'True Ground SR1' - Scenarios & OOBs

GB3-11btn_July3-Slocum's Northern Offensive (U-Corps)

Carryover from: GB3-10btn_July3-Clash at East Cavalry Field (U-Div)

Length of Play: 90 Minutes

Command: Major General Henry W. Slocum, XII Corps
Date: July 3, 1863
Location: East of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Situation: From the crest of Culp's hill we've listened to the sounds of battle to our west and southwest for over three hours now. During this time the enemy troops to our northern front have left the base of this hill and moved out of sight to the north. We haven't received orders yet, but word has it that we will be "taking the battle to the enemy", soon!

Mission: Capture the three objectives.

Objectives: Objectives award 3000 points each when held ten minutes, for a total of 9000 points. After one minute the activating radii change from 150 yards to 300 yards and from Union only to ALL activation.

Forces Involved:
USA - 18,246 Troops, 45 Guns (before carryover)
CSA - 14,907 Troops, 48 Guns
_________________________________________________________________________________

This scenario continues General Meade's 'What If' offensive. Troop strength numbers and positions are historically depicted, exception being that the CSA troops that were at the base of Culp's Hill are repositioned east of Gettysburg into battle lines facing south. Neill and Shaler's brigades of the VI Corps are attached to Ruger's division.

Due to the size of this scenario, a heads-up to avoid 'AI Freeze Up' (troops stop fighting), keep most of your officers TC'd throughout.


One second left...Missed capturing the Gettysburg objective by a couple of minutes, fortunately my engagement points made up for that loss as the MV bar was 'just barely' reached.


Get ready for a difficult win, you have only a slight edge in troop numbers, and you're up against veteran Rebel forces. If Meade had indeed called for a full offensive, this scenario depicts probably the toughest of the offensive fronts to win.

GB3-12btn_July3-Meade's Full Offensive - The Finale (U-Army)

Carryover from: GB3-11btn_July3-Slocum's Northern Offensive (U-Corps)

Length of Play: 2 Hours

Command: Major General George G. Meade, Commanding General, Army of the Potomac
Date: July 3, 1863
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Situation: All of our offensive movements this day have been successful. With those engagements we've recovered much of our lost ground from the previous two days of fighting and we've also liberated the town of Gettysburg. Now the enemy has reformed and awaits in battle lines along Seminary Ridge, its half mile span centered on the Lutheran Seminary. Our army has also reformed, reloaded and is confidently awaiting orders.

Mission: Capture the five objectives.

Objectives: Objectives award 1800 points each when held ten minutes, for a total of 9000 points. After one minute the activating radii change from 150 yards to 500 yards and from Union only to ALL activation.

Forces Involved:
USA - 67,270 Troops, 321 Guns (before carryovers)
CSA - 52,999 Troops, 273 Guns (before carryovers)
_________________________________________________________________________________

This scenario concludes General Meade's 'What If' offensive, with General Meade commanding the full Army of the Potomac.

Due to the size of this scenario, a heads-up to avoid 'AI Freeze Up' (troops stop fighting), keep most of your officers TC'd throughout. Also, don't commit or move all your troops at once and avoid engaging too many of the enemy at once. Keep in mind that at the beginning of a scenario all enemy officers are TC on, and once their regiment is engaged, regimental officers TC off.

Capturing objectives improves performance
With this scenario and some of the larger scenarios when an objective is captured enemy officers defending that objective are immediately TC'd and retreat away from the field of battle. This procedure continues with each captured objective and performance is gradually improved by eliminating the number of officers that are AI controlled. Bottom line, the more officers that are TC'd the better the scenario runs performance-wise, thus lessening the threat of 'AI Freeze Up'.


One second left...The final objective was captured fifteen or so minutes ago. Used the remaining time to TC off some brigades to mop up what was left of the defeated Rebel army.


My final carryover troop strength numbers had the USA with a little more than a two to one edge over the CSA. With these odds I steamrolled the Rebel army from their flanks inward. So likewise, this is your chance to also destroy the Army of Northern Virginia like Meade quite possibly could have done, as deemed plausible by this set of carryover scenarios.


Final unit stats for this six scenario carryover series...



Hopefully balanced up partisan leanings with this final 'USA heyday' carryover series although the Rebels needed more scenarios for their heyday victory. Simply put, the Rebels needed more scenarios to whittle down the Union army, plus, a Gettysburg day four to make the 'CSA heyday' series plausible.

