Grand Campaign Beta - Need a few volunteers

[KCarter]

Hi All,

I've spoken to a few of you about working out the kinks with Carryover to use it to hold extended campaigns. Well, it is possible! Leffe7 created a Scenario Generator that has carryover built in. I have tested it enough to think it can work for what I am envisioning.

I am putting together a setup with a friend where we as players would pick teams in one manner or another, and then proceed to prosecute the war in the eastern theater. I have already worked out a lot of details I won't exhaust you with quite yet. Plenty will still need worked out as well though, which is why I would like to do a small beta test first with 4-6 people before expanding it any further. Essentially players would assume a character as we do for GCM, either US or CS, and through a forum and using a game map we would post "orders" for strategic movement using a chain of command, then fight the tactical battles in SOW. Casualties, etc. will carryover.

There will probably only be several battles for the beta test. Battles would likely be fought on a weekly basis, or something along these lines. I am going to post the ROUGH draft of the rules/guidelines for after the beta, the game maps, and a look at some of the carryover stuff below here for reference. If you have questions just ask. If you would like to join the test campaign just post in this thread. Players will command Divisions. Hope some are interested, I am excited to see how this works!

Thanks All!

Kris

[KCarter]

Game Maps:

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[KCarter]

Carryover:

Leffe's Scenario Generator:

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Hays Carryover Tool:

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[KCarter]

Rules ROUGH DRAFT:


1. How the Game is Played -- Players in various military roles combine to prosecute the aims of their respective side of the struggle. An Administrator oversees the function of the game and executes orders sent by the players. Players submit orders for their armies and commands in the Orders section of the CS and US forums. Results of orders on a strategic level are posted there by the game administrators. Tactical battles are decided with the Scourge of War: Gettysburg PC game, using various mods including Garnier’s Campaign Mod – http://sowmp.com

2. Time Scale -- One week roughly equals one month of game time. The time scale will speed up when things move slowly (ie. winter quarters), and slow down when a lot of stuff is going on. During a major battle, the time may be paused in order for the battle to be fought, and then will resume. The current game date will be posted frequently in newspapers, events, and battle reports.

3. Game Geographic Area – Eastern Theater, including: VA, MD, PA. (See Game Maps in Forum)

4. How to Win the Game -- For a US victory, the South must be compelled to end it's fight for independence and admit defeat. The South will not admit defeat unless the North sufficiently destroys it's capability to make continued resistance. This is achieved by capturing and holding cities, especially the "victory" cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, etc. Each city is worth a certain amount of “victory points”. Once the Union has achieved 50 victory points through conquest they win the game.

Victory Points / City:

Richmond: 25 Petersburg: 15
Fredericksburg: 5 Harper’s Ferry: 5
Winchester: 5 Front Royal: 5
Norfolk: 5 Culpeper: 15
Manassas Junction: 10 Hanover Junction: 10
Suffolk: 5 Centreville: 5
Strasburg: 10 Warrenton: 5
Gordonville: 5 Charlottesville: 10
Mount Jackson: 5 Alexandria: 5

For a Confederate victory, the Union must be compelled to recognize Southern independence. This can be achieved a couple ways. First, capture Washington D.C. Second, make the Northern public weary of the war by inflicting heavy losses, or bringing the war to them with success. To win by casualties/war-weariness, the south must inflict 40% casualties on Union forces. If the south accomplishes this end, it is assumed they have achieved foreign recognition and intervention as well.

5. Military Orders from Generals -- Strategic orders are sent by a general to the Admin. Since all tactical action is handled inside of SOW: Gettysburg. The first and most basic orders are Movement and Maneuver Orders. Simply put, this is just marching your army from one location to another without engaging in battle. Whenever two armies meet -- accidentally or intentionally -- a battle may initiate which requires a tactical battle to be fought using the Scourge of War: Gettysburg game engine.

