BCH

Malvern Hill update: This will be a win for the Union... Last night, I started the battle; my general strategy of pulling back enticing the CSA brigades into open ground was working.. my first set of reinforcements had arrived when I was interrupted.. I thought I had hit pause.. but no.. CSA brigades directly engaged some of the Union brigades in melee, all the CSA brigades were routed but this resulted in entirely unnecessary casualties for the Union. I played the rest of the battle through for a easy draw, that should have been an easy win with less Union casualties. Infantry totals Union 20,502 vs CSA 35,935 Fortunately, I had a save prior to the interruption last night, and started from there over coffee this morning. As things stand now... The Union right flank is anchored by the river just south of the bridge. part of the right flank of the Union line sits behind the creek backed by the Union batteries. The Union left flank has 'refused the line' on that side and is anchored in the woods also backed by batteries. The entire line forms a capital L which has been turned 90 degrees clockwise. The final Union reinforcements have arrived and are almost in position behind the current Union line with two brigades sent to the woods on the left flank to strengthen that flank. One Union brigade was sent to the right flank objective to repel any attempts a river crossing in that area. The last three Union batteries are already in position. Two skirmisher brigades are sliding to the extreme left of the Union line to find CSA brigades on the left flank; it appears that many CSA brigades spotted on that side have re-positioned more toward the center. Meanwhile.. two cavalry brigades and one skirmisher brigade are operating in the CSA rear. Thus far: Captured 2 supply wagons Delayed CSA General Jackson from reaching the lines Forced 2 CSA batteries out of limber I fully expect to capture at least two more supply wagons (one is being targeted now) Expected future action: Union left flank will begin to slowly turn 'like a gate' against the CSA right flank while the Union right continues to hold and inflict heavy casualties on CSA brigades. Note: Unlikely to report again until next week.. getting ready for a three day conference

Very nice.. I have have two additional regiments to add to your list for Pennsylvania. 143rd PA Infantry Regiment http://www.pacivilwar.com/regiment/143rd.html and the 150th PA Infantry Regiment http://www.pacivilwar.com/regiment/150th.html along with the 149th PA Infantry Regiment that you listed, they comprised Stone's Brigade that held McPherson's Farm till the last possible moment during the first day of Gettysburg, allowing the incoming Union troops (and the rest that retreated back through Gettysburg) to dig in on Cemetery Ridge, Culps Hill, etc. This was the first battle in which these three regiments were actually fully engaged. Maps showing positions at 4:00PM July 1, 1863 will show the regiment locations. The 143rd was the last to withdraw " the regiment lost 145 killed and wounded and 91 missing out of 465 present for duty. " CSA Lt. General A.P.Hill commented on the surprisingly stubborn resistance by these regiments...

Personally I decline to fight this battle.. little to gain and a lot to lose.

I have 11,234 Inf. to start before I refit the two Corps. I will add more gun batteries to the mix. Depending upon the numbers seen on the CSA brigades; I will most likely do a fighting withdrawal across the open area. With the initial reinforcements, I should be able to hold the wooded area with the secondary objectives. As the final Union reinforcements arrive, I will push to retake the main objective. i will send at least two cavalry brigades along the west side of the map to try and pick off as many CSA supply wagons as I can. I will also deploy two strong skirmisher units in the west side woods. This will also pull CSA units away from my main line. The objective will be to draw CSA units into battery fire as they try to take the secondary objectives to both reduce in morale and numbers. Eventually the Union will need to push forward. Actually surprised I have gotten this far in the campaign.. my thoughts were that I took too many casualties in the 1st Bull Run Battle to continue effectively at this play level.

Yep, it will be tough. The plus side, all my batteries survived Gaines Mills with minimal gun loss. I Corp, 1st and 2nd Divisions are relatively healthy before a refit. I should be able to refit enough to give it a go..

