Matrix Games Forums

We at WCS have our own opinions, but we are curious to know which of the four opening battles (well, five if you include the fighting at Blackburn's Ford) of the Civil War in BAB is of greatest interest to you. Is it the most famous one, fought to the north of Manassas Junction, or one of the less prominent battles? Any particular reasons?

Manassas 1st, then Williamsburg 2nd, as i like the map layout and the choices they both give, options of attack / advance etc

Too early for me, my knowdledge about these battles is not enough to select one [:)]

Has to be Bull Run. It is up there with Gettysburg as one of the seminal battles of the war. It is also one of those battles where so much could have been different that really lends itself to the 'what if' scenarios you have included. Really excited about playing through this next week!

There's also Beech Grove, technically.

I guess technically that's correct, but I lump those together. Mill Springs was, in a sense, a single battle fought by the same forces on the same day in two areas ten miles apart -- first in the Logan's Crossroads area, and after the Confederate retreat at their Beech Grove encampment on the far (=north) side of the Cumberland River from Mill Springs itself. If there's another example of that in the Civil War I certainly can't think of it. (I'm not counting some cavalry skirmishing that might have happened that way.)

Mill Springs for me with Williamsburg a close second. I've studied and humped the Manassas battlefield a couple of times. Same with Wilson's Creek.

Both Mill Springs and Williamsburg are somewhat more obscure but still important battles affecting strategical planning for both sides.

Well, this is amusing -- I just noticed that I posted a similar poll here five years ago. (It's "pinned" above.)

So this thread was superfluous.

Have to say Manassas since I lived in Manassas for most of my life and as a kid was the first battlefield I visited and learned about the Civil War. As an adult I would every now and then take a hooky day from work and walk it. You can actually still walk in the railroad cut that Jackson defended during the battle of Second Manassas.

Manassas seems like a great area to live, though these days the traffic must be quite frustrating.

I've walked the railroad cut myself, which really does give one an appreciation of it as a defensive position.

Not a single one of these.

i wonder how many will change there minds once all have been played a few times[;)]

Manassas when I was a kid was considered very rural and now it's crazy with traffic and people. I moved out to
Front Royal and it also has a little fight during the Civil War.