LAVA

Got a chance to play Ambush Convoy yesterday and it is pretty standard play. I rush in, grab the goods and beat feet. After the battle I chat a bit about how I am spending my Career Points and my overall army building philosophy. AND... I think I have sorted out my sound problems... we'll see. Ambush Convoy:

To be honest, after my Legendary Union Campaign I was thoroughly burned out. It really takes a toll. And I must say that I do not claim to be a great general and I will replay a battle if I feel it is necessary. Sometimes I am just tired and it doesn't go well. Sometimes, I get interrupted.. in fact, many times, by my family or work. Sometimes I make incredibly stupid mistakes or forget to record. I prefer though to get it right the first time because the AI will adapt to your strategy if you play a battle more than once. So... I do my homework first before plunging in. I have watched hours and hours of other folks videos to see how they approach different battles, their Camp and OOBs. And there are lots of folks who I really enjoy watching, so I will give them a shout out today with a link to their YouTube Channel: - Col Kelly https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz07X4_TW985viK4FprqBVw - Aetius https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwRYnMw8pyZ6oOf1fow0jQ - Something Compass https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweqLiNgOu_9E-xcGL5Rm2w - thehistoricalgamer https://www.youtube.com/user/thehistoricalgamer - The History Guy https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsJCJD1tAzTZ1eUUiskH-9w - HForHavoc https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGd0SZzQKqaTeT4fPrtTxbg - Benjamin Magnus Games https://www.youtube.com/user/BenjaminMagnusGames Almost everyone of these folks have exponentially more followers than me on YouTube... which speaks very highly of them. I record my games not for fame but because I like to go back and watch how it all went. In almost every video I have made I can watch and say... "there, you messed that up" ... such as running my Cavalry Brigade out of condition at the Potomac Fort and then charging him at the enemy guns, only to be slaughtered. So I use it as a learning experience more than anything else. With luck some folks will actually like my play style, which can be somewhat chaotic but almost always leans towards the brutal.

Defending Newport News I kill 4,925 Yankees to my 1,652 men. A rather nondescript battle, I was looking at a chance to try to turn the Blue Bellies left flank, but never felt the opportunity was right. Newport News: I wipe out the Blue Belly Army at 1st Bull Run. The Yanks suffer 23,909 casualties (including 2957 captured - 3 infantry brigades and a supply wagon) and lose 42 guns to my losses of 7,500 men and 12 guns. Across America folks realize this War is going to be a long one.... 1st Bull Run:

Consider the Camp as your Strategic overlay. What you do there is directly linked to how your army will perform on the battlefield. So the game presents 2 basic challenges. The first is understanding how everything, and I mean everything, works and effects your army in the Camp. The second is learning how to properly use your army on the battlefield. It's a steep learning curve... even for wargaming veterans.

I was thinking about doing a Confederate Legendary Campaign and decided to step my toe in. I don't know if I have the time (it's summer and I work in the tourist industry) or inclination (I've played this game to death) but we will see how it goes. As with my Union Legendary Campaign (which I completed), I will NOT be using the scaling technique. The minimum average Brigade in the ACW was 1,000 men, so I just can't bring myself to create 500 man brigades as I view this as fantasy. So off we go... the first scenario Battle of Potomac Fort. This battle took me a number of times to win because it is really hard on legendary. I destroy 2 skirmisher units and 1 infantry brigade before assaulting the fort and then when I do; I capture 1 skirmisher unit and 1 infantry brigade. My defense was less stellar as one of my brigades that carry over to the camp was annihilated, but I did capture their Supply wagon and kill the commander. Overall, I received 1,000 reinforcements for the 800+ prisoners, so that more than made up for the loss of one heavily battered brigade. Potomac Fort:

The best explanation is ... they are not actually in the buildings. In fact, I believe there is only one battle that I know of... the Supply Raid battle of the Union Campaign, in which there is a building where troops can actually deploy inside the building. That is the only one I know of. There are also a few round'ish areas you can occupy that don't have flanks... I think they are like fields with fences... but there are very few of them. Now there are trenches and fortifications in which your troops will actually get in these areas and you can see that because they will deploy along the edges of these areas and will not be in a line formation. Even still, they can be flanked. So, for the vast majority of the battles, troops get cover bonuses for being deployed in terrain, whether that be in corn fields, forests, towns, etc., however, the unit still is vulnerable and can be flanked. Doesn't matter where they are, if your troops are in line formation even in the middle of a town, they are still vulnerable to flanking. If they are in entrenchments they can still be flanked. That is just the way the game works. It's a simulation, so you just have to go with the flow. Mind you flanking is a very bad situation to be in. If you get the "Flanked!" warning, you have to determine if the position is really worth holding. Most times, all you have to do is hit the "fall back" button and the brigade will move out of danger, and a lot of times they only have to move a tad to keep from being flanked. Good luck with your gaming!

