Hypothetical Valley Campaign Overview

After a long spell away from wargaming and posting on my blog (teach and coach so summer is my time to play) I have found it time to try a ACW campaign within the realm of wargaming.  However, following a historical campaign has significant limitations.  To that end I am using historical OOBs which come from the books of my good friend John M. Priest, author of a number of great Civil War books, but with the intention of running my own version of the Valley Campaign.

I am using a historical Valley Campaign map but the OOBs come from John's latest book Stand to and Give them Hell which covers the second day of Gettysburg.  My original intention was to recreate the Battle of Gettysburg using John's OOBs but my interest has always been on the Valley Campaign.  By using totally different OOBs for this campaign I am not inclined to follow any historical pattern.

My campaign I am running solo.  This makes it really hard to out think myself or not lean in a bias process one way or the other.  To that end I have taken the concept behind the Saga rule set and tailored that idea for a solo campaign.

My basic campaign rules set, sorry its sideways, allows for the use of six dice.  Two must be used to activate a unit. Once done, orders are given to march in a general direction.  Orders have to be given (fortunately I keep having an extra 5 on remaining dice so I can maintain position).  General orders can then be given using remaining dice or not given.  I added at the bottom right of each sheet special battle abilities which enable a unit to either go in with 150% ammo, automatically conduct a flank march or enable them to march (within C&G II) up to 900 yards for the first four turns without suffering penalties (figured just for kicks).

Campaign Map

This is just a screen shot from a ppt slide.  I took the map which I found online, put it in paint and colored in the waterways, roads (all different colors) and made a key.

As I move troops, apply the actions, etc I will update the map.  Simple.

My rule set is Carnage and Glory II.  Great rule set...http://www.carnageandgloryii.com/...you can't go wrong with a program that can monitor weather, ammo, fatigue, casualties, leadership losses and compile all of it so you can either run it as a campaign or reset the oobs.  

I could write my own post about it but I find that using JJ's write up from JJ's Wargame is the best way to learn about it.  He has already written extensively about it so to learn more go here......http://jjwargames.blogspot.com/2014/01/carnage-glory-ii-whats-it-all-about-then.html

Side Note: JJ's Wargame is in itself amazing and is my inspiration when painting and wargaming.

My next post, to follow very shortly will outline the premise and structure of my campaign....