Having played quite a few sessions of this game, I suspect that most people had the same reaction that I did after the first couple of attempts. The Union gets a fairly thorough thrashing, as the rampaging Confederate Army under the dead-cert die-roll leadership of Lee, Longstreet and Forrest dances around the utterly inept Union leaders and rapidly accumulates a 2:1 political total thus winning the game as Lincoln shuffles off to Buffalo.
This sequence may have been avoided by the lucky Union few who manage to win a battle in Manassas early in the game and push on to Richmond. This is however, a rare event and not to be banked on by the Union. After many playings here is what our playing showed to be the optimal Union moves. As with any such plan, it falls to the vagaries of chance - not pulling any 3 OC cards for the Union in the first two turns of the game will cause anyone serious problems.
Just take a moment here to go over the victory conditions again so that the following is put into context. For the Union player, victory requires destroying all Confederate industry or driving the Confederate Strategic Will down to zero.
For the Confederate, victory comes through not losing by the end, or gaining a two to one advantage in Strategic Will. It is this last parameter wherein all the grief for the Union lies. Both players start with 100 points. Losing major battles, replacing Army leaders and occupying strategic locations are among the events that move the totals. If the Confederates attack and take Washington in a major battle this results in –35 Union SW and + 3 Confederate – a net change of nearly 40.
Coupled with a Union change of leadership in the AoP for –8 and an end of year penalty of –5 you end up pretty close to a two:one situation. Usually if Washington falls then the Confederate is in a position to take 3 locations in one or two of those Eastern seaboard states – each occasion causing –5 Union SW and +5 Confederate SW. Thus the Union player must make every effort to keep the Confederate Uber-Army away from Washington.
There are a few general problems that the Union has to be prepared...well, actually, you can't prepare for them. If they happen you are generally screwed. These mostly revolve the playing of Event Cards - using the text on your hand of cards instead of the numeric value. Examples include "On to Richmond" which is intended to be a difficulty for the Union. If the Union draws this card, they can at least determine when in the turn that they will play it. If the Confederate draws it...usually, they play it as their 2nd-last card, thus killing the last card in the Union hand and forcing the OtR event to be followed - the Army of the Potomac must advance towards Richmond with all troops in teh next Union round.
This means that the Confederate player knows at the start of the turn how the last 3 player rounds will resolve - a mighty advantage indeed.
A similar, but more dangerous sequence is the EC card that takes a card from the opposing players hand and discards it.
Effectively, if the Confederate player uses this cards text in his 3rd last round or earlier then at the end of the turn the Confederate player gets two rounds back to back with no Union interference. This is utterly devastating - march around Washington and the immobile AofP and occupy 3 spaces in 1 or 2 states and then retire back to Virginia resulting in a 10 to 20 point swing in the Strategic Will. This same sequence can occur if the Union player uses any of the EC cards that can be played during the Confederate turn - such as Mud. Although the Union gains the benefit in battle or stopping a Confederate move, he still hands the opportunity for a double move - a substantial disincentive.
We'll assume that these disasters do not happen and that average cards are drawn for both sides. If the Union draws any blockade +1 cards these should definitely be played as EC's but otherwise OC's are the go. This is not meant to be a TAHGC "General" Perfect Play tm type article but rather what we have found to be the most optimal after repeated playings.
The opening turn gives each player 4 cards. We'll assume that in each turn the Union player does manage to pull at least one 3 OC card each turn. The Confederate player declines to go first (pretty rare even if they have a Campaign card giving them the option - why give the initiative [going last] to the Union?) and off we go.
Union Round 1/Turn 1: If the Union has a 3 this is the time to play it. Activate the Army of the Potomac, pick up the 2 points in Harpers Ferry, the 1 point next to Washington and then drop a point in DC. Finally attack Manassas with your 5th MP at odds of 7:3 (medium battle) with each side getting a +1 mod. The Confederate might try for a retreat before combat (1 in 6) to avoid taking casualties. Combat will result in 1 casualty each most often which ends the round. If the Union wins, congratulations - you're off to a flying start. We'll assume you didn't.
Confederate 1/1: Move JJ and his 1 point in the valley over to Manassas.
Union 2/1: Assuming you don't have another 3 OC (if you do - on to Richmond again...probably with the same result), use a 2 OC to invade Fort Phillip/Jackson outside of New Orleans - the Confederate player will occupy it if you don't. 2:0 odds gives you a +4 mod. You will probaly lose a man but one gets through.
Confederate 2/1: Build a fort in Manassas.
Union 3/1: Consider using OC's to take West Virginian locations with PC markers. You'll need these locations on turn 2.
