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Old Glory: A 1930s-Era Civil War Quest

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Cyanblackstone said:
In any case, I'd like to submit a writeup there to a) if not controlled, take the Delmarva peninsula, and b) move the coast artillery companies under our control to the East Shore to invest the entrance of the Chesapeake. I count at least 18 individual M1895 guns and numerous smaller guns that we could transfer there, and at that location we'd be able to invest the entire bay north of Newport News. We couldn't keep ships from slipping out of Norfolk to the Atlantic, but anything larger than a destroyer will have to leave the bay quick or get pounded. Moving even half of those guns there would put a serious crimp on any attempted naval actions on the Rooseveltian's part and secure our flank.
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This is doable, but bear in mind that getting the guns there and set up with suitable makeshift fieldworks is the work of a month. This is a turn's action, you can't easily use them in support of an attack from Baltimore and then shift them.
I've changed the formatting for the OOBs, should be a bit easier.
 
mouli said:
This is doable, but bear in mind that getting the guns there and set up with suitable makeshift fieldworks is the work of a month. This is a turn's action, you can't easily use them in support of an attack from Baltimore and then shift them.
I've changed the formatting for the OOBs, should be a bit easier.
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Oh, for sure, it'd be a turn or so before they were ready. But the mere threat means that large Rooseveltian ships have to vacate the upper bay lest they get trapped.
 
Cyanblackstone said:
Oh, for sure, it'd be a turn or so before they were ready. But the mere threat means that large Rooseveltian ships have to vacate the upper bay lest they get trapped.
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The 12in M1895 can be neutralized by a Pennsylvania or later battleship, they do not have the armor pen to meaningfully engage a Standard battleship. Which is why the guns are in Baltimore. They can be moved, but moving them to the Delmarva exposes them to fire. Word of warning.
Donkey Hote said:
@mouli what would an operation for securing Iowa look like?
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Recommended allocation is 1-2 Regular brigades, (minimum 1 just for the land nav training), 2-3 Militia brigades. As the staff think there may be enemy forces sweeping Iowa. Write in objectives (rail junctions, the whole state, prioritize food reserves, etc), and force allocation for it. If you want to do something fancy with axes of attack and so on (e.g. one unit from Rock Island and one from the north in MN) you can do that, too.
 
Doubleposting, but eh. Sleeping soon, and if you have a plan that you want me to glance at, if you have a write in you want feedback on, or if you have questions, tag me. I'll respond tomorrow.
Votes will remain open for at least a day and a half more, probably more than that. There is time to discuss, please do.
 
Chimeraguard said:
@mouli What are the optics on deploying units from the Fortified Regions out on offensive actions? I'm a bit worried about that.
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No PR issues at all. There are also unorganized militia backing them up that I have not counted as maneuver units (because no radios, no officers, no maps, etc), so you can strip the lines bare at the cost of having unorganized militiamen holding them. Therefore no PR cost, just a military risk, and for some lines a minor one.
 
mouli said:
No PR issues at all. There are also unorganized militia backing them up that I have not counted as maneuver units (because no radios, no officers, no maps, etc), so you can strip the lines bare at the cost of having unorganized militiamen holding them. Therefore no PR cost, just a military risk, and for some lines a minor one.
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Looking at the rail lines map, I imagine Philadelphia Fortified Region is fairly safe? An amphibious assault by Marines this early in the war feels pretty unlikely.
 
Chimeraguard said:
Looking at the rail lines map, I imagine Philadelphia Fortified Region is fairly safe? An amphibious assault by Marines this early in the war feels pretty unlikely.
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It's unlikely barring Act of God. There is barely the sealift for that assuming the entire East Coast is stripped bare and they empty their oil reserves.
 
Oh the resources of Montana are so tempting and it's mostly uncontested. I don't know if we have the manpower to secure the copper while building up fortifications. I'd be okay with going for both if we can afford to, since fortune favours the bold and if we can get any precious metals out of there it'd be a major boon to our economy. I don't think we can, it says we'd assign all units to fortify.


On the other fronts, I'm not so sure what we should do, besides crush the New York pocket. We could wait them out and hope they starve during the winter, rather than wipe them out now, but they're a possible thorn in our side.
 
