American Civil War (McMonkey vs Techumseh)

[techumseh]

]

[McMonkey]

In fighting around Mobile seven regiments of CSA Conscripts and one of Cavalry are destroyed for the loss of one US Conscript regiment and two Heavy Artillery.

In north-east Alabama the battle of Scottsboro begins after a long buildup. In this set piece battle the Rebels lose seven regiments of Conscripts, two of Volunteers, one of Militia and three Cannon Batteries. The Federal army loses a total of thirteen Heavy Artillery.



Crossing the border back into Tennessee the Federal Army led by General McPherson launches an attack on Chattanooga. Three Rebel Conscript regiments, one Militia, one Cavalry, one Cannon Battery and a General are wiped out for the loss of three Heavy Artillery, five Conscript regiments and a regiment of the Iron Brigade. The city and its important rail connections are now in Union hands. In the mopping up operations after the capture of the city three Irregular units and a regiment of CSA Cavalry are destroyed for the loss of three US Conscript regiments.

Out west Madison and Milwaukee are recaptured from the Sioux.

In the eastern theatre Morehead City falls to the Federal army after a short engagement. One CSA Conscript and one Militia regiment are forced to surrender. In the harbour is a CSN Ironclad which is scuttled before the Federal forces can capture her.

On the road to Wilmington three CSA Conscript regiments are destroyed for the loss of one US Conscript regiment.

The Union now holds twelve objectives, enough for a marginal victory at the end of the game. The top generals urge caution, lest the Rebels launch one last counter-attack to force a stalemate. However Lincoln is desperate for his generals to gain a decisive victory!

[techumseh]

Confederate forces counter-attacked yankee invaders at Chattanooga, inflicting heavy casualties, but failing to retake the city. 2 Union artillery, 2 infantry and a rgt of the Iron Brigade were destroyed or captured.

2 Union infantry rgts were routed at Raleigh crossing in Virginia, and 3 infantry plus a Union general were captured in skirmishes around Mobile.

[McMonkey]

Chattanooga was held by one Conscript regiment down to less than a quarter strength! However I doubt the Rebels could have held onto it for long as there was still a considerable part of the Army of Tennessee was coming up to the city. These reinforcements captured the two Rebel Generals outside the city as well as an Irregular unit.

Pushing south from Chattanooga on the rail-road line to Atlanta the Federal Army fights a sharp engagement with Rebel troops in a strong defensive position on a hill overlooking a river. A Rebel Conscript Regiment, a Cavalry Regiment and a Cannon Battery are destroyed for the loss of three Heavy Artillery and a Veteran Conscript Regiment. Checking the rest of the line is clear of Rebel troops the Union troops take up position on this high ground and dig in.



Outside Mobile a Rebel Cavalry Regiment is destroyed. Seeing the large army poised to attack the city next month the Federal troops fortify the town as reinforcements from Key West arrive.

Out west two Indian Cavalry units on the road to Fort Smith are destroyed. Even further west the Federal Army begins a major offensive aimed at pacifying the Sioux. Several Sioux warbands are wiped out.

In the eastern theatre the Federal Army has a major stroke of luck. Attempting to clear the rail-road between Petersburg and Raleigh two Union Generals lead an attack on the western blocking force. Two Regiments of Hampton's Legion and three Regiments of CSA Conscripts are destroyed for the loss of three Heavy Artillery. Leading these troops is the famous Rebel General JEB Stuart who is regretfully killed in battle.



North-east if Wilmington a Rebel Conscript Regiment in good defensive terrain is rooted out with the loss of one Heavy Artillery and a USN Warship which hits a mine when coming in close to bombard the Rebs

The way now cleared the Federal Army of General Meade takes Wilmington North Carolina. Rebel losses are two Conscript Regiments, one of Militia and four Irregular units. Meade's army looses four Heavy Artillery. Cavalry scouting to the south-west spot a medium size Rebel force which includes at least one Regiment of Hampton's Legion. The Federal Army takes up strong defensive positions on the River line to the west of Wilmington.

