Forums

This thread will be a C&P of a thread over in the Matrix/FoF/AAR section by the same title-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This will be an AAR of my PBEM against "rekm45" one of the other bootcamp members in the Am Civ War FoF ladder that just started up over at the Blitzkrieg Wargamer Ladder site.

Ron "rekm45" KEEPOUT of this thread!!

I am playing CSA, Coming Fury unbalanced. Since he is an FoF noob, I offered for him to set Union to have Power +1 but I'm not seeing any reference to this in the Prefs or Options. Is it not possible to handicap one side in PBEMs? If so, where do I see the setting?

I also suggested random general stats, and stats hidden, but he chose to have them visible and historical. Gives both of us an edge, but I think it gives me more (assuming of course he really IS a "noob" ). Also CSA emancipation is turned off.

First thing I want to say in case any non-gamers read this AAR: I am most definitely NOT, NOT, _NOT_ in anyway pro-Confederacy, nor any sort of "apologist" for the CSA. Slavery was and is one of the biggest evils ever in human history. The Confederacy was an unjust, exploitative, wrong-headed, indeed EVIL regime, and I am extremely thankful that they were defeated in real history. While the esprit du corps of the CSA was truly remarkable, it does not compensate for the fact that what they were fighting for was an evil cause, and that much of American society at that time (not just in the South) was deeply deluded with ethnocentric racist notions of white supremacy.

Now, having said that: this thread is NOT, NOT, _NOT_ for us to get in to a Flamewar about the merits of the CSA. This is MY AAR of me playing the CSA. I just wanted to get this in there as a disclaimer. Its a game. I'm exploring the whatifs of history, and trying to give my opponent a good challenge. I will try my best to win the game, but that isn't because I wish the CSA had won in real life. It is just a game.

No doubt I have just pushed all kinds of buttons: if you really feel you must respond to the above disclaimer clarifying my real life repugnance with the Confederacy, please have the civility to do it in a different thread here at Matrix, not in my AAR thread. I am only posting this as a disclaimer to distinguish my in-game roleplaying self, and my real-life self.
-=-=-=-=-==-

The tahm fuh comprumise is now passed . . . the Northurn Ahgressahs have laid tha fanahl straw on the camel's back. We cannot [okay, I'm not gonna write in Southern dialect, just imagine it okay ] tolerate remaining within a "Union" with the abolistionist Lincoln, and his cabinet full of anti-Southerners in charge. The events of this past winter have given the Southern Man no option but to secede: starting with the Republican parties nomination of that abolitionist Black lover last summer, and including the farcical crooked facade that the northern states want to pass off as a "free election" last November.

We know that we are outnumbered and outgunned. The northerns have many more miles of railroad, many more arsenals to produce rifles, and at present the CSA has not yet been formally recognized by our British and French allies. But what we have by orders of magnitude far more important, and superlative to that posssesed by Billy Yank, is firey patriotism, and a faith that we are fighting for our very wah of life. We Southern Men are among the most accomplished military men in the world, and as your leader (President Davis) I intend to make the most of the precious resources in manpower, genius, and passion of our fighting force and their leaders.

We have already taken a number of steps in what will likely prove to be a long and difficult challenge to win and establish our independence from the Northern Abolitionist Aggressors.

Many of our patriotic Governors have communicated to me their enthusiasm for our cause, and their eagerness to support mustering efforts in their towns and villages. Unfortunately, despite our manly Southern traditions of an aristocratic officer corps, we are sadly lacking in basic Training Grounds to bring our eager common men up to high military standards. Consequently I have allocated some of our Federal funds to the city of Petersburg to build a Training Grounds so that the men of Virginia may be trained as they muster to bear arms for the cause. Unfortunately, this will be the only internal development that we are able to afford at this time. Simply purchasing and requisitioning enough firearms for our frontline troops to have basic weaponry has depleted our stocks of money, labor, and guns. We have a meager stock of iron and horses on hand, but we will certainly need to raise a great deal more resources if we are to have any hope of playing the successful role of David to the Union Goliath. I have directed our two Runner Captains to set about feeling their way through the Union blockades that now lie off our majestic coastlines. I have directed them that 20% is an acceptable level of risk. Sadly, we do not at this time have sufficient funds to commission a third blockade runner from the shipywards of Norfolk . . . perhaps in the months to come . . . however our primary goals in the next few months (turns) will be to get every one of our brave brigades properly accoutered with weapons of war, and to get Training Grounds built in the various states which are offering to provide Musters but which lack such training facilities (TN, LA, AL, GA, and SC).