So the big question is whether we crush the New York pocket or keep it bottled up. Personally, I think we need to make a solid attempt at crushing the pocket this turn and hold off on major operations elsewhere.

Quick note on less tied down regular/militia brigades by zone for my writing reference, rushed regulars are in parentheses:
WESTCOM: 4 mil, SOUTHCOM: 8 mil, 2 (+2) regulars, EASTCOM: 8 mil, 2 (+4) regulars, NORTHCOM: 7 mil, 3 regulars

WESTCOM is still mostly a footnote, I'd like to push out to Montana. The attacks in SOUTHCOM and EASTCOM seem rather...ehhh. EASTCOM is devoting a lot of troops to a very WW1 style operation, taking a bit of (admittedly valuable) ground and hopefully inflicting more damage than we take. SOUTHCOM is very tempting, but it's also stripping a lot of troops out of fortifications to race ahead into ground where they might be smashed. Honestly, though it'll be painful, it might be best to dig in without Southern Illinois and let the push to the rivers be Patton's first major offensive when we're in a stabler position.

I'm not going to write a plan, at least not yet, but my immediate thought: transfer an armored train from SOUTHCOM and EASTCOM's train to NORTHCOM (Patton's situation and style is better suited to using the train on defense than Bowley's IMO) send one of the rushed divisions from EASTCOM up north, and crush the pocket with lots of trains and troops. I'd like to do the raiding options in SOUTH and EAST if the numbers work out (wooo cavalry) but the main priority is smashing New York and digging in.
 
natruska said:
So the big question is whether we crush the New York pocket or keep it bottled up. Personally, I think we need to make a solid attempt at crushing the pocket this turn and hold off on major operations elsewhere.

Quick note on less tied down regular/militia brigades by zone for my writing reference, rushed regulars are in parentheses:
WESTCOM: 4 mil, SOUTHCOM: 8 mil, 2 (+2) regulars, EASTCOM: 8 mil, 2 (+4) regulars, NORTHCOM: 7 mil, 3 regulars

WESTCOM is still mostly a footnote, I'd like to push out to Montana. The attacks in SOUTHCOM and EASTCOM seem rather...ehhh. EASTCOM is devoting a lot of troops to a very WW1 style operation, taking a bit of (admittedly valuable) ground and hopefully inflicting more damage than we take. SOUTHCOM is very tempting, but it's also stripping a lot of troops out of fortifications to race ahead into ground where they might be smashed. Honestly, though it'll be painful, it might be best to dig in without Southern Illinois and let the push to the rivers be Patton's first major offensive when we're in a stabler position.

I'm not going to write a plan, at least not yet, but my immediate thought: transfer an armored train from SOUTHCOM and EASTCOM's train to NORTHCOM (Patton's situation and style is better suited to using the train on defense than Bowley's IMO) send one of the rushed divisions from EASTCOM up north, and crush the pocket with lots of trains and troops. I'd like to do the raiding options in SOUTH and EAST if the numbers work out (wooo cavalry) but the main priority is smashing New York and digging in.
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What about the probing attack in EASTCOM? Also I feel like we honestly really need Southern Illinois, though not the Kentucky probing attack.
 
[ ] Plan Draft: Fortune Favors the Bold (DO NOT VOTE FOR, THIS IS JUST THEORYCRAFTING)
WESTCOM
-[ ] Securing Copper Reserves
--[ ] I Corps & Theatre Reserve
-[ ] Fortification and Defense
--[ ] II Corps
SOUTHCOM
-[ ] Secure Southern Illinois
--[ ] III Corps, IV Corps, 99th Infantry Brigade, 6th Infantry 'Division', 32nd/33rd Infantry Division(s), Armored Train Fraternity
-[ ] Probing Attacks: Kentucky
--[ ] 4th Independent Cavalry Regiment, 2 Brigades of 7th Infantry Division
-[ ] Dig In
--[ ] All remaining forces
--[ ] Anticipate using Armored Train Constitution and remaining 2 Brigades of 7th Infantry Division in particular for use as counterattack force in case Secure Southern Illinois runs into issues.
EASTCOM
-[ ] Dig In
--[ ] Baltimore Fortified Region, Theatre Reserve
-[ ] Grinding Push Onwards
--[ ] Armored Train Washington, 3 Brigades of 10th Infantry Division, 9th Infantry 'Division', VI Corps, 107th Infantry Brigade, 1 Brigade of 11th Infantry Division (other Brigade remains as a reserve.)
-[ ] Probing Assaults: Virginia
--[ ] VII Corps, 1 Brigade of 10th Infantry Division, 108th Infantry Brigade (Militia)
NORTHCOM
-[ ] Border Guards
--[ ] Border Guards, Canadian Border
-[ ] Crush the Pocket
--[ ] Everything else except the Fortress Brigade (3 Regulars, 7 Militia, 1 Armored Train)

