For Southern Rights Gurr

[Ankios]

July 1861​

On the 7th of July, the attacks continued from the North, again on the town of Charlotte-ville. The coming attacks from too much positions obliged me of a tactical retreat in the first hours of the battle, mostly because I was keeping my reserves to counter attack on the western parts of Virginia.

One thing I began to think seeing how much regulars troops from Union fighting in Virginia was that probbly most of their troops sent to the west came back to the Virginian front. For one important reason : I still did not see any Union troop next to Texas after more than three months of war ! If I'm right on this guessing, it would means that the day Missouri and Kentucky choose a side, my reserves will be able to move directly into Yankee territory in Illinois and Indiana ! But it will still means that I will keep losing ground in Virginia, and now almost in North Carolina !

Anyway, in July 16th, it is now clear that I won't be able to stand my ground in Virginia. So right now I'm pulling back my troops stationned in DC in the South, to prepare to pull back all my last troops out of Virginia...

[NB : I also realize that I never tested this mod with the CSA on that level of difficulty. Maybe I was a little ambitious here, and the +20 their troops are getting during the fights and the -10 I got during the same fights are killing me !!! I don't know how I can stand against their army right now... But I'll try anyway until the end But I never got my a.. kicked this hard in any test I've ever done on this mod until today ]

By the late July, all my troops pulled back or are retreating out of Virginia... I'm not sure I'll be able to ever come back there ! ​

By July 20th, two strong attacks on the western parts of North Carolina emptied the west of North Carolina and the east of Tennessee of my troops ! :rofl: My troops are retreating into South Carolina as I speak ! And I'm still only beginning to pull my troops out of the eastern Virginia ! Out of other solutions, I'm deploying my last reserves in South Carolina and middle parts of North Carolina...

And during that time, the Union start bringing some troops around Texas... ​

On July the 28th, Missouri join the Union in the war. I'm out of reinforcements. I'm sending the two divisions deployed in this region to take some of this ground.

On the end of July 1861, I deployed almost all my troops in the eastern fronts. No more reserves, and now Missouri is an open road to the South for the Yankees... I clearly don't see things going better in the coming weeks !

The situation in July 31st, 1861​

 

[Asalto]

Event about Indians is very interesting, any help for CSA always counts.

 

[Ankios]

Event about Indians is very interesting, any help for CSA always counts.

Yeah It makes me think that I still have to add the event that makes northern tribes of Oklahoma joining the Union (Especially since they are on the map but do nothing for now). They did so in the reality, not because they wanted to side with the Union. They did it because they were at war with the tribes that joined the CSA if I remember well.

 

[Juan_de_Marco]

have you got any events in store for events leading up to the war, like Bleeding Kansas? and/or some of the Supreme Court decisions?

(although I realise this is not Vicky)

 

[Ankios]

have you got any events in store for events leading up to the war, like Bleeding Kansas? and/or some of the Supreme Court decisions?

(although I realise this is not Vicky)

Well youre right this is not Vicky so that's not possible...

Having those events would not be fun at all. It would mean having several years to play without actually anything to do except sometimes reading an event or taking one side...

On Victoria those things are great (and I bet modders will add them as soon as Vicky II is out), but it would means that whtever the side you're playing, you have nothing to do for several years (even with the Union, because it would not be historical to be able to create troops and do researches before 1861).

However lots of those events that happened between December 1860and April 1861 will happen in the next versions. There are already some of them. And I plan to add lots of them during this short period of time (with a lot of impact done by the player as you are able to choose to take certain decisions, hoping it will help you more than the historical decisions woul... Which won't be the case because every decision will have the same amount of good and bad consequences to let player really decide to do what he wants, without any ideology or my opinions having an effect on the mod and the gameplay).

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I downloaded your mod yesterday and played til middle 1861 or so, and I must confess that things looked pretty bad for me. I took Washington and Baltimore but got expelled and hardly managed to keep them out of Richmond until the front stalled. And then they began to kick my ass in Texas and Tennesses!!!!

It's a great mod, really.

 

[Ankios]

I downloaded your mod yesterday and played til middle 1861 or so, and I must confess that things looked pretty bad for me. I took Washington and Baltimore but got expelled and hardly managed to keep them out of Richmond until the front stalled. And then they began to kick my ass in Texas and Tennesses!!!!

It's a great mod, really.

