Fellow Generals!

In Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) battles can take multiple days. When the sun goes down and the fighting ceases, both sides will continue furiously to prepare for the coming day.

As the Firing Dies Down.

The day will end either when the sun goes down, or if both sides agree on a cease-fire. As seasons and length of day is modeled, during summer it’s possible to fight longer. When the fighting ceases, the situation of both sides is calculated, including reserves that reach the battle field before morning. According to the disposition of troops, some may find themselves cut off from the main body, with lines of communication broken…

…And of course some disheartened soldiers will see the darkness as the perfect distraction to leave the ranks without permission and head home. Untrained, inexperienced, poorly lead and demoralized soldiers are the most likely lot to desert.

In the heavy fighting your troops will consume their ammunition, which is in average some 60 rounds per infantry man and some 128 rounds for guns of average caliber. During the night, the troops will first level ammunition within their unit. Then they await the arrival of their supply train.

Units with line of communication will be resupplied with ammunition and food, which is provisions for men and forage for horses. The amount depends on available supply, distance and also commanders’ administration capabilities. The supplies are distributed to the troops according to order of battle. Cut off troops will not be able to receive any supplies and this may cause problems with morale and condition of troops on the long run, in addition to not having more ammunition to fight with. If condition of men goes down, they will tire faster and the number of men falling sick will increase, along with the obvious effects on morale, that are the more severe the greener the men.

After resupplying the commanders will be busy re-deploying their troops. The possible deployment zone is calculated from position of troops, occupied entry points and objectives. Troops cut off will not be able to reform, and will start their next day from the position they hold. During the night positions can also be improved with engineers building barricades and digging trenches. And of course the generals will consider the situation and formulate plans for the next day, to overcome the enemy. Or if the situation looks dire, maybe try to slip away and withdraw from the field to fight another day.

With the multi-day mechanism and possibility to resupply during the night, or cut off the enemy lines of communications, the fortunes of battles may swing from side to side. Arrival of fresh troops just in time may change the course of fighting and force the enemy to abandon plans for attack to try to hold their own, like happened at Wilderness when Longstreet’s Corps reached the field…

Most Respy,

Gen’l. Ilja Varha,

Chief Designer.