Brother Against Brother -- Ultimate General: Civil War(Interactive)

[Brian Swartz]

Here we can see the bird's-eye view of things. That bridge on the east is an opportunity for a super-cheesy way of winning due to poor design. The only way they can approach is across the bridge, so if you properly blockade it in time you've got an invincible kill zone as they'll get stuck and slaughtered(no way for them to go around when they enter literally on the bridge). That's bad scenario design or whatever.

Since we have skirmishers available to sniff out the enemy approaches, our infantry can stay put near the depots themselves, reacting as needed. At least, that's the plan. Two 200+ skirmisher units, one in each direction, a group of carbine cavalry, and 600+ men occupying each depot in defense. That's the garrison, in addition to what we've got. But no artillery yet.

For the time being, we've nothing to do but hurry up and wait.

8:33 AM -- That didn't take long. Multiple infantry brigades coming down that road to the north. Anything that comes from the eastern road will take a lot longer to reach the depots. Clearly the northern one will need the most protection. There's a lot of open ground around the depot here, and we'll have to try to goad them into coming out of the forest before engaging. The best defensive positions are to the east, so we'll position out that way; on the west, the ground slopes downward and is a bit rocky. That could be trouble.

8:36 AM -- Our skirmishers engage Law's and Ransom's brigades coming down that northern road; artillery and something else approach more directly north through the forest, according to the cavalry.

A few minutes later, it's reported as a pair of cavalry units and another infantry brigade. That's too much firepower for us to hold them off with just light troops. No choice but to fall back here.




8:49 AM -- Whitehead's horsemen make a quick foray from the forest, then retreat when they see what awaits them. So far so good.

8:56 AM -- Infantry and artillery are spotted coming over the bridge to the east. Our skirmishers out that way open fire and pick off a few of them as they come across, but they won't be able to hold long. They take out one of the gun crews and then some, losing about 20 men as well, then fade into the woods.




9:06 AM -- To the north, Walker's brigade here comes straight at us(Loomis and Walton are positioned just below this shot). Meanwhile Daniel is chasing our skirmishers into the woods to the west, and he can do that as much as he wants -- it keeps him away from the depot. 25 minutes until more help arrives, or so they say.

A few minutes later, it becomes clear that Walker are only acting as spotters. Shells start exploding at the northern depot. Well, there's no reason for us to just stand there and let them do that. Without support, we can fire at them in the open with both infantry brigades and our cavalry.

9:18 AM -- Walker has lost over 140 men, and they rout, fleeing to the woods. Total losses on our side are 31 from this skirmish, almost all from Loomis. Now that's what I call a profitable exchange rate. We've still got them bogged down in the woods elsewhere.

Their cavalry foolishly comes too close to the depot, and Richards' garrison inside gives far better than it gets before they back off. We've managed to delay and inflict a substantial cost on them in all directions so far. Frankly this is going quite well(and better than it went in my brief test campaign. Not that I'm complaining).




9:30 AM -- In comes our new infantry under Preston, and both of the artillery brigades. In order to secure everything we need, the local commander informs me that we must hold for two more hours.




The rebel general and more infantry approach from the northeast. It could soon get complicated trying to hold them back in all directions without being flanked, to put it mildly. Harrassment from Edwin's cavalry will get us only so far.

9:37 AM -- Multiple brigades now approach the northern depot from the northeast and northwest. We have no choice but to withdraw and try to form some sort of defensible position. I have the feeling things are coming to a head. Preston's men double-quick down the western approach, trying to get into the fight as quickly as they can.

9:41 AM -- Walker is back, charging headlong into the depot, losing about another 170 men in the next few minutes in another lopsided defeat, and then fleeing out the other side. That'll give Preston a target for the time being.




9:56 AM -- Supported by both artillery batteries, Preston tries to find a defensible spot at the edge of the forest while Ransom closes to firing range. Meanwhile, the depot is under attack from both sides, and Wagner's Division must stand and fight on the east. It's a strange, disjointed battle and the outcome is far from certain.

It soon becomes clear a number of them are headed for the southern depot, and our artillery can't retreat to safe positions in time. It's become a disorganized mess. And yes, that's meant to be redundant.




10:07 AM -- Aided by every last inch of flanking and harrassment we can muster, Woods' garrison soon routs two infantry brigades at the south depot. That situation is looking a lot more tenable now if we can keep up the pressure.

Chaos continues for some while, but it increasingly looks like we are going to hold our positions. Rarely is there more than a moment without the sound of a weapon firing somewhere, and no unit is spared the loss of life.




10:37 AM -- The southern depot is no longer under serious threat, and we need only hold the northern one for another hour. Preston and the cannons move forward to support the defense in that direction, to the trees seen in the center of this depiction.

With Richards breaking and leaving defense of the depot, Preston's fresher troops and longer, more accurate reach seem well-suited for the job. Hard to blame the garrison men too much: nearly half of them had fallen, and they'd been under constant attack from multiple sides for some while, not to mention the shelling. A man can only take so much. Most men, at least.

10:44 AM -- In a desperate charge of a battered brigade, Bee charges on the east. Lt. Col. Kelly Walton is wounded, though his men give far better than they take.

10:51 -- Our cavalry manages to maneuver around and close the distance on a couple of artillery batteries on the edge of the eastern forest, ending their involvement.

11:02 -- Colony Johnny Jareth, one of the skirmisher commanders, is killed. Not all that surprising, as they've taken a lot of heat today esp. in the early going. Meanwhile, the supply train has run out. Guess that answers the question whether we had enough or not(no).




11:10 -- The remaining rebel battery rips holes in Walton's lines during a close range barrage ... but after that, we close the distance in the northern woods and teach them not to forget their manners. It's over, and it doesn't take much longer for the rebels to figure that out.

[Brian Swartz]

Distress Call: Battle Statistics

Enemy General: Joseph Johnston

Strength

Infantry: 4392 Union; 4785 Confederate
Cavalry: 236 Union; 476 Confederate
Guns: 17(425) Union; 21(525) Confederate
Total: 5,053 Union; 5,786 Confederate

Casualties

Infantry: 1163 Union; 3077 Confederate
Cavalry: 20 Union; 218 Confederate
Guns: 0(18) Union; 12(366) Confederate
Total: 1,201 Union; 3,471 Confederate

As chaotic as it was, that went a lot better than I expected. Generally I think this is the toughest battle of the early-going overall, so this is a huge, rousing success of which all should be proud. The quite limited losses we sustaind here will really help us build for the future.