One thing I am proud of (yeah I know I'm so modest !!! ) is the fact that the game is balanced (when you play as Mexico, the war is almost always balanced and last for years and any camp can win. But if it last too long, the South will lose...) but still is hard for both camp ! I always found HoI II too easy, wathever the side played... But in this scenario you can really have your ass kicked and personnaly I like the fact that winning is hard

But anyway thanks for your feedback ! It'll be much needed

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Sorry, I meant 1682, not 1861

 

[Ankios]

August 1861​

IN the first two weeks of August, I was able to finish to leave east Virginia. However, it was not enough. The Union offensive in North Carolina was still going on, and on the 15th, my troops in Columbia had to fall back in Georgia !

However, my now ground troops were able to launch some successfull counter attacks ! In Richmond and Raleigh, both Capitals of Virginia and North Carolina, Union troops had to fall back. However I stayed on my positions, as I now I don't have the ressources to move forward.

Columbia is taken.. But I'm hoping not for long. For the first time since may, I might be able to make them retreat !​

Then on August 28th, the Union launched the first battle in the west, attacking Enid. But those Union troops were no match against the powerfull Texas State milicias. In 8 little hours, they lost the battle and troops in Pueblo fell back in Kansas !

​

Then, on the 30th, I launched 20 divisions on Columbia, to retake South Carolina... In 10 hours we won the battle, and by 8pm on the 30th, they were retreating in North Carolina at last !

In August the 31st, the battle for North Carolina seems now more in my favor, at least much more than the battle for Virginia from May to July 1861... in the same time, I now have four divisions in Missouri, about to enter into Illinois ! And in the West, Texas borders are for now safe. Will the CSA be able to keep this trend ? ​

 

[Ankios]

September 1861​

On the 5th day of September, Kentucky chose to side with the Union. Now the front is wide open, and the war just is about to be worse than ever for the CSA.

But now is the time for some victories. So I'm beginning this month with just a little more confidence.

Overall, the month of September did not see lots of major battle. It was more a succession of small fights in North Carolina. The Union tried to take back Columbia, sending almost a dozen of divisions ! They were once again sent back in North Carolina, and now almost on their way to Virginia ! On the eastern parts of North Carolina, my troops still stand firm. And their tentative to enter into Tennessee ended in Nashville. Our Missouri regulars also defeated two armies heading into Arkansas !

The lone black point is now on the west. our armies were forced to retreat into Texas.

The situation in the end of September 1861​

 

[Ankios]

October 1861​

During the 20 first days of the month, all the attentions are turned into North Carolina. The fights are very violent there, and there is more divisions in this State than everywhere else in the USA and the CSA.

In the end, Dixie troops begin to feel like the tide might be (partially) turning. By the 20th, all the troops remaining in North Carolina are retreating. The Union might still partially hold in this state as reinforcements are being sent, but for now it seems like I might take the control back on this State.

They are falling back !​

However, by the end of the month, massive Yankee reinforcements in the east of Virginia gave them the possibility to launch a new offensive on the eastern part of North Carolina. My troops in the center of the State were too much tired to be able to help. By October the 29th, I had to pull back into South Carolina. Right now, I'm only holding on two territories in the State, while they are about to control for sure at least one, and two others are disputed.

 

[Ankios]

November 1861​

The strong offensive in the east gave them willington.

By the 10th, a new factor arrived : the winter. The snow is now falling on the front.

But the snow was not on the southern part of the State. My capacities to attack were now limited, but not the Yankee ones...

Most of this month saw my troops retreating and moving, while the Union troops took most of the State. After those terrible october and november months, I had to officially put an end to the battle for North Carolina. Now, it's time to fight for the defense of South Carolina !

The situation in November 30th, 1861​

 

[Timmie0307]

What about a cavalry charge through the center of the frontlines, towards Chicago? Jeb Stuart leading...Stonewall Jackson coordinating...that would be great! What about Ministers and Leaders in this mod? Is Stonewall Jackson the most skilled leader?

Tim

 

[Vesimir]

Very nice.

I do hope you manage to prevail, the Bonnie Blue Flag must stay on.

 

[Ankios]

Timmie, there is still no ministers nor generals for this mod. Only the ones that exist for the Armageddon scenario.

This is because I never worked on this, and so it means I would have much more work on it. I bet it's not that difficult to work on, but I prefer to focus on what I mastered for now.

However this obviously give an advantage to the North, as good generals from the Mexican war were mostly with the South. I might have resisted better with better generals than the North

And Vesimir, I'll try as much as possible Still a long road until the southern coast !

