AMPU pre-alpha: Reconstruction Era

[Umbrella]

The Civil War is over, the US looks like a One-Party State with the recent election of President Grant and both the Senate and House controlled by the Republican Party who are busy waving the bloody shirt. It is an age of a significant level of corruption in local, state, and the federal government. Because of this, reformers are emerging in both parties to clean up the corruption and establish government jobs by merit and not party loyalty, but this has not happened yet. The leading issue of the day is the tariff and currency reform. It is an age of the Trust, an age of the rich, an age of parties with the rich and struggles with the poor. African Americans are being forgotten by the GOP and ignored by the Democrats. Native Americans are being exterminated by the army who are also holding down the south. Both parties have supporters of the Gold Standard as well as advocates for Free Silver. The latter want to create inflation making it easier to pay back debt. Europe is busy colonizing Africa and Asia while expansionists in the US are looking and thinking about the US having their own empire. Feminists, socialists, communists, prohibitionists, eugenicists, labor activists are starting to rumble forth but they are being pushed down by those in power. How long will they stay silent, and how long will the government stay in the hands of the rich, and not the poor?

I will be controlling the left wing populist/progressive faction of the Republican party. The top politicians in this faction are Frederick Douglass, former slave turned social activist, Elihu B Washburne, who served briefly Grant's Secretary of State in real life, and Henry Wilson, who was Grant's 2nd VP in real life. For this playtest, we will start with Grant in office as president. The congress elected in 1868 will be in place. However, leadership positions, such as Speaker of the House, will be voted on by the players. Military leaders and Supreme Court justices will also be in place already. Cabinet members and ambassadors will be chosen by the president.

This will be a bit different than my other playtest. For starters, there are only 37 states in the union at this time, so I suspect we will have way less politicians to control. Also, since I am the far left faction, the difficulty level will be much higher. I'm going to approach this game as an advocate for women's suffrage, establishing rights for the newly freed slaves, protecting the Native Americans, pushing for worker's rights, cleaning up corruption at all levels of government, and to be the champion for civil rights throughout the land. All of which will be very difficult to pull off during this time period. I haven't received my roster yet, so I don't know how feasible this plan is.

[Chas in Cinti]

Wow, the congress elected in 1968 will be in place for reconstruction?

Yes, I know I'm an a$$ for highlighting a typo, just couldn't help myself...

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Wow, the congress elected in 1968 will be in place for reconstruction?

Yes, I know I'm an a$$ for highlighting a typo, just couldn't help myself...

These guys were ahead of their time!

Fixed.

[Young Drachma]

Interesting stuff!

[Umbrella]

I finally received my roster, and whoo boy, this will be a challenge. My highest rated politician is Charles D Drake, who is currently serving as a senator from Missouri. Frederick Douglas is my second highest, but the 15th amendment hasn't been passed yet, so I can't do anything with him. Even if it passes, there is a big penalty towards black politicians during this era, so even though he's a powerhouse, it will be hard to find a position for him. George S Boutwell is a representative from Massachusetts, and he looks pretty good. John P Hale is currently unemployed, but was a congressman before the Civil War. Not a lot of promise after that.

Some other interesting characters in my faction are George Meade, union general at Gettysburg, Horace Greeley, an influential newspaper editor during the Civil War, Robert Gould Shaw, who was the guy the movie Glory is based on, and should be dead (obviously this is a mistake in the database), and P T Barnum! Yeah, if you know me, you know I'm going to try and see if I can make him a political star.

I control seven governors, 14 senators, eight representatives, and two Supreme Court justices. Keep in mind that during this time, the democrats were effectively removed from all positions of power, so they are at a huge disadvantage to start this playtest.

The first order of business is the draft. Being a far left republican, in this draft class, I'm able to draft a whopping TWO people without penalty. Anyone else I try to draft has only a 30% chance of success. If I fail the roll, I lose the pick. So there won't be much help for me in the draft. The star of the draft for the Republicans is John Coit Spooner, who was a very powerful senator from Wisconsin. Other interesting names in the republican draft are William McKinley, Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr., and Robert Todd Lincoln.

On the democrats side, it's a weak draft. I haven't heard of a single person in their draft.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

On the democrats side, it's a weak draft. I haven't heard of a single person in their draft.

You piqued my curiosity -- how obscure IS obscure basically.

Gimme the top 5 or 10 names if it's easy to do, let's see if any ring a bell

(My curiosity here stems back from how immediately recognizable Eugene Talmadge was to me in the first playthrough, let's see if there's another one like that for me here basically)

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

You piqued my curiosity -- how obscure IS obscure basically.

