Wars in America: A 'how-to' AAR

[Narwhal]

{as an edit/comment here - looking at the image again - I should have left a smallish garrison in Mont Royal and moved Montcalm to block the route to Trois Rivieres - having read this AAR I now realise that corps with Lord Howe is in no way capable of fighting}

That would have been catastrophic, and I was afraid you would, but then I still supposed you would not because :

- You tend to play very cautiously to "gain time"
- My column could have looked like it was "surprised" by winter, as winter just arrived in that province.
- The column looked strong enough from your point of view to be able to win such a battle - even though "winter" hits at the beginning of the next turn process would have actually weakened it considerably
- There was a small chance you would lose Montréal doing this, if my order had been a "coordinated" move toward Montréal : Lord Howe would have been stopped but the force in Trois-Rivières would have arrived in Montréal no problem.

[Narwhal]

Winter 1760 – 1761 (November – February) – The Ice March

I am trying to rush Lord Howe’s corps to Trois-Rivières. My objective is to reach it as soon as possible, so next year I can be active (almost) the full year and not lose 2 months to move into position.

This is January :



In December, I am caught by winter. This is bad, but some more effort is needed :



My troops are not in a good state at this point :




In January, my troops finally reach Trois-Rivières. Here is a summing-up of the army at that point :



Moving Lord Howe’s corps in force might have been an error, as my force is now weakened and actually don’t reinforce much.
Worse, my supply output is not enough to allow my elements to recover strength :



Also in the North, I organize my fleet to be able to blockade the French port in winter :



My fleet is blocked by ice, but I calculated it should hold long enough.

In the South, now, not much more action :

November : my troops moves in the March to liberate Edenton.



More than one month, because the Cherokees attacked the most isolated place in the South.

In January, my troops arrive :



They’ll rest !

February : NOTHING. Even in the South they carry on resting.

[TheExecuter]

Interesting...so, Lord Howe's force was actually too big?!

Had you brought a slightly smaller force, do you think that would have fared better?

The more I read, the more I want...and the more I desire a better computer capable of playing this game...

Curse you!

[ANO1453]

The I read, the more I want to see a French victory

I like to push for the weaker side , when I'm not on the strong side.

[Narwhal]

March – May 1761 – Grinding the French !

In March 1761, I try to trap Loki100.
I noticed that Loki100 has a tendancy to put Montcalm INSIDE the structure in Montréal. I am going to use this fact to “surprise” siege him :


Lord Howe and 5000 men (I took the best units - the "low strength units" will remain in Trois-Rivieres) will rush to Montréal and set a siege while there is no one to defend the province. This is a risky move, so Lord Howe will be in defensive posture (not very useful as he will switch to offensive anyway when he enters enemy territory) and will defend and retreat (ROE) if he meets anything. “Defend and retreat” means he will destroy small groups before he thinks of retreating, but if he meets Montcalm himself he will cut his loses.

I used Lord Howe to reduce the length of the march, but once arrived, Murray and his outstanding defense stats will kick in :

He will use another route, so will arrive first, and he has no less than 6 in defense !

I also move escorted supplies in the province between Montréal and Trois-Rivières :



Why am I taking this risk ? Well, my move on Montréal can have two results :

- Either the move is successful, and my troops will need supply to do the siege. In which case I will build a depot in Joliette (that’s the name in the province) – remember that units can draw supplies from adjacent provinces – most probable case.
- Or the move is not successful, my army will retreat in Joliette – and at least my troops will be able to fortify to stop the French while being sheltered (the following turn), without losing “one turn of fortify” when moving to Trois-Rivières.
I need to build more depot anyway, as I saturated Trois-Rivieres (3 depots) and STILL don’t have enough supplies.

Then April… well, I just destroyed the savefile while manipulating it to do the screenshoots. I am sorry. Long story short :
- Loki100 ordered Montcalm out of the structure, so Lord Howe preferred NOT to fight at all and retreated to Joliette, no loss in strength but the force is exhausted by the march. I am building a depot, but I am under stress : will Montcalm try to follow up ?
- Lord Howe and Roger rangers are sent to Fort saint Frédérick to fetch reinforcements; Murray will lead the troops in defense. I need his 6 in defense.

In May, my army is now well-retrenched in Joliette, so I can afford to move to Quebec with the second part of my army :



The second army is not in a very good state, but I don’t believe the enemy forces are strong enough to try to break such a siege. Yet again, I hope Loki100 will not sortie his troops just before I arrive.

Troops are arriving :



Supplies… Joliette will become a large city soon…

Also, in the South, English marshes are taken back by the English :



I remember it is the last combat in the Deep South… I never caught the Cherokees.

