Gael

Members2 64 PersonMcPerson, this is what I wrote to another who was having difficulty with 2nd Manassas. This solution still seems to work for me 6 years later. I used to live in Manassas for 5 years and know the terrain of 1st and 2nd Manassas battlefields fairly well. Posted November 22, 2017 Gmoney7447, COL & BG levels: During the 1st moment of 2nd Manassas (or 2nd Bull Run for the Yanks), I always send cavalry units and all available skirmisher units into most all of the wooded areas of the map - skirmishers into the right/East side of the map can go to wooded or built-up areas in front of the CSA fortifications, but not into the little white banner locations on the railroad as those just get your troops shot up. The skirmishers and cavalry on the middle and left/West - I send all I can get my hands on into the wooded areas - spread out - one skirmisher into Groveton, all others into wooded areas - one in the far left woods toward map bottom - two into woods south of Groveton, three spread north to south in the thin woods north of Groveton, and a couple others into wooded areas in middle and middle-south of the water-way. Watch for any and all targets of opportunity to ambush - supply wagons to capture and send back to be used by CSA during the 1st day - and to wipe out Fed artillery units that are not escorted ( this can really play havoc with the other side's ability to conduct battle. Be certain to remember you need to play "hide-and-seek" and to "run" when the Feds come chasing your skirmishers and cavalry.) There is one artillery battalion that shows up SW of Groveton following 3 Yank brigades - I always stalk that battalion and wipe it out - no matter how long it takes and no matter how much cat-and-mouse I have to do. Realize that supply wagons and artillery (and infantry) flow from East (crossing Bull Run) to far West and to north west. When things work well I can capture 4-6 supply wagons and knock off about 2-4 artillery battalions during the first day. Route those supply wagons SAFELY to your artillery units backing the fortifications at middle and ESPECIALLY the East. These captured supply wagons are the ONLY way to keep my troops supplied with ammo and in the fight during the 1st day's heavy fighting in the East section of fortifications. As CSA, I utilize the fortifications north of the tracks - mid-way between the unfinished railroad line and the woods, and on the bottom edge of the woods toward the West. For the fortifications of middle and East, I put brigades into those with the white banner locations, and put another brigade behind each one in the fortifications - the fire of both are sufficient to turn away the Yanks. When the first one gets worn down, put the 2nd into the fortifications and put the first in the rear position. Although the Yanks take quite a beating, they can still eventually push your troops away from the fortifications - at that time position your troops up the hill and into the edge of the woods. Move reserve troops of the West gradually to the East as those CSA of the East will be wearing down fairly fast once the serious mass attacks start rolling. During the next day -- realize the actual terrain of Bull Run is uniquely formed - there is a portion starting a bit north of stone bridge and starting to turn West, where the Eastern bank of Bull Run forms a "cliff" about 15-25 feet higher than the West bank, and this runs almost all the way over to the Sudley Ford / Sudley Church area. (Sudley Church is there, expanded, and still used by the local community. I lived in the Manassas area for about 5 years. ) There is criticism in some books about Stonewall's not pushing hard and attacking after Porter's attack was beaten back. -- Realize, that he/you WANT to trap the whole Yank force against that cliff area - they can't take their artillery and supply wagons into Bull Run's water (the 3-4 foot banks are steep, and then up that cliff - it is there and it is real. Jackson did not want Pope's Army to move away from Sudley Ford / Bull Run "cliff". This is also why Pope's Army (and McDowell in 1st Manassas) was desperate to retreat everyone across the stone bridge area (E.P. Alexander was the engineer in charge of blowing up stone bridge during Johnston's retreat down to Richmond during the Spring of 1862 - it was rebuilt by the National Battlefield Park Service about 20 years ago so all can once again walk on it.) During the retreat there was another of McClellan's Corps that had pulled up and stationed themselves between Cub Run and Bull Run East of the stone bridge area and would have provided covering fire. This is why Longstreet's attack had to swing around Henry House Hill, sweep past stone bridge, and trap Pope's army against those cliffs, while Jackson had to hold his position around the Sudley Ford and Sudley Church area. When the attack did not go thru the woods to the stone bridge, this is the moment the strategic movements of Jackson and Lee/Longstreet failed in this 2nd attempt to surround Pope's Army for either surrender or destruction. In your game, the strategy is the same - block Sudley Ford, have Longstreet swing around - taking Stone Bridge and the two northern fords, and then pull the noose tighter and tighter while destroying as much of Pope's Army as possible. (Easy ....? ) --Gael

