Mark Herman - Apr 8, 2006 8:41 pm (#71 Total: 72) Currently designing ACW and additional We The People style games. ACW AAR... It has been awhile since I posted any strategy material on this game here. Still one of my favorite solitaire games. It is when playing solo that the command rules become a real benefit. One of the keys to this game is ensuring that the Union can keep a reasonable number of mobile forces going each turn. The initial game is designed to have the forces in DC fail 2 out of 3 times, so getting a leader promoted to level 1 and placing him in DC is a big help. It is critical that the Union play an aggressive naval game otherwise it becomes quite difficult to make sufficient progress and it allows the South to concentrate its forces if they are not threatened from the sea or rivers. The command system is a bit archaic, but in this context it works out quite well if the player remains conscious on not putting all his eggs in any particular region in the same hex. In this manner, someone will activate and keep the Union moving forward. It is also important to remember that leaders impact their hex plus all adjacent hexes, so this also increases the probability of active forces when this key tactic is followed. On the other hand the South, unless it has been allowed to build itself up usually only counterattacks and rarely invades the North. In the game just completed the Union got rolling early and blew through to Richmond by the end of '61. A supporting offensive on the coast of North Carolina with Farragut took out New Bern, but required other Union forces advancing down from VA to take out Wilmington. The fighting in this area was fierce with Wilmington stubbornly hanging on. Meanwhile on the Mississippi things got rolling late due to the same Command die rolls that were making the East mobile were shutting down Cincinnatti and Cairo on a frequent basis, but late in '61 Memphis fell followed by Nashville. After some prodigious running the guns past New Orleans and Vicksburg the Union had interdicted most of the river, except at the Vicksburg crossing point. In late '62 an advance from Memphis to Jackson led to a long set of battles that were not resolved until late '63 when Jackson fell. In the center things finally got moving, but Chattanooga held and kept the center corked up. In early '64 the South had lost a number of cities, but were in great shape until Wilmington fell quickly followed by Charleston. Once this happened the Union was able to use ground forces for interdiction of key raillines, and the loss of Mobile to finish off the South on game turn 13 (election turn) when the Southern grid was reduced to 19. All in all a fun game, which I continue to come back to. Mark