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This an AAR of a test game of the Antietam 1862 scenario, with user Sharif. I will use it to highlight the main strategies of American Civil War warfare as I have introduced them in this scenario and with the WEGO engine.
I had a lot of fun playing the Union against Alan's Rebels ! Btw the scale of the scenario is 2km/hex and 1day/turn.



1) The historical context Fresh after the victory at Second Bull Run at the Confederate Army is tired, but ready to invade the Union territory. Understrength and with relatively poor logistics General Lee has the main goal to gain support for the South from international powers, showing that it cannot be defeated in the field. The Union needs to repel the Rebels invasion as soon as possible..or feasible.

2) Confederate goals: raid deeply into Union territory occupying towns and destroying depots (depots give a lot of VPs). Defeating the enemy in a major battle is a secondary priority and only
if you have clear advantage in forces, supply lines and terrain. You will have one, maybe two weeks before the Union strikes back in full force or blocks you from returning to the safe supply lines beyond the Potomac.

3) Union Goal and Situation: he contrary the Army of the Potomac is in disarray, its divisions understrength and underequipped. General McLellan has just been put in command and he will need a few days to get his forces in reasonable fighting shape. As the Union player you will feel the urge to command your troops forward in order find and engage the enemy as soon as possible. This is historically the pressure exerted on McClellan by the press, parliament and the President himself (who faced midterm elections in the coming November). Make sure your units have received replacement and are sufficiently rested (80%+ readiness). This will take a few days/turns
Find, pin down and engage decisively the invading Confederate Army. Protect DC, Baltimore and the Ohio railway. Wait a few turns to make sure your forces gain readiness and replacements, but not too long that Lee's forces have time to achieve their goals and move safely back across the Potomac.


Scenario Facts You will find the map sparsely populated and the enemy hard to find and engage. Troops move slow, keep them rested, move them on roads and use Forced Marches (Move+) as much as possible. Cavalry is your main source of recon, but losing any cavalry unit will cost a lot of VPs. Place cavalry units in front of your advancing columns and engage the enemy with them wisely, if at all. Battles will be bloody and more attritional (similar losses) than in the WW2 scenarios. Several minor encounters are expected but only a few major battles (say 10k+ men per side) are expected or possible given your resources. The side able to pursue a tired enemy will be the winner. HQs have short command ranges and they should stack with they forces at all times. The Potomac river (flowing West to East and up- down on the map) and the Blue Mountains ridge (going left to right and North-South) are the major geographical obstacles. Fords and passes will be major focal points. Not that the Union is not allowed to cross South of the Potomac (House rule and some strict limitations around Washington DC) DC, Baltimore and Harper's Ferry are major objectives, some easier to defend than others.
Make sure to be familiar with readiness and strength indicators and the use of logistics such as Move+, Ammo+, Replacement+ and the various logistic/ground assets to fully enjoy this scenario.


Turn 1-2: as the Union player I send my cavalry regiments to find (but not engage the enemy). Rumors abound of an invading army of 50-100k+ seasoned veterans. I am waiting for my supply to accumulate to make sure my units are mobile and able to fight. Most of my Divisions are still fixed. In this image you can see that Longstreet Corps is headed South right after crossing the Potomac..no trace of Jackson yet...I think. Some skirmishes between my cavalry and the advancing infantry columns. No sign of Stuart's Confederate cavalry...

TURN1 Harper's Ferry was a vital node along a major railway between DC and Ohio. Cutting it was a main goal of Lee's campaign. Harrper's Ferry was a well defended position along the Potomac, but easy to surrround and hard to reinforce

TURN2 Here is Jackson! I think...my brigades are relatively poor quality and not at full readiness.

This is interesting, watching from 'the other side'. This really is different from playing Stalingrad, as the AAR will show. Sadly for me, in my mind I was commanding PanzerGruppe Jackson and Panzer Armee Lee. When any of you play this scenario, I have tried this approach just so you don't have too.

Turns 3-4 (Union Perspective)



The time needed for the Army of the Potomac to find/engage Lee's Army AND to get ready for a major engagement gives the Confederate Army time to achieve its goals and space for maneuver before it runs out of manpower and resources. This tension between urgency and readiness for both sides is the main driver of the scenario, that can be played in many different ways.