[techumseh]

General William Tecumseh Sherman has abandoned Mobile and begun his "march to the sea". But instead of heading to Savannah and the support of the Union fleet, he is heading through trackless forests and swamps, heading for an empty beach guarded by the Confederate navy. It's a bitter fate for the Union's best general, but as he once said, "War is all hell, boys."




Mobile has been recaptured by the rebel army, with one understrength yankee regt captured. Meanwhile, the Union fleet in Mobile Bay (2 warships and 1 frigate) has been destroyed by the Confederate navy.




Lots of backing and filling and entrenching on other fronts.

[McMonkey]

Sherman had calculated that the sizeable Rebel force north of Mobile would be able to launch an all out assault on the city which would have decimated, or possibly destroyed, his army. Deciding that discretion is the better part of valour he decided to abandon the city and retreat to a safe distance to reassess the situation! Jacksons counter-attack on Meridian has certainly paid dividends!

[McMonkey]

The CSN Ironclad in Mobile Bay is sunk by US Warships. General Sherman attacks the Rebel Regiments sent out to confront his army. Two Conscript Regiments and one of Volunteers is destroyed.

In the east one Regiment of Conscripts east of Raleigh cleared from the high ground overlooking the railroad. The last large group of Rebels cut off behind Federal lines is destroyed. Three Volunteer Regiments and two of Conscripts destroyed.

In Tennessee General McPherson leads a successful assault on Knoxville. On route to the city two Rebel Conscript Regiments are destroyed and many Slaves are freed. Some of these former Slaves volunteer to work on the reconstruction of the railroads whilst others volunteer for service in the Union Army. During the attack on Knoxville a local Militia unit and a Regiment of Rebel Conscripts are destroyed. During the campaign two Heavy Artillery and a US Conscript Regiment are lost.

[techumseh]

Confederate Army units under the command of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest have killed and captured the remnants of the Army of the Ohio and captured it's commanders, including Gen. W. T. Sherman and Gen. W. S. Rosecrans. In a last desperate battle in a cotton field south west of Mobile, Confederate forces destroyed 3 rgts of infantry and one Iron Brigade rgt, in addition to the capture of 3 Union generals, including Sherman and Rosecrans.

President Jefferson Techdavis has declared a national day of celebration and thanksgiving. He has awarded Generals Jackson and Forrest the National Medal of Doing a Good Job. "The yankee Army of the Ohio has been completely wiped out. On to Washington!", said the President.

Reconstruction work in the city of Mobile has begun, after it suffered much damage at the hands of Gen. Sherman and his troops. "It's a good thing this guy didn't get into a place like Atlanta," said an editorial in the Mobile Enslaver.

[McMonkey]

It looks like the relief column from Tupelo set off too late to rescue General Sherman's Army. Too many good men have been lost. This damn war must end soon, surely!

Fighting in thick snow Federal troops overwhelm the Rebel Army to the west of Raleigh. Eight Rebel Conscript Regiments and two Regiments of Hampton's Legion are destroyed for the loss of nine Heavy Artillery and a Regiment of Conscripts.

West of Knoxville the Rebel Conscript Regiment guarding the mountain pass is destroyed. This allows reinforcements to reach Knoxville via a more direct route and then push on west.

[techumseh]

General Stonewall Jackson is reorganizing the Confederate armies of the west, following his victory over Gen. Sherman and the the Army of the Ohio. In skirmishing south of Tupelo and north of Grenada, 3 yankee militia and 2 conscripts are captured or routed.

[techumseh]

dp

[McMonkey]

St Paul recaptured. North-east of Fort Smith one CSA Conscript Regiment and three Indian units are destroyed for the loss of two Heavy Artillery. One CSA Conscript Regiment destroyed south-east of Danville as well as two Regiments south-east of Greensboro for the loss of two Heavy Artillery. South-west of Tupelo a CSA Conscript Regiment is lost for the loss of two US Conscript Regiments.