I begin now to have more and more artillerie pieces, and regular troops. This should give me a real relief in the coming months... Let's hope it's not too late... After all i'm still holding perfectly in Texas and Missouri

 

[Ankios]

December 1861​

First of all, let's be honest here. I don't want the first AAR for my mod to end in a complete kickass of the South without a chance to fight... This is bad marketing, especially on a forum where 90% of the people that likes the war between the States wants to play the CSA !!! So I changed the difficulty level... (BTW, I'm playing HoI2 since something like 2006, and I just discovered a few minutes ago that I can change the difficulty level just before loading a saved game... How lame am I ? ). Now I'm playing on "hard". I hope this will make you guys enjoying it more and without thinking of me as a coward... It's still on hard... Come on..

So on the two first weeks of December, I launched major attacks against the Yankee troops that just arrived in Columbia and Fayetteville. Fighting all together against their troops dispatched all around the border, those fights were easier, and gave me real opporunities to come back into North Carolina. As of December 18th, CSA troops are moving north.

In the same time, lots of Yankees reinforcements arrived in Missouri and Illinois... My five divisions deployed there had to launch several attacks to keep them devided... When I see how much troops they sent, I'm afraid this is only a matter of time before they outnumber me here.

In Missouri, fights are gonna be much more hard in the future ! ​

But in mid december, a new problem was poiting its nose... For weeks, I was unable to maintain the production ratios I needed for my supplies. I had to keep producing troops, and I had also to keep modernizing my divisions and sending reinforcements to them... This means that from September to December I went to 4000 supplies in reserve to 2400... I can't keep this trend ! I will think about how to deal with that until the end of the month. And if I'm unable to take some territories back, with IC of course, I will have to lower my production of troops to keep my soldiers fed...

In December 23rd, CSA troops reached once again fayetteville ! This event launched the more important battle of the war. 17 US divisions launched a massive attack against the 11 CSA divisions in Fayetteville, supported by 20 divisions positioned more in the south. Of course, US troops are postly regulars, when Dixie troops mostly milicias (but now with artillerie and regular cavalries !!!! )

On December the 23rd, the most important battle on Northern American soil in history happened ... And the most important victory for the Union then happened...​

By 3am the 24th, my western flank and the troops in fayetteville broke, and then I gave the order to my right flank to stop the attack. At least from now South Carolina is defended...

The following day, the Yankees launched a new attack on my tired troops in Columbia. Once again they retreated... Once again, the Union will enter in South Carolina... That happened on the very same day Yankees entered in Fayetteville !

By the end of the month, I realized that I was just able to get out of a potential of catastrophies... In the east, I did not lost any ground. In Missouri and Tennessee, the front becomes more and more hostile too me but I'm still there... And in Texas, I was able to defeat some of their troops, but without trying to gain ground control.

At least, nothing was lost. And in the end, I dealt with my supply problem, even if now I'll produce a little less artilleries...

New year's eve 1861... The Confederation is still dreaming about its freedom and rights !​

 

[Ankios]

January 1862​

By the 2nd day, I was able to launch my own attacks on fayetteville and Columbia, without much resistance in all this snow... (yeah guess what... Only one territory with snow in North Carolina : Fayetteville that i'm trying to get back !!!)

My troops are on their way. With some new regulars just deployed, I'm hoping i'll be able to hold the line this time...

On Juanuary 12th, the Union once again tried to get us out of both fayetteville and Columbia as I thought. Fayette ville was lost, but this time I hold firm South Carolina !

While all those events happened in North and South Carolina, in Missouri I lost my first attack there ! It means clearly that I'm not strong enough anymore in this State to hold the line... I just wish the Yankee attack will take its time to come...

The end of the month just saw regular skirmishes, without big changes... As you can see below, one US division entered into Arkansas, but went back two days later into Missouri

The situation on January 31st 1862​

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

You've managing to survive, not bad!

 

[Vesimir]

You should attack into the west. Reinforce the western front and take California from the bluebelly scum. That should give you some IC.

 

[Ankios]

I'm not sure this would be a good solution. The road to California is very long ! (see how the Union took 9 months to take Virginia and North Carolina ! In terms of a straigth road, it represent 3 territories... 9 month for that it might be dangerous to take so much time myself to enter California...) And for now on both sides (US and CSA) our troops are incapable of breaking dthe front in Texas. They got only regulars, no milicias, on this front, while I have only militias with lots of artileries that manage to hold the line. So fighting for the west would mean that I have to send troops from the east, while I'm barely capable to hold the line ! In theory you're right.. Myr problem is that I don't know how I can do that without totally losing in the east.

But following you're idea, maybe (as soon as I can) trying to send lots of reinforcements in Missouri and Tennessee to go into Illinois and Indiana could give me new ICs, and will also help the fights on the eastern coast... I think it might be less risky...