LAVA
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Animated AAR... Updated to 1863

Thu May 03, 2007 11:40 am

Hi!

Thought I would show you guys the 1862 portion of my current July full campaign game.

1861 - setting the stage...

1861 wasn't a very good year for me as the Yankees.

In the east I got pushed out of Harper's Ferry but was able to hold Manassas.

In the west I was able to take Lexington and Clarksburg, Ky.

In Missouri I took Jefferson City, but failed to take Rolla.

In the far west, I was constantly on the defensive.

1862 So we arrive at 1862...

The battleplan was to take Wincester and Fredericksburg in the East, which I did.

In the West I wanted to take the rest of Kentucky and Forts Henry/Donalson. I failed to take the forts, but an opportunity presented itself and I was able to lay seige to Nasville. The siege there is a long one and ongoing, requiring a huge logistics effort to keep Grant supplied during the winter by shuffling supply units back and forth from Harrison, IN. Also it became apparent that Grant would need siege artillery to take Nasville, which as the year ended was nearing completion.

In Missouri and the far west, the situation remained fairly static, though lots of raiding was going on.

So here is the animated AAR of my campaign during the year 1862:

Image

The animation is a little difficult to understand :nuts: , however, you get the general flow of things by watching it.

In the east, Harpers Ferry was attacked from two directions, put under siege and fell. This was then followed by attacks against both Wincester and Fredericksburg, both falling to sieges.

In Kentucky, it's a little more difficult to explain, so here is a map...

Image

The three phases of the campaign were...

I - Grant's army and Wallace's corps moved on Bowling Green where a large battle occured. Johnston was defeated allowing me to take Bowling Green. At the same time, to protect my eastern flank, an amphibious assault was launched from Lawrence, OH to secure Flyod, KY (shown in the insert on the right of the image).

II - Grant pursues Johnston to Clarksville, where an another large battle took place. Grant again overcoming Johnston. Simultaneously Wallace moves northwest to attack Polk, as I now had gained a central position, splitting the two main armies of the confederacy. Raiders from Huntsville attacking my rear area, were countered by a small offensive from Lexington leading to the capture of Huntsville. Wallace finally catches up to Polk after a circuitous march and is defeated at Forts Henry/Donalson. This defeat, I believe occurred because of the intervention of a rather large confederate fleet. Interestingly, I had a fleet there as well... which didn't participate in the battle.

III - As Wallace retreats back to Clarksville, Grant continues his pursuit of Johnston and another large battle is fought at Nashville, also a yankee win, but forcing Grant to withdraw as well to Clarksville. There the two corps rested a bit, and then with Wallace in position to hold off Polk, Grant again attacked Nashville, again winning a large battle and putting Nashville under siege.

Thus ending the year 1862.

Some comments

* Though the rebs kicked my butt in 1861 at Harper's Ferry, holding Manassas created a huge problem for Athena as it cut supply to the Shanandoah valley. I watched that winter as a number of reb armies starved or attempted to move about to the north into the mountains, for no apparent reason. Their armies went from green to yellow to red without meeting any opposition. The way the map is setup, holding Manassas means an almost inevitable fall of Wincester if the Yanks hold Manassas. I would recommend that the "Shanandoah Valley" (Wincester and Warren) have a far greater forage capability such that a large army can survive there even though there is no railway to supply it.

* Though Grant's corps has participated in four major battles, only a couple regiments show one star of experience... strange.

* In Kentucky Athena did a reasonable job. My greatest fear was that Polk would send a corps to reinforce Johnston at Bowling Green. Johnston actually had enough forces to check me there, but probably due to poor organization, I was able to win. Once I had captured Bowling Green, there was no other choice for Polk but to retire, which he did.

* Overall, strategically Athena is doing a good job, though she does need some help (especially around Wincester as the amount of forces the confederates lost to starvation made taking Fredericksburg a cake walk). She is also particularly good at raising plentfull forces which is good, but I was never really forced into making really hard decisions economically (print money) to buy enough forces to overwhelm them because of my awesome :siffle: success on the battlefield.

This is a super game!! :coeurs: I just love the decisions it forces you to make, the army building (which is mind boggling but very kewl) and the strategy. It needs some tuning though...

Am having a totally great time with the game.

Ray (aka LAVA)

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marecone
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Thu May 03, 2007 12:52 pm

Amazing effort :coeurs: . Please carry on! Great job
Forrest said something about killing a Yankee for each of his horses that they shot. In the last days of the war, Forrest had killed 30 of the enemy and had 30 horses shot from under him. In a brief but savage conflict, a Yankee soldier "saw glory for himself" with an opportunity to kill the famous Confederate General... Forrest killed the fellow. Making 31 Yankees personally killed, and 30 horses lost...

He remarked, "I ended the war a horse ahead."

LAVA
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Thu May 03, 2007 1:07 pm

marecone wrote:Amazing effort


:niark:

My first attempt to take Prestonburg (Floyd) was at the end of 1861 and my invasion fleet got stuck in the ice on the river. They almost all starved to death before I was able to march them home!