Our finest military unit, the Army of the Shenandoah, has been placed under the leadership of T. Jackson, now a Lieutenant General of the CSA. General Jackson's Corps has been reinforced with a couple of our finest brigades and I have given orders to him to execute a forced march directly north into Western Maryland where feeble-old General Pattersons Corps may be smashed with a quick surprise manuevah . . .

The army of the Potomac has been placed under the command of General Johnston, and General Beauregard has been transferred west to take control of Dept Number 2, the 2nd Army of the Confederacy. The Army of the NW under Major Gen Early, the Army of the Peninsula under Major Gen Longstreet, and the Dept of Norfolk under Major Gen Anderson, R.H. have all been attached to the Arm of the Potomac to repulse the Northern invaders back across the Potomac. Brig Gen Toombs has been promoted to Major Gen, and given command of the 7th Div which remains under the command of Johnston's Army of the Potomac.

In the West, Major Gen Prices MO State Guard has been reinforced with the few available brigades in the area, and several of our solid Brigadier Generals have been sent via rail post-haste to join General Price in his Crusad against the JayHawkers and German-Lovers of northern Missouri and the Territories (Hill, DH; Clark; Withers). Brigadier Hardee has been promoted to the rank of Major General and given command of Army of the West. Gen Hardee will have Brigadiers Bee and Bartow under his command. The Army of the West has been directed to move into the Ozark province where General Lyons SW Dept is lurking and to cause as much ruckus as is humanly possible. Let the Jayhawker-Lovers smell suthin powduh and feyul suthin steyuhl . . . Major General McCulloch has been reassigned to Dept #1 which has been brought up the Missisippi from New Orleans and sent north toward Paducah to engage in a feint.

Gen Loring, formerly in command of Army of the NW has been transferred to a strategically vital post in commanding the 4th Division, which has been detached from General Beauregard's Army and sent along with Dept #1 to execute a feint.

Major Gen van Dorn & his Dept of Texas division is make its way north along the crooked tracks of the Texarkana region. We intend to reinforce Gen van Dorn's Div at the earliest possiblity and send them across into Yankee territory where they long to wreck havoc.

In the deep south, Gen Anderson SR has been assigned to Army of Pensacola under command of Major Gen Bragg. Army of Pensacola has been reinforced with the brigades available in the area, and ordered to besiege Ft Pickens.

One other point of which our patriotic citizens and readers should take note. Some of our Generals who have shown through their years of service a certain lack of Initiative or expertise, have been reassigned to command vital garrisons where their lack of initiative may not prove to be such an impediment to their successful defense of Confederate soil. In some cases, a careful review of these means service records actually warranted their demotion to a lower rank. In the interest of the dignity and honor of these men, their names will not be published herein.

Let it be known: our goal is total victory over the Yankee aggressor. Every Man, Woman, AND Child of Dixie will be expected to do his duty to his or her utmost. To expect anything less, would set the stage for an eventual outcome that is far less glorious than the full potential of our Magnificent Confederate States of America, where the spark of Liberty, the untainted fabric of Propriety, and in the name of our heavenly father, the proper Great Chain of Being remain firmly and forevermore in place.

May God bless us in our crusade of freedom, to break the chains of our money-grubbing Yankee opressors foravah . . .

ADDIT: If anybody has any comments about the game, or my strategy or anything EXCEPT :) starting a debate about the merits of the CSA, do feel free to ask here in this thread. I'll be pleased to answer. I know the game fairly well, and have beat the AI on Sarge Major a couple times as both Billy Yank and as Johnny Reb. This is my first PBEM with the game however, so it should be a lot of fun, and I should learn a lot.

Against the AI, I have almost exclusively played with Detailed Combat on. This is not an option in PBEM, so I'll be sort of learning about how that works as we go along.