As the Union Commander I start moving two Corps (I and IX) and their divisions West (up) to meet Lee's Army. I use Strategic Movement and the cavalry to screen my advance and avoid ambushes. I decide to aim for the town Frederick, following the historical approach of sending my forces along the three main roads that go there from Washington DC. HQs Command ranges are short so I keep my units piled up along the roads, with McLellan following right behind to ensure proper chain of command and more rapid moves. Realize that the Confederate Army has complete freedom of movement, it could aim for Baltimore, Washington from the West or from the North...or stick to the easier objectives close to the mountains, as far as its logistic chain can support it. Lots of replay value here

In the North the Garrison at Harper's Ferry will have to hold on its own. In RL Lee surrounded it, but much later in the campaign. It seems my opponent has decided to split his forces in order to strike at Harper's and then East towards DC at the same time. Napoleon did not like separating his corps when battles were expected, but even he had to do it a few times ...

Union Corps will be released as the game progresses, but many are not ready for action, yet. A look at the OOB shows that The Army of the Potomac is organized in Corps, each Corps has several divisions (each of a few thousand men). With a couple exceptions divisions are less experienced than the Confederate one. Most of them start understrength and at low readiness, both will improve over the course of a few days. These features represent the low morale and losses following the previous campaign and the task of reorganizing the Army. In general the Union will have sufficient ammo and supplies (Fuel in WEGO, even if there are no tanks or trucks in this scenario ) but it will take a few days to stockpile them.

HANDLING UNION CORPS AND DIVISIONS

- Check their readiness and start moving them only when it reaches 80%.
- Use Replacements and Logistic assets to bring up their strength, focusing on the crucial ones that head out first
- Your Divisions will tire faster and take longer to recover than your opponent's
- Some Corps are not allowed to leave the DC Area, their task is to man the defenses to the capital in case the Rebels attempt to seize it.
- All over the maps are several milita units dark magenta brigades and regiments). Their usually of poor quality and bound to the places they have to defend
- Depots are scattered all over the map. They represent places of political significance. Destroying a depot awards lots of VP to the Confederates, even if they only occupy a location for a turn or two.
- As a house rule Union forces should not move South (left) of the Potomac unless they are chasing Lee's Army. The reason is that the Union did not have the logistic to support operations on both sides of the river.

Lee splits his Army in two, Jackson's Corps (the faster) marches West to surround Harper’s Ferry and Longstreet's Corps (the bigger) heads towards DC (or Baltimore).

Bold move, but my opponent is impetous and probably hopes to catch me unprepared (which I am).



I decide to focus on Longstreet and Lee' first as they seem headed towards vital objectives. Harper's Ferry garrison will be on its own, but it is too far to reinforce quickly.
(note recon capabilities have been reduced a bit for the anion side after this AAR).


I have four Corps not at full stregth but battle ready and enough ammo and supplies (ok it is still called fuel within the game engine!) for a big battle. Also I have safe supply lines, which means my soldiers will recover readiness fast.
If you play the Confederates make sure to check how far your Corps HQs are from Lee's HQ and then to the main HQ further South. Lee had limited logistics so he could not push too far from the Potomac. As the map shows I am hoping to quickly envelop Lee using my Move+ assets (and fuel points) from two sides, cut his line of retreat and give battle.

Luckily I catch one Southern division and one brigade (the light green units just right of the Potomac) left behind to protect Lee's flank. One division is no match for two Union Corps. I feel Napoleon smiling from high above .

One more Corps joins McClellan Army to provide a reserve and help destroy the isolated Confederate divison. BY splitting his Army in 3-4 parts I feel my opponent underestimated the Union when so close to its main supply lines. At this point all the Union Corps that participated in the campaign are on the road, although only two are really battle ready. 1st Corps is just outisde of McClellan's command radius, but keeps moving West towards Frederick with the intent to stop Lee's main force, while the main body of the Union Army will hopefully join in a day or two (it will take three).


