Naturamix
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Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:37 pm

Hello All,

Murtagks and I enjoyed our last AAR enough to come back for another, this time with swapped roles. It will be my second time playing CSA in one of our games and his second playing USA. He plans to do an AAR as well.
I of course want to have my confederacy lasting longer than his did and he will doubtless be keen to crush me as revenge for last game. We are both off holiday now though, so I expect that we will not be able to do our turns as quickly as last time.

Obligatory firing on Ft Sumter shot

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Murtagks decided to print money on his first go. I expect from this and his temperament for him to go hard on Virginia in 1861. I have done a fair bit of unit building there to counter this threat, though I am not planning to rush for Washington (though I have read that rushing DC is the current CSA meta).

Instead I am going completely off the rails and I plan to build all the ironworks (one after the other due to low WS) and see if I can do some convoy raiding and blockade running.

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The first few turns were uneventful except that Floyd has shown himself to be crap as usual.

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I'll get him out asap, if nothing else just for the cavalry card he has with him.

I want to fight a little in the West. I think Murtagks tends to be less proficient at the logistical system in the game and so I think I would have the edge in the less populated areas of Missouri. If I can threaten or take St Louis MO that would be ideal.

4_West.png
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I have therefore committed some resources to this area, though not as much as in Virginia of course. VA must take priority given what I think Murtagks plans on doing.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Jan 06, 2019 6:07 pm

Just a suggestion in case you are interested.

You may edit your screenshots with this free application, adding arrows, circles, texts, whatever you consider.


https://www.getpaint.net/

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:14 pm

Cheers,

I may consider it, but I'll stay light on annotation for now.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Jan 07, 2019 10:30 pm

Up to Early August

These four turns were mostly maneuvering and scouting.

I first became concerned when there was only about 800 pwr in front of Beauregard and I couldn't see where the rest had gone.

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This lead me to worry that there was some impending crazy naval invasion that all forces were being drawn to. I therefore beefed up my Richmond and New Orleans defenses. I also decided to send a few cavalry cards forward under Winder and Joseph E Johnston's stack up the Shenandoah. This lead to a meeting engagement with Milroy where JEJ came off better. Cracking.

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This bit of probing also revealed that Murtagks had simply pulled most forces (particularly his volunteers) to Washington to reorganise them.

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This may be convenient, but I think he is making a mistake since it left the HF flank of Washington completely open. I have moved up with four stacks across DC's western Flank and if he wants to get anywhere he will need to eat some nasty casualties on these dug in stacks.

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The west was uneventful. McCulloch and Price and both slowly moving forwards to western and eastern Missouri respectively to try to catch Lyon in a bad position.
Last edited by Naturamix on Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Wed Jan 09, 2019 11:08 pm

Up to late September,

Despite the ironworks not being quite done yet I decided to get some ships started in Charleston and even some Naval engineers.

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I realise that some CSA pros are probably clawing their eyes out upon reading that, but I do want to try it.

McDowell decided to advance into Longstreet and forced him to retreat, but took more casualties in the process.

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At that point it looked to me like Murtagks was trying to get around the sides of JEJ since McClellan was coming down from the north at the same time.

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I therefore pulled JEJ back. In the process Murtagks had severely weakened his centre and so leaving Longstreet to hold his line of retreat I advanced with Beauregard. This resulted in two similar victories, one of which is shown, over some union forces in piecemeal, both netting me some national morale.

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This left Beauregard and 750 ish power holding Alexandria with about 650 power of union forces cut off from the capital. I'll dig in again here. Farragut's fleet has even shown up and bombarded Beauregard, taking four times as many hits as him in the process from return fire. At least this suggests my coast is not about to be invaded. My division in NO was therefore maybe a little overcautious for now, but I'll train it up with Bragg and it will be useful sooner or later.

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Hopefully Murtagks keeps attacking in the east. My strategy is just to make it costly. Assuming no miracles he will take -10 NM next turn, which I look forward to.

In the west things didn't go so well. I have the rail line up to St Louis, but an ill advised attack with McCulloch cost me over 1000 guys for little gain. I plan to send JEJ there once lonstreet and Jackson are promoted in the east. It may require me to mass more forces in Arkansas first if I want to take the city.

All in all I am feeling optimistic with the situation.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Fri Jan 11, 2019 9:57 pm

Up to Late November (West)

We got quite a few turns done so this will have to be split into two Theaters.

The West here basically just means Missouri. My September attempt to capture St Louis with a flanking attack from McCulloch had failed and so I massed my infantry with Price and created a division under Thompson for his stack.

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Price and Shelby then started cautiously attacking St Louis whilst McCulloch outflanked again; this time across the river to cut off St Louis' .

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This was initially a little costly, but with McCulloch across the line of retreat and resupply the attrition will grind Freemont down until I can take the city.


Freemont initiated combat the turn after and must have tried to retreat as he lost his entrenchment.

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This leaves St Louis surrounded on all sides (though I do not control the river) and the city is under siege. It will fall sooner or later.

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This is great to know, as things in the East have taken a turn for the worse.
Last edited by Naturamix on Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Fri Jan 11, 2019 10:37 pm

Up to late November (East)

Things started well in the east. Beauregard was holding in Alexandria and Murtagks threw several stacks at Longstreet behind in Mannasas. The union also took -10 national morale for this. So far so good.

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Unfortunately at this point I started having some silly ideas.

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It looked at this point like it may be possible to wipe the stack being supplied by sea in Falmouth VA since it was worn out from attacking Longstreet. Unfortunately I did not realise that it was about to be reinforced. I mistook a brief lull in the force concentration for a retreat and marched Longsteet right onto McDowell's main stack...