Entry 2

Early Aug 1861

The past month has been a heady one for our cause. Almighty God has seen fit to bless us with a Great Victory against the Yankee aggressors who invaded our soil in the Province of Fredricksburg. The Battle of Manassas has been fought and resoundingly won by our brave lads!



Most of our reassigned Generals have completed their voyages around our great land.

Our great nation is in dire need of a stronger economy, so I have been busily exchanging telegraphs with a number of our esteemed Guvunuhs, collaborating with them to formulate a plan for our nations long-term vitality. In every case, these decisions about infrastructure development have been made through friendly consultation between myself and our Govs. For example, Governor Letcher of Virginia and I have had our disagreements, but we have reached a consensus that a high degree of mutual benefit would be achieved for both the City of Richmond and the Confederacy as a whole, if Federal funds are used to help subsidize construction of a new Mining Facility near Richmond.



Morever, Gov Letcher expressed his great pleasure that the Training Ground we commissioned in Petersburg, VA should be finished within the next month



Gov Letcher has reassured me of his patriotic states continued enthusiasm for our cause, and his ongoing intention to support future efforts to muster Brigades from among the young men of Virginia¡¦s towns and Counties.

We have also reached similar agreements for the states of LA (Factory in New Orleans); NC (Mint in Wilmington); GA (Camp in Atlanta); Florida (Arsenal in Tallahassee); and MS (RR in Natchez). We certainly are the underdog but I estimate that if we can complete a similar schedule of internal developments every month until winter's freeze, we may have a solid chance of standing up to the Yankee Behemoth in the coming years.

Our primary goals are to harass the enemy, and deprive him of opportunities for victory on the field of battle, forcing him to disperse his more numerous troops to meet our dispersed challenges. Meanwhile, it is imperative that we develop virtually every dimension of our economy, with the one exception of horse husbandry.

Through consultation with our naval advisors I have come to the conclusion that it would not be expedient to commission a third Blockade Runner at any time in the near future. The volume of freight to which we have access in our nearby waters simply does not warrant a third Runner at this time, and those funds could be more fruitfully applied elsewhere in our nations development.

General Clark has reached his new assignment with Gen Price's MO State Guard.




Having been bolstered with additional staff, and brigades, General Prices MO State Guard has marched east and struck a blow against Lyon¡¦s SW Expeditionary Force. Another stunning victory for the cause!



While this was a relatively small battle by comparison to the Battle of Manassas, it is my conviction that this war will be won in the West. We must strike an optimum balance of deployment of troops in the West and the East, and force our opponent to spread his forces and prevent him from concentrating on any single area where he may bring a great mass to bear and achieve a significant battlefield victory.

On the international front, I must confess that I am a bit disheartened at what I must frankly deem the mercernary natures of our European allies. We are presently being extorted to expend rather precious sums of national currency to promote good relations with our overseas allies.



Expending sufficient funds in Diplomacy to keep even a reasonable parity with our wealth Union opponents may prove to be a serious challenge. We simply MUST acquire more funds. I have made a commitment to myself to commission the construction of at least one National Mint each month for the foreseeable future. Moreover, I will be consulting with all our Governors to ascertain whether the possibility to Impress significant sums from any of the most affluent entities in our country might be expedient in the near future.

I would like to close with what I think you will agree is heart-pulling story from one of our nations most committed families. As you know, many of our citizens have written to me here in our new Capitol in Richmond, VA to express their enthusiastic support for our cause. My staff and I do our best to make written replies to each and every correspondence we receive, but often we must keep such replies quite brief. In some instances the sheer poignancy of these correspondences astounds us, and it is one of these that I would like to share now.

We have a letter here from a little Ms. Abigail Smuthers, who writes to us from Natchez, Mississippi. Ms. Smuthers attends the Magnolia Blossom Academy for Young Ladies¨ in the Clifton Heights section of Natchez and she is 10 years old. She confesses that this is her first letter ever written and she had to get help from her Mother, but, that she felt so compelled to write that she simply had to put pen to paper, despite her still inchoate capacity with grammar ;) She has asked that I convey a message to our fighting boys, and as such, here is an excerpt from this fine patriotic young ladies letter to us

Dear President Davis,
. . . Momma and Papa say the Yankee is a cruel and base creature, without morals, or any notion of propriety. Heavens! Whoever might think that a Black could be free like a White Person!?

