Do you believe me now?

[Gray Fox]

I only take friendly FYI's from friends, so welcome aboard!

[GraniteStater]

No probs. In all sincerity, I'll probably never dial up Colonel as the CSA, too frightening.

[aariediger]

It's the go-to example of what happens when you believe your own myth. The day before, it had rained at Waterloo and the battlefield was a complete mess. Napoleon should have left Wellington to make mud pies and crushed the Prussians first. Napoleon won more battles than Alexander the Great, Frederick the Great and Julius Caesar the pretty Great combined. He just had a bad day at work.

I completely agree Waterloo was very poorly fought by Napoleon. But, despite all his mistakes in the battle tactically, I still think his pure numbers overwhelm Wellington if Blucher doesn't show up. And I get that he should have finished off the Prussians first, but Ligny was a really big victory. Napoleon trades about 10,000 French casualties for about 25,000 Prussians, between killed/wounded and missing/deserted. The Prussians were badly hurt, and it made sense to try and strike the fresh Brits first. The thinking being that Wellington is more likely to show up to Blucher's aid than the other way around, because he's fresh and the Prussians are tired and defeated. It didn't work. But it might have, if Grouchy does his job.

[Gray Fox]

It didn't work. But it might have, if Grouchy does his job.

Also, if he had actually taken that farmhouse that I will not try to spell, and Marshal Ney hadn't wasted his cavalry and the Old Guard hadn't broke and run. Otherwise, it's a slam dunk.

[GraniteStater]

Give some credit to the Duke and the Allies. Didja know he had scouted that place and kept it in the back of his mind as a defensive spot a year before? Also, the Duke & Bluecher were on the same page and actually cooperating.

Also, French tactics did not work very well against Arthur Wellesley - read Wellington in the Peninsula. The French columns were countered by the "thin red line" that amassed a concerted fire at the "head and shoulders" of the French columns.

Finally, it matters little how many battles you win. It's what battles you win, and the context in which the conflict takes place, that are more important.

Napoleon never won a decisive battle, except for his first campaign in Italy, where he did all a general could do and then some, exceeding his authority. Particularly after he was head of state, he never won a battle that decided things for good. He always just bought truces. Then he decided to invade Russia. Oh, yeah, smooth move, Emp baby.

Wellington won decisive battles - Vitoria and Waterloo.

[aariediger]

Wellington fought a great battle. He picked out a good fall back position after Quatre Bras, and his linear tactics to maximize firepower were the perfect counter to the French columns of attack. He fought well, Napoleon didn't. But, even if Napoleon had 'shown up' at Waterloo, once the Prussians arrive I think he's toast no matter what. Up until Waterloo, Napoleon is playing his part much better than the Allies. He was in an impossible situation, but he was making the most of it. Wellington thought so too, "Napoleon has humbugged me, by God; he has gained twenty-four hours' march on me." But at Waterloo, Wellington is much better tactically than Napoleon, and the Allies command structure comes through while the French one fails. Blucher and Wellington are on the same page, while Napoleon and Grouchy aren't.

Also, I'd say that Austerlitz was pretty decisive. All of Europe was against Napoleon, because the monarchies were scared of the 'Republican ideals' from spreading to their country. The American revolution was one thing. It was far away, relatively bloodless, and it didn't really hurt the English crown that badly. But the French Revolution was awful, and bloody, and dangerous. They wanted the French monarchy put back in power so all of this would 'go away.' The Napoleonic wars are better known as the Wars against Napoleon. A book by that name puts forth that argument, and I think it's a good one. They also claim it wasn't Russia, but England's proxy war in Spain that brought down Napoleon. However, I don't know enough about the period to really take a stand on that issue.

[GraniteStater]

Good points, though we're far afield.

Austerlitz ended the war au courant, yes. However, Napoleon could never secure a lasting peace by arms. The discussion widens from there.

[khoma]

Keep playing and it'll do well

[Gray Fox]

(I started the thread and I officially give permission for you to ramble on about anything that enters your head. That's what I'm doing. )

In my Union campaign with the "Die, Yankee, Die" rule set for Athena ("Extra Free Replacements are probably the big difference - plus, on Colonel, she recovers Cohesion very quickly. Put HistAttrit on Player Only in that mix, give her Almost Goddesslike Detect, goose Activation Bonus to +2 or better"-GraniteStater), everything is on track.

