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 Welcome to this Let's Play of Ultimate General Gettysburg, a real-time strategy game of the famous civil war battle. The game, which reminds me a lot of my old favourite Sid Meier's Gettysburg! boasts a pretty impressive AI, which plays on the same terms as the human player and a highly flexible campaign where your performance in each phase of the battle determines where you'll fight the next with a whole slew of speculative engagements, including the possibility of the battle dragging out to a fourth day of fighting if neither side can get an advantage. Table of contents: Arriving at Gettysburg, part 1 The basics of command, and a first call for volunteers Arriving at Gettysburg, 09:30 to 10:30 Arriving at Gettysburg, 10:30 to 11:00 Arriving at Gettysburg, 11:00 to 11:45 Arriving at Gettysburg, 11:45 to 12:05 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, introduction Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 13:20 to 13:40 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 13:40 to 14:10 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 14:10 to 14:50 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 14:50 to 15:30 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 15:30 to 16:00 Confederates capture Seminary Ridge, 16:00 to 16:18 The Confederates surround Cemetery Hill, introduction The Confederates surround Cemetery Hill, 16:03 to 17:03 The Confederates surround Cemetery Hill, 17:03 to 17:30 The Confederates surround Cemetery Hill, 17:30 to 17:57 The Confederates surround Cemetery Hill, 17:30 to 17:57 The Union looking Cemetery Hill from below, introduction Goon order of battle (GOOB) pre:Robert E. Lee (Dr. Snark)
Longsteet's 1st corps (Corbeau)
McLaw's division (sparkmaster)
Picketts's division (The Sandman)
Armistead's brigade (unclaimed)
Hood's division (The Merry Marauder)
Texas brigade (Samolety)
Ewell's 2nd corps (Roman Reigns)
Early's division (Klaus88)
Louisiana Tigers (Ahundredbux)
Smith's brigade (unclaimed)
Avery's brigade (unclaimed)
Gordon's brigade (unclaimed)
Johnson's division (Crowsbeak)
Stonewall brigade (unclaimed)
Rodes' division (dublish)
Daniel's brigade (unclaimed)
Doles' brigade (unclaimed)
Iverson's brigade (unclaimed)
Ramseur's brigade (unclaimed)
O'Neal's brigade (unclaimed)
A.P. Hill's 3rd corps (Jaguars!)
Anderson's division (A White Guy)
Wilcox's brigade (unclaimed)
Mahone's brigade (unclaimed)
Wright's brigade (unclaimed)
Perry's brigade (unclaimed)
Posey's brigade (unclaimed)
Heth's division (Bacarruda)
Pettigrew's brigade (echidnagirl)
Brockenbrough's brigade (sullat)
Covski fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 15, 2015 |
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Mar 1, 2015 17:01
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:24 |
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During the LP, I'll let goons take command of the divisions and brigades of our chosen side as we fight out the entire battle. First thing's first: Which side shall we fight as? The Union will tend to have more and better artillery than their opponents, and is under less pressure to attack the enemy meaning that we would have to make fewer strategic gambles to win in the end. Essentially, the federalists are theoretically able to win the battle without ever having to take the offensive. The Confederates, on the other hand, will tend to have more impressive generals and experienced troops who are especially able to trounce the enemy if it comes to a melee engagement. However, we would need to make some impressive efforts to destroy our enemies if we hope to win even a marginal victory in the end.  Secondly, we will need to choose the personality of our enemy. Each of these have some distinct differences in their tactics, as well as strengths and weaknesses to exploit. There is also an option to give bonuses to the AI, which we won't be doing for this LP. Choosing a more difficult foe could provide a more interesting challenge, but on the other hand an easier opponent would leave more leeway for goon shenanigans without us losing miserably. We could also leave it on random, for a bit of a surprise. Go ahead and vote, gentlemen! Also, I mentioned this will be a participatory LP, where the forum posters will be commanding our army corps. For now, I'd like one volunteer to be the army commander. The army commander's responsibility will be to outline a general strategy for the subordinate corps commanders to carry out, advise the other players, and act as a stand in if corps commanders are absent or otherwise unable to send their orders. I'd prefer if this is someone either with experience of the game or a decent grasp of battle tactics. Just lemme know if you want to be the army commander. (We'll take volunteers for other levels of command as they are introduced in game.) Covski fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Mar 2, 2015 |
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Mar 1, 2015 17:01
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I know it may be boring, I I have problems siding with IRL baddies- I say we play as The Union! Besides, their uniforms are much better than the Rebs'.