Ms. Sally is our head Black around the household, and she minds all the staff in the house. Ms. Sally said "Look at that N***** Sam in the fields. No matter how many times he runs away and gets caught, he just keep runnin.¨ Ms Sally say, "They ain¡'t no sense in no Black heads, and ain¡'t no sense in no abolition neither.¨ President Davis, i know that "ain't" is not a proper word, but that is what Ms. Sally said while she was polishing the silver.

Cousin Heathcliff told me a storah about what the Yankees did to some slave owning families in Missouri, and it made me very scared. I had to go and sleep with Momma and Poppa cause I just kept having bad dreams.

Please President Davis, please pass my message along to all our soldiers. Please thank them from the bottom of my heart for defending us from the Yankee savages. I don't want the Yankees to come here and steal our house and make me go to school with no Blacks. Please kill them Yankees, and save us from being afraid.¨

In all my years of military and political service, I must confess, I had never experienced such a moving letter of patriotic spirit.

Never you fear young Ms. Smuthers! We are gonna fight the Yankee Dog as fiercely as any fight has ever been fought, and we are gonna win young lady!

Your elected President and Commander in Chief,

Jefferson Finis Davis

"With God our Vindicator"

Entry 3
Late Aug 1861
A careful review of our economy and projections of our capacities for the coming months has been a sobering experience.



My accountants and I have formulated the following goals for the remainder of 1861 which are realistic given our current productive rates. If windfall acquisitions of assets from our Brave Blockade Runners, and the generous acceptance of Impressment of our citizenry are as successful as they have so far been, then we should be able to attain these goals without too much difficulty by the beginning of 1861

L Aug 1861: Mints in Charleston and Savannah, Factory in Norfolk, Signal Tower in Richmond

ESept 61: mint in Wilmington, mint in Natchez, Camp in Little Rock

LSept61: mint in Montgomery, mint in Atlanta

ENov61: mint in Baton Rouge, factory in Selma, camp in Austin

LNov61: mint in Raleigh, Training Ground in Chattanooga

EDec61: camp in Columbia, RR in a city in Georgia

LDec61: Tr Ground in Shreveport, Mine in Richmond

That is a total of 8 mints; 2 Tr Gr; 1 Mine; 2 Factories; 3 Camps; and 1 RR to build for the remainder of 1861.

Following that our continued minimum building objectives are: at least one more additional Tr Ground in Mobile. This will give us Tr Grounds in GA, NC, VA, TN, LA, and AL and none in AR, FL, MS, SC, and TX. Depending on Governors and the fortunes of war we may also seek to build Tr Grounds in MS and SC, but the other three states will remain sources of Camps only.

This will get all of our production (Money, Labor, and Iron) up around 45 and in the ballpark of 100 for horses. It would be nice to be at or above 50 for all, but without some luck in Impressment and Blockade Running that is not possible. Even at the projected schedule of building above, we will suffer a shortfall in Iron in Nov, so we had better hope some of our efforts to secure more iron and labor are successful.

Also for next year, I want to get additional Camps into Natchez and Tallahassee at minimum next year. At least two more Mines in our Iron Works cities: Augusta and Columbus. At least one more Factory in Selma, and possibly also Galveston

I have ordered offensives in several Provinces: Dept of Texas under Gen van Dorn marched north into Neosho Province Kansas defeating and capturing a small brigade the 64th Indian Infantry and driving them North. Another small victory for the South.

Gen Price has been sent to the rear and Brig Hill D.H. promoted to Major General in command of MO State Guard which chased SW Exped into Westport and also won an additional small battle.

Hardees Army of the West has moved north of the Ozarks into the province just south of Jeff City (Rolla).



Dept #2 under the command of Johnston and Dept #1 also under the command of Johnston were ordered to converge on Cairo. Johnston in Dept #2 claims to be having difficulties with logistical matters and has yet to show any sign of advancing north.