Played Shiloh on MG, took Pittsburgh Landing and held it (with timer run out and a check in the victory condition at the top right). Ended in victory and returned to Camp. Not sure what problem you are encountering but it works as advertised for me.

Nope. You select the unit with the left mouse and then right click on the target, which is the same as movement. This is why if you give an artillery unit a target and don't actually click on the target, but the ground near it, it will move to that position. The artillery will move to close on your target if it is out of range. As I say, the best way to know if the artillery is properly targeted is visually, as you will see a red line from the battery to the target. It also should be born in mind that the reason a lot of your troops "wonder off" is because you select your brigade and they right click on the target. The brigade will continue to try to shoot that target, even if it retreats. The best way to target enemy brigades is to left click on your brigade and then you will see a line in the direction of its target. If you are not in range, you will see a mostly red line with part orange closest to your brigade. Note where the orange ends and the red begins (the orange indicates how far out of range you are), then move your brigade to that point and it should begin firing on your target. Skirmishers and skirmish cavalry, OTOH, will only fire once if you select the target and then they will retreat. So if you want them to keep firing, most of the times, you have to keep selecting them and targeting. Charge cavalry will move to engage in melee if you left click on them and then right click on an enemy.

Ah! Good news concerning the logistics perk! As for the CSA Campaign, I can play the Legendary campaign if I want, but it has been so long since I played the CSA I would want to start at a lower level than Legendary first just to get re-acquainted with the campaign and its battles.

I believe it is a glitch actually that few will encounter. Where it came in handy for me was in the multi-day battles because I could just store away supplies and forget about them and not be tempted to use the money on weapons or veterans. As such, a player can essentially do the same thing by just having a reserve of money when he goes into multi-day battles because you are given opportunities to return to your camp. At that point if a Corps has used up it's supply you can pump it back up if you have the money on hand. That is essentially what I was doing, taking supplies from one Corp and moving them to others. As for play ability sake, IMO, it is far more important to get the logistics perk for Corps Commanders working correctly. I think the Developers are hot on fixing that so I would expect a patch sooner rather than later.

Thanks! Doubt if I will embark on a CSA Legendary Campaign. It's been a long time since I played my CS Brigadier General Campaign and I do believe to get to Legendary you need to start from there and move forward. So it would require me to play a BG Campaign first, followed by at least a half way run through on MG, before I would have the confidence to do a Legendary one. That is a lot of time... The thought has crossed my mind though...

I checked my saves and before Shiloh I could only put a maximum of 35,000 supplies in my 2 Corps. After Shiloh, I was able to get 1st Corps up to 35,000 and 2nd Corps up to 70,000. I tried bringing up 2nd Corps first, as 1st Corps was less than 35,000, thinking that perhaps the first Corps to reach 35,000 was capped. But no, 2nd Corps went right past 35,000 and when I went to 1st Corps once again it would go no higher than 35,000. I checked before Gaines Mill, when I had a 3rd Corps and it was also capped at 35,000 and in a later save when I had a 4th Corps it was also capped at 35,000. So overall, for some reason, 3 of my Corps were capped at 35,000 supply and 2nd Corps could take up to 70,000 supplies. Thus the reason why I recommended using 2nd Corps as the spearhead as I could bring 2 supply wagons and a great deal more than 35,000 supply.

Maybe something particular to my game. It allows me to have more than 35,000 and gives me a second wagon. It also was something I could invest in and then forget about instead of using the money for re-reinforcements. The point, of course, is to have extra money in multi-day battles so you can replenish Corps supplies. The artillery thing works quite well, especially if you have a plan of attack at the start of the battle. If you know you are going to attack their right flank, you set-up those batteries there to support the attack, and when you are able to push them back, the artillery doesn't have to move far to set-up to fire from a flanking position down the main battle line of the enemy. Good luck!

