Background to this hypothetical campaign.
It is the later part of May, 1863.
General Hooker has been relieved of his command by order of President
Lincoln. Replacing him is General
Meade. The political situation in
Washington demands that Federal honor be redeemed and that the Federals regain
the offensive which General Hooker squandered.
Unwilling to throw his troops into a desperate campaign along the same
lines the army has occupied since late 1862, Meade plans to force the
Confederates to spread their forces out beyond easy coordination reach.
To that end he plans an invasion of the Shenandoah Valley as
a diversion. Sending General Sykes V
Corps into the Shenandoah Valley, Meade hopes to draw off part of General Lee’s
army, thus neutralizing any offensive opportunities Lee might harbor after his
recent success at Chancellorsville.
General Lee has no option but to defend the Shenandoah
Valley from the ravages of an invading Yankee horde. Without General Jackson, who was wounded and
died as a result of the Battle of Chancellorsville, General Lee has no
alternative but to send his most capable commander to The Valley. Thus, General James Longstreet’s Corps heads
West into the Shenandoah Valley to take on Sykes V Corps.
General Longstreet is by nature a defensive-offensive
commander. Superbly capable at finding
good defensive ground, he will not act rashly or unwisely. However, the nature of the Shenandoah Valley
terrain, Longstreet’s unfamiliarity with the Valley and the need to keep at
least one of the two railroads in Confederate hands to ensure easy coordination
with General Lee will complicate his strategy.
His main plans for success must be to force Sykes into a series of actions
quickly which can debilitate the V Corps or force Sykes to retreat across the
Potomac River before he can advance too far into The Valley.
Sykes on the other hand is an average commander. Good at managing a corps, but new to
independent command. The Valley terrain
will force his divisions to remain on divergent roads, so the capture of key
crossroads will be essential to his success.
The further he goes into the Valley the more troops he will lose to
garrison duty. However, his main goal is the maintain a constant source of active pressure on Confederate forces in The Valley in order to prevent those troops from being sent back to General Lee.
Thus starts the hypothetical Valley Campaign of 1863.
Campaign Goals - Point Allocation
Federal Campaign Goals
Hold
strategic areas: Points
·
Winchester (RR town) 15 pts
·
Strasburg (RR Junction) 10 pts
·
Newtown (Crossroads) 5 pts
·
Mount Jackson (RR town) 5 pts
·
New Market 5
pts
·
Luray 10
pts
·
Port Republic 5
pts
·
Harrisonburg 15
pts
·
Buckton Station (RR
town) 10 pts
·
Staunton 15
pts
·
Any town controlled that is not listed is worth
2 pts.
Enemy Army: Points
Destroy 2/3
of the enemy army 40
pts
Destroy half
of the enemy army 30
pts
Destroy
quarter of the enemy army 20
pts
Confederate Campaign Goals
Hold
strategic areas: Points
(only if a garrison is present)
·
Winchester (RR town) 15 pts
·
Strasburg (RR Junction) 10 pts
·
Newtown (Crossroads) 5 pts
·
Buckton Station (RR town) 10 pts
·
New Market 5
pts
·
Luray 5
pts
·
Port Republic 5
pts
·
Harrisonburg 5
pts
·
Mt. Jackson 5
pts
·
Staunton 5
pts
·
All towns are worth 1 point automatically unless
under Federal control or not reoccupied after
Enemy Army: Points
Destroy 2/3
of the enemy army 40
pts
Destroy half
of the enemy army 20
pts
Destroy
quarter of the enemy army 10
pts
General Rules
Movement
Rules
Role of Towns:
·
One
point / town may contain 1 division only unless there is an army concentrating
for a battle at which time they will move in based upon the Carnage and Glory
operating system
Scouting:
·
Cavalry
units may be designated for scouting missions
·
All
scouts will do is identify when they find the enemy (simple version for now)
·
No
scouting unit can move through another scouting unit using the same road (cav
act as screen)
o
For
now we avoid cavalry battles until I buy / paint figures to enable this
·
Scouting
units fall back from advancing brigades only – minimum three regiments
·
Cavalry
movement is same as infantry in the campaign mode
Garrisoning Areas
·
For
the Federal invader, troops must be designated to garrison town to establish
the supply line.
·
A
minimum of 1 regiment must remain to garrison the town. We will use the C&G number system for
OOBs to keep track of units that are not available for combat. Ex. 3rd MI is 503.
·
Garrisons
can only be located in towns
·
Automatically
we will take the weakest units and place them in the garrison role
Army on Retreat
·
An
army on retreat always outpaced their pursuer during the ACW.
·
We make any loss an automatic withdraw to the nearest town for the moment unless there is no line of retreat available for that division which will consequently require it to remain in position / fight its way out.
Supply Lines
·
Both
sides need to have open access from their base camp to their army
o
Federal
– Martinsburg or via Manassas Gap RR to D.C.
o
Confederate
– Staunton (primary), Secondary HQs can be established – starting Strasburg
o
A
broken Bridge or RR that breaks the supply line of either side causes loss of
supplies
o
A
broken supply line results in ¼ ammo levels at the next battle unless
reestablished in the turn prior to a turn that results in a battle.
Destroying RR or Bridges
·
It
requires 1 Brigade to destroy a RR or a Bridge.
Executing this procedure happens only if the campaign sheets (earlier post) enable it to happen.
·
Preventing
a bridge or RR burning requires that an attacking infantry brigade is within 7
miles of marching from the location (see maps from earlier post). A
D6 is rolled to determine if they can march there in time.
o
1-3
= yes and a battle can commence
o
4-6
= no and the area is burned/destroyed
Rebuilding a destroyed RR or Bridge
·
Requires
1 brigade to rebuild the bridge.
Rebuilding a bridge also requires a correct roll on the campaign sheet.
· If
an enemy force is present on the other side of that river the next battle will be one fought over a river.
Forced Marches
·
Forced
marches can double the distance an division/brigade travels but has to rolled on the campaign sheet.
·
A
forced march requires the marching force to enter battle “Tired” via C&G
rules
·
A
forced march can only be used 3 times in a row.
o
First
use, troops entering the battle come in at “Tiring”
o
Second
use with no rest time, “Tired”
o
Third
use with no rest time, “Exhausted”
Fortifying Towns
·
All
towns may have fortifications build around them but this requires a Brigade to
construct and takes two turns. This
means that Brigade may not move for two turns.
·
Fortifications
will be basic entrenchments.
·
If
a “fortified town” comes under attack via a battle the defender will have full
use of the completed defensive structures.
o
If
a town is attacked before turn two is completed the defender may only use half
of the defenses
o
If
a town is attacked before turn one is completed the defender may not use any of
the defenses
·
A
fortified town can hold up to one brigade within the fortifications
Off Grid Reinforcements
·
To
receive reinforcements that are not associated with the immediate campaign a player
would need to roll a D100
·
To
qualify for reinforcements the player needs to roll a 90 or higher
·
If
the player rolls a 90 or higher, he/she must roll another D100 to determine the
amount of reinforcements. Maximum allotted reinforcements would be a total of
another division
·
Reinforcement
Rolls to determine reinforcements
o
69
and under = 2 regiments
o
70
to 90 = 1 brigade
o
90
to 95 = 2 brigades
o
95
to 100 = 3 brigades (full division)
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