Looking forward to hearing reports about these two final carryover series. Beginning with GB3_01 and 02, it's like taking on a whole new battle, with alternate history possibilities and outcomes.

And now, already going strong...Football season!
Go Hogs and Go Cowboys (Dallas Cowboys Band Alumnus - 1977-1978 Super Bowl XII)

Jolly wrote:

Hi Reb - I managed a hard fought 'Victory' on this one which was the second attempt on it.
I actually managed to plant the Reb flag on the second objective - but only in the last minute of play so it didn't count for much by that time!

 

Well, you beat the heck out of my attempts. As I posted on this scenario's INFO page it took me numerous plays to get a victory, and then several more for a MV. Also, you fared MUCH better in casualty ratio which is the most important stat for carryover scenarios. I planned on adding some tips on how to beat this scenario since I thought it might be a big obstacle for folks starting this carryover series. But you stopped those plans, with obviously a better strategy at beating this scenario, and, in two attempts. My strategy was too costly, and time consuming, so I'll hold those thoughts. 

Congrats!

Thanks for the report...

Jolly wrote:

...I fired up the GB3-02 union side scenario which is captivating and complex.,
After 3 attempts I managed a draw!

This does take some figuring out, especially as the units get (painfully) slow to be released. It seems a case of trying to minimize damage when the Rebel swarm begins - short retreats while hitting them with artillery if possible. Also trying to pull some of their brigades away from the main center attack.

I'm about halfway through a forth attempt now, and things are looking a bit more favorable now that I've got a better gist on things!

David(jolly)

 

I try to avoid locking player's units, but this scenario demanded this procedure, otherwise it would be an absolutely non-contest situation, as it was historically. Also, with my testing I was still able to beat it after two attempts, so I didn't think the locking actions were too extreme. Well, your experience here obviously proved I possibly went too far.

Regardless, you're almost there, and the follow-up Union carryover scenarios (GB3-08 thru GB3-12) will have no locked units, so hopefully reprieve from the "painfully slow" situation you've had to deal with this lead-off scenario.

Thanks again for your feedback! You're keeping this thread alive and well.

Jolly wrote:

The unit locking does work as intended - you designed it just fine Reb. It just took me a few tries (4) to manage a MV.

I REALLY enjoyed this one.

David(jolly)

A belated Congrats!

You really nailed the score with that Major Victory, however, your previous post (a Draw) displayed a slightly better casualty advantage, +113 -- Interesting.

I'll be purposely delaying responses to posts due to the lack of posts on our SOW forum recently. It's a bad omen when the 'Recent Topics' category goes blank. When posting picks up I'll strive to respond in a dedicated manner. Mark T has promised some future maps, let's hope he comes through soon and helps fill our present lull in activity.

Thanks for the Report

Jolly wrote:

 

My 5th attempt on the GB3-03btn scenario!Now this does take some figuring out, especially with the distances involved.I came to realize that you can't let any troops just sit there - you've got to get them moving to various places on the map, and try to avoid some of the enemy on the way!It may seem at first that time is on your side, but that would be a big mistake! ;)David(jolly) 

I'm extremely glad that you were able to figure this one out and be able to move on. Since it also took me numerous plays to find a win I was afraid that folks would just get bummed out and blow off the rest of this carryover series when this scenario continuously stumped them. But you fixed that, and paved the way by proving that it can be won...With persistence!

Adding the extra 15 minutes definitely saved this scenario, and by your response I'm sure you'll agree. I tried to fit it into my 60 minutes per scenario pattern as established by its surrounding scenarios, but that proved impossible with the distances between objectives and the requirements that are demanded to make this scenario historically plausible. I tend to be a freak for consistent patterns by trying to make the impossible possible, plus the necessity of getting the timelines of each scenario tapered to avoid another after dark scenario.

You made my day with this post, thanks for the early Christmas present! 

Jolly wrote:

A third attempt at the GB3-04btn - it is somewhat chaotic at the start with trying to consolidate the positions, and also the support brigades movement.
A Major Victory though, so it worked, although It was not easy, to say the least!

Thanks Reb, and Merry Christmas to you and all.

Close to Perfect, at least from a 'replay value' perspective. Since I beat it with my first attempt and accepted that effort, I had second thoughts later on whether I had shorted its competitiveness. But once again, Jolly has come through, taking three attempts to achieve a MV, and verifying a solidly competitive MV bar that this scenario sets. Also, you improved upon my victory numbers, proving that you learned more about the scenario with those two extra attempts...I salute you!

