mod J & P Rebalance Mod by JonnyH13 and Pandakraut 05/06/2023 1.28.4

[pandakraut]

9 minutes ago, BCH said:

First attempt with my revised II Corp was not successful, held Little Round Top much longer, but attrition forced the Union to withdraw.. reinforcements were ineffective.

Conclusion: trying to hold Little Round Top in the historical manner does not work.. so.. I put a token defense on Little Round Top and put everyone else north of it.. the attrition is now reversed..

One surprise.. CSA has CSA entrenchments only immediately south of Little Round Top.. either never noted them when playing CSA or never sent units that way.

more to follow

I usually stack nearly everything on top of both little and big round top. It's some of the best defensive terrain in the entire game with how steep the hill is. I think you're required to hold the point to proceed, but defending north of the point and recapturing it later will probably work as well.

[BCH]

The Union held.

Now for Culps Hill defense

[contact]

RESULT OF THE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL  (playing as Union, on MG)

 

Union Infantry  40350                                CSA Infantry  50751

            Cavalry  500                                              Cavalry  0

             Guns 68                                                     Guns 80

 

Casualties And Losses

               Infantry  12655                                      Infantry  27130

                      Guns  1                                                    Guns  2

                  Cavalry  147                                            Cavalry  0

                   Missing  0                                            Missing  109

Grant was assigned the task of stopping the Rebs advance. For this he was assigned 24000 Infantry and 28 Guns.

His tactic was similar to that used at Gaines Mill. Grant concealed a Brigade armed with Ferry’s on his left flank. The right flank, although at least 2 Reb Brigades were seen on the far side of the river, looking to flank Grants right. Were ignored by Grant ! (After the battle I did question this decision with him. He replied he was expecting me to arrive with reinforcements and I would deal with them ! He was going to “hold the line”. I was flattered by this. Also very relieved his trust in me proved correct. The 2 Reb Brigades were checked. I sent the remainder of my Brigades to aid Grant.

The Rebs tactics were the same as Gaines Mill. They just kept sending troops in to break Grants line. Grants troops held and Grant was reported to be at any point where the line seemed under threat. Encouraging his men to hold.

A few points were noted by Grant. 

At Gaines Mill most of the Reb Brigades were nearly 3000 strong and were 3 star. At Malvern, they were down to 2500 or less. Being 3 and 2 star. It appears the South is running out of seasoned troops.

Also, over 3000 Patterned 1853 Enfield’s were captured !

Grant praised all his troops. But was particularly impressed with the skill of 2 Artillery battery’s. Both were 10x 10PDR ORD. The first commanded by Zook killed 1994 for the loss of 18 men. Adams Batttery suffered no casualties but inflicted 1568.

Thankfully,  Officer casualties were low. 1 Officer was KIA. 2 were wounded. But their wounds are not considered serious.

 

 

 

[BCH]

great report Contact..

[BCH]

Report from Culps Hill

Battered Rebel brigades made desultory attacks on Culps Hill proper and were driven off or destroyed by the Union forces. Only two Rebel batteries were spotted at the base of the hill east of Culps Hill. After Union forces drove back the skirmishers on that hill, the Rebel batteries were destroyed by the Union long range guns and a flanking maneuver by two Union brigades. This left the Union totally in control of this eastern hill side with three batteries in support of the brigades there.

Having control of both Culps Hill and the eastern hillside turned the area between into a Valley of Death for some late arriving Rebel cavalry units which tried to ride down the valley to flank Culps Hill.

With the Culps Hill flank securely in possession of Union forces, the Union attention turns to their front where there is an expectations of a Confederate attack on the middle of the line.

 

Note:

 I am in very good condition for the next phase of this battle; I am facing somewhat more CSA forces than I would have liked. That is attributed to the fact that Pender's Division never initiated an attack late on day 2 of the battle. One of the good aspects of the game.. AI is a bit unpredictable.

The brigades in Pender's Division will be full strength, but the Union has not lost a single battery in this battle, and all are present on the field.

Not much is left of CSA forces in the vicinity of Culps Hill; this will allow me to leave a toke force there and move the rest of the Union forces from that area to reinforce the middle.