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Mar 1, 2015 17:38
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Lets try to change history with The Confederates facing either a Defensive or Cautious opponent, whichever one Meade was close to being.
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Mar 1, 2015 17:42
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I say we should play The Confederates because it will be more challenging, and our opponent should be Defensive imo.
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Mar 1, 2015 18:19
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Lets play The Rebels, but lets change it up a bit. Change the Union side to offensive or risky and see what happens.
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Mar 1, 2015 18:27
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sparkmaster posted:Lets play The Rebels, but lets change it up a bit. Change the Union side to offensive or risky and see what happens. This sounds like fun.
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Mar 1, 2015 19:14
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sparkmaster posted:Lets play The Rebels, but lets change it up a bit. Change the Union side to offensive or risky and see what happens. I'd like to see how this plays out.
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Mar 1, 2015 19:31
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Let us play the union and Randomize the opponent. I like this game a lot, it's very simple to pick up, aside from determining artillery line of sight, but it's tough to win if you don't go in with a good battle plan.
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Mar 1, 2015 20:30
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This is such a good game.
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Mar 1, 2015 21:18
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sparkmaster posted:Lets play The Rebels, but lets change it up a bit. Change the Union side to offensive or risky and see what happens. I support this
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Mar 1, 2015 21:27
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sparkmaster posted:Lets play The Rebels, but lets change it up a bit. Change the Union side to offensive or risky and see what happens.
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Mar 1, 2015 22:21
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 Confederates versus an aggressive Union opponent it is. We will have to be very careful to not let the enemy leverage their superior numbers against us once their entire force is on the field. Arriving at Gettysburg, morning July 1st, part 1  Well, gentlemen, it seems we have blundered into a handful of cavalry militia. These people should easily be swept away by our southern steel. Let's get those shoes!  Two brigades and a unit of skirmishers under corps commander A.P. Hill are poised on Hall's ridge, ready to move against the ridges north-west of Gettysburg. Our artillery is standing by to move up to the ridge and commence firing.  We are facing a small detachment of dismounted cavalry skirmishers and videttes under General Buford defending McPherson's ridge, as well as a single artillery battery. Skirmishers are very mobile and can be quite effective at harassing and slowing advancing enemy forces, but cannot stand up very well to sustained enemy fire. Videttes are rifle armed cavalry, filling much the same role as skirmishers although even more manoeuvrable and vulnerable. Here we can also see the topography view. This is very helpful for determining line of sight and planning attacks, as a unit on a hill will have a significant advantage.  Clicking on a general shows his area of influence. All subordinate troops within this radius receives a quite substantial morale bonus, for this reason maintaining cohesion in a division is a good thing. The quality of the general (A.P. Hill has two out of three stars) determines the size of the radius and the magnitude of the bonus. All units have a morale stat, representing their will to fight, and a condition stat, representing their levels of ammunition and exhaustion). It's worth noting that the morale values are somewhat deceptive - only the most elite units have a max morale of 100%, and for example skirmishers rarely have a max morale over about 20%.  Here is an overview of most of the important areas of this engagement. As you can see, there are some quite dominating ridges and woodlands which we shall have to control as they are very powerful defensive positions. Of course, the big coloured numbers are they victory points we will want to capture and hold. It is also important to note that casualties will also affect our victory score, and are persistent between phases of the battle. We will want to avoid pyrrhic victories as much as possible, especially given the need to conserve our fewer but superior troops as the Confederacy.