Gen Beauregard is being held in reserve at this time.

Gen Jackson’s Army of the Shenandoah marched across the mountains to the East to enter into W Virginia and defated McClellan’s Ohio Dept. ANOTHER! small victory!

Gen Lee in command of the Army of the Potomac remains on guard in Fredricksburg Province, and Gen Longstreet in the Army of the Peninsula in Richmond area, while Gen Early is in a defensive posture in the Appalachians.




Runner # 1 has been sent to rendezvous with a fleet containing weapons off the Georgia coast (succ 70%; risk 30%), and Runner #2 will be rendezvousing with a European freighter in Virgina coastal waters in efforts to pickup a load of 30 iron (succ 80%; risk 30%).







Three of our most patriotic Mayors and their states Governors have given many positive indications for Mustering brigades in their provinces, so we have given the national writ for these Brigades to be formed:

City Succ Prob “Risk”
Jackson MS 60 -10 to Gov attitude (but actually -5 because Gov “Supports Muster”)
Mobile 80 -5
Raleigh 80 -5

Unfortunately, only half of these musterings were able to call up enough men to field initial brigades. In any event, another two Brigades for the Cause!

In addition, we are delighted that some very affluent and/or powerful individuals in four of our fine cities have expressed the possibility that they may be able to provide large quantities of vital war resources within the next few weeks. I have given Orders of Impressment in each of these cases

City Resource Succ Prob Risk (which means possible unrest in the Province)
Montgomery 40money 80 10
Raleigh 40money 80 10
Norfolk 20Iron 70 10
Knoxville 40Labor 70 20

Entry 4

The events of Late Sept 1862
We are ahead of schedule on our building plans as projected in Late August, and hopefully we shall be producing in excess of 45 of all key resources before the end of the year. We’ve had some good luck and some bad with Impressments. Unfortunately, at present two of our provinces are experiencing unrest as a result of rabble rousers who are attempting to thwart the noble cause :(

Nonetheless, so far we have an unbroken chain of victories, albeit small ones



My actuaries and I have projected the rate of casualties versus the rate of replacement given our current number of Camps (5) and the number projected for construction in the coming few months. Our scouts and border guards in the Rappahanock district have taken note of a buildup of Union forces across the Potomac, thus we are anticipating an attack into Rappahannock within the next few weeks before winter sets in.

Using a cumulative average algorithm, and allowing for one moderate sized battle with 5000 casualties this winter, one large battle with 10,000 next spring, and one large with 15,000 next summer, but using the existing rates of small battles: Our projected rate of Camp building of one camp each half-month over the next 7 turns would bring us to a total of 14 camps by Early March 1862. At this rate, our number of replacements needed would drop from the current value of 64,583 to 58,306 by March, and to 48,893 by L Sept 1862. I believe this is a more or less realistic rate of building Camps. Assuming a continued rate of one camp each month beyond that through L Aug 1862 (bringing a total of 20 camps completed by L Sept 1862) would yield a projected number of depletions in our Brigades of by L Sept 1862 of approximately 33,125.

Now this is to say nothing of the fact that we need additional Brigades, and Containers in order to meet the steadily growing number of Yankee units that will be facing us.



At present we are in fact a bit short of units for providing anything like adequate coverage of our now much larger front. With KY now in the Union, our central TN area is in dire danger if we are not able to increase our number of manned Divisions quickly.

Presently we have three well-manned, well-armed and experienced Divisions in the MO-KS area (see attached illustration below for an overview of our distribution of military units relative to the Yanks)

The objective here is to force Yank to pull troops from his KY and Eastern theatres else suffer harmful long-term consequences. It is my intent to beat back the depleted units in this region which have already been licked in battle several times. Reinforcing these units will draw some of Billy Yanks replacements from elsewhere in the north. The towns of Topeka and Jeff City will be plundered and then these Div will move on after winter

The Dept of Texas under command of van Dorn is holding fast for now in Neosho Province KS. They will advance north next turn to drive the depleted SW Exped under Lyon out of Topeka. Brigadier Dubose is making his way West to join van Dorn’s efforts. I see that a fort is under construction in Topeka Province, and it will be a pleasure to tear down that effort before it gets too far along.

