Played First Bull Run as South, ideas on how not to suck

[mhenry_101381]

I played the battle as the South and as my first reinforcements arrived, the North was over the creek, north of the bridge and around my flank in force further to the North. Needless to say I was crushed before my new troops got in line. Ideas to prevent this.

[Koro]

Without more details of what happened, best I can do is a link: https://youtu.be/KMdlEGw0dAo
You can scroll to where you are struggling in the battle and see what I did if you don't want to watch it all.
Also be sure you've got the controls down from my tutorials in the sticky thread.
Best of luck :)

[glock19]

At the beginning of this battle, swing your cav around the rear of Union force and take out his cannons. Don't bother holding the flag on the left for more than 2 minutes, and then perform a tactical retreat.

[kaleraven]

Don't try too hard to hold Matthews Hill. It should be a delaying action only. The main goal of the first stage of the battle is to preserve your troops and stall the Union. I advise keeping all your men together near the bridge and the ford directly north of it. Your reinforcements you can move to Matthews Hill and the forests nearby to slow the enemy. You can detach skirmishers to scout north and northwest of the bridge position to give you a warning of flanking troops.

Fall back whenever necessary to preserve your troops. Ultimately, the only important objective is Henry Hill, so there is no need to waste resources trying too hard to defend the bridge or the ridgeline. Don't be afraid to cross the river to the south to the hill if you feel necessary. When Jackson arrives, all your men should be near Henry Hill already. Position your men back from the riverbank so that they starting shooting at troops as they ford the river. Units that are in water actually have a cover penalty, which makes them very vulnerable trying to cross.

[Renown]

All these answers amuse me. I defeated the enemy at Matthews Hill and never retreated from there. I pulled all but one unit from the bridge, and a skirmisher detachment near the river. There are so many options in this game, you've got to figure them out yourself. I like using skirmishers to delay enemy units. 3 infantry brigades = 3 skirmisher detachments, I'll use those 3 to DESTROY any sized enemy brigade and can keep more than one busy for as long as I want. Just requires micromanaging.

[Koro]

I wouldn't give a new player advice that requires micro like that, honestly, and then look down upon much more easily carried out strategies that are adviced.
Sure, you can do a lot of things.
I would also encourage OP not to think of himself as "sucking". More like you just haven't learned to manage yourself on the battlefield yet, which is perfectly fine. How do you think those new generals on the field felt as well, when the war started? They hadn't seen much more war than you have.
So keep at it and I look forward to you coming back with your stories of victories, that I have seen others do.

[Sandermatt]

I hold matthews hill as well nearly until the end. I used all my forces to hold the bridge and sent only the reinforcements there. I placed one group into the fortification (for melee) and the other normally so it has 100% cover as far forward as possible (so it is targeted). They fought extremely long and killed a lot. It was on hard difficulty. This strategy requires extremely little micro.

[Detail]

I just swarm them at the start of the battle at Matthews Hill and then just hold that position. As long as you don't stray from the hill they will not attack you and you can snipe them with cannon fire. Just keep advancing on the flanks from the north and in cover, pinch them and attack them from both sides at each objective. As is usually the case in all these battles don't use frontal attacks, attack from the flank with artillery support moving forward slowly. Keep a unit or two back, but in front to distract them. When they are worn down then charge. If you have a good army you should win, just be patient, good lines with double tiers to breakup any charges.

[mhenry_101381]

Originally posted by Koro *T*R*Y*:

I wouldn't give a new player advice that requires micro like that, honestly, and then look down upon much more easily carried out strategies that are adviced.
Sure, you can do a lot of things.
I would also encourage OP not to think of himself as "sucking". More like you just haven't learned to manage yourself on the battlefield yet, which is perfectly fine. How do you think those new generals on the field felt as well, when the war started? They hadn't seen much more war than you have.
So keep at it and I look forward to you coming back with your stories of victories, that I have seen others do.

I have about 180 hours on Ultimate General Gettysburg, I understand the mechanics of the game. This is including destroying the Union army on Day1 at the second part of the battle to the last unit. I did split off skirmishers to hold back the troops at the creek just north of the bridge. I didn't expect the North to outflank me so quickly.

Those new generals were established officers, one of them was Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

[RobWheat61]

Most of these established officers participated in exactly one war as subordinate officers, the Mexican-American War, which ended in 1848 and in which only a fraction of the number of soldiers of the Civil War were involved. And even officers like Lee or Jackson, who proofed to be excellent generals made mistakes and misjudgements!

[kaleraven]

I just went back and replayed First Bull Run on Hard as the South. I did try holding Matthews Hill with only reinforcements as Sandermatt described. It shockingly did work, purely because the AI refused to press their numbers or try to outflank my men. It was rather disgusting actually, considering they had 6 brigades that were each more than double the size of my 3 defending brigades. In any case, it's an option if you wish, though it feels very gamey.

[Concerned West Virginia Resident]

Matthews hill isn't actually necessary, you just need to hold henry hill to win so you might want to put all the reinforcements into defending the river there.

Always check the victory conditions to see whether taking a flag is necessary to win the battle.

[Koro]

Originally posted by mhenry_101381:

Originally posted by Koro *T*R*Y*:

I wouldn't give a new player advice that requires micro like that, honestly, and then look down upon much more easily carried out strategies that are adviced.
Sure, you can do a lot of things.
I would also encourage OP not to think of himself as "sucking". More like you just haven't learned to manage yourself on the battlefield yet, which is perfectly fine. How do you think those new generals on the field felt as well, when the war started? They hadn't seen much more war than you have.
So keep at it and I look forward to you coming back with your stories of victories, that I have seen others do.

I have about 180 hours on Ultimate General Gettysburg, I understand the mechanics of the game. This is including destroying the Union army on Day1 at the second part of the battle to the last unit. I did split off skirmishers to hold back the troops at the creek just north of the bridge. I didn't expect the North to outflank me so quickly.

Those new generals were established officers, one of them was Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

Well, you made a post about asking for help, right? So you made it? Not sure what to make of this then.

[Nox]

Originally posted by Renown:

All these answers amuse me. I defeated the enemy at Matthews Hill and never retreated from there. I pulled all but one unit from the bridge, and a skirmisher detachment near the river. There are so many options in this game, you've got to figure them out yourself. I like using skirmishers to delay enemy units. 3 infantry brigades = 3 skirmisher detachments, I'll use those 3 to DESTROY any sized enemy brigade and can keep more than one busy for as long as I want. Just requires micromanaging.

Where you playing on easy?

[Detail]

As long as you don't chase the supply wagon, Hampton's Legions, or the troops that are back at the bend of the creek, the AI will not attack you at Matthews. Just take a position on the hill and stay there. It's almost the same as 2nd Bull Run where is you don't come down too far in the woods at Braxton's farm and setup a perimeter, Patrick will not advance and attack you.

[Chubbsmasta94]

its best that u dont even bother with Matthews Hill. In the beginning, I have 2 reg. guarding the bridge while the 3rd one is hiding in the forest up north. The first 3 Union reg. can be held back. However once Keyes and Sherman come, Have the 3rd guy come to their aid.

Also when you get more troops that were suppose to go to Matthew Hill, Have them chill in the forset at the buttom of Henry Hill. Not only you get cover, but you now established a defence line and you should be able to get some good volley each them.

When Jackson comes to your aid, sent them to your left flank. Depending on the bridge, if Keyes and Sherman are getting weak, stay there because once they get to the point where one unit can hold them back, you can now sent your army to flank and hopefully surround them.