Still, with hindsight, this scenario's scoring would have been more accurate by lowering the available objective points to 5000 rather than 9000. We both would have gotten our victories in the same amount of time, but the fear of failure would have prevailed much longer with the edited version...Bottom line, it's part of the immersion thing, that thing that drives us on throughout these scenarios.

If anyone's noticed, this day, December 26, 2021, is the Second Anniversary of this SR1 scenario series release. The initial release, December 25, 2019 (late Christmas night, guess we gained a couple of hours), included four scenarios, now we're up to 74 scenarios. Thanks for all the support along the way folks, especially, the Verifier in Chief, Jolly! 

Jolly wrote:

Happy New Year!
2 years and 74 scenarios, which is an amazing achievement Reb. Thanks so much for all the entertainment (and frustrations!)

I've started the New Year with a hard fought Major Victory on the GB3-05 scenario.
I did think that I'd miscalculated regarding the use of Early's division - I split them in half, moving each of these left and right respectively, which I thought about half way through could have a mistake. I carried on though and got the MV!
It was a bit of a bloodbath, casualties all over the place by the end!

David(jolly)

 

Much appreciated! Gotta admit, somehow I avoided burn-out and saw this GB SR1 series through the historic three day battle, plus the Rebel fourth day 'What If'. The six month break between scenario sets, while getting the 9 Mile map TG ready, helped a lot because it gave me time to come up with some fresh new ideas, especially new ways to handle objectives.

Regarding your MV...Very nice win! I used two of Early's brigades (Hays and Godwin) to finally capture Cemetery Hill east...It took me a while.  Up to that point I had to keep my troops and guns on the western slope of Cemetery Hill, otherwise the Union guns along Cemetery Hill east would take their toll on them every time I tried to move them up along the crest of the hill. It was such a relief at the end of this scenario when I could finally position my guns all over the hill without them getting chewed up as they were unlimbering.

And what about those Berden Sharpshooter regiments, were you able to rout them before they marched north to wreak havoc on your Cemetery Hill objective defenses?

Thanks again for the report...

Jolly wrote:

Another bloody fine MV as I continue (slowly) through these scenarios !
GB3-06
I found this one seemed to be a case of defending the 2 main flag positions at all costs. Get yer artillery up there and make sure you have enough men to hold when the enemy sends in more forces as the scenario progresses.
One problem I did find was when continually trying to move Stuart's cavalry. These would hardly budge, even after countless times of going back to them. Also, this caused a lot of game crashes later in the scenario. I ended up not using them.

 

 

The Good...
Another solid MV, Congrats! Glad you hung in there despite your performance woes. For sure, getting your artillery up to support your infantry defending your objectives is key to to winning this scenario. Also, with so many of your troops necessary to keep the objectives activated, it's a challenge to make sure your guns don't get blocked by those friendlies. It's obvious you met that challenge.

The Bad...
Crashes!!! I had to rewrite this scenario several times to help computer performance. I never crashed but the lag got so bad at times, along with some 'AI freezes', that the rewrites were inevitable. I thought I had this worked out by spreading out the Union offenses, but your experience obviously proved otherwise.

And The Ugly...
I never experienced the issues you report with moving your cavalry. This is indeed a BIG ugly. If you kept most of your officers TC'd as I suggest throughout this series when dealing with the large scale scenarios, I regret that I have no remedy for this issue.

Hopefully the next scenario will fare better performance-wise. I knew that next scenario (GB3-07) would tax computer performance even more so I excluded most of the previously routed enemy troops from entering the field of battle, and of course, kept their officers TC'd unless they became engaged. This should help you get through it without the issues you had to deal with while completing this one. But don't sugarcoat it, you've been great at reporting issues, keep'em coming, whether good, bad, or ugly.

A concise and frank report, a BIG Thanks!

Jolly wrote:

GB3-07 and GB3-08 ...
The latter scenario I managed to wipe out the complete Rebel forces, just the officers left!

Since three weeks had passed since your last report, I feared the performance demands of GB3-07 had frustrated you too much to proceed with this carryover series. So, this was indeed a welcome post, plus a solid MV to report. And, you opened the door to the Union alt-history carryover series, also with a solid Major Victory. I really appreciate you're persistence in seeing these final carryover scenario series through, and hope you'll maintain your grit to continue the 'Day Four' Rebel monster scenarios. I call them monsters since they include the FULL Gettysburg army's depicted via SR1 numbers. I don't think any other Civil War game has attempted this large of a scale representation.

