American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Gentlemen

I am about fed up with the manner in which single digit strength cavalry units can be thrown across a line of retreat and effectvely cut off units 10-50 times their strength. I have been sucker punched with this one so many times that I'm thinking maybe its time to trade the gray cloth for blue. Recently I was trying to back pedal two divisions from harms way only to have a stretch of nine hexes blocked by three of the cussed small cavalry patrols. Thus the retreat of thousands of men was compromised by a some 40-50 Yankee cavalry in 3 units. I will allow that my incompetent generalship can be held up for general ridicule but the fact remains these situations are terribly unrealistic. Even units routing would sweep a patrol of cavaly from their chosen path of retreat.

Is it possible to reduce the ZOC of all units under a strength of 50 to the frontal zone only - as if they were a column??? This would at least reduce some of the effectiveness of what is to my mind an unhistorical and dastrardly tactic.

BG Dale Blair
Eureka Bde
2/2/I
AoA

I don't believe I have ever had the situation where a few cavalry units impeded a retreat. I have had them slow an advance but then that is cavalry's job. What isn't clear from you description is what rules you are playing under. Is it Turn or Phased game? Are you using Isolation and Soft ZOC options?

One of the purposes of the Isolation and Soft ZOC optional rules is to make it more difficult for lone small regiments to survive very long.

Another thing to look at is how you are tactically handling small forces (brigade size). The Civil War armies tended to fight using long continuous lines with cavalry covering the flanks and rear. They did this to prevent the enemy from turning their lines or getting in their rear. If you find that you are often having units cut off and surrounded, you may want to look at the tactics you are using. Are you allowing brigades to get to separated from other units leaving gaps the enemy can slip through? Are you paying sufficient attention to your flanks? Do you defend in depth?

LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)

General Blair,

While I second General Whitehead's gentle tutorial on tactics, I do see your point, and would like to see, even as an optional rule, units with single double strength exert no ZOC.

Perhaps have an Optional Rule where the following would occur....

Units with single or double digit strength exert no ZOC, but units with double digit strength would need to be meleed to take the hex they occupy, while single unit strength units would simply be overrun. Now to make this work properly, the program would have to check the total strength of the hex to determine if the hex had enough men to warrant a ZOC.

Probably too much work to program. Maybe not enough interest for it, but it could influence the way players use thier armies as long battles wear units out.

MG Al "Ambushed" Amos, Commanding Officer
4th "Amos' Ambushers" Bde, 1st Div, XX Corps, AoC, USA

. . . yet another optional rule, eh?

Sincerely,
Lt Gen Dwight McBride
V Corps/AOP/USA

I'd prefer it just be a normal part of the game engine. [;)]

MG Al "Ambushed" Amos, Commanding Officer
4th "Amos' Ambushers" Bde, 1st Div, XX Corps, AoC, USA

That would be good, too.

MG Al "Ambushed" Amos, Commanding Officer
4th "Amos' Ambushers" Bde, 1st Div, XX Corps, AoC, USA

Personally, I hope to see the day when there are no zones of control. For any unit. Of course, I am also hoping for preplotted simultaneous moves. What a dreamer!

MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by mihalik</i>
<br />Personally, I hope to see the day when there are no zones of control. For any unit. Of course, I am also hoping for preplotted simultaneous moves. What a dreamer!

MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Take out the ZOC and the whole game system will fall apart. To make a zoneless game of the CW will take a completely different approach to movement, fire and melee. Probably some type of WEGO system with opportunity fire that works.

LG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
1/1/III AoM (CSA)