Some of the most compelling mental images we hold about the Civil War come from the stories of Northern and Southern army commanders and their actions in battle. Anyone who has read Shelby Foote's narrative will likely recall Grant calmly sitting down to whittle at the Wilderness, even as the Confederate assault crested before the Union army headquarters. Similarly, there is a tale that Sherman decided to nap under a tree at Bentonville and leave the fighting to Slocum. Less bucolic are images of Rosecrans riding through the front lines at Murfreesboro grimly saying, "This battle must be won," or A.S. Johnston leading charges before the Hornet's Nest at Shiloh and getting shot for his efforts.

It has been my experience in the typical CWB game, particularly between veteran opponents, that army commanders are more likely to act like Rosecrans than Grant. It is my belief that this is historically suspect. In the game, it is more efficient to give orders in person, so the player learns to move the army commander from corps to corps, or stack all the leaders in one big pile close to the action. An army commander, even Old Granny Lee or (better yet) McClellan, moves faster than those laggard aides. There is no use for aides when the commander will get there first--and inspire the corps leader to act more quickly by his presence. Indeed, the Barren Victory players' notes chastise Bragg for keeping himself too far to the rear of the Confederate line and suggest that the player learn from this mistake.

While there are historical examples of front-line generalship, Bragg's mistake seems to have been more the norm. The typical Civil War commander found good reason to keep himself back at army HQ with his planning and intelligence staff. For that matter, the army HQ counter included in every CWB game is a curious beast. The rules allow the administrative hub of the army to go anywhere it pleases and gives it no responsibilities. In actual play, arriving reinforcements are often directed to report to army HQ; these units know telepathically where that is, even if the HQ gets up and moves. A player willing to bend the system (and there are still some of those that make the honor/common sense-based CWB miserable for the rest of us) is free to move the army HQ about and lead reinforcements, as if they were on a leash, to exactly where he wants them.

For those who do not mind some additional detail (or chrome) in the form of optional rules, it is easy to address these shortcomings. A good start would be giving army HQs something to do.

Army HQs

Army HQs may now be in one of two states: deployed or undeployed. Only an undeployed army HQ may move (unless overrun and displaced). It costs 3 MPs to change formation between the two states. Furthermore, army HQs now need strict orders from the army commander to move, stating what hex they are to move to and at what time. Once an army HQ reaches the hex to which it is ordered, it deploys and bolts to the ground like a corps HQ without orders. These rules apply only to army HQs; corps HQs do not need to be deployed, nor must their orders specify exact destinations in movement.

Army HQs accept orders with a variable command rating. If the army HQ is in a hex containing a building or town, its command rating is 4. If the army HQ is disorganized (see below), its command rating is 0. Otherwise, the command rating is 2. (This variation reflects the time required to strike tents, roll up maps, etc., and encourages players to keep their HQs in buildings.) Army HQs may never attempt initiative.

If enemy units overrun the army HQ, immediately flip it to its undeployed side and displace it to the nearest friendly unit. Place a DG marker on the army HQ to note that it is disorganized; this disorganization applies only to the HQ and not to any units stacked with it. Overrunning an army HQ does not force the player to make Emergency Retreats or straggler die rolls. For games using Arm, Panic rules, the player with the overrun HQ should immediately makes a panic check as if he were at status 2; this does not cost the opposing player a panic demand. The army HQ remains disorganized until it receives and accepts, from the army commander, new orders to deploy. During this time, it is free to move to avoid enemy units, but it is ignored for the game functions described below. Arriving reinforcements and other units ordered to move toward it march toward the nearest friendly corps HQ instead.

The army HQ represents the planning and intelligence hub of the army. It is where an army commander can best appraise this situation he faces. If the army commander stacks with his deployed army HQ, add one to the Acceptance Number of all orders he issues If the army commander stacks with a Corps HQ or non-disorganized undeployed army HQ, there is no change to the Acceptance Number. If the army commander stacks in a hex without a functional HQ subtract one from the Acceptance Number.

