ARR III

[Hard Sarge]

okay here are the setting I am playing the Union side

[Tophat1815]

Verygood indeed. You asked what the goal of a Union AAR is in your other thread. I'd like to see the Union have to fight and win a battle on the attack,not offensive defence,but a sustained attack.

[Hard Sarge]

well, if we going by the same rules and settings, I didn't really move as the CSA until late 62, middle of 63

most of my big battles were when the Union Corps slipped into my backside

winter is about to start in 61, so I will have some time to get ready, but I not planning on going for a toe to toe fight for a while

I will play a battle over movement, where the CSA is not, I will be, where it comes in, I will leave, until I am ready

[Hard Sarge]

opening turn, fight 3 sea battles, lose one, and win two, but neither side loses any ships

run into a odd battle, I had 3 Bdes and the CSA had one

and one Bde in a Dugout, it TUFF, and he had a good weapon too

tried to charge, but did not help and lost this one

2000 to 40

turn two, I have a small army in Wheeling, and begin a seige

the CSA moves heavy into Kentucky, but I have moved out

then a CSA Div moves into Cinci, his Div vs one of mine

sloppy battle, but I win, I kill 4000 and lose 2000 (but 3 Bdes of Garrison are in there for the losses, so I did not really lose as many troops)

[Hard Sarge]

Winter has been peaceful, Kentucky joins the Union, but, the CSA is there in force, and I am not, still trying to get my troops to Wheeling to help out

my western forces are moving in ark

the CSA has been heavy on concripting troops

once spring comes, it may get interesting

[Hard Sarge]

Ahhh, think the CSA made a mistake

I finally got one of my AOP into Wheeling to help out, and the CSA marched a Div into Cinci, which I was able to call the Army into Cinci

ahhhhhhhhh, what a chance and the AI fooled me

[Hard Sarge]

it may be HARD to see in the mini map, but there are 3 VHs

two to the south and one where my Div is placed, I have moved my Garrisons south and am set up to fight my battle in the north

shorty, the CSA Div hits the middle VH and sweeps it away, which I see that they have called for help too

then the CSA moved south, and a stalemate ends up, my troops are so bad, they pretty much can not march around, and with the terrain, the CSA can not close in and form a line, so stalemate

after rounds of fire, I look and see that the CSA has 13 Bdes on the map

my Trap !!!!!, the orders go out, move it, move it, they not be coming up the road, they going to be coming down the road

[Hard Sarge]

now this side of the battle got interesting, I got numbers, I got troops, but those 2 CSA Divs are good !

but I also got 2 Arty peices (6 pounder and a Nap)

they do damage, my Sniper does damage (Springfield with 2 Sharpshooter skills)

but most of the damage is done by Muskets

a good defence battle, the CAS takes about 5900 losses and I take over 1000

once Wheeling falls, I be going on the attack in Kentucky

[Hard Sarge]

oops, make the 4965 losses for the CSA (plus a little over 1000 in there seige at the start of the turn)

3 Divs in Kentucky, and they down to 17000 men

[Hard Sarge]

No interest in the Union AAR ?

not sure if I should carry on then

[Hard Sarge]

Well, will talk about what is going on now, if there is interest, I will go back and talk about the start of the year

so, I am down in Ark, and the CSA is trying to move in, I had to fall back and have a small Div trying to defend it, the troop at the bottom are the reinforcements from a small Army

two VH are to the south, so will try and defend the last one

3 Garrison troops are left behind to protect the VH

I got small numbers but got some good weapons

I got a Withworth, I even got some Indain troops with Withworths, I have one 1 Cav Bde, also got some troops with Improved Springfields

I am taking my time and digging in, and you may see, I have left some backup dugouts just in case, I am facing wrong, the CSA has already taken the middle VH

[andysomers]

Hard Sarge - I read all the AAR's but do not comment typically.  Please keep providing them.  I will find it very interesting to see a Union perspective as well.  I like playing both sides of games like this.  Thanks again for your sharing and faithful reporting!
 
AS

[Hard Sarge]

Oh my

I have been working this Defence idea for ages now, and this is the first time it has worked

over all, guess it is a Div scale L ambush

[marecone]

Yap Hard Sarge. Just keep them coming. I like both Union and Rebel AAR's.

[Hard Sarge]

Hmmm

well, I won, but it was not the good battle I had hoped for, I had good weapons and simi good troops, but many more were poor and they broke

in fact, it was a 3 day battle and the CSA finnally broke at 630 in the afternoon !

but what is interesting, the ANV moved

I spent 4 rounds of combat avoiding battle. I had a Div in place, but I Was hopeing to wait till the next turn so I could bring (what is left of) the AOP into the battle

[Hard Sarge]

ORIGINAL: marecone

Yap Hard Sarge. Just keep them coming. I like both Union and Rebel AAR's.

sorry bud, had a roff night at work, so was just trying to give some of ya a HARD time

I thought this was going to be a great game when it was in alpha, and I think it is 100% better now then it was when we started, and one thing I worried about was that people may get the wrong idea of the game, based on how I talk or play the game, and that is not what I wanted to do

this next battle may win the war, or it may let the CSA back into it, which of my Armies, it is the weakest one, so I may have to get nasty, one thing I can not do, is to lose on purpose to try and mislead people into thinking something, when I play or when I test, I play to win

[Hard Sarge]

Sorry guys, lots of things going on in the RW, my mind is in 100 places right now, so I am not sure if that lost post will make any sense

[Graycompany]

Hi Hard Sarge;

I think what people were looking for In this AAR was to see if the AI could beat a human. So we are looking for you to lose a battle and post that. So far it seems that you can beat the AI without much trouble, either side, and regardless if you are out numbered, out gunned, or in poor terrain. While I will purchase this game regardless, and I understand your a fellow Marine [:D] and a very experienced gamer, it seems disappointing that the AI is doing so poor against you. Maybe try letting the AI catch you in a battle where things are not in your favor (terrain, Numbers and such) and let us get a good view of what the AI could do. In other words, avoid your natural instinct to out fox the AI and just give the Poor AI a fighting chance[:D] ( pretend your in the Navy for a moment)

[Hard Sarge]

well, one thing I Was thinking on, is the settings, I wanted the settings to be the same as the last AAR

but I think one thing that would give the AI a better chance would be to use near combat, with what I have, I got time to move around and form my lines and dig in a bit, maybe call for help

to be honest, I have lost battles, I have lost on Defence and I have lost on Off

I did lose one battle where I think I had a 5-1 kill ratio !!!

I also did a lot of campaigning with Eric to get the time based morale loss to be changed, I thought most players would rather lose a battle due to combat then to time, that system, if you didn't win on the first day of battle, you pretty much were not going to be able to win, even after a major slaughter


and for losing, if I post a losing battle, it is going to be a honest battle, that I did everything I could to win and still lost

[Graycompany]

I think you may have touched on what may help the AI is to have Close rather than a far set-up. Most players when given time and space can look at ground and see where the fight would be best. Take that away and it may offer the AI some help.