Legendary Ironman - Confederates

[Aetius]

I've started streaming a Legendary Ironman campaign as the Confederates, including separate videos showing the choices I made in camp.

Legendary is ... unforgiving. I made a serious mistake on Ambush Convoy and lost two artillery units and one cavalry unit, which cost me big and caused a draw on Stay Alert that shouldn't have happened. Shiloh also ended in a draw - my units did ok, but the standard units on the right flank didn't even get close to the Hornet's Nest.

Here's the channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwRYnMw8pyZ6oOf1fow0jQ

And the first video, Potomac Fort, which took me about six tries to win.

 

[Col_Kelly]

Great to finally see the hardes level played on youtube, best of luck to you !

PS : there are a few spoilers on ur battle results in your introduction text which is a bit too bad imo.

[Lillibullero]

subbed 

[JonnyH13]

A good hint for you.  It is possible to advance game phases without capturing a position or having a timer expire by moving troops to certain parts of the map, most likely the enemy rear of that map phase.  You can completely bypass the hornets nest at Shiloh with this method.  I do not think this method is a bug as it is logical that if you get bypass the hornets nest and hit the map edge of that phase, you should be able to continue your attack on Pittsburg landing.  This may also apply to other maps as well though I have not tested.   

Another tip though this is arguably a bug is that you can send troops between connecting phases.  When the phase on one part of the map ends and you have troops at the map edge (the flag must be over the map border for this to work and the map borders must line up), the troops will transfer over.  I have done this at Shiloh and it is quite nice to have an extra 2 or 3 brigades helping Bragg out and flanking the hornets nest.  

Invest in sharpshooters.  They do wonders when appropriately experienced.

[Col_Kelly]

Most importantly your infantry brigades are too weak (not one above 30 efficiency after 1st Winchester...). You end u with very expensive specialist unit (melee cav, snipers) who die very quickly in the field. These 'hammer' units can't work properly without a decent anvil (strong line infantry).

I also dont understand why you decide to build a second corps so early since its not needed before Gaine's mill. Its very important sto spam AO early on to end up with the strongest 1st corps you can get. 

Very fun playthrough nonetheless. 

[Aetius]

3 hours ago, JonnyH13 said:

It is possible to advance game phases without capturing a position or having a timer expire by moving troops to certain parts of the map, most likely the enemy rear of that map phase.  You can completely bypass the hornets nest at Shiloh with this method.  I do not think this method is a bug as it is logical that if you get bypass the hornets nest and hit the map edge of that phase, you should be able to continue your attack on Pittsburg landing.  This may also apply to other maps as well though I have not tested.

I suspect it is a bug, but I would take it in Legendary. You think push most of my troops up the left side? Or try to swing around the right? I made a weak push on the right, but there were a lot of troops there - not sure I could actually make that happen.

2 hours ago, Col_Kelly said:

Most importantly your infantry brigades are too weak (not one above 30 efficiency after 1st Winchester...). You end u with very expensive specialist unit (melee cav, snipers) who die very quickly in the field. These 'hammer' units can't work properly without a decent anvil (strong line infantry).

I made a conscious decision to avoid the use of Veterans because they are so expensive. I could definitely revisit that, especially given the weapon constraints, which are much tighter than I expected - I've spent a lot of money on replacement guns that I might not have needed if my infantry units were better.

2 hours ago, Col_Kelly said:

I also dont understand why you decide to build a second corps so early since its not needed before Gaine's mill. Its very important sto spam AO early on to end up with the strongest 1st corps you can get.

This was also a trade-off - I chose to focus on Politics in order to get more recruits (and cash). I built II Corps as a place to put units due to the AO constraints on I Corps, so I could swap out units for different missions. It's definitely possible that was a bad decision.

[Col_Kelly]

Also one quick tip to avoid 'electric sliding' as you call it is to press the hold button this way you can have unit overlapping without pushing each other out of position. Nice job at Cross Keys btw I thought you'd get absolutely destroyed there (on hard I almost retreat all the time from this battle) but u did a great job at holding them off.

[Aetius]

Thanks - I think I benefited greatly from the cover hotfix. I've tried using Hold, and it works well when you don't need to shift to avoid getting flanked. I definitely could have used it more there, especially on the center brigade. Of course, what I really want is to be able to give that order to my troops myself, so I can have them sidle sideways into line.

[Aetius]

And sadly, this run has come to an end.

My expectations were that I would be low on manpower and cash, so I focused on Politics. As it turned out, my biggest constraint was weapon availability - there were numerous times where the weapons to re-equip a brigade simply were not there, regardless of the amount of money I had. This was exacerbated by unit losses and high casualties. I failed to develop my grenadiers effectively (melee infantry), which cost me big in a couple of battles. My shock cavalry was a highlight - despite several costly mistakes, they were extremely effective. I believe I could have benefited significantly from developing a couple of full-strength skirmisher units for fighting in forests and towns - it would've taken less manpower and their cover bonuses mean they can hold up a brigade or even two for extended periods of time.