Regarding supply, I believe only first Corps is limited to 35,000 and therefore only 1 wagon. If you looking at my second Corps at Richmond, you will see it has 52,403. That is why you get 2 supply wagons. As for artillery, while I agree that the less time a battery spends moving the more time it can deal damage, I look at long range artillery in a slightly different manner. Long range artillery has the ability to be what folks call a "force multiplier." That is, when properly used, the effect of it's fire is far more effective tactically than the damage it deals, if it is in a position to break enemy units. This is known as the "critical" point of the battlefield. The range of the 20 pdr Parrot allows you to set it up in positions where you can get "flanking" bonuses which will cause the target to break quicker and thus reduce their morale and overall efficiency. When you are on the attack, you win by rapidly breaking the morale of your enemy at the critical point of attack, not by destroying them. Once you have broken your enemy, you just walk up, shoot them in the face and ... game over. BTW: A comment on my Richmond video stated that I was elected President after the war and that only happens if you win every battle. Didn't notice that.

I put together a rather lengthy "lessons learned" for playing the Union on Legendary: General Know the time limits of your battle. You can find these either by playing custom or historical battles or watching a youtube video. Maintain battle lines and protect your flanks with skirmishers Use roads for rapid movement Keep your general close to your forces Build up a reserve of high ranking officers (Colonel or above). This should happen naturally as wounded officers return to the officer pool. Multi-day battles Have spare commanders who you can use to replaced wounded or dead officers when you have the chance to return to camp. Have spare money or supplies you can transfer to another Corps if necessary. Build up 3 Corps with a minimum of 35,000 in supply. Then boost 2nd Corps to somewhere around 45,000. Commanders can be replaced (if they are in Reserve) when you return to Camp in a multi-day battle, just as supplies can be shifted from one Corps to another. Infantry Support your infantry with artillery. Do not leave them behind when advancing. In fact, the opposite holds true, move them up first before advancing your infantry. When charged, if you have a nice battle line, have the brigade that is charged fall back so that multiple units will fire on the charging unit. This is a critical skill to learn. When “flanked” do not move the unit... have it fall back until they are no longer flanked. A flanked unit that turns it's back on the enemy due to a movement order will break almost immediately if it is also under fire from the front. Have reserve units which you can swap with heavily engaged brigades during the battle so that reinforcement in the Camp will not require a huge investment of money. When swapping out brigades on the battle line, do not wait for the new brigade to take its place on the battle line before ordering the other to fall back. As the new brigade gets close to the line order the brigade in the battle line to fall back, thus avoiding a merging of the two brigades (which makes it difficult to figure out who is who) and causing adjacent brigades to start shifting about and throwing your battle line into chaos. Use the “run” order sparingly and over short distances. If they have to run long distances to get to a critical area of the battle, they will arrive exhausted and be of little use. When you have the enemy on the run, press them hard so they cannot recover their morale even if they become exhausted. When flanking an enemy do not order brigades to go all around the battle line to take a position at the end. Shift your brigades sideways and open up a slot for the new brigade to fill to maintain the battle line. When charging a fortification, use at least 2 brigades to assault each specific location. A third unit should be placed directly behind them so as to be able to fire into the melee in support. Using 2nd Corps as your primary fighting Corps is a good idea because if you have more than 35,000 in supply, you will have 2 ammo wagons on the field of battle. Do not give untried recruits good weapons. Set parameters for who gets what. My parameters were 25-30 efficiency before they got a better weapon than the stock Springfield. I also set 40 as the minimum efficiency level to give very good weapons to my brigades. Don't go crazy trying to build super elite infantry as the Union. A 2 star brigade with 50 efficiency is good enough. Don't waste money on veterans to keep them higher. Re-enforce your okay brigades with veterans first. You want to build an army that is good overall so when you have the chance with say a brigade with 28 efficiency, give them veterans so they can maintain that level. When re-enforcing more veteran brigades, re-enforce the brigades which require the least amount of investment first. Set your parameters and then see if you can do so with just recruits. If not add a few veterans and then pump them with recruits. Remember that in most battles the 1st and 2nd Divisions will bear the brunt of the fighting. Build up 2 strong Corps with good veterans in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd divisions. The fourth division should be okay troops and many times they don't even make it into the battle. Artillery You want 2 types of artillery: close and long range support. In the beginning use 10 pdr Ordnance for