Turns out it is partly WAD partly a BUG, at least that is my opinion. The WAD is that the Arty can't cross because the bridge is below 150. The BUG is that I am being told a different reason for not being able to move.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 8 (4:00 pm)

This turn is gonna be a bit shorter then some of the others. I got a little distracted by the problems with the damaged bridge that DH Hill and Longstreet are trying to cross. I ended up forgetting to take some screen shots. Sorry.

Command Report. Magruder's 3 divisions of about 15,000 men are released. I haven't a clue what to do with them. I considered some probing attacks to test his line, Daniel does seem to have a lot of men on the north side of the Chickahominy. I decided against it for now.


Victory Report


Jump Map at turns end


Troop concentrations are getting tight enough I can show most things with the 2D map, zoomed out.
Notice I have Jackson getting into line behind a cavalry screen. I don't know if that will hide them or not....but it is worth a shot. I threw in the future plans as a bonus view.


I position a couple regiments to rebuild the bridge, one at each end. They can only start on a turn that they didn't move. They have to start adjacent to and facing the bridge to repair it. This really is gonna slow down DH Hill and Longstreet.


Victory report at turn end. I am creeping towards a draw...lol.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

Fine that the bridge thing solved, in my opinion message and on map behavior have to be fixed as the unit shouldn't be able to enter a bridge hex at all if it can't carry the unit & of course the correct reason should be given.
I recommend to contact member Berto:
memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=2468
He's is from WDS and as WDS wants to bring the older games up tot he level of Petersburg, while doing so it would be nice if such old bugs get fixed.

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Brigadier General Christian Hecht
Commander I Corps, Army of the Potomac

Union Cabinet Secretary
Support adding a AAR SUB-FORUM

CSA Turn 9 (4:40 pm)

Command Report. I wish some of DH Hill's troops would lose fatigue. One regiment suffered a lot trying to fight across the river. He is in the 700 range.


Victory Report at turn start.


2D map at turn start, zoomed out. I should have turned off brigade colors for that screen shot.


Jackson's AO at turn start...


...and finish. I moved Ewell closer to where I want him to launch his attack from. One brigade from Ewell's division was supporting AP Hill, that brigade breaks off the attack and follows the rest of the division.


The Mechanicsville area at turn start.


Mechanicsville area at turn end. DH Hill works on the bridge and advances one brigade forward. AP Hill moves forward to attack positions.


Longstreet fights boredom because he can't cross that damaged bridge until DH Hill repairs it and gets his division across and out of the way.


Victory Report at turns end.

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 10 (5:00 pm)

Command Report. Finally getting that bridge repaired.


I got the bridge repaired over 150. I needed it repaired 3/4 of the way to 200. So now all units can cross, barely.


Victory Report at turn start. His arty is really strong and beating me up in the Mechanicsville area.


Here is a pic of the Union defenses. AP Hill, DH Hill to the west. Jackson to the north. The Union have more units then I expected to see.


Jackson's AO at turn start...


...and finish. I am starting to get into an attack battle line.


Mechanicsville AO at start...


...and finish. I pull the troops off the exposed high ground. That arty fire from across Beaver Dam Creek is hurtful.


Longstreet begins to move out as much as the situation allows.


Victory Report at turns end.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 11 (5:20 pm)

Command Report. Reinforcements have arrived.


But not much.


When the heck is Winder going to show up?!


Jackson and Lee decide that since DH Hill and Longstreet are not in position and Winder hasn't shown up yet that an attack this late in the day isn't a wise move. There are over 40 guns to AP Hill's front. Jackson expected to fall onto an undefended area of the Union line. All this combined are the reasons to shelve the attack for today.

However, Jackson and lee come up with two alternate plans. One involves another flank march by Jackson's command. This is now plan A. Jackson will have Whiting's, Winder's, Ewell's, and DH Hill's divisions. This plan is shown in Red below. Stuart will send out a cavalry regiment to ensure there are no Yanks along the path.

The Plan B is in blue. This plan will be used if Stuart finds Union troops in force along the planned flank march route. Plan B calls for the same attack originally planned for today. The change is Jackson will be reinforced with DH Hill's division. Either way Jackson will have 4 infantry divisions at his disposal. AP Hill and Longstreet will demonstrate against the Beaver Dam Creek line, but not attack until arty has cleared the line of Union infantry or Jackson needs assistance.


Here is a zoomed out view at turns end

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 12 (5:40 pm)

Command Report. Still no Winder....I need that division.


