Tip of the Month
June 2005
If you are familiar with the game and wish to introduce it to someone new, have them play the Union. The subtlety of the Confederate Strategic Offensive cards will not be apparant to him the first time he plays. For new players, or experienced, I would recommend this for Rebel strategic offensive cards: If possible, do NOT launch an offensive in one theater unless you also have a card that prevents or hinders a Union attack in the other Theater. This allows you to plan and execute your offensive with ALL your CPs in one theater, while your opponent's CPs in the other theater are wasted. This is one of the most powerful types of combinations in the game---one of which the Confederate player should take advantage.
July
Strategic Movement Phase: Turning Movements
In Deck One the Union player can never save as many cards for the future as he wishes, but if you follow the advice given to Union players on this website and in the design notes, then you might be able to save some of those critical Turning Movement cards. The last time I played the Union I had a great turn of fortune. Halfway through Deck One I played three Turning Movement cards in one SM Phase in the Western Theater; yep, I turned the Rebels out of Stones River, Shiloh, and Corinth....and wound up at the gates of Vicksburg, which caused all sorts of grief to the Rebs.
Now you probably won't be able to collect that many so early, but any time you can turn the Rebs and take terrain without fighting for it, do it! Of course, the Confederates have cards that prevent Turning Movements (like "Cavalry Screen Covers Mountain Passes"), but if you have previously hurt him with Turning Movements, at least it causes him to hang on to one or two of these cards in anticipation of blocking you. And once you take Chattanooga and defeat him at Chickamauga, he better have at least two of those cards in hand to help protect the Kennesaw Mt. line.
August
Confederate Strategic Offensive Cards
Let's suppose you have a Strategic Offensive card, you have some decent Battle Events, and good generals in the East. You are licking your chops for an invasion in that theater. Be careful. If your opponent places two battles, the one in the West may be a bluff, while he has everything waiting for an expected invasion in the East. And what if he places only one battle, in the East. What then? Do you still invade with all of his CPs there?
Remember the sequence of play. You and your opponent must both place your Discretionary CPs, then the Federal player places his one or two battles, then you have the Strategic Movement Phase. So where do you place your CPs if you are not sure where he will place his CPs or battles?
Here are some options: If he places only one Battle...in the West....Invade in the East. If he places only one Battle...in the East, then wait and play defense. You will have all of your CPs there and your best generals. Whip him in the East and wait another turn to invade. Of course, if your opponent is the least bit perceptive, he'll wonder why you had all those CPs in the East and then he'll guess you have a Strategic Offensive card in your hand. That's ok, it gives him something to worry about next turn.
Tough call if he places two battles. If one of them is at a VP city in the West, then he probably has his CPs there....invade now and you get to fight in the East first. If neither Battle card is placed at a VP site, then I still play the Strategic Offensive card in the East only with a very good hand. It will be tough going if he has all his CPs there, but at least you should have better generals.
September
Union Offense in the West
You will find that the West is more often than not the theater of decision, while there is often a stalemate in the East----not unlike the historical situation. So, where should the Union begin his western campaign? Without question, the first battle the Union should try to win in the West should be Stones River. Why? Because if you win, you are then in position to play the Tullahoma Campaign card. If the Confederate cannot block this card, then you have just taken Chattanooga without firing a shot, you get the additional CP at the end of the turn, AND you now get to fight at Chickamauga. Win there and you are so close to Atlanta you can hear the church bells pealing.
October
Attack and Defend: A Primer on Tactics, Part I
So you’ve mastered the Strategic Movement Phase; you can manage Resources with the best of them, but you and your opponent both know that it means little if you can’t translate those skills to victory on the battlefield. After just a few games you will be aware of the differences between the Union and Confederate armies on the battlefield. In broad terms, the Union is superior in battle events and in Deck Two, while the South’s superiority is in Special Events and in Deck One.
Let’s begin by launching an attack. Let’s assume you are the Union player and you are on the offensive at the battle of Corinth midway through Deck One. There are two basic ways to approach your opening in any battle: either simply probe the enemy defenses with one attack card, or go all-out with at least two attack cards and two defend cards.