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Mar 2, 2015 11:17
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Basics of command, and a first call for volunteers Giving orders in the game is quite simple. Troops are mostly moved by clicking and dragging out the path you want them to follow, and your brigades are generally intelligent enough to wheel to face the enemy and switching between line of battle and column formation (limbering, in the case of artillery) for moving longer distances. Skirmishers and videttes will automatically attempt to keep their distance from advancing enemy troops. You can also wheel them in place manually. Besides this, there are a few different special orders: Holding is situationally useful, preventing troops from autonomously falling back unless they are routed, and also forbidding them to automatically wheel around. Running is great for getting troops somewhere in a hurry, but will tire them out enormously, especially if they move through more difficult terrain such as forests. Charging is quite risky and tiring, but can be the best way to dislodge an entrenched defender. Falling back is a controlled fighting retreat, making a brigade try to disengage an enemy safely by backing away while still firing. Artillery units can switch between solid shot, shell and canister, but can usually be trusted to manage this automatically. Enough basics, time to find us some volunteers and start making plans!  This is our order of battle for this first engagement. Troops in grey are en route but still haven't arrived on the field. As I mentioned, we still need a Commander of the army, to set the general objectives and advise the corps commanders. Corps commanders, such as A.P. Hill in this first fight, will be the guys I'll expect to do most of the order giving. All in all, we'll eventually need four of these guys, although this includes J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry division which are unlikely to see any action before the later stages of the battle, as he's still futzing around god knows where. Division commanders will argue strategies with their corps commanders and can, if they wish, do some micromanagement with the brigades under them. This should be seen as optional, but may be a good thing if we want to perform more precise manoeuvres. If you feel like participating but don't care to have a division command or above, feel free to sign up as a Brigade commander. Your duties will consist of bragging about your amazing K/D ratio, bitching at your superiors for sending you and your men to your deaths, and bitching at your commanders for not allowing your men to make glorious charges against the enemy. Right now, we need volunteers for these commanders, before we can proceed: These divisions are available: These brigades are up for grabs: Davis' brigade Covski fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Mar 2, 2015 |
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Mar 2, 2015 11:41
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I'll grab the Scales Brigade, seems like the one best suited for punning.
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Mar 2, 2015 12:13
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I'll claim Pettigrews Brigade, because Pettigrew had such a magnificent beard.
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Mar 2, 2015 15:05
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Heth's Division
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Mar 2, 2015 15:29
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meatbag posted:I'll grab the Scales Brigade, seems like the one best suited for punning. Enjoy your really goony-looking governor! He seems like a pretty cool dude, actually. echidnagirl posted:I'll claim Pettigrews Brigade, because Pettigrew had such a magnificent beard. Ah, a gentleman and a scholar! And played in the movie by that James Bond nobody remembers, no less. (Pettigrew, along with Cutler on the Union side, have special places in my heart as those two were the brigadiers you played as in the tutorial for Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, which as I mentioned was my introduction to the ACW as a kid  )Bacarruda posted:Heth's Division General Heth, good to have you onboard, sah! Just be prepared to take the blame for getting us into this mess if we don't win this here scrap! I've also gone and added a list of goon officers to the OP, for easier overview. Covski fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Mar 2, 2015 |
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Mar 2, 2015 17:18
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Covski posted:
Gen.Perrin here reporting with unusual swag. 
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Mar 2, 2015 17:48
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Whoops! In my defence, the low resolution screenshot I looked at for reference really makes "Perrin" look like "Penn" at a glance!  Though I do declare that Napoleon look you have going on does indeed imply a lot of swagger, General Perrin!
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Mar 2, 2015 18:03
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Against my better judgement, I'm going to sign up as Army Commander. Under my command, only a few of us will die!
