A Welshman's Quest for Doritos

[tamius23]

No, there's nothing you can do to speed it up after 1.2.

[WelshDude]

No, there's nothing you can do to speed it up after 1.2.

Damn.

[WelshDude]

Ignore that smiley. i don't know why it's there.

On the subject of adding Louisiana as a wargoal, I don't actually have enough warscore to do so, and even if I did the US still has plenty of fight left in it. As evidenced by this...



and this.



I know for a fact that at least four of those fourteen US brigades are up north in Loa and at least two are in the army I sent packing at the end of the last update. Meaning there are up to twenty four thousand US soldiers running around somewhere.

I need more troops.



So I get them.

But they don't have the effect I'd hoped for...



That's slightly ridiculous, and very embarrassing. The enemy does realise this is a fluke and so retreats. Leaving me to be attacked by their reserves.



Scared of little old me, are you?



Well, I'm sure as hell scared of you! They just mobilized forty eight thousand men - nearly twice as much as my entire army!

I decide to respond by killing four thousand of them.



See! Anything you can do, I can do worse!

Mixed news continues though.



Okay, so I'm obviously about to get some warscore, but there are still another thirteen thousand heading for me - eight in a desperate attempt to save those 180 men, five to attack my reserves.

I mange to win at Shrevport before the second army arrives.



And that second army is not up to mine, as you can see below.



Oh, remember my reserves that were under attack? Well, they got some reinforcements.



Interestingly, that only gives me half the warscore First Shrevport did. Strange.

Anyway, those reinforcement are bound north, where I am still winning comfortably.



Now, a word from our sponsors....



Anyone thinking of jumping on their time machine and heading down to Mexico? Well, why not make this small gold-filled town one of your stops? Doritos will be sent along directly![/sponsorship]

Now, back to the show.



Good dice, aren't they?



Look, how I am going to lose that?



By sheer bad luck, apparently. The day after my reinforcements arrive. I'm betting a wickedly lopsided dice roll (I mean 9-0) wiping out my org.

Whatever the reason, the USA has the initiative....



#

So as you can see, the Mississippi front is one great confusing mess of battle. So what should I do? Should I white peace, send some troops to Utah.... what? Waiting on you guys. I did mention I'm terrible at this game, right?

[Prince of Savoy]

White peace out, rapido rapido! Andale! Andale! Arriba! Arriba!

[Dewirix]

If they offer you a White Peace, take it. The game will count it as a loss to the US and you've already got what you wanted from this war.

[Vaya con Queso]

Oh wow, this war looks like it's going to be a close one...

If you can hold out until Freedom of Trade finishes, maybe you can increase military spending and change your NF to promote soldiers, then spam irregulars until the Americans are overwhelmed? (world production of small arms and liquor is not yet enough to allow construction of regular infantry or artillery)

Though I can see from your Budget that you are currently losing more money per day than you have, so any expansionist ambitions may need to be postponed until your situation stabilizes. (But if you should start winning, I say go for Louisiana AND Florida =P)

It's nice to see a promising Mexico AAR; hopefully this one will last until the end!

[Tanzhang (譚張)]

I'd white peace out and concentrate on beating enemies you can actually beat; like the CSA.

[WelshDude]

i'm afraid it turns out white peace isn't an option....



So, can have some tactical advice please? There are seven thousand US troops in Utah, which I'm pretty sure is no longer shrinking. Should I attack that? Screen below shows the situation.

[Pj Fallon]

Interesting you were lucky with texas if the USA had moved fast you wouldn't of been able to knock them out.

[Dewirix]

i'm afraid it turns out white peace isn't an option....

Part of the reason for that is they've only just declared war and their War Exhaustion is low. Give it a year and they may be willing to sign a White Peace even with a warscore in the range it is now. Of course, hopefully you'll be in an even better position by then.

So, can have some tactical advice please? There are seven thousand US troops in Utah, which I'm pretty sure is no longer shrinking. Should I attack that? Screen below shows the situation.

Ignacio Kosterlitsky's an excellent attacking general, so for now I'd concentrate on finding small stacks of US troops and whacking them with your whole army.

Don't move too far away from your territory: If you have to enter the US, go no further than the border states or attrition will kill you quicker than the yanquis will. Avoid attacking enemy troops in the mountains or forest as they'll get a defence bonus.

Don't be afraid to let the US army onto Mexican soil. It means they'll start suffering from attrition and you'll be in a much better place to attack them when their ranks are depleted. Selzro's current Panjab AAR contains a textbook example of how attrition works in your favour - that's a Chinese army of 38 brigades losing to maybe a third that number because they've already taken so many losses just getting to battle.

