Confederate 1861 Campaign: Preparation and Strategy.

[Didz]

I found what looks like quite a comprehensive guide here, so its a good excuse to start a thread to record my preparations and strategy for my next campaign.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3110844573

I'll add my thoughts and plans below and everyone else can jump in with their own suggestions.

Campaign Settings

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432043534

Difficulty Level

I can't even remember what Difficulty Level I set for my Union Campaign and I'm not sure how to check. I suspect it would have been whatever counts as 'Normal' or 'Balanced' as I'm not very keen on the idea of penalising the AI, or giving them artificial bonuses.

I checked the options available which ranged from Very Easy to Very Hard and chose the middle ground which was labelled 'Mediocre'; I suspect that would have been the same choice i made for my Union Campaign.

Aggressiveness

I get to choose how aggressive I want the AI to be and the options vary from 'Calm' to 'Very High'. I pondered on this choice for a while, but in the end opted for the middle ground again as from what I know of the history the Union was not particularly aggressive in the early stages of the war and it was only Lincoln who had a lot of incentive to start shedding blood and win victories in the early period of the war. Most of his generals were quite happy to play at being soldiers and enjoy their inflated salaries, prestige and grow their political influence. So, mediocre seems about right, and I'm told its still pretty aggressive despite the label.

Starting Policies

The historic starting policies for the South are 'Old Dominion', 'King Cotton' and 'Alliance with the Natives'.
I'm not terribly interested in exploiting the Native Americans and I'm not really interested in supporting slavery either, so I decided to swap this policy out for 'Southern Pacific' which will hopefully boost the Souths Trade instead. That might not have been the most sensible choice but it's the one I'm most comfortable with.

Also following the posts by A.P.Hill and Billy below I decided to swap 'Old Dominion' for 'Southern Industrialisation' to attract the additional 20% immigration bonus to boost manpower and recruits.

Early Campaign Strategy

I suspect that as was the case in my Union Campaign the AI will get a huge manpower advantage in the early campaign. So, I'm expecting to be on the defensive for most of 1861 and early 1862.

The strategy suggested is to build a lot of small armies with small brigades to guard the primary Union invasion routes and their target cities and to try and mass these quickly to deal with specific threats as they emerge.

This sounds pretty sensible, so I shall probably follow that advice at least in the early phase of the campaign.

Ignore the Navy

This seems to be a very strong suggestion and I shall probably follow it at least at first. I saw how pointless it was for the CSN to try and break the Federal blockade in my Union Campaign so there is little point wasting resources trying to do the exact same thing in reverse.

However, I am going to keep an open mind about it. I actually have no idea how well the AI will handle the USN and if it does something stupid then I might be able to exploit its mistakes.

Plus later in the war I may be able to build ironclads and go for a naval policy of quality over quantity to take the war at sea back to the Union. I know in my Union Campaign the South was very lax in the defence of its ports, so even if I don't build ships I may actually build a few forts to protect my exposed ports, and if the Union want to waste ships attacking ports that will be fine by me.

I may even try to be devious and lure the Federal Blockade Fleets into range of my forts and try and do some damage to them that way.

River Boats

River Boats are a somewhat different issue and if I was confident that River Boat squadrons had the ability to interdict supplies then I might be tempted to dominate the waterways. But that wasn't the impression I got from my Union Campaign. So, once again it might not be worth the investment in building gunboats.

The Limited Defence Strategy

Braedenh suggests that the CS player should focus their defence upon Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas rather than trying to defend everything.

There is a theory often quoted that 'he who tries to defend everything, defends nothing', so there is a logic to this strategy. But it means abandoning Missouri to the Union. At least in the early campaign.

Defending Virginia

The Union will likely try to invade Virginia early in the campaign.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432532571
The guide suggests three potential invasion risks

1. From Ohio and Pennsylvania,
   
2. Along the Shenandoah Valley from Maryland
   
3. by sea along the Peninsula towards Richmond.

The defence of the coast of Virginia should be the first priority, followed by the Shenandoah Valley, and West Virginia last.

• Defend Staunton VA to keep a foothold in the Shenandoah Valley. Reinforcing the defence as necessary from the east if the Union marches a large force south.
  
• Protect Richmond by holding Culpepper VA and Fredericksburg VA,
  
• Watch for amphibious invasions from the east.
  
• West Virginia is relatively unimportant, is difficult to supply, and it is easy to be flanked and surprised thanks to rail lines from Pennsylvania and Ohio.
  
• Beverly is a good spot to camp an army to protect Staunton, and Grafton can be targeted if you control the entire Valley and Harper's Ferry.
  
• It should be possible to invade West Virginia once everywhere else is secure.
  
• The AI will furiously target Harpers Ferry if the CSA controls it. This is a programmed response and can be exploited or avoided as appropriate.

