WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

I'm writing a scenario of the battle of Antietam for my American Civil War mod. The orbats for both sides are complete, and I'm dividing the battle into phases. I'll also be writing a copy of each scenario for both sides. As it is, advancing as the human player is so much easier to model, but these test scenarios are useful to predict where the AI's troops should be per turn, so the AI in attack can be scripted.

nb - by orbats, I mean that the units on both sides are named. Capitalized leader names are historical.

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

The focus of this scenario is the action at the West Woods and Miller's Cornfield, which was the scene of intense, horrific fighting.

"..the most deadly fire of the war. Rifles are shot to pieces in the hands of the soldiers, canteens and haversacks are riddled with bullets, the dead and wounded go down in scores" - Captain Benjamin F. Cook of the 12th Massachusetts Infantry, on the attack by the Louisiana Tigers at the Cornfield

".. every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the rebel slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before" - Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker

Major General Joseph Hooker's 1st Corps, Federal Army of the Potomac, advances south against Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Left Wing, Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

https://i.ibb.co/NSD0gsX/1.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

I begin with the cornfield. General Ricketts sends his 2nd Division against Miller's Cornfield, and a terrible volley of shot and shell from rebel artillery, concentrated around the Dunker Church, begins to work over the Federal line. Union 12-pounders at the North Woods don't have the range to reach the Confederates, so, after counterbattery fire from the few 3-inch Ordnance rifles I have up there, I begin the process of moving the Napoleons forward only after the rebel guns have fired all their shots and are suppressed. A bit gamey, yes, but in this mod, artillery is deadly against other artillery, and an exploding caisson can cause immense damage.

The Pennsylvania Reserves can't take the Confederate artillery fire. Truman Seymour tries to rally his regiments but they mill around in confusion along the Smoketown Road. 1st Pennsylvania also took a volley of musketry from Mississippi infantry hidden in the cornfield.

https://i.ibb.co/hHYSVkP/2.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

The next phase of battle is the advance of Doubleday's 1st Division to the West Woods, his line straddling the Hagerstown Pike. Colonel Phelps's 1st Brigade of New Yorkers takes heavy fire from Virginia and Alabama infantry hidden in the treeline, and begin to break, but the brigade stays intact and, rather than moving forward into that murderous musketry, form a line and begin returning volleys. Their fire causes some of Stonewall's veteran regiments to break.

Gibbon's 4th Brigade has a harder time of it, the Wisconsin boys halting to trade volleys with the Virginians of Jones's Brigade. Marsena Patrick's 3rd Brigade begins working the rebel left flank, and I detach a brigade from George Meade's 3rd Division to support Ricketts in the cornfield. Thus ends turn 1.

https://i.ibb.co/47rN4c8/3.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Now I have a problem, with Ewell's division moving up Mumma Lane to hit Ricketts's left flank.

https://i.ibb.co/zZxZcjb/4.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Still under heavy rebel artillery fire, I have the Pennsylvania Reserves hunker down at the edge of the East Woods, both to avoid drawing fire and to help blunt Ewell's attack. I also dispatch another brigade from Meade's division, along with a battery each of Rhode Island and US regular artillery, to assist.

Meanwhile, John Bell Hood's old brigade of Texans (he now commands the division, and WT Wofford now leads the Texas Brigade) and Whiting's mixed brigade of Alabamians, Mississippians, and North Carolinians (in the real battle, the commanders of all four regiments of Whiting's Brigade were shot) have revealed themselves in the cornfield and begin trading volleys with the Pennsylvanians. Miller's Cornfield now begins to get bloody.

https://i.ibb.co/Xs0n3QK/5.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Doubleday's fight is not going very well. Early's Brigade approaches from the west against Doubleday's right flank, but three of my batteries on the Hagerstown Pike check Early. I also send the remaining brigade of Meade's Division in that direction. Thus ends turn 2.

https://i.ibb.co/w0dBCyq/6.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Doubleday has stabilized his line, and with Early's advance checked by Meade's reserve brigade, I can redirect my artillery against the West Woods. A brisk exchange of musketry is still going on, though Jackson's left flank, held by the division of JR Jones, is holding firm. There may be too many rebels in those woods to push through.

https://i.ibb.co/gRFd5X7/7.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

The 2nd US Sharpshooters, the riflemen in green uniforms, are doing damage to the rebs with their Sharps rifles.

https://i.ibb.co/YyK2Fsh/8.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

The fight in the cornfield continues to be a mess, but I've been able to push forward and take two objective flags. True to history, the 12th Massachusetts Volunteers suffered terribly at the hands of Hays's Louisiana Tigers (in real life, the regiment suffered 67% casualties in less than an hour). Ricketts's flank is too exposed to Ewell, who is still moving up Mumma Lane, so I have the Pennsylvania Reserve brigade move out of the East Woods to help. This is the brigade that was mauled by the reb artillery at the Dunker Church, but since some of those guns have been suppressed and much of the battlefield is obscured by smoke, I have them dash out of the treeline to join the fray in the cornfield. I'm certain that Meade's reserve brigade is moving fast enough to meet Ewell, and the two batteries are almost in position on Mumma Lane. Two batteries of Napoleons have moved up to support Ricketts, and with their vision obscured by the smoke of the fight, the 3-inch Ordnance rifles are limbered up and prepared to move forward. End of turn 3.

https://i.ibb.co/LN7N0dL/9.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

A savage battle began, with considerable melee action with rifle butts and bayonets due to short visibility in the corn. Officers rode about cursing and yelling orders no one could hear in the noise. Rifles became hot and fouled from too much firing; the air was filled with a hail of bullets and shells.