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This was not ideal. In the same turn Grant showed up and wiped the garrison I had placed in Harper's Ferry. Any seniority he gains is of course terrible for me.

At this point, with Longstreet needing to retreat, I am in danger of having my forces in northern Virginia cut off by Grant on one side and McDowell on the other. I therefore decided to make like brave Sir Robin and run away. This shock of Grant's arrival with 3-4 divisions particularly influences this decision.

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Johnston will get back literally to some hills, Beauregard will blow the Alexandria depot and move back to Mannasas to meet up with Longstreet who is hightailing it back from Falmouth to avoid being destroyed. Murtagks may decide to attack here in an attempt to cut off Beauregard.

Another major concern is that across the Rappahannock I only have one slow division (includes siege artillery) stack under Magruder. If McDowell attacks here he may open a path to Richmond. I have placed Magruder on "hold at all costs" since I would rather lose the division than have it be pushed out of the way and leave a clear line to Richmond where I just have a volunteer division being formed.
I have to hope that Magruder's deceiver trait works here as it did on the peninsula in reality and causes Murtagks to be over cautious in attacking.

Strategically I am currently in a pickle. Kentucky has not joined one way or the other and I have two divisions in Tennessee that are basically twiddling their thumbs (though Hardee is getting them some stars at least with his trainer trait). I don't have the rail points to get them to Virginia. There is also a division in NO, but with Faragut's fleet on the Potomac shooting at Beauregard this seems like a waste. If Kentucky starts leaning towards the Union I will invade it and thereby open up a new front that I am pretty sure Murtagks has stripped clean to provide troops for his advance on Richmond. If I can get behind the Rappahannock and hold then maybe I can rout some stacks and put me in a better position for a spring offensive in 1862.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sat Jan 12, 2019 3:44 pm

Up to Late Jan 1862,

December followed much the same pattern as before; good results in the West, terrible in the East.

A little ray of sunshine hit the CSA as Price managed to storm St Louis. This adds a city the same size as New Orleans with even higher loyalty to the CSA. It should be much easier to hold than it was to take. My build up in Missouri has paid off

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Previously in the East I was attempting to disentangle Longstreet from McDowell.

As predicted McDowell followed him and caught him without Beauregard's stack coming to help

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This defeat is even worse than the last one and I simply had to pull Longstreet back (after stripping it of useful artillery to give to Beauregard).

Next turn McDowell also pushed Beauregard off Manassas taking fewer casualties than me in the process.

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This left Beauregard and Johnston on the same tile with only Magruder's 1 division stack in the way of Richmond.
I have to commend Murtagks on how well he exploited his victory against Longstreet in those turns.

However in the turn after Murtagks amazingly did not press the attack! This is despite having Grant's western stack with McDowell and about a 2:1 advantage. This was exactly the pause I needed to reorganise my Virginian defenses, reinforce Longstreet's depleted brigades and railroad my New Orleans division up from LA. I am gambling that with Farragut's fleet damaged by the Virginia campaign he will not be landing in NO for at least a few more weeks. Hopefully this will give me time to build a new LA division under Ruggles.
Furthermore Longstreet and Jackson have been promoted by event now. Jackson will take over from Johnston with Bragg getting his old division and a reinforced Longstreet will defend Fredericksburg with two divisions. All other forces went to Beauregard who can now match Grant in numbers.

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Murtagks is now down at 60 NM because he decided to catapult Grant up to army command. I don't think he realised that the NM cost would be quite so high. I am just over 100 after my string of defeats.

In Northern Virginia I will hold firm until Lee arrives and see if I can deal 20 NM damage from blocking Murtagks from fulfilling the "Onto Richmond" events. I am sending Magruder with his siege guns to have a go at Ft Monroe, I want to cover my flank and even if Murtagks blocks me it will delay his naval assets from being able to invade somewhere else along the CSA cost.

Hoping for a strong 1862 start.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Jan 13, 2019 1:10 pm

Up to Late Feb 1862

The Confederacy had a decent couple of rounds.

In the Missouri no forces have turned up to challenge Price's control of St Louis. His division can stay here to guard it. The elite Missouri brigade has spawned and will serve as the bedrock of a new Division I am forming there that will likely be sent to ABS Johnston when Kentucky is in play. Shelby and Dorn are going into Illinois to destroy the depots, plunder the towns and rip up the railroads. I want to make it logistically difficult to use Illinois as a future staging post to counter attack my conquest of St Louis, but I'm not going to march on Chicago just yet (though I may in future).

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In the East Grant walked into Jackson's two divisions. Considering the numerical odds Jackson did very well.

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This is exactly the type of battle I want to fight; offsetting the Union numerical advantage with tough terrain and entrenchment to cause maximum casualties. Jackson retreated to Beauregard after the battle.

Murtagks then launched his first Western Theater offensive of the war. Farragut, now disengaged from Virginia, forced his way up the Mississippi and dropped Butler off just south of New Orleans. I will try to engage him next turn with my ironclad fleet (which failed to engage on the way in).

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Ruggles' division is largely militia and not quite ready (waiting on some artillery and zouaves). I don't think it can stand up to the two divisions that have landed under Butler. To counter this threat I am redeploying J Johnston (now that he is not needed in Virginia) to NO to take command of this stack. I will give him an army command as he is the most Senior CSA general currently and needs to be given something before Lee in any case. I am also railroading Hardee's division (from ABS Johnston's army in Tennessee) down to reinforce the defense. In the meantime Ruggles is on "hold at all cost" and I have to hope that Butler can't move fast enough to engage before the reinforcements and commander arrive.

Hopefully I am not about to regret my decision of sending one of my LA divisions up to reinforce Beauregard...

