American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Gentlemen,

I would first like to thank John Ferry and his team on a most excellent game. I have personally looked forward to a game covering the Overland campaign for some time. John has really come up with some great concepts and ideas.


My suggestions are a tweaking of the Wilderness map. I think the map should be more restrictive in movement than at present. I am reading Gordon Rhea's book on the battle of the Wilderness and he continually talks about the endless number of bogs and heavy thickets. My suggestion is to make low lying stream hex sides marsh hexes on 1 side particularly hexes with 3 or more stream sides. Line movement in forest hexes should be bumped to 7 movement points and play with a house rule against column attack except at bridge crossings. Also I feel the Wilderness scenarios should use the #2 pdt. file with the 800 stacking limit.

My rational for these changes is that Lee did not choose to fight in the Wilderness against 2 to 1 odds because he wanted to walk in the park. He chose it because the Wilderness hindered movement and provided a chance for a much small force to stand up to the Yankee hordes.
I have fought scenario #118 and lost but I think with better strategy , use of #2 pdt. and more restrictive map that you have a much more balanced scenario while retaining the historical situation and feel.

Also as a side question can the pdt. file be changed for an existing scenario and or add marsh hexes to a map using the scenario editor?

_________________
Major Gen. Tom Moore CSA
Moore's Brigade ( 4th )
Cleburne's Division(1st), Hardee's Corp (1st)
Army of Tennesssee

Hi Tom,
you can change the pdt file for an existing scenario
you just have to rename the scenario, open it with a notepad. you will easily read the reference to the pdt file used and just have to modify it with the one you want to use instead.

as for adding marsh hexes with the scenario editor, it is not possible.

regards
Francois

_________________
Lt. Gen. Francois Chatain
CO XX Corps and Adjutant, AotC, USA
Red Badge of Courage Tournament Deputy Director

Thanks for your generous remarks re Overland!
Swamps are only added/deleted in the map editor. Given a good case for doing so, I can make that happen.
You can change to a different pdt without effecting the scenario. If you go to 30 min turns, you have to decrease the number of turns accordingly.
I tested one hex per turn movement in woods, and it was just too restrictive. Under optimal conditions, a regiment could move 250 yards in 20 minutes. The things that slow it down are swamps, elevation changes, use of skirmishers, disruption, and the enemy, and those non-optimal conditions influence movement constantly. Please continue to offer suggestions, though. I have been known to change my mind with enough prodding and specific instances where it would help the cause.
John
2lt 2/20th corps

I'd like to add a personal observation also. I had the privilege of training at Fort A P Hill, Va., which is just across Interstate 95 from the Wilderness/Chancellorsville battlefields. I suppose I was there six or seven times during a 20 year period. Fort Pickett, down by Five Forks, is not much different and I was there a few times also. Although the weapons have changed, foot movement never changes, and I felt as a Platoon Sgt I was experiencing the same challenges that a regimental commander had during the ACW. It was very enlightening, and I borrowed on that experience when writing about combat back then, and also in designing this game. By the way, we rarely used radios to control movement within the platoon, it was all by voice, hand and arm signals, and personal contact. That was when I learned that you can't push a string--you have to be up front to pull it. Up front leadership got a lot of leaders killed back in the day, and using laser tag in the 20th century got me zapped more than once!
All in all, it kind of helped me understand what Gordon Rhea was talking about.