All players should follow the chain of command set forth on their respective team, regarding orders. Orders should be specific enough not to be longwinded, but also elaborate enough to be properly understood. Contingency plans are a good idea to have along with every order.

i. Maneuver and Movement -- Where a general decides to move his army is his decision alone, but it should reflect the directives of their Commander or a pressing need that must be met. Average distances for troop movement:

a. Infantry: 15 miles / day, 20 miles / day forced.
b. Artillery: “
c. Cavalry: 30 miles / day, 40 miles / day forced.

ii. Railroads -- For the first time in modern warfare (though somewhat in the Crimea), the rapid transport of large bodies of troops on railroads has become a major strategic addition to the general's options. Do be aware of its limitations, however!
Railroads are still somewhat new fangled, and in most circumstances, a train pulling 10,000 troops at 30 miles per hour is a terrific achievement. Don't expect to move an army of 50,000 troops over 100 miles (or more) overnight, however. When the military seizes railroads for the transfer of troops it often catches the RR off guard, trains have to be re-routed and recalled. Troops themselves can be easily packed into whatever rolling stock is available, but to move dozens of artillery carriages, limbers, caissons, forges, battery wagons, hundreds of field kitchens, thousands of supply wagons, and tens of thousands of horses, is a BIG JOB for any railroad. Horses, incidentally, often nearly outnumbered men in an army.
Hopefully this clarifies that moving an army by train is much more than loading the soldiers on board and sending them off! Use railroads for strategic redeployments when it is convenient, when you've got a lot of time to spare, and the distance is just a tad too great to be marched. Otherwise, marching is the best way to move an army.

Average Distance for RR travel:
a. < 10,000 men = 30MPH Max (+ time for logistics)
b. > 10,000 men = 15-20MPH Max (+ time for logistics)

iii. Supply Lines -- If an army is cut off from its supply lines, bad things happen. Armies on the move in this era usually had either massive wagon trains or railroad contact with supply depots keeping them stocked with food and arms. Be aware of your supply lines. If you cannot trace a road or railroad back to a friendly city capable of supplying your army, then you have no supply and must depend upon forage.
Forage is inadequate for long-term campaigns, but it can feed your army for a while (just not in winter). Cut off for too long from supplies, your army will run short of necessities and after a battle or two may find itself out of munitions. Be careful of your supply lines!

NOTE ON MARCHING: Someone is going to approach me and say "Oh but, Stonewall Jackson's troops in the Valley marched 24 miles a day and blab blah blah the blah." True. But I am trying to replicate the moving of an entire army. Stonewall's foot cavalry was an exception to the rule. I've done college research papers on famous marches in history; I know that armies can really cook along if they need to. Consul Nero's march to the Metaurus in 207BC covered 33 miles a day for instance. Looking at armies campaigning in the Civil War, however, you get a different picture. Exceptions MAY be allowed, if circumstances warrant.



6. Initiating Battle
When two opposing armies are within a Scourge of War: Gettysburg battle map’s range (usually 5 miles or so) on the Strategic Map, either one of the commanders may choose to attack the other. Sometimes, however, initiating battle isn't this clean-cut. Armies will blunder into each other, and it'll be up to the generals on each side to decide whether or not to make it a general engagement. Don't worry about how to start a battle. If you are a general and you want to pick a fight, by Jove, you will get one.
Two moving armies may simply collide, a la Gettysburg. You may find yourself in the middle of a pitched battle when you didn't expect one. I expect to receive lots of complaints regarding "I wasn't ready!", etc., but you need to bear in mind that in war, hardly anything goes according to plan.

7. Major Battle -- Major battles between large armies happen in Phases. The opening phase of the battle, Phase 1, is simply arranging your forces on the field.
Once the generals for both opposing sides have sent in their Phase 1 orders, the battle goes to Phase 2, which is the actual fighting of the action in Scourge of War: Gettysburg.
During a battle, the game will slow down or stop altogether until the battle can be concluded. The Admin will inform, by Personal Messenger on this site or by Teamspeak, gcm site, etc…, that the armies have met and ask if they want to initiate battle. Sometimes, if being attacked in a fort for instance, there is no option to initiate battle -- it must simply be fought to a conclusion.

