Scott places 3 his supply depots at Bumpass Turnout, Hanover Junction and the Capital. Johnston's brigade is placed at 2102 to be in a position to guard the Bumpass Turnout depot as soon as possible. 1MD and 2MD are placed at Hanover Junction.
The first turn starts with 6 free activations by the Union player (no entering enemy ZOC): Hancock, Sedgwick, Warren, Torbert, Wilson and Sheridan. Random events aren't rolled for turn 1 and the Union gets 2 free pontoon bridges placed under certain restrictions.
Just 1 leader transfer to begin the game, Grant to Barlow.
Pre-turn: My strategy for turn 1 will be simple: advance into the Wilderness to secure enough vital crossroads to enable a further advance into Spotsylvania County. Sheridan will be tasked with holding Locust Grove long enough for Hancock to relieve him. Sedgwick should be right behind him, in a position to capture Parker's Store and Todd's Tavern. Sedgwick, along with Warren, will be tasked with detaching units in order to guarantee that a pontoon bridge is built across the Rapidan. Warren's first priority is to defend the Brandy Station depot from any surprise raids. He will also be tasked with sending 1 unit south to support Torbert and help protect the O & A. By the end of the first turn, most of Warren's V Corps should be ready to cross the Rapidan into the Wilderness. Torbert will be left to guard the O & A railroad in Culpeper County in case we need to trace supply along that railroad. Wilson will be acting in concert with Gregg under Sheridan's command.
Pre-turn: I have to get to the Wilderness as quickly as I can and as deep in as I can. Therefore Ewell will start. Stuart will be next priority and try to delay his inroads to the Wilderness then one or two units will be sent to get his depot. Longstreet will strategically march towards Spotsylvania CH. Hill will hold the fords and cover my depot which must be covered before he moves. Hill should then get into the Wilderness and be prepared to attack if any opportunity arises.
Init #1: Activate Sheridan (Davies, Gregg)
dr= 2+6+2=10
Sheridan, DM Gregg, Davies f1 2612, JGregg f1 2612
Init #2: Activate Wilson (Chapman, McIntosh)
dr= 6+2+1=9
Wilson, Chapman f1 2409, McIntosh f1 2409
Init #3: Activate Hancock (Barlow, Gibbon, Birney, Mott)
dr= 2+1=3
Grant, Hancock, Barlow f1 1906, Gibbon f1 1806, Birney f1 1706, Mott f1 1705
Init #4: Activate Sedgwick (Getty, Wright, Ricketts)
dr= 6+1=7
Sedgwick, Getty f1 2007, Wright f1 2006, Ricketts f1 2005
Init #5: Activate Torbert (Custer, Devin, Merritt)
dr= 1+2+1=4
Merritt f1 1011, Torbert, Custer f1 0909, Devin f1 0907
Init #6: Activate Warren (Horse Art, Crawford)
dr= 3+1=4
Crawford f1 1109, Horse Artillery f1 1502
Sedgwick was the only leader that rolled above average. For that reason, he's allowed to cut in front of Hancock. Sedgwick will now capture Locust Grove if possible. This could all be moot if Ewell rolls well.
Init roll: C6 U2 CSA
Init #7: Activate Ewell(Johnson, Early)
dr=1+2=3
Ewell transfers to Johnson
Ewell/Johnson F1 1814, Early F1 1514
Fortunately for me, Scott forgets to move Rodes who's guarding Somerville Ford. I'm sure Ed will notice this for sure.
Yes, I like to activate Rodes and leave behind a Substitute unit.
Init roll: U5 C2 USA
Init #8: Activate Sheridan (Davies, Gregg)
dr= 2+3+2=7
Sheridan, Davies f2 2314, DM Gregg, JGregg f2 2312
Sheridan and Gregg make it to the first 2 crossroads that are vital. I'll build an abatis as soon as possible so that Ewell can't get a ratio modifier against me. After that it's "bring up the infantry!".
Init roll: U4 C4 CSA
Init #9: Activate 1NC
dr= 6+3+1=9
1NC f1 2414
Init roll: U3 C6 CSA
Init #10: Activate Ewell (Johnson, Early)
dr= 1+2=3
Ewell, Johnson f2 2113, Early f2 1814
Init roll: U2 C5 CSA
Init #11: Activate Ewell (Johnson, Early)
dr= 1+2=3
Johnson extended dr=3 ok
Ewell, Johnson f3 to 2213.