It's November '61, all the garrison Divisions along the Missouri-Ohio rivers are in place. The Divisions repelled attacks at St. Louis and Cairo and thus proved themselves. The army stack at HF repelled a big assault. I have a riverine fleet that can deny access from St. Louis to Cincinnati, with a few ironclads under construction. I've kept about a 2k+ power force in D.C. from the earliest opportunity. I took Winchester, VA and was about to attack the depot in the next region, but then shifted focus to Manassas when Athena attacked Fort Monroe. She failed and I succeeded. McDowell even got his stats up to 3 in Offense/Defense. I anticipate that attrition will be a factor during the winter, but I will continue to over-run VA and take Richmond in the spring.

I have 20 infantry and one cavalry Divisions. Athena is at 102% of my combat power. FI is at 43, but I have 97 NM to Athena's 93, so the FI should level off. KY has entered on my side. A garrison Division may cross the Ohio and dig in at Louisville, or they may just stay in Indiana.

FYI, level 2+ depots can no longer be blown up...by anyone. So about half of the depots that I have no need for will continue to be Walmarts for CSA deep raiders. I suppose that giving a depot the permanance of a mountain range was someone's Great Freaking Idea, but I don't see why the entire force of the Union cannot set fire to some warehouses. Hopefully, Lee, Beau and JoJo will shop there while I crush the Southeast.

On an ironic note, ten brigades of light infantry and volunteers show up locked in D.C. in November. They're pretty useless, but it's interesting that I originally attacked D.C. before they got there in the OP.

It's now spring '62. The CSA is still running all over MO/KS. Since I cannot blow up all of the unused depots, I set up half of a Division each in Springfield and Chicago. The river strongpoints are safe and the riverine fleet is an impreganable wall from St. Louis to Cincinnati. Athena put together about a 1k force to cross over the frozen Ohio from WV, but Grant was able to destroy the depot in Strasburg VA which cut off her supply line. The Corps sized force fell back without a fight. I kept Grant fighting in VA and he made 3-star quick. He got a very strong army of four Divisions and some artillery. McDowell for some unknown reason disobeyed my instructions for two turns in a row and went to Annapolis rather than Fredericksburg. This really slowed the game down. Fortunately Grant has Fredericksburg under seige and McDowell with a Corps headed by Berry is ready to move there as well. This would give me about 8k power to hit Richmond this summer.

I flooded VA with 4 Unionist partisans and got 4 sailor elements as well as two 12-lbers from some other cards. The sea mines are really too easy. I'm even farther ahead in NM after experimenting with them. I haven't done anything with the Native American cards (which the Cherokee in me thinks really should be re-named) as they are out west. I tried some of the cavalry screening effects for Grant.

Athena is moving a lot of small units around out west. She has some Divisions in KY that aren't doing anything. Her force in WV got the supply rug pulled out from under them and she seems to be in deep trouble in VA.

[Gray Fox]

In February 1862 (it was actually Feb. 1863), Grant with 13 Divisions in an Army and two Corps was able to end the insurrection by taking Richmond. He had started the battle for the CSA capital the previous year, but Lee was defending Richmond with a force of power 16,000! It took a while to whittle that down, with the rebels losing 260k casualties and 36k prisoners, and the Union losing 125k. In one single battle, I received 8 NM for the victory. I never did anything out west and my line of garrisoned cities in the center defeated several attacks. I didn't build one blockade ship or any industry.

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[minipol]

Nicely done. One thing though, you say 2 Corps, but are in Feb 1862. I thought corps were only available from March 1862?

[tripax]

The image has it February 1863. Good job though, what was the total losses of life on both sides?

[Gray Fox]

Oops, where are my glasses! I believe Alex would point out on Jeopardy that the correct response is "What is 1863?"

The Union lost 125k and the CSA 269k, almost all of this was fighting in and around Virginia.

[pgr]

In February 1862 (it was actually Feb. 1863), Grant with 13 Divisions in an Army and two Corps was able to end the insurrection by taking Richmond. He had started the battle for the CSA capital the previous year, but Lee was defending Richmond with a force of power 16,000! It took a while to whittle that down, with the rebels losing 260k casualties and 36k prisoners, and the Union losing 125k. In one single battle, I received 8 NM for the victory. I never did anything out west and my line of garrisoned cities in the center defeated several attacks. I didn't build one blockade ship or any industry.

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Is that a stockade the rebs built in the wilderness?

[Gray Fox]

Yes! Athena built this during 1862 when I came that way toward Richmond.

I then switched to the dry root (Charlottesville-Amhurst-Buckingham) along the "brown line" to Richmond.

I was also able to build a depot in IIRC Buckingham (the region next to Richmond), which has no town or anything else.