Confederate 3/1: Either respond to West Virginia or think of moving some Arkansas troops to Sabine City - your last port in the western blockade zone and a sure target for Union invasion.
Union 4/1: West Virginia again or pumping some troops to Pittsburgh from Ohio. Maybe that lone point In Philadelphia to move to Fort Monroe - gets the Confederate thinking about another direction.
Confederate 4/1: A good time to play an EC card that gives you extra troops if you have one - else some PC markers in Kentucky or West Virginia.
Why this battle over West Virginia? Well, that's where those Union reinforcements are going to appear. This is the swing turn - turn 2. These troops have to put the Union player in a position to NOT lose over turns 2 and 3 or else Lee the HeadKicker turns up turn 4 with his close buddy Forrest and proceeds to take Washington unless there is some serious distraction. If Lee, Forrest and another 1 Battle leader (total +7) are adjacent to Washington - they can take it almost automatically. So the Union objective is to get those Confederate troops away from Washington - and even better, take Richmond. This is one of those either/or situations: either the Union pushes the Confederate away and in the process probably takes Richmond, or else he fails to do so and probably has the Army of North Virginia sitting next to Washington waiting for Bobby and Co. to arrive.
Generally, the Union objectives in turn 2 are to take all new leaders into the AofP. Pump it up to 15 troops. Get 8 to 10 troops in Pittsburgh during the Strategic move phase.
1/2: Attack the Confederates straight away with the AofP - whether you win does not matter - what you want is to get those leaders flipped over.
2/2: Re-organise your leaders. A 2-0 with a 3-1 buddy in Pittsburgh, and another such combo in the Aof P. Move all the 3-0 leaders that you can off to St. Louis to review the troops.
3/2: Form an Army in Pittsburgh.
4/2: Change leaders in the AofP. You may wish to leave the AofP alone rather than switch leaders as having a 2-0 in charge gives zero chance of interception. This means that the Confederate knows that he can slide around the AofP without interference - a powerful tool. However, haivng a 2-0 leader in charge gives the Union player a MUCH better chance of activating the AofP when he needs to in his own round.
5/2: Advance the Pittsburgh army through West Virginia towards the Valley.
The Union player is now in a position to threaten the Confederate player from two directions - maybe even three if any troops have moved into Fort Monroe. The idea is to threaten Richmond, threaten to cut off the AofV if it is not near Richmond, and use Corps detachments from the Pittsburgh army to threaten a run down the Cumberland valley towards all those red locations like Atlanta.
Of course the Confederate is not going to sit like a dummy while all this is going on. Well, he might but then you should be playing a live opponent instead of a goldfish. Possible counters include grabbing every point possible and trying to form two 8 point Army's in Virginia - one where the current concentration of troops are and another just south of Richmond. Cavalry forces work well in opposing and cutting off the Army coming out of Pittsburgh. However, the Confederate player has to survive 2 turns - 11 rounds - of Union activity with just the troops that he begins turn 2 with. Big losses reduce their ability to threaten a quick move on Washington or a fast surround and crush on one of the Union Army's - and these are the only things that the Union player fears once he levers the Confederate out of Manassas. We have tried various other approaches - like forming Armies out West and working against Nashville and Memphis.
The trouble with this strategy is that if you try to combine it with the Pittsburgh move you do neither well and if done without the Pittsburgh Army then you have not solved the Lee next to Washington problem. Essentially, the Union needs to keep their SW up and the Confederate down. The best way to do this is hold Washington. The best way to do that is push the Confederate away. The best way to do that is take Richmond. This sequence smacks of absolutism, but if you are going to commit to a course of action then the thing to do is to complete it - not go half-arsed.
The simulation problem with this is that there is almost no chance of getting anything like an historical sequence. Either the Confederates get a shot at Washington and WILL take it (their leaders allow for +9 mods - an automatic 10, no die roll needed - I'm always a little worried when a design allows automatic results); or else the Union digs the Confederate out and takes Richmond. This pretty well ends the threat of a political Confederate victory.
If the Union survives turn 4 without losing DC or having Washington threatened, then you are into the mid-game. Army's and Cavalry will swirl around each other as the Union tries to lock up Kentucky, Tennessee and Virgina, and occupy the Southern Production cities such as Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and so on. As the Union leadership gradually gets better - and a few Confederates succumb to wayward bullets - the leadership situation should even out. At that point the big battalions start to have an effect. There are still many hurdles for the Union player but at least they are over the fast loss. If For The People has been frustrating for you as the Union, try these stratagems out and see how they go.
For The People Review (PA#98)
For The People Review (PA#97)
For the People Strategy (PA#100)
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© Copyright 1999 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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