Chad Marlett
United States
Plymouth
Michigan
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To prepare for a long-term 2-player Vassal game, I went through a solo game to see how the end-game works.
A few comments up front:
1. The last turn VP conditions seem very balanced - getting 90+ net VP for a Union substantial victory is very difficult. The VP conditions at earlier turns are (IMHO) balanced towards the Confederates. A forward defense by the Confederates can easily stall the Union at first, with costs that will only be apparent at the end of the game.
2. I played without any optional or house rules. While this worked well, I do think I want to add some of the various house rules for my next 2 player game. I will post these ideas separately.
3. Since I haven't found a way to out-strategize myself, I played the Confederates very passively - dig-in, no chances, minimal counter-attacks. More aggressive Confederate behavior would have made the Union job more difficult, but I'm sure it would have caused a lot more SP losses; at the end, the Union had plenty of troops while the Confederates did not.
4. I did not mess around a lot with cavalry raids or attrition battles in the East (hard to fool myself about where the raid was going, and I couldn't scare myself with feints towards Washington or Richmond).
5. I played the game in Vassal. The Vassal die roller gives some odd results that I can't quite explain. Many leader deaths and wounds, and many CP table uses that just gave points to the Confederates. Version 1.4b12 for Vassal is simply outstanding - The Wargame Academy really supports this module and promptly answered my email questions.
Turn 1:
Union secured Missouri and West Virginia. Many small die differences precluded other action. Confederates reinforced the coast.
Turn 2:
Little activity - reinforcements.
Turn 3:
Grant seizes Island #10 (Missouri). Rosecrans and AS Johnston stare down in Kentucky. Farragut seizes Brunswick Georgia.
Turn 4:
McDowell and RE Lee rumble with predictable results (Union promotions due to a Union loss). Phyrric victory for the South, as Longstreet dies. Rosecrans runs away from AS Johnston in Kentucky.
Turn 5:
Grant seizes Fort Donelson. With Bragg (AoM) and AS Johnston (AoT) dug into fortresses in Memphis and Nashville respectively, Grant (AoT) and Rosecrans (AoC) make a joint move on Nashiville; the Confederates can not join their armies as the Union navy blocks river crossings, and Foote could invade Memphis if it is not defended. REL (AoV) invades Harper's Ferry while McDowell cowers in Washington.
Turn 6:
Grant and Rosecrans form mega-army to threaten Nashville. Lyon and Farragut take Fort Jackson. Confederates massively reinforce the coast and New Orleans in particular.
Turn 7:
Rosecrans (AoT) knocks Nashville out-of-supply, while Grant (AoC) deals several hard blows to AS Johnston (AoT). AoT runs into the mountains towards Knoxville to escape. Porter seizes Decatur. Lyon and Farragut seize Fort Morgan, but Farragut dies in the attack.
Turn 8:
Rosecrans digs into Nashville, while Grant moves the AoC back to Memphis to hammer on the fortess walls. Lyon seizes Mobile. Alabama and Florida are wreaking havoc on the Union merchant marine.
Turn 9:
The Alabama is run to ground by a lucky Union vessel (boxcars). Grant crushes Bragg and the AoM at Memphis - Bragg runs south as fast as possible.
Turn 10:
Grant catches up to Bragg and eliminates the AoM (2 die differences prevented Bragg from activating, low die rolls prevented reaction away). Foote captures Port Hudson.
Turn 11:
Very long turn. Grant captures Vicksburg (undefended) and marches to Fort New Orleans (8+ troops). The AoC makes short work of New Orleans and moves into Alabama. Sherman is dispatched from AoC to take Meridian and Jackson. Foote captures Baton Rouge. Porter takes Fort Pulaski, while Lyon moves inland along the Savannah river into Georgia. Pope makes an initially succesful run into Lynchburg, VA (from W. Virginia) and builds a depot and fort. Mississippi is converted to neutral.
With the Mississippi cut, movement options for the Confederates become very restricted, esp. in the Trans-Mississippi.
