The Southern Player has three strengths and two weaknesses that must he exploited and avoided if victory is to be gained. The first Strength that the Southern Player has is mobility. The Northern Player is limited in Movement for the first two Game-Turns and this will give the Confederate Player a total of three free Movement and Combat Phases. As far as the initial deployment is concerned, you are in about the worst possible place to mount an attack. The terrain is heavily wooded and rough-wooded...perfect for defense and terrible for movement. You should spend the first two Game-Turns moving rather than fighting. Use the East-West roads to maneuver the bulk of your force to the Union center where the terrain is more favorable to attack. While a number of comparatively minor attacks should be made on the first Game-Turn on the Union right flank, the main effort should come at the Union center.
The second strength that the Confederate Player has is a superiority in Strength Points and number of units in the initial deployment. As the first day progresses and the North takes losses, this ratio will increase. The Southern Player should never miss an opportunity to kill off a Northern unit. Because of the numerical superiority, it is possible for the Confederate Player to maneuver around the Northern units and make "Defender Surrounded" attacks.
The third advantage that the Southern Player has is initiative. The burden of attack is on the Southern Player and, by using it to the utmost the first day, he can always keep the Northern Player off balance and present him from launching any kind of counter-attack. Judicious use of advance after combat will force the Northern Player to make poor attacks [especially effective if the Attack Effectiveness rule is being used] and will enable a single Southern unit to "lock" several Northern units in place with Zones of Control.
The first weakness that the Southern Player must face is the terrain. The terrain is just made for defense; it is rugged enough to give good defensive benefits and Union control of the road nets make Confederate maneuver difficult, at best. What the Southern Player must do is avoid making a major effort in the rough-woods areas and to continue to advance where clear terrain and roads are available.
The second and worst weakness that the Southern Player has is time - it is all in the favor of the North. The Southern Player, in effect, has to win the first day if he is to win the game. If he fails to take either the bridge [hex 0905] or the ferry point [hex 1508] he will be in serious trouble during the second day. The Southern Player starts the game as powerful as he is ever going to get. The Northern Player receives major reinforcements during the night and, if the Southern Player has suffered any kind of losses during the first day of battle, the initiative will shift irreparably to the Northern Player. If this situation occurs, the best that the Southern Player can hope for is to minimize his losses the second day.
There is little that the Northern Player can do for the first two Game-Turns except rend his clothes and tear his hair. One thing that he can do is use artillery bombardments as much as possible for forced attacks to avoid deadly exchanges and attacker retreat results.
Starting with the third Game-Turn, the Northern Player for the first time has some options. It is important to remember that the North does not have to win the first day: simple survival is enough. Avoid attacking Southern units unless forced to or unless you are fairly assured of eliminating a Southern unit. You must attempt to conserve your forces during the first day, but, under no circumstances, allow the Southern Player to flank you. It is worth sacrificing units to gain time.
Advance if you can lock two or more Southern units in place and also use holding actions at important crossroads to slow the Southern Advance. You will be unable to stop him the first day, but if you can slow him down enough to survive until night, you will have a good chance of winning. Use your artillery and gunboats for bombardment diversionary attacks to conserve your losses.
Although the terrain is non conducive to fast movement, maneuver is largely the key to the game. With the locking Zones of' Control, a single unit can tie up a vastly superior Enemy force. Although the South has a slight edge in Strength Points and number of units at the start, time is working against him. Conversely, the Union simply does not have the units to be able to afford having even one unit locked unnecessarily.
The most effective attack is the 3-1 attack, particularly if the Defender is surrounded. It is not worth making higher attacks unless a 6-1 can be achieved; the risks of an exchange are too high.
Tactically, the best maneuver for both Players is to execute the attacks in such a manner as to be able to get a surrounded attack. This can best be achieved through judicious use of advance after combat.
One last important point - remember what your Victory Conditions are! It is often easy to forget them in the heat of the game. The North merely has to survive to win. The South must utterly destroy the North and the best way to do that is to capture the ferry point and bridge on the first day and then destroy the surviving units of the Northern Army on the second day.
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