<center>"One for all, all for one"
(a motto attributed to many sources)</center>
<b>Quick Review</b> - The "5-hex" Unit Release Rule
Dictates that whenever a "fixed" <u>unit</u> is approached to within 5 hexes of an enemy unit, it is automatically released and free to move.
Please, observe the specific qualifier: <i>unit</i>.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Please, Mr. Tiller, take a moment to "Release" <i>the brigade</i>! - i.e., <u>not</u> just "the unit" - unless, of course, the unit is officially designated as being "Unattached" - hence, belongs to no particular formation other than itself.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
<u>The "Historical" Situation</u>
<b>1st Manassas / Bull Run, July 21, 1861</b>
<b>Scenario: #103</b> - "Historical" w / fixed units, arty sections, weather
<b>Start Time: 3:00 AM</b>, July 21, 1861
<u>Note</u>: If the Union player employs the following strategy, it should readily become apparent that Scenario 103 quickly migrates into the "what-if" variant category of hypothetical scenario offerings, deserving a short shelf life of interest. [V]
<b>Defender</b>
<ul><li>1 "Detached" Brigadier - Colonel P. Cocke, CSA.</li>
<li>Cocke's "Release" Time: 6:40 AM.</li>
<li>1 Brigade, covering 2,375 yards (19 hexes) of creek frontage. 4 regiments are "detached".</li>
<li>Troop strength: 2,477 men + 3 pieces.</li>
<li>No Division Leader present.</li>
<li>No Overall Field Commander present.</li></ul>
<b>Attacker</b>
<ul><li>Overall Field Commander, Brigadier General I. McDowell.</li>
<li>Division Commander, Brigadier General D. Tyler.</li>
<li>4 "in command" Brigades.</li>
<li>Troop Strength: 8978 men + 20 Guns.</li>
</ul>
<b>Point of Attack</b>: Balls Ford (hex 62,54) - 6:00 AM, July 21, 1861.
<u>The Rub</u>
<i>Only</i> Cocke, the 8th VA, and Latham's lone piece are alerted to (or aware of?) the dire Union invasion at Balls Ford - because, all else, including <i>the shrubberies</i>, on the battlefield remains "fixed" in code-stone.
McDowell threatens not only to shatter Cocke's brigade in piecemeal fashion - due to their retarded "release" dictates - and then with the release of his 2nd and 3rd Divisions cross at Sudley Springs and cut-off Evans brigade as well from Beauregard's main body of troops further downcreek, surely affording Beauregard many a sleepless nights afterwards, while having Johnston seeking an immediate transfer to Fort Pillow? [8)]
<u>Bottom Line</u>
Tiller's "5-hex" release routine prevents Col. Cocke from issuing an urgent "call to arms!" to his 4 remaining "detached" regiments.
<u>FAQ's</u>
Q) What kind of "command" do <i>you</i> have, when even troops presumably under <i>your</i> "command" <i>seem</i> to pay more attention to some kind of "detached" dude or unit (?) in some distant future, who seemingly is holding all of brigadier Cocke's "release" orders?!
A) Not much of a <i>command</i>, I think it safe to say, let alone <u>no</u> brigade-level <i>control</i>. [:(!]
<u>After Battle Report</u>
A local eyewitness, opined, <blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Oh! For the love of P. Cocke, did it <i>really</i> have to happen to the beleagured colonel in such a really sorry-ass, piecemeal-unit-release, begging-to-be-slaughtered-regiment-by-regiment sorta way?!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Later, when BG Beauregard arrived to review the tragic early morning events between Lewis and Balls Ford (Cocke's most cruel of "fixed" setups if ever there be <i>one</i>), he calmly asked, "Who the #%@$! <i>was</i> in <i>charge</i> of this mess - my "take-charge" subordiante, Brigadier Col. P. St. George Cocke - who came out of West Point (1833) and was therefore properly trained to exercise personal officer [command and control] discretion and initiative like any other subordinate brigadier of mine worth his weight in cottonclads - even if necessary to <i>override</i> the "fixed" dictates of whoever preceded him, and always, always (!) as changing circumstances demand! - <i>or</i> the cold, calculating, superficially "detached" and distant hand of some equally distant 'unit' in some 21st century future yet to come?!"
<u>Solution</u> (to the 'fix')
The currently recommended <i>manual</i> override - until forthcoming hardwired Update from Mr. Tiller - is as follows (ignore it at Col. Cocke's peril!):
<ol type="a"><li>Remove all "fixed" auto-release times in Scenario 103.</li>
<li>Record a saved-to-text copy of all "fixed" release times for each side.</li>
<li>Release all brigades <i>manually</i> as per normal, specified times.</li>
<li>And - here's the essential <i>key</i> <b>command & control</b> redress: <blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><u>If</u> any unit assigned to <i>the brigade</i> is attacked or approached to within 5 hexes by an enemy unit, then <i>all</i> units within <i>the brigade</i> shall be released, hence, free to move - by <i>orders</i> of the local Brigade CO in charge.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"></li></ol id="a">
<center><i>One for all, all for one</i></center>
<i>cc to John Tiller</i>
Fld Lt D. Shoeless, CSA
Secretary of the Cabinet (Ret)
1st Tenn Provisional Army
<center><i>From a certain point onward there is no turning back. That is the point that must be reached.</i> --F. Kafka</center>
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