In the area of the Round Tops, CSA forces have been significantly weaken by the first day of battle. After dealing with whatever CSA forces still remain on that flank, the Union forces on the Round Tops will be able to reposition somewhat to provide enfilading fire on CSA units pushing toward the middle of the Union line.

But as I said.. AI can be a bit unpredictable.

Edited June 5, 2019 by BCH
spelling

[BCH]

15 hours ago, pandakraut said:

I think you're required to hold the point to proceed

All three VPs must be held..

[BCH]

Thoughts on carbines, for future consideration.

The current range is appropriate; but puts a unit (unless mounted) at a distinct disadvantage when engaging a brigade armed with other than muskets.

Increasing the rate of fire would bring a bit of parity and align the weapon with its historical counter part.

 

[BCH]

Lee heads back south, Meade is slow to pursue;  the inhabitants of Gettysburg will deal with the carnage for months; and vultures numbering in the thousands will annually roost on the Round Tops...

Game battle statistics:

Union                                           vs.                        CSA
Inf.            33,615                       vs.                       89,058
Cav             1,831                       vs.                         1,709
Art               6,685/270 guns    vs.                         6,902/282 guns

Losses

Inf.           14,001                       vs.                         66,650
Cav               974                        vs.                           1,141
Art             1,709 /59                vs.                             5,257/209
Missing        123                        vs.                               991

 

Not sure why I continue to be blessed with such scaling; but again I overcame the odds.

The final phase of the battle played out like its historical counterpart; CSA brigades did cross The Angle only to be driven back by Union batteries and a flanking maneuver by the Union left flank.   CSA batteries however, were not a factor; most had been destroyed in the Day 1 & 2 phases

I Corp Ist division's 5 brigades are all 3*
            2nd division's 5 brigades have three 3* & two 2*
            3rd division's 5 brigades have two 3* & three 2*

On to Bayou Fourche..

Footnote:

My wife and I once walked from the start of Pickett's Charge to the Copse of Trees at the Union line; she kept asking me "Why would you cross all this open ground into cannon fire and then volley fire by infantry?" . I still do not have an answer..

If you have the opportunity to get to Gettysburg.. make the same walk, your perspective of the battle will most likely change from what you read in a history book.

We also had the opportunity to attend the annual reenactment on the 150th anniversary of the battle (held on farm land outside of Gettysburg, similar terrain and all that..). They had the largest assemblage of Civil War cannon (some from the period, the rest functional reproductions) for the reenactment since the battle itself; if I remember correctly it was 110 guns (brochure is still around somewhere). To demonstrate the artillery duel prior to Pickett's Charge; the batteries (dressed both in North and South uniforms) would all go to one side of the reenactment battle field and fire several rounds and then they would limber up and go to the opposite side of the field and repeat. This gave the spectators a very realistic view of what 100 or so cannons look like when firing in a line.   The distance was approximately the same as the actual battle; these guns were only firing 1/4 to 1/3 charges but as a spectator you could feel the concussion wave all the way across the battlefield.

If I can locate the photos of the event, I will post a few. (will also be able to confirm if it was the 150th or another close to that)>

It was in 2007, making it the 144th anniversary; my wife has reminded me we did not want to deal with the crowds that were anticipated for the 150th

 

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by BCH
add'l text

[BCH]

Those annoying stealthy enemy skirmishers..

I will grudgingly accept the stealth while they are located in heavy woods.. although after shooting black powder muzzleloaders since around 1967, I have to say in regards to black powder firearms.. stealthy they are not. Even my 1888 Enfield (the famed Martini-Henry) as a black powder cartridge firearm produces a prodigious amount of smoke when fired.

But having these enemy skirmishers simply disappear in open ground within in range of a rifle brigade is a bit much. They were even disappearing from my 2* skirmisher unit armed with JFBrowns. At the very least they should stay visible somewhat longer after they fire.

[BCH]

Strange occurrence at Bayou Fourche..

I lost a brigade that was damaged but intact when the the timer ran out. (a Union victory)

It was missing in the after battle camp; the only difference between it and the other Union brigades is that it was in one of the fortified positions around the VP.