Gimme the top 5 or 10 names if it's easy to do, let's see if any ring a bell

(My curiosity here stems back from how immediately recognizable Eugene Talmadge was to me in the first playthrough, let's see if there's another one like that for me here basically)

Fair enough. I know a little about history, but I wouldn't say I was a historian. Here are the top 10 democrats in the draft (by political value). Keep in mind, none of these guys look to be stars, which is why I think they have a weak draft:

1. David B Hill
2. Charles M Stedman
3. James H Berry
4. Joseph D Sayers
5. Albert T Goodwyn
6. Charles T O'Ferrall
7. Joseph F Johnson
8. Henry B Lovering
9. John W Daniel
10. Simeon E Baldwin

[Umbrella]

Also, after a discussion about whether or not Shaw should be in the game, we realized that his draft date (1864) occurs after he died (1863). When we brought this up to the designer, he informed us there is an event in the previous era about the Battle of Fort Wagner, where he died in real life. One of the event results is that Shaw dies. If that event never fires, then he stays in the game. These little alt-history things have me really excited about the game.

For our playthrough though, the GM admits he made a mistake and shouldn't have been included in the roster for this playthrough. However, we made the decision that we will pretend he survived, and he'll stay in the game.

Also, in looking at my roster, if nothing else changes, my only eligible candidate for faction leader is Frederick Douglass. This would then make him an eligible candidate for president, if we can get the 15th amendment passed before the next presidential election. After mentioning alt-history earlier, I think you can see where I'm going with this...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

Fair enough. I know a little about history, but I wouldn't say I was a historian. Here are the top 10 democrats in the draft (by political value). Keep in mind, none of these guys look to be stars, which is why I think they have a weak draft:

1. David B Hill
2. Charles M Stedman
3. James H Berry
4. Joseph D Sayers
5. Albert T Goodwyn
6. Charles T O'Ferrall
7. Joseph F Johnson
8. Henry B Lovering
9. John W Daniel
10. Simeon E Baldwin

I'm 0 for 10 on these.

[Izulde]

I actually am familiar a bit with Charles Manly Stedman. North Carolinan, fought on the side of the Confederacy, last Civil War veteran to serve in the House

[Umbrella]

The draft is complete. We submitted a draft strategy to the GM, so I'm not sure how many picks were skipped, and not 100% sure of the correct order, but here is my best estimate based on draft strategy of my picks.

1. George K Nash - I had him high on my list because I have a kingmaker from Ohio who is a moderate, and need someone from the same state and same ideology. Nash fit the bill, even though he's not great. Actually, nobody I got is great, so we'll just leave it at that. Nash was a governor of Ohio IRL.
2. Hiram R. Burton - One of the two politicians I could draft without worry of losing my pick. Served as a rep from Delaware.
3. Edward Gillette - The second of the two politicians I could draft without worry. He only served one term in congress IRL, but was a political activist. Perfect for my faction.
4. Joseph W Fifer - Probably my strongest overall draft pick, although that's not saying much. Served as governor of Illinois IRL.
5. John E Jones - An interesting pick. Technically, he's a member of the blue (other) party, but IRL he was a member of the Silver party, which I've never heard of. He's far left, and has the party switching trait, so I took a chance to draft him, and succeeded. He was born in Wales, and served as governor of Nevada.
6. Frank Morey - At this point, I'm to my last line of draft instructions, which is the highest rated politician with the civil rights interest. Fought for the Union, moved to Louisiana, where he became a representative for the state. He also received a random trait, provincial. This helps with local elections, but hurts in national ones. Like this guy was ever going to be president in the first place.
7. Clinton L Cobb - Representative from North Carolina IRL.
8. Phineas C Lounsbury - And I am now just picking up the scraps. Served as governor of Connecticut.
9. Adin Capron - Another Union soldier, and representative from Rhode Island.
10. Dwight M Sabin - Served as senator from Minnesota. Also negotiated a big contract involved prison labor. He doesn't feel like he should be in my faction.

That's it. Pretty underwhelming draft, but I suspect there will be a lot of that for me. Now I have to decide who is going on the career track, and which track.

[Umbrella]

While going through and setting up my career track selections, I found another interesting character on my roster, one George Armstrong Custer. I missed him in my initial roster review.

For career tracks, not a ton of strategy involved. I chose Lounsbury for the backroom track since I have a lot of politicians from Connecticut, and this is a great way to get the kingmaker trait. Jones will be military, Gillette admin, Fifer governing, Nash legislative. I'm not sure what to do with Burton, so he went into the private track, and how that plays out will determine what direction I take him. Finally, I didn't have anyone eligible for the judicial track, so I chose Sabin, knowing that there is only a 50% chance of him successfully going on the track.

[Poli]

I'm intrigued. Might be my next purchase.

[Umbrella]

Sabin passed the roll, and is now on the judicial track. For my politicians that started on a career track, I left all of them on except the ones that had reached the 20 year maximum. Here are the ones that came off.

Asa Hodges - Private - Gained +2 leg, +1 gov, +2 admin. Also gained expansionist, labor, and welfare. A jack-of-all-trades, master of none candidate. I have tons of options for him.

