I love the graphics and the simplicity of gameplay, but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents as far as history goes, since I did a lot of research on the War With a Dozen Monikers that is commonly referred to as the American Civil War, and a ridiculous amount in particular on Gettysburg in preparation for a currently vacationed map (which, if you have any inclination to replace my graphic skills on that one, I'd be ecstatic
).
Now, before I say anything further, let me acknowledge that fudging historical details in order to accomodate gameplay is not only accepted, but expected in CC maps. So don't take my post as a cry for an exact replica of the battle by any means. My map concept, for instance, aimed at a detailed concept (and a complex map) and yet many terrain features were distorted/rotated and a few troop locations guessed at in order to satisfy gameplay. This map is far simpler and that's a strength, I think, but I also think that history can be accomodated without ruining the gameplay framework.
My biggest problem, unfortunately, is the implication of the gameplay that the battle centered around the town of Gettysburg itself. Like most Civil War battles (Vicksburg, Atlanta, Washington and "Petersburg" being the exceptions that come to mind) Gettysburg was so named because that was the nearest population center, but was not especially important as a place to be held or taken. Southern names for battles followed this pattern of naming battles for nearby towns or cities, while Northern names used the nearest body of water or terrain feature (which I've always found odd considering the cultures in question).
In other words, the battle between the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac happened to take place near Gettysburg, but the town itself was not the main object of the fighting. Rather, the goal of the Northern forces was to impede the advance of their enemy, while the goal of the Southern forces was to crush the opposing army.
To illustrate why this is such a grave departure from history, let me point out that by the dawn of the second day of this 3-day battle, the Confederate troops were in uncontested possession of the town of Gettysburg. In fact, using your map bonuses, the Rebels held:
Hanover
York
Railroad
to Cities North
Gettysburg
to Chambersburg
to Hagerstown
Seminary
Just Farms
This would result in the Rebel side getting bonuses of +23 compared to the Union's paltry +9. Day 2 and 3 of the battle, then, should have been overwhelmingly in favor of the South, yet it clearly wasn't.
Now I understand that a CC map won't involve just 2 sides divided along historical lines, but the fact that such lines aren't even possible on this map because the bonuses overvalue Gettysburg seems strange.
The Union's strategy was purely defensive from the beginning; General Meade was only convinced to stay through the advice of General Howard and later General Hancock, and throughout the conflict he prevaricated about whether he should order a tactical withdrawal to Pipe Creek, where he had prepared a defensive line before the battle had erupted so unexpectedly. The reason the Federal generals wanted to stay was the excellent high ground that they occupied (except for the foolish ignoring of the Round Tops until it was almost too late).
I state this because the map seems to center more around terrain (I
love the excellent illustration of Gettsyburg as a road hub) and yet does not indicate the central importance of the high ground.
In fact, there are very few impassibles on this map, and the ones that exist seem historically dubious.
For instance, Confederate Brig. General Law (under orders from Major General Hood) scouted the Round Tops from the position that would roughly correlate to Emmitsburg Road III on your map. He later willfully disobeyed the nonsensical plan of attack given to him, and changed the advance of his brigade substantially to the east, toward the Round Tops and Devil's Den, rather than straight up the Emmitsburg Road as ordered.
This was very important, since General Law's brigade was sent in first and acted as a guide for the other brigades of Hood's division. So they all followed his lead, and as a result two Confederate regiments ended up on Round Top while the rest of the troops were involved in a vicious assault on Devil's Den and Lt. General Sickles' Corps positioned along the Plum Run (labeled accurately as The Peach Orchard and Rose's Farm on your map).
Yet your map has the route of the Confederate advance to Round Top- the first troops to occupy its summit in fact- as impassible. Furthermore, once Devil's Den was taken from the Federals, at least 3 Confederate regiments proceeded from Devil's Den to attack the western slope of Little Round Top and assist in the separate Confederate attacks on the southern and southwestern slopes. The impassibles on this map clearly make this route of attack impossible. Admittedly, in the event the western slopes of Little Round Top were so steep that the advance go nowhere, but the Impassible between Round Top and Marsh Creek or Devil's Den makes little sense historically.
Less grevious but also puzzling is the impassible along Rock Creek, since Rebel General Walker's Stonewall Brigade was ordered to cross at that location if he felt that the Union forces in his front posed no immediate threat near Wolf's Hill (as it turns out, he mistakenly did think that they were a threat and thus kept his possibly battle-changing force out of the assault on Culp's Hill). Rebel General Johnson's brigade crossed Rock Creek at approximately where your impassible lies to attack Culp's Hill, although the passable route to the north between Benner's Hill and Culp's Hill is close enough to satisfy history I think. Nevertheless I don't think that the impassible is very well established.
I point these cases out because it seems to me that far more daunting terrain obstacle existed that aren't shown, such as the stone wall along Cemetery Ridge (not the wall itself, but the approaches to it), and the opposite approaches to Seminary Ridge, for instance. Or, rather, if the high ground of the Round Tops is going to be listed as impassible, then the high ground elswhere should also have impassibles.
Anyway, hope that this map does well, it looks wonderful and the simplicity is a welcome contrast to most maps in the Foundry right now.
-- Marshal Ney
Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 5:23 pm
