Re-enacting First Manassas

[Philippe]

How, exactly, would I go about re-enacting this in the game?

I understand that to get the lockstep historical resort I would have to play both sides.

But if I want to at least reduplicate McDowell's moves, what exactly do I do?

The problem that I'm having is that if I send four or five divisions towards Richmond via Manassas the army HQ tends to move out a few days first and get slaughtered.

If memory serves there weren't any Union Corps in this battle, and even if I brought a couple of generals over the river I don't think the system would allow me to organize them this early in the war.

So how do you launch a synchronized attack on Manassas without Corps commands? Or if you can't, is that the way the system simulates the early war clutziness of the Federals?

Can you give a synchronized move order to a division commander, and/or does it do any good? In that case I'm assuming that you give the order to the army commander as well as to the division commander.

Or do you mimic First Bull Run by loading most of your divisions into an incoherently large stack with McDowell and a huge command penalty and sending them off to slaughter?



[And on an unrelated note, why do the Confederates, more often than not, seem to attack Fort Sumter with cavalry? Seems odd that any fort would get attacked by cavalry, but especially Fort Sumter. My knee-jerk reaction is add something to the code to prevent this kind of thing, assuming that that won't deprive the game system of the mechanism for forcing a surrender. I would expect Fort Sumter to be an artillery duel with very few casualties on either side.]

[charlesonmission]

McDowell basically sent the army forward towards Manassas as a unit, there weren't corps. You would suffer a command penalty of course, as there was in real life. I think Shelby Foote said, once they started the battle McDowell couldn’t really organise much.

There is no synchronized move without and army and corps in the same region.


Regarding Ft. Sumter, well sieges and attacking forts may not be the strongest part of the game, and there are many strong parts. You are right that Ft. Sumter wouldn't be attacked by cavalry, and any cavalry would dismount in any actual assault on a fort, I would say.

How, exactly, would I go about re-enacting this in the game?

I understand that to get the lockstep historical resort I would have to play both sides.

But if I want to at least reduplicate McDowell's moves, what exactly do I do?

The problem that I'm having is that if I send four or five divisions towards Richmond via Manassas the army HQ tends to move out a few days first and get slaughtered.

If memory serves there weren't any Union Corps in this battle, and even if I brought a couple of generals over the river I don't think the system would allow me to organize them this early in the war.

So how do you launch a synchronized attack on Manassas without Corps commands? Or if you can't, is that the way the system simulates the early war clutziness of the Federals?

Can you give a synchronized move order to a division commander, and/or does it do any good? In that case I'm assuming that you give the order to the army commander as well as to the division commander.

Or do you mimic First Bull Run by loading most of your divisions into an incoherently large stack with McDowell and a huge command penalty and sending them off to slaughter? Yes



[And on an unrelated note, why do the Confederates, more often than not, seem to attack Fort Sumter with cavalry? Seems odd that any fort would get attacked by cavalry, but especially Fort Sumter. My knee-jerk reaction is add something to the code to prevent this kind of thing, assuming that that won't deprive the game system of the mechanism for forcing a surrender. I would expect Fort Sumter to be an artillery duel with very few casualties on either side.]

[squarian]

McDowell basically sent the army forward towards Manassas as a unit, there weren't corps. You would suffer a command penalty of course, as there was in real life.

In other words (just in case it isn't clear) you need to pile all those paper "divisions" which start in Alexandria into McDowell's stack to form a single force. It will have a full 35% command penalty, of course - but they'll all arrive on the same day.

[Citizen X]

Beyond the above mentioned there are other reasons to put them in a single stack *twinkle twinkle*

[Jim-NC]

As for Ft. Sumter, the game does not have a way of allowing the CSA to bombard the fort into submission. This is why the CSA player always has to march a land force to the fort, and "assault" it.

Ft. Sumter should probably start the game at 0 supply, and surrender the 1st turn (which makes it a scripted event), as opposed to what happens with the current game system.

[GraniteStater]

Seems odd that any fort would get attacked by cavalry, but especially Fort Sumter

Horse Marines.

[lodilefty]

Horse Marines.

Using an LSH (Landing Ship Horse), no doubt.
USS George Armstrong Custer was commissioned just in time, eh?

[Queeg]

So how do you launch a synchronized attack on Manassas without Corps commands? Or if you can't, is that the way the system simulates the early war clutziness of the Federals?

Can you give a synchronized move order to a division commander, and/or does it do any good? In that case I'm assuming that you give the order to the army commander as well as to the division commander.

You can't re-enact First Manassas from the Confederate side either because you can't coordinate Johnston's force with Beauregard's. So the absence of a coordination ability restricts both sides. In fact, the Confederate side arguably gets the worst of it because, in reality, they did coordinate their forces, which is why they won the battle.

I wish there was a way to give certain leaders a special ability that allows them to coordinate their forces (or to march to the sound of the guns as a subordinate) in the early game or even later in the absence of a Corps/Army structure. Some leaders were just very good at it, regardless of the structure of their forces. Johnston certainly did it at First Manassas notwithstanding the informal and chaotic nature of the early-war forces.

[Longshanks]

Hmm, not exactly true, Queeg. Bory could be there on day X (in B/O mode), and then Johnston arrives on day X+1 (in O/O mode?). Not coordinated in game turns, but with a similar affect. At least that's the path I'd head down if I were trying the move that Phillipe is after.

[Stauffenberg]

You can't re-enact First Manassas from the Confederate side either because you can't coordinate Johnston's force with Beauregard's. So the absence of a coordination ability restricts both sides. In fact, the Confederate side arguably gets the worst of it because, in reality, they did coordinate their forces, which is why they won the battle.

I wish there was a way to give certain leaders a special ability that allows them to coordinate their forces (or to march to the sound of the guns as a subordinate) in the early game or even later in the absence of a Corps/Army structure. Some leaders were just very good at it, regardless of the structure of their forces. Johnston certainly did it at First Manassas notwithstanding the informal and chaotic nature of the early-war forces.

Johnston can arrive, albeit with some delay, but you are right it's too early to employ the full Corps MTSG effect.
On a related note I wonder if you gain any benefit in setting a potential support stack or Corps in offensive posture and also entrained?