In Virginia Things look quite stable after the scuffle with Grant. Magruder has arrived outside Ft Monroe. I'll try mining it and storming it when he has cohesion back. He has siege artillery with him so I am hoping that he can take the fort.

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I am sending Jackson to the Shenandoah by the southern entrance. I am hoping that some historical play here will be quite effective.
I know from playing Murtagks in the past that he tends to be easily baited by distractions and so 2 divisions under Jackson running round the Shenandoah might be able to tie down a disproportionate number of federal troops (as it did historically).

In terms of buildup along with the previously mention Missouri division I have new divisions being built in Georgia, Alabama, an Virginia. I am also trying to find the resources for some more troops to fill out divisions based around the texas brigade and orphan brigade that have just spawned in Richmond and Nashville respectively. With new fronts opening up I am beginning to think I may want to be more cautious in Kentucky than I originally planned.

At sea my blockade runners have been getting me over 20 WS per turn which is great! I am looking forward to my steam frigates being ready in a few months. Murtagks seems to have death-stacked his ships into Farraguts fleet and his merchants and transports in the shipping lanes are looking undefended. I have built more ships as manpower seems to be my main limiting factor on land.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Jan 13, 2019 7:06 pm

Up to Early April 1862,

The pace of the war has picked up.

In the West there are now six divisions bearing down on St Louis Missori in three detatchments: P Kearny, H Berry and A Whipple. This is of some concern. I guess that new elite Missouri division will be staying at home after all. Price is still senior...
I have also seen Sherman in Cairo with two divisions. I hope he walks into the Swamps of Arkansas and gets stuck.

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One major problem in this theater is the lack of a three star general. I want to send JE Johnston there, but he has been busy.

Specifically JEJ has been busy in New Orleans.

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Butler started marching towards NO, but then found himself without cohesion due to the swampy location he landed in and facing two divisions (Hardee arrived) under JEJ. Murtagks didn't fancy the odds and re-embarked Butler.
Coward!

I engaged Farragut's fleet unsuccessfully

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It's surprising how much national morale I lost. I will try again next turn. Farragut has been at sea for a long time and his cohesion must be low by now. If Butler just leaves JEJ can get over to Missouri asap and leave the two divisions under Hardee and Ruggles to mop up. I also placed out militia in the coastal areas to prevent him from landing sailors to capture undefended ports.

My own steam ships are beginning to be finished. I will be checking the defenses on the union merchants very soon with steam frigates.

Another big event was that Kentucky joined the union.

ABS Johnston has two very light divisions that will make a dash for Louisville. With his large concentrations in the east and west I am hoping that Murtagks has left the center weak, as he did in our last game. The newly trained division from Alabama will join ABS whilst the newly mobilised Georgians can head up to Virginia, where reinforcement is definitely needed. McCulloch has the cavalry with Forrest commanding a division under him for now.

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Grant finally decided to attack PGT Beauregard with Longstreet marching to the sound of the guns (MSG).

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I am glad it was a victory, but I was hoping for better results against a frontal attack. I am guessing that the union guns hit me hard. There is 3000 more union power in the Shenandoah and I hope they fruitlessly chase after Jackson.
Grant will have to attack again eventually or retreat as I still control the region's supply flow.

My landmine in Ft Monroe has made a breach so I will be storming that next turn and then the main objective is to hold the union back from the Richmond area. If Murtagks eats -20 NM from the two events this year he will be very close to defeat.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:15 pm

Up to early July 1862 (The East)

Virginia has not featured any large battles, instead we have largely been manoeuvering around one another.

I did initially take Ft Monroe with my siege gun stack.

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This is nice as it lifts the close blockade on Richmond and makes any peninsular campaign more difficult for Murtagks to undertake.

In the naval department my steam frigates have started coming out of the dry docks.

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The steam frigates in the shipping lanes have increased the sinking of union shipping about five-fold. This is still only about 10 each of WS and money per turn, but hopefully I can soon start sinking the merchant ship stack outright.

My blockade runners are still doing good work getting me about 15 money and WS extra per turn.

In the Shenandoah I ran up to HF with Jackson.

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From there Murtagks tried to trap him, but he is simply too fast and can just run around them. This resulted in a little scrap with McDowell.

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With my Corps from Ft Monroe back in Northern Virginia I can now defend along the Rappahannock and simply wait for the Union offensive. I may try something a little more aggressive if he makes a failed assault. He needs to move sooner or later. Otherwise 20 NM will be knocked off the union later in the year.

R E Lee is now in command of the Army of Northern Virginia.

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Beauregard is keeping his army command, but is now railroading down to NO. He will be my firefighter for dangerous Union Amphibious invasions.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:33 pm

Up to Early July 1862 West

As soon as Kentucky seceded ABSJ railroaded up to Louisville and took it. :dada:

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the theater) Grant has now been brought back from Virginia and got behind ABS, in an attempt to trap him. H Berry and A Whipple are no longer hovering around St Louis in Western Illinois so this Kentucky invasion is at least proving to be a good diversion. They are now both Corps under Grant so attacking them piecemeal with ABSJ would be difficult as Grant can march to the sound of the guns.

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Instead of marching into the encircling units I will hop across the Ohio river and get back to friendly territory downstream. Failing that I can just river transport them out. My NO fleet has made its way up river to support.

The fact that St Louis is no longer under direct threat has freed up My stack there for a rather nice bit of manoeuver warfare.

Sherman decided to chase a very light Arkansas division under D Maury all the way to the supply depot I built in Popular Bluff.

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He took the town, but it put him in a perfect position to be attacked by JEJ, who has just arrived in Missouri after forcing Butler to abort his invasion of NO.

I railroaded JE Johnston down to meet Sherman and the resulting engagement was a resounding victory.