This makes sense and having just completed a successful Union Campaign I can vouch for the analysis of the threat to Virginia from my own invasions of the State. In my campaign, Richmond was captured twice, mainly because the AI failed to defend it. I used all three approaches that Braedonh highlights including a small naval landing on the Peninsula.

Defending Tennessee and Arkansas.

The critical defensive locations in Tennessee and Arkansas are Nashville, Memphis, and NW Arkansas.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432764107
Braedonh suggests a quick build up of forces to defend those areas. A supply depot in Ft. Smith, AR, and areas near Nashville and Memphis will be very helpful.

Since the Union needs move long distances to invade these areas (particularly Arkansas), a battle victory can earn the player several weeks or even months to build up your defences and organise your forces.

Don't let the Union march a big army into your areas and build a depot!

Don't Waste Time In Missouri.

Braedonh is adamant that the CSA player should not waste resources and effort trying to contest the state of Missouri during the early part of the campaign.

IMPORTANT!
Don't waste time fighting in Missouri in early 1861. Retreat into Arkansas for now, concentrate your troops, and plan on returning soon.

This is interesting as the AI turned Missouri into a major battleground during my Union Campaign and seemed obsessed with control of St. Louis.

However, I take his point. Missouri is a logistical nightmare with poor roads limited railroads and few decent towns other than St.Louis. Movement through Missouri is slow and supply is sparse. So the AI will be hampered and restricted in the movement of its armies and if it suffers a major defeat it will take a long time to recover.

The capture and burning of enemy depots will be critical to ensure maximum discomfort for the AI.

A Two Front War

In my Union Campaign, I divided the war into three theatres of operation (East, West and Central). the CSA will only need two. The East (Virginia) Theatre will focus on the defence of Virginia and Richmond, and the West (Tennessee and Arkansas) will handle threats from north of the Ohio and Missouri Rivers and AI attempts to exploit the Mississippi River.

The trick will be the rapid concentration of force and transfer of troops between these areas and between the armies defending the key defensive locations identified. I noticed that the AI in my Union Campaign was actually using the transfer system to move whole divisions between its armies and that I was facing the same brigades in multiple battles. This idea might be worth exploring if I can complete the transfers fast enough.

The Best Form of Defence is Attack.

Assuming that I can successfully defend Virginia, Tennessee and Arkansas and inflict serious damage on the AI Armies it should be possible to begin counter-attacks to invade and capture Kentucky and Missouri. I might also be able to launch some damaging raids across the Ohio and Mississippi into the Union.

Ideally, I want to adopt a flexible defence that follows up a victory on the battlefield with a pursuit and territorial gain. However, this will only be possible if circumstances allow and only if my victorious troops are not needed elsewhere.

Invading Maryland and especially capturing Washington, D.C. as a key objective will trigger a furious response from the AI. So, I will avoid such an action until I can deal with the reaction.

However, if the AI leaves Washington unguarded as it did Richmond, then I may try to burn down the White House and cause some damage.

Recruitment and Replacement Strategy

The Departmental Strategy I used during my Union Campaign seemed to work well, ensuring that depleted Brigades could be withdrawn for 'Rest and Replenishment' and providing a constant supply of full-strength replacement brigades for my four field armies.

However, at least at the start, it doesn't look like the South has the manpower or territory to support such a system.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432797486
There are only 12,918 volunteers available and only six states, with only Georgia having enough volunteers to raise a full-strength brigade.

This will hopefully improve over time especially once war is declared. But for the time being there is no point trying to get fancy. I shall just stick with the two State Militia Groups initially and not try to recruit large numbers of troops.

If the numbers increase, I may start forming State Militia Armies to raise and train men for the front, but it's not feasible at present.

Army Structure and Organisation

Braedonh' tips on building the CSA look sound and logical.

As soon as the war starts, build your armies. Hopefully, you've passed Militia I by this point.

Build many small armies with small brigades/battalions to start, for a few reasons:

1. smaller armies muster sooner than large ones, and you need them fast.
   
2. smaller brigades/battalions muster sooner than large ones.
   
3. you need to cover a wide area. You want to place your armies along likely invasion routes, such as Nashville or Fredericksburg, to protect them and watch for Union movement.
   
4. these numerous small armies can 'swarm' the big Union armies and give you numerical superiority at times, and are easy to control on the battlefield - in fact, they make it easier to flank the enemy.
   
5. 1500 man infantry brigades do fine, even against large units, if they are used properly.
   
6. the small brigades/battalions will grow over time

Aim for starting armies from 7000-15000 men. Each army needs at least 4 brigades of infantry.

I give each army 3-4 cavalry regiments as well to perform flanking manoeuvres and neutralise the enemy artillery.

This all sounds very sensible and I will adopt it more or less as stated.