:eek:

Ray (aka LAVA)

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Chamberlain
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Thu May 03, 2007 1:13 pm

Lava,

Superb Job !!!! :hat:

Keep us updated on your results....

Thanks for the AAR.

Chamberlain

LAVA
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Thu May 03, 2007 1:57 pm

Yikes!

Just realized the reb general is Poke not Pope! :bonk:

Here's a screen of the situation in KY/TN... early Jan 1863:

Image

Most of the movement lines are supply wagons trying to keep the Army of the Ohio and Grant from starving.

Next turn my siege artillery will be ready in the Pittsburgh area.

Wondering if I can hold out and take Nashville....

Ray (aka LAVA)

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LMUBill
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Thu May 03, 2007 3:50 pm

LAVA wrote: :niark:

My first attempt to take Prestonburg (Floyd) was at the end of 1861 and my invasion fleet got stuck in the ice on the river. They almost all starved to death before I was able to march them home!

:eek:

Ray (aka LAVA)


Wow! The Levisa Fork River there is about 50 yards wide and 10-15 feet deep at the most. Must have been a really cold winter. :eek:

The interesting thing there is that the real battle fought there (Middle Creek) was a couple of miles away from the river. The CSA forces had to retreat to Virginia because of lack of forage.

They have recently marked the battlefield site and made some interpretive trails, but I don't know if those are open yet.

Your phases one and two are pretty close to what historically happened, too.

johnnycai
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Impressive but during Winter??

Thu May 03, 2007 4:09 pm

Are you not finding the losses due to weather penalizing enough??
It seems like you will pay a much higher cost in men/replacements with your winter campaigning.

John

LAVA
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Thu May 03, 2007 6:14 pm

Poke? :nuts: Darn... I need more sleep. Polk is the man's name!

As for casualties due to the siege...

I have been able to keep Grant supplied without pretty much any loss. The effort to do so, however, has required me to shuffle at least two supply wagons to him each turn. I'm cycling 7 supply wagons back and forth between Grant and Harrison, IND, but my stockpile at Harrison is almost completely depleted. While supplies are 0 at Bowling Green and Clarksville, I still have quite a few at Evansville, Louisville and Lexington. From my perspective it's a race against time. I'll need a month to have my siege artillery in place. However, saying that, I put a lot of emphasis on buying supply wagons and now have 34 units total.

As a sidenote, I am now preparing my strategy for the coming year (with 500,000 dollars in the treasury after selling bonds and enacting measured taxes) but I am fully aware how important ongoing operations are in this area and how they could influence the coming year's strategy if I am successful.

At this time I am also thinking about trying to put Forts Henry and Donalson under siege as well... if I can find the supplies (I have 4 reserve supply wagons that be used to reinforce the area and supply Wallace). The port for the reb forts is blockaded, and the rail line leading to the forts is vulnerable to destruction by my cavalry. That would isolate Polk from any supplies coming in to him.

I want Nashville... what I am now pondering is whether I should try to isolate Forts Henry and Donalson and take them as well.

Risky business in the middle of winter....

Ray (aka LAVA)

oldspec4
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Thu May 03, 2007 9:29 pm

Lava,

Like you, I have beacoup supply wagons (85 (which may be overkill)) that I use to shuttle back and forth between my various army efforts. I learned very quickly the importance of keeping everyone supplied. Its late Oct '63 for me and am now sieging Memphis w/ Sherman's corps and Corinth w/ Grant's army and Buell's corps. I just successfully took Norfolk w/ an amphibious operation and Little Rock w/ a group under Sheridan. I overran Nashville earlier in the year. Also have a number of siege artillery for my siege groups. If I don't knock the rebs out this year, I should be in excellent position for early '64. Generally, I try to hunker down for the Winter so I have one or two turns left before bad weather hits.

LAVA
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Thu May 03, 2007 10:21 pm

Sounds good mate!

Yep... you need lots of supply, one of my highest priorities. And you seem to be giving the rebs a wooping.

I'm also thinking about putting together a division especially tailored for seige operations.

Anybody try that?

Ray (aka LAVA)

DEL
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Fri May 04, 2007 7:40 am

Lava

Have you built any supply depots? Instead of just shuffling supply wagons back and forth, why not also build a depot in Clarksville and/or Bowling Greene. Help push supplies up to the frontlines.


Keep it up!

LAVA
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Fri May 04, 2007 9:25 am

Hi DEL!

Yes, I did build a supply depot at Bowling Green during Phase II of my operations.

However, during Phase III (the attack on Nashville), I think instinctfully I thought that as Grant was on the other side of the river, I would be better served by pushing supply wagons to him rather than building a depot at Clarksville.

Anybody have any experience here... would a supply depot at Clarksville proved more efficient supplying Grant than supply wagons?

Ray (aka LAVA)

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Pocus
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Fri May 04, 2007 9:37 am

to prevent weather damages, you have to have supply wagons in the stack, depots won't do.

good work Lava!
Image


Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."

