Why would I ever play Parker's Crossroads?

[Marcomies]

Playing as Union this side mission is ridicilous! Player's job is to defend the only undefensible area of the entire map, hilariously taking cover behind a decorative wooden fence that wouldn't stop a .22 lr round, not to mention a .58 caliber musket ball! I know I can take cover in the woods and try to shoot at the enemy units on the few non-covered spots of the map but since half of them are skirmishers who outarange me, even that is inefficient.

Thanks to the small and skirmisher heavy enemy force, it's hard to get anything better than 1:1 k/d ratio and even then the experience gain will be awful. In best case scenario the whole battle is pointless, in worst case the player's victory is the best thing that ever happened to the enemy.

In my first attempt the battle decimated some of my most veteran brigades and the reward money wouldn't have covered restoring even a 1/4 of them to their pre-battle numbers and experience. After the battle not only did the enemy gain so many reinforcements that their overall army size was reduced only by 1k (81-86k to 80-85k) but their experience level was also bumped from 36-41% to 50-55%! As an insult to injury, even the enemy equipment level was improved by 1%.

Unless those supply boxes are filled with M16 rifles and M1 mortars, there's no way I'm ever again going to even attempt the mission! In overall campaign, I have absolutely nothing to gain by doing it and I'll probably even end up looting those "better enemy weapons" in the next big battle.

[wmpryor]

The first few times I played this battle I had similar results to yours. If you search through the forum discussions there are a few tips from other players that I adopted that really turned this battle around. It's amazing what you can do when the right tactics are employed! I read the forum discussions daily and have found invaluable tips and advice. The last time I played this battle I ran the Yanks off the field and inflicted 2 to 1 casualties in my favor. Initially you are in a difficult situation and the early moments can be challanging but this battle can definitely be won. I am probably not as helpful as you would like but I don't feel liked typing a lengthy tactical dissertation that has already been superbly placed in the discussion forum.

[[BRE] Tancred]

Long story short you have to retreat your initial troops to a safe place (ideally the woods in the east) and hold until your reinforcements arrive. By that time you can smash the rebel flank and recapture the VP before the battle ends.

[Marcomies]

I replayed the battle fighting from the forests and trying to bait the enemy into fighting in the rivers as much as possible and managed to get about 7600 kills for 2328 losses, pretty much as good as it can be done I'd think.

The income just about covered my losses without having to downgrade my infantry. This time the enemy got so many reinforcements that they ended up with the same 81-85k men as they had before the battle but at least they didn't get the massive 14% experience buff.

Still a very pointless battle and hardly worth it but at leasts it wasn't a strategic disaster on this attempt.

[Mobile Terror Unit]

Homes,

Allright, move your troops directly east to the woods. Typically, I have avout three infanry units, a 24Pdr Howiter Battery, a sniper unit, and another skirmisher unit, Let the enemy cap the victory location - you have plenty of time to cap that later.

Okay, I keep one brigade facing westwards towards to victory location. Perpendicular to that unit, I have two infantry units that for something of an L shape (maybe just one). Additionally, I'll keep an infantry unit directly to the south so any skirmishers have to cross open terrain befoe they're routed. Finally, I'll use my skirmisher units to harass or even route the oncoming rebel forces in conjuntion with my infantry units stationed above my unit facing the flag. The snipers should make pretty quick work of the rebels before your reinforcemets arrive, but when they do, you've basically won the game.

Feel free to capture the VL as easrly as possible. The rebel forces wither from cannister shot too.

Oh, ya, here's one final time: if the enemy infantry charges you, simply detach your skirmishers, hit pause, reattach your skirms to your original unit my selecting "T" and voila - the enermy's chage is brough to an abrupt halt. Some people think this is "gamey," butI think it makes military sense. Of course, repac the VL prior to the battle's conclusion.

Best of luck!