BCH

Just thinking outside of the box on those suggestions..

That is pretty much correct, there were some issues with bayonets on certain models that made them less effective in that way, but they all function well as clubs. Artillery crews used their rammers and handspikes to good effect when defending their guns. (some interesting first hand accounts from both sides on the heroic defense of a battery) And then there are several documented cases where upon running out of ammunition, the company started throwing rocks to great effect.

I see that especially on smaller maps, that would create a problem. Just annoying to have an Infantry unit catch up to a cavalry unit across an open field at 3 times the Inf. unit's firing range.

I was afraid that was the case; and I was only looking for a slight increase in some of the weapons. And perhaps even a slight increase for the 1861 Springfield for example would make it OP.

Yep.. true ambush.

Perhaps it becomes another artillery battery; it was a true indirect fire piece; the smaller ones carried around by 2-4 men (which is why I was thinking small infantry units such as skirmishers). It would have zero canister ability, excellent mid-range, and limited extreme range. They were mostly used against true fortifications and breastworks.

Yep, discovered scouts had a very short life expectancy; I would want scouts to find the enemy before my main units blunder into them.

At the moment, only when she is not playing Dragon Age Inquisition on the high setting , as for the remote, neither of us find much on TV to watch

Cavalry on the move at 80 to 100% starting condition should never be caught by charging infantry (i.e. resulting in Melee) unless they were starting in close proximity, and I doubt many humans are going to catch a horse in the short term. There is a horse vs. man race in Wales.. over 22 miles it is extremely rare that any of the horses lose. Limbered Artillery batteries given a 'gallop' button (similar to infantry quick march); with a huge recovery penalty (condition) for subsequent movement (you might be firing your guns but the horses need time to recover). Match total number of guns in a battery to movement rate; all other things being equal a 4 gun battery should be able to move faster than an 8 gun battery due to less congestion. Slight up-tweak to melee values on standard issue firearms; an 1861 Springfield was not inferior to earlier muskets in regards to hand to hand combat. I am currently cleaning and preserving (not restoring) a CSA Fayetteville Rile/Musket that is an example of beating swords into plowshares, or in this case turning an instrument of war into a shotgun. The barrel all by itself would make an excellent cudgel for braining some poor soul. (Cautionary note here: never assume antique weapons are unloaded; this barrel had in it some sort of gun powder, wadded paper and deteriorated lead shot which had turned to lead oxide; all unbeknownst to the family which had owned it for the last 80-90 years). Improve the ability of small units (300 or less) to remain hidden if they are in 100% cover and have not moved, up to the point an enemy unit comes within half their firing range. Introduce Coehorn mortars for skirmisher units. This would reduce movement speed. Create the ability of Cavalry to detach scouts, 2% of total not to exceed 20.

Guinness Extra Stout is preferred or their Imperial Stout... Could be worse, my wife could be playing this game; she has a long history of finding obscure bugs, dating back to Gemstone II and the beta-test of Ultima Online.

SITREP on Distress Call CSA is not fairing well with the repeated charges; might have something to do with the 3 batteries I brought to the fight... CSA cavalry (3) is super aggressive; but have also been driven off each time by grouped skirmishers. CSA cavalry effectively are down to half strength, my cost = 1 skirmisher unit shattered.

Playing through Distress Call under 1.22c; so far every CSA brigade has charged into the Union line. CSA cavalry (two split brigades) made a bee line from NW of Depot 1 across the open space into 2 skirmisher units with 1 cavalry unit which had the marker indicating they were not spotted. Let me make it clear, this is not a complaint. It just seems that the suicide charges are continuing.

Brigade returned to camp is controlled by Walton, and retains the 2 star ranking as well.

Brigade is controlled by Wagner in the battle, you will only get back at best 800 in camp assuming no casualties out of the combined 1600 (each split brigade was 800 to start, so you get half back in camp after deducting casualties). Bad news is.. 1.22c did not fix all of it. My Walton brigade of 1123 split into two 800 man brigades when the battle switches to the counter-attack. They were also able to be combined into a brigade ( again commanded by Wagner, in the battle.) I do have the saves, screen shots etc. I have stopped right when I checked to see if I could combine the split brigades again. They retain the 2 star ranking when combined.

Gee.. just as I came up with a work around for it Combining the Walton brigades gave the best return for back in camp; otherwise you ended up with Walton's Brigade 1 at what ever strength they were at when Phillipi ended.

Well in my case it was not a real detriment to the up coming Distress Call battle; I had captured a CSA brigade of 300+ and exchanged them for 500+ men. I would have liked to have had the full allotment of '61 Springfields that I technically did not lose in the battle, but I recovered enough of them to bring Walton up to almost 900 out fitted with the '61s. Refitting Walton and retaining the 2 star status was a bit expensive at $17,000; but Scales and Loomis were able to refit to 1,000 each with recruits and both are 3/4 of the way to their 2nd star. As I said in the previous post; I will replay from my save and try to join the split Walton brigades. If that results in the Walton brigade being in better shape after the battle, then that strategy can be used by others until a future release.

I will go back and double check, I have a save from right before Phillipi is captured and a screen shot. I will try to join the split brigades to see if that changes the out-come.

