Strategic Hex Game McClellan's Last Command (custom GCACW module) - community playthrough

Please excuse my ignorance, but I totally forgot about this thread once we signed up, and have been playing all along with @Andy Cardinal and @rebel brit. Having just now looked back o it, I need to read backward to the top of page 6 and see what all I was blindfolded from. My own doings, honestly! Who else puts metal cups in the microwave by mistake?
Lubliner.

Actually, Saph only publishes "old news" here so that we all get to see our mistakes in retrospect. If your concentrating on making moves you're doing it right.
Then we come back here to slap our foreheads... LOL!!
 
One of the interesting things about the encirclement mechanics in this game, which tie very strongly to real pressures of linear warfare, is that a force which advances too far into enemy lines in a "narrow penetration" has basically just got itself encircled.



Let's have a look at a relatively wide front line:


1611746812679.png


This is a (sort of rough) representation of Glendale.

Now, obviously McCall's division there is in a weak spot (as per historical). But what happens if, say, Longstreet launches an attack there, forces McCall out of the position and occupies it himself?

What happens is that he ends up encircled. He's got the forces under Sumner's token to his north and the ones under Couch's token to his south, meaning he's suddenly surrounded and liable to take heavy damage - rather worse, in fact, than the amount of damage that other units in the Confederate line can cause to those stacks in turn by trying to roll up the flanks.

This was a real problem in linear warfare, of the type common in the Civil War.

The problem gets worse if there are reserves available (not shown here, I said it was a rough representation!) because they can prevent further exploitation.


This is why you see most movements either trying to turn the flank (which avoids the attacker suffering the encirclement problem) or you see attackers pushing a little way into the enemy defences and then waiting for reinforcements (to widen the breach and prevent them from being cut off). An attack which ignores this can end up in bad shape.


This also means that the defender needs to be thinking in these terms as well. Obviously you'd prefer to make a line that's strong everywhere, but in this case for example Porter's position on Malvern Hill is the one which would cause the most distress if it were taken - it's the army flank and so there isn't the chance of encirclement. Fortunately Malvern is a strong defensive position, being clear terrain (so artillery works well) and behind a creek.


What reduces the risk against a significant defensive line like this is for the attackers to first launch attacks, without exploiting (i.e. launch attacks and drive the enemy back, but don't take up their spaces) and then exploit with the next movement. This gives time for the enemy to react and fill in the hole with their reserves, but it also reduces considerably the chance of the attacker's units being routed back out of a penetration.


This doesn't really apply to the kind of more spread out warfare that's been going on during the Maryland Campaign game, just to be clear. It's just an interesting parallel I wanted to share.
 
Retreat priority

I'm going to write this up because a retreat or rout can sometimes incur casualties, and there are rules to it. Here's how it works:


A retreat is between 2 and 4 hexes. I will usually try to ensure that the retreating unit ends up in a good position for that retreating unit, subject to these priorities.
A rout is 4 to 6 hexes, same restriction.
You cannot cross impassible terrain.
You cannot enter the same hex twice.
You cannot end the retreat in a hex occupied by an enemy unit.
You cannot get closer to the main enemy unit which caused the retreat.
If a unit cannot follow these rules, it surrenders.

For the first stages of a retreat or rout:

Priority one: going further away from the attacking enemy into unthreatened space, along a road.
This never incurs further casualties.
Priority two: Going further away from the attacking enemy into unthreatened space, not along a road.
This also never incurs further casualties.
(The fact that these have different priority means that a unit will always retreat away from the enemy along a road rather than cross country if it is offered the choice, but can pick which road to use)
Priority three: Not going further away from the attacking enemy, but into unthreatened space.
This may incur further casualties if it is not along a road.
Priority four: Retreating further away from the attacking enemy, into threatened space.
This may incur further casualties unless it is either (1) along a road or (2) into a friendly unit.
Priority five: Not going further away from the attacking enemy, into threatened space but not into enemy occupied space.
This incurs further casualties, which are more severe if it's cross-country and not into a friendly-occupied space.
Priority six: Through an enemy unit.
This always incurs significant further casualties.