Army wise, your mobilised brigades should be Infantry rather than Irregulars, and once they get their ORG up will prove the better troops. Depending on starting techs, Infantry have 50 ORG, 6 ATT and 5 DEF, while Irregulars have 35 ORG, 4 ATT and 3 DEF. I'm guessing the US troops will be all Infantry, so Irregulars should be used to stiffen the line rather than hold it on their own.

For now, it might be worth letting the US come to you while husbanding your infantry brigades for a strike against a smaller US army in clear terrain (ie, don't attack them in mountains or forest). Just ensure that there's no other US troops that can intervene before you've won. You don't have the manpower to turn this in to an all-out slugging match just yet.

Where possible, eliminate US brigades by surrounding them and then beating them in battle. If they can't retreat they surrender and are removed from the game.

Lastly, don't be too pessimistic! Although you lost at Shreveport you inflicted far greater losses on the US. In the early stages of the game this is important as it will take time to build up the soldier POP reserves needed to sustain prolonged fighting. As long as you're causing disproportionate casualties you're winning the war, no matter how many pyrrhic victories the US wins.

[brycef]

The great strength of Mexico is its terrain in the early game. Use the terrain of mountains, rivers, forests to your advantage. Also the low supply limits will attrition the Gringos badly and make them less willing to mass their troops. So what I'd do is pull back, rest your troops in hard defensive terrain (Forests or Mountains) and mass your army. When you're rested up and ready go on the offensive, then move out and attack the by then small Gringo forces who had to either split up or die due to attrition. After you kill their troops off you can always go back and retake your territory, then move on to occupy the Gringo territory and teach them that they can't defeat a freedom loving people with their imperialist aggressions! Viva la Revolution!

[MastahCheef117]

Eagerly looking forward for the defeat of the US!



And Doritos

[DoomBunny]

In this situation, I wouldnt peace out. Looking at the current situation:

Your bleeding money badly, and are taking hits in the West.
You have massive local superiority in Mississipi.
Most US forces are reserves, and all those visible in Mississipi on red org.

Id personally start to fight a war of attrition versus the US. Wipe out those red ord stacks and keep knocking them down. If they start to doomstack, then retreat inside your territory, reinforce to full strength and hit them with everything at once. Yes, your hurting now, but the US needs to be kneecapped or itll really start to hammer you later. Personally, Id try and gain Louisiana and another state if infamy allowed, but even if you just kill every brigade they mobilise, your going to be hurting them badly.

[WelshDude]

Well, despite my best efforts, the two thousand men in Lake Charles were unsavable.



I take a dim view of this, and my response is immediate.



I order both my armies to attack, a mistake, as you will see...





My vanguard was destroyed before the main army even got there. A waste of two thousand troops. Revenge, again is immediate.



A good victory, and better news is to follow....



I didn't realise what an effect this would have, but let's have a look at the figures.

This is before research....



This two days later....



Wow! That's an extra 82 pounds a day - massive for me. I spend most of by eliminateting tariffs and raising education and military to 100%, which leaves me a surplus £5 a day, still a lot better than the loss it was.

Back to military - thinking the army was moving into Hot Springs, I started this battle plan.



Ofc, they abandoned that move and I repeated my earlier error.



And I respond. This is getting repetitive.



but that is enough for.....



the USCA to ally with me! They answer my call for war (probably because they know the US can't hurt them) and that is enough for.....



I've got what I wanted from this war - Texas. And the cost of this war is so big - the US's reserves are far bigger than mine - that there's no point messing about. I accept. Now to sort out the problems with my economy..

[tamius23]

Freedom of Trade is an awesome tech for anyone who hasn't got it.

I would have white peaced out against the US; I would have never been able to capture Louisiana from them. You'll get another chance in the 1860s though.

With your military slider at 100% you should get lots of soldiers.

[caffran]

Good win, even if luck played a part.

Although, it's better to be lucky than good.

[Tanzhang (譚張)]

Congrats on betaing back the US menace. Be prepared to do so several times into the future!

[sprites]

With the peace , it's time to build the economy now!

[BootOnFace]

These people have said most of what needs to be said, but you should research the techs that get you more RPs. You want more education efficiency so you can bring your literacy up. That means biologism. Make a beeline for it, only stopping to get essential techs like steam engines and the +50% RP techs.

[Dewirix]

Congratulations on a very successful war. Now comes the difficult prospect of preparing for the next declaration of war. Diplomatically, try to cosy up with the UK as they're best placed to actually intervene in a war with the United States.