A frequent comment is made to the effect that our games are somehow less playable solitaire than most because of the command systems in use. A point further from the truth would be hard to make. Our command systems actually enhance and assist solitaire play. This article will look at a solitaire game of Barren Victory I am playing and the influence of the command system on it.

I am playing the full two-day battle (although my progress has been very slow due to other projects), starting with the morning 14th Corps attack and moving from there. A couple of divisions of 14th Corps (Baird, 1/14 and Brannon, 3/14) have been ordered to attack the Confederates around Jay's Mill. The Rebels there (Forrest's Cavalry soon to be reinforced by Walker's Reserve Corps) are the only Confederates on the map to start the game with orders.

I decided if 14th Corps is going to attack, then I should help them out as best I could-so, I rolled for and got initiative to send forward the Union Reserve Corps under Granger. When I play these games solitaire, I try to give only the orders to troops that I reasonably think are based on intelligence they might have a way of knowing. Sending an aide to Granger from Thomas letting him know what 14th Corps is doing is hardly shocking, and that Granger might decide to "join in the fun" is also not surprising.

While the Union units deploy for the big attack on Forrest, Braxton Bragg starts belting out orders-at 9:00arn he issues orders to Hood and Buckner to attack abreast of each other (1st Corps on the right, Buckner's on the left) through the Brotherton House to capture Snodgrass Hill. These orders were based on Bragg's wanting to kick off the show with his own actions and his historical feelings about the location of the Union left flank. He envisions this attack as on the Union extreme left with his troops taking up a blocking position between the Union army and Rossville.

We can see that this reasoning is faulty-but we are letting Bragg do what comes natuarally. This leads to the following situation-14th Corps and Reserve Corps move into position, leaving a gap in the Union lines which Hood and Buckner move through without contest. The Confederates occupy Snodgrass Hill, form a peremeter, and await future developments.

14th Corps lurches into Forrest generating heavy loss on both sides. Before the Reserve Corps could arrive, Thomas fails a corps attack stoppage check and frantically gets initiative to try again. Reserve Corps arrives and starts to deploy when they, too, get a corps attack stoppage. Going it alone again, Thomas continues halfheartedly and fails another check, The attack on Forrest at Jay's Mill ends with a wimper.

Meanwhile, Bragg-who is assumed to have been alerted to the big Yankee attack on Jay's Mill-orders Polk to attack with his corps on the right flank of the Union troops attacking Forrest. A convienient road route into a position which is logically to the right-rear of these troops is obvious and Bragg repeatedly orders Polk to move out. Giving orders from Bragg to Polk is a frustrating experience-as I'm sure it was to Bragg in real life. After several attempts failed, Bragg personally goes to Polk and grabs him by the throat until Polk nods that he will gopresumably before passing out.

The Union command is hardly inactive during this period. Rosecrans arrives and tries to take measure of the situation. He guides Sheridan's Division opposite Lee and Gordon's Mill, relieving 2 1 st Corps of that duty, and orders 21st Corps to attack toward and capture the Brock House. He is presumably unaware of the Snodgrass Hill problem and is only vaugely aware of Thomas' situation. The attack he plans is to support Thomas, although he must realize that on arrival at the Brock House, 21 st Corps will need further orders to more fully support 14th Corps.

Thomas, for his part, manages to get word of the capture of Snodgrass Hill. Seeing his future fame fading before he has a chance to enjoy it, he orders 14th Corps to withdraw from Jay's Mill, form near the Layfayette Road, and attack to capture Snodgrass Hill. The roles are reversed, but his chance for fame and glory still beckons.

Granger takes the 14th Corps orders under advisement, and sits down to have lunch.

Polk finally gets in gear and, after catching his breath, he moves out toward the Union troops attacking Forrest. By the time he arrives, however, 14th Corps is gone and the attack had ended. Without instructions on what to do next, he forms line and does nothing. Bragg, meanwhile, takes stock of what his uncoordinated batch of orders has done and notices that there is nothing between his HQ and the Union army but air and trees. A frantic order is dispatched to Polk to return and form line in the Rebel center. Amazingly enough, Polk likes this idea and moves rapidly back to patch up a line.

Done with his lunch, Gordon Granger decides to join in on 14th Corps' attack on Snodgrass Hill and begins moving the Reserve Corps toward that end. 21st Corps-after an amazing impersonation of Polk by Crittenden-finally begins its attack. The net resultof all this confusion is shown in figure 3. Crittenden's attack skims the edge of Polk's new line. After a few turns of useless loss, Rosecrans himself arrives to call the whole thing off.