For the later stages of a retreat, the restrictions are looser and units just have to try and stay away from threatened space.

For example, in this situation:

1611763762615.png


If Longstreet's unit forces Pope's units to retreat, then the highest priority option Pope's stack can follow is to go to hex 2811 (further from the enemy, in threatened space but not actually through an enemy unit). This incurs casualties as it is not down a road.
They can then move to either 2810 or 2912 as the second hex of the retreat, and I would choose to have them move to 2810 (as this would take them closer to safety).
Then for the third and fourth hexes of the retreat they can move north over Licking Run.

Each of the two divisions with Pope here would suffer 1,000 casualties on the retreat - in addition to the results of the fighting.

However, this would be worse for Pope:

1611763979830.png


The first hex would be the same (500 casualties for moving into threatened space and not down a road), and then the second hex would be going through an enemy occupied hex (1,500 casualties). The result is that each of the two divisions would suffer 2,000 casualties.

A word of warning, though. If a unit is going to be eliminated by retreat penalties, it can choose to pick any priority once.
If for example Williams' division had only 2,000 men in it, it would be destroyed by retreating in this situation. I would therefore have it move to Liberty (1,000 casualties) and then it would retreat to and past Fayetteville - leaving 1,000 men still in the unit, instead of having it be destroyed.

Of course, they wouldn't be in great shape...


This, again, is in keeping with the historical setting. It's not common for a unit in the Civil War to be completely destroyed (or functionally removed from the field such as by capture), after all, though it's by no means unheard of.
 
So, um, wow. A lot happened...





Battle of the Monocacy (actions in the morning)

Action at Frederick Rail Bridge

JR Jones' division, minus detached elements, crossed the Monocacy along the line of the railway. Averell's cavalry brigade conducted an expert delaying action, keeping JR Jones' leading elements contained at the water's edge for upwards of two hours, before pulling back when pressured. (fn 1)
The movement by JR Jones did, however, have the positive effect of uncovering Crum's Ford for the subsequent crossing by Lawton.


Battle of Old Glassworks
Lawton's troops moved immediately from their crossing of Crum's Ford to attack French's troops at the Old Glassworks. The confused fighting in the forest that followed saw French's troops repulsed from their positions with heavy casualties (around 1,000 men) and pushed back over Bush Creek. (fn 2)

Battle of Worthington Ford
McLaws' division discovered to their displeasure that the ford they were attempting was held by a full Union division under orders to hold position. Couch's men mounted a stout defence of the eastern bank of the Monocacy, defeating McLaws' attempt at a crossing with ease and causing around 1,000 casualties on the Confederate force by the time McLaws called off the crossing to avoid further casualties; Couch's returns indicate his own casualties were minor, with only twelve fatalities.
After the fighting, Couch moved east to avoid being turned and to support Averell.




Battle of New Market (actions in the afternoon):


Battle of Mt Carmel
Anderson attacked Meade's division at Mt Carmel up the National Road. Anderson's division was somewhat disorganized by the difficulties of crossing at the destroyed National Road bridge, and the rear brigade of the division did not get into the fight; Meade's division effectively defended their position and inflicted 500 casualties on their attackers for relatively few in return, but the attack left Meade's force fatigued by the fighting. Meade pulled back a mile or so to reduce his exposure to other attacks, which permitted Anderson to occupy Mt Carmel.


Battle of Linganore Creek
Two miles to the northwest of Mt. Carmel, Hatch's division under the supervision of Hooker defended itself from an attack by AP Hill. The dense forest terrain prevented the use of artillery, but Hooker skilfully used the creek itself as the main amplifier of his defensive effort and held his position, causing several hundred casualties on AP Hill.


Battle of Ijamsville

To the south, Jackson launched elements of JR Jones' division (his own old division) at Couch's division plus Averell's brigade in Ijamsville.
JR Jones' forces were low on food and significantly outnumbered, owing to detached troops being still en route, but Jackson knew how to get the most out of his division and forced Couch's forces out of Ijamsville in a rout to the east with around 1,000 casualties inflicted. His exhausted men occupied Ijamsville itself towards sundown.