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Furthermore D Maury and Breckenridge (with the Arkansas volunteer stack) are moving around the Flanks of Sherman's depleted stack to cut him off from Cairo.

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JE Johnston will pursue Sherman and hopefully crush the remaining 10 000 men in the wilderness of eastern Missouri.

A very favourable set of turns for the Confederacy.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Tue Jan 22, 2019 7:41 pm

Up to Late August 1862, (West)

A slightly lackluster set of turns for the CSA.

Sherman managed to get away by scraping past Maury with only minor casualties.

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I then managed to get ABS Johnston out of Indiana by crossing the Ohio at Madisonville KY. Lost 2000 troops when I tried to get Polk out early to Murgatk's gunboats unfortunately, but the rest got out without incident. If he had rushed me with Grant I might have been in trouble.

Seeing grant in the West made me realise that putting ABS Johnston opposite him was not the best use of talent.
Therefore I decided that ABSJ would be my Amphibious landing response leader and Beauregard (now with 5 in defense) should form a defensive line by Bowling Green KY. A positive thing about this little runaround Louisville (which he still hasn't taken back) is that it has kept the fighting away from Tennessee and therefore my ironworks. Murtagks has mostly been responding to my moves with his much more powerful stacks and has therefore not made any drive towards my industrial centers. I am keen to keep it this way. I also need to keep him worried about his supply lines with Forrest's cavalry.

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JE Johston made a sortie into Illinois, but fortunately did not make any rash attacks as Murtagks has just reinforced the area. I think I will quietly slip back to St Louis and dig in once again.

51_JEJ.png
51_JEJ.png (4.49 MiB) Viewed 12857 times

Naturamix
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Tue Jan 22, 2019 11:52 pm

Up to Late August 1862 (East)

I felt that with Grant in the west it was probably time to force some sort of decisive battle in the east where forces are relatively even.

Therefore as the time limit for the Union to threaten Richmond ran out I moved Stonewall and Lee into the Shenandoah.

47_Lee_Battle.png
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Here they met Sumner's Corps. I was hoping to attack a disjointed union force and crush it, but it seems the river crossing severely hampered me here. Lee pulled out a victory, but a costly one.

With my stacks north of McDowell I decided to feign towards Baltimore and DC in the hope that Murtagks would do something stupid when trying to stop me.

48_Towards_Baltimore.png
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During this advance McDowell moved to Jackson's old position behind me. I think Murtagks has adopted this cutting off or retreat strategy more generally since our last game as he tried the same trick with ABS Johnston in Kentucky.

I also ran into Sumner again.

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This battle was a victory for me, but I'm still not too happy with these casualty ratios. I was hoping Lee could get me better returns.

At this point I am very close to both DC and Baltimore. I could be on top of either with Jackson in the next turn.
The trouble is Murtagks could be there by rail in about three with McDowell.

I don't think it is worth the risk and DC is heavily guarded and Baltimore is not worth cutting off my two most valuable Corps. Maybe I'll try my luck if I can built a transport fleet in Richmond for next year.

Therefore I will conduct the following movements.

52_Virginia.png
52_Virginia.png (4.39 MiB) Viewed 12851 times


I will move Lee and Jackson Back towards the Shenandoah whilst my Richmond defenses move forwards.

My best hope is that Murtagks pulls forces to guard DC whilst also trying to cut me off.
If he does this then I may have an opportunity to concentrate three good Corps against one Union force in the Shenandoah area. Ideally I would then be able to inflict some casualties whilst simultaneously bringing my defensive lines closer towards DC than they were at the start of these offensives.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Thu Jan 24, 2019 8:58 pm

Up to Early September - Woeful One Turn

I Just had a bad turn to say the least. Not quite a Gettysburg Day 3, but nonetheless a bad turn.

The first catastrophe was a very small battle to chase Hamilton over to the southern side of the Potomac.

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This was a victory, but Stonewall Jackson got himself shot...
RIP Stonewalll; press F.

This is a bit of a disaster as I haven't had enough battles to promote a suitable replacement. Lee's stack will have to be the only fast moving force for now.

Next I decided to continue my habit of walking Longstreet (thankfully not yet dead) into superior forces.

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I finally took Falmouth Virginia, but by God it was not worth it for that! The only silver lining was that he managed to pull out a victory somehow so I didn't take NM damage. I will be reinforcing Longstreet's Corps from Forney to ensure we can hold this hard-won piece of ground.

Since we only did one turn, this is a good time to reflect on the general strategic situation.

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In Virginia I am pleased that I managed to predict Murtagk's movements. He tried to cut me off at the rear where Lee beat him to HF and he moved his main stacks to guard Washington. Hopefully Lee's army hurled at Sumner's Corps strung out in HF will finally give me a victory that produces more casualties for the other side in Virginia. I am moving Forney with two divisions to reinforce Lee, but I am avoiding the Union-controlled rail line as I don't want to accidentally walk onto McDowell railroading back to the battle.

The southern stacks will just hold position for the moment particularly as I am awaiting some reinforcements and I hope Longstreet can dig in and hold Falmouth.

In Tennessee I am extremely outnumbered, but things are nonetheless static

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I am reinforcing Beauregard's Army of the Tennessee as fast as possible whilst Nathan Bedford Forrest pillages and rips up rail lines behind Grant.

Since he has not attacked me I suspect that he is waiting for Crittenden's Corps from Louisville to arrive. I think that he probably also wants to bring Kearney over from Illinois as admiral Porter's river fleet has been out. As my ironclad fleet is stronger for the moment I will patrol the river to prevent him from reinforcing Grant. I'd like Murtagks to simply attack into Beauregard's dug in army, but I suspect that he doesn't really want to. I will need more troops to fend off flanking attacks if he manages to reinforce Grant with another corp. The best hope for defending Nashville is to make his supply situation untenable as he advances and hold my depots with my limited but entrenched forces.

