Gettysburg 3Days - New Ground

[Gerry]

Hey RebBugler:
I have a new computer. Midlevel gaming rig Windows 10. I am using Bugles and Flags XVI and the New Ground carryover scenario. Game keeps crashing. Mouse click is what does it. I have tried changing the rez, cleaning the registry, tearing my hair. I am trying to record it. I recorded 30 minutes successfully but on trying to play more, it keeps crashing. HELP

[RebBugler]

Hey RebBugler:
I have a new computer. Midlevel gaming rig Windows 10. I am using Bugles and Flags XVI and the New Ground carryover scenario. Game keeps crashing. Mouse click is what does it. I have tried changing the rez, cleaning the registry, tearing my hair. I am trying to record it. I recorded 30 minutes successfully but on trying to play more, it keeps crashing. HELP

Could you post the SOWGB.log found in the Work folder after a crash.

[Gerry]

The attachment SowGB.log is no longer available

Here it is

[RebBugler]

23:00:25 Loading GB3D-July1-3 Gettysburg Three Days (C-Army) DRF SR10

Appears that you're playing the wrong scenario, this one's in B&F...But still, shouldn't be crashing.

Look for the two scenarios with "New Ground" in their name.

[mike1984]

Sorry to be a pain about this scenario... I just enjoy it too much.

1. The assault by Rodes' Division is really weird. Just as the division is deployed in historical formation for an assault (3 brigades in front, two behind, all in battle lines), all the regiments start marching toward the center of the divisional line, and attack my position down Oak Ridge in a column of regiments, many are in marching column. I swear, if I can grab a screen shot, it's a sight to see. 7,000 men funneling into an attack column no wider than a dozen soldiers. The attack path seems to change little from this point, and leads to the almost impossible situations later defending away from Cemetery Hill.

Update: I got a screenshot. Is this because the division is receiving a divisional order, and not orders by brigade?

The attachment screen0053_2018-03-29.jpg is no longer available

2. When I try to "pull" the rebels away from Cemetery Hill, all it does is give them a weak center to exploit and attack through. They don't seem to give much chase to my forces on their flanks. Spreading out the attack paths to more historical approaches for the rebels would help alleviate this.

3. Ed Johnson's division is available to the rebels far too early. This is probably the single most damaging part of Day 1 in this scenario. Johnson's division historically arrived at dusk that day. But in this scenario it arrives while my troops are still defending Seminary Ridge. Combined with the ramrod attack by Rodes, Johnson's arrival seals the deal preventing the Union side from ever defending long enough to force the rebels to call of their attack that night.

Forgive my ignorance on script editing, but I'm trying to find where these tweaks can be made for my own copy. I have a somewhat general idea, but I have to go through the documentation again. Here's what I'd like to do:

1. Have Rodes Division attack along a more broad front in a more southeasterly direction, Doles' Brigade should attack completely on the eastern side of Carlisle Road. Also, delay this attack by 5 minutes.

2. Pender and Heth's divisions launch their "afternoon" attacks on a more southerly path, toward the area just south of the Lutheran Seminary. This will allow Daniel's Brigade a more clear path to attack toward the Railroad Cut.

3. Johnson's Division should not be able to enter the battle until the very last few minutes. This can be achieved in a few ways, but probably the best way would be to delay arrival on the field until much later on the 1st day. That leads to the next point...

4. Without Johnson's Division joining the attack so early, it would allow the Union side at least a fighting chance to force the rebels to call off the assault that evening. And if that happens, Johnson's Division would march along its historical path around the north side of Gettysburg, to north of Hanover Road and east of Rock Creek, avoiding enemy contact. This would also affect Day 2, in that Johnson would be in position to attack Culp's Hill from the north and east.

5. If the rebels do not capture Cemetery Hill that day and call off the offensive, they should move farther back into the town. I know that this would be ahistorical, but in terms of the game mechanics, it would keep them a bit further out of range. Since the artillery in this game fire no matter what, a greater distance is needed between lines.

I realize none of that would guarantee anything, since the game is built to vary every time a scenario is played. But with those changes, I'd be curious if it affected the flow of this scenario. Personally, one of my least favorite things that happens in any SOW scenario is when both armies approach each other in a quarter-mile front, 10 brigades deep, and just smash into each other until there's no one left. That's a little bit how this one felt, especially from mid-day on the 1st to morning on the 2nd.

And if I can learn how to really edit the scripts, then I'd like to create a purely historical version of this, where the rebels don't ever attack on the evening of the 1st.

I'll stop there for now. You're probably sick of hearing from me.

[RebBugler]

Sorry to be a pain about this scenario... I just enjoy it too much.

1. The assault by Rodes' Division is really weird. Just as the division is deployed in historical formation for an assault (3 brigades in front, two behind, all in battle lines), all the regiments start marching toward the center of the divisional line, and attack my position down Oak Ridge in a column of regiments, many are in marching column. I swear, if I can grab a screen shot, it's a sight to see. 7,000 men funneling into an attack column no wider than a dozen soldiers. The attack path seems to change little from this point, and leads to the almost impossible situations later defending away from Cemetery Hill.

