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?
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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.