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 Post subject: WbS AAR - Union(KLW)
PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:28 pm 
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AAR
<b>War Between the States</b>
<i>Lt.Gen. Whitehead (USA) vs B.Gen. Collins (CSA)</i>

We have started a new game after switching sides. This time I am going to do the AAR a little different. Rather than monthly reports I will aim for something nearer quarterly but I plan to make my reports around campaigns that cover a number of moves. This time I have a better feel for the game particularly the South’s weaknesses so I will be showing how I am attempting to take advantage of these. Gen. Collins has played the Union side a lot but not the South so be aware that there may be counters to these great plans that players will learn with experience.

LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:30 pm 
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<b>1861: Jul Aug Sep</b>

While very few big battles are fought in these first few months of the war a lot of critical objectives must be achieved by the Union to prepare the way for the major offensives of 1862. The Union must immediately call a draft to get their forces up large enough to form the armies and garrison all the regions they need to. To do all this they need a steady source of Political Points and these come from occupying regions along the borders of the Confederacy. They must be ready to occupy or dispute the Rebel occupation of Kentucky, take Missouri and West Virginia, and close down New Orleans and other ports.

I moved quickly into Missouri and West Virginia making these border states firmly in the Union. I sent most of the Navy and an amphibious force down to New Orleans to take the forts and block the river to trade.

The Rebels went on the offensive in the mountains of West Virginia to try to draw off my attention. They took Grafton with a small force under Johnston. This misleads me to believe that Manassas would be weakened enough for even McClellan to win. It wasn’t and he got his butt kicked. But I know the enemy can’t keep enough troops in Grafton for long so I will wait.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:35 pm 
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<b>Missouri – Arkansas Campaign</b>

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This is the western theater of the war and for the most part a back water operation. The Union starts the game controlling all but the four lower regions of Missouri and, of course, the Rebels control Arkansas. The things to note from the map are the roads I have highlighted in green. The North-South one linking St. Louis to Little Rock is the main avenue of attack from which either side use to go on the offensive.

The second road is an East-West one linking Memphis to Texas. This road is critical to the South. For some reason most of the South’s damaged units turn up in Texas after repair. The most direct and shortest route back to the Tennessee area is on this road to Little Rock and then by water if they have transports to the Tennessee area or by road to Memphis. If they lose this road they must go by much slower routes through Vicksburg or New Orleans.

The Union starts the game with some pre-arranged activations that allow them to make the moves in dark blue taking two of the critical areas. The follow up moves in light blue are carried out later as activations or cavalry becomes available. One of the critical tactics in this theater is using cavalry with its higher movement rate and no need of initiative to enter a region to make the initial invasion. If they are lucky they find no opposition and can overrun the region so regular infantry can move in. This is the method I used to advance first into Springfield then Fayetteville and finally Fort Smith. This method won’t work if the enemy garrisons the regions but this is what you are trying to force the South to do. The Union has to garrison Missouri anyway so make the South waste men as well. There is also another reason for keeping enough troops in this region to threaten the Rebels. The Political Points you pick up taking these regions are badly needed in the early part of the war to keep the Union on the positive side.

The red arrows show the main drive I try to make into Arkansas. I usually send one reasonably good leader so you always have the threat that he might activate. Coupled with a cavalry unit and leader you force the Rebel to respond or lose regions. The other prong of the threat is shown in orange on the rivers. This is the threat of amphibious attacks as the Union moves on Memphis. When Memphis falls the Union can clear the Arkansas River and threaten Little Rock.

In our game I was able to push all the way down to Fort Smith which opened the two prong threat of either taking Texarkana to the south or Little Rock shown in purple. Either will shut down the vital road to Memphis. I was able to move into Texarkana in January of 1862 cutting the road.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:41 pm 
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As Kennon mentioned, I'm taking the Rebels for the first time ever in this game and that includes against the AI. All my experience has been with the Union.

Utilizing the same general style as Kennon but not illustrated I will try and give some perspectives on Confederate play in direct contrast to the way the Union handles his forces.