Sheridan declines to cavalry retreat.
modifiers: normal attack 0, ratio 9:4=+1, artillery NE(woods), tactical +1, flank +4-2=+2(woods hex)= +4 attack overall
USA 6 D result, Davies f4 disorged manlevel 4, ammunition -1, no voluntary retreat
CSA 2+4=6 1D result, Johnson f4 disorged mnlvl 8, ammunition -1
Early F3 extended dr=5 2014
I must have worded my orders to Ewell incorrectly! My assumption was that this was a race to the Wilderness-Ewell made it a stroll-no a crawl! Three consecutive 1's!
I get lucky and inflict a loss on Johnson. My main reason for staying was to make Johnson get a D result. If that happened he'd be out for the turn and give me some leeway in bringing up the infantry.
Init roll: U6 C5 USA
Init #12: Activate Wilson (McIntosh, Chapman)
dr= 5+5+1=11
Wilson, McIntosh f2 2413
vs 1NC: modifiers: tactical +1, ratio 3:1=+2 = +3 overall attack
USA 4+3=7 Fa result, McIntosh f4 advances to 2414
CSA 4 Dr result, 1NC f4 disorged mnlvl 1, loses 1 ammunition, retreats to 2815.
Chapman f2 2117
Wilson and McIntosh attack 1NC primarily to stop the flank attack against Sheridan and Davies. Chapman moves as far to the southwest as possible to stop Longstreet from using strategic movement close to the Wilderness. If he wants to go to Spotsylvania Court House he'll have to head farther south first. Chapman is also in a position to slow down Hill when he comes marching up the Orange Plank Road. He'll be fine as long as Early doesn't march to f4. If he does that might be a bonus, but if Chapman is forced to cavalry retreat then he'll retreat the full 6 hexes to deny Longstreet strategic movement even further south.
Init roll: U6 C5 USA
Init #13: Activate Sedgwick (Getty, Wright, Ricketts)
dr= 5+1=6
Sedgwick, Getty f2 2511, Wright f2 2510, Ricketts f2 2409
Init roll: C5 U4 CSA
Init #14: Activate Stuart (Rosser)
dr=5+4+3=12
Stuart, Rosser F1 0709
Ewell is spent and my attack has failed so I will start Stuart to distract him from the Wilderness. Debated whether to take W Lee or Stuart but Stuart moves faster.
Init roll: C4 U4 CSA
Init #15: Activate Stuart (Rosser)
dr=5+5+3=13
Stuart, Rosser F2 1102
Init roll: C3 U3 CSA
Init #16: Activate WH Lee (Chambliss)
dr= 3+2+2=7
WH Lee, Chambliss F1 1411
Need W Lee anyway-Stuart is boxed he cant do it himself and if he gets over the depot I'll need flankers.
Init roll: C4 U3 CSA
Init #17: Activate WH Lee (Chambliss)
dr= 4+4+2=10
WH Lee, Chambliss F2 2007
Man 2 more and W Lee will get it-should have started with him!
Init roll: C6 U2 CSA
Init #18: Activate WH Lee (Chambliss)
dr=4+2+2=8
extended dr = 6
WH Lee, Chambliss f3 disorg 2203
Init roll: C2 U2 CSA
Init #19: Activate WH Lee (Chambliss)
dr=4+1+2=7
F4 em dr=3+1=4 ok
WH Lee, Chambliss f4 1702
captured depot at Brandy's!!!
Yes! Got his depot! Now bring up Longstreet and secure my right.
Well that was a stupid mistake on my part, now I'm 30 VP in the hole and we're only on turn 1! Obviously defending the supply depot was one of my priorities, now I'll have to plan ahead and find a place to put a depot during the turn 4 supply phase. Fredericksburg, Brandy Station or Port Royal are good places to start. Hopefully, I can get a Strong Union logistics event during the Strategic Segment. I can't afford to do any other mistakes; I have no room for error. One good place to get those VP back are Bermuda Hundred, hopefully Butler can come thru.
Quite a march by Chambliss to get to the depot. The loss of 30 VP will be a thorn in the Union side for the foreseeable future. There is a small silver lining for Paul, however -- he can now plunge ahead without worrying about a supply base. It's like Sherman cutting ties with his supply line and plunging ahead into the Deep South. Should give Paul a bit more flexibility for the next few turns. He should also be sure and hunt down Chambliss and Stuart. They are ripe for the picking and there elimination would give Sheridan complete superiority in the upcoming cavalry campaign.
