Battle result need help

[zar]

The attachment Big loss.png is no longer available

This is the most lopsided battle I have had. When I select replay I am on march and get rundown by Buell and well you can see the result.
But how did it happen? Buell actually marched further than I did and my casualties are at range.
Any advice or the results are appreciated

[Captain_Orso]

Hi zar,

Well, the first things that is rather obvious is that Buell has 5 times the force as McCulloch.

The second is, since you say that Buell had to move further that McCulloch, (from this I assume that the fought the turn before and McCulloch lost, which would tell me that McCulloch's cohesion will be low and Buell's not so low (if you win a battle you lose much less cohesion)) and that they started out in adjacent regions, so with lower cohesion McCulloch will not move as quickly. When Buell caught up with McCulloch, McCulloch was still moving. I don't remember if the rules say anything about catching a moving force, but logic tells me that if it happens the question is then who can get there force into battle formation quickest.

This is where my third point comes up. McCulloch is all lone. IF his force is organized into a division it will still have a 10% penalty for being under-commanded unless he is a ** Maj.Gen., if it is not a division it will be far more under-commanded. The battle-report icons show at any rate that his force is under-commanded (the one with the three men standing next to each other); yours is in red his in blue (not under-commanded).

Since the battle was is Desoto MS I will again make an assumption, that McCulloch was retreating from Memphis towards Granada, which would mean that they were trying to cross the Tallahatchie River, which is a major river, and that without pontooners (Marines, Sailors or some such special unit). I don't remember reading that getting caught from behind while crossing a river has in-game penalties, but if it doesn't it should.

At any rate, all these points spell for disaster and that is what came about.

Two tips

1. Always keep your forces fully commanded
2. If you are trying to escape and can use rail movement, USE IT

PS I've also noted that your force doesn't have a supply unit. If at all possible always have one supply unit per division even if they don't necessarily need the supply unit to keep them in supply. Having at least one supply element with supplies increases the power of your force by 5 or 10%, plus they can soak off hits vs your fighting troops in trade for supplies.

[zar]

I had split my corp into 3 divisions and was going to station them in 3 adjacent regions. McCulloch was stationary at the time Buell marched in. They had fought the turn before but with a different Union army.
Thanks for the tips, I was not aware of the impact of the supply wagon.

[Captain_Orso]

Everything that I said other than your cohesion still applies.

[Pat "Stonewall" Cleburne]

You were on offense and he was on defense is the big thing I notice. You weren't able to retreat and got wiped out.

[Captain_Orso]

oops, I missed that. Since Buell is moving into the battle region he should have gone to Offensive Posture immediately if the region has =>5% enemy MC which might mean that Buell's force was so powerful that the entire region switched to Union MC, which makes moving difficult for McCulloch.

So the scenario might be: McCulloch is deserted by his fellow divisions with his back to the Tallahatchie in winter (which means mud=poor mobility) and without pontooners. Upon Buell's arrival to Desoto his corp immediately controls the entire region further restricting McCulloch's movements and making his deploying into a battle line very difficult and limited. Buell's rank as Lt. Gen. gives him a further advantage over McCulloch (still Brig.Gen?) on the number of regiments he can fit into his battle line (see the Frontage threads). But wait, it get's worse, because Buell is in Defensive Posture with a defensive rating of 2, which although modest is better than McCulloch's Offensive Rating of 1, and give Buell an even larger frontage advantage over McCulloch. Buell's force being in Defensive Posture means they may take advantage of any terrain features and entrenchments they might have been able to dig out, but open terrain leave little to hid behind. It does however make for great visibility for his 242(!!!) artillery pieces. When McCulloch orders his attack, and Cold Harbor was a cake walk in comparison, his entire division is shattered and routed by Buell's artillery (all losses are ranged) (on the left side next to the man running away is the number of elements routed: 17 which is the entire division; count them if you will). Most, not being able to exit the region fast enough are captured (the icon on the left with a man being guarded by another man at bayonet point shows 62: 62 companies @ 100 man each = 6200 men taken prisoner. The number below that is supply elements and cannons captured in their WSU values, also most of them. McCulloch survives thet battle wounded, but should be summery court marshaled, hung and then shot.

zar, why the Sam-Hell™ did you divide up your corp in the face of the enemy leaving them to be destroyed piece meal?

[colonel hurst]

You put McCulloch's force in a bad spot. Splitting your force like that meant you couldn't handle a threat into any of the three regions you put them in. Buell's force of 44,000 would have overwhelmed any of those 3 divisions.

Pick a strong point and defend the hell out of it. Make a line of three strong points 2 to 3 regions apart and it will be tough for the Union to break through. Memphis-Donelson-Nashville?

[Captain_Orso]

This, and/or wait for him to stick his neck out and attack with overwhelming odds where he has exposed himself.

BTW defending behind a river is always a good thing.

[Longshanks]

Corps may "march to the sound of the guns" to join a battle in another region, but divisions don't do that. In many WW2 games it's to your advantage to keep the frontlines covered with units. However, it's rare that works in AACW ... maybe Corps, but that's it usually. Better is to fight for supply position - you're in it and he's out of it. Or as my colleagues said, pick a spot and defend the hell out of it. When it comes to offense, you can have my three rules of wisdom:
1. Go where he ain't (aka flanking)
2. Beat the crap out of small stacks, or underled stacks, or underfed stacks, etc.
3. Make him come dig YOU outta the trenches (usually by blocking supply lines).
4. There is NO rule 4.