From: Mark Boone <mrboone@MSN.COM> Subject: S&T 166 recap Recently had the chance to play the two games in S&T 166, "Savage Station / Olustee". Thought I'd pass along my comments on how the games played... First, the game rules are just the old SPI Blue & Grey rules. The only differences I saw were the addition of two rules: 8.2 Strategic Movement, and 11.0 Cavalry Retreats. Not included was my favorite, the optional rule for Attack Effectiveness. Side note: Looks like the 'Savage Station' game was meant to be used with DG's Seven Days Battles rules. I don't have this game so don't know how the rules compare with Blue&Gray. Savage Station (SS) - I would have to say the advantage lays with the Union here and that they should win most games if they keep the Conf. out of Savage Station during the first three turns. If he doesn't then the Conf player gets 25 victory points which will be too much to overcome. I don't see the Conf player winning without taking this hex. So, much of the battle will be centered around taking/retaking it. In the historical scenario, I don't see the Conf player ever reaching the victory hexes at 'Meadow Station' and 'Dispatch Station'. Confederate Player: Try to take the SS hex in turns 1-3 to get the big victory points. You can either wait for your turn 1 reinforcements to join up with your on map units to attack on turn2 OR just jump in and attack on turn1. The pro for a turn 1 attack is that the SS hex is open and you can move a unit right into it, but you have less units so its very likely the Union player will be able to force you out during his turn. If the Union gets a low roll on the Command table, he might not be able to move enough units to retake the hex. In general, you should be able to use your mobility to set up decent attacks, but your low strength units are going to make to tough. Hope for low Union Command rolls so you can beat him to the punch. Ignore the victory hex at the South edge of the map, maybe some reinforcements might enter near it to make it worth taking. Union player: You control all the victory hexes at the start so you can sit back and let the Conf player attack you. Your larger strength units should easily keep them at bay. Try not to get too spread out, since a low Command roll will hurt in trying to respond to Conf moves. Olustee - This game seemed more balanced than SS. The automatic victory conditions definitely affected play, since the flanks had to be covered to keep any pesky cavalry from running past. This usually led to 3 disjoint combats... the main battle in the middle along the road/railroad plus two covering engagements on either side. If no units get free for the auto victory, it turns into a slugging match in the center. Confederate player: For the Confederates, I didn't see any reason why they should sit back behind their entrenchments at Olustee and wait for the Union to come up. The defensive benefit (attacker 1/2) was no better than sitting in the swamp hexes 2-3 hexes away. Even better was to move everyone forward and jam up the road/railroad path through the woods, using the lake/swamp to cover your left flank. Using the Cav units to threaten the Union flanks and more importantly to just exit off the two East edge hexes to win the game. This forces the Union player to peel off units to cover these hexes or the cavalry. Inflicting damage on the Union is going to be hard since you don't have the big strength units to get any decent odds. Union player: For the Union, elimination of the Conf Cav units will be a big benefit. It will allow you to concentrate your forces and not worry about rampant cavalry doing an end-run to victory. Include a Union Cav unit in the attack so the Conf Cav can't automatically retreat. Once the enemy cavalry is eliminated, you can now even threaten an end-run with your Cav units. The Union has bigger strength units so should be able to set up some decent attacks and should win the game based on casualties barring any tactical mistakes or bad exchange results. Any comments from others who have played these games? Mark.