The biggest shock I had as the Confederate player was the lack of leaders on the National scale. You barely have enough leaders to adequately assign them to all of your forces. So leaders for the south are precious commodities that shouldn't be squandered.

I was ready for a smaller Confederate army, but not that small! Boy the Confederates are spread mighty thin Now I know why Gary Grigsby added initiative to make this game work.

There are some pluses though. The south has some good Cavalry leaders to call on early in the game and if these are assigned to some marauding Cavalry brigades they can cause the Union some grief.

Kennon and I will disagree on this point. He feels the south should not go on the offensive. While I agree the south IS on the strategic defensive and wherever possible should remain on the tactical defensive also, this does not mean that they should never go on the offensive.

Targets of opportunity do come up, and combined with a bad initiative turn for the Union player the south can buy a lot of time.

Another point that I don't think we will agree on is the creation and utilization of Confederate Ironclads. Kennon feels they are too expensive for the south, while I realize they are one or two of these going out against a Union transport fleet can cause a lot of grief for the Union player. If you break his supply chain of transports, a lot more blockade runners are going to get through that turn and if they do it has more than made up for the cost of the Ironclad.

I'm not advacating creation of "Ironclad Fleets" mind you but keep in mind the saying 'One Ironclad can Ruin your entire Day".

Ok, a capsule report from the opening shots of the war to the first winter. We both eyed each other outside Kentucky waiting for that 'magic time' to invade. The Union decided to invade in October and their armies easily cleared the neutral defenders. Kentuckians were outrage but not enough to join the Confederacy. There was only a 10% chance they would have done so, but if they had the Union would have had a real mess on their hands.

West Virginia and Missouri were lost almost right away, and should be with any competent Union commander.

I did a counter punch in West Virginia, winning a small battle there and Beauregard managed to hold off McClelland in the larger Battle at Manassas.

On the rivers and seas the Confederate navy, though small, is making it's presence known and has sunk a few Union transports.

The forts guarding the mouth of the Mississippi have fallen and the river is effectively closed. The Union may find though that taking the city of New Orleans will be an entirely different proposition than it was historically.

Pensacola and Jacksonville have fallen prey to the Union army and navy combination.

Confederate morale is still high and I have managed to build forts at my major strongholds such as Richmond, Memphis, Chattanooga etc...

Kennon mentioned in our last game that he had a great deal of difficulty doing this, but I'm not clear why. I had no trouble at all.

So the Confederacy has made it to the first winter of the war with most of her organic territory still intact.








Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:47 am 
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<b>Gulf Coast Campaign</b>

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The shutting down of the Mississippi ports is critical for the long term success of the Union. While they can be blockaded quite effectively by occupying Ship Island and putting in 2-3 cruisers in the sea zone, placing ships in the mouth of the Mississippi results in 100% shutdown of trade.

The Confederates start the game with forts already built in the regions of Ft. Jackson and Ft. Philip. These forts are indicated on the map by the two gray pentagons. Given time they will reinforce these forts with infantry but they don’t have any way to move by strategic movement directly to the forts. So the very first Union move is block the river and prevent reinforcement of the forts. This is done by moving a large fleet, I gathered every cruiser I could spare for the job, and moved them their as indicated by the read arrow. I immediately attacked the heavy artillery in Fort Philip reducing it. This move was followed up by also placing enough transports in the sea area to support a four infantry amphibious landing against Ft. Philip capturing it.

Having all these ships in the area allowed me to follow up over the next few turns with further invasions to support this one and close more Gulf ports. The light blue lines show these. One landing against Ft. Jackson so that the Rebels couldn’t place Heavy Artillery there to harass the blocking fleet. Pensacola was also taken by amphibious assault. This is an easy one because it has no population or manufacturing centers to create militia when attacked. Since I don’t plan at this time to attempt to take Mobile I also landed troops on Dauphin Island. Placing one infantry and one heavy artillery on the island along with one or two blockading cruisers effectively shuts down this port. Even better would be putting ships in Mobile bay but I probably don’t have enough to take on his heavy artillery there.