The result of the first day of "the battle of Rockville" (a very small village in RL) is an indecisive meeting encounter as the Confederates try to escape the trap. 12,000 Union troops suffers a -2 shift penalty due quality and ground assets in favor of the about 6,000 Confederate men. 1200 men lost vs 600 BUT, my opponent suffer a large readiness loss and his supply lines and retreat path are cut by my cavalry units. The Confederates have much better/faster cavalry, but Stuart is nowhere to be seen...sound familiar? .


The scale of the scenario (2km/hex at division/brigade level) was chosen to focus on division scale encounters, Gettysburg or Antietam battlefields would cover 4-6 hexes with a 2-3 hexes frontage and maybe a dozen units per side. A major battle would then likely be described by a few sub-battles involving several divisions spread over 1-3 days. This scale allows the players to perform flank movements, pursuits and retreats while focusing on the operational aspects of the campaign This AAR is also to validate this approach. So far the campaign seems realistic and my esteemed opponent and I are having a lot of fun!


The second images shows Jackson's successfull attack at Harper's Ferry. 16,000 Southern men overwhelm my 3000 strong, but poorly trained garrison, which suffers 600 losses and retreats to the safety of the mountain passes and probably to Sharpsburg or even further North. Jackson suffers 1200 casualties. I am not sure if he will be able to pursue being separated (out of command range) from Lee.


Did I mention that Antietam was referred as 'the Battle of Sharpsburg' in the South because the main fighting took place near the town of that name? For the non history buffs, Sharpsburg is located just right (North) of Harper's Ferry in the picture below.

It appears that Lee's Army has split in two, with Longstreet's Corps aiming for Baltimore and Jakcson's Corps for Harper's ferry. This is fun and a big deviation from the historical campaign.




on turn 8 I realize Longstreet got caught in between two roads, which causes its movement to slow down. I proceed to attack its weak right flank.


It looks like we are headed for major battle West (up on the map) of Baltimore, with several Union Corps ready to attack Longstreet.

Two lessons being learned:

- split your forces at your own peril

- stay on roads as much as possible and use Move+ in a timely manner

P.S
slow (RL happens!), but some progress on programming the AI for both sides for the final release of the scenario.

Argh I have been lazy and failed to take a screenshot of the battle. The image shows the aftermath with a just a few CSA forces remaining.

Jus a few general notes.

With Longstreet separated from Jackson the Union was able to strike a critical blow to the Confederates, using I Corps as anvil and three other Corps has hammer. Lee's forces got trapped and crushed

- the battle lasted three days, involving about 70k soldiers in total.

- battle area was similar to Gettysburg's (about 15 sq. miles or a front of 4x2 hexes). This was crucial to test the engine/scale choice and the scenario ability to encourage the players to use ACW tactics (disperse forces and concentrate them for battle).
- while the force ratio was about 2:1 the decisive factor was the Union cutting Lee's retreat/suppy route. Low on readiness the Confederate forces melted away on day three. (i RL that 'd have been a surrender I think)

- each individual "battle" was fought between a few divisions at the time. The scale was sufficient to highligt basic CW operational tactics such has flanking and pursuing rather than having just a 'one hex battle'. It made it more fun.

TURN 16 (this 'd be roughly at the same time of the real battle of Antietam.

NOTE: Confederate Forces have a light lower counter, while Union Forces have a dark blue one.

After easily taking Harper's Ferry Jackson's Corps retreated with what remained of Longstreet's Corps. Alos note Stuart's cavalry screening Crampton's gap.



Below are losses for both sides up to Turn 16. Remember that "Tanks" are cavalry! Guns represent the Gun brigade that Lee had formed. (all other units have a complement of cannons but with the WEGO engine only the main component of a unit is represented in the TOE). Losses amount to 24k for the Confederates and 14k for the Union. Most from the main battle a few days before.




In the next few turns they will be pursued by fresh Union Forces and defeated piecemeal before they were able to cross the Potomac.

Below is the replay of the whole scenario withtout fog of war. It was a lot of fun to play with Alan Sharif. It made me pretty confident that is possible to use the current version of the WEGO engine to represent operational campaigns set in other epochs.

Now I need to put the finishing touches to the AI (honestly a lot harder than scripting the AI for a WW2 scenario as the empty map requires to think for a lot of contingencies)

You can get the movie as an mp4 file below:

Antietam 1862 Campaign Movie