Played the first of the full sized scenarios from Hampton Newsome's game over the last few days. Like the Haw's shop scenario, it goes over two days, but now both armies are fully on the map. It's got an interesting strategic situation. Lee has only three corps in the army (I-Anderson, II-Early, III-A.P.Hill) as opposed to four in the Union army (II-Hancock, V-Warren, VI-Wright, IX-Burnside). Historically, Lee attacked the Union left wing (Warren's V Corps) and that's where the victory points are. Ironically the Confederate corps on the right wing is Early's which is the weakest. So I feel I need to pull two corps together to attack V Corps. Unfortunately that will open up either the Confederate left wing or center for a Union counterattack. In any case, if they don't strike, the Union will most likely just move around a flank themselves, and the Confederates don't have enough troops to reach across the whole map. At some point the Union will get a crack in the door. The question is whether that happens fast enough for them to get some VPs. 06:30 Advance orders for Early and Anderson's corps. Both sidle to the right, towards V Corps. On the Union side, Burnside's corps advances towards the roadblock Anderson is leaving behind. 10:00 The chits fall the right way. Anderson is activated first, and leaving Kershaw's division behind, falls on Warren's flank. Now we see why V Corps is a good target: Warren's troops are low quality, and even though Anderson cannot achieve more than 1:1 odds, both of the divisions on Warren's right are pushed back and disorganised, although no major losses occur. Cutler falls back from Fields and Pickett chases Crawford across the church road and into the woods. Before Warren's men can recover from the shock, Early's attack comes from the south and Rodes and Ramseur's division now push Lockwood out of his position. The Confederates have taken Bethesda Church. However, the knockout blow may be out of Lee's reach. Only Rodes' and Ramseur's divisions have escaped disorganisation, and since their move came before Warren's, the Union V Corps will have a chance to shed disorganisation before the attackers do. Otherwise, the straggler losses that Warren's divisions have taken would now make them an easy target. Still, the disorganisation means that some of the Union units cannot even get out of their hex; leaving the EZOC would leave them without the 1MP they need to turn and face back towards the enemy; being open to a flank attack is a Bad Thing. So the Confederates stay in contact. The other problem the Union has was that I sent Wright's VI Corps to the right wing in the hope of stirring up trouble there. However, it's now clear that he's way out of position; as a result the Union will have to do some major reshuffling to help Warren out. 13:30 New orders are underway to A.P.Hill, but will take a turn to arrive. Bad luck for the Union in the Command Phase. Burnside passes his dieroll to attack, but Warren rolls a 4 - his units can conduct only Stationary or Rest actions. They decide on straggler recovery; Lockwood manages but Crawford and Cutler do not. Next, it's Anderson's turn. Kershaw is pulled back; Pickett, though disorganised, manages to join the line. Meanwhile, Field's division continues the attack on Cutler's tired division and smashes him. Cutler suffers a step loss and is pushed back over the Topotopomoy, with Fields, though now tired, in hot pursuit. Kershaw has reestablished the line just in time, since now it's Burnside's turn. Burnside, who has spent four hours bringing his troops into position, now launches an assault with his whole corps on a broad front, resulting (after some rules adjudicating since this is a complex attack) in 1:1 odds at -1 modifier, and rolls a 6. That is sufficient to send the Rebels reeling back by a hex. Pickett's division suffers some stragglers and is exhausted, although most of Burnside's corps is now also tired. Finally, it's time for Early's assault to go in against Warren's corps. Gordon's (relatively fresh) and Rodes' divisions go in against Crawford's division, the closes one to Bethesda church, and the assault completely smashes the division, causing an extra step loss. VPs are now at 22, and half of Warren's V Corps has been destroyed. However, the two divisions that are still active are astride Old Church Road, blocking the way to Linney's Corner where the victory points are, and Anderson's corps is now as exhausted as their counterparts. Better to go over on the defense for now. 17:00 Anderson of the CSA I Corps is with Field's division pursuing the remains of Cutler's force northwards towards Haw's Shop. Currently there is nothing between him and the Union HQ but Union supply wagons, but Hancock's Corps is now within a mile of the crossroads. It would be better for Anderson to pull back but he will