A plan for if we decide not attacking is for wusses. Kentucky Probing Attack I'm hoping is good for diverting any potential Regular reinforcements at least partially away from Illinois. Same with Virginia in regards to Baltimore, though I'm more questioning whether it's worth it there.

I'm not quite sure how Dig In works with Secure Southern Illinois, but the idea is definitely for some of the forces there to be used as a mobile reserve.

And yeah, I know there's not enough Armored Trains for Crushing the Pocket. But uh... we don't exactly have a surplus of those. And making some progress there is pretty good I think.

Note: Alternate ideas I have on this:
-Divert a Regular Brigade from SOUTHCOM to WESTCOM, and focus on taking control of Iowa's food production instead of Copper.
-Take Cavalry from NORTHCOM Border Guards and redirect them to SOUTHCOM to bolster Probing Attacks into Kentucky.
-Take a Militia Infantry Brigade from NORTHCOM and use it to bolster up the Probing Assault into Virginia.

@mouli Thoughts on the plan as-is, and the potential modifications? Other than "Jesus Christ, why are you going max aggression?"
 
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Chimeraguard said:
@mouli Thoughts on the plan as-is, and the potential modifications? Other than "Fucking hell, why are you going max aggression?"
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1) This has Patton using the strike force as a single-axis offensive with the anvil being the fortress zone at Springfield, sweeping across the mid-southern rail lines in Illinois. A very tightly managed, aggressive offensive.
2) Pocket is probably dead this turn despite lower commitment, Parker is no slouch at assaults like this. This is where the Great War experience is useful. It is, however, slow.
3) Bringing everything up to Baltimore from Philadelphia does mean that a counterattack can attempt an encirclement. I would advise leaving a brigade that isn't attacking in Philly to be railed in as reinforcements for any flagging section of the front. You don't want to be route-marching along the front.
 
mouli said:
1) This has Patton using the strike force as a single-axis offensive with the anvil being the fortress zone at Springfield, sweeping across the mid-southern rail lines in Illinois. A very tightly managed, aggressive offensive.
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Okay, is that good or bad compared to what was initially suggested? And what Fortified Zones could we shake some troops loose from to boost it without too much worry?
 
Chimeraguard said:
Okay, is that good or bad compared to what was initially suggested? And what Fortified Zones could we shake some troops loose from to boost it without too much worry?
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It's potentially good potentially bad? Like, the plan is a very constrained one with a clear objective and path, but has less redundancy than most. It's a brigadier general's plan, and a fairly good one.
As far as stripping fortresses is concerned, maybe Ohio or something? I can't really tell you straight up that sort of thing since the other side's plans are now locked in. It wouldn't really be a fair wargame then.
 
Chimeraguard said:
--[ ] Armored Train Washington, 3 Brigades of 10th Infantry Division, 9th Infantry 'Division', VI Corps, Philadelphia Fortified Region (except 108th Infantry)
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Hmm. If I leave out one of the Regular Brigades in the Philadelphia Fortified Region, what's left for this is:
1 Armored Train, 5 Regular Brigades, 4 Militia Brigades
Against a recommended 1 Armored Train, 2-4 Regular Brigades, 4-8 Militia Brigades.

With the 1 extra Regular Brigade probably making up for a bare minimum of Militia. Especially since Regulars... mostly have more artillery, which is a big focus of the Grinding Push.
 