I went back to a save before the battle ended.. it is there, and not taking any fire.

Any thoughts?

 

I will replay the battle because the brigade was a 2* that was close to becoming a 3*; I just found it to be rather strange.

[pandakraut]

36 minutes ago, BCH said:

Strange occurrence at Bayou Fourche..

I lost a brigade that was damaged but intact when the the timer ran out. (a Union victory)

It was missing in the after battle camp; the only difference between it and the other Union brigades is that it was in one of the fortified positions around the VP.

I went back to a save before the battle ended.. it is there, and not taking any fire.

Any thoughts?

 

I will replay the battle because the brigade was a 2* that was close to becoming a 3*; I just found it to be rather strange.

I've seen sporadic reports of units going missing, but never anything consistent about why. No idea why that would be happening.

[BCH]

15 minutes ago, pandakraut said:

I've seen sporadic reports of units going missing, but never anything consistent about why. No idea why that would be happening.

I have lost some because they were right next to a map edge.. but never one in the middle of the map

[JonnyH13]

We now have a very barebones Mod Discord.  Link is on the Opening Post.

[BCH]

Bayou Fourche is just a totally strange map..

I am trying to figure out how a CSA skirmisher unit can hit my battery when they are out in shot range of that battery (20pdr Parrotts to boot).

Does elevation increase range that much?

[pandakraut]

1 hour ago, BCH said:

Bayou Fourche is just a totally strange map..

I am trying to figure out how a CSA skirmisher unit can hit my battery when they are out in shot range of that battery (20pdr Parrotts to boot).

Does elevation increase range that much?

The fortifications on that map are wierd. If the skirmishers have range 500 weapons or have the range perk they can hit you from obnoxious distances.

[BCH]

6 hours ago, pandakraut said:

they can hit you from obnoxious distances.

That is the polite way to say it...

[BCH]

Bayou Fourche is exceedingly weird...

I decided to restart it from a save at the very beginning of the battle, (right after that initial alignment of your forces). The game was paused, I mapped out movement for those first in Union forces.. this included a cavalry unit on the left flank in the open area before the forest. I hit the resume play icon, zoomed in to micro manage my skirmishers armed with JFBs, zoomed out and my cavalry had disappeared.. no longer even listed in the Corp bar at the bottom of the screen.

I loaded the save again (only on my first cup of coffee.. might have only imagined the cavalry); but there they were.

Off to work.. I will try it again later today.

[contact]

On 6/6/2019 at 3:54 AM, BCH said:

Lee heads back south, Meade is slow to pursue;  the inhabitants of Gettysburg will deal with the carnage for months; and vultures numbering in the thousands will annually roost on the Round Tops...

Game battle statistics:

Union                                           vs.                        CSA
Inf.            33,615                       vs.                       89,058
Cav             1,831                       vs.                         1,709
Art               6,685/270 guns    vs.                         6,902/282 guns

Losses

Inf.           14,001                       vs.                         66,650
Cav               974                        vs.                           1,141
Art             1,709 /59                vs.                             5,257/209
Missing        123                        vs.                               991

 

Not sure why I continue to be blessed with such scaling; but again I overcame the odds.

The final phase of the battle played out like its historical counterpart; CSA brigades did cross The Angle only to be driven back by Union batteries and a flanking maneuver by the Union left flank.   CSA batteries however, were not a factor; most had been destroyed in the Day 1 & 2 phases

I Corp Ist division's 5 brigades are all 3*
            2nd division's 5 brigades have three 3* & two 2*
            3rd division's 5 brigades have two 3* & three 2*

On to Bayou Fourche..

Footnote:

My wife and I once walked from the start of Pickett's Charge to the Copse of Trees at the Union line; she kept asking me "Why would you cross all this open ground into cannon fire and then volley fire by infantry?" . I still do not have an answer..

If you have the opportunity to get to Gettysburg.. make the same walk, your perspective of the battle will most likely change from what you read in a history book.

