It's not my intention to appear conceited with this, but rather place what I've learned in the hands of others and humbly acknowledge there may be many other ways to achieve the same results. Also, though I believe much of what follows will work in single player gaming, I've not spent too much time testing it in that realm. Truth be told, a dozen (or more) human players fighting it out over randomly chosen objectives provides a much more dynamic and complex tactical situation than a single computer IA can fairly be asked to provide.
Now ... on to the Defense!
Before examination of infantry in the attack can be made, a player must first understand how to properly defend a piece of ground. An attack, if successful, will ultimately result in the attacker reverting to the defensive after the objective terrain is taken. Knowledge of good defensive practices is crucial when holding victory locations.
Here is a checklist for establishing a defense position.
- Is the position on higher ground than a likely enemy axis of advance?
- Does the position have stone walls, fences, or woods for defensive use?
- Does the position have clear, long lines of sight?
- Is there a creek between your proposed defense line and the likeliest enemy axis of advance?
- Is there room on the position to place artillery out of range of direct rifle fire and while still capable of placing fire on advancing enemy units?
- Is the position tied with and easily supported by adjacent friendly units?
- Are your regiments fresh with a fatigue level of “Okay” or better?
- Are you capable of establishing a reserve?
- Does the position offer line of sight protection for friendly infantry from an enemy artillery bombardment when not under direct attack?
- Do you have a supplemental defensive position that you can fall back to if necessary?
1. Is the position on higher ground than a likely enemy axis of advance?’
This is what is called a “no-brainer.” Having a height advantage on an attacking unit has both physical and psychological effects favoring the defender. The game provides a hill terrain modifier to units firing downhill that increases lethality of musketry and thus inflicts heavier casualties. Attacking uphill, especially alone, is generally considered taboo in multiplayer games. If asked (or convinced) to do so, an attacking player is likely to wear this taboo on his virtual sleeve as he carries it out and thus may be slower to react to opportunities for fear of taking gross casualties. A brigade in a defensive position on a hill side will always, psychologically, look larger than it may actually be to the attacker at the base of the hill looking up the slope.
2. Does the position have stone walls, fences, or woods for defensive use?
Walls, fences and woods offer defensive terrain bonuses of varying degrees. I will describe each one in detail.
Walls: These represent stone walls that soldiers can use to kneel and crouch behind to defend from. They offer fantastic protection from Minie balls and artillery fire (though not complete protection). Regiments defending from walls are incredibly tough to dislodge and take very few casualties comparatively. This is, without question, the best piece of defensive terrain in the game. However, they are not always prevalent and highly prized.
Fences: A more common defensive terrain is the fence. Like walls, fences provide protection from rifle and artillery fire, though not nearly as much. They are, however, much more readily available on many of the maps. Fence-to-fence fighting is almost a staple in multiplayer games. Be aware, however, that there are fences that do not provide a terrain bonus. These are typically of the smaller variety such as the white picket fences around Gettysburg town.
Woods: Forests offer some protection from small arms fire and artillery. They also serve as line of sight blocks for artillery and thus can be a good place to put a line of infantry into to both defend key terrain and prevent casualties from artillery. However, be aware that line of sight often works both ways. Woods may block sight of brigade moving forward to engage your line, so be aware and don’t succumb to surprise! Put a regiment in a skirmisher’s formation as a picket in front of your line or an officer as an early warning device for aggressive enemy movements. (More on this below)
To use these terrain features, simply maneuver your regiments to a place where their colors are on the terrain itself. This is especially true for fences and walls. The regimental flag needs to be on the terrain directly, regardless of which way the regiment is facing. What this means is that you could have a regiment in line perpendicular to a fence and still retain the terrain bonus as long as the regimental colors are on the fence directly and the terrain box in the head’s up display reads “Fence.” This applies to walls as well. Gamey as it may be it is out of the control of the player specifically so use it to your advantage.
There is one type of defensive terrain that I did not mention – entrenchments. These are only found on the Culp’s Hill map wrapping around the north and east slopes of Culp’s Hill and work the same way as fences and stone walls.
3. Does the position have clear, long lines of sight?
Being able to see the enemy, especially at a long way off, should be of obvious importance. It is imperative that a defending force be able to develop enemy force intentions before they are realized along your front. Being able to see the enemy telegraph his moves give you the opportunity to shift forces or redeploy if necessary. Also, have long lines of sight are crucial for artillery to blunt attacking infantry before they get in rifle range.