Col. Johnny Jareth, though not of Stewart's command, is the first notable officer to meet his end in this war. Lt. Col. Kelly Walton led his men well, but he was unfortunate to sustain a serious injury. Major Wade Scales, as anticipated, is now a Lieutenant Colonel as well, having been promoted.

Weapons

Lorenz: 78 rescued(rescued meaning recovered from our casualties)
Springfield M1842: 384 rescued, 682 captured
6pdr Field: 3 captured. Seymour will be glad to know of this, I'm sure.
Sharps Model 1855: 129 rescued, 2 captured
Cook & Brother: 43 captured

Brigade Performance

Preston: 531 kills, 157 losses
Loomis: 471 kills, 77 losses
Walton: 311 kills, 275 losses
Scales: 270 kills, 6 losses
Seymour: 163 kills, 12 losses

Any decent commander will make every effort to protect the artillery which operate best behind the lines, which is why their losses are typically low. I was surprised to see Loomis not lose more men, while Walton's brigade as a whole was generally unlucky. For quite a period during the battle the enemy artillery was fixated on his men. I thought those two would be flipped, and it's unfortunate to lose nearly half of our best brigade in terms of skill. I doubt that kind of thing will continue as a general rule, but we shall see.

Rewards

** 1 Career Point
** +4 Reputation
** $66k funding
** 3900 recruits

No medal this time .

[Brian Swartz]

Deserters Roll Call. Unfortunately we did not hear from BYU14 or Qwikshot. Your commands will be removed if you are AWOL for three consecutive battles. Right now it's only at one, but the Army is only as good as those of you who participate.

Want to add another editorial comment here; I was skeptical about investing reputation to buy the 10pdrs, but the extra firepower was vital in defending the southern depot, and it would have been a lot more dicey without them. So well done to those of you supported that, and of course to our artillery commanders themselves.

Intelligence Service




Army: 30-35K
Training: 38-43%
Armory: 13-18%

Coming Up ...





As at least one of you alluded to, it's time for 1st Bull Run(or 1st Manassas to the Confederates). This is the first Grand Battle of the war -- as you can see from the reward amounts the stakes are much higher here. Career point gains are doubled as well if we are successful. Doing well in Distress Call will help -- the decisions to come now in camp are also critical. To the far right of the date there is an icon indicating effects on this battle from what we've done so far. By protecting the supply depots, we denied the rebels access to our war materials. As a result, their weapon quality will be reduced 20% from the standard amount at 1st Bull Run. That should prove quite helpful.

Career Points Briefing

1 Point again here.

* Politics(1) -- Increase gold and recruits from +2.5% to +5%.

** Economy(0) -- Increase weapon discount from 0 to 2.5%. The more we want better weapons like the Lorenz, Smith, more artillery, the more valuable this will be.

** Medicine(0) -- Increase casualty recovery rate from 0 to 2%, retaining slightly more of our battle-hardened vets.

** Training(6) -- Increase the discount on veteran recruits from 15% to 17.5%.

** Army Organization(2) -- Increase the maximum size ofthe army. We currently have a max of 1 Corps, 2 Divisions, 4 Brigades, and 1500/Brigade. The next level will add a third Division. It's borderline whether this would be useful right now; we'll be reinforcing what we have, and there are three brigade slots not used as of right now. If we did start a third division we won't have the resources to put much in it yet. It'll depend on the instructions of all the individual commanders, but right now it's slightly more likely than not that we'll stick with filling out the two we have.

** Logistics(0) -- Increase ammunition from normal to +5% for all brigades.

** Reconnaissance(2) -- Currently we know the starting enemy army size going into battle. The next level doesn't kick in until 4, when we'll know how many men the enemy is fielding in real-time during battle, and what Corps/Division/Brigade we are facing off against.

All Commanders are now on the clock, your votes on where to put our shiny new Career Point requested.

[ntndeacon]

I think I am leaning towards Medicine. We definitely want to keep as many vets as we can.

[Qwikshot]

Training..apologies for being absent, I will try to stay active.

[chesapeake]

Our rifles are weak. I can see a lot of utility in upgrading them soon. I vote for Economy first and Medicine second.

[DavidCorperial]

Medicine, we want to try to save lives after a grand battle, so we need to grab this now.

[tarcone]

Economy then Medicine

[Brian Swartz]

Interesting. I'll tabulate the votes tomorrow night, but right now we have 2 for Economy, 2 for Medicine, 1 for Training.

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

apologies for being absent, I will try to stay active.

No apologies are necessary -- if anyone needs to go on hiatus for whatever reason or decides to drop, just let me know.

[Cap Ologist]

Enjoying this so much I went and bought the game, slightly addicted, laid awake for a couple of hours replaying a few battles and thinking about other plans of attack.

[chesapeake]

I've been tempted to do the same. I've resisted the urge so far, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold out.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

Enjoying this so much I went and bought the game, slightly addicted, laid awake for a couple of hours replaying a few battles and thinking about other plans of attack.

Excellent! I think.

The vote remains tied, so it is up to General Stewart to break the tie. Both choices have their merit, but I find the argument of saving some extra lives in our first major battle to be the most compelling. Stewart uses his influence to improve the support given our medical personnel, and the rest of the camp decisions will be up later tonight.

[Brian Swartz]

A few housekeeping things have now been done. The Weapon Reference in the OP is now updates with the latest amounts available to us. No new weapons are technically available, but the 43 Cook & Brother cavalry muskets we captured at Distress Call are new; we cannot purchase those from anywhere at least right now, and it's not enough to be of any practical use, but the specifications have been added. I also more than doubled our supply amount to 5000 units, which should be roughly adequate based on expected increase in manpower and the fact that we did not have enough for the last battle. A new officer was required to replace our injury; Major Andrew Kemper was added.