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

On 1/14/2017 at 5:19 PM, Aetius said:

I've started streaming a Legendary Ironman campaign as the Confederates, including separate videos showing the choices I made in camp.

Legendary is ... unforgiving. I made a serious mistake on Ambush Convoy and lost two artillery units and one cavalry unit, which cost me big and caused a draw on Stay Alert that shouldn't have happened. Shiloh also ended in a draw - my units did ok, but the standard units on the right flank didn't even get close to the Hornet's Nest.

Here's the channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEwRYnMw8pyZ6oOf1fow0jQ

And the first video, Potomac Fort, which took me about six tries to win.

 

I admire a guy who will show himself getting defeated. Well played. 

[A. P. Hill]

4 hours ago, Andre Bolkonsky said:

I admire a guy who will show himself getting defeated. Well played. 

I guess I should start recording more of my losses and posting them eh? 

[Col_Kelly]

10 hours ago, Aetius said:

And sadly, this run has come to an end.

My expectations were that I would be low on manpower and cash, so I focused on Politics. As it turned out, my biggest constraint was weapon availability - there were numerous times where the weapons to re-equip a brigade simply were not there, regardless of the amount of money I had. This was exacerbated by unit losses and high casualties. I failed to develop my grenadiers effectively (melee infantry), which cost me big in a couple of battles. My shock cavalry was a highlight - despite several costly mistakes, they were extremely effective. I believe I could have benefited significantly from developing a couple of full-strength skirmisher units for fighting in forests and towns - it would've taken less manpower and their cover bonuses mean they can hold up a brigade or even two for extended periods of time.

 

No shame here the blame would be on the game if Legendary could be beaten in one try. I reckon you also learned a ton while getting battered by these awful numbers XD

Imo the costliest mistake was to notgo for elite, strong regiments of line despite being confederate. A 2 star brigade of 2500 men put in cover will do absolute wonders against superior numbers and that's what you end up needing in the late campaign. Your army was small, specialized and trained but in the end it was... too small. That prevented you from maneuvering freely like at Gaine's Mill where u couldnt outflank the Union as much as intended.

[Aetius]

I'm going to try it on the next playthrough. The need for more and better infantry is pretty obvious, but I feel like I never had the weapons to equip them. A 2 star brigade of 2500 men armed with Farmers isn't going to do much good (except as charge breakers, perhaps).

I just finished my first Union run, which was much shorter. They don't even have the Farmer option, and the Distress Call scenario is absurdly difficult - the Confederates get not one but two overstrength shock cavalry units, and they just knock you around like a pro boxer. And don't get me started on Shiloh. It was ... very unexpected that I had to carry Shiloh by myself as the Union, while on the Confederate side my force was half high-quality scenario-provided units. I'm pretty sure that there simply aren't enough men in the Union recruit pool, no matter what, to have a chance - but we'll see when I play it again.

Of the two, I feel the Union campaign is far more difficult on Legendary. This could be because I'm less familiar with the Union campaign, but I don't think it's just that - nasty surprises like the cavalry in Distress Call are far more prevalent, and your units are less able to deal with them.

Union playlist:

 

[sonnypemberton]

I think the union has more difficulty early on and the CSA later...

[miller330i]

Subbed and messages sent. Thanks!

[Col_Kelly]

On 22/01/2017 at 0:20 AM, Aetius said:

 I'm pretty sure that there simply aren't enough men in the Union recruit pool, no matter what, to have a chance - but we'll see when I play it again.

Of the two, I feel the Union campaign is far more difficult on Legendary. This could be because I'm less familiar with the Union campaign, but I don't think it's just that - nasty surprises like the cavalry in Distress Call are far more prevalent, and your units are less able to deal with them.

 

Early Union campaign is indeed pretty hard but late campaign will get much smoother after Shiloh. Antietam will be a great occasion to get revenge for these early struggles.

Don't invest too much in cav / skirmishers. One unit of each until 2nd bull run is pretty fine. Good arty and good lines will carry the day for you up to there. 

You'll get more recruits in later campaign as well. Just be sure to cycle green units in your fighting corps to avoid having 2 strong divisions and then nothing but noobs. DW about weapons limitations, it's better to pay for thousands of 1842's rather than undreds of saber / sniper rifles. Don't hesitate to get as much rifles as possible thru the shop as well. GL

[Wright29]

I learned to be OK with draws on Legendary and to preserve my troops at all cost. Just enough reputation to make it so I don't lose the game as the Union. Ran away hard at Shiloh and only counter-attacked with the Scenario troops. Ambushed Longstreet's reinforcements at 2nd Bull Run. Rebs are still terrible at Antietam. I made it to Fredericksburg with the Union and was just frustrated with the inability to do just about anything at that battle. Stopped after that and did a Confederate campaign on Colonel to make myself feel better.