Ultimate General Gettysburg

[rs2excelsior]

So a while back I ran across a game (http://www.ultimategeneral.com/) in development that covered tactical army command across the battle of Gettysburg. It looked pretty cool and fairly accurate, so I decided to keep an eye on it. It's actually out now, and I managed to get it on the Steam sale just before it went off.

I've only done the first engagement--Heth's division trying to gain ground against Buford's cavalry and elements of Reynold's I Corps. I lost more troops than I should have, but managed to push the Federals off of Oak Ridge, so edged out a minor victory. And apparently, your positions, numbers, and troop conditions carry over from one engagement to the next, so a crushing defeat early on can set you back (or a decisive victory can give you an advantage later). And the AI seems very well done--one that fights intelligently rather than just "cheating" to make it harder.

The map is gorgeous and really well detailed, and the controls are fairly straightforward--although I still need to get used to them some. And the troops react realistically. They can make minor maneuvers and return fire on their own, and don't really need micromanaging.

So, has anyone else tried this game? Any tactical tips or tricks? And if there are any fellow history buffs out there that haven't tried it, I strongly recommend that you do. I haven't found a better Civil War wargame.

[1dominator]

Not exactly what you requested but I thought it might be interesting to mention for those who played the total war series of games. If you have odds are you're familiar with a set of mods (one for each game) called DarthMod, for those who arent these were mods that improved the tactical gameplay by tweaking ai, unit statistics, physics etc. Well Darth, the man behind those mods is also the man behind this game, its a project he started after quitting the TW mod scene.
Just thought I would toss that out there as a form of endorsement that would appeal to people who might be familiar with the excellent TW mods.

[Brother Oni]

So, has anyone else tried this game? Any tactical tips or tricks? And if there are any fellow history buffs out there that haven't tried it, I strongly recommend that you do. I haven't found a better Civil War wargame.

I watched the 20 minute trailer a while ago and immediately added it to my wishlist. :smallbiggrin:

I also picked it up during the Steam sale but I'm currently grappling with tactical issues in a different game to play this one.

I'm not very familiar with the American Civil War - is there a good summary and/or timeline of events that you'd recommend (aside from Wikipedia which can be a bit of dry read).

[rs2excelsior]

I'm not very familiar with the American Civil War - is there a good summary and/or timeline of events that you'd recommend (aside from Wikipedia which can be a bit of dry read).

Summary of the Civil War in general, or of the Battle of Gettysburg?

[Brother Oni]

Summary of the Civil War in general, or of the Battle of Gettysburg?

Either will do - I like history, so I don't mind reading up on stuff. I had a girlfriend who's father was a American Civil War re-enactor (he had a bumper sticker with the Confederate flag and the line "If at first you don't secede...") although at the time I was more into medieval era re-enactment (early Modern was about the limits of my interests back then).

It might be interesting to try fighting the Battle of Gettysburg first without any foreknowledge, then reading up on it after I lose and seeing what actually happened. :smallbiggrin:

[Gaelbert]

Either will do - I like history, so I don't mind reading up on stuff. I had a girlfriend who's father was a American Civil War re-enactor (he had a bumper sticker with the Confederate flag and the line "If at first you don't secede...") although at the time I was more into medieval era re-enactment (early Modern was about the limits of my interests back then).

It might be interesting to try fighting the Battle of Gettysburg first without any foreknowledge, then reading up on it after I lose and seeing what actually happened. :smallbiggrin:

James McPherson for the Civil War in general (Battle Cry of Freedom won a Pulitzer, you'd probably want to start there), Killer Angels by Shaeara (I don't remember how to spell the name) for Gettysburg specifically. I've also read and enjoyed Gettysburg by Stephan Sears.

I personally love UG Gettysburg... or at least the first 30 minutes of it. My game crashes every time I finish the first day of fighting. It's a testament to the quality of the game that I still consider it worth playing in 20 minute chunks before the inevitable crash though. Knowledge of the actual battle is fun but not necessary in the slightest. You'll likely not follow the historical path, but knowing the context allows you to compare your results and actions against the real ones.

[rs2excelsior]

For books, I'll have to get back to you... although I can give you a quick run-down of Gettysburg itself (from memory, so there may be a couple of things I miss, although it should have the major points)

Lee had initiated a second invasion of the north for much of the same reasons as the first (Antietam/Sharpsburg campaign): to get the fight out of Virginia, to force the Union onto the defensive, and maybe to win a major victory on enemy soil and gain foreign recognition, although that was less likely by 1863 than it was in 1862. So Lee's objective was not to seize and hold territory, but to find the Army of the Potomac, engage it on favorable ground, and destroy it. If he could do that, maybe even threaten Washington DC itself and force a peace settlement.

Meade's objective was simpler: keep Lee's Army of Northern Virginia away from Washington, and force it out of Union territory.

Both armies were spread out. Lee was centered around Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Meade around Hagerstown, Maryland. Lee didn't want a fight yet, not until he had found a good battlefield, so had issued orders not to start a general engagement. He knew Meade was somewhere south of him, but not exactly where, in large part because Stuart's cavalry was off to the north raiding. Likewise, Meade was not certain exactly where Lee's main body was.

Morning, July 1
General Henry Heth (CSA) took his division toward the town of Gettysburg (to get shoes for his men, so the story goes, although I don't know how true that is) when he ran into a couple of cavalry brigades from Buford's division. Not believing it to be a major force, he brought up the rest of his division. Buford recognized that the terrain around Gettysburg was favorable for the Union so decided to hold his ground. Unfortunately, elements of Reynold's I Corps (including the crack Iron Brigade) were nearby, and marched to support Buford. Pender's Division came forward to support Heth, and the battle of Gettysburg began with both sides trying to control the ridges northwest of the town (Oak Ridge, McPherson's Ridge).