After action report for Gaines Mills, played at MG lvl: The numbers according to the after battle results screen.. Union vs. CSA totals brought to the battle Inf. 20,650 vs. 60,501 Cav. 494 vs. 0 Guns(Men) 113(2,798) vs. 244(5,984) Losses Inf. 9,416 vs. 25,155 Cav. 494 vs. 0 Guns(Men) 28(818) vs. 156(3.899) Union Victory

On to variation # 2 of the Union defensive line on McGhee Hill.. At the start battle screen.. I see CSA at 48,701 men and 172 gun vs. my Union forces of 24,932 and 113 gun. I am going to attempt to exploit the Eastern woods defensive advantage across from the McGhee Hill objective. This means giving away the objective at some point and then retaking it and either Boatswain's Hill or Woods for the win.

Union I Corp 13,564 Inf. and 79 guns Union II Corp 7,820 Inf. and 34 guns Total Union (assuming all reinforcements arrive) = 21, 384 and 113 guns Biggest issue that I see so far is that scaling of CSA brigades has resulted in brigades much larger than the Union's/ Additionally, a great many CSA brigades are three star, with the rest seemly all two star. Not only are you outnumbered by a large margin in mid-battle, the experience and skills of the CSA brigades greatly exceed what is obtainable by the Union as a player. Just to clarify, I am playing on MG level.

Malvern HIll is most likely not achievable without a reduction in losses at Gaines Mill; currently replaying Gaines Mill with an improved defensive line on McGhee Hill.

Malvern Hill is going to be rather tough after Gaines Mills.. Union losses at the Mills were heavy and not completely recoverable. Going to play it anyway

Nicely done.

Nice strategy on Seven Pines; I will give that a try when I replay Seven Pines. On Gaines Mill, I am trying the following strategy/tactics: (actually eked out a victory) Take, but do not try to hold Boatswain's Woods. Take, but do not hold Boatswain's Hill Pull all Union brigades back to McGhee Hill, "hold until relieved" , with the exception of two cavalry brigades. Form a defensive line across McGhee Hill with the right flank anchored in the Eastern woods and back the line with artillery. In my first attempt my line formed a salient which resulted in higher causalities than are perhaps necessary. The next run through I will make a slightly concave line with strong flanks. Union cavalry brigades are used to spot and harass incoming CSA brigades. Keep them alive, they are vital to the win.Capture supply wagons if it can be done safely, and try to get the supply wagons to McGhee Hill. CSA brigades will advance and take both objectives and then will move on McGhee Hill; in the beginning they show up piece-meal and end up taking heavy casualties. Eventually they will get their own reinforcements and will mass up for attacks. Union brigades need to be carefully micro-managed because you are greatly out numbered. The first Union reinforcements were sent to the right flank in order to extend the line and keep CSA units from gaining a position in the Eastern woods. For me this included two 1,500 man brigades, several well armed Skirmisher brigades, and two batteries of Howitzers (for the close ranged work that will occur). The two cavalry brigades harassed CSA batteries, and captured two supply wagons (both made it to the Union lines). The second Union reinforcements were sent to the left flank, and begin to advance on Boatswain's Hill (either the Woods or the Hill must be taken for a win). This action in my last play through drew off most of the CSA brigades defending Boatswain's Hill. These CSA brigades began a counter-attack against the second Union reinforcements which slowly withdraw to pull the CSA units away from the objective. Down to 0:30 on the counter.. Union cavalry is moved to the West of Boatswains Hill.. they spotted 3 large CSA brigades still in close proximity to the Hill. An empty CSA supply wagon was close enough to be captured. That was used as 'bait' to draw off the CSA brigades (Union cavalry was still un-spotted). As the clock ticked down, the Union cavalry moved into position to retake the Hill. One of the Union brigades was mounted infantry, which were dismounted at the objective. The other brigade was held at the objective with an aim to charge any CSA brigade trying to stop the capture. A messy victory, very much like Shiloh, going down to the last few seconds.

bad luck then.. thanks for the response

Nice tactic for Seven Pines.. Gaines Mill is a complete disaster so far.. scaling is as bad as Shiloh.. Union infantry was out numbered 4:1. If, the Union II Corp arrives, it would be 2:1 odds with no casualties, but of course there are considerable casualties. (60.335 CSA Inf. vs. 12,950 Union Inf, I Corp) I seem to lose Officers at a higher frequency when playing on the MG lvl; is is a feature of the mod?

