Lord_Valentai
Member
I was interesting how other people found it.
I did some games with Campaign Peninsula over the weekend, doing the James River to Richmond w/ Mc Dowell versus the AI as both sides.
I noticed that by default both sides immediately set out towards Chaffin's Bluff in an amusingly weird way. The whole of both armies set out that way when I ran it straight AI vs AI and fought there.
Command Control Rebels vs. AI Union:
What a bloody battle this was! The Union forces poured down from Malvern Hill to head off towards, you guessed it, Chaffin's Bluff! They got stuck in the swamps though, and then my controlled troops were on them. I was surprised how well it worked. I use Command Control on Lee only, ordering the subordinate units through there. Even though Jackson took 30 turns to get over White Oaks Swamp (they love running around in marshes getting disrupted for some reason) he and Hill descended upon the trailing end of the column between Malvern Hill and the James River and wrecked them. Once they had driven through and captured 200 cannon and 20 supply wagons they turned on the trapped troops and savaged them!
Result: Conferderate Major Victory.
Casualties:
Rebels - 35,000 inf and cav, 81 cannon, 18 leaders. Most objectives.
Union - 39,000 inf and cav, 272 cannon, 3452 supply, 39 leaders.
Conclusion: Horrific casualties, mainly because the Union sacrificed dozens of batteries to stop my advance, doing terrible damage on my troops before they captured the batteries especially on Malvern Hill. I was surprised the Command Control did so well! I did not intervene once manually, even when it was badly needed. McClellan escaped though and was charging over to Chaffin's Bluff with his Dragoons before the battle ended.
Battle 2:
Union Command Control versus AI Rebels
Because of the AI's obsession with, you guessed it, Chaffin's darn Bluff, the rebels set out at once for there, and I aimed to cut them in two as they did. Things went...OK. My troops poured down the hill in a great rush. Farnsworth's cavalry charged Magruder's whole command and...best not to talk about it!
I did order attack (extreme) I guess.
Anyway, the 1st Corps was sent up towards Glendale while I consolidated my troops. For whatever reason, the Union leaders love charging into the forefront of battle, so I had to stop them. By this stage Holms was already past me, and Magruder also was heading south west. I resolved to attack with II, III and V corps. The AI decided that Heizelman was a suicide merchant and charged him with escort against Pryor's whole brigade and he was cut down. This was good because it put Kearney in charge. He survived the battle, oddly.
The battle degenerated into a series of raging battles as my troops tried to climb the cliffs totally out of formation and order and attack. V Corps with the regulars did well until Sykes got himself shot in the head and killed. I let the game go for a few turns without looking closely, and when I returned my troops were sitting right between Jackson/AP Hill and the rest of the Rebs. It turned into a real bloodbath I fear. Mc Dowell's men need a talking to because they kept getting stuck in forests.
As the afternoon passed on the first day the battle had been very scrappy. I turned my troops north east since the rebels to the south loved Chaffin's Bluff so damn much I let them keep it! Unfortunately the AI kept moving through the night, so I had 80% of my army disordered. None the less I attacked again at dawn and by the time I stopped had mauled Hill.
Result: Union Minor Victory
Casualties:
Union - 14,528 inf and cav, 57 cannon, 284 supply, 21 leaders.
Rebel - 19,134 inf and cav, 118 cannon 74 supply, 18 leaders
Conclusion:
This battle did not go so well, mainly because of the suicidal nature of the union leaders. 8 division or corps leaders out of action! This game had more turns left, but I didn't feel like pushing on any more.
Overall:
Command control isn't that bad...if you are attacking a certain area. Defence is hard, and long distance attacks are hard too. I was surprised in the first game by how good it was. Less so in the second.
I did some games with Campaign Peninsula over the weekend, doing the James River to Richmond w/ Mc Dowell versus the AI as both sides.
I noticed that by default both sides immediately set out towards Chaffin's Bluff in an amusingly weird way. The whole of both armies set out that way when I ran it straight AI vs AI and fought there.
Command Control Rebels vs. AI Union:
What a bloody battle this was! The Union forces poured down from Malvern Hill to head off towards, you guessed it, Chaffin's Bluff! They got stuck in the swamps though, and then my controlled troops were on them. I was surprised how well it worked. I use Command Control on Lee only, ordering the subordinate units through there. Even though Jackson took 30 turns to get over White Oaks Swamp (they love running around in marshes getting disrupted for some reason) he and Hill descended upon the trailing end of the column between Malvern Hill and the James River and wrecked them. Once they had driven through and captured 200 cannon and 20 supply wagons they turned on the trapped troops and savaged them!
Result: Conferderate Major Victory.
Casualties:
Rebels - 35,000 inf and cav, 81 cannon, 18 leaders. Most objectives.
Union - 39,000 inf and cav, 272 cannon, 3452 supply, 39 leaders.
Conclusion: Horrific casualties, mainly because the Union sacrificed dozens of batteries to stop my advance, doing terrible damage on my troops before they captured the batteries especially on Malvern Hill. I was surprised the Command Control did so well! I did not intervene once manually, even when it was badly needed. McClellan escaped though and was charging over to Chaffin's Bluff with his Dragoons before the battle ended.
Battle 2:
Union Command Control versus AI Rebels
Because of the AI's obsession with, you guessed it, Chaffin's darn Bluff, the rebels set out at once for there, and I aimed to cut them in two as they did. Things went...OK. My troops poured down the hill in a great rush. Farnsworth's cavalry charged Magruder's whole command and...best not to talk about it!
I did order attack (extreme) I guess.Anyway, the 1st Corps was sent up towards Glendale while I consolidated my troops. For whatever reason, the Union leaders love charging into the forefront of battle, so I had to stop them. By this stage Holms was already past me, and Magruder also was heading south west. I resolved to attack with II, III and V corps. The AI decided that Heizelman was a suicide merchant and charged him with escort against Pryor's whole brigade and he was cut down. This was good because it put Kearney in charge. He survived the battle, oddly.
The battle degenerated into a series of raging battles as my troops tried to climb the cliffs totally out of formation and order and attack. V Corps with the regulars did well until Sykes got himself shot in the head and killed. I let the game go for a few turns without looking closely, and when I returned my troops were sitting right between Jackson/AP Hill and the rest of the Rebs. It turned into a real bloodbath I fear. Mc Dowell's men need a talking to because they kept getting stuck in forests.
As the afternoon passed on the first day the battle had been very scrappy. I turned my troops north east since the rebels to the south loved Chaffin's Bluff so damn much I let them keep it! Unfortunately the AI kept moving through the night, so I had 80% of my army disordered. None the less I attacked again at dawn and by the time I stopped had mauled Hill.
Result: Union Minor Victory
Casualties:
Union - 14,528 inf and cav, 57 cannon, 284 supply, 21 leaders.
Rebel - 19,134 inf and cav, 118 cannon 74 supply, 18 leaders
Conclusion:
This battle did not go so well, mainly because of the suicidal nature of the union leaders. 8 division or corps leaders out of action! This game had more turns left, but I didn't feel like pushing on any more.
Overall:
Command control isn't that bad...if you are attacking a certain area. Defence is hard, and long distance attacks are hard too. I was surprised in the first game by how good it was. Less so in the second.