Inaugural Challenge FoF AAR

[Kingmaker]

HiHi

Turn 8 onwards cont.

Following on in the Eastern theatre after the Battle of Grafton the idea was to reunite ANV & Magruder in Fredericksburg. Magruder is looking a bit vulnerable stuck in Cumberland following the failure of 2nd Corps to trigger its support into Shenandoah.

So I issue instructions to Peninsular div to force march out Cumberland and into Shenandoah where it may catch the small fed div in Franklin trying to attempt a cheeky occupation of an empty Reb province. ANV I swing (due to Mountain terrain factors in Franklin & Shenandoah) through Cumberland and down to Fredericksburg as Cumberland is Reb Red if feds try intercepting although only 50,000 ANV will have both the terrain & Fort Hill bonuses so should be OK. Prices 2nd Corps will move by Rail to Knoxville to boot out some overly adventurous feds and then return to Abingdon while awaiting the consolidation of the ‘Army of Tennessee’ (AoT).

This process is underway in Georgia where J E Johnstons tiny AoT consisting of the Augusta GA grs is trying to rendezvous with Lees 2nd Corps.

Well most of the above went reasonably well (as its now Dec and winter weather, hence Magruders forced march [still no guarantee of movement] I am using the railway network as much as pos), ANV returned to winter quarters in Fredericksburg where its on the Railway, 2nd corps duely shovelled feds back to Appalachia, but somehow despite ANV passing through Cumberland Magruder got caught in Cumberland and was ignominiously bundled out, he later rejoins ANV in Fredericksburg where the army is being reorganised, I disband some bgds to fill out the ranks of established Bgds and move the bulk of the Independent Bgds into div containers, one really pleasing thing about the invasion of Maryland is that during the course of the battles ANV has undertaken the Lincoln administration has virtually rearmed ANV with superior weapons namely Minie & Springfield rifles, I now only have 2 Bgds with Improvised weapons, and the 63,000 strong ANV now has its logistical staff trained up to excellent, so hopefully no supply problems this winter (i.e. very low attrition).

The heavy investment in railways is paying dividends now and with still more being built I can move a fair amount of small/medium units around. This is what I now do in the centre, Lees 3rd Corps Richmond in Athens I split, pushing Lee with just Jacksons div by rail to the Cumberland Gap where Feds 20th div under Lyons are still loitering, Braggs Pensacola div waits on AoT to move up by rail.

Meanwhile in Cumberland Fed forces lay siege to fort Hill, and it falls surprisingly quickly, with all the defensive attributes, the 42 pdr guns + 3 Inf Bgds I expected it to stand a turn a 2 (maybe even sending ANV back in to take advantage of the Defensive bonus etc), but it went down in 1 turn, I have never used the ‘Normal siege’ engineering order before Alasdair did and it paid off with a very quick resolution albeit a costly one, (see Screenshot), I on the other-hand lost 3 small poorly armed Bgds, and Cumberland province is once again under the thumb of the fed invaders.



Making the best possible use of the Railways during the winter months I am setting up for action come the 1st week of Feb when Winter Weather ceases and movement returns to its normal (chaotic) rates. To this end I slim down MSG to just its 2 Cav Bgds under Hodge & Stuart (there for his ‘fair’ Cavalry rating) and move them by rail out West. I give both Bgds a ‘Quality horses’ attribute which will increase their movement capabilities. The idea is to slip them across the Missouri or Ohio rivers to rampage behind the fed lines out West, in conjunction with Hardees small Div, already hopefully north of the Missouri in Little Dixie both divs will attempt to strike at any undefended Fed cities and cause as much economic chaos as possible + hopefully creating lots of Unrest in the process, and gaining me + National Will for captured cities (again aimed at the April population boost).

Johnstons AoT, now augmented with Bragg div I move by rail to Abingdon where 2nd corps will join it, Bragg moving into 2nd Corps under Prices direct command, AoT now stands at c34,000, and come spring stands ready to move northeast in support of ANV, west to the Cumberland gap/support AoW, or launch it’s own offensive into Kentucky via Appalachia, or towards the Ohio river region via Kenawha. This all just leaves me enough Rail movement points to push Lees 8,000 strong 3rd corps by rail into Bowling Green (Lyons fed 20th has I think moved north towards the Frankfort/Lexington region).

With the beginning of Feb I am able to move Lees 3rd Corps by foot back to the Cumberland gap to be reinforced from Ft Donelson &Nashville grs and in the same turn move back to the newly conquered Bowling Green, Hodges MSG cav div will move from fed owned West Ohio river where it was stopped last turn and move via Vandalia on Springfield the undefended state capital of Illinois. With 30 Rail movement points I have enough to move Johnstons AoT by rail via Shenandoah to join ANV in Fredericksburg, the combined forces there will be well over 90,000; Lincoln are you watching!?

To tidy up a few administrative Bits & bobs, I have spent a fair amount on upgrading various Coast/River forts ether with defensive attributes or improved armaments, below is a City list showing Reb builds underway.



On the diplomatic front the signs are from the Political report below show that I may just be edging ahead. It also shows that Bobbie Lee was successful in his invasion of Bowling Green and that the impressment in Jefferson City was also a success.



And finally tonights prospective Holiday destination is Sultry Savannah where the situation map in the top left hand corner shows the Reb Red enclaves along the Missouri out West, & Grafton in the East



And That I think pulls the Eastern & Central theatres into line with ‘Out West’.

All the Best
Peter