From: William Cooper Subject: Re: first blood >I'm real interested in this comment about 2nd BR. Our group too has been >way serious about TSS and the TCT system (I guess I should say "had" >been), but the 2nd BR scenario was not one of our favorites. (1st BR had >lots of flavor despite the dominance of Panzergruppe Stonewall). > Fair enough.... >I thought the South had so many advantages that a Union attack was >basically impossible. The poor morale, organization, leadership, and >position of the Union (none of which are ahistorical, BTW) mean that the >Rebels can fine-tune the extremely strong defensive position in the woods >*in front of* the RR cut, with lots of good defensive artillery (those >12-lb howitzers may not be much in a gun duel but watch 'em fire canister >at adjacent infantry!). The game opens as Jackson mauls the best division >in the Army of Virginia, and the Rebels can establish a strong position >covering the Turnpike entrance hex. As far as I can figure out from the >reinforcement table, the Union *never* has a numerical advantage. If >somebody can give Jackson trouble with Sigel's troops, my hat's off to >them. > In our case we tend to have VERY aggressive commanders on BOTH sides, but in at least two cases, Confederate aggressiveness proved their downfall. True to form, Stoenwall & Co, staged a classic ambush of King's Division (we found something of a glitch in the deployment setup that has the Division too close together. Our primary source for this was a book called "Brave Men's Tears: The Iron Brigade at Brawner's Farm". The author escapes me at the moment as I do not have the book ready at hand, but it is published by Morningside and still in print. Anyway, Stonewall winds up his duck and comes blasting out of the woods only to have the TCT go against him and confront a fully ready King with batteries unlimbered and muskets at the ready. The result was very close to historical EXCEPT that the Federal Commander elected NOT to do what Reynolds did historically and withdraw overnight. He stood his ground, reinforced, and come daylight went on the offensive against a depleted Ewell. Three hours and about 8000 casualties later, most of two Reb divisions lay in shambles but still in the railroad cut, albeit just barely. Meanwhile, Sigel gets his entire corps on track only to find AP Hill coming out to meet him. Instead of assaulting the Rebs in a fortified position, it devolved into a swirling confused rhubard in the woods that looked more like Stones River or the Wilderness than Manassas II. Neither could gain the upper hand, but the superiority of Federal artillery proved the deciding factor. The timely arrival of Federal cavalry and Porter allowed the Federals to then build a bulwark against Longstreet's coming assault. At this point, things are still progressing along fairly historical lines, although with the advantage slightly in favor of the Union. Here's where the aggressiveness of the Confederates proved their undoing. Instead of forming his corps into the gray juggernaut that Longstreet did historically, our Reb hero decided on a Patton ploy - hold 'em by the nose while you kick 'em in the butt. He should have either gotten a better rip on the nose or used a bigger boot, becasue the whole thing became unravvelled in fairly short order. While feinting an assault with Hood, he sends Wilcox on an end run around the Federal left - just in time to run into John Buford's cavalry which only had to buy a few minutes time before the infantry arrived in the form of two Union divisions (including a battalion of sharpshooters armed with Sharps rifles) which proceeded to tear Wilcox into bloody shreds. The other part of the Reb failure, and the key illustration of why Longstreet's oft criticized decision to wait and assemble the netire corps rather than feed it in piecemeal was in fact correct, is that the first action results in Longstreet faring no better than Jackson. Out of the four times I've played, three have yet to be decided until the VERY late innings, and the fourth was a solitaire game to learn the system (and not a fair apparaisal). Final score? Union has a 2-1-1 record.... _______________________________________ Bill Cooper wlcooper@televar.com QmSgt, Co. I, 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, WCWA Co. A, 19th Indiana/4th Virginia, NCWC Iron Brigade "Them damn black hat fellers!" * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "Those who would sacrifice their liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benj. Franklin ______________________________________