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Chamberlain
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Fri May 04, 2007 4:04 pm

Pocus wrote:to prevent weather damages, you have to have supply wagons in the stack, depots won't do.



This looks to be another addition to the FAQ sticky.

Chamberlain

LAVA
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Sun May 06, 2007 1:03 pm

Hi!

So... the campaign continues...

Here is an animation of the moves from Jan - late June 1863:

Image

Here is what you are seeing...

1 - The Siege of Nashvile continues
2 - Nashville falls to Grant
3 - Begining of Fort Donalson campaign, cavalry cuts railline while the Navy blockades the river at Island No. 10
4 - Wallace and Grant move on Fort Donalson
5 - Eastern Campaign begins with attack on Charlotesville, Farragut begins vogage to land amphibious forces at New Orleans
6 - Charlotesville under seige, attack on Island No. 10 begins, as amphibious forces are launched against Memphis
7 - Assault on Memphis, Charlotesville falls, Farragut moves to Mobile
8 - Island No. 10 falls
9 - Battle at Ft. Donalson
10 - Mobile falls to Union, Richmond under siege
11 - Fort Donalson falls to Grant, first battlefield promotion as Sheridan is promoted to 2 star

Here is a shot of the battle at Fort Donalson, 59,000 total casualties...

Image

If you look at the battle report you see that the reb fleet took part in the battle. My fleet didn't... :p leure: Wonder why that is... it was on the river to the west of Donalson... maybe in need to be on the one to the east....

And here is the situation at the end of play so far in Tennessee:

Image

Grant, Wallace and Grant's new corps commander who took Humboldt, Pope are chasing General Johnston. Looking at Grant's army command you will see he has been weaken by the removal of Sheridan's cavalry division. Sheridan is moving to the Nashville area where he will add another cavalry division to his command and become the First Cavalry Corps of the Army of Ohio. Mint Julips anyone? :niark:

What I've seen here again is the rebs are fighting tooth and nail in the West, unfortunately, in the east, due to the large numbers of troops lost to starvation during the winter of 1862, the confederate army is crippled.

Here is where I stand at the moment in the game stats:

Morale - USA - 151, CSA - 64
Prisoners of war - 36,000
Victory Points - USA - 1968, CSA - 2073
Cities - USA - 56, CSA - 41
Blockade level - 35%

If Richmond and Memphis fall to the US, the rebs cause will be lost. It looks like only a matter of time now...

Ray (aka LAVA)

mayonaise
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Sun May 06, 2007 6:17 pm

you are lucky the army starved for you in the east. my campaign is evolving very similarly- i heavily emphasized the west and ocean operations, but now i'm finding myself overwhelmed in the east. i've just lost manassas and have half my army holed up in washington with the other half besieged in harpers ferry. all rail lines between the two are cut and neither force is strong enough to break out on its own. on top of that longstreets corps has pushed on and is beseiging baltimore.

a large part of my problem is for some reason (glitch or intended??) i can't demote mcdowell from army command. the buttons there, and i click it, but it does nothing. and i used randomized leaders - and he is terrible.

anyway, nice campaign!

one thing, i haven't had nearly the supply problems you describe. in fact, i havent had to shuttle wagons at all. are you keeping open rail lines to depot cities?

LAVA
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Sun May 06, 2007 6:30 pm

mayonaise wrote:are you keeping open rail lines to depot cities?


I only had to do that because it was winter with severe weather. I knew eventually there would be a battle, and didn't want any losses. Otherwise, I've been okay. Except, in the far west, where the small isolated forts don't seem to be able to keep up with the supply during the winter. But I think I've figured out how to solve that problem as well.

mayonaise wrote:a large part of my problem is for some reason (glitch or intended??) i can't demote mcdowell from army command. the buttons there, and i click it, but it does nothing. and i used randomized leaders - and he is terrible.


I have a similar problem with McClellan. I figured what I would do is leave him in command of his army with only a few folks... in the rear, then assign him a good corps to do the campaigning with.

Ray (aka LAVA)

Marcus the leper
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Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:13 am

Lava, your AAR's are really without peer in my opinion. Sniffing around hoping for the announcement of the box edition I stumbled upon this and my take my hat off to you yet again. Brilliant writing, compelling strategy and I must say, there is something about the enjoyment you are getting from this game (and the others that you have written for other games) that exudes from your AAR and that is really something that cannot be faked and is the true key to writing a great AAR. Great stuff I hope you continue this thread.

LAVA
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Fri Jun 15, 2007 12:41 am

Thanks for the compliment Marcus.

Actually I abandoned the game as I was pretty much overwhelming the AI.

I then started a new game, cranked up all the AI settings, and the tables got turned on me. Yikes!

Right now I've taken a break from the game, awaiting AGEod's change to the Division HQ's.

In the meantime, I have been sufficiently motivated to painting up some 15mm ACW mini's. I'm a mini's player at heart and the ACW, is, of course, my favorite era.

It's a great game, and looking forward to the new format.

Ray (aka LAVA)

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