Init roll: C6 U5 CSA
Init #20: Activate Longstreet (Field)
Field uses strategic movement
Field extended dr= 6 fail
Longstreet, Field f4 disorg 2625
Init roll: C5 U4 CSA
Init #21: Activate Kershaw
Kershaw uses strategic movement, f3 2427
Init roll: U6 C5USA
Init #22: Activate Sedgwick (Getty, Wright, Ricketts)
dr= 1+1=2
Sedgwick to Wright
Getty extended dr= 6+1=7 fail, f3 disorg 2412
Wright extended dr= 2+1=3 ok, Sedgwick and Wright f3 2512
Ricketts extended dr= 1+1=2 ok, f3 2511
Init roll: U4 C1 USA
Init #23: Activate Sedgwick (Getty, Wright, Ricketts)
dr= 1+1=2
Getty extended dr= 3+2=5 ok, f4 2314
Wright extended dr= 3+2=5 ok
force march dr= 1, minimum of 2, no loss
Sedgwick, Wright f4 disorg 2315
Ricketts extended dr= 3+2=5 ok, f4 2412
Init roll: U6 C1 USA
Init #24: Activate Hancock (Barlow, Gibbon, Birney, Mott)
dr= 1+1=2
Grant, Hancock transfer to Birney
Barlow force march dr= 1, minimum of 2, no loss
Barlow f2 disorg 2208
Gibbon force march dr= 5-1=4
Gibbon f2 disorg mnlvl 12 2407
Birney force march dr= 5-1=4
Grant, Hancock, Birney f2 disorg mnlvl 13 2108
Mott f2 1806
Init roll: U2 C1 USA
Init #25: Stevenson arrives f1 at 2101.
Init roll: C5 U4 CSA
Init #26: Activate Johnston
dr= 5+1=6 F1 2834
Init roll: U6 C1 USA
Init #27: Activate Hancock (Barlow, Gibbon, Birney, Mott)
dr= 4+1=5
Barlow extended dr= 4+1=5 ok, f3 2611
Birney extended dr= 5+1=6 fail lose 1 manpower
Grant, Hancock, Birney f3 disorg mnlvl 12 2511
Gibbon extended dr= 6+1=7 fail lose 2 manpower
Gibbon f3 disorg mnlvl 10 2810
Mott extended dr= 2+1=3 ok
Mott force march dr= 6-1=5 lose 2 manpower
Mott f3 disorg 2710
Nice to see that Hancock finally started to get in gear. Of course it was too late but oh well. If he had been faster while going to f2 I would have considered not force marching and just moving to fatigue 4. But I started to lose too many men in extended marches, so I'll stop at f3. If it rains, they'll just move once and rest. Now my main goals for the rest of the turn are to get Warren ready to cross the Rapidan at Germanna Ford and to kill Chambliss. Chambliss is f4 so he won't be able to react to any other cavalry, so I'll try to send Torbert back.
Init roll: C3 U1 CSA
Init #28: Johnston F2 builds abatis
Have to cover my depot before Hill moves.
Init roll: U5 C3 USA
Init #29: Activate Torbert (Custer, Devin, Merritt)
dr= 3+4+1=8
Toolbar to Merritt, f2 1507
Custer f2 1403, Devin f2 1502
Init roll: U6 C1 USA
Init #30: Activate Torbert (Merritt)
dr= 4+3+1=8
Merritt extended dr= 5 ok (no +1 for Union cavalry), f3 1703
Init roll: U4 C2 USA
Init #31: Activate Stevenson
dr= 5, f2 1902
Init roll: C2 U2 CSA
Init #32: Johnston F2 dig Breastwork build
Init roll: C4 U4 CSA
Init #33: Barton F1 RR embarkation
Init roll: U3 C2 USA
Init #34: Activate Torbert (Devin, Custer)
dr= 4+5+1=10
Custer extended dr= 3 ok, f3 1602
Devin extended dr= 3 ok, 1601
Init roll: U3 C1 USA
Init #35: Torbert corps assaults Chambliss
Merritt f4
corps assault dr= 4 ok
flank +2, 3:1 = +2, assault +1 = +4 overall
U6 a result, Torbert and Merritt f4 advance
C4 1DR result and Chambliss dies in the retreat
WH Lee transfers to his nearest unit which is 1NC in 2815
The trap is sprung: Chambliss is no more. Sheridan and Stuart are the only cavalry leaders that can attack with the 2nd unit activated. Divisional leaders have to attack with the first unit activated so I had to make sure that Devin and Custer were in a position to cause Chambliss to suffer retreat losses before I could attack with Merritt. I'm tempted to move Warren in order to trap Stuart with a ring of enemy ZOCs. He'd be forced to attack while f3 or move to f4, get disorganized and still not be able to run away. Torbert would then attack so Stuart couldn't cavalry retreat. This would effectively reduce the reb cavalry to F Lee's divisions. I'm also tempted to have Sheridan move Gregg to attack 1NC which only has a combat value of 0.5.
Nice work by Paul. If he can eliminate Chambliss and Rosser he'll have regained almost half of the 30 VP lost when the depot went up in flames.