In Missouri Murtagks looks like he is making an advance at St Louis.

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I'll try to catch him first with Johnston. My sorties into Illinois have in the past been successful in distracting his forces from moving elsewhere. If he moves heavily to Kentucky I'll dive right back into Illinois to cause as much havoc as possible an make it difficult for him to advance consistently elsewhere.

Despite my poor recent turns I can still be very confident in the victory point situation.

My troops are standing everywhere at the edge of the Confederacy and I have not conceded any major cities to him. I have in fact even added St Louis. I will adopt a generally more defensive posture for the moment as he will have to advance into my stacks sooner or later unless he wants to lose slowly due to inaction.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Thu Jan 24, 2019 10:47 pm

Thanks for posting all this for our reading pleasure. I only have one major question... where the puck is your opponents army?? I have never seen so many battles with the Confeds numerically superior.

I am psyching myself up to try to find an opponent for this game as I have not played this MP.

Mike

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Thu Jan 24, 2019 11:35 pm

Glad it makes for good reading!

You can see from my perspective that McDowell railroaded from Manassas back to Anapolis between the last two turns. This was when Jackson got into Maryland.

I think Murtagks is playing very defensively and assumed that I would attack Washington, therefore I am just fighting the smaller Corps lead by Sumner and Hamilton.

For the full answer you may need to see Murtagk's AAR, which he is writing in parallel.

We naturally have a gentleman's agreement not to look at the other's AAR until the game is over.

Nat

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:16 pm

Up to Late October 1862 (West)

In Both East and West We have finally come to blows.

A notable exception to this is Missouri where I am pleased to say my incessant raids and railroad sabotage seems to be paying off as Murtagks has not ventured back across the river to threaten St Louis despite no decisive battle taking place.

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It is possible that he may yet do so, but every month that he delays puts me further ahead on these victory points.

In the Upper Mississippi river I am a little concerned about Sherman.

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He has about two divisions with him and is once again sallying out from Cairo. I only have a largely volunteer division in Southern Missouri to interdict him. To compensate Shelby will come down from Northern Missouri to raid Sherman's supply as he ventures further down river. I am also sending Richard Taylor to train up my volunteers into proper line infantry. I am also considering making Memphis a redoubt. I want to hit him with a nasty defeat again to prevent Murtagks from getting his other 6 Strategic general.

In Tennessee Murtagks surprised me.

Grant marched along the river, crossed downstream, killed a raider brigade and then outflanked Beauregard all in one turn.

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This defeat was nonetheless not catastrophic. I don't want to give up Bowling green KY just yet as I want to train a few more Kentuckians for Beauregard's army. Fortunately I was left with a decent amount of military control and control of the town. Grant also didn't seem keen for any further attacks against Beauregard to finish the job.

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My course of action now is to use my gunboats to prevent any further moving across the river. Meanwhile Forrest will interdict supplies and rip up every railroad in Kentucky. Fortunately I have a proper Corps formed under Polk to prevent any flanking to the south. Hopefully Grant will now have to assault or retreat. It is possible that he attempts go move around Beauregard towards Nashville. If so I will use my gunboats to stop him on the Cumberland river and try to cut him off from his supplies up North.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:59 pm

To Late October East

In the east things have been going slightly poorly.

I had one battle with Sumner's Corps which I have recorded just so that I can show a victory.

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Unfortunately I misjudged just how badly Murtagks wanted to take Falmouth back and even with reinforcements Longstreet could not hold against Rosecrans.

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Fairly even casualties, but I wasn't happy to be thrown back across the Rappahannock.

Longstreet was reinforced again and dug in at Fredericksburg.

After fighting Sumner Lee was cutoff by McDowell. Murtagks seems very keen to cut off and destroy this stack (which is fair enough since it is my main stack). I therefore beefed up Lee with troops from Jackson's old command and charged McDowell. Casualties were even and Lee got control of the tile.

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At this point Sumner, Franklin and Hamilton are all next door in Clarke. If his past actions are anything to go by I strongly suspect that Murtagks wants to try to cut lee off again by attacking Forney to the south.

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Forney would not be able to stand up to this, but full Military control of this tile (which I have) means that I can now move Lee into it directly from his engagement with McDowell. I strongly suspect that McDowell will remain static since he won't want to attack Lee and risk large casualties, and the only direction he can go is backwards. without launching such an attack. If Lee can get into position before Sumner and co attack I will hopefully catch the union crossing a river into my my main stack with Lee as commander. If I have judged this correctly I should hopefully be able to score a big with soon. This would be welcome as the Virginia theater has largely not gone to plan thus far.

I am also sending a division to Magruder in case some some of Sumner's troops are actually about to attack him. Furthermore a newly formed division of Carolinians will guard Richmond as that union navy hasn't poked it's head out in a while and I am nervous (even with control of Ft Monroe) about an amphibious assault.

Lastly my gunboats I built in Richmond will steam up the Rappahanock to prevent crossings by Rosecrans. That -10 NM should hit him next turn for not marching on Richmond.

Speaking of navies I have also been sinking a large amount of union shipping, even rising up to 87 money in one turn. I am still rotating my ships out to ensure decent cohesion. The blockade runners are getting me a respectable 24 Money extra per turn and 12 WS in total, which I am happy with.#

One other thing I have learn is that I am seriously outgunned in these battles. Over the winter the CSA is going to drop a lot of cash on guns. A wise man said "you can never have enough Dakka"

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Tue Jan 29, 2019 11:06 pm

Up to Early December.

There was only one major battle in this set of turns, it wasn't the one I thought it would be and oh Good Lord...