MO State Guard under command of D.H. Hill with Withers and Clark is in the Lower MO Jeff City province now. Buford who is a capable cavalry commander is on his way to join MSG. MSG will act as a screening force for Army of the West, under command of Hardee, Bartow and Bee. AW Division will seek to plunder Jefferson City next chance.

Dept #2 (1st Am of the Confederacy) under Johnston J.E. with Buckner attached, and also with 7th Div (commanded by Loring) is unfortunately still lingering in the Memphis area despite repeated orders to advance on to Cairo. I suppose next chance, I will have to make these orders more emphatic and include an insistence to Force March north along the Mississippi post-haste. I intend to plunder Cairo as soon as possible

Dept #1 under Johnston A.S. and with McCulloch attached has just taken control of the Paducah Province. This Div will move either north, or east into KY depending on Billy Yanks movements.



In the east, Lieutenant General Jackson has just won another victory in Grafton Province (2101 Union casualties vs. 1227). What is needed are an additional two to three Divisions to take up positions between Jackson and Johnston A.S. and to fill in the gap along the TN border that has emerged because of Kentucky’s choice to enter the war with the North.

Major Gen Early with Brigadier Ewell is in command of the Army of Northwest, holding fast in Franklin VA province. Depending on what Yank does in the Potomac area, Early may move north into Cumberland which appears to be unguarded at this time.

Gen Lee is in charge of the Army of Potomac, holding fast in Fredricksburg, and Generals Anderson and Holmes are on the defense in Rappahannock in charge of Dept of Norfolk.

I see lots of views, but am I generating any interest in FoF among though Blitzers?

Any comments, requests for information about the game, or questions about how the game works, just ask and I'll address in my reports :)


Entry 5

The Events of Early October 1861
In this communiqué, the first order of business if for me to thank our patriotic citizens. These past months have not been easy for any of us, in particular our fighting men at the frontlines of this dastardly War of Yankee Aggression. Sadly, many of our young, in the flower of their youth have fallen bravely on the field of battle. But I want to reassure all of you have sacrificed for the cause: these brave me did NOT die in vain! As God is my witness, I stand before you ever more resolute in the conviction that the Grand Confederate States shall NOT become slaves to the vapid Yankee bureaucrats and high rollers! We SHALL OVERCOME!

My fellow patriots, we have ONLY JUST BEGUN to fight!  and we have the Yankee Legions at Bay! We have taken control of Southern Missouri, liberating our plantation owning Brethren.

President Davis’ Topline Summary
We have taken control of Southern Missouri and Kansas liberating our plantation brethren in that fair state from the depradations of the evil Jayhawkers, and Gov Hall. We are quickly moving some of our Divisions and 1st Corps into place to punish the Kentuckians for their treachery. In the East, our Army of the Potomac and supporting Divisions hold firm in their ramparts on the Dixie side of the Potomac. Based on our Intelligence Staffs assessment of Union newspapers, our advances in the Greater Ozark Region have not set well with some of the Governors in the region, and this should put a significant thorn in Mr. Lincolns hat band.

Illustration # 1 Mr. Lincoln’s Western Despair


Strategic Overview and Planning for the Destruction of the Yankee Aggressors

At the end of last month, we were in a good state of affairs, with our Armies having pushed back the Yankees north of the Mason-Dixon Line in most areas of the continent.

Illustration # 2: Strategic Military Status of Early October 1861


Our future objectives are to conquer Topeka, Jeff City, St. Louis, and Cairo, and to build three forts along the Mississippi River to protect these cities. This will be our primary overarching goal for 1862. Our secondary goal will be to—at minimum—prevent the development of any Yankee forts in Kentucky, and if possible to occupy the Capitol of KY thus depriving the Yanks of any resource benefits from that state. These are lofty goals, but I believe that we can accomplish them by this time next year.