long range support, they are plentiful and cheap. The 6 pdr Field gun is fine to start with as a close support weapon. Watch your reputation for 24 pdr Howitzers and buy them at every opportunity at the beginning of your campaign. They are the gold standard for close support artillery. Later in the campaign you will have the opportunity to buy 20 pdr Parrots with your reputation... buy every gun you can get your hands on. Towards the end of my campaign, my artillery was mainly 20 pdr Parrots, 24 pdr Howitzers and 10 pdr Ordnance, in that order. When you get good guns, give them to experienced artillery brigades and start new brigades with the other weapons. Always remember when re-enforcing your army after a battle to check to see if any artillery brigades took casualties. In the Camp phase, when I began re-enforcing my army, I always started with the artillery and they almost always were given veterans. Use good officers right from the beginning when you start a new artillery brigade. Good artillery brigades will increase efficiency faster than the officer who commands them. So, you should put at least a good Colonel, if not a low grade Brigadier to command new batteries. In battle, keep your close support artillery right behind your infantry so that they can fire canister at any charging Confederates. They need to be close enough to support but far enough away to let your infantry brigade fall back a bit, if necessary, so as to get multiple units firing on the charging brigade. Long range artillery needs to be placed on the “hinges” of the battle. To be truly effective they should be firing into the flanks of the enemy. So if you are attacking their flank, first have them in a position where they can fire into the flank of the enemy opposing your infantry's flanking attack. Once you have turned the flank, place them so they can fire into the flanks of the enemy's main battle line. The correct use of Long Range Support artillery needs practice and experience but if they are just firing at units at your front, you are using them incorrectly. Very experienced Long Range artillery is quite good at counter-battery, nevertheless, it takes time to destroy an enemy artillery battery with counter-battery. Engage in counter-battery only if you have no other unit which is presenting its flank. Skirmishers When you run into or are attacked directly by enemy artillery, always send out skirmishers in defense. Skirmishers are the number one way of killing artillery. If your battle line does not provide adequate coverage of the map, place skirmishers on your flanks. Two units is a minimum, I prefer 3. By putting skirmishers on your flanks you avoid nasty surprising attacks on your flanks. When entering a forested area with your main army, send a line of skirmishers ahead to scout for you. Once you have the battle “controlled” use skirmishers to clear areas of the map that you have not seen that could possibly be occupied by enemy forces. When flanking an enemy, use skirmishers to get into the rear of the enemy. They move fast and are capable of routing enemy artillery batteries and capturing supplies. Do not expect a skirmisher unit to do a lot of thinking. Spread them out in lines and when a target presents itself, “rope them” and order them to attack. Expect that they will attack one time and then fall back. If the skirmishers are in the enemy rear or flank, it is worth micro-managing these troops. So expect to be constantly placing them in a line position and then ordering them to attack. You want to first put them into a line position (or close to it) because when you order them to attack you do not want one unit to block another from firing. If you are outflanked, the fastest way to stabilize the situation is to send skirmishers because of the speed of their movement. When an enemy brigade routs, if the area is clear, send out a skirmisher unit or two to keep firing on the routed brigade. I have totally eliminated enemy brigades who routed with 3 skirmisher units. Use skirmisher units to “push” routed brigades in a direction which is advantageous to you. When surrounding the enemy, many times the fastest way to close the trap is by using skirmisher units due to their speed. When you order a brigade to send out skirmishers and they are in the battle line, order the skirmishers to fall back first, or they will be shot in the back and rout. Cavalry and specialized skirmisher units While these units have utility on the battlefield, remember they have their own way of maneuvering and singly you must control them continuously. Do not expect these troops to work miracles. The best way I found to control Cavalry and specialized skirmisher units is by creating a dedicated division for them and use their division tab to select them all and move them as a group. Expect them to fight just like regular skirmishers, therefore, expect that you must be constantly forming them up and giving them attack orders. If you run the game at half speed or pause the game during battles, these units can be devastating, but if you are letting the battle play out in real time, I found the amount of micromanagement they needed was not worth the effort and regularly skirmishers were just as effective from a tactical point of view with the difference being you can always order your brigade skirmishers to return to their unit and concentrate on winning the battle. Overall The main task of playing the Union is to destroy the enemy. Seek to capture as many troops as possible. Attempt to surround and destroy the entire force whenever possible.