Victory Report. Pay attention to the score and union cavalry losses between now and the victory report at the end of the turn. There is gonna be a big change this turn.


Here is the end of turn Victory Report. I posted it earlier then I normally do so you could see the change easier.


And the next few screen shots will explain what happened.

Here is a screen shot of Beaver Dam Creek area at the turn start. Note the union cavalry regiments that decided to advance in the direction of Mechanicsville. I guess they wanted to see where my troops went.


Here is a more detailed view.


And how nearly 3 infantry brigades converge on them. There are also infantry regiments under the artillery sections.


The Beaver Dam area at turn end. DH Hill moves off to the north west to circle around and join Jackson.


Longstreet pushes DH Hills supply wagons off the road and gets his division into gear.


Jackson's AO at turns end. The 9th Virginia Cavalry begins to scout the road that Jackson plans his flank march on. A union Brigade has begun to move forward, I am sure Daniel is just feeling the situation out.


And the end of turn Victory Report again. I am not losing anymore! I might not be winning but at least I am not losing.

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

It took me a few days to get around to it but I PMed him today. I will let you know if I hear back.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 13 (5:40 pm)

Command Report. He routed a couple units and I am still missing Winder.


He is really late.


One of my routed units. These boys got pounded hard by yank arty.


The other routed unit was a cavalry regiment. Daniel moved his troops forward more then I expected him to.


Victory Report at turn start. He did a good job in one turn of reversing the point trend. It was mostly his arty in the Mechanicsville area that caused the losses.


Jackson's AO at turn start. I have already moved the 9th Va Cav (in the upper right hand corner) at the time of this screen shot. Daniel is acting more aggressive in this area then I expected him to act. I am not sure what his intentions are.


I concentrate the cavalry on Jackson's left while moving Whiting's two brigades forward. If Daniel doesn't fall back I am going to take his guns that he moved forward and unlimbered.


Beaver Dam Creek area at turn start. I need to get that infantry back into low ground out of site.


So that is what I do. DH Hill moves towards Jackson. I am going to do my best to keep them out of site.


Longstreet's first regiments cross the Chickahominy. He should be all across in the next hour or so.


Victory Report at turn end

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 14 (6:00 pm)

Command Report. Winder finally arrives. A couple cavalry regiments rout.



Here is Winder. He is moving in behind Jackson and Ewell.


Here is the routed cavalry units.


Victory Report at turn start


The 9th Va Cav continues to scout out a clear way to flank the Union troops. So far so good.


Jackson AO at turn start. I have to say I am surprised that Daniel is so aggressive in this area. If I had a couple divisions in place to attack his flank right now it would ruin him. Damn that bridge damage and Winders late arrival.


Jackson throws both of Whiting's brigades forward to try and drive him back. A melee attack fails but it should had the desired effect of disrupting the hex where he as an arty battery. Hopefully those D quality troops will rout at his turn start. I need to end his attack before dusk, that way I can use Whiting on the flank march. I am feeling like I will need to keep more then Stuarts cavalry here, Daniel is just acting too aggressive. Not sure who I want to leave. DH Hill, Whiting, Ewell, Winder? I am leaning towards Ewell. Some of his regiments are low on manpower but he seems to have a lot of regiments. He could make it look as if there are more troops here in the morning then there really are.


Not much going on in the Beaver Dam Creek area. DH Hill continues to move towards Jackson, but taking the long way to stay hidden. Longstreet move up to fill the line.


Victory Report at end of turn. I am losing again.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA turn 15 (6:20 pm)

Command Report

He is hitting Jackson's boys hard but they aren't breaking. 4 rout checks and no one ran.

I have been thinking of who I want to commit to the flank attack. I think I have finally decided. First let me show you the strength of Jackson's command.





I originally wanted to use all 4 of Jackson's infantry divisions in the flank attack. I was going to have Stuart provide a small screen force at the present locations of Whiting and Ewell.
Here is the locations of Ewell, Whiting, and Stuart at turn start.

That plan didn't survive contact with the enemy. I cant leave Stuart's 3,500 men to hold back a dedicated Union infantry attack. I need infantry and guns for that. So, the easiest thing to do is to leave Whiting in place since he is already engaged. I also need to leave some infantry in the area that Ewell is at now. Might as well be Ewell.