Report on Our Grand Internal Developments
It is the role of the President to make a number of very important decisions about the allocation of National subsidies for internal developments and building. These are important matters over which I weigh many small and large considerations.
Our overall war effort demands two things primarily: more units in the field, and more replacements to maintain the strength of our existing units. While the former can be accomplished through simple Musters, or if necessary Conscription, or the payment of a professional enlistment, the latter can only be accomplished by constructing additional Camps in our lands. It is a heavy burden on our Govs to support Musters as it on them that the worst of the repercussions from the families fall. Similarly, in the event that a conscription action incites unrest as it did in Selma some months ago, it is the Governors whose attitude is most dramatically impacted. As the President, I have to weigh these factors, because all of our Govs are important. We need their support for a variety of purposes, but to have a governor like Brown of Georgia whose outspoken opposition to our efforts to muster troops from Georgia is frankly bordering on rebellious

Illustration # 3: Our Southern Governors


Frankly, it is my sincere hope that Gov Brown will NOT be re-elected next month, because there are a number of influential citizens in several of Georgia’s towns who have assured me of the high probability that they could either facilitate the formation of new Brigades or Impressment of critical war materiel were it not for Gov Brown’s obstruction of all my efforts in that State.

As President is my prerogative to place requests with the Mayors of our Cities and their Governors to Muster or Conscript new Brigades, and/or to attempt to Impress various war materiel (money, labor, horses, or iron). These decisions have be made by weighing the relative value of the requisition to the overall war effort, relative to the negative repercussions.

Unless the call for conscripts provokes civil unrest in a province, conscription will always be 100% effective, whereas the chance for a successful Muster varies between 10 and 90%, as do Impressments. What distinguishes Impressments and Conscriptions from Musters is that, because they place a substantial burden on the citizenry, these requisitions always have some chance of provoking civil unrest, which is very bad thing because it effectively shuts down the economy in a province.

Illustration # 3a: Deciding When, Where, and What to Impress/Conscript/Muster


As you can see from Illustration #3b, it is not difficult for any given two-week period for my staff and I to sort out what materiel might be requisitioned from which city, the relative risks of unrest provoked by conscripting or impressing, and the relatively probability of Mustering. Our Governors are central to Mustering in that they generally appeal to the States Citizens patriotism on behalf of the CSA and consequently Mustering always lowers relations with the Governors by some amount: one can ask a friend for a favor but to ask too often and one may no longer have a friend  In some instances a Governor may be supportive of the Muster, in which case the impact on our friendship is lessened.

In the above illustration, you can see that I have sorted our list of cities by the level or Risk, and I have selected to ask Governor Harris of TN and the Mayor of Nashville to attempt to Conscript a Brigade based on the low probability that such a conscription might cause unrest. I have also sent a request for Mustering of some excess horses in Little Rock to Governor Rector. Here also, the chance of unrest is fairly small (20%) the chance of successful impressments is large (80%) and while our relations with Gov Rector are already strained (he is a “Mild Adversary” with an attitude of -27 toward my administration), a further reduction in his attitude is a cost I feel willing to accept at this time because he is master of a fairly inconsequential state, and he faces reelection in 1862.

The President faces similar decisions about how to assign Generals to Military “Containers” (Armies, Corps, Divisions) and which Brigades to assign to each container. I will cover these matters in some detail in future Entries.

I'm enjoying the AAR, I like the style. I was wondering what efforts you have made to arm your forces yet. Or do the southern forces start pretty well-armed? Is it a big priority for you early on?

As the Union in another game I have made a reasonable effort to arm my men, in an effort to counter the quality/command advantages of the south.

Really must focus on work a bit right now, but just a quick response that I'll elaborate in my next Entry.

One of the beauties of this game--and I think most elegant balances b/w being a game, and being an historical simulation--is the incredible ability to customize your army.

The basic land unit in the game is a Brigade (whether Cavalry, Infantry, Field Arty or Siege Arty), there are also naval units which I won't comment on at this point, but in large part the dynamics of units and their parent organizations is similar for naval units.

Brigades can be "produced" by expending sufficient resources (50 money, 50 labor, 10 iron, and 20 horses; to put that in perspective, the CSA last I played my turn was producing ~40 of M, L, & I [although money can fluctuate a lot depending on how much you spend on Foreign Diplomacy] and about 95 horse). So as you can see, it is not easy to just "produce" land units. Naval units are similarly costly.