I found in my Union Campaign that four large armies with fifteen full-strength infantry brigades, four full-strength artillery batteries and four full-strength cavalry regiments were not only possible but necessary.

However, the strategic situation of the Confederacy is different and the smaller brigades, divisions and armies suggested by Braedonh will provide both the strategic and tactical flexibility necessary to respond to multiple threats over a wide area.

There is an excellent guide to Army Organisation in the Guides section by Fall-Knight
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2329673172
And I shall probably begin by adopting the Small Army OOB suggested in that guide as the template for my first armies.

I also recall watching a video on Army Organisation that I can't find at the moment that recommended a structure for small fast armies that it called the 'Square Division Structure'.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432893447
This consisted of an Army of four Divisions (2 x Infantry, 1 x Cavalry, 1 Artillery) each of four Brigades. Thus forming a square OOB template, The infantry brigades were small (1,500 men) as were the cavalry and the artillery were light horse artillery batteries for maximum manoeuvrability on the battlefield. Total strength is about 25,000 men and 26 guns

Southern Economic Strategy

Every decision and policy made by the CSA government should be intended to help the army win the land war. So, the focus should be on Policies and Acts that increase manpower, armaments, or supply.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3432929868
Everything else is secondary and can be largely ignored. This includes things like foreign relations, public support, trade, and anything related to the navy. Only invest in acts to increase domestic support if there is a crisis.

Project Subsidy's

Maximise investment in Military, Diplomacy, Industry, Agriculture and Economic Projects. As par GreatScots Economic Guide Subsisdiy;s are a cheap way to boost economic development and should be exploited..

The CSA player must choose between prioritising either Industrial or Agricultural and I have already decided to opt for Southern Industrialisation'.

Southern Industrial Development

I have started by selecting 'Southern Industrialisation' and so will pursue the development of 'Industry I,II,III, and IV.' This should produce plenty of money and domestic arms manufacturing to win the war.

Agriculture will not be actively pursued simply because it is unlikely that the CAN will be able to protect the South sea trade routes from the Federal Navy.

Recruitment and Manpower

My first priority will be to pass the 'Militia Acts', 1 and 2, and possibly the Conscription Act. I noticed the AI went for these first during my Union Campaign in order to maximise the benefits of its limited manpowre.

The CSA is outnumbered and needs every available person equipped and in the field.

Economic Building Strategy

I developed what I think is a simple and effective strategy for constructing economic buildings which relies on AI to highlight any deficiencies in my national infrastructure and to decide on the best locations to subsidise additional buildings.

However, at the moment the AI is not indicating that there are any economic infrastructure deficiencies. So there is nothing to build. But this will probably change over time.

Forts, Buildings, Depots and Telegraph Stations

These will be built as, when and where the strategic situation necessitates.

I have already decided that I may build some more coastal forts to protect my ports and deter naval landings. I may also build a few river forts to deter Federal Gunboats and river transport if it becomes a problem.

Depots, hospitals and Telegraph Stations will be built as necessary to support my armies in the defence of key locations like Staunton VA where my armies are likely to be stationed and need supply and support to maximise their reaction and recovery times.

Project Focus

I shall ignore projects that improve ships and focus on those that improve the acquisition of weapons and increased manpower. Civil Projects that benefit infrastructure and foreign trade will be given priority.

Early Campaign Strategy

In my Union Campaign, I rushed straight to the recruitment screen and used all my available volunteers to form militia units. With the benefit of hindsight that was a bad decision and drained the Federal Treasury which left the coffers empty and resulted in the Federal Credit Rating dropping to 'C' leaving me with no money to spend on anything soon after the outbreak of war.

This time I've decided to play things more cautiously. The South does not have a lot of manpower available anyway, so there is less temptation to raise loads of additional units. But my initial aim will be to spend as little as possible before the outbreak of the war and to focus any expenditure on economic and infrastructure improvements that will provide long-term benefits.

It remains to be seen whether this is a better strategy than my Union one, but i am relying on the fact that when the time comes I shall be able to raise my militia quickly to resist the Federal invasion.

The aim when the Yanks do attack will be to inflect a heavy defeat on one or more of their armies and to keep them away from the Southern heartlands until I can build up enough strength to take the offensive.

That's the plan. Fingers-Crossed.

Historical Stuff and Trivia.

The Confederate Uniform was designed by Nicola Marschall, a German-American artist who also designed the original Confederate flag. He was heavily influenced by the mid-1800s uniforms of the Austrian and French armies.

However, it wasn't until the Confederate Quartermaster in Richmond introduced a system of depots in early 1862 that the CSA began to mass-produce uniforms and supply them to their troops.

Prior to the introduction of the depot system the south allowed soldiers to have their own uniforms made and the cost reimbursed by the CS Treasury. The allowance was CS$42 per annum.