not get that order before next turn. Likewise, Burnside will keep attacking. Initially, it's Early's turn. Both Gordon and Ramseur are not even Tired yet, and they assault Lockwood's division that sits across the road. Lockwood keeps the position, but suffers heavily (he rolled a 1 on the CET). Gordon's brigade is not even disorganised by the attack. Victory points are now at 18 even without the loss of the position at Bethesda Church. Most likely it will fall to Hancock's veterans to regain the lost ground on the next day. It's Warren's turn next and under retreat orders he falls back by a hex. Actually it would have been better for him to dig in in place but that's what a Hold order would have been for. Neither of his smashed divisions manages to recover; they flee further back. Cutler is still pursued by Anderson, who now runs into the Union supply trains next to the AoP HQ. There are some minor traffic jams now in the Union rear as Wright's VI Corps has to halt to let Hancock's columns pass, but the fleeing Union supply wagons are moved off the road quickly enough for Hancock to pass through, just to have the fleeing masses of Cutler's division get in the way. As a result, only one of Hancock's divisions actually gets to grips with Field's division. Unfortunately it's Birney's, whose men are already tired, having marched most among Hancock's men all day. However the men of Field's division (who have marched and attacked for almost five miles today) are very much exhausted, and they cannot resist when Birney's assault slams into them. While no serious losses are taken, they are pursued all the way back behind the Topotopomoy before darkness ends the fighting, and lose half their remaining strength in stragglers. Birney's success leaves Hancock in a good position for an assault on Bethesda Church the next day. Burnside moves last (what surprise). His rear divisions would profit strongly from collecting stragglers, but they have to be diverted to protect his train from a possible flank attack by A.P.Hill's III Corps. That corps is strung out along the western reach of the Topotopomoy, but Breckinridge's division could just make it. Burnside's attack orders mean that he can send in Ferrero alone against Pickett (both Tired, so 4:6 is reduced to 2:3), or add Potter (who is reduced to 2 from 8 by being Tired and Disorganised) which would require also attacking Kershaw (reduced from 4 to 2 by being Tired). That is the choice between 1:2 odds after rounding and 1:1 (4:5 odds rounding down), so Burnside will take the greater losses but larger chance at victory. The attack fails to gain ground and is a disaster for Potter, who loses another step and two stragglers, while Kershaw doesn't break a sweat. Conversely, Ferrero's men, while disorganised, cause some straggler losses to Pickett whose men's exhaustion goes through the roof. Pickett's men are also now completely out of ammunition. Still, the third Union step loss without Confederate step loss means that only a complete success by Hancock's men to drive the Confederates back will restore the Union fortunes. First photo: the status track at nightfall. The row of boxes in the middle tracks fatigue; it is very obvious that I and II Corps on the Confederate side and V and IX Corps on the Union side have carried most of the load this day. Night. The nice thing about night turns in this system is that even then, one has to make decisions. Dig trenches? Rest? Feverish digging starts in a number of places; in particular among the remains of Warren's corps on the Old Church road, and opposing them, Early's and Anderson's Corps. 6:30 Most of both sides' armies will remain under Hold orders for now. The exception is Hancock's corps on the Union side. The key question for the Confederates is whether Early should keep going and try to completely smash what remains of Lockwood's forces. This would enable him to drive to Linney's Corner (a major VP source) and outflank the whole Union line. However, it runs the real risk that behind him, Hancock (and, once Hancock has forced a redeployment of forces, Burnside) will smash through Anderson's weak screen and retake Bethesda Church, possibly even pushing on to Walnut Grove Church. So Early will settle down to Hold and also build trenches. And the chits again favour the Confederates, as Anderson gets to activate, and Pickett, Kershaw, and Field manage to finish their earthworks in the face of a possibly impending attack. Field, however, alone between the Topotopomoy and the II Corps lines around Bethesda Church, fails his straggler recovery dieroll and remains at a single step strength, to his severe detriment as Birney's men, though still not fully rested, again drive his division from its position as they did fourteen hours earlier. Field's Division is smashed and pushed out of its entrenchments. Hancock's