As far as injuries go, they present a few questions. I don't know how long it will take them to heal; we've had one officer down each battle. I'll have to wait and see on that. Right now I think the most reasonable approach is to have the injured officer continue to make decisions for their command, and put them back in charge of it once healed. You could argue for having the new guy take over but I'd rather keep some loyalty there, and it will give everyone something to do.

Also, one more point of clarification. I previously, and quite wrongly, stated that the half-price on weapons is what we are charged for using 'Armory' weapons. That is incorrect. We can sell them for the half-price cost. This will be a new camp option: whether or not to sell any of our existing equipment.

Edit: And now I ran into something I've seen a couple times before on these forums, which really cheeses me off. The OP edit didn't save: it completely erased everything. Arglebargle. This will take a bit longer now while I redo the weapons list.

[Brian Swartz]

Outfitting: Army Choices

After our most basic, required expenses(supply and replacement commanders), we currently have $62,149 to spend. There are 4,755 recruits available.

1. Emphasis. Currently we are following a generally balanced approach between the priorities of more manpower, better weapons, and recruiting veterans. Speak up if you think this is a time to change that general approach for the Army as a whole.

2. Reputation Investment. We're still at 28: "The Government is still skeptical of your skills but is willing to support you." This is exactly the same number we were at prior to Distress Call. There are only two options remaining:

** Palmetto M1842(2000)
** BG John Gibbon

Both still cost 4 reputation each. Choices are to purchase either, both, or neither and save up our rep.

3. Weapon Sales. This is the new one. Should they be considered superfluous, we can raise additional cash by selling our Armory weapons, which are listed below along with amounts and prices. As always, see the Weapons Reference in the OP for specifications.

** Springfield M1842(1,101 @ $5 ea.)
** Lorenz(78 @ $11 ea.)
** Springfield M1855(100 @ $15 ea.)
** Sharps Model 1855(374 @ $17 ea.)
** Cook & Brother(43 @ $9 ea.)
** 6pdr Field(3 @ $435 ea.)

Vote to sell any or all of these(you can also suggest selling only a portion, selling half of a weapon stockpile and keeping the rest as an example). Alternatively, vote not to sell any and retain them for the Army's use, either now or in the future.

Invidual command choices are up next once again.

[Brian Swartz]

Command Briefings

Wagner's Division

Col. Luis Wagner appeared to gain very little and is around a third or just over to his next promotion. It was a short battle, but it also appears that you don't just shoot through the ranks here. At present, your divison comprises a little over two-thirds of Stewart's Corps, our part of the Army. Loomis, Walton, and Scales are your sub-ordinates if you wish to review their details, with one open brigade slot remaining.

Alter Ego: BYU14

** No order has yet been filed for the open brigade type, be it infantry/cavalry/skirmisher/more artillery.

** You can enter division-specific outfitting instructions if you wish, similar to the Army-level emphasis, request specific weapons, etc. Or, you can leave that to the brigade COs.


Durrell's Division

Col. Rafael Durrell showed marginal progress, and is now about 20-25% to the next rank. His subordinates are Preston and Seymour, with two open brigade slots. This division is not as large as Wagner's, but is likely to see significant investment here.

Alter Ego: ntndeacon

** You need another infantry brigade, for which the current instructions are for Lorenz weapons, the same as Preston currently carries. A Carbine Cavalry brigade with Smith weapons has also been requested. These instructions are on hold pending resources. If you wish any changes, now's the time to issue such instructions.


Loomis's Brigade

Lt. Col. Adam Loomis is now up to 51% in his current rank(+38%).

Alter Ego: Chesapeake

Men: 1260
Experience: *, 23% to **(+23%)
Perks: Endurance Course(+10 Stamina, +5 Efficiency, +10% Speed)

Efficiency: 29
Morale: 33
Stamina: 41
Firearms: 37
Melee: 20

Weapon: Springfield M1842

The same two choices as before are available. Change your weapon if you wish -- it's advised to keep a close eye on the Availability of your desired gun before doing so. As for Reinforcements, you are close to the maximum strength of 1500 and will quite likely reach it. Veterans currently cost $14-$15. Maxing out on rookies would only reduce your xp progress from 23% to 13% even if you took the full 240: abilities would then reduce to 27/29/37/33/18.


Walton's Brigade

Lt. Col. Kelly Walton was a victim of misfortune and injured in Distress Call. I cannot see precisely, but he appears to have gained very slightly if at all from his previous experience level of 37%. That won't change until he is healthy again. Maj. Andrew Kemper is his interim replacement, but Walton still has the option of making all important decisions for his brigade.

Alter Ego: tarcone

Men: 369
Experience: *, 68% to **(+1%). Quite surprised this gain is so ... well, non-existent basically. I'm guessing it's because of the high losses sustained.
Perks: Endurance Course(same as Loomis)

Efficiency: 40
Morale: 52
Stamina: 55
Firearms: 68
Melee: 33

Weapon: Springfield M1842

Time to make any weapon change you may wish, or direct reinforcements. Veterans would cost $35 each at the moment. 459 rookies could be taken on while maintaining * status, reducing abilities to 26/27/35/36/20. Additional veterans would be $15-$16 after that.


Scales' Brigade

William Scales was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and is now 25% towards the next rank.

Alter Ego: Qwikshot

Field Guns: 11
Experience: *, 19% to **(+19%)
Perks: Physical Training(+10 Stamina, +5 Efficiency)

Efficiency: 29
Morale: 34
Stamina: 40
Firearms: 37
Melee: 16

Weapon: 10pdr Ordnance

Scales has a crucial role as the commander of the strongest artillery battery in our part of the Army right now. Any changes to weapons are requested. For reinforcements, veteran crews(of 25 men) would cost $2942 each, $1710 for rookies(the cost of the weapon). Up to 4 rookie crews could be added for the lower price at * skill, reducing abilities to 23/27/35/30/14. Additional veteran crews would then be $2553 apiece.


Seymour's Brigade

Capt. Walter Seymour has improved to 27%; he was freshly commissioned prior to the battle.