[techumseh]

It's February, and winter is ending. Now is the last campaign season of this long war. There is little action, as both sides prepare for the final struggle. Two yankee militia rgts are captured along the Mississippi, south of Memphis.

[McMonkey]

General Schofield launches his campaign into Georgia. On the road to Atlanta two regiments of CSA Infantry and a Cannon battery are destroyed for the loss of four US Heavy Artillery. After an initial bombardment of Atlanta General Schofield gets the impression the city is not held in any great strength. A massive bombardment by Union Heavy Artillery is followed in by an Infantry charge led by Schofield himself. The Rebels lose eight regiments of Infantry, two of Militia and three Irregular units. Union losses amount to six Heavy Artillery and three regiments of Infantry. Georgia now lies open to an advance by the Federal Army in several directions.

Elsewhere a CSA Infantry Regiment is destroyed on high ground south-west of Greensboro for the loss of a Heavy Artillery unit.

[techumseh]

ATLANTA REGAINED!

Schofield surrenders the Army of the Tennessee

GREATEST YANKEE DEFEAT SINCE MOBILE!

The Union Army of the Tennessee, under the command of General Schofield, has been destroyed at Atlanta. Confederate forces, led by Generals Generic P Calhoun and Generic Q Pierpoint, stormed back into Atlanta, forcing the surrender of Gen. Schofield's army in and about the city. 10 regiments were surrendered to the Confederate generals, including one of freed slaves. A vigourous pursuit followed, with the capture or destruction of an additional infantry regiment and 4 batteries of heavy artillery. Confederate losses are 3 regiments of infantry and a column of irregular cavalry.

Meanwhile, in Arkansas, Cherokee mounted infantry has captured a nameless Union general in the Ozark mountains, while the ironclad Huey Long sank a heavily damaged Union gunboat on the upper Arkansas River.

[McMonkey]

Ouch. Looks like there's still some fight left in the Rebs yet! As commander in chief I did think Schofield was overextending himself but he assured me the Rebels had little left in the area to oppose him once Atlanta was dealt with. I wonder if this was the last available reserve that was thrown in?

[techumseh]

Ouch. Looks like there's still some fight left in the Rebs yet! As commander in chief I did think Schofield was overextending himself but he assured me the Rebels had little left in the area to oppose him once Atlanta was dealt with. I wonder if this was the last available reserve that was thrown in?

We have been routing reinforcements to Atlanta from the time Chattanooga was captured. As for reserves, there's still Stonewall Jackson and the Army of Mississippi.

[McMonkey]

I have encountered a slight problem with the events. I launched my attack on Charlotte and after my initial barrage had weakened the units of Hampton's Legion and killed a few Conscripts and Volunteers I went in to mop up with my veteran Infantry and Generals. Whenever I attack I keep a note of how badly damaged surviving enemy units are so I can plan the order of attack most effectively. There was one HL with a small bit of health in the red and another in the green but damaged. With my Generals I finished off these two units but I was surprised when another full strength Hampton's Legion unit was defending. I continued to press my attack but every time I killed one HL unit another fresh one appeared. I saved the game and then retrieved the CSA save and took a quick peak (being very careful not to look at other troop dispositions) and saw the city was defended by the 7 assorted Infantry plus only two HL. By this point I had destroyed over seven units of Hampton's Legion!

I checked the event and it looks Ok but I guess the delay is not working. There must be a way to get around this. I'm sure you would be happy to have an immortal unit blocking the Federal Army but I'm afraid that just isn't cricket

What do you think the best course of action is Tech? Luckily I make regular saves as I play my turns so I won't have to replay very much. There are no battles, bar Charlotte that will have to be re-played.

@IF
UnitKilled
unit=Hampton's Legion
attacker=Anybody
Defender Only
defender=Confederate States
@THEN
DELAY
randomize
delay=6
CreateUnit
owner=Confederate States
unit=Hampton's Legion
veteran=yes
homecity=None
locations
182,116
192,104
200,108
208,114
221,117
208,128
endlocations
@ENDIF

I will wait for your reply before continuing.

