American Chess: A American Civil War Game (OOC, Rules, and Sign-up Thread)

[genyodectes]

Summary/Backstory: In the years leading up to the 1860 United States Presidential Election, one issue was boiling tensions in the young country: Slavery. The Free North was opposed to the idea of Slaves being in their country and wanted to abolish it while the Slave South heavily believed in Slavery and wanted to spread it across the country. The North’s anti-slavery feelings lead to the rise of the Republican Party, which won 11 states and 114 Electoral Votes in the 1856 Election 4 years prior, while the South’s Pro-Slavery Tendencies led to a three way split in the Democratic Party in 1860, between Stephen Douglas, who led the Northern Democrats, getting 1 State and 12 Electoral Votes, John Bell, who led the Constitutional Unionists, getting 3 States and 39 Electoral Votes, and Vice President John C. Breckenridge, who led the Southern Democrats, getting 11 States and 72 Electoral Votes. However, the South had doomed themselves and the Republican Candidate, Abraham Lincoln, won the Election with 18 States and 180 Electoral Votes. Following this, the States of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. In April, the states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina seceded from the Union as well and joined the Confederate States. After the attack on the Union-controlled Fort Sumter in South Carolina, War broke out. It is now 1 day after the First Battle of Bull Run, the First Major Battle of the War, and the Union has suffered a blow. However, the Confederacy now needs to whether or not to push the advantage they have now. For the first time in North America since the Revolutionary War, a game of American Chess has begun.

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Eastern Front (Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland)

The Union has suffered their first major blow at Bull Run. Following a decisive defeat a day ago by Confederate forces, they have left The Union Capital of Washington D.C. wide open for attack. An inviting target for the Confederacy to prove their worth and end the war quickly on their own terms but it could be a poison disguised as alcohol. At any moment , the Union Army could rally and cut off the Army of Northern Virginia from Virginia and have a clear route to the Confederate Capital of Richmond should the Confederacy take the risk of besieging Richmond. There is further questioning of whether or not the state of Maryland, which houses slaves themselves and has some sympathy to the Confederacy while still being in the Union, would aid them in their siege of join the Union and end the war quickly. The ball is in the Confederacy’s court and the way this war goes will be on how they play. Should they act aggressively and press the opportunity or should they act defensively and tire the Union out by having them fight in the South?

Western Front (Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas)

All is silent on the Western Front. So far, only brief skirmishes have happened on this front and only in the tense border state of Missouri with a victory for both sides in these two skirmishes. Confederate forces are chomping at the bit to be let loose and ‘liberate’ their brothers in Kentucky and Missouri. While it’s clear that Missouri is likely to join should the Union forces in the state be effectively destroyed, Kentucky is a different matter entirely. Having declared Neutrality, they shouldn’t be invaded lest they join the opposing side if the Union invades and vice versa. The ball is in the court for both belligerents. Should they take the initiative and invade Kentucky and push either North or South or should they continue to play a game of chicken to see which side breaks first and invades the neutral state. In Missouri, the ball is in the Confederacy’s court. All they need is to secure the Southern Portion of the State and they have won the state, however, securing a state that borders Kansas, a free Union State, to the west, will be rather difficult without invading Kansas as well. Should the Confederacy abandon their attempts to take over Missouri or should they take the risk of over extension and invade Kansas as well? The chess game in the Western Front depends on the command of its general

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The Rules:

- This game is going to cover the American Civil War that the players create. That means Alternate Battles, Alternate Campaigns, Alternate Outcomes, etc. etc.

- The game begins on July 22nd, 1861, the day after the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. Generals shall craft and create campaigns and lead in battles should they happen. They can also request the mod (Me) to craft an army for one of the two fronts that currently exist

- Each turn will cover 4 months in the game timeline. I intend to have them open for d days so as to give people time to respond.

- I will cover the Major Battles and outcomes of a certain Campaign in the Campaign and Battles Thread, which is different from the Gameplay Thread. The campaign plans will be sent to me via PM and they can also recruit more soldiers for their forces and supplies

- Updates will be posted in the main thread. These will contain overall summaries, the state of (public) alliances, deaths, and the economic situation for each power. Commanders will be given specific events to respond to each turn as well. There will also be a number of events every turn which could involve Martial crises, events in campaigns on another front for all players to respond to.

- In the event of the death of a general in a battle, the player of the original general can choose one of their three succeeds that you laid out in your staff and the one you choose will be your new character and the new general for the force you command.

- Failure to send in Campaign plans will be the equivalent of a General sitting down and doing nothing. Players who miss their turns will find their forces unorganized, demoralized, restless, and weaker than from when they started.

- Battles will be calculated by dice rolls. Higher number wins, margin between rolls determines the level of victory. Experience will matter as if a force that has fought several battles battles a force that has had no or only one battle, the force with more experience will win. Sizes of the contending forces determines the amount of dice rolled.

- So far there are only 4 playable generals. I will add more if I feel like there is enough demand (ASJ, Lee, McClellan, and Grant are top candidates).

- In the Game-play thread, you can craft out your staff and gather supplies/destroy the surrounding area and talk with opposing forces about prisoner-for-supplies trades, as was common during the civil war.

- There will be modifiers for this game: Politics (The President of the CSA (Jefferson Davis) or Union (Abraham Lincoln) can intervene if you are proving to be rather unsuccessful and fire you), National Manpower (The pool of men you can recruit from the country at large. Recruit too much and you run the risk of you having low manpower for the rest of the war), Economy (Your nationa's economy will fluctuate throughout the war), Foreign Intervention (Britain and France's interest in the war, it can rise and fall depending on certain campaigns), War Weariness (How tired of war your nation is, this will be a major factor in your manpower and national morale), National Morale (if low, the Nation will demand peace but if high, the war can continue).

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Confederate Generals:

Army of the Shenandoah: Joseph E. Johnston

Missouri State Guard: Sterling Price

Union Generals:

Army of Northeastern Virginia: Irvin McDowell

Army of the West: Nathaniel Lyon

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