Rufus H King - Legislative - Gained +3 leg, debate, expansionist, business, and is now a domestic warrior. A very strong congressional candidate. Unfortunately, he's in New York, which is absolutely loaded with candidates. He's a strong contender for someone I may try and relocate.

Rowland E Trowbridge - Administrative - Gained +4 admin, expansionist, and media. A possible future secretary of state, but more likely an ambassador. I'm not sure which cabinet positions are currently established in this game, but there are a few which he might be a good candidate for, if I can get legislation passed to create the positions. For example, it is possible to create the Secretary of Agriculture, which he could be a potential candidate.

[Umbrella]

While we're in a lull, I thought it might be interesting to have a quick look at the current state of the meters.

Revenue/Budget: This meter affects the national debt, which in turns affects how many spending bills can be introduced. Right now were are little below balanced, meaning we are spending slightly more than taking in. As the far left faction, we like to spend money, so against my own personal politics, I want to shift this meter even to more overspending.

Economic Stability: This meter affects domestic stability depending on how far the meter is from center. Right now, we are at stagnation, which is right in the middle. Even though this is the middle, it is still considered a crisis, so there are rules about bills dealing with crises. The more stable we are, the better for the incumbent party, so it is in our interest to improve this.

Foreign Relations: There are independent meters for each country. For ease, I will say that all of our relations are neutral, except Russia, which is slightly above neutral. These meters affect what your ambassadors can and can't do on their turns, as well as pre-requisites for certain events.

Military Preparedness: This determines how well you do in wars. The Civil War just ended so our level is pretty high right now. From a faction standpoint, this doesn't affect me one way or the other.

Domestic Stability: This meter has an affect on both Quality of Life, and Economic Stability. Right now, it is at Violent Unrest, which is pretty low. This is another crisis. As the incumbent party, we want this high, so if I get chosen to introduce legislation, this will be a high priority.

Honest Government: This affects quite a few things. But simply put, as the far left faction, I want this as high as possible. Right now, we are smack dab in the middle. In real life, corruption was a huge problem under Grant, so I'm guessing there are events which will hurt this.

Quality of Life: This is another meter that affects several different things. As the far left, I want this as high as possible. Right now, we're just below the middle, which will currently hurt me in elections. I need to work on getting this higher.

Planet Health: This one doesn't come into play much. It affects Quality of Life, and also elections. As you can imagine, the better it is, the better my faction will do. Right now, it's in the 2nd highest spot.

The finally, there are meters for party preference, and also each ideology's enthusiasm. This solely affects elections. Things are good on this front. Party enthusiasm is on the 2nd highest level for republicans, and the LW populist, progressive, and liberal ideologies are also maxed out for us. We need to keep these levels where they are.

[Umbrella]

We combined the next three actions simultaneously; politician movement, ideology shift, and kingmakers.

For my movement, I moved Charles Van Wyck from New York to Nebraska. He had Nebraska as an alternate state, so I could move with 100% success.

For ideology shifts, I attempted to shift three politicians from moderate to liberal. They were James W Grimes, James M Harvey, and John J Ingalis. All three of these guys are in states where liberals are much more likely to get elected than moderates, so it was worth the chance of getting flip-flopper or pliable. I got very lucky on my rolls. All three were successful, and only Ingalis gained flip-flopper. Flip-flopper is annoying, but can go away over time, so not too detrimental. A potential downside to these shifts is that before the shifts, I had more moderates than any other ideology. This meant I would get the moderate card. But I also have more liberals/progressives/LW populists than any other faction, so I would get all of those cards as well. But now, after the shifts, I have more liberals than any other ideology, so I won't get the moderate card. We'll see if this hurts me or not.

For kingmakers, I chose Jacob M Howard to take on David Jerome as his protégé. I have five kingmakers, but most of them aren't very good. Kingmakers have the possibility of shifting some of their traits to their protégé, so if their traits are bad, this isn't helpful. Howard is probably my best kingmaker from a trait standpoint. Because of this, Jerome gained experience in economics, interest in civil rights, and got debater and egghead traits. Debator is a good trait with no drawbacks, and egghead is a mostly good trait. For cabinet members, it is a vital trait. The only drawback to egghead is that politicians with lowbrow won't vote for them for things like speaker, etc. In my opinion, that is a very minor drawback. Unfortunately, my plans for Jerome is for him to be a governor someday, so I don't know how much egghead helps with that. He doesn't have any admin skill, so a cabinet member is out of the question.

Next we will receive our faction cards. Unlike the other playtest where I don't have many cards, this faction will have a bunch of them. We'll see how everything plays out after everyone completes their ideology shifts, kingmakers, etc. But I'm guessing I'll have several, and they will be very different ones from my other playtest.

[Umbrella]

FLAG ON THE PLAY!!

Jerome should have only gotten one trait. Luckily for me, it was debater that he kept.