William, I still play the campaigns and the historical battles after 4 years. "1st Manassas" or "1st Bull Run": What works for me on the Confederate side is to initially defend at the Stone Bridge and the ford just north of there with your initial force. Send two skirmish units up the woods near Sudley Ford at the north of the map to make the Federal forces slow down and deploy, and then retreat each separately to the left and to the right into woods far away where after an interlude they can be used to attack and charge artillery batteries after the Federal brigades have passed. As additional troops arrive, build a defensive line just inside the water on the Henry House Hill. Do not send them over to Mathews Hill where they get chewed up just as in the historical battle. At this point, pull back the defenders of stone bridge and the nearby ford to Henry House Hill and defend behind the water barrier (which in actuality is a 10 foot wide ditch covered with tall grass). When JEB Stuart arrives I usually send him to the left to work with the initial skirmisher unit to attack batteries and to possible knock off a cavalry unit or two. Only on rare occasion do I send him in a charge into Federal brigade's flank or rear which must already be occupied in an infantry fight or have retreated in a disrupted mode (blinking blue - light blue - blue - etc.). His small cavalry unit is too small in this battle to really damage a brigade without being repulsed with loss. I usually send Stonewall Jackson and 4 of his regiments and one artillery battery to the left flank behind the water barrier (near the Stone House - used as a military hospital where they sawed off limbs and threw them onto piles outside the windows === the Sudley Church is also still there (enlarged), and was used as a military hospital for both big battles, with planks placed on top of the pews for the troops to be laid upon) to slow down or stop the Federal brigades. The last Virginia regiment and Brockenbrough's brigade I send to extend the Confederate right flank to hold the ford. You will now be on the defensive at about a 2:1 ratio against you, until BG Johnston can arrive with his 5 brigades - sending Holmes' brigade to the right to shore up the defense, and directing the other four to the left attempting to turn and destroy the Federal right flank. trivia: Stone Bridge was blown up in 1862 by E.P. Alexander - later Longstreet's Chief of Artillery - and was rebuilt about 20 years ago by the National Park Service. Here is something I posted awhile back, as to where one can look for insights on various battles and trivia: Posted April 25, 2019 Donkey Kong, I suggest you go to this topic below where I entered several notes in response to stated difficulties in philosophy, strategy, and army build - discussing primarily 2nd Manassas and some info regarding 1st Manassas (Bull Run for the Yanks). The insights offered may be of value to you. As to memorizing the keys --- I just used the mouse and it is easy and quick for me. A number of my notes are posted throughout the forum, just write "Gael" in the SEARCH box and see if any of the topics may be of use or interest to you. I used to live for 5 years in Manassas, VA, about 10 minutes drive from the two battlefields located on top of each other, and checked different aspects and books about them. Good luck and enjoy the game, --Gael

If I remember correctly, Confederate generals were limited by law to about 30 staff, as they needed to maintain as many soldiers as possible in their combat units. In addition to manpower shortages, the South also had horse shortages after the first 1-2 years. I remember reading about one specific artillery team comprised of horses except for having a pony in the "wheel horse" position.

Stonewall Sanders and Daztek, There are some after-action reports beyond those on youtube.com. I posted a couple - the one on Terrain of Thoroughfare Gap below I copied the wrong address - check the write-up with pics at top of the page. If you see someone's write-up you like, type in their "handle" into the Search Engine for their thoughts and info: This is a great game that I still use. ---Gael

Forever Warrior, In case it was not mentioned, camp during a battle is a great time to replace fallen field officers to maintain unit effectiveness. --Gael

Jagsdomain, Cavalry and skirmishers are very good at going after supply trains and artillery units. Allow skirmishers to get into firing range of an artillery unit, fire a salvo, and then charge the artillery until the artillery unit is decimated. If the artillery is 3-4 times the manpower of the skirmisher unit, send two units to fire and then charge. If going after a supply train, hit the no-fire button for either the skirmisher or the cavalry, and when within range (orange shows up on the target unit) then charge. You wish to capture the supply train for your own side's use, and not necessarily destroy it. This is especially true for the Southern side. Skirmishers in woods and forest can slow down enemy brigades. --Gael