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Mar 2, 2015 20:03
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Longstreet. So that I can later write about how Dr. Snark messed it all up on the third day.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:11
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Well, here goes... I'll be the A.P Hill
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Mar 2, 2015 20:29
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I'll take Pender's division.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:29
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I'll take Archer's Brigade. If we have anything relevant to say regarding tactics we can still totally make a suggestion right? (I'd totally take Pickett when he shows up but that entails actual responsibility  )
brb on fire fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Mar 2, 2015 |
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Mar 2, 2015 21:04
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I'll be swiping Lane's Brigade because of Lane's dashing french fork beard.
Sixkiller fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 2, 2015 21:46
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I'll volunteer for Brokenbrough's Brigade or "BBB" for short.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:56
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General Lee, General Longstreet, it's an honour to have you both here. I'm sure you'll get along splendidly! And Little Powell is here as well and he's got his red shirt on, great! Now that the top brass are all here, let's get this show under way. I'll make a post about making orders in just a couple of minutes. brb on fire posted:I'll take Archer's Brigade. If we have anything relevant to say regarding tactics we can still totally make a suggestion right? Of course! All discussions of tactics are encouraged, especially passive-aggressive input from subordinate officers who could surely do better than their superiors if only they were in charge And also, there will be plenty of opportunities for brigade commanders to move up to a higher echelon of command when more officers become available in the later stages of the battle.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:20
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edit: Never mind, I'll hold out for a division or corps commander
Roman Reigns fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 00:10
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Giving orders Here is the map of the situation, for reference. From the army commander (Dr. Snark) we'll need a general plan of attack, and an idea of the army's priorities with regards to which objectives on the map are most important, conservation of forces, etcetera. Of course since all the troops in this fight are under the same corps commander, there's not much sense in assigning objectives on a corps-basis, but this will be necessary in later stages when the entire army is on the field. From the corps commander (Jaguars!) , I'll need instructions for the elements of the corps, currently just the brigades of Archer and Davis. Feel free to delegate to your division commanders (currently only Heth is on the field). Note that you are also in charge of the artillery, which is at the moment is still behind Herr's ridge and unable to fire. You'll also have the privilege of positioning yourself on the map to support the troops. If nothing is specified, I'll try to keep you as close as possible to as many of your brigades as possible. Division commanders, feel free to give specific the brigades under your command, if you like to, however this is optional. Division commanders will have final say on how their brigades are used, but at least try to follow the orders of your corps commander. I'd appreciate it if you would be so kind as to use maps if there is any risk of me misinterpreting your orders otherwise. I won't force you to micromanage the positioning and cycling of your troops, and more general orders such as for example "hold the hill at this location and ensure that the enemy doesn't move around our right" are fine. However, let me know if you want to keep a certain amount of brigades in reserve for future needs, or have any specific conditional orders. I'll run the game up to a logical point when I feel new orders are needed, either because of previous orders being completed or changing tactical situations. Ask me if you need any additional in-game information! ORDERS General Lee (Dr Snark): A.P. Hill's 3rd corps (Jaguars!): Heth's division (bacarruda): Now gentlemen, get strategizing and let's drive Billy Yank of those ridges!