[techumseh]

Interesting. God really is on our side.

How would you feel if in my turn I disbanded the Hampton's Legion units and abandoned the city? That isn't perfect, since you can't exploit in this turn, but it gives you the city. The other possibility is to see if Aggie can do a hex-edit to eliminate those pesky defenders of freedom (to own slaves).

[McMonkey]

Hm, the problem is that you should get them back after the delay and also I wasn't planning to hang around outside Charlotte for another turn! Is it not possible to alter the re-spawning grid reference in the event file to a rear area city (say Houston) and then run the save through the delevent file? Or would this reset all the timers? I'm not so clued up on the mechanics on the events file.

One simple solution would be for me to attack as usual but once the first one is destroyed I would use the cheat mode to disband the re-spawned unit, and then when the second one is destroyed I would do the same again. You could then add them back during your turn (with the six turn delay?). I'm not sure how long it has been taking for my elite units to re-spawn. I wonder if it is just this particular delay event that is not working or all the delay events?

[techumseh]

All the elite unit events have the same structure, so I'm sure they all are misfiring.

I don't know how or if the delevent would work, and I didn't think you could use the cheat menu in a hotseat game. How about accepting the one turn delay and I'll spot you one city for the victory calculations?

Btw, the respawning of the Hampton's Legion occurs at 6 cities, of which you have captured 4. The remaining locations are Charlotte, and if that is captured, Greensboro.

[McMonkey]

You can use the cheat menu in a hotseat game. You just rename the save file from .hot to.sav and load it as a normal game, make the changes and save. Then rename the save back to .hot and load it back up as a hotseat game. With MGE you then need to press Control+J and add back the other human players, but I'm not sure if this is necessary with ToT. The whole process is pretty simple and quick and would be a solution to our problem.

I'm afraid I can't go with your compromise as I have plans to be well beyond Charlotte by the end of my turn (sorry!). I think the best solution would be to attack the city as normal and use the cheat menu to disband each re-spawned unit as they appear. I will also put the two HL units in Greensboro for you this turn (I can place them without going into the city screen and seeing your defences. This seems fair if all of the re-spawning events are misfiring!

I hadn't intended to attack Greensboro this turn, and I won't change my mind just because I know I could block the re-spawning of the HL units. I will just carry on as I intended before the problem arose

I will play the turn now.

[McMonkey]

To keep the mountainous road into Georgia open the Federal Army launches a minor attack against the Rebel troops there. One CSA Infantry and one Cavalry Regiment as well as a damaged General are destroyed or captured for the loss of two Heavy Artillery.



The much anticipated attack on Charlotte goes ahead. Two Regiments of Hampton's Legion, one of Militia, five of Conscripts and one of Volunteers are destroyed. The Federal Army under Generals McClellan and Sheridan lose seven Heavy Artillery and five regiments of veteran Infantry. The toughest defenders were the CSA Volunteers who refused to die quietly and took down three of the US Infantry regiments!



South of Charlotte on the road to Columbia a Rebel Conscript Regiment is destroyed for the loss of on veteran US Infantry.

Columbia, South Carolina falls with relative ease. Two regiments of Rebel Militia are destroyed for the loss of one veteran US Infantry Regiment. Four Irregular units are also destroyed. The Union have captured the Southern Baptists wonder.

EDIT: I used the cheat menu as describe below without a hitch. We may have to use the same method if I attack Greensboro. The only downside is that the Civilization Score page now has the words "CHEAT MENU" in capital red letters

[AGRICOLA]

The TOT manual uses the following sequence of instructions

Delay
delay= number 1 to 1000
Randomize

Dunno if it makes any difference.