I'm really not feeling the Grinding Push, honestly. I'm nervous about where MacArthur is gonna launch his next attack, and I'd rather have those troops digging in than attacking. We could seriously use some fortifications in Baltimore, and it might allow us to shift some troops to clear the pocket or cover Patton's flank if we're going for Illinois.
 
natruska said:
I'm really not feeling the Grinding Push, honestly. I'm nervous about where MacArthur is gonna launch his next attack, and I'd rather have those troops digging in than attacking. We could seriously use some fortifications in Baltimore, and it might allow us to shift some troops to clear the pocket or cover Patton's flank if we're going for Illinois.
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Hmm, not doing Grinding Push would also let us divert the Armored Train to NORTHCOM to bulk up squashing the pocket. Something to think about at least.
 
I think we need to play conservatively in EASTCOM, all things considered; our focus has to be on crushing that New York pocket as quickly and cleanly as possible. The probing attack with Patton seems like a decent play; it fits his expertise and experience. Going on defence there could be a bit safer, though, and as it's explicitly described as an aggressive form of defence Patton would probably do alright with it - this might also allow us to try and get a stronger grip on WESTCOM, which has resources we could do with.
 
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[ ] Plan Eastern Defense Draft
WESTCOM
-[ ] Securing Copper Reserves OR Securing Iowa
--[ ] I Corps & Theatre Reserve + Brigade of 10th Infantry Division
-[ ] Fortification and Defense
--[ ] II Corps
SOUTHCOM
-[ ] Secure Southern Illinois
--[ ] III Corps, IV Corps, 99th Infantry Brigade, 6th Infantry 'Division', 32nd/33rd Infantry Division(s), 4th Independent Cavalry Regiment, 2 Brigades of 7th Infantry Division, Armored Train Fraternity
-[ ] Dig In
--[ ] All remaining forces
EASTCOM
-[ ] Dig In
--[ ] Baltimore Fortified Region, Theatre Reserve, VI Corps, 11th Infantry Division, 108th Infantry Brigade (Total: 6 Militia Brigades, 2 Conscript Brigades, Coastal Artillery)
-[ ] Probing Assaults: Virginia
--[ ] VII Corps, 9th Infantry 'Division', 1 Brigade of 10th Infantry Division, 107th Infantry Brigade
-[ ] Transfer Units
--[ ] NORTHCOM, Armored Train Washington, 2 Brigades of 10th
--[ ] WESTCOM, 1 Brigades of 10th Infantry Division
NORTHCOM
-[ ] Border Guards
--[ ] Border Guards, Canadian Border
-[ ] Crush the Pocket
--[ ] Everything else except the Fortress Brigade (5 Regulars, 7 Militia, 2 Armored Trains)

An alternate plan draft that emphasizes defense on EASTCOM (aside from a probe into Virginia to threaten Richmond), so we can divert forces to other theatres. Also, the probing attack into Kentucky has been called off to reinforce the push into Southern Illinois.

The specifics for this plan have it reinforcing NORTHCOM and WESTCOM, but it can easily be altered to putting troops towards SOUTHCOM instead.

A reminder that this is just a rough draft (hence why WESTCOM has the OR for the main offensive action of securing copper vs securing Iowa.) Other would-be planmakers should feel free to alter it however they want to make their own plans. I myself am highly divided on whether to reinforce WESTCOM or not, and if not, to focus on NORTHCOM or SOUTHCOM.

@mouli Your thoughts on this alternate draft? Particularly in terms of "have we left sufficient forces digging into Baltimore?" and any other obvious problems.
 
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Chimeraguard said:
-[ ] Grinding Push Onwards
-[ ] Probing Assaults: Virginia
--[ ] VII Corps, 9th Infantry 'Division', 1 Brigade of 10th Infantry Division, 107th Infantry Brigade
NORTHCOM
-[ ] Border Guards
--[ ] Border Guards, Canadian Border
@mouli Your thoughts on this alternate draft?
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Am I reading this wrong, or what? You didn't actually assign anyone to guard the border or the grinding push. Unless you mean to combine the grinding push and probe into one unified operation, which I'm not sure works?
 
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