A building called "Manufacturing Center" reduces the time to produce units, and IIRC there is a Technology that can be discovered that makes units a bit cheaper to build (cost less money IIRC).

The other options are to Muster, or Conscript. The cost of mustering is worsened relations with Gov (you "owe him" for helping you out) or potential risk of Civil Unrest in the Province for Consription.

With a rare exception, new units generted from any of these methods do not have appropriate weapons (Artillery can only be "produced" in cities with a Foundry, and these units come equipped with the type of artillery you specified either field or siege guns) but simply have "Improvised Weapons" (pistols and sabers). You have to procure weapons for them, and this costs either money, or "Guns" resources (certain number generated every turn depending on how many Arsenals you have) and/or both, and in some cases costs some iron too (e.g., upgrading 6pounder canon to 12" howitzers costs some iron).

You can at any time a unit is not in enemy territory, and you have sufficient resources buy them new or better weapons. They will then have those weapons next time they enter combat. There is a pretty long list of weapons in the game: several different types of muskets, various breechloaders and rifled muskets, various carbines, various cannon and siege guns. Each type has slightly varying characteristics (weight, cost, range, damage, accuracy, reliability, speed of fire, etc.) that get figured in to combat results.

Now to answer your question: I would say about 2/3rds of the CSA's starting units have some sort of appropriate shoulder arms at game start, so I have been spending quite a bit on outfitting brigades with proper weapons. The CSA has very few arty at game start (which makes sieges of forts and cities a troublesome affair) and I've also been trying to get a few Arty Brigades into my containers.

Now about the "containers" these are are just higher-order milit organizations:
Divisions, Corps, and Armies. Each can hold a certain number of units (Armies can contain Corps, Div or "loose" Brigades; Corps cannot contain Armies but all else; Div can only contain brigades). Generals can also be put "inside" these "containers" and by doing so you are assigning the General to command over one or more units in that container. Generals ranks affect how many sub-units within their assigned unit they can impact with their attributes.

Generals have many attibutes apart from rank: special abilities, military expertise that they might successful teach to a Brigade (e.g, foraging for supplies, or better shooting accuracy, or charging in battle, etc., etc.) and they also have scores on several basic ratings: Initiative, Leadership, Tactics, Command, Cavalry (all rated as Terrible=1 Bad=2 Poor=3 Normal=4 Fair=5 Good=6 Great=7 Excellent=8 Superb=9). Each rating has a slightly different effect on the troops under the guys command, and a guys rank determines how many units are affected. A one star Brigadier only affects one Brigades; a two-star Major Gen affects all in a Div he is commanding; a 3-star Lieutenant Gen affects all in a Corp (or Div) he is command; a 4-Star affects all in an Army, Corps, or Div he is commanding; a 5-Star benefits the entire Army to some degree and benefits all units in any given combat engagement.

Just as example of how some CSA Generals differ (without Gen attributes randomized):
Longstreet: In=7 Ld=7 Tc=8 Cm=8 Cv=0
TH Jackson: In=9 Ld=9 Tc=9 Cm=8 Cv=0
Sibley: In=1 Ld=2 Tc=3 Cm=3 Cv=0

Guys with any ability at Cav are pretty rare and the CSA tends to have more. You can if you want set it so some (random) General's abilities are hidden until they have been tested in combat and you progressively learn more about them. You can also set it to random.

Clever permutations of particular Brigades, and Generals has a VERY big impact on how battles play out.

It is in this respect that I think this is one of the finest strategy games I've ever played. Indeed, this is I think the best wargame engine I have ever encountered. For this reason I have extolled the makers to apply this engine to additional historical periods: Vietnam, Hundred Years War, The Cold War, etc.

Seamus;

A great many folks consider it rude to interrupt the flow of a DAR or AAR with comments, so that contributes to a lack of comments. However, I do know that people love to read them, so please don't be discouraged.

I love strategy level war games, especially ones like this one that incorporate some sort of production decision making. I am seriously considering acquiring FoF and every post on one of this AARs makes it more and more likely I will be able to fight the urge, LOL.

Paul