At some point during these turns, two Union cavalry leaders die, causing great concern for the Union about an inability to prevent cavalry screening.
Turn 12:
With Grant and a full-strength AoC marching from Alabama to Atlanta, J. Johnson takes a re-juvinated AoT down from Chattanooga to defend Atlanta. Rosecrans moves in on an undefended Chattanooga and declares a great victory. Jackson takes 30,000 rebels down to a gloating Pope and smashes the 30,000 Union troops, despite the Union fort. Attrition and further attacks by Jackson leaves Pope and 5,000 Union troops the only survivors of the Lynchburg debacle. Ord takes over the AoP from McDowell.
Turn 14-15:
Porter and Pope seize Fort Fisher and Wilmington. Pope moves south out of W. Virginia with another 30,000 troops, but is scared into staying in the mountains due to Jackson. Grant completes the conversion of Alabama and crushes Johnson and the AoT at Atlanta. Atlanta prooves to be surprising undefendable with Confederate supply contraints and Lyon cutting the Savannah river rail lines.
Turn 16:
Very long turn. Steele and Sedgwick move into an abandoned northern Arkansas. Foote is wounded taking Pensacola, while Porter dies taking Morehead City; the Union considers life without any Admirals to move ships (along with various house rules for generic calvary and naval leaders in the event of high casualties). Pope, the most embarrasing Union general to date, fails two attacks on Hardee at New Bern. Sherman completes the conversion of Georgia while Grant converts South Carolina and crushes Johnson yet again at Charlotte. Lyon moves 30,000 troops into southern North Carolina. Thomas replaces Rosecrans at the head of the AoT and takes Knoxville, completing the conversion of Tennesse. Morgan and Wheeler raid into Tennesse and Alabama, causing the Union to burn numerous CP for garrisons and creating alternate sea supply lines.
Turn 17-18:
Sherman takes over the AoT and seizes the Salt and Lead works. Morgan and Wheeler continue cavalry raids with minimal impact. Grant fails in yet another attack in New Bern with the AoC; New Bern has reached a level of embarrasement for the Union nearly equal to the Lynchburg affair. Sherman, however, does seize an undefended Lynchburg with the AoT. Johnson runs the AoT to Petersburg for another rebuild. Porter, the sole remaining Union admiral, flaunts fate and takes Sabine City.
Turn 19:
Porter continues his dance with the devil and takes Galveston - and survives! Grant crushes New Bern for spite, then moves to Lynchburg, VA for a showdown with REL (which won't happen). REL, hopelessly outnumbered and out-generaled due to losses, hides in Richmond. Sherman, with a feint towards Richmond, moves instead north up the Shenandoah and crushes Jackson (who dies).
Final Tally:
KIA Confederates: Longstreet (ouch), DH Hill, Early, Ewell, Taylor, Hindemann, Breckenridge, Jackson (last turn of the game). Virgina, Arkansas, and Alabama, two fortresses, and AoM.
KIA Union: Curtis, Sheridan (ouch), Farragut (ouch), Stoneman, Foote. McDowell and Rosecrans removed.
CP table = 41
Union Ships Sunk = 68
USA VP = 138
Net = 95 vs. 90 required for Substantial Victory.
Total Playtime = Average 1.5 hours per turn, so 28.5 hours. Play would be faster with two players, as long as AP doesn't set in.
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Darrell Hanning
United States
Jacksonville
Florida
Love women in action movies and shows. It all started with Diana Rigg, in the Avengers.
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Given that misdirection is virtually impossible in playing this game solitaire, there is still great merit in being aggressive with the Confederate forces in the Eastern Theater. Without this, the Union forces do not stay tied to defending Washington and the surrounding areas. And once they are tied to defense of these objectives, the initial officer superiority held by the Confederates means they should be able to garner some lopsided results, as they engage more or less when and where they wish.
After all, the South's only real hope for victory rested north of Virginia. If you play conservative with them, they've already lost.
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Posted Fri Aug 3, 2007 1:37 am