This is the quick work done during the first few turns of 1861. For the time being the rest of the Gulf (Galveston) is handled by blockading fleets. I haven’t come up with a effective method of taking New Orleans itself. I don’t need to take it to shut down trade but eventually something must be done since it is a major link to the west through St. James region.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:27 pm 
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<b>1861: Oct Nov Dec</b>

The winter of 1861 is one of the risky periods for the Union. They must settle the question of Kentucky which relies heavily on luck and Rebel plans. During the summer months invading Kentucky carries a heavy political penalty and high risk it will go over to this South. I strike during October. Unfortunately I have limited initiative to carry out the attacks with but this usually isn’t a problem since all you need is enough to make an overrun then move troops in to hold the region by normal movement. I strike with a major force into Paducah and smaller forces into Henderson, Bowling Green, Louisville, and Lexington. These attacks are followed up by easy land grabs into Arkansas, other parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. Along the coast the blockade is strengthened with more unopposed landings at Ft. Jackson and Roanoke Island.

All this is preparation for the 1862 campaign when my second Draft call is made and my navy becomes strong enough to control the rivers and shut down trade. Seizing Kentucky is preparation for the main offensive into Tennessee. Virginia will be a side show but I must maintain pressure there or Collins will shift troops west.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:49 pm 
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Spring - 1862

The first winter of the war is over and the Confederacy still hangs on. The blockade is having its effect and the price of sugar and ladies dresses are astronomical.

Gen. McClellan makes an overland attack near Manassas and is defeated a second time by General Beauregard. Beauregard is now the hero of the hour and is lionized by everyone in Richmond.

In the west a Union army is repulsed at Nashville giving the south two strategic victories in the same month. Morale soars, but Union gunboats dominate the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.

At Dickson Tenessee a smaller Confederate force is pushed back by a superior Union one (nothing new there) giving the Union a minor victory.

In a small cabinet shuffle Jefferson Davis relieves Samuel Cooper from command of the eastern theatre and makes Joseph E. Johnston the commander. His friend Robert E. Lee is given command of an army in the Shenandoah, but Lee wants to call the army the Army of Northern Virginia. Jefferson Davis agrees and the Richmond newspapers speculate on what this knew commander can do with his army.

Beauregard is the idol of the south and can this newcomer Robert E. Lee make a difference?

Southern Resources are finally coming together. Although the blockade is crippling, southerners remember well the situation during the American Revolution. The colonies had no navy to speak of then either and the blockade runner and Southern pluck and ingenuity count for much.





Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 7:33 am 
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<b>The Kentucky Campaign</b>

The taking of Kentucky is a must for the Union since it becomes the base for the 1862 campaign to take Tennessee. The thing that makes it so iffy is the amount of luck needed to make it go smoothly. The Union would prefer to wait until October to make the invasion that will violate Kentucky neutrally and possibly force them to become a Confederate aligned state. This isn’t that serious but it makes taking it easier since neutral states don’t generate militia to oppose you. The main reason for waiting for October is the political cost of invading. You lose 150, 100 or 60 Political Points if you strike in July, August or September. Most of the points are made up by the regions you grab but it is still a significant cost. On the other hand moving early prevents the South from getting the jump on you and solves the initiative problem since attacking doesn’t require all that many units to have initiative. If you wait to long and the South decides to beat you to it they take the political hit for it but if the Union fails to get Initiative in their Reaction phase they may not be able to retake the key areas of Paducah and Louisville. The most dangerous time is the September turn when the cost to the South is low and your reaction turn will be in winter. For the Union player waiting for October for invading besides giving the Rebs a chance at a September invasion carries the risk that they will not get Initiative at all. For sure the South will strike in October if the Union has failed to make their move.