Thank goodness for TC, without our unique TC option Norb's games offer, this 'every sprite (soldier)' representation would be impossible, at least via 32 bit computers. Hope I live to see, and mod, a 64 bit based American Civil War game, or other war games in general, similar to SOW. Then, by beefing up the RAM and CPU to whatever you can afford, the possibilities are endless.

Another BIG Thanks

This is an IM post on the Matrix site from a new NSD member that can't post messages yet on this forum due to NSD website issues. At least this user can benefit from any feedback NSD folks can provide here.

Because it’s not possible to post on the forum, I still need some help from you to understand the points still unclear to me:
- About SR1 mod and “True Ground Terrain Extra v_2” mod: should I activate it or not? if yes, what does it offer more ? Could I use it also in non-SR1 scenarios/maps?

As far as I know, this mod is completely compatible with the SR1 mod, I really don't know about other mods or maps. Maybe Jolly will chime in about this. You'll have to just test it out yourself, and see if you like its texture changes. Frankly, I only tested, but don't include this mod when I play or test SR1 scenarios because I include an earlier mod, also by Jolly, within the B&F mod, which I use always, that has similar texture treatments. Bottom line for me: Jolly's texture treatments for the various maps are second to none.

- Still about SR1 mod, I have a doubt: is it correct that I cannot play it with Couriers? Because when I order through the “C”-key interface nothing happens; the courier start running and reaches the recipient, but afterward the courier disappear and nothing more happens … I mean no orders flowing to the subordinates of the recipient

I avoid answering most courier questions because I've only tested them a little and don't play with them because they slow down game-play. I think the game is slow enough, and design my scenarios for the timeline that the game-speed (sans couriers) demands, or requires for the scoring to be practicable. Hopefully someone will chime in regarding this question and help you out.

Here is the mods I use for SR1 and the priority list, it should be the correct priority:

Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\GB Stock Scenarios Mod Enabled
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\4K Packed Artillery,Cavalry,et al
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\Bugles & Flags XIX
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\TC2M SOW Infantry Mod
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\True Ground Maps - Gettysburg - The Big Picture
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\True Ground SR1
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\True Ground SR1 II
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\BloodBath VI
Mod: E:\ANDA-PROGS\Mods\TC2M SOW Infantry SR1

Perfect!
If you want to add the 'True Ground Terrain Extra v_2' mod I'm pretty sure the bottom-most priority position is preferable.

Two other short questions not related to SR1:
- If I play a sandbox and I like it very much (starting points, etc) is there a way to save it as a Scenario, so I can play it again in the future? I searched in the forum but did not find a solution to it

To continue a sandbox play is an easy and fast scenario mod to build:
1) Start game and load your sandbox selection (For SR1 play change 'Sprite Ratio' to =1). Key 3 at the point you wish to play-on from, then quit or close game.
2) Go to Work/Scenarios, then open the Sandbox folder. Check the modified date on the files and check that they have been indeed created recently, as per your Key 3 command.
3) Close the Sandbox folder and copy it if it passes muster.
4) At this point you can either choose to make it a stand-alone scenario, or include it into a mod you're using that includes a Scenarios folder. The latter is easiest because once you paste it into the Scenarios folder all you have to do is change the name 'Sandbox' into a name that you desire, as long as it's different from all other scenario names you have enabled. It will then be found in 'User Scenarios' once you start the game.
5) If you know what you're doing, you can eventually edit your custom scenario's files. For an easy start, edit who will be your officer (ME) in the scenario.ini file. You will find the alignment of rank numbers in the scenario.csv file.
I think I got this right; it's been years since I've built a scenario like this. Regardless, I'll fix this procedure if it's deemed kaput. Let me know folks.

- I like very much you B&F toolbar and I could not play without it; but is there a way to let just ME (your unit in the game) run with a keyboard key, so not using the toolbar tooltip ? I ask you that because if I press “R” all the subordinate units run too …

Simple fix...Go into the Work folder, open the Keyboard.csv file. Go down to line 38 and change Arun to run. Save and close. Now you've discovered your keyboard edit potential...Edit away.