Alter Ego: DavidCorperial

Field Guns: 6
Experience: *, 20% to **, +20%
Perks: Logistics(+50% Ammo, +5 Efficiency)

Efficiency: 32
Morale: 44
Stamina: 39
Firearms: 46
Melee: 19

Weapons: 6pdr Field

Seymour's guns aren't as numerous or accurate from distance as Scales', but they are the only ones that are effective in short-range situations. This proved vital in defending the depot in our last battle. Any change in weapons can now be ordered. For reinforcements, additional veteran crews are $1692 each. One rookie crew can be added at no cost(3 captured guns are available, reducing these prices), while maintaing your perks. 28/36/32/38/17 would be the new abilities. At that point, veteran crews would cost $1294. If additional crews are added beyond the three available guns, $870 for the weapon will be added to the price of each.


Major Steven Preston presently stands at 57% progress to promotion. Normally his brigade briefing would commence here, but Preston has requested a cavalry command and is expected to be transferred shortly to what will be our first such brigade, unless those orders are changed by the instructions of the division COs. As a result, that briefing is waived for the time being. I will mention for the benefit of others that there are 508 Lorenz-bearing men remaining. It's still a low-skill unit, though improved: 71% of the way from Green to * experience.

Alter Ego: collegesportsfanmas


Also, I was remiss is not offering all brigade commanders the opportunity to rename their unit. If you want something other than 'so-and-so's brigade', please say so.

All Commanders are now on the clock. As it's a weekend again, I plan on giving another three days. Early Monday evening is the deadline this time, at which point I intend to commence with our first Grand Battle. Goes without saying that the orders given between now and then will play a significant role in how that turns out. As always, ask any pertinent questions.

[Coffee Warlord]

If a commission opens up, I'd happily throw my name on the list.

[DavidCorperial]

Again, give me as many people as possible while taking as many rookies as I can without losing rank, but I definitely want enough men to put the 3 6pdr fields we have in storage onto the unit.

[ntndeacon]

We'll stay the course.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

If a commission opens up, I'd happily throw my name on the list.

Good to have you! We've got a spot for you right away. I don't know what character you'll be playing as yet, but Preston will now be taking a cavalry unit for sure and that opens up his brigade. Let me know if you'd prefer a specific assignment(i.e., artillery/infantry/cavalry/skirmishers), but for now I'll assume that'll be your spot. Go ahead and hold forth on an any of the general outfitting options as you may wish. Here's the particulars:

Men: 508
Experience: Green, 71% to *
Perks: None yet

Efficiency: 15
Morale: 15
Stamina: 17
Firearms: 21
Melee: 13

Weapon: Lorenz

The distinguishing mark of this brigade is that it is the only one with the Austrian-imported Lorenz rifle, smaller caliber than the standard Springfield but with longer range and a ton more accurate(more expensive too, of course). You can request a different weapon, in which case there'd need to be a pretty good argument for Stewart to over-rule Lt. Col. Rafael Durrell, your division CO, who made the initial requisition. In terms of reinforcements, veterans cost $6 - $7 each to train. There are no perks to lose; rookies would simply dilute the skills somewhat. 8-11 is the range for them to come in at across the board, and right now your current men have nearly double that. They would also reduce the training cost. The choice is yours, but I'd suggest that given the quite small cost of training, and the fact that there aren't many men we can add without throwing in $22 each for the rifle purchases, the facts here probably lean in the direction of going with veterans here. I don't know how much of the thread you've read, but 'veteran' is a relative term. It just maintains the current ability of your brigade.

You're officially in, Coffee Warlord. Go ahead and put in your .02 here, and I'll have a character for you before the next battle.

[tarcone]

Recruit as many rookies as you can. If Im gaining anything. I may as well add men to die.

Seems we are the death squad.

If I have any money add some vets.

[Coffee Warlord]

I'm digging my specialty rifles. Sharpshooter brigade. Give me as many veterans as I can afford. We've got some catching up to do.

They don't get a catchy name until I see them perform on the field.

[Qwikshot]

William Scales was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and is now 25% towards the next rank.

Alter Ego: Qwikshot

Field Guns: 11
Experience: *, 19% to **(+19%)
Perks: Physical Training(+10 Stamina, +5 Efficiency)

Efficiency: 29
Morale: 34
Stamina: 40
Firearms: 37
Melee: 16

Weapon: 10pdr Ordnance

Scales has a crucial role as the commander of the strongest artillery battery in our part of the Army right now. Any changes to weapons are requested. For reinforcements, veteran crews(of 25 men) would cost $2942 each, $1710 for rookies(the cost of the weapon). Up to 4 rookie crews could be added for the lower price at * skill, reducing abilities to 23/27/35/30/14. Additional veteran crews would then be $2553 apiece.

Based on everything...the 10pdr Ordnance is a meat and potatoes type thing, so no upgrades for now but I do like those 12pdr Whitworths.

Would I have to upgrade all weapons or can I have a mix?

At this time, I'm still fine with 10pdr just curious for future planning.

I'd like 4 rookie crews...it's still early and I'd have more than experts...they'll get field experience.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Would I have to upgrade all weapons or can I have a mix?

You have to upgrade all of them -- each brigade has a single type of weapon and a single type only. The whole brigade moves and fires together, which would be really problematic if you have weapons of different ranges etc. grouped together. If you went with something like the Whitworth which doesn't have enough of them available at any price, you'd have to make a new brigade(disbanding the current one is possible but you lose the experience from your soldiers I think when they go back into the recruit pool. The weapons return to the Armory and are available to be used at that point).

[Coffee Warlord]

By the by, this game is on sale on steam right now.

Sorry.

[chesapeake]

I'd recommend to the CO that a brigade of skirmishers be added to one of the divisions. That seems to be the only capability that we are currently lacking at the moment.

For my brigade, we'll fill with rookies to keep saving cash. But I would like to put in for a weaponry upgrade when we capture enough of a new model to make it cost effective.

[ntndeacon]

After our most basic, required expenses(supply and replacement commanders), we currently have $62,149 to spend. There are 4,755 recruits available.

1. Emphasis. Currently we are following a generally balanced approach between the priorities of more manpower, better weapons, and recruiting veterans. Speak up if you think this is a time to change that general approach for the Army as a whole.

keep it balanced

2. Reputation Investment. We're still at 28: "The Government is still skeptical of your skills but is willing to support you." This is exactly the same number we were at prior to Distress Call. There are only two options remaining:

** Palmetto M1842(2000)
** BG John Gibbon

Both still cost 4 reputation each. Choices are to purchase either, both, or neither and save up our rep.

purchase neither and save reputation

3. Weapon Sales. This is the new one. Should they be considered superfluous, we can raise additional cash by selling our Armory weapons, which are listed below along with amounts and prices. As always, see the Weapons Reference in the OP for specifications.

