HITS/GCM Game Saturday

I'm going to host a HITS/GCM game Saturday, 29 December, around 2:00 CST.

Parameters will be the same as Palmer's last game (1 VL, 5 to 10 minute delay at start to organize and plan, whichever side controls the VL at the end of the game wins). The only difference will be that we will play courier by division and will not allow orders to individual regiments or guns, an AI slug-fest if you will. You can set your GCM random division setting to whatever you feel comfortable with (but no more than 12 guns please).

I'm not going to doodle this. Just reply if you're interested or just show up if you can.

Regards,

Mark

Count me in.

WJPalmer wrote:Count me in.

Do you mean no orders to individual regiments or guns?

Well. . . yes.

Sounds great, good job Mark. I will hopefully be there. I got my UPS/Mains filter... and it made no difference. I still disconnect randomly. The later it gets, the less chance it seems of disconnecting though.

Players should also remember to set up their whispers keys too

Ollie, the Confederacy is counting on your leadership in order to win two in a row!

I'll join too

Baldwin1 carried out 1 launched of one D6 :

2

3 or higher and I'm in!

Let destiny decide.

kg little mac wrote:Ollie, the Confederacy is counting on your leadership in order to win two in a row!

If that's an offer for Army command - I'll gladly accept

Have you posted this on the GCM forum? Looked just now and didn't see it.

Speak to you later!

Baldwin1 wrote:

3 or higher and I'm in!

Let destiny decide.

Good grief Baldwin. Don't forget that +1 modifier for being a Confederate

Yeah almost forgot

Thanks to everyone who participated.

A good turnout for a holiday weekend: 10 players plus Ollie (Lee) and Kevin (Meade).

We (the Confederates) were looking good until Bobby Lee took one in the head. We kind of lost our coordination after that and the Union took advantage.

Good, hard fought battle.

I really enjoyed the way we played (orders to brigade commanders only).

There were some misunderstandings about whether or not TCing battery commanders was legal. I thought it was, Palmer thought it wasn't.

We'll be more clear about the rules next time. But all in all a very fun battle.

http://www.sowmp.com/gcm/battles/battle/13649

It was fun and, like all HITS-style battles, almost freakisly intense. As I'm sure all HITS vets know well, the format puts a premium on the wise initial placement of troops because of the chaos that always follows trying to extricate the boys from a bad situation. An educational experience... All-in-all I had as much fun as it's possible to have -- while getting rolled.

-Ron

PS Thanks for putting this together, Mark.
PSS Note to self: Next time, assign an orderly to attend to General Lee's Kevlar

Good battle, being on the extreme left I was completly in the dark, regarding the other flank: I started to see something was wrong when I saw the objective displayed the the stars and stripes and place of confederate flag and my brigade in the wood took losses on losses. These are the good things of a HITS game

Generals, it weighs heavy on my heart that we were not able to drive those people from the field today. As you know, I was shot as I rode from General Mitra to General Baldwin. I was fortunate indeed that the minie ball did not penetrate my skull, but it did indeed concuss me, and I fell from my colt. Traveller was most loyal, and stayed with me until my aides could attend.

I have already started an enquiry into the source of the minie ball. It must have been fired from long range, as the impact was sufficient only to concuss me. I have been informed that the earliest information may be provided is Monday.

I believe our loss today was ordered by a wise Merciful Providence, in order that we can deliver a fatal blow to the enemy another day, which I am most eagerly anticipating. Generals, our Corps must regroup, and prepare for a counter attack against those people.

I also have a question for you Sirs, I myself was not clear on whether Taking Command of Brigade commanders was permitted?

One final question - has anybody seen General Stuart? I have not heard from him for weeks, and he is the eyes and ears of this Army. Our defeat today was not aided by his absence.

Your humble servant,

Gen. R E Lee

(ooc: Awesome while it lasted! I really enjoy this style of play!)

This was another very enjoyable game. Again, the pre-battle conference and clustering of the commands allowed the generals to somewhat coordinate their movements. Of course once first contact is made most of the planning goes into the dumpster. We approached the objective from the NE and ended up attacking from the south and west. Gen. Weathers was facing a drumhead court martial for ignoring orders which cost Gen. Jones his division. Had his continual advance on the right flank of the enemy and its eventual destruction not succeeded, his remains would now be on a train headed home for disposition.

Although I did not order the shooting of General Lee, I cannot say I am sorry to read of it. My men reported that he did not bring his baggage train with him. There would, therefore, be no silverware to plunder. Such unsporting behavior is really beyond the pale. Hopefully the general's near brush with death will teach him that even in warfare certain customs should always be observed.

The command by brigade really added to the confusion and suspense of the battle. I had to continually remind myself that the battle was always going to be on the verge of getting completely out of hand due to the brigade commanders each having their very own idea on how their little piece of the battlefield should be approached. I was never confident of the outcome until the rebel right finally collapsed. One thing that makes controlling the brigades and batteries easier is using the written courier orders instead of point and click. Using those makes it much easier to disengage if need be and also allows one to move the artillery once it is firing. Brigades can be marched around the flanks using the command map and waypoints, (holding down the ctrl key while clicking on the map), and then told which way to face once they get to their destination. Also changing their stance based on the what the player wants them to do and on AI commanders style really improves their behavior.

I still think it would be an improvement to the game if firing into the rear of a regiment was properly punished. We can do that without requiring a change to GCM. We can just install a modded battledefs file after GCM loads.

Uncle Billy wrote:
I still think it would be an improvement to the game if firing into the rear of a regiment was properly punished. We can do that without requiring a change to GCM. We can just install a modded battledefs file after GCM loads.

I agree, especially considering those playing HITS are almost by definition quite experienced.
I'd be happy to use such a mod in upcoming HG games if I could get my hands on such a thing, and if it would only be necessary for the host to have it activated.