Init roll: C2 U2 CSA
Init #36: Activate Barton
Barton RR move to 3306 to F3
Init roll: C5 U1 CSA
Init #37: Activate Hunton
dr=2+1=3 f1 3732
Init roll: U6 C3 USA
Init #38: Activate Warren (Griffin, Robinson, Wadsworth, Art Res-2)
dr= 6+1=7
Warren transfers to Wadsworth
Griffin f1 2007, Robinson f1 2006, Art Res-2 f1 1906
Warren, Wadsworth f1 1806
Warren rolls so well that I move toward the Wilderness. A decent roll will get me to the Rapidan at fatigue 2 enabling me to build the free pontoon bridges at the end of the turn. That's the main reason I moved east, in case it rained I needed the bridges. If the day had ended early I would have had Hancock's units build the bridges but they wouldn't be on the pike.
Init roll: U6 C4 USA
Init #39: Activate Warren (Griffin, Robinson, Wadsworth, Art Res-2)
dr= 5+1=6
Griffin f2 2510, Robinson f2 2509, Art Res-2 f2 2409
Warren, Wadsworth f2 2309
At this point I'm almost ready to pass, I only have Crawford to move and that depends on where Hill finally moves to. I've never seen Hill this complacent before, he could move either north (no real reason now that the depot is destroyed) or finally head east. He could move southeast using strategic movement but he'll have to stay 8 hexes away from Chapman. I wouldn't be surprised to see F Lee move towards Chapman to help Hill get to Parker's Store.
Init roll: C5 U3 CSA
Init #40: Activate Hill (Anderson, Heth)
dr=5+2=7
transfer Hill/Lee to Anderson
Heth F1 1217, Lee/Hill Anderson F1 1117
Hill's turn but there are no opportunities here. I'll keep him fresh for next turn. Just need to strengthen Drewry's and rebuild Rodes and I'm done for this day
Init roll: C2 U1 CSA
Init #41: Activate Hill (Anderson, Heth, Wilcox)
dr= 4+2=6
Lee/Hill transfer to Wilcox
Heth F2 1816, Anderson F2 1717, Lee/Hill Wilcox F1 3619
Init roll: C6 U6 CSA
Init #42: Activate F Lee (Wickham, Lomax)
dr=4+2+2=8
F Lee, Wickham F1, Lomax F1 3619
Init roll: C3 U1 USA
Init #43: Chapman f3 build an abatis
Init roll: U5 C1 USA
Init #44: Activate Stevenson
dr= 6
extended dr= 6+1=7 fail
Stevenson f3 disorg 2006
Init roll: C3 U1 CSA
Init #45: Activate F Lee (Lomax, Wickham)
dr=6+5+2=13
F Lee, Lomax f2, Wickham f2 2319
Init roll: C5 U2 CSA
Init #46: Activate F Lee (Lomax, Wickham)
dr=3+4+2=9
Lomax extended march dr=4 ok, f3 2217
Wickham extended dr=6 fail, disorg f3 2217
Init roll: C5 U4 CSA
Init #47: Activate Hill (Wilcox)
dr=2+2=4
Lee, Hill, Wilcox F2 1815
Init roll: U5 C4 USA
Init #48: Activate Chapman (minimum move)
extended dr= 6+1=7
f4 2216
Init roll: C3 U1 CSA
Init #49: Activate Steuart
dr=3+1=4 f1 2011
Init roll: U5 C3 USA
Init #50: JI Gregg f3 builds an abatis
Init roll: U1 C1 CSA
However, there's a possibility the day might end. The Union declines to continue the day, it's up to General Lee.
Lee isn't finished dr=4 day continues
Init #51: Activate Ramseur
dr=6+1=7 f1 2011
Init roll: C3 U1 CSA
Init #53: Activate Rodes
dr=1+1=2 f1 1611
Init roll: U5 C3 USA
Init #54: Activate Crawford
dr= 3 f2 1110
Init roll: U4 C3 USA Passes
I finally started to pass. I really wish Hancock had rolled better so that Warren could have continued to move into the Wilderness. No point in having Warren go to fatigue 3 because of the bottleneck in the Wilderness Tavern area.
Init #55: Activate Rodes
dr= 6+1=7 f2 2011
Init roll: U5 C2 USA passes
Init #56: Activate Colquitt
dr= 4+1=5 f1 3631
Init roll: C3 U2 CSA
Init #57: Activate Gracie
dr= 2+1=3 f1 3530
Init roll: U4 C4 CSA
Init #58: Activate Gracie
dr= 3+1=4 f2 3532
Day ends: both players pass
During recovery the Union places pontoon bridges at 2509 and 2510.