other divisions still have not caught up with Birney but now will as the morning's work has left Birney's men again close to exhaustion. In the meantime Warren's V Corps finishes the entrenchments on its front lines, although no stragglers are recovered. Far behind the lines, Cutler finally manages to reform his smashed unit. With the Union dug in to his right, and fleeing stragglers arriving to tell the fate of Field's division to the north, Early decides that the time for the offensive is clearly over, and begins constructing entrenchments facing north. Burnside continues to rest his men. Wright's VI Corps, instead of coming to support Burnside's flank, still idles three miles west of the AoP HQ. Gregg's cavalry brigade, so far idling on the far left Union flank, sees a chance of getting at the supply wagons in the Confederate rear, and advances. F.Lee, whose brigade is the only force opposing them, realises that the situation is dire. He will not be able to block all possible approaches, so the only thing to do this turn is to attack. The Confederate cavalry charges into battle, and the Union troops are caught deploying and almost routed (1 step loss, multiple stragglers, 3 Fatigue etc.). Though they are not yet Tired (Gregg's troops started out completely fresh) they are down to a single step now, and Lee has not even used up supply. 10:00 Hancock, for the first time in a long while, has to follow his orders (in this system, if a dieroll+your command rating gives a value of 6 or higher, you can ignore your orders). That looks bad, since he has attack orders and the only one who could attack this turn is Birney, whose men are already Tired *and* disorganised. However, as it happens, Anderson's corps moves first, and Field's smashed division routs away, in front of the trenches that Early's troops are digging. As a result, none of Hancock's troops can reach the enemy this turn and attack (Birney's troops are still disorganised and have only 4MP; they would need 5 to march through the woods and attack). So his order is reduced to Advance. That's lucky for him, since Ramseur and Rodes' divisions, at the front of Early's positions, have just finished their entrenchments. That would have been a bad surprise for Birney. Far out on the right Confederate flank, F.Lee decides that Gregg still constitutes a threat, and attacks him again. This time, the Union troopers are ready (Lee rolled a 2) and the Confederate side is mauled, failing to gain any ground, also losing a step and being disorganised. However, the Union does badly in the CET roll and suffers so many stragglers that another step loss is accrued and the brigade is smashed. Gregg rallies it quickly but with his troops being one step under exhaustion level, F.Lee has achieved his goal of taking the Union cavalry out as a threat. (This is a very cool aspect of the system - it is actually possible to harangue a side so much that it stops being a threat due to sheer fatigue. Of course Lee took himself out of the battle in the same fashion but he fulfilled his mission. On the Union side, Warren fails to rally more stragglers, although Cutler (miles away) rests his troops so as to be able to march again. Burnside replenishes again (almost all Union supply used up in his vicinity). Hancock's troops finally move into the kickoff positions for next turn's assault. 13:30 Burnside, with Advance orders, just moves his troops closer to the front line (but in doing so almost ensures they will be tired if he attacks next turn). Wright's corps moves in between Burnside's and Hancock's position. Hancock unleashes his assault on Gordon's division, on Early's left flank, the center being held by Rodes. Gordon's men have not finished their entrenchments and are swept backwards by a combined assault of Gibbon's and Barlow's divisions (16 SP versus 4). Gordon's division is smashed and runs almost all the way back to the entrenchments in front of Walnut Grove Church. Both attacking divisions are Disorganised and Tired, but there is now a big hole on the left of Rodes' position that is not covered by the entrenchments. Later in the turn, Gordon manages to rally his division, but Field's continues to retreat to the rear. 17:00 I guess the Union will stick with being on the attack - Burnside, Wright, Hancock. Warren has Griffin's fresh division available but that is more useful as a threat to Ramseur's right flank than a direct, rather hopeless, attack. A one-two punch by Wright and Burnside could see I Corps (Pickett's and Kershaw's divisions) pushed out of the way, and open a chance for some flank attacks. Unfortunately, Wright, disastrously, chooses to not get moving, leaving Burnside in the drink. Burnside's chit comes first, and he gamely gets moving even though there will be no followup attack this turn. Crittenden's division, now