Logrus Pattern wrote:
There are currently other options with the pdt without eliminating trenches entirely. Trenches can be enabled but the trench value could be raised such that a trench could only be created by a unit entrenching for half a day or so rather than over the course of an hour as it is now. Additionally the defensive bonus for trenches could be reduced. Even in the later scenarios for which they were designed, I find the 50% defense bonus exaggerated. Especially when combined with breastworks that give another 50% and make a unit nigh invulnerable.
Turning the optional rule for rout limiting off would be another suggestion if trenches are enabled. Trenches are easily taken if they are abandoned by the units holding them.
I would like to know the historical reason for the use of entrenchments in the latter stages of the war. Was it doctrinal? Were entrenching tools more readily available? Based on the tactical situation of the battles? Some combination of factors? I am skeptical of the little information there is about the topic online.
Ultimately I would like to see a solution implemented by the game engine that makes sense. It seems as though ACW infantry did not carry entrenching tools as standard equipment but rather that these tools were found in the supply train. An elegant solution might be to allow only those units to build trenches that could also be resupplied by a supply wagon.
I may be in the minority in that I find the ability for entrenchments in the Gettysburg scenarios exciting. Even as a CSA attacker. I like the meeting engagements with large maps and exit objectives. In any scenario I appreciate a static defender who gives me the freedom to roam the map and hit them hard at their weak points. The Gettysburg meeting engagements are well designed scenarios that offer a variety of ways for a crafty general to win without the need to attack the opponent in their trenches. I don't think yet that trenches are powerful enough in their current incarnation to break them. Even in the vanilla Gettysburg scenario, I find it optimistic to think that the Union can entrench on Cemetery Hill before the CSA can push them off and occupy it themselves.
Trenches were there from the very beginning. After all Marse Robert was derisively called 'The King of Spades' in relation to his work around Richmond from 1861-62. However, battlefield trenches were not a big concern earlier in the war as training for officers was focused more on Napoleonic tactics and weapons had shorter ranges. A search of Hardee's 1861
Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics reveals the word 'trench' a grand total of zero times. By 1864 even the CSA had a preponderance of more accurate and longer range rifled weapons. Also, battlefield trenches are not the elaborate sort found in WWI and many civil war trenches were little more than shallow ditches in comparison except in key positions near major cities later in the war [probably best represented in the game by pre-dug trenches and breastworks and maybe even stone walls]. Of course, during the war the CSA could also have slaves dig trenches and carry out other fortification work and not need to employ soldiers in those tasks.