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Murtagks ordered Grant straight into Beauregard's entrenched army. The outcome was in my favour to say the least.
I'm not sure why he attacked, maybe my Strength was hidden, maybe he thought that he just had to make some ground towards Nashville, maybe he thought that Grant's strength would be enough to offset the entrenchment, but in any case I'm glad he did.

This puts Grant in a sticky situation.

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I now have 100% MC in Bowling Green, therefore Grant either needs to throw himself at Beauregard once again and probably suffer more mass casualties, or retreat. Either is fine by me.

The battle has finally allowed me to promote some of my divisional commanders. I have a vague memory from CW1 that AP Hill becomes crap if you promote him (someone post to correct me if I'm wrong). Cheetham is fairly meh and good as a divisional commander so I decided to promote Jubal Early. Early will take over Polk's corp because the latter incurred my ire for failing to march to the sound of the guns to help Beauregard and furthermore is an utter cretin.

In the upper Mississippi I am becoming increasingly concerned about Sherman who has now taken Island Number 10 and crossed to the Tennessee side of the river.

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I have Richard Taylor with his volunteers(soon to be regulars) on the Missouri side together with Shelby to interdict Sherman's supplies. I am also railroading ABS Johnston to hit Sherman whilst the winter has his cohesion down. It's a bit of a risk to leave only half a division in NO, but I've seen Farragut's fleet up north patrolling around the shipping lanes, so I feel confident that Murtagks doesn't have immediate plans to invade. It may be that he has entirely given up on the idea...

In Virginia I have extricated myself the Shenandoah and I am digging in for defense after a long series of inconclusive battles. I will wait for the snow to clear before trying anything. I could hold and send one of Lee's Corps to help Beauregard deliver a blow to Grant, or come up with some new cunning plan for operations in Virginia in the spring. Hopefully Murtagks launches another ill advised attack here, but I know I can't count on it. I'll adopt a defensive posture for now.

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In terms of buildup I have found that I need to boost my river fleet which had two encounters with Murtagks over last turn. Murtagks has forced his way up the Mississippi with an ironclad fleet built in New England! I have the war supply for it, I just need to war bonds money. I am also building all the heaviest parrot guns from Kentucky so that in case I lose bowling green I can at least have these with me.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sat Feb 02, 2019 3:59 pm

Up to Late Feb 1863

After an eventful couple of turns the turn of the year was relatively calm.
The most exciting part may be that I hit a new record for commerce raiding. 115 Money and 34 WS of Union shipping was sunk.

ABS Johnston moved to engage Sherman's stack invading western Kentucky.

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A costly victory for Sherman.

A strange thing then happened. I retreated as there was a much larger stack behind Sherman, but oddly enough so did he.

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Since I controlled the railway I simply moved back in again to receive the next attack.

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Another defeat, but with more casualties to him. It would be nice to get some NM for the casualty ratios if these were counted as a victory, but killing disproportionate numbers of Unionists is also fine. I will hold position and hope he attacks me again. If I can inflict a defeat on him I may try to re-take island 10.

In Missouri I noticed that there were no longer stacks threatening St Louis. Therefore I decided to move JEJ Johnston back in and seize the rail line on the other side of the river.

This prompted Murtagks to redeploy 3000 power in the form of our old friends Whipple, Berry and Milroy.

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I'll just hop back across the river to defend St Louis once again. I'll of course repeat the trick if they disappear.
If 3000 power of Union troops is having to railroad back and forth to chase 1000 power of CSA troopes in Missouri then they are not helping Grant to outflank Beauregard. I can deny him their use without fighting if he feels the need to defend Illinois this disproportionately.

In Kentucky Grant built a depot and moved across the river downstream again.

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Fortunately my new raiding stack of Morgan's cavalry had the sense to get out of the way. I don't want to hold with Early in his current position. 4:1 odds is not good.

Virginia has been so quiet that I felt confident in bringing John B Hood's division of Texans over to the army of the Tennessee. They are getting refitted with more artillery from Kentucky. Early will fall back to Hood and try to hold off Grant at Clarksville TN. I have managed to get all the 20 pdrs built from Kentucky. These have gone to Hood, McLaws and AP Stewart. I'd still like to hold a little longer for the 10 pdrs. Since Grant has left his depot my partisans and raiders will try to burn it next round.

Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Feb 03, 2019 8:21 pm

Up to Early April 1863,

Almost nothing happened in Virginia, but an extremely exciting set of turns occurred in the Western Theater, prompted by a mistake of my making.

It started when ABS Johnston was once again attacked and defeated by Sherman.

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This led me to want to withdraw him as I was down to 5 % military control and was running out of cohesion.

I stupidly merged him with a unit in the structure and this caused him to be forced into Columbus KY with his stack besieged by Sherman!

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I did not want a semi-historical surrender of the Army of the Mississippi!

To remedy the situation I felt that my best course of action was to immediately railroad Jubal Early and his aggressive stack over to rescue ABSJ.

This he did and returned control of the region to the Confederacy thus freeing ABSJ.

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Unfortunately as Murtagks concentrated all his Illinois forces in Kentucky I am aware that this leaves Beauregard's flank completely exposed. If Grant and Kearney (who is now commanding the merged corps from Whipple and Berry) move around him they can cut off his supply/retreat route to Nashville. This is regrettably the the time to give up Southern Kentucky . I can at least be happy that I got all the heaviest artillery out and a good number of 10 pdrs. Beauregard will railroad to Nashville and dig in. My river fleet will move up and down the Cumberland in the first 6 days of next turn. If I understand the mechanics correctly this will block any crossings by Grant attempted during those turns to give me time to dig in.