Starting this turn with the left flank of Hooker's 1st Corps, I see I lost the US Regular battery I had moved to Mumma Lane, destroyed by cannon fire from Bachman's German South Carolina battery. I rush the Rhode Island battery there anyway, then move the caisson two hexes away. It's vital that Ewell is stopped from reaching the East Woods, thereby flanking the 1st Corps. Truman's brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, by now the longest-suffering unit in this fight, has to hold its position, while Magilton's brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, detached from Meade, files into line on Truman's left flank. https://i.ibb.co/N96qPhK/b.jpg

The rebs have some damn big guns around the Dunker Church.. the German battery is even fielding a 6.3-inch Blakely Rifle! https://i.ibb.co/n1Vg3mb/10.jpg

The fighting in the cornfield has become a bloody mess, both sides having been standing and blasting away at each other two full turns. I keep trying to advance deeper into the cornfield but the reb musketry and cannonades are too intense. My artillery can't do any good here, because the nearest high ground is out of range of Hood's line and they can't see into the cornfield through all the smoke. On the Hagerstown Pike, I send a brigade, in column formation, from Meade's division to drive into the gap between Hood's division in the cornfield and Jones's division in the West Woods.
https://i.ibb.co/p2RfCf5/Image14.jpg

Back at Doubleday's line, Phelps's New Yorkers launch a charge that causes Taliaferro's brigade of Alabamians and Virginians to break! Two regiments from Patrick's brigade also charge, seizing an objective flag, and it's bayonets and rifle butts between the 19th Indiana and the 48th Alabama. The Alabamians, stunned by the Yankee charge, disperse and cease to exist as a regiment for the rest of this battle. The other two regiments of Patrick's brigade are shot to pieces, and are too suppressed to participate. The remaining regiments comprising Doubleday's right flank are also pretty damaged, and there are still lots of rebels securing Jones's left flank, so for now they'll trade volleys while Phelps's brigade does what it can. Between them and Anderson's brigade driving toward the Hagerstown Pike, I can split Jones and Hood, thereby causing a serious rift in Jackson's line. nb - I really doubt Jackson would have allowed this to happen in real life.
https://i.ibb.co/PQGb1CM/13.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

I estimate that the brigades of Phelps, Gibbon, and Patrick have easily lost half their numbers. In an earlier post, I confused Hoffman's brigade with one of Meade's detached brigades. Regardless, his is the only intact brigade in Doubleday's division. Despite Phelps's successes, hard-won with even more bayonets and rifle butts, the division is too mauled and the rebs still in too much strength in the woods to continue the assault. With so many losses, I decide to call off the attack and establish a line in the North Woods.
https://i.ibb.co/Y006mJH/14.jpg

At the cornfield, the fighting continues to be a brutal slugfest. Maneuver is almost impossible, as earch move forward initiates a hail of musketry and cannon fire, but Ricketts keeps his regiments fighting and giving it just as hard to the rebs. The Pennsylvania Reserves have checked Ewell, and backed by artillery, they establish a line in the East Woods, straddling Mumma Lane, and begin exchanging volleys with Ewell's Georgia regiments. End of turn 4.
https://i.ibb.co/YNmV15x/15.jpg

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

It continues to be a slugfest in the cornfield, and the Pennsylvania Reserves continue to check Ewell along the Mumma Road. To the west, the line has largely stabilized and I make plans to hit Jackson's left flank again.

<a href="https://ibb.co/mbdJQjX"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/LYBS4FJ/Ant1.jpg" alt="Ant1" border="0"></a>

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

I've decided to pull Meade's division from the cornfield and let the rebels come at me for a change. The losses have been too great - Christian's Brigade (2nd/2nd/First Corps AoP) has been almost entirely destroyed.

Doubleday on the left has to move now - the constant trading of volleys has severely reduced his ammunition, and Jackson has sent Jones's Brigade against him. I send Doubleday's line out to meet Jones, though Early is still advancing from the West. However, First Corps artillery has forced him to a halt. If he continues to be a problem, I may have to assign a brigade of Doubleday's to help, which will be dicey given Jones's position in the trees.

<a href="https://ibb.co/H75j9Vz"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/kKNtPx8/17.jpg" alt="17" border="0"></a>

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Though Doubleday has mostly halted Jones, Early continues to advance from the west, but First Corps artillery needs to cease firing for a turn to replenish their ammunition.

<a href="https://ibb.co/H75j9Vz"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/kKNtPx8/17.jpg" alt="17" border="0"></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='https://imgbb.com/'>post pictures</a><br />

I've managed to establish a reasonably intact line at the northern edge of the cornfield.

<a href="https://ibb.co/1MRYVk1"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/7QrxcqP/19.jpg" alt="19" border="0"></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='https://imgbb.com/'>post pictures</a><br />

Re: WinSPCW Scenario Testing - Antietam, morning, September 17, 1862
 

Though I've yielded immediate command of the cornfield to the rebels, they're close enough that Meade's artillery can hit them hard. His two remaining batteries, by virtue of their own unsupported fire, managed to drive away the entire brigade of Hays's Louisiana Tigers. However, on Meade's left flank, Ewell's artillery has gotten a clear view through the smoke and opened up on Pennsylvania Reserves.
<a href="https://ibb.co/Lrk0BsQ"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/xYC2wrm/20.jpg" alt="20" border="0"></a>

I impulsively ordered a charge by Doubleday over on the right, but that was a mistake, as many of his regiments are out of ammunition or are too suppressed to move. Predictably, most of the regiments were driven away, and Jackson's artillery suddenly reappeared to the west and knocked out the remainder of my supporting artillery on that flank. Doubleday has met with disaster, and with the situation on the left going only a little better, it looks like I'll have to give it all up.
<a href="https://ibb.co/S7ByL7d"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/G3Rph3t/21.jpg" alt="21" border="0"></a>