Recently, I had a chance to play Bloody Road South with a friend. While we only played out the first day, we discussed in some detail the overall tactical problem the Union Player faces: bringing his power to bear effectively.

The Union role is the more frustrating and interesting of the two. The Union Army has the flexibility to attack on multiple fronts because it is much larger. This is a tactic the Army of Northern Virginia cannot match. However, the fragility of many Northern brigades, coupled with an array of commandcontrol and burdensome Wilderness restrictions, make it difficult to sustain any attack for long. The natural tendency of a game that deteriorates to a slug-match along the Orange Turnpike and the Plank Road is stalemate: The Union attacks will stop as the Rebel verges on collapse. A pause ensues as both sides recover stragglers and prepare to repeat the process with whatever fresh or recovered units they can muster.

Unfortunately for the Union, the game opens with his three corps already committed to this kind of fruitless blood bath. There is enough delay built into the command system, and the game opens late enough in the first day (1:00 p.m.) that the temptation is usually too hard to resist-the Union troops attack as ordered. It is probably futile to re-write the commands for these corps to make the intended attacks more meaningful. Some units will not get orders accepted before dark (night attacks are not the key to victory), and 5 Corps is still likely to have to attack for 2 or 3 turns before accepting new orders, leading to losses with no gain. The Union Player often elects to make the best of a bad thing and pursue the attacks as written. He may hope the right combination of aggressiveness and luck will hurt the Rebs enough to make them worry and presage more of the same on the 6th.

To succeed in Grant's shoes requires a long-term plan. Events on 5 May set the stage for success, but 6 May is when the Union player will win the game. In BRS more than any other CWB game, the Union Player must devise a plan from turn one and work to ensure that all forces are doing their part. Anything less is a dissipation of effort, and likely to hurt late in the game.

Offensive Options

Initially, 5 Corps has accepted orders to attack down the Orange Turnpike, and 6 Corps has accepted orders to support this attack via the Culpepper Mine Road, really a trail. Second Corps is mostly not on the map yet, but will be arriving soon. It has orders to attack due west as well, along the Plank Road. This should allow 2 Corps to pressure the two divisions of Hill's CSA Corps while 5 and 6 Corps combine for a converging attack on Ewell's Rebels. There are two flaws in this apparently sound plan: the 2 Corps order status is D2, and the CSA I NC Cav will delay the 6 Corps advance. As a result, 5 Corps likely will have stopped attacking before 6 Corps finally engages, and the involved Rebels will be able to deal with each problem in turn. In addition, 2 Corps usually gets going so late that when they achieve a measure of success, darkness falls before they can follow up,

The Union player does need some attacks on 5 May. These are the attacks likely to inflict damage on the enemy before nightfall, so you should continue them in some form. However, since they serve as prelude to the larger offensive prepared for 6 May, the Union player must begin thinking about the later attacks as well.

Press hard with 5 Corps as long as possible. This does not mean a full-blown charge. It means a measured attack, pressuring both flanks, and rotating all available divisions into action so no unit receives too much damage. I suggest sending a Divisional Goal to 35 Division to join Wadsworth's (1-5) flank attack. Try to fight on the flanks, away from the road; deeper in the Wilderness there are liable to be fewer CSA guns to charge. Since you have a limited frontage, bring up your cannon to hold the center. When available, try to rotate an occasional brigade back to recover stragglers. Every wrecked unit powerfully affects Corps Attack Stoppage. So try to keep them unwrecked as long as possible, The key is measured pressure.

Continue 6 Corps' advance down the Culpepper Mine Road if only to scare the Rebs. Remember, the CSA player can freely modify Longstreet's arrival location and orders until 11:00 p.m. If you run a bluff with these guys, do it until then, at least. If they do fight against Ewell's troops, use them sparingly. You will need them as a maneuver force during the night, and they will have little time to recover stragglers then. The 6 Corps should commit to a full scale attack against Ewell only if the Rebel 2 Corps has shown serious signs of weakening (for instance, several units at B fire levels or morale problems due to wrecked units). If you can trigger a defensive orders failure and its accompanying Emergency Corps Retreat penalties, the damage can be severe,

Second Corps should press hard upon accepting its orders, bearing in mind the advice given for 5 Corps above. Measured pressure will result in these troops staying engaged longer, and they have the power to outlast the Confederates they face. Also, the CSA player may get greedy and try to send one of his divisions to attack 35 and take the Chewning plateau. If so, it makes the Union 2 Corps attack easier. You want Hancock's men to engage each of Heth and Wilcox's CSA divisions in turn, wrecking them as you go.

