PBEM AAR - It Ain't a Lost Cause Yet!

[genie144]

Is that because you planned on posting a new turn???
 
Sam

[Gil R.]

Actually, I'll be doing it shortly. Jchastain and I finally both had time to resume hostilities.

[genie144]

Sweet...  Hopefully some more bloodshed
 
Sam

[Gil R.]

Thirty-first Turn

After a hiatus caused by the release of the game and other factors, it's time to get back to this PBEM match. Winter is soon going to end and the campaigning season will begin, and decisions made now will determine the outcome of the war.

The best news is that now that my forces have a bit of a breather, so I don't need to keep them on high supply, which means that I can get back some of the money I've been spending to supply them. And that's very important, because I desperately need to produce more artillery, cavalry and infantry units (in that order), and these can take many turns to produce, so I really need to start building sooner rather than later. As can be seen at the bottom of the screenshot, I start the turn with 71 Money, which isn't enough for artillery (which takes the longest), but next turn I'll have enough, and the turn after that I'll have enough for another artillery unit, or cavalry. I want to purchase my new units in Feb./March, since come April population levels will be replenished, and I don't want to go a whole year with any of my provinces undermanned and therefore not producing as much resources as they should. So, this turn I will not spend all of that money on Brigade Artillery, Sharpshooters, or any of my many other needs. Not even on Lorenzs, which I can now afford again thanks to my improved relations with the Other Europeans.

The Event Report shows that I enjoyed two consecutive victories over the Union fleet, which evidently never bothered to upgrade its weaponry and therefore ran into my buzz-saw. In fact, an entire Union fleet container was destroyed! I never would have expected that I might be able to destroy the Union navy in this game, but that goal now appears within my grasp. (Ahistorical? Sure! But I prefer to think of this as a valuable lesson that the Union player should never take naval superiority for granted...)

[Gil R.]

I have a new Mint in Wilmington, N.C., which further eases my money problems. Every little bit helps.

My governors' actions are a mixed bag. That Arkansas governor, who's never been a friend to the cause, and who, unreasonably, has been demanding that I send a dozen or so brigades to defend his state, is now putting a damper on Horse production. Fortunately, that's the one resource that I can afford to have less of -- if he were opposing Money production I would be doomed. My hope is that this won't last too long, though.

Fortunately, Gov. Moore of Louisiana is giving a shot in the arm to CSA weapons research, which is desperately needed.

It's good to see that the Illinois governor is being a pain for the Union -- if the Union pulls those 13 brigades off the line, that's fine with me, and if the Union refuses the request, perhaps that governor will act up like the Arkansas governor is.

[Gil R.]

Here's something annoying, though. My blockade-runners in the northern Atlantic did get the 30 Iron there, but I put two runners fleets in Louisiana Gulf to get the 40 Money, and even though both fleets had a 50% chance of success neither succeeded. This turn, there is also 20 Money that just appeared in the adjacent sea zone. Unfortunately, the Atlantic runners can't get this far, so I'm left with the choice of having both Gulf of Mexico runners fleets go after the larger shipment of Money, or having each go after one shipment. I do some keen analysis, and decide that since there is a 25% chance that neither succeeds, a 25% chance that both succeed, and a 50% chance that one of them succeeds and the other doesn't, the mathematical odds favor having them go after separate targets, even if one is half as valuable.

[Gil R.]

One of you asked me to post the statistics overviews, that show how the game is progressing. Here is the first, showing casualties levels, with the USA orange.

[Gil R.]

And here's National Will. The CSA is the one that's feeling better about itself.

[Gil R.]

And here's unit quality. The CSA, for some reason, is literally off the scale. But note that the USA has seen its quality improve recently.

That can't be good...

[Gil R.]

Here is strength of our respective forces, with the USA the lighter green. Looks like both sides have seen their numbers decline.

[Gil R.]

And here is a graph showing how Victory Points have been swinging back and forth. The CSA is olive-green.

[Gil R.]

And finally, and most worrisomely, but not unexpectedly, this graph shows the increase in the quality of weapons both sides use, with the USA (magenta) clearly having a growing edge, thanks both to their research and their greater spending power.

But maybe I can win a few battles and take some of those weapons.

[Gil R.]

Before getting to the action, here is what most of my governors (i.e., those who fit on one screen) are up to.

I can't afford yet the Iron Works that Gov. Moore demands, but Selma is a major Iron production center, and I sure could use one there. Maybe I'll hamstring my military a bit and give it to him soon, before he stops producing the extra 15 Money each turn out of frustration with me.

[Gil R.]

I haven't shown this in a while -- the overview screen. It's not bad -- most of my territory is untouched by the Yankees.

[Gil R.]

I really should break this habit of showing Virginia each turn, when nothing is happening there. Other than that this time the larger Abingdon division did indeed head south to Florida.

[Gil R.]

And here's Florida, first showing the two fleets. The Union's one surviving fleet is in wretched condition, showing just two squares. I decide, of course, to pursue it, keeping my fleet on "Intercept." I actually tell my fleet to overshoot it, just in case it makes an initiative check and gets to move first, so that it won't get away.

(You can see my third blockade-runner in the Cuban Channel. Since it couldn't reach the shipment of money near New Orleans I'm leaving it here, since from this position it can reach any sea zone next turn.)

[Gil R.]

And here's Florida, showing that the siege is by no means over, but that my 8th Division got there by rail.

And that division is stronger by 2000 men, since last turn I spent the extra money to put it on "high" supply, which ensured that each of its four brigades would get 500 replacements.

[Gil R.]

The 8th Division now has about 9000 men, making it equal in strength to the Union corps. But the Union corps has got to be nearly out of supply, and I can't imagine that it's in good shape to fight me. Especially since, after so many turns, disease must have hit there at least once. Plus, the Union's troops weren't that good to begin with. My troops aren't great, either, and they don't have enough generals, but they do have some good weapons, some scouts and brigade cavalry, and they'll be fighting in their own territory and thus getting a defensive bonus. So, I send them on the attack, first replacing one brigade's muskets with the much better Richmond Muskets.

I don't want anyone in the Union corps to come back alive.

[Gil R.]

In the west, here's Mississippi, where Jackson's 2nd Army is defending Jackson, and ready to help repair its defenses.

[Gil R.]

And here's Tennessee. I see some really bad news in the form of a new artillery unit -- the USA 4th Artillery -- that is obviously on its way to join one of these Union forces. It is VERY tempting to send my corps out to intercept it and smash it, but this is very risky: I don't know where it's heading (southward into Tennessee, or eastward into Kentucky?), and since I get the sense that the Union wants to bring the forces that were just besieging Jackson back north I run the risk that my corps of 50,000 might encounter a Union army of 100,000.

But there's a nice alternative, which is to try to take my corps and barrel into Bowling Green again. Last time, I killed something like 8000 of the men in that army but lost the battle anyway, but it's my guess that because the Union has been forced to divert supplies and reinforcements to other armies and corps this one might not have been strengthened, and might be easily crushed this time. It's a gamble, but a logical one.

Plus, when that army defeated my corps one of my brigades lost its priceless (well, 50 Money is their price) Lorenzs, and I want them back. Losing my Lorenzs hurt me as much as it hurt a Roman legion to lose its eagle.