Several questions about Rodes scenario

[kaplan71]

Hi there --

I had several questions concerning the Rodes scenario:

1. The regiments of O'Neil's brigade were all detached as was the general himself. It took several tries to attach the regiments to him, and him to the division. Is that by design?

2. Doles brigade would repeatedly detach itself from the division despite orders to the contrary. Is that also by design?

3. The strategy that seems to somewhat work, although I have not finished the scenario as of this writing, is to concentrate the division against the enemy lines northwest of McPherson's ridge, and once they are defeated, come down on the ridge from the rear. Am I on the right track?

[Little Powell]

kaplan71 wrote:

Hi there --

I had several questions concerning the Rodes scenario:

1. The regiments of O'Neil's brigade were all detached as was the general himself. It took several tries to attach the regiments to him, and him to the division. Is that by design?

2. Doles brigade would repeatedly detach itself from the division despite orders to the contrary. Is that also by design?

3. The strategy that seems to somewhat work, although I have not finished the scenario as of this writing, is to concentrate the division against the enemy lines northwest of McPherson's ridge, and once they are defeated, come down on the ridge from the rear. Am I on the right track?

Yes, all of those detachments are intentional. It's supposed to simulate the erratic behavior of those brigades during the real battle.

You're on the right track.

[kaplan71]

I am running into several difficulties with the Rodes scenario. The biggest issue that I am having is with O'Neil's brigade. Simply put he stinks as a commander, because he is getting his troops chopped up by having them marched exposed to enemy fire. Is there anything I can do, besides relieving him of command which I know I can't do, in getting his brigade into position without it being destroyed?

The other issue is where I should attack. I am trying to drive the enemy from the woods northwest of McPherson's ridge, but as I watch the attack unfold, I am going further away from the ridge, and I am not able to get the victory location in the woods. The result is my not being able to attain a major victory.

Any suggestions?

[MrSpkr]

1) read some of the other threads on the scenario (storm of lead and iron thread). Essentially, the behavior of doles and oneal is set up to reflect those commander's issues on the battlefield at Gettysburg.

2) Don't bother attacking the woods at McPherson's farm. Just seize the objective by driving a brigade or two into the gap between the eastern end of the McPherson's farm defenses and the Union artillery up the road. Then fold back on the Union defenders and hit them from two sides. Once you have that done, leave a brigade or so to defend it and move everyone else against the other victory location.

At least, that worked for me.

Steve

[garyknowz]

It takes a little bit of micromanaging to get Doles and O'Neal on track, but it's very doable. I shifted everything to my right, strictly following the orders to attack McPherson's Ridge, and used Doles and the artillery to screen my movement and pin down potential reinforcements. I used Daniels and Iverson to flank McPherson's Ridge, and O'Neal and Ramseur to attack Cutler's position. I took McPherson's Ridge within ten minutes and held it the rest of the game, and Cutlers VP position (forget what it was called in the game) about halfway through. Then I just braced for the inevitable counterattack and held them off with the help of my captured guns and a battery I rushed in to fortify the position. I ended up scoring 32,000+ on this scenario, and that's without the bug. It's just that McPherson's Ridge is worth so damn much per minute and my kill ratio was nearly 3:1 (not to mention I captured about 15 guns). It was a very exciting battle.

It only Heth had moved forward instead of standing there like a tree stump, together we could have driven the Federal back through Gettysburg and been on our way to Washington!

[RebBugler]

garyknowz wrote:

It takes a little bit of micromanaging to get Doles and O'Neal on track, but it's very doable. I shifted everything to my right, strictly following the orders to attack McPherson's Ridge, and used Doles and the artillery to screen my movement and pin down potential reinforcements. I used Daniels and Iverson to flank McPherson's Ridge, and O'Neal and Ramseur to attack Cutler's position. I took McPherson's Ridge within ten minutes and held it the rest of the game, and Cutlers VP position (forget what it was called in the game) about halfway through. Then I just braced for the inevitable counterattack and held them off with the help of my captured guns and a battery I rushed in to fortify the position. I ended up scoring 32,000+ on this scenario, and that's without the bug. It's just that McPherson's Ridge is worth so damn much per minute and my kill ratio was nearly 3:1 (not to mention I captured about 15 guns). It was a very exciting battle.

It only Heth had moved forward instead of standing there like a tree stump, together we could have driven the Federal back through Gettysburg and been on our way to Washington!

Man, thought that was impossible. Took on the right several times, only to get my butt blasted away. Thought hitting the left from both the north and west, then rolling up Cutler's flank was the only way to beat this one. Was I ever wrong, SALUTE.

[Little Powell]

I find it interesting that (for the most part), the very hard scenario's are the one's where the player is controlling the side that historically took a lot of losses. Rodes basically got his butt kicked during this engagement historically, but still managed to drive the Federals off of the ridge.

This one really is a tough one.. Now try it in HITS! I've been playing a lot of HITS lately.. There's nothing like it. It's so realistic, you can almost smell the gunpowder.

[kaplan71]

Hi there --

Thanks for everyone's suggestions. I was able to score a major victory by doing the following:

1. Let O'Neil's brigade do its attack.
2. Maneuver Doles' brigade to wooded high ground overlooking the enemy at the stone wall.
3. Position Ramseur's brigade in the field further south to screen the enemy positions in the woods.
4. Have all artillery on the high ground and field north of McPherson's ridge to provide support for the attack there.
5. Have Daniels and Iversion attack and capture McPherson ridge in echelon.

O'Neils brigade scores an initial success, but then gets pushed back in confusion. Dole's brigade covers there retreat, and holds off the enemy counterattack. O'Neil's brigade then rallies and returns to support Doles.

The attack on McPherson ridge starts with an artillery bombardment. Then the brigades of Daniels and Iverson move forward with the brigade on the right leading the attack, and the left brigade occupying enemy reinforcements.

Once McPherson's ridge is captured, the two brigades, in double battleline formation, take position behind the rail fences to meet the enemy counterattack. While this occurring, the artillery is repositioned to support Doles and O'Neil's brigades.

What do you think?