About Those Corps Leaders

The old saw goes, "If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain." Generally, aides and corps leaders will shuttle between army HQ and corps HQ. Although historical, one more limitation is necessary. Corps leders may not roll for initiative unless they are within 8MPs of their corps HQ.

Use the Force

I realize battles are times of extreme stress, but I find the idea of an army commander who leads by nothing but incessant demands (do it NOW!) a little ridiculous. History tells us that Lee lost Gettysburg because he was too polite to his new corps leaders Ewell and AP Hill. Thetruth is Lee knew how to lead softly--any commander leading using Force 2 orders (Bragg comes to mind) would eventually lose the respect of his men.

In play, the army commander usually only has to issue 1 order per turn, and can spend as many points as it takes to get the maximum Order Acceptance Number.

Because we do want our cardboard units to do it NOW, and we are not very concerned about their cardboard feelings and whatever resentment they may hold later, we issue Force 2 orders willy-nilly.

Here is an interesting change. First, lower the command points available to any army commander per turn by five. That is, "0" leaders have 10 points to spend per turn, "1" and "2" have 15, and "3" or "4" leaders have 20. When issuing orders, count only the costs for Method and Type.

Force costs are paid for in a different fashion, with what we will call Force Command Points. Each army commander has a reserve of 25 Force Command Points available to him for the day. This total renews each midnight. With this change, players may find that after a long day of fighting, their commanders no longer have the mental energy to lead (and commanding an army is certainly a fatiguing task). The subordinates are unable to make that last twilight push-just like what happened at Gettysburg and Shiloh. Leaders must pace themselves and know when to request and when to demand.

Another amusing idea: Whenever a subordinate receives a Force 2 order from the army commander, roll two dice. (This roll is separate from the Order Acceptance dice roll.) If the result is a 2, the subordinate believes the army commander has insulted him and he immediately receives an anti-initiative of -1 for the rest of the game. Now, you too may find your corps commanders sulking and dragging their heels after receiving a dressing- down one too many times.

Other Changes

I would suggest using these rules with the incremental order acceptance table (with one small change) found in Austerlitz , if you have a copy handy. That table produces a smoother progression of results between delay and acceptance than the standard CWB table, and makes every Order Acceptance point count. The change is this: a roll of 11 (snake eyes) always produces a Distorted Order.

As an optional rule, apply the following penalty when a command receives a Distorted Order. The order is ignored and eliminated as before. However, that command may not be issued any new orders until the player rolls a 1 on one die in the Delay Reduction segment of the player's Command Phase. If the army commander stacks with the divisional or corps commander under "distortion delay," then the player may begin issuing orders if he rolls a 1 or 2.

Under the standard CWB rules, Distorted Orders are little more than a temporary nuisance. Generally, army commanders are close enough, and have enough command points, to quickly reissue the ignored order and salvage the situation. In many historical battles though, the failure of a subordinate to obey could not be so quickly rectified.

A force under distortion delay is free to attempt to gain initiative. If successful, it may implement the originally distorted order. Successfully obtaining initiative does not make the command eligible to receive orders from the army commander--you must still make the appropriate die roll in the Delay Reduction segment of the Command Phase.

With average luck, the command with the distorted order will be paralyzed for 2-4 turns. The beauty of this rule is that it forces the player to make some hard choices. The player might attempt to mobilize the force by initiative. This could generate a loose cannon (simulating, perhaps, the distorted order in the mind of the cardboard commander). He might choose to send his army commander personally to bring the unruly subordinate into line, at the cost of having him away from the army HQ or where he is needed elsewhere in battle. Stacking with the army commander does not automatically free a corps commander from distortion delay, because this represents the subordinate presenting his arguments to the overall commander. For example, at Second Manassas, Longstreet talked Lee into holding his counterattack for a whole day.

To my mind, the command system is what makes CWB battles seem particularly vivid and realistic. These changes leave whatis sound about the command system in place, yet make the action more dramatic by including more player decision points. Now, players must not only concern themselves with writing good orders, but also with knowing when to command from the headquarters in the field and (to paraphrase Pope) when to lead from the headquarters in the saddle.