Image

The taking of Kentucky is quite simple when unopposed. The Union positions transports and gunboats to support the move the turn before, then moves forces hopefully large enough to overrun the areas wanted. Paducah is easy since the main Union army is in Cairo and usually moves across to seize it. The offensive from Cincinnati is harder since this group is less likely to get initiative. Station cavalry units, as many as you can, here so they can use their extended movement to capture regions by overrun deep into Kentucky then use normal movement to bring up the infantry to occupy them. Amphibious assaults can also be used to get troops into these areas.

In my case I had little initiative so had to rely on cavalry to open the way. The red arrow from Cincinnati shows my initial overrun by cavalry to open the way, then the main infantry movements in dark blue to overrun Louisville, Paducah and Henderson. Due to lack of cavalry I used one amphibious move to seize Bowling Green shown in purple. These attacks were then reinforced by normal and strategic movement of supporting troops. One the following turn the control of Kentucky was expanded by occupation of Ashland and Glascow by cavalry overruns. The final two population centers of Lebanon and London weren’t taken until later due to winter movement problems (green arrows).

Follow up attacks should be able to extend your control across most of Kentucky right up to the Tennessee border. The most likely thing to stop you is winter movement restrictions and lack of Initiative. Most of the rest of winter is spent extending your grip on Kentucky and preparing you army for the spring offensives.

If the South jumps the gun and occupies Kentucky first using they same tactics, deep cavalry intrusions followed by infantry garrisons, it can be a tough nut to crack. How difficult depends on what kind of Initiative you get, whether Kentucky goes Union putting the Rebels at a disadvantage, and the winter penalties. Getting a foothold on the other side of the river is your main objective; that is, taking Paducah and Lexington. You will probably spend the rest of the winter of 1861/1862 driving the Rebels out of Kentucky.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:42 pm 
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<b>1862: Jan Feb Mar</b>

The winter continues with much more activity than I intended, mostly due to unusually high number of initiatives that lead me to do dumb things. Some were good. I was able to use them to overrun Ft. Smith in Arkansas pushing my forces much deeper into the west. This was followed by even deeper overruns into Texarkana cutting the critical east west road there. Farragut takes the Union navy down the Mississippi clearing out Rebel transports on the way and into the Arkansas River to complete the cutting off of the upper west.

In Kentucky Grant has taken command of the army in Paducah and marches on Humbolt taking the first region in Tennessee. This gives me a major victory and emancipation. The first Union goal is reached. The companion army under Lyon doesn’t do as well. They attempt to do too much advancing into both Clarksville and Gallin. Clarksville is undefended and taken but Bragg disputes Gallin and wins.

In Virginia though things don’t go as well with McClellan in command, Banks tries to take Franklin and is defeated. Then McClellan tries for Manassas and is whipped bad. The Confederates enjoying their successes go on the offensive into the mountain regions driving back the Union garrisons.

The blockade is extended with a landing to take Jacksonville followed by more Islands being taken to tighten the blockade. By the end of winter the south is down to about 40 supplies getting through.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:17 am 
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<b>1862: Apr May Jun</b>

Spring brings a new draft and the final pushes into the remainder of Kentucky bring the state into the Union. And, with the fresh troops filling out the armies the Union begins its drive into Tennessee. I am finding the best Union tactic is the overrun. Sometimes spearheaded by cavalry if it’s an undefended region and sometimes just by brute force of numbers to meet the 6:1 requirement. While I am losing most of my major battles I am gobbling up regions at such a rate that my overall Political Point standing is steadily increasing.

The River Navy quickly clears the Tennessee and upper Mississippi Rivers making my two armies in the west mutually supporting. Farragut then silences Memphis and heads up the Arkansas River to clear it. The blue water Navy is active as well with many new ships coming on line. Mostly the navy tightens the blockade pushing the CSA’s port supplies down into the thirties and prepares for some minor amphibious landings to expand my hold on Florida. The Confederate navy has been somewhat active but unable to break the blockade at any port for more than a turn. With the new Union cruisers, gunboats and ironclads getting deployed the blockade is stronger than ever.