[Umbrella]

Faction cards have been distributed. Here's what I have:

Ideology
LW Populist
Progressive
Liberal

Special Interests
LW Activists
Civil Rights
Reformists

Lobbies
Big Agriculture
Public Education
Public Housing
Labor Unions
LW Media
Welfare

I'm realizing this faction will be very difficult to play. Right now, I'm the only faction with an ideology left of moderate, so I have no allies on either side of the aisle. I also don't have enough influence in either chamber of congress to try and sway votes. I don't have anyone eligible to run for speaker, and since majority/minority leaders haven't been established yet, I have one guy eligible to run for Senate President Pro Tempere, Charles D Drake, who's a LW Populist. However, there are two other moderate candidates, so I can't gain any support from the Republicans, and there's no way the Democrats will vote for a fervent enemy of secessionists.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Aight, remind me how something functions: those lobbies you "have", are you trying to please them (for some benefit) or are they helping you achieve something you want to do?

I guess that's "are they a bonus that you might trigger by some action" or "are they a boost to some action you take"?

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Aight, remind me how something functions: those lobbies you "have", are you trying to please them (for some benefit) or are they helping you achieve something you want to do?

I guess that's "are they a bonus that you might trigger by some action" or "are they a boost to some action you take"?

Ideology, interest, and lobby cards do a few things. Primarily, they are used for scoring. When something happens that your card likes, you get points, and the opposite is true. In addition, any non-crisis legislation you introduce has to please one of the cards your faction holds. They also affect who your faction leader can be. The faction leader has to match one of the ideology cards, and also one of the interest/lobby cards. Finally, the LW/RW media cards have a special rule. These actually help in elections, since you're getting good publicity from the media. A purely cosmetic effect is your faction name choices are based on these cards. There are a lot of other minor rules that ideology affects, but the simple answer is mostly for scoring.

So knowing this, when it comes to legislation, governor actions, and (if I were president) executive decisions, what cards are affected are very important. You can choose to ignore this, but your base won't like it, and it could hurt you next election. This is the challenge I will be facing with trying to get the 15th Amendment passed. LW populists, progressives, and liberals love it, moderates, conservatives, and traditionalists, not so much. Since I'm the only one with those cards, I need to convince everyone to vote against their faction's interests to get this through. I'm still trying to figure out how I'll do this.

Another thing involves the cabinet. Most lobbies want one of their guys for certain cabinet positions. For example, the Wall Street lobby will be upset if the Secretary of the Treasury it not chosen from a faction with this card. This could decrease the enthusiasm of the faction holding that card towards the president's party, which will have consequences in the next election. The opposite of this is true if the lobby is satisfied with the selection.

The cards are given out depending on the interests of your politicians. In my case, I have a lot of politicians with interest/experience in civil rights, which is how I ended up with this card. This part of the rules is really complicated, and took me a while to wrap my head around. In addition, there are other restrictions. For example, the faction holding the pacifist card cannot also hold the Military-Industrial card.

[Umbrella]

In a shocking upset to most political observers, Charles D Drake from the LW activist party was elected Senate PPT. In reality, I was doing a TON of wheeling and dealing to secure the post. The reason I wanted it so badly was now that southern states are coming back into the union, the Senate PPT is the one who selects the senators to represent these states. Wherever I had an eligible candidate, that is who was selected. Here are my new senators:

William Larrabee - IA. This wasn't a reconstruction selection, it was an open slot, but I control the governor of Iowa, so I still got to fill it.
Joshua Hill -GA
Morgan C Hamilton and George H Noonan - TX

In hindsight, I might have overplayed my hand. It turns out I didn't have a lot of eligible candidates.

The other thing is I get to assign committee members and chairs. The difference from the other playtest is that I also get to assign the minority party as well, since there isn't a senate minority leader yet. As part of the deal to get elected Senate PPT, I had to give out all the committee chair spots to the other factions within my party.

Senate Domestic
George F Edmunds
Orris S Ferry
George H Williams
Lyman Trumball
Joshua Hill
Jacob Howard
Arthur Boreman
Benjamin F Rice

Senate Economic
Charles D Drake

Senate Judicial
William Larrabee
Henry Wilson
Morgan C Hamilton
Alexander McDonald

Senate Foreign/Military
William M Stewart
James W Grimes
William Sprague IV
William G Brownlow
George H Noonan

[Umbrella]

In addition, the Speaker of the House gets to assign the reps from the seceding states. I got a couple, William Mahone from Virginia, and Clinton L Cobb from North Carolina.

For house committees, here is who I got.

House Domestic
Elihu B Washburne - Chair
John F Benjamin
Clinton L Cobb
John Taffe
James C McGrew

House Economic
Aaron Sargent

House Judicial
William Mahone
George S Boutwell
Omar D Conger

House Foreign/Military
Thomas Boles

For faction leaders, I only had two eligible candidates, Frederick Douglass, and Horace Greeley. In the end I took Douglass. He is such a powerhouse, and it is looking like I am getting people on board to pass the 15th amendment this congressional term. Unfortunately, the dice gods hate me, and for his efforts, Douglass got the easily overwhelmed trait, one of the worst in the game. We will also be known as the Radical Republicans.