With 122,000 men and 265 guns there was no doubt in my mind that the Battle of Richmond would end in victory. My play is a bit sloppy though, as this has been a long campaign, capped by a long battle. Nevertheless... Victory. Richmond, Part 1: Richmond, Part 2:

The Confederates attack me at Georgia Railroad and suffer terrible casualties. We have been ordered to move on Richmond and end the war...

At Harrison's Creek you wait for your cavalry to arrive behind the Confederate line and then out flank them. I then proceed to surround the rebs and destroy their army. Harrison's Creek: I went into Harrision's Creek with 103,000 men and casualties brought my army down to 95,000 with 20,000 in reinforcements. Looks like I will have somewhere around 120,000 men for my attack on Richmond.

Mule Shoe is a really tough battle. I went to the individual battles and played it several times there before I played it for my campaign. In the end I surround the rebel army, however, I got too greedy trying to capture a number of regiments and a bunch of them survived. Mule Shoe: At Cold Harbor I attack the right flank of the rebs. In retrospect I believe one could annihilate the rebs at this battle, but I set-up the overall attack poorly. Victory, nevertheless. My army was now 90,000 strong. Cold Harbor: A double envelopment at Cold Harbor encircles the Reb army and I crush them: Only 3 battles left now in my campaign and my army will soon be over 100,000 men.

Here is an update on my battle results since Gettysburg: Battle US Losses CS Losses K/D Ratio Bayou Forche 4,127/03 19,029/66 4.61 Chickamauga* 16,409/07 44,508/112 2.71 Brock Road 11,847/05 44,389/130 3.74 Mule Shoe 15,808/06 49,563/150 3.13 Cold Harbor* 6,240/00 17,826/14 2.85 Fort Stevens 8,016/34 36,187/120 4.51 Totals 257,301/144 802,099/1,764 3.12 Prisoners - 30,375 * = Grand Battle Even after the reset in quality of the Rebel army after Gettysburg, it appears my army is now too overpowering to be stopped. The recent battles after Gettysburg have been shattering to the Confederate cause. At Cold Harbor/Port Stevens I had 90,000 men and 277 guns. My army presently consists of 41 Infantry brigades (27 2 stars and 14 1 stars), 23 artillery brigades (9 3 stars, 5 2 stars, 6 1 stars and 3 recruit), and 5 brigades of 1 star cavalry. The campaign for Richmond has begun. I'll post the videos of the Battles of Mule Shoe, Cold Harbor and Fort Stevens tomorrow.

Darn! Wish I had known that...

The Battle of Brock Road starts with a Confederate attack and an artillery duel. When it is over, I surround the Rebs and wipe them out. The South losses 44,389 men to my 11,847 men (a 3.75 K/D Ratio) and does not field a single unit higher than 2 stars. When the battle is over, 2 more of my artillery batteries earn their 3rd star bringing me to 6 in total.

With the Confederates surrounded and on the verge of annihilation at Chickamauga, I make two blunders, which combined allowed a lot of rebs to fight another day. The first blunder I make is to leave 2 of my supply wagons too far away to resupply my artillery when I really needed it. And the second blunder was to accidentally "capture" the 2nd objective and start the count down timer to end the battle. Once I realize I have captured the objective... and that took me way to long to recognize... and with my artillery crying out for ammo, I was forced to push my infantry hard into the encirclement to try to kill as many as I could. By doing so... I took a lot more casualties than necessary. Still... I killed 44,508 rebs to my 16,409, a 2.71 K/D ratio and their training fell from 47-52 to 45-50%. You can see this in the battle, as the Confederates now have around half 3 star units and half 2 or 1 star units, with one brigade actually having to no stars. Ominously, for the first time that I can remember, their armory went up from 50-55% to 51-56%. So I am taking down their quality efficiency wise but they appear to have had a bump in better weapons. Chickamauga:

Unfortunately, I failed to start the video for the Battle of Bayou Fourche where I wiped out the Rebs who lost 19,029 men to my 4,127. So instead, I made a video on how I prepared for the battle and talked the viewer through how I fought it. I also take the opportunity to explain how I set up my forces for Chickamauga and how I view my efforts after these last few battles and how I interpret what to expect as the campaign continues. I expect to have the video of Chickamauga tomorrow.

Well done, mate! Keep up the good work. BTW... I think most folks who are "veterans" of the game have played the various battles numerous times, so don't worry if you lose the first time around.