Battle of Patuxent Switch
Heintzelman launched an assault with Grover's division against Longstreet's troops, which were on the Annapolis and Elkridge railroad attempting to move to the southeast. The attack was hard-fought, but resulted in the rout of Longstreet's forces, inflicting around 500 battle casualties plus another 3,500 prisoners captured during the rout.
The battered remnants of Longstreet's command broke through Stoneman's forces guarding the ford out, fleeing over both the Little and Big Patuxent rivers.

Battle of Patuxent River Ford
Elements of 3rd Corps, 9th Corps, and the Baltimore Defences pursued Longstreet's forces and attacked as they crossed the Big Patuxent upriver of Lemmons Bridge, causing a further 1,000 battle casualties and capturing 1,500 prisoners.


Battle of Priest's Bridge

Near twilight, Schurz' men - having marched through the day - attacked the rump of Longstreet's forces near Priest's Bridge on the Patuxent River. The last five hundred men of DH Hill's division, plus Hood, DH Hill and Longstreet, were taken into captivity by the German troopers.
"We fight Mit Sigel" was said a lot. Including by the men of the 138th PA, recently incorporated into the division and not actually German.
(fn 3)

The series of battles in and south of Baltimore over the last several days captured dozens of guns and it is estimated upwards of 13,000 prisoners.



Gameplay notes
(1) - this was effectively a perfect delaying action. Large force, river crossing, rolled a six...
(2) - you can only attack over a forest hex side (in or out of a forest hex) if you started the movement (not the turn) in the forest hex or if the hex is traversed by a road. In this case the latter was true.
(3) - This final engagement saw the attacking formation having a +13 bonus (the maximum) from strength ratio. Not a lot even a tactical genius can do against that...
 
And here's what was going on on the 16th.


Here's what the Confederates could see:

as_seen_Confederate_evening_16th.jpg


The thing that immediately jumps out - though it might not have been obvious without the map - is how little the Confederates actually know about what's going on in that big gaping hole between Frederick and Baltimore. This is the value of good cavalry screening - the Confederates have only really got the positions of troops defending Baltimore itself, plus a single corps of Union troops and most of their cavalry in the west.


As for the Union:

as_seen_union_evening_16th.jpg


They've got a much better picture of what the Confederates are up to. It's still not perfect, but it's there.


Here's the true situation:


movements_of_16th.jpg

The Union's shifting troops north along the Monocacy, while also marching large numbers of troops east. The implementation isn't always perfect, but this is a good use of interior lines being set up.
Also, Grover's division has just arrived in Baltimore, making a total of six divisions which have reinforced it to date.

Finally, the PA Militia to the east isn't doing anything, because they exhausted themselves yesterday. I said they weren't very good...
 
So here's the basic summary pro and con of the modules that we could do next:


Possible next campaigns, shortlist.


McClellan's Last Campaign


Features both pro and con:
Large map
Original scenario, not a historical one

Pro:
Supply rules for both sides
Not fighting over the same ground as the Maryland Campaign game
Plenty of scope for subordinate commanders

Con:
Slightly strange special rules
Might be hard to follow owing to large maps
May be unbalanced - game is functionally a playtest


On To Washington


Features both pro and con:
Original scenario, not a historical one


Pro:
Not fighting over the same ground as the Maryland Campaign game
Defined objectives for both sides

Con:
May be unbalanced - game is functionally a playtest


Roads To Gettysburg

Features both pro and con:
Full detailed rules on supplies and ammunition
A historical scenario

Pro:
Has two versions - one of them with both sides starting down by the Rappahanock and the other with the armies marching into the Maryland/Gettysburg theatre


Con:
Chance of fighting over similar to the same territory again
Weird movement rules at the start
 
And here's what was going on on the 16th.


Here's what the Confederates could see:

View attachment 389249

The thing that immediately jumps out - though it might not have been obvious without the map - is how little the Confederates actually know about what's going on in that big gaping hole between Frederick and Baltimore. This is the value of good cavalry screening - the Confederates have only really got the positions of troops defending Baltimore itself, plus a single corps of Union troops and most of their cavalry in the west.