I prefer the probing attack that escalates. Who knows, maybe the Confederate is willing to let you have the battle cheaply, while he draws cards to stock up for the next battle. You just might win with a +2 attack. But if he fights, you at least force him to commit. Let’s say he merely plays two –1 Defend cards. Then continue to probe with another average attack card until he has to play his own attack cards. When he does so, now you hit him hard.
First of all, diffuse his attack cards, and there are several ways to accomplish this. Both “Discretionary Orders” and “General Blunders” will force him to cancel an attack card or a battle event. Even better, play a key battle event of your own, “Repulse Assault and Counter-Attack.” It adds +1 to your attack and forces him to cancel a +1 or +2 attack card. Of course, he can save a card from being canceled with “Heroic Effort.” If he uses it to save an Enfilade, by all means play one of your three “Command Failure” cards. He can negate it, but only at the cost of sending three cards at random from his hand back to the top of his Play Deck.
November
Confederate: When to Invade? Part I
First of all, the Confederate player can certainly win the game without invading the north; however, I believe you will find that more times than not a victory on northern soil will give you the edge you need to win.
Now having said that, I have also seen, more than once, the Rebel player win at both Antietam and Gettysburg and still lose. So let's examine closer the conditions needed for invasion, and when, or if, you should head north.
The Confederate player has five cards in Deck One that let him take the offensive:
Card #
24 Strategic Offensive (either deck)
34 Strategic Offensive (deck 1 only)
13 Army of Northern Virginia on the Move (either deck)
36 Army of Tennessee on the Offensive (deck 1 only)
40 Lee is Audacity Personified (either deck)
Note that Cards 24, 34, and 40 above are the Invasion cards. The other two, 13 and 36 allow the Rebel to take the offensive, but only for terrain already taken by the Federal player---these two may NOT be used to invade the north.
So all five cards can be used to try and retake lost ground. Isn't that good enough? Why even think about an invasion? It is true that anytime you can retake terrain is a good thing. If successful, the Union will just have to fight for it again...and you have once more delayed an advance upon a Victory Confition city. (Ex. The Union has taken Shiloh, Stones River and Corinth in the West. He now places Vicksburg. In the Strategic Movement phase you play Card #36 and attack Shiloh. If you win the battle, Shiloh goes back to the Battle Deck and may be used by you later on to Block an advance against Vicksburg).
So what is the downside of simply using your five offensive cards in Deck 1 to retake terrain? If you lose the battle, these cards state that you lose one Command Point (CP). Also, you gain no CPs for winning the battle, unless you win a Major Victory. Well, that's not so bad, is it? No, but.....
If you can go north and win a Major Victory, you have just made a four point swing in CPs, plus whatever you might have as a Second Resource. If you have played BCOF more than once, you certainly know how important CPs are. With a two-deck limit, if both players are comparable in tactics, the game boils down to a space/time race---the Confederate trying to keep the Federal away from the VP cities until the second deck runs out. So the Confederate is trying to put more "space" between the Federal army and his cities, while maximizing the number of cards played....and all the while keeping an eye on that ever critical CP chart. Whew! That's a tall order. Next month's "TIP" will provide the details of how and when.
December 2006
Confederate: When to Invade: Part II
You are mid-way through Deck 1 and you have a Strategic Offensive card. You have good generals in the East, and average generals in the West; the Union has won two battles in the West and one battle in the East. So you are setting the stage for an invasion in the East.
You make your initial CPs in the East, but this time place all of them, saving none for discretionay placement. Let's say the Union places one battle in the West. If you can block him in the West, then you launch your offensive in the East and fight at Gettysburg or Antietam. Unless he has run a major bluff, you should be facing only his discretionary CPs in the East.
If your opponent places one battle in the East, your strategy changes. He will have all his CPs there, so you do not invade--just sit back, play defense and defeat him with your superior generals.
Now is the trickier situation: the Union places two battles. Use your same strategy--load up in the East. If you have excellent cards and Lee and Jackson, then launch your invasion. However, if you don't feel that confident, seeing all his CPs waiting for you in the East, simply fight for a battle in the Union's possession. This way, if you lose, the negative effects are much less.
The fly in all this ointment is if the Union reaches Vicksburg in his Strategic Movement phase. I say fight in the east, win if you can, and you'll still have your drawn cards to play at Vicksburg (see more on this in the article on Confederate choices in the Deck 2 scenario).