Many soldiers on both sides fought in their local militia uniforms which caused considerable confusion in the early battles as some Confederate Militia wore blue, whilst many Federal Militia's wore grey, and friendly fire incidents were common.

Following the establishment of the Richmond Depot in early 1862, other depots were established in Columbus, Athens and Atlanta, Georgia for the Army of Tennessee and Houston, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana for the Trans-Mississippi forces.

The existence of multiple depots each of which was administered by local government departments meant that army-wide uniformity was still impossible despite the regulations.
Different depots designed their own unique version of the regulation uniform.

The Columbus Depot produced jackets with a distinctive breast pocket, whilst the jackets supplied to the Richmond Depot were plain. This resulted in a varied set of uniforms worn by different Confederate units based on which depot had supplied them.

It was not until the final year of the war that some sort of uniformity was achieved in the Confederate Army mainly due to the availability of large quantities of uniform blue-grey cloth either produced locally or imported from Britain. Peter Tait of Limerick, Ireland, became a major supplier of uniforms for the Confederate Army.

Distribution problems also affected uniformity, especially from the Depots in Houston and Shreveport and those Confederate units in the Trans-Mississippi Region who were reliant upon those depots struggled to present any sort of uniformity as a result.

The regulation Confederate headgear was 'chasseur cap', or "kepi", a French military cap. But lack of availability often meant that soldiers wore broad felt or straw hats and even slouch hats instead.

The Federal Army-style forage caps were also popular and General Stonewall Jackson was famous for wearing one.

Confederate Cavalry troops often chose to wear the 'Hardee' hat, much like the U.S. Army Cavalry, which was more a question of the personal "flair" rather than lack of supply.

The regulation uniform jacket of the Confederate soldier was single-breasted, made of gray or brown fabric, with a six to nine buttons down the front. But in practice the design of the garment varied in detail for each depot. Likewise the fabric used, ranged from the fine kersey and broadcloth early in the war, to the cheaper cotton/wool blends of satinette, and cassimere, to name several examples.

The exact colour also varied by region and over time. from the prewar 'bright cadet gray', similar to the fabric used by Virginia Military Institute, to the cruder sumac and logwood dyed fabrics, which would eventually fade to a ragged butternut appearance.

Trousers also varied in style, colour and quality based on the depot issuing the supply.. They were typically a shade of grey or brown, with a variety of medium blues also produced. The individual could also have them trimmed to reflect his unit, his rank, or simply as a personal flare.

[A_P_Hill]

You can trash the "Old Dominion" too, I've found that Virginia almost always secedes. Use Industrialization in it's place

[Billy]

From my experience, to control the seas as the CSA, the only good time to get the ball rolling was yesterday.

The Union has a strong navy at the start, and it will get even stronger as their ships already under construction begin to launch.

I was successfully able to take control by swarming the Union with 2 maximum sized fleets comprised completely of Brigs. Their quick construction and relatively small price tag allowed me to overwhelm the Union fleets within the first year of the war, and maintain control until the war ended.

However, this strategy only works if you're willing to lose a lot of ships, and it's very important to have ships in reserve to swap out the damaged parts of the fleets as soon as possible.

As I began to face less resistance, I began to send the ships I didn't need back to the docks to save money.

What I didn't know at the time was that the Union would be sending ships with Iron armor at me in response, so producing 10-15 frigates as soon as I could add them would have been wise, but bringing the swarm of brigs out of storage to put down these new ships was just enough to maintain control.

After all this, blockading every port and trade node was easy, but the impact it had on the Union economy most likely wasn't worth the effort.

[Didz]

Originally posted by Billy:

After all this, blockading every port and trade node was easy, but the impact it had on the Union economy most likely wasn't worth the effort.

Which would suggest that Braedenh's strategy of ignoring the CSN is probably justified.

[Didz]

Originally posted by A_P_Hill:

You can trash the "Old Dominion" too, I've found that Virginia almost always secedes. Use Industrialization in it's place

I looked at industrialisation but wasn't sure if the benefits would be worth the investment.

[Billy]

Originally posted by Didz:

Originally posted by A_P_Hill:

You can trash the "Old Dominion" too, I've found that Virginia almost always secedes. Use Industrialization in it's place

I looked at industrialisation but wasn't sure if the benefits would be worth the investment.

I believe it's a solid 20% increase in population, which increases taxes and the recruitment pool.

[Didz]

Originally posted by Billy:

Originally posted by Didz:

I looked at industrialisation but wasn't sure if the benefits would be worth the investment.

I believe it's a solid 20% increase in population, which increases taxes and the recruitment pool.

That does sound useful and I have made that swap in my starting policies.

[A_P_Hill]

The south could really use the boost in the industrialization. well worth it as it improves, so does the military benefits.

But you made the change so good on ya.

[Didz]

Yes! Billy and yourself made a strong argument for the change, so I decided to go for it.