Battle of Culpepper - End Results Don't Jive

[cptcav]

Not sure if this is an issue with the program or just a case of not understanding what actually happened.

My Union opponent attacked Culpepper, VA with a force that the Battle Display indicated was commanded by Gen. Irwin McDowell. However, after the battle was over, the Union occupied Culpepper and McDowell was back in Manassas in charge of a much smaller force.

I am attaching a copy of the files. Hopefully, someone can explain the results.

Thank you,
CptCav

[Colonel Dreux]

Not sure if this is an issue with the program or just a case of not understanding what actually happened.

My Union opponent attacked Culpepper, VA with a force that the Battle Display indicated was commanded by Gen. Irwin McDowell. However, after the battle was over, the Union occupied Culpepper and McDowell was back in Manassas in charge of a much smaller force.

I am attaching a copy of the files. Hopefully, someone can explain the results.

Thank you,
CptCav

I see this happen all the time. My thinking is the AI redeploys leaders if they are allowed to and will move people around for whatever reason. I've seen McDowell on the Peninsula and then in Harper's Ferry the very next turn. It confounds.

[Gray_Lensman]

deleted

[cptcav]

This subforum as the title implies is for technical issues such as hardware issues, display issues, failure for the game to install, etc. NOT for game play bug issues. Please consider keeping these types of posts in the main forum or the "How To Improve" sub-forum.

Sorry, miss-understood. Thought that this may be a technical issue with the programming. Wilco with future concerns.

Regards,
CptCav

[Jim-NC]

Check your replay, it is possible that McDowell moved after the battle to Alexandria, leaving the other force behind.

[cptcav]

Check your replay, it is possible that McDowell moved after the battle to Alexandria, leaving the other force behind.

Why would he abandon his command and violate his orders?

Regards,
CptCav

[Jim-NC]

Well, the after battle report shows all units in the region at the start of combat, not the fighters. So for example, McDowell as army commander would be "in charge", even if it was one of his corps that started the combat (or fought). He/his stack may have never fought in the battle (or may have retreated during the batte), leaving the corps doing the fighting.

I have seen battles where an army was encamped in a structure, with a small force sitting outside (the small force had just moved into the region). During the battle, the army sat in their comfortable fort, while the small force took a beating. I know this from looking at the casualties after the battle (which elements had damage/lower cohesion). The battle report showed the army commander in command, and that my force had high entrenchments. The actual unit that fought had no entrenchments, and had no general in charge. So the ABR was inaccurate (for the battle). It was accurate for who was in the area, and their entrenchment value. This is why there has been a lot of grumbling about the after battle report screen. If you need more proof, see Soundoff vs. Banks AAR (where a lone cav unit started a major fight in NC). In that case, the ABR did not tell the story.