Gettysburg

[General]

Every time I play I can't beleive how many troops the Union had. I can barely find places to pack them all in on cemetary ridge. Hard to beleive the Union generals (prior to Grant) all thought the Rebs had as many or more troops opposing them.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: General

Every time I play I can't beleive how many troops the Union had. I can barely find places to pack them all in on cemetary ridge. Hard to beleive the Union generals (prior to Grant) all thought the Rebs had as many or more troops opposing them.

Tactically, you need to hold units in reserve and also rotate your front line regiments, if possible, to allow them to recover from fatigue. Once you start setting up like this, you'll find plenty of room for the Union to deploy. For example, if I recall correctly, General Meade had nearly 15,000 union troops in reserve when Pickett's charge went in... all ready to counter attack if the line on Cemetery ridge had broken. Lee seriously underestimated how many Union troops he was facing or he might have listened to Longstreet and maneuvered around the Union flank to force them to attack... something that can be done in HPS Campaign Gettysburg with that game's huge maps and endlessly variable scenarios.

[General]

That's what I mean Rhonda, there are Union troops everywhere!! Rebs break thru the line in one spot their is plenty of Blue troops to fill the hole. And many more to counter attack. I have so many excess Union troops that every time I play I send them to the Union far right and flank the Rebs.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: General

That's what I mean Rhonda, there are Union troops everywhere!! Rebs break thru the line in one spot their is plenty of Blue troops to fill the hole. And many more to counter attack. I have so many excess Union troops that every time I play I send them to the Union far right and flank the Rebs.

And the truth is that the Confederates really don't have a chance when taking the offensive against a superior Union Force entrenched on "good ground". What you see happening is realistic if you are playing any scenario that has the Union forces on the field and deployed historically in the "fishhook". What I like about Gettysburg (BG or HPS) is playing it from day one when the Confederates have the numerical edge. By the 2nd day they had lost that edge and by the 3rd day had no chance with any kind of offensive (IMHO). However, if you play well enough on Day One, you can deprive the Union of Cemetary Hill and Ridge and then it becomes a bit more interesting. Playing the HPS Campaign Gettsyburg campaign mode is awesome. All options are wide open and you really do not know what to expect. As I've mentioned before, I've got this solitaire campaign game going (about 9 months now) and the Union I, III, XI, and XII corps have been mauled... I might even say virtually destroyed. The Union arrived piecemeal and as new corps deployed they just got chewed up running into nearly the entire Confederate Army. The next time I start a campaign, I'm going to be a lot more cautious with the Union forces and not even try to hold Gettysburg, but to form a line somewhere south of the Round Tops and then try a flanking maneuver against the Confederate left wing.

Honestly, the HPS Campaign games are really the first games that have actually made me yearn for an actual opponent vs just playing solitaire.