points a turn with that way !

As a consequence, i have proposed to increase this probability from 50% to 75%, wich permit to get 3 points each couple of turn on the average.

Maybe it seems high but in fact it is just a readjustement taking into account the -10 to FI in march 62 due to French landing in Mexico and the -22 to -30 due to the Emancipation declaration of september 62.

In standard setting, the CSA needs to get the score of 100 for FI, and each turn there is only 25% of probability for the allies to declare the war.
Making allowance for what we have seen above and considering that CSA always leads in both VP and NM, the estimated time for the allied to come without using diplomatic options is FALL 66...

The easy setting can shorten this delay to FALL 65...

I agree that the foreign powers were very reluctant to intervene in the war but the opportunity seems more than hypotetical .
In my opinion, if the foreign powers haven't land in mid-64, they cannot be usefull to change the process of war. It 's a pity that such a mean to reverse the process of things cannot be used in practice, i have already known as USA in a pbem the arrival of foreign forces and it is a true challenge !

[Big Ideas]

I always play as the CSA and have FI on hard. Partly to not ruin a possible close game, and partly as the CSA didn't have any diplomatic successes. No government recognized the CSA, or sent any officials to the CSA. Their only concessions were to buy war materials and weapons from the foreigners and to have some European countries build a few ships for the CSA. But Denmark and Italy ended up seizing the single ships they were constructing. Russia actually supported the USA from the start.

[phantomfeather]

I'm not sure as of yet what patch 1.14 will affect as far as FI. I know that you can put it on 4 different settings: Easy, Normal, Hard, & No Intervention. Setting the FI on easy will allow you to trigger it pretty early; as early as late 1862. I've had that happen. If you set it on Normal you're going to need some luck but it can happen by early 1864, with a lot of luck late 1863. Any setting above Normal you might not see it all & I have seen it when it was triggered mid 1865 but the units were never released for use.

It's fun to see what happens with FI but it can be dangerous unless you use them correctly. I've seen some crazy things happen. The new patch solves the supply issue for the Brits by placing ships or fleets in the Atlantic shipping box.

Here's another one for you too, Gray Lensman. Now that this patch has been done does it solve the supply issue for the French in Mexico? I've seen them starve to death also & it wasn't due to a coastal blockade. Heckuva time to bring it up NOW but that's happened also.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[phantomfeather]

It's possible it's partially solved for the French, but for now, you might have to place CSA Naval supply type units in the Atlantic shipping box to supply the French units (or wait for the British Naval Supply units).

When were these French units starving, after FI, or before? If after, the British naval supply units should furnish the supply. (AACW does not distinguish between factions as such, so a British naval unit is a CSA naval unit is a French naval unit to all extents and purposes).

It was after became FI because I had to move them into Texas & lost about half; ended up placing them in New Orleans as the garrison

[Vegetius]

I agree Big Ideas, the historical diplomacy was not efficient but one of the interest of the game is the "what if ?" concerning foreign powers !

As an instance, i play CSA in a pbem against Phantomfeather, we are in end june 62, i lead in both VP and MN since the beginning and made several commercial treaties while my opponent made several blocus. I was really lucky so that every option was favourable to me and my FI score is now 60.

But, september is coming with his damned Emancipation and my score will go down to 35 when my opponent uses it, wich means an estimated arrival around june 64, wich still suits me well .

[beefcake]

Triggering FI definitely adds a new wrinkle to the campaign when it happens. In my current solitaire hot-seat game, it fired off in July '63.

On the preceeding turn, Grant's army actually overran R.E. Lee's headquarters near Charlottesville, VA. In addition to wiping out JEB Stuart's division, they also destroyed the command structure of the army of Northern Virginia. Without an army organization, the former Rebel corps were incapable of blocking a quick assault on Richmond the very next turn. It was a major victory, but not enough to end the war before the FI activated.

I'm going to land the BEF is going in North Carolina to stabilize the Eastern theater. But after that I'm not sure what I will do with them. I've had poor luck attempting amphibious assaults with the BEF in previous games. If the Union navy has even the slightest idea where the landing will be, a token navy force can block the landings long enough for ground forces to be rushed to the area. I've also tried attacking from Canada in other campaigns, but the window of good weather is very small and limits operations on a large scale. But I enjoy the strategic possibilities opened up by adding the French and British armies into the mix.

[CFC67]

I have just acheived FI for the first time (July 62). I'm thinking of landing the BEF at New Orleans or Mobile and moving them into Tennessee. Currently the CSA are holding Paducah, Fort Donelson, Nashville, Bowling Green and Louisville but are out-numbered and spreadout and generally having a hard time. I want to use the BEF to defend the area inbetween the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers (Memphis, Corinth, Fort Donelson etc and possibly Vicksburg too) and move all my CSA units in this area over to the Bowling Green/Louisville region. This will make my army of Tennessee very strong and concentrated. I will then direct the vast majority of any reinforcements towards the army of NVA instead of splitting them fairly evenly between the two theaters'.

I'm assuming the BEF can be supplied via the Naval Supply Routes and by using the CSA supply networks.

I wondered if anyone else tried anything similar? Did it provide any real advantage to the CSA? Did the BEF remain well supplied?

thanks.

[soloswolf]

I'm sure that would work fine, but why not use them in VA and the Carolinas (etc) and push some of your Southerners out West?