For the cabinet, my faction was left out in the cold. I did get Rowland E Trowbridge appointed Ambassador to Germany. In addition, John Rodgers was named an admiral.

For random deaths and retirements, the grim reaper was kind to me. I only had one death, Julius Converse. For the rest of the players, we lost our Secretary of War, Hamilton Fish, to retirement at the end of the term.

[Umbrella]

General Events Phase:
My senator Morgan C Hamilton is showing ambition, which means he gets +1 to his next election. In addition, our military prep dropped. Some other factions had random politician traits/ratings shift.

Scripted Events:
Most of these are flavor/points. For example, New Jersey became the first state to legalize labor unions. I got points for that since I hold the Labor Unions card. However, a couple of interesting events fired. First, we had the opportunity to go to war with Spain to try and gain the Philippines. We also had a chance to try and pass women's suffrage. As the only non-expansionist faction, I didn't want war, and as the civil rights faction, I wanted suffrage. However, I only got one of my wishes. We didn't go to war, which shocked me. President Grant got spooked by our military prep dropping and decided against it. However, I couldn't convince the rest of our faction that now was the time for women's suffrage.

The last update is that governors were chosen for the national convention. This part is confusing to me, since I still haven't been through a presidential election yet, so I was glad I wasn't chosen.

After the governors choose the delegations for the national convention, I believe we will move on to Supreme Court cases.

Also, a quick score update. I am the lowest scoring Republic faction, and by quite a bit. The rest of the party is pretty far right of me, so the actions they are taking benefit them much more than me. As it is, I'm still higher than all the Democrat factions, but not by much. If I'm below any of the Democrats at the end of the midterms, the Republicans will get a penalty, so I hope they start throwing me some bones soon.

[Umbrella]

Next phase is governors actions. Here are mine:

FL Harrison Reed - Increase state government jobs. Failed.

GA Rufus Bullock - Increase state government jobs.

IA Samuel Merrill - Advocate political reform. Success, gained some points.

KS James M Harvey - Advocate social mobility. Failed

MA William Claflin - Advocate political reform. Success, gained some points.

VA Henry H Wells - Praise the president. No effect.

VT John B Page - Increase state government jobs. Failed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

GA Rufus Bullock - Increase state government jobs.

The real Rufus Bullock was the first (R) governor of Georgia, serving from 1868 to 1871. He resigned when a (D) majority regained control of the state legislature and returned to his native New York. (He would later be back six years later to face two separate corruption trials but was acquitted by juries in Atlanta).

He was also the last (R) to be elected governor of the state until Sonny Perdue in 2003.

Last I can find, he remains the only governor since 1850 that does not have a portrait hanging in the state capital.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The real Rufus Bullock was the first (R) governor of Georgia, serving from 1868 to 1871. He resigned when a (D) majority regained control of the state legislature and returned to his native New York. (He would later be back six years later to face two separate corruption trials but was acquitted by juries in Atlanta).
He was also the last (R) to be elected governor of the state until Sonny Perdue in 2003.

Last I can find, he remains the only governor since 1850 that does not have a portrait hanging in the state capital.

This is pretty interesting. Right now, all of the southern governors are republicans, placed in positions by the president. In game purposes, a state can be considered "under reconstruction". I like to think of it as the army is still occupying the state. While a state is under reconstruction, they pretty much have no authority of their own, and the president controls all of their positions by assigning the governors, who in turn assign senators. I'm a little behind on this thread right now, but one of the proposed bills was Remove Virginia Reconstruction. As you can imagine, the Republican party, who controls both chambers with a super majority, shot this down quickly, and it died in committee.

[Umbrella]

Supreme Court Decisions phase. This phase doesn't involve actions, as the justices act based on their ideology and traits. We had two cases go before the court this term. The first was Elk vs. Wilkins, asking can an Indian make himself a citizen of the United States without the consent and cooperation of the government? Our court voted NAY 5-3, which was close to the real life outcome (7-2). The second case was Allgeyer vs. Louisiana, asking does the liberty that is protected by the due process clause of the 14th amendment include economic liberty? Our court voted AYE 6-2. Real life also voted AYE, but unanimously.

I didn't mention during the governor actions phase that the Republican party went hard on trying to increase state government jobs to try and increase domestic stability. This was great for me since I hold the labor union card, so I got a ton of points.