A great thank you for your help

Edit: Here's the link to this message on the Matrix site:
www.matrixgames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10970&p=4966932#p4966932

It might be best to give feedback there so the author of these questions can reply and expand the conversation concerning his inquires.
 

Jolly wrote:

Two more scenarios completed - GB3-09 and GB3-10, and not a single crash on either, which was a great relief!
They are very different as far as difficulty goes, but I think that is a good balance.
In GB3-09 I managed to wipe out the entire Reb line. It took some effort though over the 90 mins, it's huge affair!
The odds look against you in the GBR3-10 scenario - just as you've beaten back the first waves of cavalry attacks, they then send in the reserves. This was down to the wire to even get a V, never mind an MV !
Brilliant work Reb - this is how it should be!
 

 

David(jolly)

 

Alright, two more success stories and no crashes. GB3-09 is touted as "the one that got away" and your MV backs up that message. Had Meade moved with this offensive this scenario represents, the war might have ended that year. But Meade balked, and Lee's defeated army escaped during the night, and fought on for another two years.

On the other hand, GB3-10 is definitely a challenge, and will humble most Yankee armchair Generals. How the Union pulled off an historic victory with this one is still a mystery with most historians. Sure, the Rebel cavalry was still fatigued from their excursions the previous two weeks; but they had superior numbers made up of hardened veterans. I blame their loss on General Stuart's leadership, and attitude, as Stuart had faced Lee's wrath the night before for not reuniting his cavalry division with Lee's army sooner, and thus providing for the eyes and ears Lee absolutely needed to plan a strategy for defeating Meade's army at Gettysburg.  But finally, I blame Lee, he should have held back on his scolding of Stuart and just had given out marching orders.  Stuart's bruised ego obviously distracted from his leadership abilities the next day, leading to his dismal loss that day!

Really enjoyed your report, much appreciated

Jolly wrote:

It's amazing that after over 170 years, these things can still be discussed and debated, especially with what's going on presently, If only this or that, or whatever.
I was a young lad, still at primary school when the latest 'craze' were American Civil War bubble gum packs. They had a stick of gum, but more importantly, the cards, which depicting various, and gory battle scenes, with also a brief history of it on the back. You also, for some reason got a Confederate Dollar bill included. We used to do 'swaps' with the cards in the playground at dinner time.
This always stuck with me for some reason, and started my real interest in History at a young age. I'd get the Airfix soldier 00 kits and paint them meticulously (well, it seemed so at the time) The ACW always stuck with me though, and obviously still does.

History - what happened, not what will happen. It's just so sad and bloody annoying!! Damn.

David(jolly)

Albeit being a smidge older, I also collected the 'Civil War News' cards and amassed three civil war sets (ordered from Sears Roebuck) so I could have my 'so called' big battles. Also got into painting them but burnt out after about a year. Probably for the best since I'm assuming those were enamel based paints containing lead, and holding them under my nose to get those details done right delivered that lead into my brain quite successfully. At least I have a good excuse for my screw-ups from time to time. Also Algebra gave me fits!

John (Chamberlain) also collected the 'Civil War News' cards. We discussed them several years ago on a long-lost thread. It was easy to get caught up in their attraction as they were released for the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, 1961, perfect timing for our 'Kid Years'.

I am surprised that those American Civil War anniversary promos made it across the pond. Now I can picture Jolly with his British buds sharing the same fantasy battles us American kiddos manifested and immersed ourselves in.

An now, we've come full circle...With shiny new digital battlefields and soldiers to play with

Jolly wrote:

The Civil War cards must have come to these shores a few years later for whatever reason. More like the late 60's. Did you get the Confederate Dollar bill too?

Yes, the Confederate money was included, so probably the same manufacturer and product. Surprised that they were so late to arrive on your shore, my guess is that it was surplus that found a new market, and a good market it was according to your enthusiastic report.

I've still got an Airfix catalogue from 1972, which somehow has survived the decades!
Here's a scan of the ACW packs from it !
Ahh - seems like only yesterday!

I also collected and painted the Waterloo packs, and of course all the model aircraft kits - I loved building them, and they were inexpensive at the time, so that you could afford the kits by saving up a bit of pocket money! I remember the paints were by Humbrol, I used to love the smell of them when you prized off the small lid (not that I was addicted) !
No body ever mentioned about any lead content.
 

Yeah, I got into the building of models also, all WWII. Tanks, artillery, and especially, warplanes! Smelled lots of glue...

Thanks for sharing...Our long past, but not lost, reflections