[loki100]

I'll try and catch up tomorrow and will also conflate moves quite a lot

but I hid in Mont Royal for one turn in the hope that the English would take the bait (& it helped speed up reinforcing) ... the only pity was they scuttled off when they realised their mistake

oh ... and no - thats not the last action in the South, nor the last we'll see of my brave Cherokees

[morningSIDEr]

oh ... and no - thats not the last action in the South, nor the last we'll see of my brave Cherokees

That sounds rather promising and I fear it will need to be as things are looking rather grim for France at present. There does appear to still be the odd chance to harm the British forces but they seem well positioned to deal you a grevious blow. Still, I suppose a recovery is still possible, as such I'm eagerly waiting to see how things turn out.

[Stuyvesant]

Sounds pretty dire for New France. Loki, I'm afraid that even your brave (and pyromaniac) Cherokee won't be able to materially affect the outcome now...

But I am always open to surprises.

[loki100]

Interesting...so, Lord Howe's force was actually too big?!

Had you brought a slightly smaller force, do you think that would have fared better?

The more I read, the more I want...and the more I desire a better computer capable of playing this game...

Curse you!

I have to say ... this is a gem of a game, the focus is very directly on manouvre and strategy but its never enough just to grab a block of units and move them around.

I'm doing a SP version of the same scenario, and am in mid-57, and even against the AI its a real challenge, but you can play 6-8 turns in an hour or so.

The I read, the more I want to see a French victory

I like to push for the weaker side , when I'm not on the strong side.

well there will be French victories, Narwhal has yet to lever his advantage to something war winning, as is clear he's a bit caught by needing a very large army to both reduce Quebec and keep Montcalm off his back and to manage his supply situation.

That sounds rather promising and I fear it will need to be as things are looking rather grim for France at present. There does appear to still be the odd chance to harm the British forces but they seem well positioned to deal you a grevious blow. Still, I suppose a recovery is still possible, as such I'm eagerly waiting to see how things turn out.

its grim, but I keep on probing for an opening - its a case of a situation where I just need to get lucky once and the English position will weaken. But a related problem, as we'll see soon enough, is Narwhal has masses of troops south of Lake Ontario too.

Sounds pretty dire for New France. Loki, I'm afraid that even your brave (and pyromaniac) Cherokee won't be able to materially affect the outcome now...

But I am always open to surprises.

The Cherokees take part in the final battles of New France ... and my brave Spanish allies have something to say about the war in the south

[loki100]

Well not much happened from the French perspective in these turns, so I can cover the events fairly quickly (I'll mirror Narwhal's posts for anyone who wants to read across).

January was very quiet, so quiet I took one screenshot ... but it is good news:



that replacement element means I have decent supply at Mont Royal.

February is a bit more active (still one screenshot though)



As you can see the English horde lurks at Trois Rivieres but quite a few of those units are not much of a threat (except to small cute kittens of course). So I decide on a gamble.

I'll put Montcalm into Mont Royal for two reasons.

One I can regain org etc quicker (no more reinf as I'm in a supply deficit - but I'll last the winter with no adverse affects). Second Narwhal may decide to send an army my way ... I'll deploy outside next turn and hopefully catch it on the march.

Which leads us via a bad pun to March.

Now I need to do something more active than just wait. But first its time for my loyal, pyromaniacal, Cherokees to leave Dismal Swamp now they've reinforced. There is also a militia bn there as a defense so the English will have to fight (this is a game mechanic ... but a bit implausible given the situation)



Now they can move to scout around south of Lake Ontario. I have forces to spare for one last raid ... and just maybe Narwhal has sent too much north.



As you can see I'm finally (and about 2 years too late) building a depot at Frontenac and I'll drop those Couriers off near Oswego to probe the garrison size.



In addition I have some bateaux that escaped from Detroit and a couple of battalions that were in the mid-west. In combination I might be able to take something back around Lake Erie, or they can add to the force I'm pulling together for the Ontario operations.

On the main front, Narwhal failed to take the bait. This map shows the supply situation (the war becomes as much now a search for supply as combat)



pink means no supply in that province, green means there is some. As you can see Quebec is particularly well served in this respect with 5 months in reserve plus the supply wagons. My gamble is this will force Narwhal into an over winter siege with bad results for him.



and just to prove I can't win anymore. Even if I destroy all the English in New France I'm so far behind on accumulated VPs that Narwhal will win in any case. I think this mechanism is designed to stop a French player doing by choice what I've done - just defending New France with a large army. My only excuse is I so badly botched 55-56 that this is the best I can manage.

