Southern Supply Network

[Straight Arrow]

In the games I've played, the southern rail network is almost always over used and close to collapse.

Because of this, would it be worth building a network of depots within "wagon range," i.e., 15 days?

Would a close depot network, largely built with cheap flat boats, allow GS and ammo to continuing moving from the Deep South to frontlines in VA and TN on turns when the rail pool was dry?

Would this be worth the expense and manpower? Or, should one plan on creating a smaller and denser supply network in the frontline areas?

[FightingBuckeye]

I think that for now it's probably in your best interest to solve any supply issues by disbanding anything but some militia and maybe an odd 6 lb battery or two.

Honestly though, I don't have enough experience playing with the South to tell you what might or might not work in a PBEM. I know some people will invest in industry in VA or NC in order to have better production of ammo/supply closer to the front. Of course anything you build in VA could be eventually used by northern forces, so it's not necessarily the best case scenario. Honest question, late in the war was the South in the habit of intentionally burning down industry that could support the war effort as they retreated and knowing they'd probably never retake the city/area in question? A Russian style defense of burning everything as they fell back could fell back could have interesting effects on people's strategies, especially if a portion of the initial cost was reimbursed to depict the evacuation of portable equipment?

[BattleVonWar]

My experience is limited: 5 Athena games or more as CSA. 3 or 4 PBEM Games, max over 30 turns as CSA.

Although what I can say is that supply is usually never an issue. Increase Rail and run high inflation.(Rail is expensive but worth the cost, get use to spending and get use to inflation)

Exploit, yes? But the best way to solve your issue I think. Build depots I think it's per 4 territories from a Major Supply Source.

The flatboats I've heard about for certain situations but my understanding of how to use them effectively has yet come into play. Though if you are using all your rail you're not planning ahead. AFAIK(Be careful with Supply 3 or 4 turns and you evaporate without it)

In the games I've played, the southern rail network is almost always over used and close to collapse.

Because of this, would it be worth building a network of depots within "wagon range," i.e., 15 days?

Would a close depot network, largely built with cheap flat boats, allow GS and ammo to continuing moving from the Deep South to frontlines in VA and TN on turns when the rail pool was dry?

Would this be worth the expense and manpower? Or, should one plan on creating a smaller and denser supply network in the frontline areas?

[ArmChairGeneral]

Most of the supplies come on the map in Richmond, rather than being collected and forwarded from the Deep South. This is counter to what the manual implies. In fact, according to a year or so old post from Pocus that I cannot now find, large amounts of supplies are actually scripted into the major cities like Richmond, DC, St. Louis, etc. rather than directly produced by structures, so Virginia should be self sufficient in supply unless Richmond falls (this was shown conclusively in one of the AARs). Ammo is more problematic, at some point you may need to build Powder Mills or Armories (or maybe Arsenals, I always get them mixed up) to beef up Ammo production. A lot of people used to report a major ammo crimp late in the war, but I think this was addressed in a patch (I never noticed it, myself). If you get one, then you may need to fill in your supply chain and try to go several turns without using rail movement so you can get the two rail supply phases rather than one or none.

I usually play as the CSA, and I try my best to leave the "minimal" amount of rail points (the 1/3 amount) each turn so that I can get one phase of rail push (which =5 rail regions of supply forwarding). Occasionally I have turns where I get two, but I usually need my rail for troop movement instead. I often go below the 1/3 threshold and don't get a rail push at all, but I try not to do this more than two turns in a row to keep things flowing. The thresholds increase each turn, so you have to build rail just to stay even, which replaces the decay mechanism in AACW.

Overall, I would say that it is more important to focus on providing a robust local network than an interstate one. Depots do more than just move supplies around, they also dramatically speed cohesion and hit recovery, so putting an extra one between Richmond and the front lines gives you an extra tactical hard point to fall back on if you are pushed south, in addition to the supply. Don't let it fall into enemy hands, however, it is extremely hard to push entrenched stacks out of depots, and the supplies that accumulate in depots within range of Richmond can supply a corps sized stack for months. Strongly consider building a depot or two in west-central Virginia, or you will have trouble supplying defenders keeping the back door closed against WV forces infiltrating across the mountains. I use the wagon that gets captured at Norfolk for this.

If you want to make sure you have supply forwarding from the Deep South to Virginia, you will need to build at least one depot in South Carolina, where if you look carefully you will see that there is a gap of 5+ rail regions on both of the two rail lines. You can fill in the coastal route with a flatboat-depot in one of the small towns WSW of Wilmington. The western rail route (that runs through Greenville) will cost a wagon to bridge the gap, as there is not a city in the right spot that you can build a flatboat in.

Flatboats are easy to use and so cheap they feel like an exploit. They can be built in just about any city with a harbor, and are available to convert into depots on the first turn after you buy them. Just select the flatboat and click on the build depot icon just as you would with a wagon. There is a 5 region riverine gap south of Memphis that can be filled in with a flatboat in one of the small towns on the Arkansas side (I forget the name) that will connect New Orleans Memphis. Memphis usually generates/gets scripted all the supplies it needs in my games though, so I don't always take the time/money.