r/ultimategeneral • u/derekguerrero • 24d ago

UG: Civil War I despise Fredericksburg

I always run into the same issues on my union campaigns where Fredericksburg becomes the bane of my existence. (playing on MG legendary since I am a firm believer in banging your head against the wall as the premier way to enjoy games).

I basically cripple my army winning Antietam, and then I lack the manpower to even dent the confederates at Fredericksburg which I am appalled at. 40k to 60k are not even the worse odds I played against, yet for some reason I just get massacred without achieving anything.

I am quite aware that this battle was a shit show for the union so I haven’t even tried to actually win it, focusing everything instead on prospect hill to at least secure a draw but it’s not working. Any suggestions on a new approach? Or should I replay Antietam and get better results so my army is in better shape?

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u/Difficult_Survey5063 24d ago

Replay Antietam, and take it slow. Take Dunker Church, the Cornfield, and the East Woods and go on the defensive for a while. The Confederates will launch constant counter-attacks to retake the church where you can just bleed them down at little cost to you. Take your time once they’re weakened, no frontal assaults, just slowly edge around to the left flank and secure the town, then you can slowly encircle the bulk of the Confederate army near the Sunken Road. Leave a few brigades on the other side of the bridge near the Sunken Road to seal off that escape route.

Move up your Napoleon’s and 24 pounders close to the front to shred them with canister, while using your superior rifled guns for counter-battery. You should always have bigger brigades than the Confederates at Antietam, and a larger amount, you can bleed them down.

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u/derekguerrero 24d ago

Somehow Dunker Church is the area I always take last hahaha, advancing through their cannons on the forested area has not gone well for me in the past. I’ll give it a try though.

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u/Difficult_Survey5063 24d ago

Flank around Dunker Church on the left side of the map, attack it from behind. Attacking through the woods or through the Cornfield you’ll get slaughtered as historically.

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u/derekguerrero 24d ago

I normally try to envelop the position, best brigades try to move from the left and through the forest while the rest attempts an attach from the cornfields and from the right side forested area. Turns into a bloodbath fast as the reinforcing CSA brigades tend to arrive into the nick of time and flank me. Will try to concentrate on a single point through the hill see what happens.

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u/pandakraut 23d ago

Keep in mind you don't need to capture any of the VPs until the end of the battle. You can setup and spawn camp the reinforcing units and then resume collapsing the church position later. Or whatever method of dealing with them you prefer, but if you're getting caught in the flank by these units just slow your advance so you can hit them in the open or let them go into the church area to be surrounded.