Afternoon, July 1
Elements of Ewell's II Corps (CSA) began to filter in from the north, as well as Hill's III Corps from the northwest. Howard's XI Corps (USA) also joined the fight. However, XI Corps was made up of mostly German immigrants--they were the troops who had broken and run before Jackson's flank march at Chancellorsville two months before--and didn't really stand a chance against the Confederates. Generals Lee and Longstreet also arrived on the field. Hill and Ewell gained ground, fighting through the town of Gettysburg itself.

Two ridges run north-south just south of Gettysburg: Cemetery Ridge (anchored on either end by Culp's Hill and the Round Tops) and, just west of it, Seminary Ridge. July 1 ended with the Union on Cemetery Ridge. Ewell could've made another attack on Culp's Hill and probably taken it, but his troops were tired from fighting and so he chose to wait for the next day--while the Union dug fortifications and brought up reinforcements.

July 2
During the night more troops arrived on both sides. The Union had deployed in a "fish hook." The Army of the Potomac's line faced west from Little Round Top up Cemetery Ridge before turning to face north and eastward on Culp's Hill. Lee decided to assault the flanks of the Union line in a series of attacks. In the morning, Longstreet's I Corps (CSA) was ordered to outflank the Union left while probing attacks were made on the right to pin the rest of the Union army, but ran headlong into Sickle's III Corps (USA) which had deployed forward of the Round Tops to gain better lines-of-sight. III Corps was crushed in the fighting around the Wheatfield and the Peach Orchard, and Hood's Division charged up Little Round Top but was repulsed with heavy losses (Hood himself lost an arm). Later in the day, Lee attacked on the Union left, making an attack on Culp's Hill and Cemetery Hill which, too, was unsuccessful. By this time, most of Stuart's cavalry was finally on the field.

July 3
Lee decided that, since he had spent the day attacking on the flanks, Meade would be weak in his center. Which was true. It was held by units that had been rotated out from the flanks after the second day's fighting. So, once shelling from the Federal positions on Culp's Hill made him decide against attacking there again as he'd initially planned, he ordered an attack on the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge. Pickett's Division, which had arrived late in the day on July 2nd, along with Pettigrew's Division (formerly Heth's Division, but Heth had been wounded on July 1st) and Trimble's Division (formerly Pender's, who had been mortally wounded on July 2nd) would make the assault. Lee massed his artillery and bombarded the Union lines for about two hours, which was the largest artillery bombardment of the war. The arsenal supplying shells to the Army of Northern Virginia had recently blown up, and the new arsenal that made shells cut the fuses slightly longer than the gunners were used to, so many of the shells went over the heads of the Union defenders, making the bombardment largely ineffective. Longstreet ordered the attack, and all nine brigades went forward over about a mile of open ground. They were under heavy artillery fire from their front and from Little Round Top, and as they got close the Union infantry opened up, along with canister from the artillery. Nevertheless, some of Armistead's Brigade made it over the wall, but were faced with fresh Union reserves and either retreated or were captured.

Lee was devastated, and began a retreat back to Virginia in the night of the 3rd. The Army of the Potomac was also too battered to mount an immediate counterattack.



The movie Gettysburg (based on the book The Killer Angels) is also really good--it's fairly accurate and gives a good account of the battle.

Hope this helps!

[Brother Oni]

James McPherson for the Civil War in general (Battle Cry of Freedom won a Pulitzer, you'd probably want to start there), Killer Angels by Shaeara (I don't remember how to spell the name) for Gettysburg specifically. I've also read and enjoyed Gettysburg by Stephan Sears.
but not necessary in the slightest. You'll likely not follow the historical path, but knowing the context allows you to compare your results and actions against the real ones.


Hope this helps!

Thank you both for the suggestions and the blow by blow summary. :smallbiggrin:

[Traab]

Man, I havent done a gettysburg challenge since I played robert e lee's civil war general. It was an old game, like 96 I think it says is when it came out. Set on a hex grid map. You could play the campaign as confederate, or any of the battles as whichever side you wanted. They even had a what if battle as an attack on washington. You had to keep track of troop morale, any of your units that have been taking losses too much lose morale and may refuse to attack, or even flee the battle. You had to keep track of ammo. nothing worse than encircling an enemy army, only to realize your troops have no bullets left. You got to work with infantry, skirmishers, cavalry and artillery. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. It was all turn based combat and even had little mini videos to show combat going on. Really pretty good for its time.

Each battle was started off historically accurate, you even got reinforcements when the history books said each side did. But from there you could do things however you wanted. For example, when playing as the confederates in gettysburg, I started off the fight by sending out my few cavalry units to where the union was coming in and used them to lead the union army on a long game of catch me if you can. Meanwhile the rest of my army took over the ridges mentioned in the official battle records, and got firmly entrenched. After that, I built up my morale by digging in and waiting for the union to reach me and try to take this chunk of land back. I spent the first day getting ready and setting up with a few late day skirmishes before night fall.

The second day was a meat grinder, I sat there in full turtle mode letting the numerically superior union forces grind away at my troops while my cannon took potshots and weakened their morale. Day three was when I was finally able to counter. By that point I had a significant advantage in morale, and was able to isolate and destroy numerous union troops, capturing tons of prisoners and supplies and eventually forcing much of the union army to retreat. I took a heck of a lot of losses, but the union took way more and in the end I got a significant victory. Had there been no specific number of turns I likely would have eventually forced the entire union army off the map and destroyed most of it in the process.