This works out pretty well, it almost seems like I planned it. Notice that Whiting and Ewell are the two smallest divisions in Jackson's command. By leaving them in place I only lose 11,000 men from my flanking force. Now I can send Stuart to join the flanking attack, that adds 3,500 men back into it. The flanking force is only down 8,000 men, the present line is fairly strong and will stay that way, I already have DH Hill and Winder (the commander of Jackson's Division) in column. It seems too good to be true.

If all goes well I will have 22,000 infantry and 3,500 cavalry hitting Daniels flank in the early morning. The question is "Can I get them in position without being noticed and before more Union soldiers arrive to protect this area?". The 9th Va Cav seems to have found the route unguarded so far. So I should be able to get them there unnoticed.

Daniel has to expect that something is happening. He knows he slowed me down crossing the Chickahominy since Longstreet is still visible and only half across. But this delay isn't gonna satisfy Daniel forever as to the reason I haven't attacked yet. He is gonna start sending out cavalry patrols to see what is going on. I need to stop him from doing that and sending more units north of the Chickahominy. "How can I acomplish this" is what I asked myself.

So I decided to attack south of the Chickahominy. It is only going to be a demonstration and done at the end of the day. That way my boys don't get into to much trouble before dark. One of the options I had at the begining of the scenario was to attack on the south side of the river. I am hoping that Daniel will believe this is what is occuring. Even if he doesn't believe it, it should lead to a little temporary confusion. I just need to freeze Daniel in place for a few more hours.

Here is the south side at turn start.

It is a long line and I don't have many troops to man it. I have 3 commands in this area. Magruder with 3 small/medium size divisions and 15,000 men. Huger, the hero of Oak Grove, has 3 brigades and 7,600 men. Holmes in reserve has 2 brigades and 7,000 men.

Huger is fixed so he stays in place. Holmes begins to move towards the north end of the line. I want him to be seen.


Magruder moves his brigades and guns forward slowly. No need to rush as he wants Holmes to join him. Parts of the line are going to be left empty but it is a risk worth taking. I think I will be able to put together about 6 brigades to attack. This works out to about 15,000 men on a narrow front.

Here is the end of turn in Magruder's AO.

If all goes really well we might even drive back the Union line a few hundred yards. This would make it more difficult for Daniel to move men back and forth across the Chickahominy.

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 16 (6:40 pm)

Command Report

Whiting's division starts to fall apart and run. I still don't understand what Daniel wants to accomplish here. It doesn't have me worried because he isn't really threatening anything, it is just annoying...lol. If he pushes me too far back I will just throw Winder, Ewell, or Hill into the fray.

Here is the routed units at turn start.


So I pull back Whiting's line and begin to move some of Ewell's troops to help.

but for now Winder is going to ignore the fight and continue his flank march.

Nothing else really worth showing this turn. Longstreet continues to cross the river, Magruder and Holmes move to attack. DH Hill moves towards Jackson.

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

CSA Turn 17 (7:00 pm)

Command Report

The reinforcements consisted of a cavalry regiment and Jackson's supply train. He needs those supplies.

While moving Winder on his flanking march he runs into Union cavalry.

That is not what I wanted to run into but it is better to run into them now then before they could fall on my flank. They must have used the trail through the woods. Funny thing is that I had not noticed the trail the whole game until just before moving Winder's units.


Winder deploys his men for battle. The 9th Va Cav rides to the sound of the guns. I hope that Winders lead brigade and the 9th VA is enough to route that cavalry. I don't want Daniel to know how much I have in that area.

Whitings division stands in place and drops many Yanks. I doubt he will have to fall back any more. If he does it is no big deal and Ewell's reserve brigade (light blue) is arriving and deploying into battle line.

Southern Area

Magruder gets his troops into line and shows himself. He isn't ready to attack but I want Daniel to think he is. There is only a few more turns of day light left. I really doubt much happens before dusk.

Turn start and turn end Victory Reports. The comparison on Union losses shows how strong the fire is coming from Whitings division.

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Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West

Good early morning Chris. Did the Union cavalry move at full speed or at one hex at a time (skirmisher movement) into Winder? In the Southern Area, those 3 supply wagons look like they're full of useful stuff.

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Field Lieutenant
4th Infantry Brigade
2nd Division (Corcoran's Legion)
VIII Corps

It was me running into the cavalry. I was moving Winder down the road in a column formation at full speed when I bumped into them.

At the end of the next days fighting I hope to get a peak into those wagons and see what I liberated for the southern cause.

_________________
Lt. Col. Thomas Wayne (Iddings)
6th Brigade, 3rd Division, I Corps
Army of the West