This is an aggressive strategy - expect Confederate casualties to at least equal Union Casualties.
The doctrine is to fight only on northern soil for at least the first year. This requires getting there before reinforcements get organized.
1. Build as many Brigs as possible, followed by Cavalry, Sharpshooters, and Militia. Keep building Brigs until force pool is empty of them. Ignore economic development, supply problems, and organization problems until that time.
2. Turn one, use conscription and financial options that don't require victory points. Embargo Cotton. Turn two, use the rest of the options. Keep using all options as they become available. Try to use non-VP options first, try to time to scripted events. I don't even think about inflation if it is below 25%, I need those cavalry and militia units right now.
3. Cavalry raids. I use them. I use them often. I use them everywhere. I use them enough that those Black Republicans and Abolitionists cower in their strategic cities and pull lots of troops from the armies to try and stop me. Cut rail lines. Blow up supplies and depots. Give
the Union a supply problem for a Christmas present.
4. Load 1st Georgia Cav (in Charleston) into the Huntress / Aiken squadron as soon as that unit is unlocked. Move to the upper Hudson River. Raid upstate NY in a generally counter-clockwise direction. Brig moves either to Gulf Blockade or Norfolk, depending on damage suffered. Cav can occasionally escape through Carbondale, PA - but usually this is a suicide mission.
5. Begin funneling all available troops (up to the limit of transport capacity if possible, as long as it doesn't interfere with the Indiana invasion - see below) across to Somerset, Worcester, Dorchester on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. Avoid going through Hampton Roads. Troops from Virginia use the York and Rappahanock estuaries. Troops from eastern NC and Norfolk use the Cape Henry - Cape Charles route. I usually also send MacGruder, sometimes a '61 general as well. This area has strong Confederate sympathies, so I keep moving forward (stopping only to reorganize spent brigades) and let follow-on militia units garrison the cities behind the main force. Objective - Wilmington DE. If I can raid and cut rail beyond that, fine; but defend Wilmington (cut the rail there upon arrival and leave it cut until the area is unquestionably mine). Ignore the James river peninsula. If the federals get aggressive there, I have interior lines of defense; I can defend at Richmond.
6. Wait for the right opportunity in Northern VA. Do not offer combat with the main armies unless there is a clear advantage. Stalemate is OK for now, quite a few of my reinforcements are going to other areas. Send one cav to reinforce Fredericksburg, maybe one to Charlottesville or Winchester. Send cav raids into MD and PA. Let one unit take St. Mary's and cut the rail there (just to be annoying) on it's way to reinforce Delaware.
If I have taken Alexandria, but am not strong enough to move on Washington, have a brigade of regulars do the same to Port Tobacco. Worst case, retreat. I can hold at Fredericksburg and Charlottesville if I have to. Best case, the Lincolnites are so distracted by the Delaware invasion and all the raiding that I can take Washington. Moderate case, I can send a corps through southern PA before winter hits to reinforce Delaware.
7. Send 1 or 2 militia to cut rail in southern WV while the weather is nice (If they can move up to Elizabeth, great; if not, oh well). Trying to take this area is not a rational objective - so the rail will never do me any good, only harm. Raid Kanawha valley with cavalry. Try to hold at least one city here in preparation for raiding Ohio and the suburbs of Pittsburg.
8. Begin moving troops from Tennessee (led by Polk and one or two '61 gens) up the rivers through / past Kentucky and into southern Indiana. Try to take Evansville before it gets reinforced. Grab Vincennes depot. Take the industrial cities along the Ohio, cut railroads. I have reached my objective; I don't try for Indianapolis or Cincinatti, they are not worth the trouble this year. Send raiders to northern Indiana and Michigan.
9. Do not under any circumstances be first aggressor in Kentucky. I cannot stress this enough. Send any Prestonburg reinforcements over to Kanawha valley (deliberately leaving Prestonburg unprotected). Cut railroads around Louisville and down to Bowling Greene. The imaginary railroad to Lexington can stay. Reinforce Lexington and the cities north of Nashville as troops become available. This is a good area for Bragg to train militia and conscripts, unless I send him to Virginia.
10. Avoid raiding Illinois until I can cross the border in several places at once; then raid Salem, Toledo, Quincy and Peoria. Use a similar strategy for Ohio.
11. Cut rail in MO, and hold what I can. Let the federals do most of the marching in this area. Grab Bloomington and St. Jo if possible. Reinforce Charleston with an eye on eventually taking Paducah / Cairo. This is a nice location for Hardee to train troops coming up the Missisippi. Mass all gunboats at Cape Girardeau.
12. McCulloch (rangers) to coordinate with Sibley (infantry) in Texas and sweep through Tuscon, IT, and western AR. Objective - Springfield, MO.
Advantages:
Initiative. I have it, I expect to keep it.
The Union advantage in supplies and reinforcements is partially or completely nullified.
The Indiana invasion prevents the opponent from doing anything serious in Kentucky / Tennessee. Louisville is isolated. This area is a good base for raiders, and seriously interdicts east - west rail movement. Sometimes it even draws off troops from the other theaters. Looking to next year - It makes a nice base for taking Cincinnatti or Indianapolis (ahem, I meant to say Chicago or Detroit :niark

.
The Delaware invasion is a serious thorn in Lincoln's side. Wilmington is easy to defend, cuts the eastern rail / reinforcement line - and thinking ahead, offers better industrialization possibilities than anywhere in the south. It is also a great base for raiders, and within easy striking distance of Philadelphia and Baltimore when the time comes for that.
The Gulf Blockade becomes (economically) the 12th and 13th states in the Confederacy by late autumn '61. Look of surprise on Farragut's face when he runs into a 300-400 point Confederate fleet, priceless. Say hello to some war supplies. Now I can afford those nice locomotives, divisions, ironclads, armies, and naval units I've been wanting. Soon I'll have some left over to start industrializing Georgia and Delaware. I might even
buy some artillery.
Northern cavalry and reinforcements get all tied up far from the front lines due to all the raiding. The feds cannot even build reinforcements in large sections of three states.
WV is neutralized as a threat. I should have at least one base here. Surviving / returning cavalry can be used to build up Stuart's Division / Corps over the winter, and I can start thinking about Pittsburg and Cleveland as objectives for next year.
Disadvantages:
Everybody who read this post knows my favorite strategy

leure:.
If the US navy gets organized quickly enough, they can interdict the routes to the eastern shore (and upper Hudson) and cut up any units headed there. Then they can move on to the Gulf blockade with an enormous fleet. In a PBEM I would probably have to split the blockade runners into many separate fleets and also split them between the blockade boxes.
I have split my forces. Early and strong reinforcement of Maryland can stop the amphib invasion in its tracks. Added to this, the Union Army of the Potomac really is strong enough to send a reinforced division to Delaware and still defend Washington.
The Army of Northern Virginia does not get as many reinforcements, and must adopt a more defensive / wait-and-see stance. Traditional objectives are largely ignored. Richmond is vulnerable to an aggressive opponent.
Cavalry raids can be countered with militia garrisons.
Inflation could be a problem down the road.
The North can play a similar game, though it is not quite as effective for them due to geography and lack of cavalry in the force pool. However, they do get a potentially enormous fleet of transports.
So, am I

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