Update: I got a screenshot. Is this because the division is receiving a divisional order, and not orders by brigade?

screen0053_2018-03-29.jpg

When I get a chance I'll check the scripting here and find out what went amiss. Regiments moving in column in attack sequences should never happen. This is a quirk of scripting that must always be taken in consideration, whereas, when given a 'move line forward' command, all the units gravitate to the center behind the leader in column formation and don't form the line until the leader has reached his destination. I've found two ways to avoid this "line cluster quirk": (1)use 'hold form' line formations or (2)use custom line formations with the leader 100 yards to the rear, or 200, etc. I prefer the latter as 'hold form' line formations are sometimes blocked and halt their progress. The custom formations have tested out to work every time if you keep the leader TC'd.
Pretty sure that Rodes debacle was a division move, I'll check it out.

2. When I try to "pull" the rebels away from Cemetery Hill, all it does is give them a weak center to exploit and attack through. They don't seem to give much chase to my forces on their flanks. Spreading out the attack paths to more historical approaches for the rebels would help alleviate this.

3. Ed Johnson's division is available to the rebels far too early. This is probably the single most damaging part of Day 1 in this scenario. Johnson's division historically arrived at dusk that day. But in this scenario it arrives while my troops are still defending Seminary Ridge. Combined with the ramrod attack by Rodes, Johnson's arrival seals the deal preventing the Union side from ever defending long enough to force the rebels to call of their attack that night.

2. By my testing I was able to pull or distract the Rebel attack away from the hills in question long enough to gain full control the next morning as reinforcements arrived. This is a KEY challenge for the player, as it sets the tone, and scripting, for the remainder of the battle regarding the Rebel strategy.
3. If I errored here it wasn't intentional. Sure, by Johnson's official report he arrived too late to engage the enemy, but many historians disagree, and that if Ewell had pushed on, as his predecessor Jackson would have, the Rebel attack would have continued into the night that first day. http://www.historynet.com/did-lt-gen-ri ... ysburg.htm

Forgive my ignorance on script editing, but I'm trying to find where these tweaks can be made for my own copy. I have a somewhat general idea, but I have to go through the documentation again. Here's what I'd like to do:

1. Have Rodes Division attack along a more broad front in a more southeasterly direction, Doles' Brigade should attack completely on the eastern side of Carlisle Road. Also, delay this attack by 5 minutes.

2. Pender and Heth's divisions launch their "afternoon" attacks on a more southerly path, toward the area just south of the Lutheran Seminary. This will allow Daniel's Brigade a more clear path to attack toward the Railroad Cut.

Just a matter of changing CSA objectives along the way.

3. Johnson's Division should not be able to enter the battle until the very last few minutes. This can be achieved in a few ways, but probably the best way would be to delay arrival on the field until much later on the 1st day. That leads to the next point...

4. Without Johnson's Division joining the attack so early, it would allow the Union side at least a fighting chance to force the rebels to call off the assault that evening. And if that happens, Johnson's Division would march along its historical path around the north side of Gettysburg, to north of Hanover Road and east of Rock Creek, avoiding enemy contact. This would also affect Day 2, in that Johnson would be in position to attack Culp's Hill from the north and east.

5. If the rebels do not capture Cemetery Hill that day and call off the offensive, they should move farther back into the town. I know that this would be ahistorical, but in terms of the game mechanics, it would keep them a bit further out of range. Since the artillery in this game fire no matter what, a greater distance is needed between lines.

You'll have to wait for night with a scripted 30 yards visibility to pull the troops back. Probably precede that with brigade retreats to disengage any units.

I realize none of that would guarantee anything, since the game is built to vary every time a scenario is played. But with those changes, I'd be curious if it affected the flow of this scenario. Personally, one of my least favorite things that happens in any SOW scenario is when both armies approach each other in a quarter-mile front, 10 brigades deep, and just smash into each other until there's no one left. That's a little bit how this one felt, especially from mid-day on the 1st to morning on the 2nd.

Yeah, hard to avoid the mass slaughter events as the AI doesn't understand DOOM. Add the difficulties of scripting controlled retreats and you've got quite a challenge of maintaining realistic or historic results via scripting alone.

And if I can learn how to really edit the scripts, then I'd like to create a purely historical version of this, where the rebels don't ever attack on the evening of the 1st.

I'll stop there for now. You're probably sick of hearing from me.

Good luck with this quest, it won't be easy, but it can be very fulfilling, especially when you get good informative feedback as you've done here for this mod. Much Appreciated!

[Legion]

Really enjoyed these scenarios. I'm not sure why but none of the commanders pictures are correct and many times it just shows a black square.

Anyway to get the map for sandbox mode? I've looked but the map doesn't show up in the list.

[RebBugler]

Really enjoyed these scenarios. I'm not sure why but none of the commanders pictures are correct and many times it just shows a black square.

Anyway to get the map for sandbox mode? I've looked but the map doesn't show up in the list.

Much Appreciated!

Some mod you had activated caused the portrait issues because the OOB for this scenario uses only stock portraits and doesn't mess with them in any way. If you get a chance post your Work/sowgb.log file right after playing this mod. It should show me which mod is causing the issues so I can alert other folks in advance about the mods conflict you've reported.

For Sandbox play with this map look for Turning Point.

Thanks for this report.

[Jolly]

I've really been having a good time playing this on the Confederate side - very immmersive!

I was pretty confident I'd got it all done and dusted after about an hour into the third day when things took a decided turn for the worst! Ah well - lesson learnt!

Exceptional map + graphics.

David(jolly(

[Saltjunkie]

Is the first day of battle only supposed to be 3 hours, i.e., from 6:30pm to 9:30pm?