Session Report: Union Victory (Campaign of The US Civil War, GMT, 2021)

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Wise Guy History

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 25

@losttribe9107 2 жыл бұрын

Must say I love your videos. Outstanding.

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@airborneranger-ret 2 жыл бұрын

I used to love the SPI version of this.

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I keep hearing about it, but never played the SPI version.

@peterschief9778 2 жыл бұрын

War between the States by SPI. I played it over and over in the 1980s but have lost too many pieces

@airborneranger-ret 2 жыл бұрын

@@peterschief9778 I have no idea what happened to mine. Thought it was a decent game

@MichaelCorryFilms 2 жыл бұрын

Is Van Dorn still running around in 1864? Was he not removed by then by the "Leader schedule"?

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

He shouldn't be running around [did you catch a glimpse of him somewhere?]; I think he's removed in 1863. I used my end game situation to demonstrate how cavalry worked, and it's possible I put him back on the map to do this and forgot to remove him again.

@MichaelCorryFilms 2 жыл бұрын

@@WiseGuyHistory Couldn't see him as my resolution wasn't good enough. You just mentioned him against Curtis in the trans-mississippi at the end of the game so I assumed he was still out there. I guess Van Dorn must have moved into the Dr. Peters hex while off camera.

@iamspamus8784 2 жыл бұрын

How did you clear out the Trans-Miss?

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

VERY slowly and carefully; in this second playthrough I focused efforts on close to the Mississippi, and used 2-3 Generals in a coordinated effort to push back Confederate supply links. The Confederates can easily counter out there, so I made it such that if they countered and tried to cut supplies, I could easily push back and cut them off [which happened on a few occasions]. They only get 1 SP out there each turn so I focused on cutting them down quickly; eventually they ran out of troops.

@Brian----- 2 жыл бұрын

Strategy theory: The North has many advantages in this game by methodical play. The first priority is to gain control of West Virginia through Grafton to Charleston, with 4 SP. Add by B&O rail. If this is not done, the South can reinforce Charleston (Virginia) and operate securely from it, and the North must waste (spend disproportional) resources to counter, probably enough to cost the game, not because Charleston is victory by itself but because the time and resources the North has to waste to eject the South will put the North hopelessly behind the clock, while the consequences of ignoring Southern control of it to stay on the clock are unbearable. Once this is done, West Virginia is secure. Now the North has to not lose Missouri or Kentucky. That's easy to achieve. The North need not prioritize complete control of Kentucky, but must quickly securely deny these states' key, most readily Northern controlled areas to the South: more or less everything but Columbus and Bowling Green. The only possible higher priority is to make sure you don't lose Washington, but the South probably isn't building up Northern Virginia for a Washington gamble early because it's a losing game unless the North stupidly fails to add SP to Washington. Once this is done, the North can leverage the navy against Florida, New Orleans, and other coastal targets including three salt resources. Florida is worth 5 VP and 2 salt resources and offers options against Savannah, Mobile, or the navigable Chattahoochee River and its useful front boundary and convenient inland ports connected to Southern rail lines. This new broad front will help undermine concentrated Southern point defenses elsewhere. Once at least established in Florida and able to operate against New Orleans, the North must target Nashville over Bowling Green with an option on the Cumberland River. Nashville pressures Memphis west and Chattanooga, Knoxville, and eventually the last salt resource east. That takes 4 VP for Nashville and threatens 4 VP to the west and east each. You're in the middle, and the South can't do anything about that; you're forcing a structurally inferior force to split in front of you. If the South has wasted resources fortifying Columbus, Kentucky you probably will be able to make him leave and probably won't need to attack it anyway. Target feasible, high value, low defense targets early. Don't dink around in the Ozarks and Shenandoah, worry about the Mississippi River, invade Texas (but do take Brashear City, Louisiana), or attack Charleston, S.C. in one dimension against a point defense, or attack Virginia from the west or coast. Instead, create an option to threaten Savannah, Mobile, and up the Chattahoochee from the sea and a secure Union Florida. Provided Washington is kept safe, Northern Virginia kept honest, and supply lines are kept intact, which often does require SP deployment, the South will not be able to resist such a multi threat Northern advance. Run the South ragged with logistics, make the South guess where to fight you and always be wrong. The North always will have a place to attack on good terms, an option to hit the South where he ain't. Provided you don't lose Washington, every SP sent to Lee is an inert SP that isn't on these other fronts. After all, Lee asked to be let alone. Be careful to stay up to strength in front of him, but otherwise give him what he wants. What about the South? Honestly it's very hard for the South to win if the North is good. The quickest, surest way to win is to deny Northern creation of West Virginia, which is improbable against good early play. Otherwise, be careful not to waste time and resources invading Missouri or Kentucky in force, or defending anything other than against Northern threats to your VPs. Look for places to kill more Yankees than you lose Rebels. Fortify essentials like Chattanooga and New Orleans. Deny the Mississippi from the Trans-Mississippi if it falls; make the North fight you on west of the river to gain control. Defend Chattahoochee and nearby areas with something. Use cavalry to threaten Union supply, draining SPs or ruining it. See if you can grab Washington from a napping Yankee. Comments welcome

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah great response Brian; I've only played two games thus far, but [in my limited experience] I agree with everything you've said here. I also agree with the prioritisation of Nashville. If the Confederates try to defend Bowling Green, they can easily be isolated by the Union move to Nashville. I think I need to develop my Confederate strategy a little better.

@Brian----- 2 жыл бұрын

@@WiseGuyHistory 😁I really enjoy your videos and think you are very skilled. I didn't mean to go full brain dump there, I just had some thoughts and they came to me in an organized way. The one advantage the South has is leadership, at least early. The South must deploy its leaders nimbly in ways that mitigate the army size disadvantage and punish the North for any mistakes. Wasting the North's time and inflicting asymmetric resource drain are keys for the South. I forgot to mention that like the East/West seam along the Chattahoochee, New Orleans also is on the West/TM boundary and Brashear City is the back door. These boundaries can enable flexible movement and invasion options.

@Brian----- 2 жыл бұрын

@@WiseGuyHistory Thanks again - one more thought. It usually is harder for Northern cavalry to cut Southern supply than the other way, but Northern cavalry can operate east of Sparta, Tennessee or south of the Cumberland Gap, and north from Florida/Savannah against the South's ability to rail move.

@WiseGuyHistory 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah I agree again regarding Leadership. In my games thus far I've tried to use that to push through Missouri and Kentucky, then hold those early gains. It just means a little extra for the Union to push back against.

@Brian----- 2 жыл бұрын

@@WiseGuyHistory Your comment yields strategic insight. If the North must first, and without interruption, conquer W. Va. or lose the game - which I do believe to be true - the South gets, at game start, as many moves as it takes the North to do that, to act elsewhere. Typically, this Northern mandate involves occupying Grafton, placing a CM, and then advancing with enough force to Charleston to make resistance futile. The optimal place for Southern response could be Ky. It's hard for the South to project force forward into Mo. in a way that slows the North, but Northern invasion through Ky. toward Nashville and Memphis is inevitable anyway and so some way must be had to impede it. My sense is that early TM actions might best be used to start protecting New Orleans on the front boundary, saving West actions for the West.