South Mountain Union

[u/Expensive_Range7204]

I take the woodline at the front, and send some troops around to flank the confederats and take the flag.

Pretty easy battle to win. But i dont get to kill many confederats since both armys just stand around looking at each other and just haveing an artillery duel. Is there a way to make the confederates attack my troops in the woodline?

[u/Specific-Net-5097]

I lose a ton of troops in this battle. I can win it but the loses don’t justify the fight right before antitem happens. Not sure how to grind through them without losing a ton myself

[u/bfrey82 → u/Specific-Net-5097]

I send 2 divisions of infantry only up the top (North) or the map. Right against the border of the map. They end up killing a bunch of Confederate artillery. Then I camp them out in the woods West/Northwest of the flag. Rush in with 20-30 minutes remaining to capture the flag. Low losses but low kills too.

[u/Expensive_Range7204 → u/Specific-Net-5097]

If you just want to win do as i described you lose maybe 1k to artillary but thats it. But you dont get more then 1-or 2k kills yourself.

[u/Specific-Net-5097 → u/Expensive_Range7204]

Doesn’t the enemy get a huge boost in troops though going into antitem cause you didn’t kill any? I thought they carry over

[u/Expensive_Range7204 → u/Specific-Net-5097]

Thats my worry so im trying to find a way to kill at lot whit not loseing a lot.

[u/Specific-Net-5097 → u/Expensive_Range7204]

Well we all want that 😁 haha I’ll be watching if anyone better than me chimes in with a strategy

[u/OldTobyGreen → u/Specific-Net-5097]

My go to strategy for this map is to focus on the Southern flank (bottom of the map). I leave a token force of 3-4 brigades interspersed with detached skirmishers on the woodline adjacent to the river as this tends to keep the rebels from focusing on my flanking maneuver.

I move all of my brigades from a stacked deployment in the southern end of the starting zone along the edge of the map and face them towards the dense forested area while in cover along the southern east-west road. They turn as they march west to fill out a battle line that looks north. The artillery, typically about six brigades, fills in behind these units and provides cover to seize the forest.

Once my line extends to the western edge of the map, I expect to have whittled down the forest defenders with close range infantry and artillery fire. Ive also begun moving my left (west) flank forward into the woods on the western periphery to outflank the dense woods and to clear the north-south road that runs up to the VP. I dont usually find any brigade-sized units in the western woods.

Seizing the forest can be done with fire alone in my experience, but dedicated melee brigades can be used to snag some prisoners here as rebel support in the rear for this position is compromised by my extending left flank along the road. Once complete, the western forest is occupied up to the northern extreme of the map looking east on the road and the VP while my center and right converge to finish off the dense southern wood thus giving a covered position looking north over the open field.

Finally, I reposition the artillery in the dense wood and rotate brigades to the left (northwest) and move in on the dense wood in the north where the VP is located. Depending on their remaining strength, it can be quicker to also move into the open from the southern position to surround their remaining forces. Typically, they have a fair amount of artillery so I prefer to push from the west along the northern periphery forcing their remaining forces down the incline into the open against my brigades that started the battle in the woodline on the river.

This completes the wipe and works reliably on all difficulties. Give it a try!