FightingBuckeye wrote:1stvermont,
It's never a bad idea to have a source of supply nearby. But those cavalry forces the CSA can use and abuse depend on speed. Speed to strike deep before the North can effectively defend and then speed to get out before a counterstroke comes in. And those wagons will slow you down. However, ammo can be a huge problem in the Far West as the only source are those stockades that produce 1 ammo a turn.
Your troops really only carry enough ammo for two battles. If you're aiming for say the Colorado gold fields, your force could be turned back simply because they ran out of bullets before they ran out of targets. And it's too easy to capture a stockade and end up with having spent more ammo taking the damn thing then you get for capturing it. You could send your cavalry out and maybe send a wagon with a small escort to meet up later at a halfway home point. Better than running out of ammo or having to run all the way home to stock up on ammo.
It's not just Gray Fox. I know that there are several Union players that will wait until '63 before really budging much, even if they do a balanced attack once the juggernaught starts. I know I'm tempted to just sit back and wait for my NM to reach 100 without me lifting so much as a finger. It's tempting to wait for Grant, Meade, Reynolds, Sherman, Thomas, & Co to show up. It's tempting to wait until your economy really kicks in as your NM improves and you get more transports to the shipping box. But the press would be howling if the US generals just sat back and waited and waited and waited.
Shoot, we all know generals got sacked because they sat back and waited instead of moving forward. And as things stand, there's not much reason for the North to really start fighting until later. There's nothing to punish a late and crushing campaign. And in real life either the CSA could've gotten foreign recognition and intervention or maybe the peace movement in the North could've really taken off.
The only other thing I could think of would be for multiple events that really ding the Union if they don't meet the criteria. Except instead of a specific target, give a selection of targets. It could be something like control 3 out of these 7 regions by such and such date. So the South can't just defend one location knowing the Union can't take Manassas and will lose 10 NM. Or maybe it could go off of casualties; you must have inflicted so many casualties by this date. I know I'm getting a little off topic though. I just figured my suggestion could help solve both the problems of the US just sitting back and the lack of focus in the western states some players have.
We need the war plan selection for Union at least, wish someone could do it.