Tired, gets into Pickett's flank. The assault goes off at 1:1, Pickett barely holds on to the hex (outcome for CET is Stay with a +1 modifier in favour of the attackers). The Union is lucky on the CET and there are few stragglers. However, there's pretty much no chance to reach Walnut Grove Church, Wright's dilatoriness has doomed the chance for a Union victory. So the final outcome (Union Defeat or Union total defeat) depends on whether they get Bethesda Church back. However, first comes Early's activation, and Gordon manages to rally his division. He doesn't quite make it back to the II Corps line, but he will make it harder for a flank assault. However, that flank assault is not happening this turn anyway, since Barlow's disorganised brigade doesn't have enough MPs to even attack. As a result, Gibbon (also disorganised) and Birney have to go in for a frontal assault on Rodes' trenches. The assault narrowly fails (same as above with a Stay, +1 for attacker). Both sides suffer some stragglers, Birney is not even Disorganised, but Birney and Gibbon's divisions are completely exhausted. At this point it's clear that the Union will go for a night assault with those divisions that are not completely blown for the day. Night, 2nd day. Last chance for the Union is if Hancock comes in before Early, that will give Barlow a chance for a flank attack on Rodes. (Next time I should try the Initiative rules.) And this happens. Barlow's attack, which has to go in at both Rodes' and Gordon's divisions. However these are both very much weakened. The attack ends up at 1:1 odds, and by the narrowest margin possible, he misses forcing a retreat (since the actual Church hex is unoccupied - it lies between Rodes' and Gordon's divisions- he would have been able to advance). However, Rodes rolls a 1 on the CET, reduced to 0, and the assault ends up destroying his division! Gordon rolls a 3 and the straggler losses smash his division again. Now it all comes down to the order of the draw; there is a small chance that the van division of Wright's corps could chase Gordon out of the way and barge into the empty hex. However, Anderson's I Corps activates first, and Field's division, on its last step, manages to reoccupy Rodes' trenches, blocking the way for any additional offensive. The game ends with 7VP - Automatic Confederate Victory. It would have been 27, almost a draw, if the Union had taken the Church back. (A note on the victory conditions. Union VPs are added, Confederate VPs subtracted. The starting point is 30 VPs, anything less is a Confederate victory (minor, major, automatic). 31-40 is a draw, 41+ is a Union minor victory. This makes things easier for the Confederates if the Union takes a lot more losses, but in terms of victory objectives, most are in the vicinity of 10 or 15 points' worth, so it's actually rather easy for the Union to get into victory territory - if they don't lose a key objective in the first couple of turns and are unable to get it back. :-) Some of the Union corps are clearly inferior in quality (V, IX) but the numbers overwhelmingly favour the Union. The +/-1 DRM for quality can be easily compensated for by a flank attack or good odds against an exposed Confederate division. However, it does not do any good to just pile up units in frontal attacks, due to the way combat effects are allocated. There is one combat roll depending on odds and modifiers, but the result is only the stay/retreat outcome and another dieroll modifer for the loss table ("Combat Effects Table", or CET). As a result, a side that has done very badly can see multiple divisions suffering losses, and differing degrees of fatigue, supply, stragglers and disorganization. A very clever way to make losses more probably as the size of the combat increases (something that is rather difficult to achieve with an odds-based CRT). The key strategy lessons, therefore? More urgency, and put the weight where the victory point locations are. Next time, really have to get Wright and Hancock into the game very quickly. Especially Wright's lingering around at critical points in the game cost the Union dearly. If Hancock had gotten moving earlier, his counterattack might have been decisive. However, the Confederates also could have done some things better. I didn't really make use of III Corps at all. Of course, there's also the actual Cold Harbor scenario (taking place one or two days after this one), and the campaign game... Markus Last 3 games played: Air & Armor, At All Hazards, Gates of Richmond --------------- http://www.dbai.tuwien.ac.at/user/mst/games/ --------------- "We've got them now." -- last dispatch to General George Crook by General George Armstrong Custer _______________________________________________ Consim-l mailing list Consim-l@mailman.halisp.net http://mailman.halisp.net/mailman/listinfo/consim-l