** Springfield M1842(1,101 @ $5 ea.)
** Lorenz(78 @ $11 ea.)
** Springfield M1855(100 @ $15 ea.)
** Sharps Model 1855(374 @ $17 ea.)
** Cook & Brother(43 @ $9 ea.)
** 6pdr Field(3 @ $435 ea.)

Lets hold off on selling the weapons at this point.

[Brian Swartz]

The die is cast, and we'll be off to Bull Run shortly. Here's how things turned out:

** Emphasis: Still balanced.
** Reputation: Saved, nothing invested here.
** Armory Weapons: Nothing sold.

Wagner's Division


The suggestion of Lt. Col. Loomis is well taken vis a vis adding skirmishers. This was already planned due to weapon availability. Namely, the only weapon we have in significant, un-needed quantities is the Sharps 1855 Carbine, of which there are 374. Skirmishers max out at 500, so we wouldn't need to buy any and they are the cheapest Skirmisher firearm at $34 apiece.

** Loomis Brigade -- 240 rookies added to bring you to maximum strength of 1,500 men. Most of 'your share' of the money wasn't spent, and was therefore used elsewhere: you've got over $6k that you are 'owed', if you will, by the Army for future upgrades. Won't get you that far in terms of weapons ... even if you just wanted Palmettos and sold your Springfields it would be half of what you need. But it's a start.

** Walton's Brigade(Kemper in temporary command due to injury) -- 459 rookies, 672 veterans, a good chunk of the cash from Loomis went here. You are also up to 1500, slightly less experienced but not much, and with different skills(actually slightly better marksmanship here, FWIW). We had to buy a couple hundred Springfields but not many.

** Lynch's Brigade -- Introducing Capt. Scott Lynch, who'll take up command of our first skirmisher brigade. Their share of the cash was enough for a max-size 500-man skirmisher unit with the Sharps Model 1855 carbine. Some money left over here as well but we couldn't come close to affording a better weapon.

** Scales Brigade -- The four rookie crews pretty much used up your allotment Up to 15 guns, 375 men. Almost two-thirds of maximum strength here, which is quite large for artillery which tend to be smaller.


Durrell's Division


** Walker's Brigade -- That's Major Andre Walker, the new commander here with Preston transferring to the new cavalry unit. 325 new vets gets this group up to 834 men.

** Duryee's Brigade -- Had to spend some extra here just to get them to the minimum size of 500. Another infantry group with the Lorenz, Major Oscar Duryee the new commander here.

** Preston's Brigade -- Now the new cavalry brigade with Smith weapons as requested. It appears that it costs $10 per man above the cost for hiring a commander and adding the weapons; I believe this is the price of the horses. They'll start with 116, just above the minimum of 100. When you consider the price of $50+ for the carbine plus the horses, this quality of cavalry is not cheap. Stewart would be well-advised not to risk them without need.

** Seymour's Brigade -- 1 rookie and 5 veteran crews are added. Total of 12 guns now, three that were captured and three that were purchased. Half of maximum artillery strength here, and 300 men in all.


Combined, we're at 5,070 soldiers for the two divisions, 27 guns. The money was all spent with $34 left; Another several hundred recruits could not be used, and we have 1,674 in that pool.

[Brian Swartz]

With our Corps committed, we now slightly outnumber the Confederates as you can see. Or rather, you could have seen if this screenshot went as low as intended. 22k for us, but the big difference is having 57 guns to their 36. Just over a quarter of the Union force is our 5k, but there will be many others on the field obviously.










This is far to the northwest.





The camera moves southeast to here, through the territory on the rebel side of the river.




I rather like this final amusing/tragic bit, mostly because of how true to history it is. Both sides thought the war would surely be over in a year, at most. One wonders how many would have still participated if they knew what the full price would be.

At any rate, yes, let's end the war today!(spoiler: not gonna happen). But we are ready for the first Grand Battle to commence.










This is followed by "Until then, keep the rebels busy! Good luck General."


And we are underway.

[Coffee Warlord]

Am I the General Formerly Known As Andre Walker?

[Brian Swartz]

Oops. Yeah you are. Actually still known as Andre Walker, since I can't change their names in the game.

[Coffee Warlord]

Yeah, I've been playing. Being unable to change general names and division names is driving me insane.

[Brian Swartz]

** 7:30 AM, July 21, 1861.




Within a few minutes, we have a good look at our diversionary force. Three infantry brigades over just over 800 each, two from Ohio and one from New York. They've all got Springfields, and are better than raw recruits, averaging about 20 per category in rating. Two 4-gun batteries with six-pounders as well. This is sensible, a credible threat but we're not throwing caution to the wind. That's how I'll play it.

Note: This is the last battle I've done before, so I tried just speeding it up and sitting on my arse here on the edge of the map for that first hour to see if there was any penalty to it, what the game would do if you don't actually carry out the diversion. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't really do a whole lot of anything that I could tell -- maybe something is triggered later in the battle, but I doubt it. Another example of how you can game things if you are bound and determined to, but IMO it's no fun playing that way. We're going to act as if it really is important to occupy their attention(realistically, it is). We've been ordered to attack the stone bridge, so we are going to attack the stone bridge. Not in kamikaze style of course, but sensibly. Diversions like this were/are quite common; here's our part in this case.

** 7:48 AM -- Rebel artillery opens up on our infantry as they approach the bridge.




** 7:54 AM -- The 2nd Ohio and 2nd NY get into the best positions they can find on this side of the river. The other Ohio unit is held back in reserve. Our artillery opens up, they've got almost as much on that side, fortifications, skirmishers, and dragoons. We still outnumber them a bit but only an idiot would charge across this crossing.

Proving themselves to be idiots almost immediately, their dragoons do exactly that. It seems they always do exactly that in this kind of situation, one the weak points of the AI. Shockingly, charging headlong into 1600 armed men doesn't work out too well for them. In minutes, the majority of Clay's Dragoons are slaughtered.