[techumseh]

Here is a report of his remarks, made to the Confederate Congress:

"My friends and countrymen. We are about to embark upon the final chapter of our war to protect our sacred way of life from yankee aggression. A mere eight months separates us from the end of this scenario. If we fail, it is not from any lack of skill or courage on our part. Rather it is a deficiency in the design of the scenario itself. For who could forget the great victories in Tennessee, at Mobile, and at Atlanta.

Nor can we forget the tragic and unexpected loss at the Battle of Richmond, which unhinged our entire strategy in the east. It is not our failure that created yankee heavy artillery being far too cheap, but the negligence of the great designer, whose wisdom we cannot begin to fathom.

Many great battles are behind us. Ahead of us lie battles greater still. The Battle for Virginia is lost. The Battle of Alabama has been won. Now we face the Battle for Georgia, our final test. Let us remember what we fight for: Our homes. Our families. The right to enslave other human beings. These are worth fighting, and dying, for.

So let us pick up once again our weapons, and with grim determination, face the yankee invader. Remember that it is nobler to die than to have to do your own work. For freedom, and for slavery, onward!"

[Cyrion]

.
Let us remember what we fight for: Our homes. Our families. The right to enslave other human beings.
...
Remember that it is nobler to die than to have to do your own work. For freedom, and for slavery, onward!"
...

And I'll use this opportunity to tell you I have been avidly following your playtesting reports, checking everyday what happened: what you provide us is not only a thorough playtest, but an excellent read as well!

[McMonkey]

Beautiful oratory. It brought a tear to my eye!

When we have finished we should both publish our memoirs of the war. That should provide some interesting reading and some surprises I think!

[McMonkey]

South of Memphis a CSN River Ironclad is sunk. On the Wilmington to Florence road one regiment of CSA Infantry is destroyed. Florence is taken with two half starved Militia units surrendering after a token resistance. No Irregular units are seen. On the road from Columbia to Atlanta two CSA Infantry Regiments are destroyed. Georgetown is cleared on rebel troops by Naval bombardment. One CSA Infantry Regiment and two of Militia destroyed. The Union army surrounds the city but does not move in for fear of flooding the surrounding swamps with Irregulars. Federal troops clear the road from Charlotte to Columbia of rebel troops. One regiment of Hampton's Legion and two CSA Infantry Regiments destroyed. On the road from Chattanooga to Atlanta McPherson's army keeps up the pressure. Four regiments of CSA Infantry and one of Volunteers destroyed for the loss of three US Heavy Artillery. Augusta is captured, two Militia units are destroyed. The Federal army keeps forgetting about the Irregulars. Three units are destroyed but one is left occupying a strong defensive position



The maps is not of the current front, but I thought it looked really cool!

[techumseh]

Yankee Army Routed! Gen. McPherson captured

Stonewall cheered in Atlanta

General Stonewall Jackson has been given a hero's welcome in Atlanta, prior to his departure northwards, where he met yankee Gen. Thomas' Army of the Cumberland and defeated it completely. Yankee losses were 4 infantry rgts, 1 negro rgt, 2 batteries of heavy artillery, and Gen. McPherson, captured. Southern losses were 3 infantry rgts.

The ever-victorious Army of Mississippi now turns to face it's most formidable foe, the Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of Gen. George McClellan, advancing from the east. May God save us all. Amen.

Prayers also for the crew of the gunboat USS Rielle Hunter, who went down before the guns of the ironclad CSS John Edwards on the Yazoo River.

[McMonkey]

The pass between Charleston West Virginia and Roanoke is cleared of Rebel troops. Two CSA Infantry Regiments are destroyed for the loss of two Heavy Artillery and one Veteran US Infantry Regiment.

South of Chattanooga a CSA Infantry Regiment is destroyed for the loss of one Heavy Artillery. A large number of troops are diverted to this key city to ward off a Rebel attack. Meanwhile to the east of Atlanta a the Union Army of General Meade strengthens its position on the high ground in preparation for an all out assault.

Surrounded by Federal troops Georgetown surrenders. A few Irregulars emerge but they are restricted to poor ground and are easily dealt with.