The next phase is legislation. This time, I had two representatives that got to create legislation. Elihu B Washburn (IL) proposed a new constitutional amendment granted the right to vote for all male persons of color (15th amendment). I've been saying all along this was my #1 priority in this playthrough, so even though the rest of my party wanted me to wait, I did it anyways. Aaron Sargent (CA) proposed create free rural delivery mail service. This proposal was actually suggested from the Interior Secretary, and they get bonus points if someone picks up their suggestion and makes it a proposal. I did this in exchange for support of the 15th amendment.

Next came committee voting. Here are the results, including how I voted.

House Domestic Committee
Create Free Rural Delivery mail service. Passed 17-0. I obviously voted AYE.

House Foreign/Military Committee
Increase Defense Spending. Passed 14-2. I voted AYE even though it doesn't affect me directly. Part of my negotations to get votes for the 15th amendment.
Replace wooden, sail driven fleet with a modernized steel navy. Passed 16-0.
I voted AYE for the same reasons as above.
Idaho Statehood. Passed 16-0. I have politicians in Idaho, so AYE to get them in the game.
Repeal Virginia Reconstruction. Failed 4-12. NAY from me as mentioned in an earlier post

House Economic Committee
Create a National Bankruptcy Law. Passed 16-0. Reformists like this, so AYE.

House Judicial Committee
Set the Number of US Supreme Court Justices to 10. Passed 15-2. We control the nominations, so AYE.
Give former slaves, free blacks, and people of color the right to vote-Amendment. Passed 16-1. Obvious AYE from me.
Create the Department of Justice. Passed 17-0. This doesn't directly affect my faction, but there is legislation down the road that needs this department to be created for me to propose, so AYE.
Two Term President-Amendment. Failed 0-17. One of the rare Democrat proposals. NAY from me.

Senate Domestic Committee
Create President’s Day as a Federal Holiday. Passed 15-1. Liberals like it , so AYE.
Require that most positions within the federal government are awarded on merit rather than on party loyalty. Passed 16-0. This was a weird one for me, because liberals don't like it, but reformists do. In the end, I voted AYE because I think it should be the case in real life.

Senate Foreign/Military Committee
Retire outdated Weaponry, tactics, training, military technology, and military officers. Passed 17-0. We have a few warmonger players on our side, so it made sense to vote AYE.
Provide a land grant for those willing to move west and irrigate desert land. Passed 17-0. As the agricultural guy, I had to vote AYE.
Montana Statehood. Passed 17-0. As before, I have Montana politicians, so AYE.
South Dakota Statehood. Passed 17-0. AYE for same reasons as above.

Senate Economic Committee
US Dollar as the nation’s currency using gold standard. Failed 2-17. This bill hurts my faction for a ton of reasons, so NAY.
Create the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate interstate shipping and travel, predominately the railroads. Passed 19-0. All the left wing factions like this, so AYE.

Senate Judicial Committee
Sell Confiscated Plantations to Poor Whites for cheap. Passed 13-1. An ahistorical bill that the left wing loves, so AYE.

Packaging happened next. Here are the bills now going to the house, and eventually the senate. I don't expect any of these to fail. For the amendment, if it gets through congress, then it will go to the states for a vote.

HR 1: Create Free Rural Delivery mail service.
HR 2:Create a National Bankruptcy Law
HR 3 (Packaged) Set the Number of US Supreme Court Justices to 10 and Create the Department of Justice.
HR 4: Amendment: Give former slaves, free blacks, and people of color the right to vote.
HR 5: (Packaged) Replace wooden, sail driven fleet with a modernized steel navy AND Increase Defense Spending.
HR 6: Idaho Statehood
SR 1 (Packaged) Create President’s Day as a Federal Holiday AND Require that most positions within the federal government are awarded on merit rather than on party loyalty.
SR 2: Create the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate interstate shipping and travel, predominately the railroads.
SR 3: Sell Confiscated Plantations to Poor Whites for cheap
SR 4 (Packaged) Provide a land grant for those willing to move west and irrigate desert land AND Montana Statehood AND South Dakota Statehood.
SR 5: Retire outdated Weaponry, tactics, training, military technology, and military officers

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

This is pretty interesting. Right now, all of the southern governors are republicans, placed in positions by the president. In game purposes, a state can be considered "under reconstruction". I like to think of it as the army is still occupying the state.

One reasons that Bullock is such an unpopular figure in the state is in fact due to him calling for (in simplified terms) more military control over the state during his tenure.

As an abstract for game purposes, it fits pretty well here I think.

[Umbrella]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

One reasons that Bullock is such an unpopular figure in the state is in fact due to him calling for (in simplified terms) more military control over the state during his tenure.

As an abstract for game purposes, it fits pretty well here I think.

Yeah, this is part of the re-written reconstruction rules, and so far, I think it is working as intended. It will be interesting to see how long we can hold power in the south. Resentment towards the Republicans is high, and the Democrats should regain power soon. Once that happens, this game will change quickly.

[Umbrella]

All of the laws passed, as expected, so we now have a new amendment to the constitution. More importantly for the game purpose, I now have several black candidates that I can run for elections!