In western Kentucky I will use Early to take Paducah and Hardee is detatching as an independent command to retake Island Number 10. Hopefully I can cause Sherman more pain on the way out, but I doubt I can prevent him from retreating.

In my desperation to put pressure on Murtagks during ABSJ's siege I also chose to attack Cairo with Richard Taylor.
Amazingly this worked!

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I also placed Shelby across the only rail link into it (which he will destroy). I'd like to promote Taylor as soon as possible; I could use another decent corps commander so these combats are all good.

This leaves a mess of Confederate stacks in control of Western Kentucky, my fleet holding the confluence of Cumberland and Ohio rivers and Beauregard beating a retreat before grant.

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Since the Union's main strength has now shifted to Kentucky I will once again sally forth into Illinois with JE Johnston and move towards Springfield. If I ever manage to take it I want to destroy the depot. If not I hope that Murtagks will send thousands of combat power over to deal with this small force for the third time. The depot in Cairo will also be destroyed once Taylor takes the city.

This leaves one line of supply running down Vincennes IN to a new depot that Grant's stack has now built in Kentucky after Morgan's Alabama cavalry blew up the last one.

In the next few turns I expect Murtagks will move to take control Bowling Green before starting his offensive into Tennessee. I probably can't block the river with my fleet forever so Early will have to rejoin Beauregard as soon as possible to ensure I don't lose Nashville. My raider stacks will keep harassing his supply line to slow down his advance.

If I were him I would probably try to take Ft Donelson before moving on Nashville. This means destroying my Fleet first to ensure unmolested crossing for his army and then besieging the fort.

To counter this I have three more ironclads finishing construction in Mobile and colombiad artillery railroading up to Donelson to reinforce the garrison. Hopefully a new stalemate will develop along the Cumberland as I continue to run down the clock to 1866.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Tue Feb 05, 2019 10:28 pm

Up to Late May 1863,

I completely misjudged what Murtagks would do this turn, but things are nonetheless going rather well for the Confederacy.

In Virginia Murtagks is concentrating his stacks; a sign that something may be about to happen, but as of yet nothing has happened. On the high seas I am sinking just shy of 100 Money a turn and about half that in WS which is pretty great.

In the West there has been action.

Milroy/Smith with the Union rearmost Corps turned around and chased JE Johston back into Missouri

84_Out of Illinois.png
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This is fine. I'll play that game indefinitely to tie down his five divisions with two of mine.

ABSJ finally scored a victory against a retreating Sherman.

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I was hoping to mop up in this area whilst Grant and Beauregard maneuvered around Nashville, but Murtagks surprised me here.

Instead of securing the north of the river, beating my fleet and then trying to cutoff/take Nashville and Ft Donelson Grant simply leapt across the river with his huge stack.

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I was hoping to stop him with my gunboats, but I guess it doesn't quite work that way. I think one may need to be in position before the movement starts.

This caused me great concern. I know that Beauregard wouldn't gain a huge amount of entrenchment around Nashville before the start of the battle so Jubal Early got back on the rails to go to Murfreesboro to keep Nashville's supply line open.

Murtagks surprised me yet again here by moving across the Tennessee river into western Tennessee leaving my entire Army of the Tennessee on the eastern side with the crossing blocked by his ironclad fleet.

This clearly put my two divisions in Western Tennessee in a horrible position. I chose to boat them out in a staggered fashion to rescue them since I knew Murtagks' fleet was out of the way.

Murtagks' move was very bold and unexpected, but also extremely risky.

The first problem was that Early could move straight back into Kentucky and destroy more than half of Murtagks' cavalry and retake bowling Green in the process.

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The main problem however is a logistical one.

This is the situation that these moves leave the Western Theater in.

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Forrest can now destroy his second new supply depot in Kentucky, Cairo is mine, I have destroyed the depot and my partisans are now raiding Illinois and Indiana.

this means that Grant is completely cut off from friendly supply sources.

My spare units are converging on the now-fortified Memphis, Richard Taylor can dig in on Cairo and Beauregard should make it next to impossible for Grant to return to Eastern Tennessee/Kentucky. This boxes Grant in on all sides.

His options are now to quickly smash one of my defensive positions whilst he has the supply and combat power or to retreat along the river towards Indiana and Ohio.

If he opts for the former I hope to beat him in a string of decisive battles and destroy the Union's Western armies. If he opts for the latter I will try to inflict as many casualties as possible during his retreat and he will be back where he started in 1861.

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deguerra
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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:42 pm

I just wanted to post to say that I am following this with a keen interest - thanks for all the lovely writing and screenshots.

This is indeed an interesting pickle, and just goes to show how quickly a superior position can (seemingly) turn into a potentially dangerous one.

Gripping stuff :D

Thanks again!

-deguerra

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Thu Feb 07, 2019 7:02 pm

Thank you!

I'm glad it's being received by an enthusiastic readership.

Murtagks and I will probably continue in the weekend.

Nat

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Fri Feb 08, 2019 2:52 am

Thank you so much for posting this wonderful AAR! It is great to see CW2 come alive under the hand of you two masters. I am amazed at your ability to maximize production, organize your forces and aggressively implement your strategic plan. Very enjoyable reading! Thanks to both of you for taking the time to share this with us!

Kurt

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Fri Feb 08, 2019 7:46 pm

Thank you!

I should say I certainly don't think I have mastered the game yet. I still find myself getting surprised by some of the game mechanics, but I am happy that I seem competent.

Nat

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Sun Feb 10, 2019 6:31 pm

Up to Late July 1863,

Much movement occurred during these turns.

In a set of two naval engagements I managed to weaken the union fleet on the Tennessee river.

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The mines and bombardments from fort Donelson have taken their toll and I now have the fleet bottled up in Ft Henry.