Playing on MG level; I suspect I will need to replay Seven Pines and try to reduce casualties in order to be successful at Gaines Mills. However, I am going to try some new tactics at Gaines Mills with what I currently have for troops before that.

On Gaines Mills at the moment.. Seven Pines was a lot tougher than expected; I am fielding a full compliment for Gaines Mills, but more veterans would have been nice. time will tell. a bit of luck at Phase I of Gaines Mills.. I sent two cavalry brigades to the CSA rear.. caught A.P. Hill with his baggage train undefended; captured the wagons, and A.P.Hill is no longer in the field

Well Shiloh is over.. nasty, brutal battle that went right down to the last second. Casualties were high for the Union, make that extremely high. II Corp was decimated holding their respective flank waiting for Buell's reinforcements to arrive, only two batteries survived to fight another day. I Corp, 1st Div. is completely intact but battered. 2nd Div. is completely gone except for a 2 star battery. 3rd Div. two batteries left. 4th Div. one battery left. 5th Div, destroyed with their commander. Most losses occurred holding the Landing waiting for Buell. Brigades down to 300 from 1,000 faced off CSA brigades of 2-3,000 and blunted charges while Union batteries focus fired. The counter was down to 0:03 before I thought.. gee, might have actually won.

By the way.. the Union gunboats work great.

I must say, Shiloh is frustrating enough with the scaling; but the CSA capture of the Landing point when they have no brigades north or near the defenses is really aggravating. I put Union brigade after Union brigade on the point itself and could not even start the re-capture of it. Time for a Guinness.. or two, or more.

Yep.. that worked very well.. also trapped and destroyed the CSA cavalry brigade.

That does work well.. lured the CSA brigades into a classic L shaped ambush, completely eliminated a 556 man CSA cavalry unit in a single volley, shades of the charge of the light brigade. For the experiment, I just played with the Union Army with the mostly 500 to 600 man brigades.. almost won. I held on long enough to have the large Union reinforcements arrive at the Landing. I did not bother to move my right flank (I Corp 1st Div. et al) up to the Landing, because I was seeing what it took to lure brigades into the trap. Probably should have flanked the CSA left with a couple of the large Union reinforcements.. CSA units that might have normally been there were getting shot up by I Corp et al. As I look at the save, two Union brigades could have rolled up the flank and pushed the CSA brigades away from the objective. Hate to say it.. it was a really fun loss.

One of my other experiments will be to try to use the swamp, which is just slightly Northwest of Shiloh Church, as an early trap for CSA brigades. In one of my previous play throughs several CSA brigades followed a withdrawing Union brigade into the swamp and ended up being annihilated because they could not effectively maneuver.

I will start with utilizing your strategy for Crossroads to see if I can get Union casualties down below 1,000; that will give me more manpower in several ways. Less spent on replacing veterans, and more dollars for new recruits, etc. Then try something slightly different for Bull Run to see what can reduce casualties to I Corp.. One I experiment with those battles.. replay it all up through Shiloh