4. Is there a creek between your proposed defense line and the likeliest enemy axis of advance?
Put simply, creeks are deathtraps. It is possible for an enemy force to attack across a creek, but not without the prospect of considerable loss of life. Creek’s slow enemy movement considerably, making them susceptible to longer bouts of rifle fire and easier targets for artillery. They serve as a psychological deterrent when an attacker is faced with one-to-one and even two-to-one odds in his favor. Creeks make can make it easier for a smaller force to defend against a larger one, thus allowing for more forces to be deployed for opportunities elsewhere.
5. Is there room on the position to place artillery out of range of direct rifle fire and while still capable of placing fire on advancing enemy units?
Artillery is a force multiplier in the defense and can often be the deciding factor when defending against a determined attack and when employed correctly cause the most casualties of any formation in the game. Despite their power, however, they are incredibly vulnerable to direct rifle fire and can easily rout if not defended by infantry. The best defense allows for a position well behind the line of defending infantry where artillery can deploy and fire over the heads of friendly troops. Even better, if artillery can be safely placed in a position where they can fire solid shot down the length of an attacking line (enfilade fire), the results can be devastating. Also, if a breakthrough occurs, artillery can be used to break up exploitative assaults with its withering canister shot (if less than 200 yards distant with the GCM mod) while an infantry reserve maneuvers to close the breach. Artillery is your friend. Use it and protect it!
6. Is the position tied with and easily supported by adjacent friendly units?
It takes an army to grow a proper defense. Make sure you are coordinating with the divisions to your left and right. Study how they are deploying their defensive lines and if possible adapt your defense to be mutually supportive. Learn the best approaches to send reinforcements if called upon to do so. Communicate with the division commanders on your flanks and be ready to send support if need be and if you’re capable of doing so. Don’t be stingy when supporting an ally. Your survival may very well depend on his survival. If he folds under the weight of a heavy attack because you refused to send uncommitted troops to support his defense your division will likely be at a much heightened risk of being destroyed in turn.
Do not establish a defensive position that cannot be supported by allies. Period. To quote Marine Corps martial arts training, “An extended limb is a broken limb.” Setting your division off by itself in a static salient invites swift destruction of epic proportions. You will likely be cut off from the main body of your army and destroyed in detail by multiple divisions without any hope of relief. Not only is this bad for you, it is also bad for your allies as they must adapt their strategy to attempt to thwart a force that now significantly outnumbers them.
The optimal mutually supporting defense system is one where different portions of the line can be reinforced faster than the enemy attacker can apply overwhelming pressure to one portion of the line over another. This is known as having “interior lines.” A perfect historical example of this, for those SOW gamers completely oblivious to history, is the Battle of Gettysburg itself. The Army of the Potomac was deployed in such a way where if the CSA attacked at a specific portion of the line, such as Cemetery Ridge on Day Three, it could be reinforced very quickly from other portions of the battlefield much faster than the CSA could exploit any breakthrough. It’s about teamwork and mutually supporting positions!
7. Are your regiments fresh with a fatigue level of “Okay” or better?
This is important, but if your regiments are tired, wary or exhausted, it’s not a show-stopper. Exhausted regiments are still capable of loading and firing their rifles. If you have some of the bonuses in play (such as leader, support, defensive terrain, or hill) an exhausted regiment can hold under rifle fire for a considerable amount of time as long as they have ammunition, haven’t taken over 50 percent casualties, or don’t get routed in melee.
When not fighting and there is little chance of rifle combat occurring in less than a minute, lay your regiments down. This will increase the speed at which they recover from fatigue and also help prevent casualties from enemy artillery fire. If not in immediate danger of attack, you can also place your men in skirmisher’s formation and lay them down for added protection from artillery fire. Having your defensive line well rested will offer a lot more flexibility in quickly reinforcing other parts of the line in trouble or conducting counterattacks. Exhausted men can still do both, but at a much slower pace and thus are more susceptible to casualties and routing.
8. Are you capable of establishing a reserve?
This seems to be a routinely overlooked tactic. However, having a divisional reserve of some kind can make or break a defense. Consider this: If all your regiments are on line and engaged and you have a brand new conscript regiment rout, how do you plug the exploitable hole that is now in your line if every one of your regiments is currently in combat? You could simple sidestep the adjacent regiments left and right, but now you have two regiments temporarily not firing (and taking casualties) because a third broke and ran. Instead, a fresh regiment in reserve, behind the main line just out of rifle range, could have been brought forward to quickly fill the hole. What if, after the conscript regiment broke, the attacker rushed two regiments into the gap to exploit the hole and all your regiments were on line with no reserve? How could you prevent that hole from being widened and further exploited? A reserve regiment could move into rifle range of the two enemy regiments to buy time for a thought-out response.