[phantomfeather]

I have just acheived FI for the first time (July 62). I'm thinking of landing the BEF at New Orleans or Mobile and moving them into Tennessee. Currently the CSA are holding Paducah, Fort Donelson, Nashville, Bowling Green and Louisville but are out-numbered and spreadout and generally having a hard time. I want to use the BEF to defend the area inbetween the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers (Memphis, Corinth, Fort Donelson etc and possibly Vicksburg too) and move all my CSA units in this area over to the Bowling Green/Louisville region. This will make my army of Tennessee very strong and concentrated. I will then direct the vast majority of any reinforcements towards the army of NVA instead of splitting them fairly evenly between the two theaters'.

I'm assuming the BEF can be supplied via the Naval Supply Routes and by using the CSA supply networks.


I wondered if anyone else tried anything similar? Did it provide any real advantage to the CSA? Did the BEF remain well supplied?

thanks.

Yes, with patch 1.14 the Brits can be supplied through the Atlantic Shipping naval box. And, yes, when in the south the units will draw on CSA supplies just like indigent forces. I've never tried tour Western strategy but normally use them in the south to threaten the USA more forcefully in the east & particularly D.C.
Bon Chance!

[Banks6060]

I have just acheived FI for the first time (July 62). I'm thinking of landing the BEF at New Orleans or Mobile and moving them into Tennessee. Currently the CSA are holding Paducah, Fort Donelson, Nashville, Bowling Green and Louisville but are out-numbered and spreadout and generally having a hard time. I want to use the BEF to defend the area inbetween the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers (Memphis, Corinth, Fort Donelson etc and possibly Vicksburg too) and move all my CSA units in this area over to the Bowling Green/Louisville region. This will make my army of Tennessee very strong and concentrated. I will then direct the vast majority of any reinforcements towards the army of NVA instead of splitting them fairly evenly between the two theaters'.

I'm assuming the BEF can be supplied via the Naval Supply Routes and by using the CSA supply networks.

I wondered if anyone else tried anything similar? Did it provide any real advantage to the CSA? Did the BEF remain well supplied?

thanks.

This event still evades me as I've now played the game for some time. I envy your position. Those 80,000 extra troops will make the game a LOT of fun for you I think.

[CFC67]

This event still evades me as I've now played the game for some time. I envy your position. Those 80,000 extra troops will make the game a LOT of fun for you I think.

I will certainly take advantage of it. I've saved the game at Early August 1862 and every now and then will reload it and try a different scenario, such as landing the BEF in North Carolina, near Boston, in Canada etc etc. Looking forward to it!

[Vegetius]

Boston

[Vegetius]

Boston is a good idea for it opens a new front on the rear of the union player and you can join the forces from Canada.

It makes an army near 100.000 men, a force wich involves some respect !

In your position Beefcake, you took the best way to hold the line i think. Push the blue bellies back !

[It's a Trap]

But even with the new supply you still have to get moving into New York and get a supply line to Canada or keep the water open.

I had a PBEM land in Boston once right before winter. And his 80k man force starved to death after my 40+ ironclads, ~20 steam frigates, and 5 armored Frigates beat the British navy and sealed it off. If the french had been there it might have been different, but they were trying to break the blockade. Boston even had over 2k stockpiled supplies, but he was burning over 1k a turn and with a blockade the city can't really supply you.

I know that seems like a large navy but it was the end of 63' and with the low manpower cost I was investing in it for a brown water navy when FI happened which was a +20 blockade and +20 embargo .

And while winter maybe wasn't the best time. I think he wanted them in ASAP before I could push him deep into N. Carolinia or launch a renewed offensive in the west.

I would guess it depend on what is happening and when. The later the into the war, I'd must likely land in the South. The best result I've ever had was doing a feint out of Canada to pull 2 corps out of the west and then launched the BEF up the Mississippi taking Memphis and Corinth up to Paducah and using the CSA army to retake Nashville and Little Rock. I think the main factor was that the BEF had moved into the Charleston harbor area, making him think I'd use them to bolster the east, then while hugging the coastline to stay out of LoS I landed them at Columbus AL After that winter came in and I used them to retake New Orleans and Fort Pickens during the winter and then I just used them to equalize the fronts. Oh and the French took back Texas with its nice cluster of VP locations. I loved reversing the last 2 years of union advance in 1 season.

[Banks6060]

That's a really neat story Trap.

That is the kind of campaign that I think all southern players probably fantasize about. Foreign Intervention...at least in PBEM...is the ONLY thing that can lead to a CSA victory I've determined. Unless the CSA player can strike hard and fast and take Washington early on...

Love this game man

[It's a Trap]

Yes, it was indeed beautiful. However I will say that I still lost that game. The Union just can bring to much to bear in those last 2 years.

[Vegetius]

In my opinion, a landing in Boston must be followed as soon as possible by an assault over the two important depots of the North, Albany by the expeditionary force and Plattsburg by the army of Canada under Sir Doyle.

It allows to secure the british supply lines and make a real campaign in the North, forcing the Union to divide his forces and secure New-York.

[CFC67]

In my opinion, a landing in Boston must be followed as soon as possible by an assault over the two important depots of the North, Albany by the expeditionary force and Plattsburg by the army of Canada under Sir Doyle.

It allows to secure the british supply lines and make a real campaign in the North, forcing the Union to divide his forces and secure New-York.

The problem is that Sir Doyle and his army are 'fixed' and unable to move until they are attacked. In my scenario, the Union has not attacked Canada although forces have been sent to Plattsburg, Detroit and (to a much lesser extent) Buffalo. So Doyle just sits in Quebec doing nothing, ditto Williams in Toronto. The forces that I can move are pretty usless because there are no generals to assign to them.