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Mar 3, 2015 00:18
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If we're already calling officers not yet on the field of glory, can I be Lafayette McLaws? He seems like a stand up chap.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:20
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sparkmaster posted:If we're already calling officers not yet on the field of glory, can I be Lafayette McLaws? He seems like a stand up chap. What the heck, why not? I'll work on getting the entire OOB into the op so you guys can see what officers are available.  Roman Reigns posted:edit: Never mind, I'll hold out for a division or corps commander If you want, you can call dibs right now if you had someone in mind. Ewell will be the only other corps commander to arrive for quite some time, he'll come up in the very next phase of the battle if you're looking for a corps command.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:29
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OK, this may be overreaching my authority (already!) but I have an initial plan of action which I'll submit for criticism now to avoid the time zone dance:quote:
I was thinking that I'd make the initial command the most detailed, and then give the division/brigade commanders relative freedom of manouvre. Of course, if they refer decisions upward, I'll do my best to take them. (or pass the buck)
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Mar 3, 2015 00:31
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I'll take General Ewell when he comes about, and hopefully do a better job than he did.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:33
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I remember playing a kinda similar game when I was a kid. I think I just abused the superior Confederate morale and just charged the poo poo out the blueshirts. So I'm clearly good officer material! So I'm all in favour of just advancing forward when the time is right really (the time is always right) Also I never did know much about Archer so I looked him up and, um, oh dear. He was captured on the first day of Gettysburg, maybe even in this battle  Also he was totally too ill to even command properly, so fun times ahead. What I'm saying is, unless the game lets Archer hang around after the first few battles if he doesn't get himself captured, I maaaaay be selecting a new officer pretty soon.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:49
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Jaguars! posted:OK, this may be overreaching my authority (already!) but I have an initial plan of action which I'll submit for criticism now to avoid the time zone dance: I'd be critical of your overstepping you bounds...but your plans match up with mine quite nicely. Speaking of which!  I've marked out a few locations that I feel are critical to our initial plans. Red: Our only victory point. We must hold this at all costs. It is also an excellent position for our artillery to be at for the moment. Blue: The central bridge for the river. Fighting would be fiercest here, especially with the artillery by it, but capturing that area would give us a vital hold on McPherson's Ridge. Yellow: This nearby forest area/ridge would make for an excellent staging point for our infantry. Orange: A ford that is very close to the Union's northern victory point. Securing it would be valuable, but there is a high risk of interference from the videttes stationed near there. Currently, the strategy is to push forward with Davis' and Archer's units to secure our side of the river while having Heth's unit move north to try and make a play for the northern victory point. Given the artillery at the base of McPherson's Ridge, I believe that we should wait for our artillery to set up before attempting an advance, as they could easily rip us apart with canister shot otherwise. I would also like to note that Union forces can try to raid us from the south with their other vidette unit, so we should watch for that. And that's all the grand strategy for right now, as the fighting has yet to start in earnest.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:50
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Excellent! I only put out my plan because this is such a small scenario with a single corps, plenty of time for me to be subordinate once this battle is over. While the strategy gets hashed out, here's a few things I'd like 3 corps to live by: quote:Lt Gen. A.P.J! Hill's rules of engagement for the 3rd Corps:
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Mar 3, 2015 01:17
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I'll take Archer Alright, first shut up, second where the hell is my brandy? What kind of Civil War reenactment doesn't have brandy? That's like a Southern cause that doesn't involve some kind of racism. Also.... brb on fire posted:I'll take Archer's Brigade. If we have anything relevant to say regarding tactics we can still totally make a suggestion right?  Goddamn it! [Sniff] It's..It's not like I wanted to be a civil war general anyways! I'll just go drink quietly in my apartment and call a prostitute or....several, like I usually do Wednesday, Thursday and.....occasional Sunday nights? WOODHOUSE! WHERE'S MY drat PHONE?!? I'll take Davis if that's still an option.
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Mar 3, 2015 01:42
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Roman Reigns posted:I'll take General Ewell when he comes about, and hopefully do a better job than he did. He's yours. Though, are you sure taking that hill really is practicable? Jimmy4400nav posted:I'll take Davis if that's still an option. You've got it! Dr. Snark posted:Orders Jaguars! posted:Orders Jaguars!, I'll assume you meant "Archer", not "Anderson"? Since your plans seem to line up, I'll run the first minutes of the battle this evening as the orders currently stand unless there are any modifications or new orders from either Jaguars! or Bacarruda.
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Mar 3, 2015 14:08
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:24 |
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If Early's Division is available, could I take that please?
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Mar 3, 2015 15:10
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