[Consim-l] At All Hazards Bethesda Church scenario - part 2

[Markus Stumptner]

Second part of the scenario... we had left at the moment (afternoon of the 
first day) when Early (on the Confederate right) has routed two of 
Warren's V Corps divisions, while the Confederate center is noticing how 
thin it is.


17:00 Anderson of the CSA I Corps is with Field's division pursuing the 
remains of Cutler's force northwards towards Haw's Shop. Currently there 
is nothing between him and the Union HQ but Union supply wagons, but 
Hancock's Corps is now within a mile of the crossroads. It would be better 
for Anderson to pull back but he will not get that order before next turn. 
Likewise, Burnside will keep attacking.

Initially, it's Early's turn. Both Gordon and Ramseur are not even Tired 
yet, and they assault Lockwood's division that sits across the road. 
Lockwood keeps the position, but suffers heavily (he rolled a 1 on the 
CET). Gordon's brigade is not even disorganised by the attack. Victory 
points are now at 18 even without the loss of the position at Bethesda 
Church. Most likely it will fall to Hancock's veterans to regain the lost 
ground on the next day.

It's Warren's turn next and under retreat orders he falls back by a hex. 
Actually it would have been better for him to dig in in place but that's 
what a Hold order would have been for. Neither of his smashed divisions 
manages to recover; they flee further back. Cutler is still pursued by 
Anderson, who now runs into the Union supply trains next to the AoP HQ. 
There are some minor traffic jams now in the Union rear as Wright's VI 
Corps has to halt to let Hancock's columns pass, but the fleeing Union 
supply wagons are moved off the road quickly enough for Hancock to pass 
through, just to have the fleeing masses of Cutler's division get in the 
way. As a result, only one of Hancock's divisions actually gets to grips 
with Field's division. Unfortunately it's Birney's, whose men are already 
tired, having marched most among Hancock's men all day. However the men of 
Field's division (who have marched and attacked for almost five miles 
today) are very much exhausted, and they cannot resist when Birney's 
assault slams into them. While no serious losses are taken, they are 
pursued all the way back behind the Topotopomoy before darkness ends the 
fighting, and lose half their remaining strength in stragglers. Birney's 
success leaves Hancock in a good position for an assault on Bethesda 
Church the next day.

Burnside moves last (what surprise). His rear divisions would profit 
strongly from collecting stragglers, but they have to be diverted to 
protect his train from a possible flank attack by A.P.Hill's III Corps. 
That corps is strung out along the western reach of the Topotopomoy, but 
Breckinridge's division could just make it. Burnside's attack orders mean 
that he can send in Ferrero alone against Pickett (both Tired, so 4:6 is 
reduced to 2:3), or add Potter (who is reduced to 2 from 8 by being Tired 
and Disorganised) which would require also attacking Kershaw (reduced from 
4 to 2 by being Tired). That is the choice between 1:2 odds after rounding 
and 1:1 (4:5 odds rounding down), so Burnside will take the greater losses 
but larger chance at victory. The attack fails to gain ground and is a 
disaster for Potter, who loses another step and two stragglers, while 
Kershaw doesn't break a sweat. Conversely, Ferrero's men, while 
disorganised, cause some straggler losses to Pickett whose men's 
exhaustion goes through the roof. Pickett's men are also now completely 
out of ammunition. Still, the third Union step loss without Confederate 
step loss means that only a complete success by Hancock's men to drive the 
Confederates back will restore the Union fortunes.

First photo: the status track at nightfall. The row of boxes in the middle 
tracks fatigue; it is very obvious that I and II Corps on the Confederate 
side and V and IX Corps on the Union side have carried most of the load 
this day.

Night. The nice thing about night turns in this system is that even then, 
one has to make decisions. Dig trenches? Rest? Feverish digging starts in 
a number of places;  in particular among the remains of Warren's corps on 
the Old Church road, and opposing them, Early's and Anderson's Corps.