As for the Union:

View attachment 389254

They've got a much better picture of what the Confederates are up to. It's still not perfect, but it's there.


Here's the true situation:


View attachment 389255
The Union's shifting troops north along the Monocacy, while also marching large numbers of troops east. The implementation isn't always perfect, but this is a good use of interior lines being set up.
Also, Grover's division has just arrived in Baltimore, making a total of six divisions which have reinforced it to date.

Finally, the PA Militia to the east isn't doing anything, because they exhausted themselves yesterday. I said they weren't very good...

I was getting really anxious about here with my Baltimore defense but was also get some interesting 'ideas'. Was surprised Stuart (F.Lee) went so deep into the city and happy Longstreet threw a kick to the gut but not a right hook. So many options for each side... and so much fun.

Thanks Saph for all your work and for running the games! It has been a blast!
 
Any one is good with me also.

Choice order:
1- Roads to Gettysburg
2- McClellan's Last Campaign
3- On to Washington

Looking forward to any of them... can hardly wait in fact.
 
There's two variants of RTG:


Basic RTG, which is only the main theatre of the Gettysburg operations. The Army of the Potomac starts off the board and arrives on it at a random time, and consequently there's not a lot for the Union to do at first.

LRTG, which is the whole campaign with both sides starting around Fredericksburg. Tracks food supply, operational/passive states and all sorts, and is both more complex and longer (but probably works just as well).

The LRTG one has both a short and a long campaign mode, as well, and the only real differences between them are when the game ends:

RTG:
Maximum length 18 turns

LRTG:
Short mode maximum length 35 turns, or on the first turn after June 28 (turn 26) no Confederate infantry is north of the Potomac, or if one side scores an automatic victory.
Long mode maximum length is a staggering 59 turns, though it also ends on the first turn after Turn 26 that no Confederate infantry is north of the Potomac.


At the moment I'm inclined to go for LRTG short mode.
 
I like the LRTG mode also. Are all troops in the theatre included? Or just the AOP and ANV?
It also includes some Union units in DC, 8th Corps (Harpers Ferry garrison and Baltimore garrison) and PA militia, though in most cases those either start unreleased or they start off map (for example the PA militia doesn't start mobilizing until after they realize they're needed...)
There's some Confederate reinforcements too.
 
McClellan’s Last Campaign is the most intriguing to me but something on Gettysburg will probably draw the most attention and possibly interest even more players. I, too, am good with the group’s eventual consensus.

This has been eye-opening, thought-provoking, nail-biting fun. It is also a fulfillment of a dream I’ve had for this forum since the beginning. Thank you Saph, from the bottom of my heart.

(Side note: I am still working on the mechanics of a ‘whole war’ board game set up similar to this with two teams making purchasing and strategic movement decisions while I handle the battle outcomes and ‘paperwork’ behind the scenes. Generally trades detail for scope compared to this but just as fun I hope... Look for a thread closer to April...)
 
Whoops...

I've noticed that I've actually been applying the flanking rules incorrectly. This does not affect all combats but it does affect some; I'm going to apply the way I thought it worked for the rest of the campaign, just to avoid inconsistency.

The way that it's described in the rulebook is kind of hard to follow, and that's what's caused the problem. I'm therefore going to try writing up the actual situation - simplified slightly.



Step 1: Define which hexes are viable lines of retreat.
A viable line of retreat is one which a unit could move through freely. This means that it's a hex that can be traversed (a river without a ford cannot be traversed, for example) and it's not either occupied by an enemy or within the control of an enemy unit.
If there are two or more of these hexes, then there's no flank bonus. If there's one or zero, the flank bonus starts at 2 for one line of retreat and 4 for no lines of retreat; proceed to step two.

Step 2: Define which hexes are viable lines of attack.
A hex is a viable line of attack if it's adjacent to the enemy and the enemy can realistically attack down it.
Each hex which is not a viable line of attack reduces the flank bonus by one.


Here's a few examples.