7. Minor Battle -- Minor land battles will be fought with the aid of maps, prepared by the Admin. Unfortunately they will not be microscopically-detailed as major battle maps. Generals will receive a map showing the general location of their forces, the best guess as to the enemy's forces, and a basic layout of the terrain.
Like in major battles, there will be Phases, and maps will be provided, but the options given to the generals commanding will be somewhat more limited. Compared to a major battle, a lot more emphasis will be placed on Strategic Map maneuver, "grand strategy", as opposed to command on the battlefield. The general commanding on the battlefield will find himself in the shoes of a historical general. You can order attacks, etc., but from your position you will be unable to micromanage the battle by giving orders to specific regiments.

[Stonewallis]

How do you do this all modding in jail Carter?

Sounds cool if you need a test animal I'm in.

Rogers

[KCarter]

:laugh: Haha, Rogers... You know, they give me internet access for 'good behavior' lol B)

Great! You're the perfect test animal Rogers! I have you down as the first volunteer, as soon as we can get at least three more we will get the wheels a moving on this beta test!

[mike1984]

Whoa, is that Rogers on the boards?

Carter, I'd love to volunteer, but you know my schedule is restricted to later games--after 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. If we can try to have the games later in the evenings, then I'm all in.

BTW, how did that test battle turn out? That was easily the most troops I've led against a human opponent. No easy task, that's for sure.

[KCarter]

Mike, like we talked about we can work on the time to accommodate everyone. I am in Arizona, so I'm on MST. Are you able to play on the weekends?

That test battle was bloody. The file below is the casualty results:

The attachment 1stBullRun_Cas_2016-05-30.csv is no longer available

[KCarter]

Okay, so far the following people have expressed interest in the "beta test" of this campaign setup:

Rogers
Mike
Razorback
(myself)

We will release the backstory shortly, but the test will center around the Shenandoah valley area, with Federal forces starting near Harper's Ferry and CS forces starting near Strasburg or Stauton, so they can engage quickly. This way we can get the testing done soon; if it works we will open it up to the full scale war.

If there are a couple more players interested I may add a couple. Otherwise we can run the test with who has already expressed interest. Once players are solidified we'll talk teams.

The first step in getting ready to start our test campaign, will be for each of you who is playing to register on the forum it will be hosted on: http://19thcenturywbts.forumotion.com/

To register go ----> HERE

*VERY IMPORTANT*

Your username when you register on the site should be what your character's name will be.

For me it is: Carter S. Johnston

The username you choose when you register should not be a real life or historical character, nickname, etc... Choose a first name, middle initial (if you want), and last name. i.e. Milo L. Stahel, or Milo Stahel.

More detail, and rationale behind this is listed in the "Rules for Character Creation Names" HERE . Any rank or designation, nicknames etc. will be earned in game, during the course of the war.

Use a valid email to register. Once you submit your registration, my friend Robert who runs the site will send you a confirmation, and give you access to the forum. We will be reworking the forum to accommodate our campaign setup, but feel free to review some of the older posts, from previous versions of games, if you want. Don't be intimidated, we are not going to do as much in depth role-play, as may be on there now. Refer to the rules I posted above to see how the beta and game afterwards will work.

Once your registration is finalized, we will have you swear allegiance to your chosen faction: US or CS, and submit a request for an avatar for your character. One step at a time though. We will move forward once everyone has registered on the forum, and once we know we have all the players we will have for the test.

Post here once you have registered, or if you want to join the test still.

[Saddletank]

Since every campaign I play in I am the umpire I always want to join one as a player so I am extremely interested.

The age old question of time zones then arises. I am in the UK and the only times we have found in the KS group (and umpteen online gaming groups I've been a part of over the decades) is weekend evenings Europe time which makes the time mid-afternoon on the US East Coast and midday on the West Coast. Midweek games are out as people in the US obviously must work or study unless they are retired.

Would games at around 4:00pm New York time on a Saturday or Sunday be practical?

What mods and play setup (camera distance, couriers or not, restricted generals movements, etc) would you use?