[loki100]

Well in April, Narwhal refused to play with Montcalm, which was a pity, so the main events were elsewhere:



Dismal Swamp falls ... and burns as well



South of Ontario there are possibilities, Fort Bull is very weakly held, I guess some of those others in that region are too, so I send Plantavit to Frontenac. He'll be joined by a hodge podge of other formations in May ... in June the march on New York commences, supported by:



these can either retake something at Erie or join the grand sweep around Lake Ontario

And in May:



that English force at Juliette is not that healthy, I'm a bit worried at the force at St Frederic - normally it would be exactly what I'd take out with Montcalm but I daren't leave Mont Royal with those English at Juliette, not least the core garrison is relatively small

So:



lets do what I should have done earlier ... time to punish the English and send them screaming 'like things that go screaming' into the wilds of Canada - to be scoffed by passing Popes.



this will put that Erie force in position to either take a fort on the Lake (& burn it) or join the Ontario campaign



and the English army at Oswego is not that strong - I'll carry on gathering more units at Frontenac and while Montcalm deals with the intruders into Canada, they can start regaining Lake Ontario

1761 ... the year of victories

[morningSIDEr]

As you can see the English horde lurks at Trois Rivieres but quite a few of those units are not much of a threat (except to small cute kittens of course).

Ever since reading about Fluffy I've begun looking at small, cute kittens in a rather different way.

Dismal Swamp falls ... and burns as well

So it has become an even more dismal place? Surprised they managed to burn it, I would have thought it too soggy.

From what I can tell you seem to be in a good position to at the very least menace some British forces and hopefully defeat a few. It is just a pity you cannot more a bit more freely.

[General_Hoth]

Bonne chance, à la victoire!!!!

[Stuyvesant]

1761 ... the year of victories

Yours or Narwhal's?

I'm impressed with your can-do attitude and overall positivity (well, apart from the 'Can't win anymore' comment). If anyone could march on New York and put it to the torch, it would be your plucky bands of natives and that hodgepodge of forces you're throwing across Lake Ontario - if you can torch a swamp, how hard could burning New York be?

Must admit I'm a little puzzled by your comment about scoffing Popes passing through Canada...

[General_Hoth]

I wonder...what is the OOB of the French forces?

[loki100]

I wonder...what is the OOB of the French forces?

In effect there are 3 elements.

1) Quebec - one formation fixed and one potentially mobile ... both about 350-375 power;
2) Mont Royal - a garrison of about 50=100 and Montcalm's army of around 900 (mostly regulars as my 'training' officer has done a good job here)
3) the units at Frontesac, probably in combination about 350-400 but it includes Indians, Couriers, Militia and a few regulars

Theres a very weak force still in the West but that gets added to (3) fairly soon.

So in purely military terms I'm quite strong, but mostly as I've not really used Montcalm very much.

I'm holding back on updates till Narwhal is back (next week I think) as its a lot better when we are both reporting more or less the same events at the same time

[Narwhal]

Yop, I am back Saturday.

I ll use the opportunity to spell check everything. I really write horribly.

[loki100]

Ever since reading about Fluffy I've begun looking at small, cute kittens in a rather different way.

So it has become an even more dismal place? Surprised they managed to burn it, I would have thought it too soggy.

From what I can tell you seem to be in a good position to at the very least menace some British forces and hopefully defeat a few. It is just a pity you cannot more a bit more freely.

aye, never stroke a strange cat in the street ... you just never know, but I still feel it is my electronic duty to protect the kitten population of New France

we're both sort of stuck to be honest in that its all a bit of bluff and rather chess like moves as its down to a dispute over so little in contrast to the earlier years where the war waged across the Continent

Bonne chance, à la victoire!!!!

thank you ... I do try to deliver ...

Yours or Narwhal's?

... that would be telling, but you maybe able to guess?

I'm impressed with your can-do attitude and overall positivity (well, apart from the 'Can't win anymore' comment). If anyone could march on New York and put it to the torch, it would be your plucky bands of natives and that hodgepodge of forces you're throwing across Lake Ontario - if you can torch a swamp, how hard could burning New York be?

Must admit I'm a little puzzled by your comment about scoffing Popes passing through Canada...

aye, as morningSIDEr says its even worse now ... well I have to do something or just wait passively for the end and Ontario is still contested but I'm unwilling to try another attempt at St Frederick

well my plan is to send the English (especially those wearing skirts) screaming off into the woods of New France, wherein, one hopes, they are bears. And bears and popes co-exist in certain Sylvan activities ... non ... or is that a very Scottish concept?

Yop, I am back Saturday.

I ll use the opportunity to spell check everything. I really write horribly.

well if this written in French our readers eyeballs would pop - I get tense/gender/agreement and word order wrong - and thats before I mis-spell things

[Narwhal]

As you might have noticed, I am kind of dyslexic, even in French. I swap words, or letters, for other. For instance, I swapped systematically "Montcalm for Montréal" in an earlier post.

I am a bit ashamed at the number of mistakes I did and I would like to thank the readers again for the effort they make deciphering what I wrote. In any case, I started the "post-after-post" sweep and I will soon finish correcting 1755

[Edit : I really thought "decipher" was written "decifer"]

[General_Hoth]

Just to ask for help. I'm taking the french side in a pbem game. But Montcalm was killed right in 1756 by a little group of indian his 7000 troops attacked while going toward Crown Point. How can I win without my only 3 stars leader and the best general of the scenario.