In the open

(1)
1612041154521.png

Donnelly and Dana threaten Fulkerson, but Fulkerson has two viable lines of retreat. No flank bonus.


(2)
1612041212518.png

Donnelly and Dana threaten Fulkerson, but Fulkerson has one viable line of retreat. The flank bonus is +2.



(3)
1612041295529.png

Donnelly and Dana threaten Fulkerson. There is no safe line of retreat; the flank bonus is +4.



(4)
1612041386905.png

Donnelly and Dana threaten Fulkerson. There is no safe line of retreat, but one of the the hexes is not a viable line of attack because it is occupied by Burks; the flank bonus is +3 (reduced by 1 from what it would be if Burks was not there).


(5)
Size limitations on flanking bonus
1612041736754.png

Donnelly, Burns and the 10th ME seem to have enveloped Fulkerson. However, the 10th ME is a very small unit (with only 500 men) and Fulkerson's stronger force (with over 2,000 men) means the 10th ME cannot effectively control the pike road to the south for the purposes of a flanking attack.
(The 10th Me still establishes control over the hex it is standing in, and if Fulkerson was actually routed then the existence of the 10th ME would affect their rout just like any other unit.)
This means the flanking bonus is +2, not +4.


Impassible terrain

(6)
1612041535059.png

Donnelly has backed Fulkerson up against the Shenandoah, and there is no viable route of retreat. However, three of the six hex sides are also not viable routes of attack, and so the flank bonus is only +1.


(7)
1612041981386.png

3 is the maximum reduction from this; if all six hexes are impassible or threatened, there is always at least a +1 flank bonus. A +2 bonus can be reduced to 0 though.


(8)
1612042110929.png

Fulkerson is in a mountain hex, so all the hex sides which aren't crossed by a road are impassible; however, this also means they're not viable routes of attack. Burns gets no flank bonus.

Woods

(9)
1612042272705.png


Burns and Dana between them threaten all six hexes around Fulkerson. However, Burns cannot effectively exert control over hex sides covered by forest and without a road, and so both of those hexes are not effective attack routes (and so each reduce the flank bonus by 1).
The hex north of Dana is one Dana can cover by road, and so it counts as normal. The flank bonus is +2.


(10)

1612042446892.png

Of the six hexes around Fulkerson:
Dana covers the hex they are standing in.
Burns covers the hex they are standing in.
The hex to the north is covered by Dana.
The hex to the southwest is covered by Dana.
Gordon controls the hex to the south.
Donnelly covers the hex to the northeast.
(You do not need to be standing next to the target to contribute to the flank bonus - you only need to be standing next to the threatened hex.)
The flank bonus is thus +4.


The final thing to note is that if the attacking and defending units are both cavalry, the flank bonus after modification is halved rounding down.


This is all how it's supposed to work. Mea culpa for not following - and for not noticing the oddity that I thought defending a mountain pass would mean a flank bonus for the attacker...
 
Time for what was going on on the 17th.

In the early morning, 1st Corps moved from the north towards Sharpsburg... wait, wrong universe.


Here's what the Confederates could see:
as_seen_Confederate_evening_17th.jpg

The end of the 17th (i.e. the morning of the 18th) is when supply issues started to affect the Confederates. By this point in the historical campaign the Confederates were suffering from spending a long time without food, and while I ruled that the march by Longstreet's corps through central-eastern Maryland (and consequently moving through areas with good forage) had alleviated the problem, the same can't be said for the troops around Frederick. As such they had to send out significant foraging parties.

Meanwhile, the Union players were doing a good job of presenting a threat. The 1st Corps troops preparing to throw a bridge over the Monocacy, plus the march and countermarch of an infantry division further south, were both intended to create the impression of an active threat in the front.

Here's what the Union could see:

as_seen_Union_evening_17th.jpg


Longstreet is slowly working his way through Baltimore, and to be honest there were some opportunities here for fairly safe attacks on Longstreet (gaining the encirclement bonus) which the Union players should have taken. At the same time though Longstreet was pushing back multiple Union divisions so I can see the argument about being defensive.