With these new laws, we now have three new states, so elections were held for new governors. I ran Benjamin F White in Montana and William J McConnel in Idaho, winning Idaho. As the new governor of Idaho, I get to select the senators for that state. There are some rules ambiguities going on for that state right now, so this is still up in the air. However, Benjamin F White's consolation prize was he was named a senator from Montana. In addition, Frank M White was selected as a senator from South Dakota.

From a foreign policy standpoint, Grant chose to extend credit to pretty much every country in the world. I'm not sure what his end game is with that.

We also got two new Supreme Court justices, and they were both approved. One was a moderate and the other was conservative, so the court shifted slightly to the right overall. They are both relatively young, so they will be there a while.

Next up is elections. I'm still working on who will run where. As the holder of the Left Wing Media card, I get a blanket +1 to all elections, so I expect to do OK except in states that really hate the far left politicians.

[Umbrella]

Here are my candidates running for midterm. "i" indicates incumbent. We're still at the point where governors select the senators, so no senate elections. Note that the representative seats have a number, since some states have multiple seats. Also, to run against an incumbent in your own party, your candidate has to have a different ideology than the incumbent. This tied my hands a bit.

Governors
CT - P T Burnum. Yep, the circus guy.
GA - Rufus Bullock (i). This will be a tough seat to keep, as the Democrats are running a good candidate.
IA - Samuel Merrill (i)
KS - James M Harvey (i)
LA - Oscar Dunn
MA - William Claflin (i)
MI - David Jerome
MN - Horace Austin
MO - Gustavus Finkelnburg
NH - Benjamin F Prescott
NY - Frederick A Conkling
RI - Seth Padelford
SC - Martin Delany
VT - John B Page (i)
WI - William D Hoard

Representatives
AR1 - Thomas Boles (i)
CA1 - Aaron Sargent (i)
CT1 - Julius Strong
IL1 - Elihu B Washburne (i)
IL2 - Robert Hitt
IL3 - Charles B Farwell
KS1 - John St. John
KY1 - Warner Underwood
KY2 - Cassius M Clay. I'm thinking this has to be the guy Muhammad Ali was named after.
LA1 - P B S Pinchback
MA1 - George S Boutwell (i)
MA2 - William Cooper Nell. Looking to become the first black congressman.
ME1 - George W Ladd
MI1 - Josiah Begole
MI2 - Omar D Conger (i). This is a heavy blue district, so he could be in trouble.
MN1 - Horace B Strait
MO1 - John B Henderson
MO2 - John F Benjamin (i)
MS1 - Benjamin F Loan
MT1 - James M Ashley
NC1 - Clinton L Cobb (i)
NE1 - John Taffe (i)
NH1 - Bainbridge Wadleigh
NJ1 - George R Robbins
NY2 - Rufus H King
NY4 - John Van Voorhis
NY5 - Edwin B Morgan
NY7 - Horace Greeley. There's a strong chance he may be my next faction leader.
OH1 - Harrison Gray Otis Blake
PA4 - John Hickman
PA5 - Alfred C Harmer
SC1 - Joseph Rainey. Also looking to become the first black congressman. In real life, he was the first black representative.
VA2 - William Mahone (i)
WI1 - Isaac Stephenson
WV1 - James C McGrew (i)

As you can see, I have a lot of candidates, and I think I have an outside chance at a lot of them.

[Umbrella]

Governor elections are complete. Here's how I did.

CT - P T Burnum. Got destroyed in the primaries.
GA - Rufus Bullock (i). Barely won his primary, then lost easily in the general. I expected this loss.
IA - Samuel Merril (i). Got destroyed in the primary.
KS - James M Harvey (i). Won comfortably in the primary, then destroyed the Democrat in the general.
LA - Oscar Dunn. Unopposed in the primary, but lost easily in the general.
MA - William Claflin (i). Won a tough primary, and was unopposed in the general.
MI - David Jerome. Pulled off the upset, and won the general.
MN - Horace Austin. Buried in the primary.
MO - Gustavus Finkelnburg. Also destroyed in the primary.
NH - Benjamin F Prescott. Cruised to victory in a very crowded primary. Was unopposed in the general.
NY - Frederick A Conkling. Not a factor in the primary.
RI - Seth Padelford. Lost easily in the primary.
SC - Martin Delany. Lost in the primary.
VT - John B Page (i). Upset in the primary. This one hurt.
WI - William D Hoard. Lost in the primary.

Pretty disappointing finish. I lost three incumbents, and only gained two. I thought I had some good candidates, but it wasn't to be.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Umbrella

KY2 - Cassius M Clay. I'm thinking this has to be the guy Muhammad Ali was named after. (i)

Sorta, but not exactly.

Ali's father was also named Cassius, and he was named for the noted abolitionist. The eventual Ali was more simply named after his own father.