Phillipi as Union with 1.22b One glitch: Union unit on far right flank of the town in the open area next to the river during the CSA counter attack; advances forward when the F key is pressed. At that point there is no longer any control of that unit, even though it has not yet wavered. You can select the unit, but any and all commands are ignored including the facing. This is the same behavior that I witnessed with a skirmisher unit in the same location several campaigns back. Each time a CSA brigade has been quickly advancing on the right flank, and to avoid melee I try to move the Union unit back a bit. (this issue is not related to the 1.22b update, as it was experienced in the 1.21 version as well). Unrelated issue: Walton's brigade was split into two 800 man units; at the time of the CSA counter-attack, one unit was at 720 and the other unit was at 535. Both split brigades remain at close that amount of men at the end of the battle, with the 720 unit accounting for a great many more CSA casualties. After the win, in camp I end up with the smaller of the two split brigades for Walton (534) and of course a lot less experience earned for that brigade. Is this working as intended?

Outcome of Bull Run with the 'suicidal charge'.. Overall it came down to time.. Massed artillery decimated the CSA brigades when they charged.. unfortunately two of them charging together back to back, then routed behind my lines. That required me to divert three brigades to take care of them when they recovered and headed toward my artillery. CSA cavalry crossed streams with little impairment, I did manage to capture Stuarts Cavalry before they destroyed any of my batteries completely. I was still fighting up hill when Johnston arrives and starts a counter attack. I counted 15 suicide charges including cavalry in the battle; with most of the CSA units down to half strength or less when they charged. As I said earlier, if you could get this 'feature' down to 1 to 3 units total in a battle; and have a 15-20% chance of it happening at all...

The change would be interesting if you could get it to work in the following manner: 1. Only allow a maximum 1-3 brigades in any given battle to charge in that manner. 2. Greatly limit the chance of it happening in any given battle There are examples from the American Civil War where a 'suicidal charge' has a positive result. An example would be during the 1st day of Gettysburg. The 149th PA Inf. Regiment with fixed bayonets charges into Daniels Brigade made up of the 32nd North Carolina, 45th NC, 2nd NC, 43rd NC, and the 53rd NC regiments and drives Daniels off of the Railroad Cut. (Full account is found in Stone's Brigade and the Fight for McPherson Farm, Battle of Gettysburg July 1 1863, James J. Dougherty author)

Pretty sure I found it.. :) I will play out Bull Run before I load the update.. should be an interesting battle. I will see how they fair charging a line backed by mass artillery batteries. Doubt that I can beat the timer, but it will be interesting

maxed out my uploads, final screen shot will need to wait. How do I delete old uploads? Found it..

Not sure what the objectives were in version 1.22a, but playing on MG level is significantly harder. I just restarted Bull Run for the third time; CSA cavalry now cross streams as if they were not an obstacle at all. This means the initial Union forces are cut to pieces (especially artillery) even when in a defensive position. Below, I am attempting to just hold the ford (3d restart); I had to pull back from the bridge because the CSA artillery batteries greatly out range me (and out number me) and where decimating both an infantry and artillery brigade. Here the CSA cavalry are about to capture the previously un-spotted Union cavalry, after making a bee-line to them. Here I am pulling back the 1st Ohio, and attempting to move up the 2nd Ohio to defend the batteries that are about to be flanked by CSA cavalry. I end up loosing 1 1/2 batteries here. And what is not apparent below is that CSA forces have also crossed the Stone Bridge and have my units flanked from that side as well. Meanwhile, I Corp has arrived and are marching to Matthew Hill. Only to find CSA units already advancing toward them. The Union brigades are not even close to going in line and the CSA brigades are almost to the default rallying point for the Union here. Below, the 1st La Tigers charge Hoover while taking a volley from each of the Union brigades as it moves by the front (never fazed the 1st La); the charge continues right into the brigades in the rear. The CSA unit is routed by artillery fire and destroyed by the Union Cavalry (a small victory in an otherwise disastrous major battle). Below, Bee's Brigade has routed a 1 star Brigade under Gibbons, and has engaged Loomis in melee (Loomis is about to rout as well); Bee's brigade was flanked when it engaged Gibbon, still flanked while it engages Loomis and is now taking canister rounds. Bee's brigade only wavers after it engages the 143rd PA Inf. CSA Barstow was starting to engage, but was distracted by Union cavalry attacking the CSA batteries (lost the Union cavalry because they would not disengage).

Must have been Southern Sympathizers then...

Looks like it helps the AI.. I had more units surrender than ever before, including a top brigade that was not flanked and was supported by artillery.. started at 1200 strength and surrendered with 1000+. I had the Confederates stretched back to the Hornet's Nest, and was attacking their flanks as they pushed to the VP. Biggest issue is they capture the VP while being south of the breastworks. I was unable to recapture the VP even with a unit sitting in the breastworks and a unit on the VP; it never even started to fade. I had a double line at the VP, with Buell's brigades in the breastworks. Buell's brigades (especially the 1 star), break almost as soon as they are engaged in melee. I could try putting the second line right behind the rear of the first with no gap. As you can see, almost 2.500 surrendered