Jagsdomain, During the first 2-3 big battles as the South, I will go for 2,000 troops per brigade. After that, I generally go for 1800-man brigades with 24-gun artillery battalions and a few 750 troop cavalry units. The 1800 man units, at least for me and my style of play, work very well at having strong units in sufficient numbers to take on the Yank troops. In most battles I find an opportunity to capture or eliminate large parts of or a whole army of Yanks. Once you do this on a semi-constant basis, your army will be equivalent in size and then becoming larger than the opposing Federal army in the later battles. For numbers leading up to 2nd Manassas / 2nd Bull Run, search for "Gael", for examples of numbers of troops I have accumulated by that time, but also other perspectives and insights that I have written about. (I used to live in Manassas, VA, by the battlefields of 1st and 2nd Manassas, and near Bristoe Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Chantilly, Winchester, Fredericksburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, Brandy Station, and Wilderness, along with Washington, DC, and I was one of the 4,000 re-enactors for the TNT movie "Gettysburg".) If they don't strike a chord with you, that's OK, this is the beauty of the game and this forum. -- Gael

Percon & PandaKraut, You may wish to try using 3 to 4 24-gun artillery battalions placed on the hill by the river (near the end of the defense line) plus 1-2 skirmisher units. I usually make a quick job of both gun boats - sinking them on the first day. Then, use the artillery against the 3 newly-landed Yankee brigades that show up in the upper right part of the map. I usually smash the Yank army during the first day, surrounding big chunks as kill-sacks, and then on the second day when the armies are relocated on the map for you(?), it is solely a race for each of my 4 corps to go to a separate valued-flag location. Generally there are not enough Yank units remaining to make a fight on the 2nd day. --Gael

Donkey Kong, I suggest you go to this topic below where I entered several notes in response to stated difficulties in philosophy, strategy, and army build - discussing primarily 2nd Manassas and some info regarding 1st Manassas (Bull Run for the Yanks). The insights offered may be of value to you. As to memorizing the keys --- I just used the mouse and it is easy and quick for me. A number of my notes are posted throughout the forum, just write "Gael" in the SEARCH box and see if any of the topics may be of use or interest to you. I used to live in Manassas, VA, about 10 minutes drive from the two battlefields located on top of each other, and checked different aspects and books about them. Good luck and enjoy the game, --Gael

Also, realize that the Yankee War Department officials thought that multi-shot weapons were a "waste of ammo", and that single-shot muskets were the way to go. This is some of the reason why Wilder outfitted his regiment by himself with magazine weapons. It is also the reason why the "Gray Ghost" Mosby and Nathan Bedford Forrest's commands were so effective with their six-shooters versus Yankee cavalry when using their sabers (similar to Indiana Jones' pistol versus the whip-wielding bad guy). 😊

Flaywell, Did you try "power-loading" your attack division(s) on the far-left? What I do during CAMP is remove the artillery from 1st division, reduce number of infantry brigades to three, and fill the 3 vacancies with 3 cavalry units of 750 troopers each. The 2nd division I put 1 or 2 more cavalry units and send them to the left to help overwhelm the Yankee right and fend off the Yank cavalry units. Good luck, --Gael

