The first BAB AAR (Wilson's Creek, alternate history)

[Gil R.]

Turn 5: Movement Phase

The advance on the left continues, with Backoff’s Battery taking up a position from which to fire on Pulaski’s Battery up on the hill to the south, and realizing that from that position the enemy is screened by trees (something I should have noticed before moving it there!). Trying a different tactic, Sigel sends the 3rd Missouri towards the head of a ravine that can be used to approach the battery. (Ravines are designed to let units move without being seen by any unit not directly adjacent. Wilson’s Creek has a number of ravines, and as in the actual battle, they can be used for hidden maneuvers.) The 60-man Co. C, 2nd U.S. Dragoons heads farther out, beyond the Wire Road and ravine so that it can scout out enemy positions from the Ray family’s orchard, which from its Hill3 position is 50+ feet higher than surrounding terrain and 100+ feet higher than the enemy battery. From there several more enemy units near the battery come into view, using the Wire Road and adjacent paths to move northward towards one or both of my main positions. (I can now see three regiments and two fog-of-war flags, which could be any type of unit. Right now, they’re just some men seen through dense foliage or glimmering bayonets – nothing from which a meaningful scouting report can be determined.) So, as these will greatly outnumber the 3rd Missouri I quickly send the 5th Missouri into the same ravine, just a bit closer to Pulaski’s Battery. (The battery is just four hexes away, but in addition to the ravine there are light woods directly behind it, so it is impossible for it to fire on my units.

Having taken care of Sigel’s men, I plot action on Bloody Hill. I move my key unit on the eastern side (i.e., the side overlooking Wilson Creek and the likely direction of enemy attack), Dubois’s Battery, farther south, so that next turn it can surmount the Hill3 (from Hill2) and hold the highest ground in firing range of the creek, Wire Road, the ford where road crosses creek, and flat area that the CSA units will need to pass through. I next position one of my best infantry units, the 1st Iowa, nearby in order to help anchor the position, and then send the 2nd Kansas to this area as well, now that it clearly doesn’t need to stand by as reserves for the fight with the cavalry.

Meanwhile, back where the cavalry have been fighting, I spot Hunter’s Cavalry hiding in some woods trying to regroup and send my 275-man Battalion of Regulars adjacent to it, along with the 1st Kansas. McCowan’s Cavalry is still stubbornly squaring off against the 1st Missouri, but my regiment is still in good fighting shape and I don’t bother with reinforcements. If I can defeat Hunter this turn then I’ll send my Regulars to help out, while sending the 1st Kansas towards the southern end of the hill.

Totten’s Battery is still on a height behind Hunter’s Cavalry, but at this point it seems like overkill to shell those troopers, and since in this terrain moving artillery can take time I decide to move it southward. I then advance other units in Sturgis’s 1st Brigade, which is now set up on a NW-SE axis along the edge of Hill4. If the enemy tries an indirect approach towards the hill this brigade will be ready for them, but by having the battery on the left it is in a position to shell other parts of the battlefield as well.



Turn 5: Combat Phase

The fighting this turn is still limited to those pesky CSA cavalry units, since Pulaski’s Battery still has no targets and the other enemy units are still too far away. After some vicious exchanges Hunter’s men finally surrender, but McCowan’s men stubbornly resist, even rallying and getting a bonus attack in. (I checked, and since there isn’t enough information to give Lt.Col. James McCowan historical ratings he has randomized ones. His “Leadership” rating must be pretty good, based on the rally and how his men are performing.)

And then, to my surprise, I see that Rives’s Cavalry, a 284-man force, has managed to climb the hill out of sight and position itself behind Sturgis’s Brigade. Fortunately, this turn it is unable to fire effectively, but next turn will cause problems. It’s possibly a suicide mission – though in defense of Rives, a lot of my units were screened by the terrain, so that probably wasn’t the intent – but it will certainly cause me some trouble getting those guys to fall on their bayonets. It’s a shame for Rives that the rest of the CSA army isn’t close enough to attack Sturgis next turn, because then he would have enemies on both sides.

[Gil R.]

Turn 6: Movement Phase

The game continues...

On my left it is time to get Sigel’s brigade into position to do some damage. First, I take the two good regiments that are shielded in the ravine and advance them towards Pulaski’s Battery up on the hill, so that they end their turns two hexes away but shielded by terrain. I put them into line, knowing that next turn they can both advance up the hill and through the tree cover and confront the battery – along with any infantry units that the CSA might have rushed to the spot. The small dragoons unit (Co. C, 2nd U.S. Dragoons) that I had sent on to a higher elevation near the Ray House manages to spot a number of CSA units advancing along a dirt road parallel to Wilson Creek... and also spots a CSA unit that had advanced to the base of the hill and was previously hidden. Unfortunately, the dragoons spotted the unit too late to dismount and go into line formation. (Translation: They used up Movement Points.) So, to help them I send the attached Dade County Horse Guard (under Wright) towards the dragoons. Backof’s Battery, previously shielded from Pulaski’s, now advances into the open and goes into line (i.e., unlimbers). I use the “anti-battery” (= barrage) setting so that this artillery unit will first try to fire upon an enemy artillery battery – in this case Pulaski’s – before aiming at infantry. If lucky, Backof will do some damage to the enemy battery, so that the 3rd and 5th Missouri can more easily attack next turn. Finally, I change the brigade’s standing orders from the more cautious “advance” mode to “assault,” so that it can do maximum damage now that the units are in position to attack this turn and next.