Murtagks mentioned in voice chat that he could see that I seem to have cut off his Tennessee armies from a reliable source of supply. He therefore quite logically tried to retake Cairo as this is probably the closest point where he has a chance to break my encirclement.

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Richard Taylor's stack (nominally under Van Dorn's command) put up a heroic defense (on a hold at all cost stance) and held its ground.

90_Taylorbattle.png
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This is great as it keeps any supplies away from Grant, inflicts casualties on the Union and gets Taylor enough seniority to be promoted! It would be nice to have his force as a Corps under the Army of the West. This will anger Bragg, but I don't want him as a Corps commander anyway.

There was a lot of maneuvering in Tennessee and the situation has currently been left as below.

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I've kept his stack under Kearny away by charging back and forth with Beauregard and Forrest (though the latter got a bit mauled on one occasion). I'd now finally like to cross the Tennessee and engage Grant.

My plan as seen in the picture is to hit Sherman with Early and move Beauregard towards that tile. I really don't want to get caught crossing the Tennessee and fight an offensive battle with that debuff into one of his stacks. Therefore having Early and Beauregard meet before pushing North is probably the best option.
Furthermore Sherman's force is not a Corps as he has not been promoted yet. Therefore an attack here won't cause Grant to march to the sound of the guns. ABSJ is on the other side of Grant to worry him a little and possibly make yet another attempt at taking back island 10. I am reinforcing ABSJ in case Grant throws his stack westwards.

My supply blockade is still in place and my scouting tells me that all union stacks are currently low on food. Now is a good time to press them and hopefully drastically alter the balance of power in the West.

I suspect due to his worsening situation in the West Murtagks has now chosen to finally attack the entrenched ANV in Virginia.

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This resulted in a gargantuan battle around Culpeper where Magruder's corps was forced to retreat.

I have dug some militia in behind him and so I can form a new definsive line with their entrenchment. I am unsure if Murtagks will continue moving immediately. He may chose to recover cohesion and bring up his remaining Corps, but if he does attack I need to be ready and so I am concentrating the ANV around Charlottesville.

It may be that in the remainder of 1863 I should try to inflict such a defeat on the union in the West that the Army of the Tennessee can in large part be redeployed to Virginia.

These are some of my best troops and if they were to appear suddenly on McDowell's flank they could have quite an impact.

A lot depends on how things go between Grant and Beauregard over the next few turns.

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Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:06 pm

Up to Late August 1863 (West)

I think in these last two turn the Confederacy may have been put on track to win the war.

In the Western Theater it appears that Murtagks Gamble with Grant has not paid off.

Our navies have been going back and forth with each other and in this area Murtagks has had some success sinking some of my units.

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My navy pulled back to resupply.

On dry land however the Union has had a very bad time.

In Cairo Murtagks hurled Smith's Corps into Taylor twice more and suffered costly defeats in both (one shown). It was a bit of a gamble on my part to tell him to hold at all costs, but it has paid off.

98_Cairo_again.png
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Furthermore this Corps is now too far from Springfield to be supplied and is now suffering from lack of food.
To rub salt in the wound JE Johnston has now taken the rail line from St Louis and got all the way around Smith's Corp to cut off his line of retreat. Taylor's force is now a Corps under the Army of the West and so these stacks should be able to support each other. I'll inflict as many casualties as possible on Smith.

Grant's once terrifying juggernaut is now a starving mob.

He marched into ABSJ just as the latter was reinforced by Ruggles division.

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97_ABSJbeatgrant.png (2.2 MiB) Viewed 12341 times


Despite his advantage in firepower, Grant was beaten by low supplies and morale. He fell back to Humbolt.

During this turn I also carried out the movement around Grant's eastern flank shown in the previous entry. Early and Beauregard swept around the flank up northwards and caught Berry around Ft Henry.

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I am now sitting on top of most of the Union forces and Beauregard is moving north to drive them into the Mississippi.

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The union forces have been cut off from the supply by all my raiding of southern Illinois that they are just constantly retreating and groping around for food. Even the stacks in Kentucky are badly supplied from standing in this heavily pillaged area. These Union defeats actually leave me with more combat power in the field than my opponent!

If the situation continues I should win in the west by the Winter of 1863. And I am now railroading Early to Virginia, where there has also been heavy fighting.

Naturamix
Major
Posts: 232
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:20 am
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom

Re: Naturamix(CSA) vs Murtagks(USA) Also Late to the Afterparty

Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:33 pm

Up to Late August 1863 (East)

Murtagks didn't delay for a moment and charged forwards with McDowell immediately towards Charlottesville.

Unfortunately Lee beat him to it and took up the entrenched position prepared by my militia units.

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Lee and Magruder's Corps inflicted a heavy defeat on McDowell's stack
A terrific result. This is Lee's first big win this game.

Forney's Corps arrived from the Shenandoah the turn after to push McDowell back to Culpepper.

101_McDowell Back.png
101_McDowell Back.png (2.2 MiB) Viewed 12341 times


This Leaves the Union Army stacked up in Culpepper with Sumner's Corps guarding Manassas to the rear (he chased after Mosby's partisans)

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102_Virginia_Picture.png (3.1 MiB) Viewed 12341 times


I currently believe that my best chance to win the war is to decisively beat the army of the Potomac going into the Union's low morale election year of 1864.

Therefore, as mentioned previously, Early's Corps is moving to the ANV now that the West looks to be nearly decided in my favour.

I won't move decisively until he arrives in two turns. Stuart will try to capture some rail lines into the Shenandoah to make an invasion there easier. Another tantalising possibility is doing a reverse peninsula campaign using my Virginia ironclad fleet.

I will leave both options open and decide when Early arrives.

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