Salty Sails, Here was my solution that worked for me. Good luck to you! --Gael Members 38 53 posts Report post Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Although not as skilled as some, I have won the Battle of Washington as CSA a number of times at the lowest level (COLONEL), and have now found a way that I can win on the BG-Level of difficulty. After winning thru Cold Harbor on CSA BG-level, I was looking several times at losses at Washington as I just did not have enough infantry troops to last thru the 2nd day when the Feds come at you with the rest of their practically double my 80,000 beginning infantry. When re-starting CSA camp after Cold Harbor this time, I applied the 22,000 replacement Soldiers into as many artillery units as I could. The thinking was similar to what Napoleon faced during 1813-1814 -- when the troop quality and numbers go down, one has to raise overall firepower by increasing your number of big guns, which is what I went for in lieu of filling out solely with infantry as I had been doing - one artillery battalion per division (as suggested by some in this forum). This time I was creating divisions with 2-3 artillery battalions each. Then, I raised the infantry numbers in each division with the remaining replacement troops. 4 corps - 4 divisions - 4, 3, or 2 brigades per division (generally 3 per division - 1800 infantry - 1600 - 1600). I did gain the Grand Victory in this manner, with Fed numbers at 160,554 infantry and 812 guns, with losses of 109,306 infantry, 421 guns, and 11,515 missing. CSA numbers started at 79,919 infantry, 805 guns, with losses of 42,160 infantry and 227 guns. I do point out the immense satisfaction of attacking forts on the first day with enough artillery to force the defending infantry on the walls back away from their positions prior to sending in surrounding infantry. (During my losses, I had to send in infantry to storm the forts, with the attendant losses rapidly building up.) When playing defense on the second day, it was my large number of CSA cannons that enabled me to hold lines and fortifications. --Gael ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS of CSA 2nd Day: 1. Bought maximum available 24 lb howitzers and 20 lb Parrots before battle 2. Tactic: NEVER allow Fort DeRussy, Fort Stevens, and the fort in the southeast to be 100% surrounded 3. Place infantry brigades in forts on ground level ONLY. Use the brigade's skirmisher unit on the wall to minimize casualties to artillery. During a Federal storming assault, THEN bring your fresh infantry brigade onto the top of the wall. In addition, aim your remaining brigades inside fort at the coming assault location and they will help rout the attacking force using their weapons. 4. For DeRussy, Fort Stevens, and the fort in the southeast, use 4-5 artillery battalions - in the artillery positions and on top of the rear walls. Use the small howitzers with their short range as a unit in the center of the fort to help repel attackers. 5. Place a 20 lb Parrot battalion on the rear wall of each of the three primary forts. With their power and extreme range use them primarily in counter-battery to keep the Fed artillery at arm's-length and attrit them. Placement in the rear tends to keep them from becoming primary targets of the AI.

Hi Cosmique, I would consider what Lava says, and try again. He's good at this game. During campaign battles leading up to Chickamauga, once you get a good feel for the battles and the game, start going for wipe-outs of the Federal army. Once they start losing large numbers of troops and equipment during wipe-outs, the Federal forces start having difficulty in putting large forces back into the field in time for the next one or two battles. Even during the last Washington battle, there are opportunities each day to wipe out large portions of the Federal army by conserving your infantry by means of building up the numbers of large guns - I usually attempt to have 700-800 cannon by the time Washington starts, as a primarily infantry Southern army gets burned out pretty fast during that 2-day slug-fest. Upon thinking about the battles I have played as CSA on UG, the ones where I was fortunate enough to wipe out the Yank army, were the following: 1. Shiloh - almost every time 2. Antietam/Sharpsburg 3. Gettysburg - 1st day 4. Stones River 5. Cold Harbor 6. Washington - 1st day The successes were very dependent upon building the Southern army up to even or larger than the Northern one. Philosophy and style are conservative until I get the upper hand, and then I seem to go into a sort of blitzkrieg mode. Like Forrest said - "put a skeer into 'em." Once they startmoving backward, don't let up and use the game boundaries and surround them. For 1st Manassas I usually annihilate half their army. For 2nd Manassas I generally come close to wiping them out, but not quite. --Gael

van Veen, Once the battles get toward Shiloh, what works for me are Southern Brigades of 1800 infantry, cavalry of 750, and artillery units of 24 guns. If you haven't already, I suggest you look at my posts at http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/23669-2nd-battle-of-bull-run/?tab=comments#comment-497943 and http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/23356-csa-washington-bg-level/?tab=comments#comment-482692 as to philosophical and tactical means that have been successful for me. I start allocating my points toward army organization and politics to assist me in creating the largest possible Southern army, and for me, the philosophy changes when going toward Washington to get MANY more cannon to help in both the attack and the defense. --Gael

Celtiberofrog, If you haven't already, I suggest you look at my posts at http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/23669-2nd-battle-of-bull-run/?tab=comments#comment-497943 and http://forum.game-labs.net/topic/23356-csa-washington-bg-level/?tab=comments#comment-482692 as to philosophical and tactical means that have been successful for me. I start allocating my points toward army organization and politics to assist me in creating the largest possible Southern army, and for me, the philosophy changes when going toward Washington to get MANY more cannon to help in both the attack and the defense. --Gael