That’s the key about reserves -- they can be redeemed for time in the defense. They can also be used to exploit localized opportunities such as laying down flanking fire along the attacker’s axis of advance, reinforcing adjacent brigades, protect artillery and exposed flanks and capture new objectives behind your lines all without sacrificing the integrity of your defensive position. Tactical reserves give you incredible flexibility.
For my own personal divisions I allocate at least two regiments out of my ten for a reserve while in the defense. That’s 20 percent of my overall infantry force. Of course I don’t always come in with all ten regiments so I have to tailor my reserve as my force and disposition will allow. There are times when I’m forced to cover a wide swath of ground and can’t maintain a reserve. Generally, however, I try to leave some force available.
9. Does the position offer line of sight protection for friendly infantry from an enemy artillery bombardment when not under direct attack?
This only applies when not in direct contact with enemy infantry regiments or even in danger of being in contact with enemy infantry in less than three minutes. When establishing a defensive position that is in eyeshot of enemy artillery, locate a piece of ground behind the position that is not in view of artillery to place your infantry. Detach one or two regiments in skirmisher formations to take the place of your brigades to serve as a picket line to both protect your artillery and serve as an early warning/delay when enemy infantry advance. This will keep the bulk of your men from being shelled. Take note, however, that your main body of infantry is not so far back that it cannot take its place in the line in a very short amount of time. Also, while they are behind your chosen main line of resistance, be sure to keep them in column formation or column by division formation so they can be quickly brought forward.
10. Do you have a supplemental defensive position that you can fall back to if necessary?
Though it may not be necessary, or even an option, it’s always good to know where you can fall back to if need be. After you’ve established your defensive position, take a look at the ground behind your line and make a mental note as to where might be plausible fall back defensive positions in the event your current one becomes untenable due to direct pressure on your line, or an adjacent ally is thrown off his position thereby exposing your flank. Note where you’d like to put your artillery and where your lines of battle should deploy to. Be sure to note any terrain that might slow down your movement between your current position and your supplementary position. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
The more of these questions you can answer ‘yes’ to, the tougher your defensive position will likely be and the more force the enemy will be required to use to dislodge you. Bear in mind, however, that the needs of your team may dictate many things and you may be forced to deploy on ground less than suitable. This is especially true with regards to objective locations, which often pop up at the worst possible places, such as in the middle of a creek or in between two opposing divisions. The key is to be flexible and make the best use of what you have available to you.
Special Cases
There are a few defensive situations that require a few words. These are Objectives Locations and Extreme Flanks
1. Objective Locations
The easiest way to hold a victory location is to be far, far ahead of it. So far that the enemy, if they don’t have enough objectives of their own for overall victory, must attack a distance further than their force will hopefully allow for in terms of mass, time and momentum (more on this in the Attack section). Often, however, being well ahead of an objective is not an option and a localized “defense-in-depth” tactic can be employed.
What is “defense-in-depth?”
Defense-in-depth is a tactic where defensive lines are staggered one behind the other in order to minimize the effects of an enemy breakthrough. If an attack penetrates one layer of defense, they immediately run right into a second layer, and then a third. Hopefully, the attack will run out of steam before successfully tripping the objective location neutral before the clock expires.
Notice how the Union lines are layered one behind the other with artillery in support in this generalized graphic. If the Confederate attack breaches the first line, there is still a second line available to blunt the attack, as well as a third line in reserve that can be brought up. Also, the artillery can fire canister shot to put holes into the Confederate regiments as they press toward the second line. Also notice how most of the defense is in front of the objective. (Bear in mind that the left and right flanks of the Union division represented in this graphic are not shown. Remember: It takes an army to grow a proper defense. Make sure you are coordinating with the divisions to your left and right!)
2. Extreme Flanks
Just like Brig. Gen. James Barnes’ division at Gettysburg, you may find yourself at the extreme flank of your army and responsible for keeping the enemy at bay in a tenuous position. The above checklist becomes crucially important when establishing a defense on the flank, but three items stand out—
- Is the position tied with and easily supported by adjacent friendly units?
- Are you capable of establishing a reserve?
- Do you have a supplemental defensive position that you can fall back to if necessary?
You must be very flexible with your regiments. Always be prepared to “refuse” your flank, meaning to align your regiment’s perpendicular to the main line of the army in order to defend from a different direction.
Next (in a few weeks), I'll be looking at going on to the offensive, which is much more complex than the defense. It's likely I may have missed a point or two. Again, this is not to be all-encompassing or the complete gospel. But ... I hope I got most of it! B)