Over on the west side of Wilson Creek I first deal with the 3rd Brigade, advancing DuBois’s Battery 150 more yards (2 hexes) so that it is now up on Hill3, giving it a more commanding view of the CSA’s avenue of approach. The nearest CSA unit is now eight hexes away, which means it is in range. I put the unit into line, hoping it will take a shot. The 1st Missouri is still squaring off against McCowan’s Cavalry, so I leave it there. Next I try to deal with Rives’s Cavalry, the unit that strayed into the area some of my units were occupying on the SW side of the hill. I order the Battalion of Regulars to close in on Rives, but they misinterpret my command, heading into a hex from which they will have difficulty firing. So, I next instruct Totten’s Battery of the 1st Brigade to wheel around and aim at Rives, having first put the 3rd Brigade into “assault” as well – hoping that this will make the units more lethal now that they are all in position to do some damage.

As for the rest of the 1st Brigade, those units I keep in place along the SW edge of Bloody Hill, just in case the enemy gets sneaky and tries to attack from that direction. And I advance the 4th Brigade’s three main regiments slightly down the SE edge of Bloody Hill.

I can see plenty of enemy units from the hilltop, but they are out of range. Since I’ve got the best terrain I will wait for them to attack me. (Disclaimer: As previously mentioned, this is a scenario still being tested, and I have clearly put in too many victory hexes. It is possible that the CSA AI won’t both attacking the hill, since it might be happy with the VH’s it has.)


Turn 6: Combat Phase

Not as much happens as I’d hope, but there are two significant developments:
1) In two consecutive volleys the 1st Missouri inflicts 31 casualties each time, forcing McCowan back a hex. The loss of 62 men means it is only a matter of time before McCowan is forced to surrender.
2) Backof’s Battery does indeed begin a barrage against Pulaski’s Battery and is highly successful, inflicting nine casualties and forcing the battery to retreat from its position without doing damage in return.

There is also an insignificant exchange of fire between Co. C, 2nd U.S. Dragoons and the CSA unit now adjacent to it, but neither the dragoons nor that ineffective Missouri State Guard unit do much damage.

The turn ends with a strong concentration of at least six enemy units in the area Pulaski had occupied, so Sigel’s lead regiments will be in some fierce fighting within a turn or two.

[nicwb]

Hi Gil - are you going to continue (I hope) ?

[Gil R.]

I'd like to take a few more turns. It's just that AARing is more work than I'd remembered, and there's always something I need to do for the game itself when I have time. But I'll try to do a bit more. (Also, I was out of the country for a while.)

[nicwb]

Ah - the age old Matrix dilemma - AARs vs actually getting the game out.

Guess I'll just have to be patient [8|]

[madflava13]

I just spent a weekend walking the Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville battlefields... I'm looking forward to seeing these released!

[fmonster]

That is one of my favorite areas in all of the civil war battlefields!!! When considering the many facets of battles over several different time periods as well as the many stories that came from them, I get overwhelmed when I think about it! I have spent many weeks in that area and have combed the country side,... A wonderful place to visit. You can almost hear the guns and see the smoke and fire! The anguish of the South at the loss of one of their noted leaders. The word I always come back to when describing that area is,.... THICK! Hope your experience was as good as all of mine have been. [:)]

[Gil R.]

I've not spent as much time there as fmonster, but can certainly vouch for Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville being great places to visit.

Both fill me with dread, though, when it comes to producing them for the "Brother Against Brother" series, as we do intend to do. Those two battles, perhaps along with Antietam, seem the most complicated to turn into challenging games. In the case of Chancellorsville, the main scenario has to be the day of Jackson's flanking march -- which, of course, the Union player knows to expect. (Partly in anticipation of this, and partly because both Wilson's Creek and Mill Springs in our first release involved early-morning surprise attacks we have added an "encampment" feature, whereby units that are encamped can do nothing until a set time or until attacked, and will fight back at a severe penalty for the first turn.) Fredericksburg and Antietam are more difficult simply because there is the issue of whether to duplicate the boneheaded Union commander's decisions. Had Burnside seen "Wargames" he would have known that "The only winning move is not to play" -- so a Fredericksburg standard scenario would have to be about a Union player attacking an impossible position. Not sure how much fun there is in that. (Of course, other scenarios can be more challenging, but one has to judge things by the main scenario.)

EDIT: The "dread" is more about the size of the maps, I should add. Those will be pretty enormous. At least there is good source material to work from, unlike Williamsburg. And even Manassas has some areas for which accurate information regarding terrain is unavailable.

[madflava13]

Re: Fredericksburg - there could be other scenarios involving the earlier arrival of pontoons, etc. But I see your point about the difficulty in simulating those battles for a game.

The trip was fantastic, although it is depressing to see civilization built up around these historic sites - McMansions along the route of Jackon's flank march, whole neighborhoods built up across the fields in front of the sunken road, etc. I noted the whole area is marked as land which could be potentially purchased by the Park Service - I wish a Bill Gates type would buy out all those homes and restore the area to its original look. One can only hope.

All in all, I recommend the area to anyone. I plan on going back soon to see Spotsylvania and the Wilderness sites. I focused on Chancellorsville this trip, with a side trip to the sunken road. Anyone looking for recommendations, feel free to PM me.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

[Hanal]

Are there maps and counters in this game or is it simply text based, because all I see here are reports and what not....

[wodin]

I believe that side of things hasn't been done yet or is just placeholder.

[Gil R.]

Well, there will be maps eventually. They'll even be visible in the normal light spectrum.

[nicwb]

They'll even be visible in the normal light spectrum.

Thank goodness - I was afraid I'd have to wear those awful 3D glasses [:'(]