The attackon Snodgrass Hill is a grotesque repeat of the absymal performance earlier in the day at Jay's Mill. 14th Corps goes in chin first and gets bloodied. Two of its divisions are now wrecked. Refusing to quit-and, believe me, I tried both corps attack stoppage and initiative to end this bloodbath-Thomas pulls his two wrecked divisions out of the attack, and orders Johnson's Division (2/20, attached, and proud of it, until now) to take that [expletive deleted] HILLN! Knowing this is stupid, Johnson says "Yes, sir" and proceeds to try. The attack is supported (laughably) by Negley's Division.

Granger's Reserve Corps arrives at the height of the Snodgrass fighting. They form line. They advance toward the enemy. They look MEAN. Then, they fail their corps attack stoppage roll and leave with a wimper-thanks for all the help guys! I decided it was too late in the day to mess with getting them started again.

The situation at 4:30 pm is as follows: Union losses 6,400; Confederate-5,300. Several leaders have been killed or wounded-Negley, Van Cleve, and Hindman.

Then the unbelievable happens. Johnson's attack reaches the edge of Snodgrass Hill. There, protected by a slope hexside, is Hood's Texas Brigade in a line studded with cannon. Giving it the good ole' college try, Johnson's Division fires everything it has at the Texans, who-with an incredibly bad dice roll- manage to scurry back in terror! The flank of Snodgrass Hill is wide open. Johnson, in sheer amazement, can now run amok atop the hill and it everyone in the flank-oh, happy days!

At the start of the next Union turn, Thomas-looking over the crippled remains of his corps, and untold about the success of Johnson's forlorn hope-fails his corps attack stoppage check. Figuring Johnson would react violently to orders calling off the attack at this time, I rolled immediately for initiative to restart the attack-believeing Johnson himself would have rode back to give Thomas a peice of his mind.

Thomas thinks that's the most idiotic idea he has heard lately, fails the intiative check, and proceeds to pull back for the night. Try simulating this sequence of events and drama without the command system, I dare you. First off, all of 14th Corps would still be attacking at this point, if the smallest hole had opened up, Johnson would have poured into it-while the other Union Divisions would have attacked Hood on two or three sides. You tell me, which is more "realistic," the super-soldier version or what happened in my game?

By the time night has completely fallen, the situation is as it appears in figure 4. Most of the Union army is hemmed into the lower left hand corner of map B. The Confederate army forms a line facing it in a semi-circle facing south around to facing west. Hood's Corps, however, forms a short line facing north at the extreme right of the Confederate line. They are there to face Granger's Reserve Corps which is now isolated from the rest of the Union army to the north. Sensing disaster if he keeps close to the Confederate line, Granger pulls back to the north some 12 hexes and goes into camp for the night.

Planning for the next morning begins. My first inclination is to have the Rebs go over to the attack. The Union attacked all through the first day in a haphazard and "behind the eight ball" manner-I wanted to see if circumstances would be different for the Rebels. Taking stock of the Confederate army, I've decided D.H. Hill's Corps would have to be the main body for the attack. They have hardly been blooded in the battle (unlike Hood, Buckner, and Forrest) and aren'tcommanded by an idiotlikePolk. Besides, Cleburne's Division is one of die best and its commander is the best. Hill is no slacker either. During the night, Longstreet and McLaws's Division is supposed to show up, so I've decided to add McLaws and Stewart (from Buckner's Corps) to the attack and put Longstreet in overall command of the effort.

The position off Hill's people at the end of the day is good--right at the point of the Union line, a rupture here would destroy the entire Union army, and they have no good line of retreat. The plan would be put together shortly after midnight when everyone is up and would be planned to kick off shortly after daylight.

I had thought about detaching some troops to bag Granger but decided against it. The main object of operations is the destruction of Rosecrans and his army. Granger can be mopped up later. Any detachement of troops to go round him up now would be a waste of forces needed for the real objective everyone not involved in the big assault is holding the Union army in the corner of the map. The only concession to Granger's presence is the facing of Hood's depleted corps. That's just a precaution in case Granger gets froggy and attempts to attack.

Next time I'll cover the action of the second day-with the hammer blow of Longstreet's attack coming at dawn.

Barren Victory Solitaire