The big issue here though is probably Stuart getting stuck in Fort McHenry. The PR value is pretty huge, but it means that the Confederates don't have eyes-on that approaching column.


Here's the true situation:

movements_of_17th.jpg

There's two major lessons from today.
The first is that if what you're intending to do is to present a threat which the enemy has to respect, it's best to make that threat as threatening as possible.

The second - and it's a pretty constant refrain - is that gaining cavalry superiority is highly valuable. The Union has established it by this point and they're earning great dividends from it.
 
I see now in the game why I was happy to pin Stuart... trying to catch him is like putting tooth paste back in the tube. Also the Confederates attacks didn't go so well so I thought I might have an opening in a turn or so to inflict some damage.
 
Yes Stuart (me) made a big mistake going into Fort McHenry. Pretty sure the real Stuart would have done it if given the opportunity though.
It was absolutely on brand.


More seriously, the reason why it's so hard to pin down Stuart is that he's got the highest average movement of any unit in the game. Stuart can average a sustained speed of twenty miles per turn (he gets 2d6+3 per activation) while Union cavalry regiments are only 14 miles per turn on average; even a Union cavalry corps commander (like Sheridan) still only gets 18 miles per turn on average. On top of that he has an extremely high tactical score for a cavalry leader (+3 in this module) and this means he's a lot more survivable against enemy cavalry - if he's commanding one cavalry regiment and is surrounded in the open by three individual Union cavalry regiments, and they all attack him, he's got a less than 50% chance of even being forced to retreat.

That said, he's not invincible. If forced to cavalry retreat from enemy infantry his unit has the same 1/6 chance of losing strength as anyone, and he can only be in one place at a time; if he's being chased by several Union cavalry regiments then the chances get increasingly good that at least one of them will roll better than him.
 
A note on the next game... I need/want/beg to be on the Confederate side. Just an estimate but I think I could have had 9 relatives from my dad's side of the family and 2 from my mother's side. Maybe even a couple more:

3 NC Rgt (6 Fredericks) - Ewell's II Corps/ Johnson's Division/ Steuart's Brigade
12 NC Rgt (1 Frederick) - Ewell's II Corps/ Rodes' Division/ Iverson's Brigade
Danville Arty (1 Frederick) - Hill's III Corps/ Arty Reserve/ McIntosh
1 SC Cav (1 Frederick) - Stuart's Cav/ Hampton's Cav
Goldsboro Co (home town) - Stuart's Cav/ Hampton's (Goldsboro, NC)
4 GA Rgt (2 LaRoques) - Ewell's II Corps/ Rodes' Division/ Doles' Brigade

*38 NC (2 Fredericks) - Hill's III Corps/ Pender's Division/ Scales Brigade

A couple in the 3 NC may have been KIA by this time tho.

As you can see I will be into it big time. Haha
 
Last edited:
Seems reasonable to me! Unfortunately none of those individual brigades is actually available to split off (Hampton's bde does start on the board though) but people can certainly ask to be on a given side and it's only if the sides would be heavily imbalanced that I'd start considering overriding them. (Like, if nobody wanted to be the Union. :tongue: )



Something I will explain a bit here ahead of time is the relative importance of various things in garnering victory by points in LRTG. This doesn't mean that the players should focus solely on trying to max out their score, necessarily (there are several ways to win), but it should give you an idea of the relative importance.



The first two days of the Confederates controlling a county are much more important than the ones afterwards. If the Confederates hold a county for ten days, it's only twice as good as holding it for three.

The most valuable county to control is Baltimore, then Prince George, Anne Arundel and Alexandria (i.e. the ones close to DC), then Dauphin (i.e. north of the Susquehanna). The others are less important - nobody really cares if the Confederates control Loudoun County, for example, it's old news.

Wrecking stations on a given rail line has diminshing returns, but they're never worthless.

Manpower loss due to extended marches (i.e. straggling) does not award victory points, because the men haven't been lost permanently - they're still available.

As the Confederate army is smaller, each manpower point is worth more victory points from them.

Driving the main enemy field army into a state of disorder (i.e. inflicting heavy morale damage) awards victory points, even after it's worn off.
 
Back
Top