AGEOD Forums

When playing as Union I think many of us end up with McDowell still as commander of the AOP, while Little Mac is out in Ohio somewhere in the fall of '61. There are events that give him command of the Union Army, but his post in Ohio/Kentucky really does not reflect that. Now it requires the player "playing along" and moving Mac himself back, and relieving McDowell even if he has won Manassas. Now on the other hand it is damn hard to succeed in the On To Richmond event, and anyone who did that would be a national hero. Here is the small mod (maybe get it into other bigger mods others are working on) I would like to do. I would like to know thoughts and if it is possible before I start.

1. If On to Richmond succeeds then there are no McClellan promotion events, he stays as is out in Ohio. McDowell gets everything that Mac was supposed to get....ie the promotion, political points etc.
2. If On to Richmond fails (which is pretty common) then McDowell is reduced in seniority and relieved, think humiliated by the national press as he failed to halt the rebellion (same result as losing 1st Manassas in reality). On top of this McClellan is automatically moved to Army Commander for AOP and all his events happen on top of this. Therefore we end up being stuck with Mac in the critical East. McDowell can be used as division or corps commander down the line as needed (as in reality). Now we really have to deal with the Mac problem, as he is in charge of the most important Union army on the map and will take a lot to get rid of him....instead of just paying the price to bypass him while he swims in the Ohio River.

Possible?

Historically McClellan recieved command because of the following...

#1. McDowell's failure.

#2. McClellan's success.

Given that McDowell fails in his mission (to win the war by 1862), and that McClellan is successful (Captures, say Grafton), then McClellan will be overall commander. However, keep in mind that McClellan was one of the generals with the highest seniority even before his victory in West Virginia, and that his promotion was probably inevitable given his strong political connections.

McDowell was given an impossible task (not just to get outside of Richmond, but to win the war as he claimed could be done in one quick victory).

Completely agree. Given McDowells impossible task and Macs seniority/connections this change occuring is almost inevitable. I'm not in favor of trying to recreate history exactly, I like the player to be able to make his own mistakes. However given the time (very early in the war) and circumstances it is realistic to say that this would happen much more often than not. As there are events heaping all these title on Mac, I figured they could be adjusted to place him where he should be. We know that a commander of that grade/title/seniority would be in the East (1st Halleck then Grant).

Laying out my details here, please comment (just realized how big this could be, so trying to keep it simple...I don't want to force too much on players)

1. evt_nam_USA_PapersPushOffensive1861Warning happens
if successful leads to evt_nam_ArmyinVirginia
McDowell stays as is (might add event here later to glorify him)

then Mac events never occur...any of them I need to null the following:
evt_nam_USA_McClellanCommander1861A
evt_nam_USA_McClellanCommander1861B
evt_nam_USA_McClellanCinC1861
evt_nam_USA_McClellanDemoted1862
evt_nam_USA_McClellanremoved1862


2. If it fails then evt_nam_USA_PapersPushOffensive1861 happens
Add an event that reflects disillusionment of volunteers and resulting CinC breakdowns (as really happened...just not exactly like I need to do it)
Remove the Army of Northeastern Virginia (do corps within become independant? would love another mod that got rid of corps in 1861! maybe that would be a must)
demote McDowell to 2 stars and reduce seniority move to DC

3. Also at this time Mac will arrive:
I will change the following to automatically occur at that time
evt_nam_USA_McClellanCommander1861A happens
evt_nam_USA_McClellanCinC1861
this will need to be changed as follows:
Move Mac to DC (how do I move...or do i remove and then add again at new destination?)
This will get Mac to DC now I will give him an Army

4. Create event for creation of the Army of the Potomac
(do I need to remove Army of Potomoc from list of possible armies?)
New army in DC, named Army of the Potomac
Put Mac in command (is this possible within event, or will this be up to player?)

All other Mac events will remain for now, may need to be tweaked in the future.

Can anyone answer some of my questions in italics, would love some thoughts and advice.