With Sheridan leading the way Grant quickly overruns Shiloh and crosses the Tennessee to take Dickenson. Lyon in support moves against Nashville while overrunning the small northern Tennessee regions. The Rebels oppose the Nashville grab handing Lyon a major defeat but the occupation of Rebel regions more than offset this. Taking advantage of my mobility I use amphibious assault to reach deep into south taking Florence, Alabama. This is supported by forces overrunning Lawrence, Tullahoma and Cumberland leaving the confederate army almost surrounded in central Tennessee. Bragg finally decides to cut his loses and get out using the army to retake Tullahoma, which I don’t oppose, which will leave him covering the main approach to Chattanooga.

In Virginia McClellan tries once again to get his “On to Richmondâ€


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:43 pm 
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Summer 1862

The Union "Anaconda Plan" continues to strangle the south. Supply is critical now and has to be 'rationed' very carefully. Union Cavalry raids continue to tear up the tracks and burn up precious southern resources for repair.

Earl Van Dorn operating out of Memphis though harasses, Union supply lines in retaliation tearing up a huge section at Humbolt.

Grant has finally demonstrated that he is mortal. Although he threw back the Southern assault at Shiloh, he was himself defeated when he moved on Memphis. General Polk, in a defensive battle throws the Yankees back.

In the east Lee has turned out to be a shining star. The combination of Lee and Beauregard together insure stability in the east. Already historians are speculating on what the now deceased General Thomas J. Jackson could have done had he risen to command a corps.



Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 3:46 am 
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Update!

Oh! Oh! Kennon has discovered the dreaded 'destroying resources' method in section 12.7 of the rules. I had read it once but didn't know how to use it myself.

The bread basket of the Confederacy, the Shenandoah Valley, goes up in flames and for the first time in the war I have not been able to repair damaged railroad stock.

I'm sure glad the Confederacy saw fit to fortify Richmond, Petersburg and Atlanta early in the war because if I had waited those cities would be defenceless.

The war grinds on.

Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:11 am 
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<b>1862: Jul Aug Sep</b>

The summer campaign starts off well but soon feels the affects of the steadily expanding Confederate armies. McClellan still can’t seem to storm an outhouse must less an enemy held region. July starts with the Union armies rolling over undefended regions with ease. In Virginia Staunton is overrun and even Lexington probed but Lee strikes back first kicking McClellan back across the river clear to Washington (very odd retreat) then turning on the valley taking back Staunton. The Union unable to maintain its hold on the upper valley decides to put the torch to it destroying its resources and rail lines.

In the West things also start off well with overruns taking Nashville and Murfreesboro driving the Rebel army back into the eastern mountains. Grant likewise starts off like gangbusters easily defeating an attempt to retake Shiloh but when he tries to follow up the victory with the capture of the rest of Tennessee he meets defeat, first against Memphis then against Corinth. Offsetting his set backs Lyon is able to defeat an attempt to regain Murfreesboro before winter set in. Summer ends with most of Central Tennessee in Union hands but the key city of Memphis not taken.

Meanwhile Farragut takes the Union navy deep into the South clearing all of the Mississippi of Rebel shipping as well as the Red River. A small naval expedition also cleans out the Chattahoochee River which should make east west movement a bit more difficult for the South.


LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 4:06 am 
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<b>1862: Oct Nov Dec</b>

McClellan thinks a winter “On to Richmondâ€


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:05 pm 
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Update:

Naval affairs in the Confederacy.

As Kennon pointed out the Confederate Navy finally "got active" but got sunk for it's troubles. The Confederate AI navy seems to work entirely different than one commanded by players. When the AI sallies forth with even a single Ironclad it does mighty damage and havoc. I once had six Union fleets against an Ironclad and only got 'an exchange'.

So, I'm learning the hard way, Ironclads don't have the same effectiveness they do in person to person play as opposed to AI play.

The confederate navy though is not done yet.



Bg. General Gilbert Collins
Army of Alabama
III/I/2nd Brigade


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