We also had the opportunity to attend the annual reenactment on the 150th anniversary of the battle (held on farm land outside of Gettysburg, similar terrain and all that..). They had the largest assemblage of Civil War cannon (some from the period, the rest functional reproductions) for the reenactment since the battle itself; if I remember correctly it was 110 guns (brochure is still around somewhere). To demonstrate the artillery duel prior to Pickett's Charge; the batteries (dressed both in North and South uniforms) would all go to one side of the reenactment battle field and fire several rounds and then they would limber up and go to the opposite side of the field and repeat. This gave the spectators a very realistic view of what 100 or so cannons look like when firing in a line.   The distance was approximately the same as the actual battle; these guns were only firing 1/4 to 1/3 charges but as a spectator you could feel the concussion wave all the way across the battlefield.

If I can locate the photos of the event, I will post a few. (will also be able to confirm if it was the 150th or another close to that)>

It was in 2007, making it the 144th anniversary; my wife has reminded me we did not want to deal with the crowds that were anticipated for the 150th

 

 

Thanks for the report.

I envy you being able to visit the battlefield. Unfortunately I am the other side of the pond.

Though I am hoping to visit  some of the battlefields in Europe.

Best wishes

[BCH]

2 hours ago, contact said:

I envy you being able to visit the battlefield. Unfortunately I am the other side of the pond.

add it to your bucket list for when you get to this side of the pond..

Gettysburg did not end the American Civil War; but after the battle was over, it was obvious that the Confederacy would ultimately fail.

Since discovering rather recently that I had a relative that served in the 143rd PA Vol. Inf. Regiment, I have been doing research on the regiment's history. I will be trying to visit all the battlefields and camp locations in which they were located; and I will be mapping their travel routes. Gettysburg was their first engaged battle; they were assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps. They were positioned at McPhersons Farm on July 1st and were the last regiment to withdraw back to Cemetery Ridge; most of their losses occurred on July 1st, total losses for the 3 days were estimated at " 253 killed, wounded, or missing out of 465 engaged".

The regiment went on to fight in such major battles as the Wilderness, Petersburg. My relative survived the war and was promoted to Corporal toward the end of the war for 'gallantry at Gettysburg', (important because it greatly increased the military pension)(what specifically he did for that at Gettysburg I have not yet discovered). I did discover from newspaper accounts that he apparently drank heavily from time to time in his later years; after reading about the specifics of the battles in which he was engaged, I fully understand why.

Edited June 7, 2019 by BCH
spelling; add'l text.

[contact]

21 hours ago, BCH said:

add it to your bucket list for when you get to this side of the pond..

Gettysburg did not end the American Civil War; but after the battle was over, it was obvious that the Confederacy would ultimately fail.

Since discovering rather recently that I had a relative that served in the 143rd PA Vol. Inf. Regiment, I have been doing research on the regiment's history. I will be trying to visit all the battlefields and camp locations in which they were located; and I will be mapping their travel routes. Gettysburg was their first engaged battle; they were assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps. They were positioned at McPhersons Farm on July 1st and were the last regiment to withdraw back to Cemetery Ridge; most of their losses occurred on July 1st, total losses for the 3 days were estimated at " 253 killed, wounded, or missing out of 465 engaged".

The regiment went on to fight in such major battles as the Wilderness, Petersburg. My relative survived the war and was promoted to Corporal toward the end of the war for 'gallantry at Gettysburg', (important because it greatly increased the military pension)(what specifically he did for that at Gettysburg I have not yet discovered). I did discover from newspaper accounts that he apparently drank heavily from time to time in his later years; after reading about the specifics of the battles in which he was engaged, I fully understand why.

 

21 hours ago, BCH said:

add it to your bucket list for when you get to this side of the pond..

Gettysburg did not end the American Civil War; but after the battle was over, it was obvious that the Confederacy would ultimately fail.

Since discovering rather recently that I had a relative that served in the 143rd PA Vol. Inf. Regiment, I have been doing research on the regiment's history. I will be trying to visit all the battlefields and camp locations in which they were located; and I will be mapping their travel routes. Gettysburg was their first engaged battle; they were assigned to the 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Corps. They were positioned at McPhersons Farm on July 1st and were the last regiment to withdraw back to Cemetery Ridge; most of their losses occurred on July 1st, total losses for the 3 days were estimated at " 253 killed, wounded, or missing out of 465 engaged".