** 8:08 AM -- Their six guns are doing a number on the New Yorkers. About 15-20 go down with each salvo. We're informed that some cavalry has snuck across the river and is coming to help. They say there are 'scouts', yet they are equipped as shock cavalry. We'll keep them in support in case there is a purpose to counter-charge.

** 8:10 AM -- Lt. Col. Rodney Mason of the 2nd Ohio is killed. They've only lost 42 men so far, so that was decidedly unlucky. Still, they'll fall back to the reserve position while the other, fresh New Yorkers come up to take their place.

** 8:12 AM -- As that maneuver is taking place, I'm informed that my soldiers are here to lead the flanking attack! Yes by all means McDowell, put my guys in front to get shot while you clean up later. Heck of a guy you are. And we're almost 20 minutes ahead of schedule -- it hasn't even been 45 minutes yet.




It'll be a bit before I can do anything though -- we've got to cross the river and even if we don't run into any opposition, that many men and cannon won't be able to do that in a flash.

** 8:25 AM -- James Stewart is almost in position, Lynch's skirmishers aren't that far behind, and rest of the Corps is some ways behind but they're mostly across the river now. I think it's safe to call our diversion a success at this point. Thanks to the suicidal dragoons, we got the best of it overall at the bridge(281 to 218 in casualties by my count), though the New Yorkers have lost 20% of their strength in just over half an hour. It's not a good day to be from the Empire State.




Seen on the lower right here is Matthews Hill. We apparently have until 10:30 AM, just over two hours because reasons, to capture it. Not sure who Matthews is except maybe the guy who owns that farmhouse and the surrounding land, but he's in for a bad day. The approach is over open fields from all possible directions. Not the greatest tactical situation in the world. Just west of straight north of Matthews though, is a grove of trees(just south of the road). That strikes me as a good spot for the skirmishers to hide for the time being and scout out the situation. Between the trees and the fence in front of them, Lynch reports it's a near-perfect cover situation, and they'll be nigh-undetectable, though slowed a bit. I can't think of a better idea while we wait for the infantry to get here. A couple of our brigades haven't shown up yet either; we're missing Preston's cavalry and Walker's sharpshooters, though the new boys led by Duryee and all the artillery is here. I'm assuming those other two will eventually get their arses in gear and join the fun.

** 8:29 AM -- A new messenger from McDowell reminds us that 'Matthew's Hill must be secured!'. Yeah, we got that memo already and are working it.

** 8:31 AM -- Walker and Preston arrive. Oh, how good of you to join us. If you could move with a purpose now that you are finally here 15 minutes behind everyone else, that'd be great. The supply wagon is finally here too.




A few minutes longer, and Lynch is in position. He reports no movement near him, but to the south Bee's Brigade shows up and enemy artillery fires on yours truly. I don't think I can actually die, as this would be a real short campaign otherwhise. But I'm not hanging around to find out. I fall back into the woods to the north, waiting for the rest to get here. Like now. And Bee's got a lot of men.

** 8:37 AM -- Lynch spots another brigade under Bartow coming over the hill. Apparently they are serious about trying to defend it. Best ground around, so you can't argue the choice.

As our brigades start to come up, Kemper is in front and he heads into the woods to push the over-anxious defenders back, while Lynch slides over that way looking for a flanking opportunity. Preston moves off to the south to scout things out, Scales sets up his guns a ways back in case they are needed to support. Loomis will dress off the south edge of the woods alongside Kemper, with Duryee's greenhorns behind those two larger brigades in a reserve position. The stragglers are across the river now, but still some ways back.

Meanwhile at the stone bridge, about two-thirds of the artillery ammunition is gone and we have no more supplies in that area. The New York boys have now suffered losses of about a third, and they are in danger of breaking when I pull them out and put the leaderless 2nd Ohio forward to give them a break. We've done a number on their skirmishers as well but the infantry behind the breastworks there and the rebel artillery(from Louisiana and Virginia, if you care) have taken minimal losses. Things are not going great over there, and there's no time to waste in our push from the northwest.

** 8:48 -- McDowell's men are starting to arrive. The two brigades in front, well over two thousand strong each, are Franklin and Wilcox.




** 8:50 -- The battle proper begins here, for all intents and purposes. Bartow stands and fights; Kemper is outnumbered and headed straight at him, but Lynch is flanking, the other infantry is coming up, and the closer they get the more damage Scales is going to do to them. Meanwhile, Bee is off somewhere chasing Preston's horsemen to the south. That's a really, really bad idea and I wasn't even trying to provoke it, but he'll lead them on a wild goose chase so long as they are in the mood. We've spotted Pelham's battery well-positioned on top of the hill, looks like 6 or 7 guns there. That'll be a problem.

Bartow gets caught out in the open, and figures out pretty quick that taking fire from artillery plus two different units from different directions that are in the woods is not a real good recipe. Bee has come to his senses though, and returned to cover Bartow's retreat. So we turn our attentions to him.




** 9:11 AM -- The rebels are overwhelmed, and both brigades rout. That's the good news; the bad news is that there is a second battery, Imboden, in position on the hill making our life miserable. It's time to return the favor and push them off. Loomis is the only one who hasn't given far worse than they've gotten; he's lost almost 150 men already.

** 9:24 AM -- We start making our way up the hill, and see Hampton's Legion, an elite group of 1000 men, take the key defensive position at the top. Superb.




And then they do this(which I didn't see before in my other attempt at this battle, in which they sensibly stayed on top of the hill). Umm ... points for courage. Not for intelligence.




** 9:40 AM -- Their artillery has its affect as we march up over the crest exposed, but sheer numbers are so heavily in our favor that there's no question they won't be able to hold. Meanwhile to the northeast, 3000 infantry have arrived under Sherman, with a dozen guns in support. They'll try to find a way over the river from a third direction ... minutes later, Keyes brings up another 3k behind him. We've got men pouring in from almost all directions now.

** 9:51 AM -- We've done it! Matthew's hill is ours!! ... which means they're pulling back to Henry Hill, a long distance to the southeast.