[Umbrella]

Rep elections complete. Here are my results. The GM took down the election tab, so I only know if I won or lost, and not during primary, general, opponents, etc.

AR1 - Thomas Boles (i). Lost, then retired after the loss.
CA1 - Aaron Sargent (i). Won.
CT1 - Julius Strong. Lost
IL1 - Elihu B Washburne (i), Won
IL2 - Robert Hitt. Lost.
IL3 - Charles B Farwell. Lost.
KS1 - John St. John. Lost
KY1 - Warner Underwood. Lost
KY2 - Cassius M Clay. Lost.
LA1 - P B S Pinchback. Lost
MA1 - George S Boutwell (i). Lost.
MA2 - William Cooper Nell. Lost.
ME1 - George W Ladd. Lost.
MI1 - Josiah Begole. Lost.
MI2 - Omar D Conger (i). Won. My first good news.
MN1 - Horace B Strait. Lost.
MO1 - John B Henderson. Lost.
MO2 - John F Benjamin (i). Won
MS1 - Benjamin F Loan. Won, this was an upset.
MT1 - James M Ashley. Won.
NC1 - Clinton L Cobb (i). Won.
NE1 - John Taffe (i). Won.
NH1 - Bainbridge Wadleigh. Lost.
NJ1 - George R Robbins. Won
NY2 - Rufus H King. Lost. I wanted this one.
NY4 - John Van Voorhis. Lost.
NY5 - Edwin B Morgan. Lost.
NY7 - Horace Greeley. Lost.
OH1 - Harrison Gray Otis Blake. Lost.
PA4 - John Hickman. Lost.
PA5 - Alfred C Harmer. Lost.
SC1 - Joseph Rainey. Lost.
VA2 - William Mahone (i). Won.
WI1 - Isaac Stephenson. Lost.
WV1 - James C McGrew (i). Won.

Not bad, I lost two incumbents, but gained three. Also, in addition to Boles retirement, former Georgia governor Rufus Bullock also retired after his loss. Losing Boles hurt but Bullock kind of sucked, so not disappointed about him.

We're still in the phase where senators are chosen by the governors. Once again, the info wasn't saved, so I'm not 100% sure who I lost. All in all, I still have 20 senators, which is more than anyone else in the game, and more than the entire democratic party.

[Umbrella]

On to the next term, 1871-1873. A summary of my initial actions for this term.

Harvey George relocated from New York to Idaho.

George C Perkins shifted his ideology from moderate to liberal.
Samuel J Crawford failed in shifting his ideology from moderate to liberal.
Marcus Junius Parrott failed in shifting his ideology from moderate to liberal.
P B S Pinchback shifted his ideology from liberal to progressive, but gained the flip-flopper trait.

Elihu B Washburne took on Robert Waterman as his protégé. Waterman gained interest in healthcare, civil rights, got the efficient trait, and gained +2 to his legislative skill.

All in all, this was a good phase for me. In addition, I'm hoping that there will be an exodus of left wingers from the republican party over to me. There are a couple in particular that would fit in great with my faction.

[Umbrella]

Since we entered a new term, I should give a score update. I'm currently in first place with 3950 points. Second place is the next most left leaning Republican faction with 3650 points. Third place is way behind with 1675 points.

Republicans have the top five scores, which isn't a surprise because the Democrats were decimated after the war. They gained some spots in the south though, so they should be starting to try and gain ground.

[Umbrella]

Charles D Drake was elected as Senate President Pro Tempore for the second time. And I had to choose Frederick Douglass as my faction leader again, as he is the only one who meets all the requirements. He gained another point in command, and if by some miracle I could get him elected, he would make a solid president, other than the crippling "easily overwhelmed" trait. Maybe I can convince Grant to put him on the ticket as VP.

In addition, I did have one politician switch parties to join mine; Frank Hiscock, who is a pretty good legislator, but unfortunately he's from New York which is overcrowded with politicians. Plus, his name makes me laugh because I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old.

Next up is committee selections. Here's where my guys ended up.

House Domestic
Elihu B Washburne - Chair
James M Ashley
Clinton L Cobb
George R Robbins
William Mahone
James C McGrew

House Foreign/Military
Benjamin F Loan

House Economic
Aaron Sargent

House Judicial
John Taffe
Omar D Conger

Senate Domestic
Henry Wilson
William M Stewart
John P Hale
Benjamin Edwards
George H Noonan
George H Williams

Senate Economic
George F Edmunds
Jacob M Howard
Arthur Boreman
Orris S Ferry
James W Grimes
Lyman Trumbull

Senate Judicial
Benjamin F White
Frank M Byrne
Thomas W Palmer
William Sprague IV

Senate Foreign/Military
William Larrabee
Joseph Carter
Morgan C Hamilton
Joshua Hill
Benjamin F Rice

[Umbrella]

This playtest has died. Long story, but it is done. The other playtest is still continuing though.