It is important to make the 2 and 5 Corps attacks real attacks. They must damage the Rebels enough to preclude fancy maneuvers with the other half of the army that is not in yet. Make thern think defensively first! Your command structure is not set up to do rapid changes indirection. Two or three Reb divisions in your rear can be deadly.

Night Moves

Ideally, you will have two uncommitted corps at nightfall: 6 and 9. You will need both to maneuver on your opponent's flanks. Because of its greater reliability, send 6 Corps to the Chewning Plateau. From there, it is in position to attack north against the CSA 2 Corps or south against the rest of Lee's army along the Plank Road. You do not want 6 Corps to start moving until after 11:00 p.m.; do not give the South a freebie by allowing Longstreet to change his orders before entry. At least make him write and send new ones from Lee. This should give you enough time to recover some stragglers if 6 Corps did get engaged.

Ninth Corps has limited use. Its divisions are small, with poor morale (one B rated unit out of the 7 available) and lousy leadership. It can do nothing. It cannot accept orders until after 10:00 p.m. 5 May, unless Burnside achieves the unlikely feat of rolling initiative before then. In any case, at 10:00 p.m., you should stack Grant with Burnside to send him an order immediately. Though Burnside cannot accept an in-person verbal order from Grant (he always rolls as if aide-delivered) you save the one turn transit time, and every turn is critical.

Expect a D2 status result, since the best column you can hope for is the 0- 1 on the Order Acceptance Table. This should get you an acceptance by 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., time enough to get in the fight. Send 9 Corps down the Flat Run Road (one of those deceptively named trails) and strike south through the clearings to find the northern flank of Ewell's Rebels on the Orange Turnpike. The idea is to bring 9 Corps in on Ewell's flank in concert with the Union 5 Corps' renewed frontal attack. Press hard to crack the Rebel defense before your own attack stoppage rolls kick in. Trying balanced pressure probably will not work with 9 Corps. You will find that the divisions break off with some units still unbroken. You might as well hit hard while they are available.

Longstreet's Rebels are not strong enough to save both corps. You should make your strongest effort where they did not go. The CSA First Corps usually heads south to save A. P. Hill's bacon, since he has to face the Union 2 Corps, your best offensive force. He is fully aware that 5 and 9 Corps are incapable of sustained effort for long, and will likely gamble on those two commands not being a major threat. This in itself is a good reason to send the 6 Corps north once it reaches the Chewning House. Try to converge in crushing Ewell's lonely command on the Turnpike, but beware of Longstreet lashing at your rear by the Chewning plateau road. The CSA First Corps may be small, but its brigades have high morale and better wreck levels than yours.

Taking the Chewning clearing and crippling, if not crushing, Ewell's Corps is likely to win enough points for both a strategic and a tactical victory, especially if you force Ewell's men off the map. They will reappear by Parker's Store, but by then they will be pretty well beaten, giving you points for losses and valuable terrain. Sending 5 and 9 Corps after Ewell while 6 Corps joins 2 Corps in converting that holding attack into another main effort is an ambitious strategy not likely to pay off in success. Use it only if your opponent has presented an opening too good to pass up.

Finally, if you have done your job well, the Union force has achieved its goals by about noon on 6 May. Your offensive punch has dissipated, and it is time to defend those gains. The Union can hold on longer defending than on the attack; the Rebels do not have a large sustained offensive capacity. Defending allows the Union to put their cannon in action for a change, and inflict more losses than they suffer.