** Message from McDowell: "General, we outnumber the enemy and must keep pushing forward!". I tell ya, that guy isn't a high-ranking General for nothing. His command of the obvious is inspiring.

Part II will conclude this battle a little later today.

[Brian Swartz]

Oh. I guess he does know something worth knowing.

"General Jackson has been spotted with fresh troops coming from the south." That's less good.

"We must break this hill's defenses before the arrival of rebel reinforcements. Awaiting your orders to attack!"

And so the plot stinkens. Apparently our day has just nicely gotten started. We've got two more hours to do the job, so apparently more reinforcements for the rebels are expected a little before noon.




Big-picture time. The stone bridge is east, Sherman and Keys approach that crossing in the northeast, we're coming from the northwest. The very southeast there is what we need to capture, and there's a lovely valley there where the river runs through no matter what direction we approach. It's an even better defensive location, and it appears there's only one solution to this: overwhelming force. We appear to have that, but time is of the essence and all that. There's no time to pause for afternoon tea.

I figured McDowell's three larger brigades could do more of the heavy lifting now. Our Corps has already seen a lot of action; Kemper is reporting his men are exhausted. They've done great so far, but we'll have to keep an eye on that. The Confederate gun crews couldn't move fast enough to escape the advancing blue wall, and the artillery commanders' eyes lit up at all the guns they were leaving behind on the far side of the hill.

** 10:09 AM -- The far side of Matthew's Hill is steep, but even so Beauregard has rallied a couple of brigades to try to slow us down there. Sherman is across the river without resistance, and moving to join the push from that direction.

The rebels held only a few minutes, then fell back again. Soon we see the first elements of Jackson's fresh Virginians holding on both sides of the stream. It could get a little interesting here.

** 10:35 -- Col. Orlando Wilcox, leading one of the largest brigades that I was relying on to push forward, is killed by a lucky shot. That's not going to be helpful. Still the rebels fall back again, this time across the stream. Keyes pushes down the east side, and flanks the long-standing fortification blocking the stone bridge. Final crossing secured, and the worn and battered brigades can come over and, hopefully, get resupplied.




As it neared 11 AM, we prepared to make the final push across the steam and up the hill. Massed in the woods were what appeared to be the final defenders, hoping to hold out, hoping they would get support soon. It was then that our supply wagon ran out. I was rather astonished ... I thought we would have enough.

** 11:14 AM -- As we push across, Capt. Lynch is wounded. Argh. Duryee's new brigade nearly reached the top of Henry Hill, but were pushed back by a brigade from South Carolina, flanked a bit, and had to withdraw.




Exhausted, the Army nonetheless dislodged the final defenders.

Or so we thought





GO AWAY. Seriously.

Noon passed. We raced to find salvageable defensive positions while we got the artillery across the stream so that it could help.




Ewell. Cocke. Holmes. Brigade after brigade of confederates poured in from the south. The next hour was positively brutal. By 1pm though, it was clear they could no longer make a sustained push, while our position had held. Barely, esp. in the east. But it had held.





The undertakers would be busy for a while ...

** 1:19 PM -- As we pushed forward, an ambush by Ewell, hiding in the trees, felled Major Andre Walker. His men had been doing well overall, but they'll have to carry on without him.

** 2:30 PM -- Gradually the Confederates were pushed back to the south and east, but they refused to leave the field. Probing, ambushing, occasionally succeeding, they were annoyingly stubborn. It was nearly 3pm by the time they finally gave in to the inevitable.

[Brian Swartz]

Battle Statistics

Strength

Infantry: 20,107 Union; 18,839 Confederate
Cavalry: 316 Union; 531 Confederate
Guns: 59(1475) Union; 36(810) Confederate
Total: 21,898 Union; 20,810 Confederate

Casualties

Infantry: 6,835 Union; 12,913 Confederate
Guns: 0(9) Union; 25(589) Confederate
Cavalry: 79 Union; 379 Confederate
Total: 6,923 Union; 13,881 Confederate

Weapons

** Cook & Brother: 106 captured
** Farmer: 2,528 captured
** 6pdr Field: 6 captured
** Hunter: 74 captured
** Sharps Model 1855: 107 rescued, 4 captured
** Springfield M1842: 3,138 rescued
** Smith: 38 rescued
** Lorenz: 311 rescued
** Palmetto M1842: 1 rescued
** Re-bored Farmer: 299 captured

Brigades

** Kemper -- 1567 kills, 402 losses
** Loomis -- 1009 kills, 542 losses
** Walker -- 702 kills, 394 losses
** Lynch -- 637 kills, 218 losses. Would have been better but they got caught up in a melee near the end.
** Scales -- 563 kills, 1 loss
** Duryee -- 467 kills, 241 losses
** Seymour -- 233 kills, 4 losses
** Preston -- 111 kills, 77 losses. A good start, and bad finish for our cavalry. I'm not even sure what happened. I looked over and they'd gone from 80 to 40 men in a short period. My guess is they did something stupid like charge the infantry unit they were supposed to be harrassing.

Commanders

William Sherman, Erasmus Keyes, and Oliver Howard are three new generals after this battle, though aren't ours.

** Steven Preston has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
** Major Andre Walker was killed in action. Coffee Warlord, you just have the touch for dying in my projects.
** Oscar Duryee is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Not sure he really deserved it here.
** Capt. Scott Lynch was wounded.
** Adam Loomis was promoted to full Colonel.
** Andrew Kemper was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.
** Looks like our artillery guys are the only ones staying where they are in terms of both health and rank.




James Stewart has been awarded the War Service Medal. Sorely missing in these is any kind of description whatsoever.

Rewards

Career Points -- +2
Reputation -- +10
Funding -- $228,200
Recruits -- 13,500

Also, our maximum Corps has automatically been increased from 1 to 2. We'll have ourselves a few things to do here.

[Brian Swartz]

Campaign Complete!

First Manassas campaign is over, and we have reversed history; the Confederacy actually 'won' the Battle of Bull Run(1st) though it was not particularly successful for either side. Organization on both sides was a big deal. A unit bigger than a brigade wasn't necessary in the Mexican-American war; the logistics of divisions and corps would be sorted out, and it was also apparent the war would be longer and bloodier than either side had counted on. Neither was about to step back from the brink however.