The regiment went on to fight in such major battles as the Wilderness, Petersburg. My relative survived the war and was promoted to Corporal toward the end of the war for 'gallantry at Gettysburg', (important because it greatly increased the military pension)(what specifically he did for that at Gettysburg I have not yet discovered). I did discover from newspaper accounts that he apparently drank heavily from time to time in his later years; after reading about the specifics of the battles in which he was engaged, I fully understand why.

Hi,

 Definitely on my list.

Amazing to discover had a relative fighting there.

Hope your able to research his full service history.

Best wishes

 

[BCH]

2 hours ago, contact said:

Amazing to discover had a relative fighting there.

Hope your able to research his full service history.

Indeed.. I discovered it while doing some genealogy research on my fathers side.. I found newspaper articles (long articles to boot) mentioning "ZZZZZZ Reunion" year after year "ZZZZZZ" was my grandmother's maiden name. I kept wondering why the reunion was worth mentioning year after year in the newspaper.

I finally found an article that referenced the civil war veteran; it was never a topic of conversation when I was growing up.. but the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII had all occurred in between, by the time I might have been interested as a youngster the Civil War was a footnote (Especially because WWI and II were recent memory to family members).

[BCH]

On 6/7/2019 at 6:47 AM, BCH said:

Bayou Fourche is exceedingly weird... 

Beyond weird now...

After battle report showed:

Union                                 vs.                               CSA
Inf          9,750                   vs.                               16,305
Cav                0?*               vs.                                 3,255
Art         2,190/88 guns                                         2,526/102

Losses

Inf.          2,454                  vs.                                11,997
Cav                 0?*              vs.                                  1,081
Art               71/1               vs.                                  1993/77
Missing          0                  vs.                                    533

?* I went into battle with a 850 man cavalry unit armed with carbines; fortunately they did survive with only a loss of 96 men, I have no idea of why they are missing in the final report.

The key to winning this battle was that the CSA AI pushed almost all their batteries forward of their defensive positions to fire on the Union brigades across the river. Two 3* 20pdr Parrots, one 3* 14pdr James, and one 2* 10 pdr Parrot eliminated the CSA batteries. One of the 20 pdrs and the 10 pdr Parrott had 90 degree enfilade fire on the CSA batteries.

Five 3* Union infantry brigades pushed CSA skirmishers north and back across the river; these five brigades were supported by two 3* Union batteries of Napoleons. The Union mounted infantry screened the left flank of those brigades; and captured a full supply wagon and 500+ CSA skirmishers. After the CSA northern most defenses fell; it was simply a slow push to take the objective.

still a strange map

[BCH]

I see Chickamauga on MG level is a 'fun' battle

Frankly, I do not see a counter to all the hidden CSA skirmishers on the second day; bad enough that the Union was out numbered way over 4:1 on the first day.

Even my 2* skirmishers with the Marksmanship perk is not able to reliably spot them. Since the Union is coming in 3-4 brigades at a time from the western map edge; those 3* brigades are being reduced to almost half strength without them firing a shot.

It seem obvious to me, that this map was originally designed to 'encourage' the detachment of skirmishers from brigades to probe the woods for enemy.. Now with only one skirmisher brigade per division, even my skirmishers are being slaughtered, because they are always flanked when they probe ahead of the Union line. If they stay back at the Union line, they suffer the same fate as Union Infantry.. shot down by hidden CSA units.

I am open to suggestions.. but  I suspect this might well be the end of the Union campaign for me on MG lvl

Edited June 8, 2019 by BCH
spelling

[BCH]

Went back to a save right after Bayou Fourche

I put the career point into recon to bring it up to 5..

Let's see if it allows me to spot those skirmishers sooner.

[BCH]

Third attempt at Chickamauga..

Pretty much a disaster. The Union forces trying to defend the southern most crossings ended up surrounded. Intel at that point showed 29,967 CSA vs 9,031 Union (not deducting casualties, odds were about the same though).

Increasing recon to 5 did help with the vanishing CSA skirmishers; most were spotted and stayed spotted if they were in range.

Back to the drawing board...