6:30 Most of both sides' armies will remain under Hold orders for now. The 
exception is Hancock's corps on the Union side. The key question for the 
Confederates is whether Early should keep going and try to completely 
smash what remains of Lockwood's forces. This would enable him to drive to 
Linney's Corner (a major VP source) and outflank the whole Union line. 
However, it runs the real risk that behind him, Hancock (and, once Hancock 
has forced a redeployment of forces, Burnside) will smash through 
Anderson's weak screen and retake Bethesda Church, possibly even pushing 
on to Walnut Grove Church. So Early will settle down to Hold and also 
build trenches.

And the chits again favour the Confederates, as Anderson gets to activate, 
and Pickett, Kershaw, and Field manage to finish their earthworks in the 
face of a possibly impending attack. Field, however, alone between the 
Topotopomoy and the II Corps lines around Bethesda Church, fails his 
straggler recovery dieroll and remains at a single step strength, to his 
severe detriment as Birney's men, though still not fully rested, again 
drive his division from its position as they did fourteen hours earlier. 
Field's Division is smashed and pushed out of its entrenchments. Hancock's 
other divisions still have not caught up with Birney but now will as the 
morning's work has left Birney's men again close to exhaustion. In the 
meantime Warren's V Corps finishes the entrenchments on its front lines, 
although no stragglers are recovered. Far behind the lines, Cutler finally 
manages to reform his smashed unit. With the Union dug in to his right, 
and fleeing stragglers arriving to tell the fate of Field's division to 
the north, Early decides that the time for the offensive is clearly over, 
and begins constructing entrenchments facing north.

Burnside continues to rest his men. Wright's VI Corps, instead of coming 
to support Burnside's flank, still idles three miles west of the AoP HQ. 
Gregg's cavalry brigade, so far idling on the far left Union flank, sees a 
chance of getting at the supply wagons in the Confederate rear, and 
advances. F.Lee, whose brigade is the only force opposing them, realises 
that the situation is dire. He will not be able to block all possible 
approaches, so the only thing to do this turn is to attack. The 
Confederate cavalry charges into battle, and the Union troops are caught 
deploying and almost routed (1 step loss, multiple stragglers, 3 Fatigue 
etc.). Though they are not yet Tired (Gregg's troops started out 
completely fresh) they are down to a single step now, and Lee has not even 
used up supply.

10:00 Hancock, for the first time in a long while, has to follow his 
orders (in this system, if a dieroll+your command rating gives a value of 
6 or higher, you can ignore your orders). That looks bad, since he has 
attack orders and the only one who could attack this turn is Birney, whose 
men are already Tired *and* disorganised. However, as it happens, 
Anderson's corps moves first, and Field's smashed division routs away, in 
front of the trenches that Early's troops are digging. As a result, none 
of Hancock's troops can reach the enemy this turn and attack (Birney's 
troops are still disorganised and have only 4MP; they would need 5 to 
march through the woods and attack). So his order is reduced to Advance. 
That's lucky for him, since Ramseur and Rodes' divisions, at the front of 
Early's positions, have just finished their entrenchments. That would have 
been a bad surprise for Birney.

Far out on the right Confederate flank, F.Lee decides that Gregg still 
constitutes a threat, and attacks him again. This time, the Union troopers 
are ready (Lee rolled a 2) and the Confederate side is mauled, failing to 
gain any ground, also losing a step and being disorganised. However, the 
Union does badly in the CET roll and suffers so many stragglers that 
another step loss is accrued and the brigade is smashed. Gregg rallies it 
quickly but with his troops being one step under exhaustion level, F.Lee 
has achieved his goal of taking the Union cavalry out as a threat. (This 
is a very cool aspect of the system - it is actually possible to harangue 
a side so much that it stops being a threat due to sheer fatigue. Of 
course Lee took himself out of the battle in the same fashion but he 
fulfilled his mission.

On the Union side, Warren fails to rally more stragglers, although Cutler 
(miles away) rests his troops so as to be able to march again. Burnside 
replenishes again (almost all Union supply used up in his vicinity). 
Hancock's troops finally move into the kickoff positions for next turn's 
assault.

More to come...

Markus

Last 3 games played: Air & Armor, At all Hazards, The Gates of Richmond
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