Although we have met each test so far, all had their moments. It looked like Phillipi would be overrun in the first battle, they were close to breaking us at the southern depot in the second, and here, though it went well from start to finish, we had a whopping four minutes to spare in taking Henry Hill. I wonder if we'll reach a tipping point where it gets easier, or whether a similar grind is in store.

Intelligence Report

Army: 39-44k
Training: 31-36%
Armory: 9-14%

Their numbers are still growing slowly but we do seem to be successful in keeping the quality of Confederate weapons down.







Clearly we are expected to win according to the rewards listed. The rebels are determined, but there was a minor impact from our victory at Bull Run. 5% of the force that will next oppose us deserted, slightly reducing the enemy army.

Army Status

Money: $228k
Recruits: $15.2k

Infantry: 3,071
Artillery: 670(men, not guns -- that would be 27)
Cavalry: 40
Total: 3,231

Officers: Lynch was wounded, Walker killed. On the other hand we get the previously-wounded guys back, Walton and Woods. They weren't injured at the same time, so there must be some sort of variance in how long they were out.

With a new Corps now available and a whole bunch of resources, we can do a lot of things here. This may be even more crucial than the last Camp -- it's time to set ourselves up for a new campaign.


Career Points Briefing

2 Points this time around.

* Politics(1) -- Increase gold and recruits from +2.5% to 5 or 7.5%

** Economy(0) -- Increase weapon discount from 0 to 2.5 or 5%. be.

** Medicine(1) -- Increase casualty recovery rate from 2 to 4 or 6%.

** Training(6) -- Increase the discount on veteran recruits from 15% to 17.5 or 20%.

** Army Organization(2) -- Increase the maximum size of the army. We currently have a max of 2 Corps, 2 Divisions, 4 Brigades, and 1500/Brigade. The next level will add a third Division, the one after increases the maximum brigade size to 2000(assuming types other than infantry scale up proportionally). Based on what has happened in the last two camps, I would suggest at least one point here. The extra divisions will give us a place to put relatively cheap new men, and we'll probably have some resources to spare after maxing out what we have. Just a guess though really, since it depends on how greedy we decide to be .

** Logistics(0) -- Increase ammunition from normal to +5 or 10 % for all brigades.

** Reconnaissance(2) -- Currently we know the starting enemy army size going into battle. The next level doesn't kick in until 4, when we'll know how many men the enemy is fielding in real-time during battle, and what Corps/Division/Brigade we are facing off against. We could reach that level now if we put both points into it.

All Commanders are now on the clock: cast your votes for the two points. Can be in two different ratings or put them both on the same one, as you choose. Also, would be good to know if Coffee Warlord wishes to put himself to the hazard. Have to start at the bottom again, but then you were already there. And you'd get your pick of brigade type this time I would think.

[ntndeacon]

What happened to the medicine we got after the last battle?

[Coffee Warlord]

Death cannot stop the Lord of Coffee!

Gimme another Infantry brigade.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

What happened to the medicine we got after the last battle?

The glories of copy-and-paste. Particularly the inaccurate kind. We have it. Editing momentarily.

[Coffee Warlord]

Assuming I get a vote...

1) Army Organization
2) Logistics

[DavidCorperial]

Politics and Army Organization for me, gotta get that income train rolling.

[ntndeacon]

1 Army Organization
2. Economy

[chesapeake]

** Adam Loomis was promoted to full Colonel.

So the army just gave me the bird, huh? Probably a mistake on their part.

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Assuming I get a vote...

1) Army Organization
2) Logistics

+1 to both.

I bought the game when it was at $21 and have been tinkering with it the last couple of days. One thing I learned is that if you click through on the campaign map to select a battle, you can find out how many corps/divisions/brigades it will let you take. I made the mistake of creating 2 corps with 2 divisions each between 1st Bull Run and River Crossing. River Crossing allows a max of 1 corps and 12 brigades. When I played the battle with one of my smaller corps (8 total brigades), it didn't go so well. It went much better with 12 full brigades.

Normally, I don't like to know too much before going into a scenario, as I like to play through at least once with the fog of war turned on. But if the game is putting an arbitrary cap on the number of brigades you can bring, I think that is fair game to know ahead of time.

[collegesportsfanms]

am I an artillery guy? Sorry, I'm kind of out of the loop, admittedly I don't check this as often as I should.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Chesapeake

So the army just gave me the bird, huh? Probably a mistake on their part.

By giving you a promotion? I think there's a joke here I'm not getting ...

Originally Posted by collegesporltsfanmas

am I an artillery guy

Yessir. Major Steve Preston has the 6-pounders in Durrell's Divison(second division, 1st Corps).

[tarcone]

Was I Kemper that battle?

Army Organization

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

By giving you a promotion? I think there's a joke here I'm not getting ...

Full colonel, aka "bird colonel"

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Was I Kemper that battle?

Army Organization

No, you were injured that battle; Kemper was the temporary commander of your brigade, which you will now get back as you are healed.

Is this a vote for putting both points in Army Org?(just to clarify)

Thanks for the explanation JIMGA, I figured it was something going over my head.

[tarcone]

Yes to both points

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Full colonel, aka "bird colonel"

Not a very good joke. But, yes, that is what I as going for.

[Brian Swartz]

Barring a late-comer to the voting, we are looking at Army Organization for sure on one point, and Logistics has a small edge for the second one. I also just updated the Weapon Reference information in the OP again. The following are new weapons we have enough of to consider using:

** Farmer(Infantry) -- We still can't produce these but captured enough to outfit a brigade or two.
** Springfield M1855(Infantry) -- This isn't new, but we only had access to a few hundred of them before. Now that number approaches 5k, and they are better in general than our current Springfields, in particular much more accurate due to the use of minie-balls. They also cost almost 3x as much, so there is that.
** Harpers Ferry M1855(Infantry) -- Generally similar to the newer Springfields and also now available by the thousands.
** Sharps(Skirmishers) -- Expensive, but we've got a little over 300 of these now so a true sharpshooter unit would be feasible ... if we can spring the cash.

We have access to somewhat higher quantities of artillery now, but none that really make a huge difference. If someone really wanted to make an impression, they might notice the 24-pdr Howitzers have more than doubled their availability though.