Strategy and tactics are sound for Shiloh, but I can not quite pull it off, with existing forces. Attrition on the left flank eventually leads to it being overwhelmed despite routing brigade after CSA brigade. Union Inf. brigades for both Corps only average just over 500 in size (more thoughts on that toward the end). Union I Corp 1st Div. on the right flank was able to hold and then pull back to Shiloh, but with significant casualties; they gave as well as they got as the saying goes. After battle reports show they killed twice their original number. Again, I Corp brigade size was between 500 and 600 men per brigade. Incoming Union brigades for the start of the Harrison Landing phase were both too small, and did not include any additional batteries. Additional batteries would have provided covering fire for the Union brigades withdrawing to the center. When the left flank finally crumbled, that was the end of the battle. Union brigades were down to 200+ men or less on that side. The gunboats did as expected, and help hold off the CSA advance for quite a while; but the gunboats alone can not hold that flank. No Union batteries were lost on the left flank and center until the very end. Once the Inf. brigades in front of the batteries were routed or destroyed, the batteries quickly fell. CSA had at least a 3:1 advantage in manpower at the start of the Landing phase. The final Union reinforcements never take the field resulting in a 53% casualty rate for the Union vs 30% for CSA. The Union center held for a quite a while and routed many CSA brigades, but eventually because the Union right and left were weakening, the center pulled back due to overwhelming numbers. One or two additional batteries right center would have helped. Analysis: Union Inf. Brigade sizes of 500 were too small, especially for the area of Larkin's Field. I Corp 1st Div. needs to have its 2 star Inf. brigades with at least 1,000 men each for the Shiloh Church phase; including at least one of the incoming reinforcements for that side. I Div battery size was fine; they also survived the battle with their Inf. brigades. Where to get the extra men.. Reduce casualties to I Corp in the 1st Bull Run battle (needs a great deal of experimentation) Ditto for Crossroads, I believe I now have the tactics and overall strategy to come out of this battle with less than a thousand casualties. Other thoughts on some issues: Knowing what Corp and Divisions come in at what phase and where is key in organizing the initial defense of the Landing. I will go back and look at my saves in order to write down that sequence, and tweak my Order of Battle. Smaller sized brigades and skirmishers are fine for flanking movements, etc. but not so much for holding a line against a frontal attack. I ended up with some inexperienced and small brigades in critical areas.

Loaded the save from the start of the Hornet's Nest. Thus far: Retreat on the left is in good order, the 4 Union batteries have re-positioned North and along the river. The Union gun boats should be able to provide overwatch when they 'arrive'. Those batteries will be able to join with the 3 center batteries (which have also moved slightly toward the river) to provide enfilade fire against advancing CSA brigades. The 3 Union Inf. Brigades on the left flank are leap frogging each other on the way North, allowing one brigade to cover the other two before jumping around them as they move. I sent the 150 man Union skirmishers from the far South left flank to scout toward mid-map (West of Larkin); managed to blunder them into a pair of large CSA brigades. The skirmishers with heavy casualties are in full retreat Southeast toward the river; the CSA brigades may be inclined to follow them into the swamps along the river. In any case, those two CSA brigades are no longer heading toward my withdrawing left flank units. I am sending my cavalry brigade from my far south left flank to demonstrate against the rear of the two CSA brigades. With luck, those two CSA brigades will be the last to arrive in the vicinity of Harrison's Landing. The Union right flank (Northeast of Shiloh Church) is a bit more heavily engaged than I would like by two large CSA brigades; more CSA brigades have been spotted in the woods west of the Hornet's Nest but out of range. The good news is that those two brigades are in an open field and being pounded by 4 Union batteries, 3 of which are my best. Shiloh Church may be undefended at the moment, I am sending my Mounted Inf. brigade (which was left flank rear (CSA left flank)) to recapture if not occupied and/or to the left flank rear of the two CSA brigades. The CSA advance is slow toward the Hornet's Nest. A small Union Inf. brigade has retreated from the one fortified position, but a skirmisher unit is still holding the other position. Buell's advanced reinforcements have arrived. I will need to send one of those brigades through the woods in the direction of the Union right flank to discourage any more CSA brigades from joining in the attack on that flank. The two other brigades from Buell will be positioned a bit left of the Union center (towards the river) and behind the smaller Inf. brigades now in position there. and that is as it stands at the moment....