Tactical Tips

The Union attacks will inevitably face gun lines. No sane Rebel will ignore his cannon, and you will find them astride every road. Usually, the CSA guns can set up on the road hex itself, and in the two hexes adjacent. The further into the woods they go, the harder it will be to set up cannon. Therefore, if you engage them on the flanks, you are less likely to have to charge massed cannon. The best way to handle a gun line is to engage both flanks first, and gradually try to work around. Move adjacent to the guns when it looks as if he will either have to retire (to avoid being flanked entirely) or he is about to suffer an Emergency Corps Retreat. He will probably get to hit you with losses. However, on his turn, he may have to limber and leave, triggering rolls on the Gun Loss Table. This is a good thing, especially if he tends to roll sixes.

Keep divisional commanders back from the line. The morale boost they give will not offset the shift on the Stoppage Table you get when they are dead. You have enough penalties to deal withthere is no sense adding to your woes. If you must have a leader for a critical position, use your corps commander. He usually is not doing anything useful. At least if he gets killed, you can choose which division gets the extra shift.

Use your guns. Occasionally, you will get to fight across cleared ground (Happy, Happy! Joy, Joy!). You can extract some use out of those guns sitting back by Grant and Meade. Also, placing cannon in backstop positions will cover your retreat when your attacks fail, or provide flank coverage when that annoying Longstreet fellow pops up with his divisions. Frontal attacks on a line of cannon are less tempting than an unscreened infantry flank.

Remember, your attacks are going to stop. When that happens, your men might have no orders for several turns as they try to obtain a defensive order. This is his chance to strike back. If he hits you for two turns while you have no orders, you trigger an immediate Emergency Corps Retreat. Not only does this mean you may have to abandon strategic ground and victory points, but the straggler damage from that act can take extra hours to repair. You cannot afford to send corps into the attack with stragglers accumulated, because most of the Union units wreck too easily anyway. If one corps waits while the others go in, the Reb gets to fight you piecemeal. He will likely win any contest of that nature. If you hold everyone in place and recover until all troops are ready, you may need to cancel existing orders and try to reissue orders for a new coordinated attack. None of these options are palatable. Forestall this problem with prior planning; issue defensive orders to your most exposed corps when they near attack stoppage.

Straggler recovery is critical. As mentioned above, the Union army is big but fragile. As units crap out on attacks, pull them back and recover. Get ahead of the time curve because, with so many C and D units, it will take a long time to recover. At the same time, try to stay near the Rebels, preventing them from recovery at least on the front lines.

Odds and Ends

Obviously, I strongly suggest that BRS be played with the Defensive Orders Option. Also, I urge use of the Hidden Movement option with an additional -I modifier on all hidden movement MP accumulation rolls, including those at night, to reflect the confusion of the Wilderness and lack of cavalry on the map. Hidden movement can have a dramatic impact on your opponent. In a recent solitaire game I played to test these strategies, I even surprised myself. I had the 9 Corps accumulate 6 turns of movement to suddenly descend on Ewell's flank. Since I overestimated the movement points needed for Burnside to reach Ewell, I thought the Union could not engage in one turn. Unfortunately for Ewell, 6 turns proved just enough time, and Burnside's attack column enfiladed two brigades. Hidden movement gives the Union an added too] with which to offset the command advantages of Longstreet's flexible arrival and the Rebel army generally. Use it for the 9 Corps, use it for 6 Corps, and in any other way you can think of.

Only use the two Optional game rules (the inability to automatically recover from SH or DG unless stacked with a leader, and especially halving fire values for SH and quartering them for DG troops) to balance a game between a beginner and a veteran. Halving the fire values will preclude any Union offensive activity at all. Additionally, I like to treat one other rule as Optional and modify it when I play: The additional Corps Attack Stoppage shift to the right for any divisional commander of 5 and 6 Corps. With this rule, the Union player will be lucky to get one good attack out of these two corps, let alone a second assault the next morning. Omitting this rule, while perhaps not historically justified, will save much frustration on the Union side of the table and make for a closer game. Note that you should still use the extra shift for 9 Corps, since their offensive punch in the Wilderness was almost nonexistent.