oh well... anyway i started to fool around with new CSA tactics when i came to a rather stagnent position regarding taking over Washington DC in the first 18 months of the campaign even with Lee in command of the army of the potomac and the forces there sitting in Alexandria with 2 corps that where occupying harpers ferry and the surrounding countryside to the north fixed on Washington DC. (i would provide a pic to this however im useing a PC and not my laptop i play the game on)
faced with the position of my confederates on one side of the potomac and the union on the other maybe once every other turn exchanging fire across the river i thought i would try to split union forces elsewhere other than the obviuos kentucky/ Tennessee front. i thought i would be rather sneaky and try my best to disrupt and flank the enemy, "how did you do this?" you may ask? and well although im sure it has probebly been tried by some of you i thought i just might draw attention to the fact that it is quite easily done to build up modest size detached division of men under a rather modest general that is rather expendable in Norfolk (provided it is captured) and take a short hop over into Delaware! the state is never in my experience (even playing as the union player) defended with anything more than a few town guards or militia units.
i found that within only 2 months i was in Wilmington having the entire state of deleware under my control and provided i reinforced it a little and kept it relatively supplied i wouldnt loose it either, i then realised that troops where being diverted to the newly opened Delaware front under even the best of union commanders only to be met by an aray of heavy fire by confederate troops dug in at Wilmington. i discovered that for every man i lost in battle the union was loosing on avarage 6 - 10 more men than me, one battle even saw the confederate loses where 500 and the union over 10,000! it also saw my national morale rise from 98 to 117 and so long as i didnt loose too many men or equipment all would be fine as union forces where split and i could carry on with my offensive accross the potomac river into Washington DC.
however it didnt work out that way, although i had split uinion forces and overtaken Delaware it was overly impossible to advance over the potomac river without suffering heavy casualties and withdrawing! so then to force another split in forces i then devised a plan to split yet again union forces away from the potomac front! again i positioned a detachment of men under a modest looking and expendable general in Norfolk!
NOW THE NEW TACTIC!
i constructed a rather modest looking navy and decided to go for a bold plan that i was almost sure wouldnt pay off but it was a gamble i was willing to take. in late spring 1863 my confederate forces boarded transports accompanied by 5 CSA frigates in Norfolk to prepare for a monumental landing in New York! it was a bold plan and rather reckless against the supperior union navy at the time i know but the possible payout was worth it!
it was a succesful landing in Brooklyn, which was only guarded by a small garrison of troops and its naval guns! i did loose two frigates in the landing however but managed to secure and siege brooklyn upon landing. most of the union navy it seemed was either hovering around florida taking potshots at the variuos forts situated there or out in the atlantic blockade boxes. so then i knew as soon as i entered brooklyn it was only a turn or two until the ships returned to New York to defend it! i was right the ships did return but it was not until December 1863 that Brooklyn was taken back by union forces with the cost of over 10,000 men and a handful of ships to my 6,000 men (mostly militia) and 2 frigates. my national morale also went up in the capture of such an important port, although i didnt take New York itself my morale raised over 130 and the union just 70 in which after i falled back and lost brooklyn the union never recovered those morale points. also although he unfortunatly died in the recapture of Brooklyn by the union my rather expendable general was at the begining of the operation a 3 - 1 - 1 general but upon his death was a 4 - 2 - 3!
now... supposidly i properly turned the Brooklyn landings into a proper front, the union would have been forced to surrender after just the capture of Delaware and New York considering by my knowledge the union player looses if there morale goes below 60! (give or take another couple of succesful battles)
CONCLUSION
say if a proper formed army was constructed for the Brooklyn operation with a competant commander, competant staff, more than adequate supply and a large number of troops plus reiforcements. the Brooklyn landing would have won the war in my opinion!
im not saying it would succeed on a newer patch however, REMEMBER I WAS USEING 1.6! but it would be good to get some feedback from other people who would be willing to try this new tactic or give there experience if they have also tried this radical way of winning the war for the CSA
