Is there a real campaign in Chancellorsville

[Rich Walker]

Thank you guys for your comments,

I hope to one day address some of your concerns, but at the moment, I have two projects going and limited time.

Chancellorsville was a difficult game to create a wide ranging campaign as it would tend to overlap other titles, i.e. Gettysburg or Antietam. And has been mentioned, linking Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville wasn't a good optrion as the time separation was too great, IMHO.

Though the campaign feature is limited in scope, there are many options and variations that should provide replayability. For myself, I prefer playing stand alone scenarios, and in that regard I feel there are many historical and nonhistorical scenarios to play.

But is won't be long before (perhaps a year or 18 months- I hope) the OOBs are unlocked and map editors become available to the public. This will allow energitic club members to tinker to their hearts content.

[Hairog]

Sounds very cool. Thank you.

I guess my real concern is that it is being marketed as a "campaign" and it's not. It's a collection of very well thought out and designed scenarios which is fine but, it should not be sold as a "campaign".

The Gettysburg title is a true campaign and maybe in the future others will be too. You should not advertise "campaign" unless it is. A campaign IMHO is a series of choices by both sides that lead to different battles in different locations.

A suggestion for the for Fred and Chance might be to research all the historical figures options at the time. Could Pope have decided to go through Chance instead? If Burnside did not try Fred could Hooker later have tried there and had the pontoons in the proper position? Could the Union have tried Bull Run again with there new bigger army? You have the maps already done just replace the OOB.

According to Wiki

"Burnside, in response to prodding from Lincoln and General-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, planned a late fall offensive; he communicated his plan to Halleck on November 9. The plan relied on quick movement and deceit. He would concentrate his army in a visible fashion near Warrenton, feigning a movement on Culpeper Court House, Orange Court House, or Gordonsville. Then he would rapidly shift his army southeast and cross the Rappahannock River to Fredericksburg, hoping that Robert E. Lee would sit still, unclear as to Burnside's intentions, while the Union Army made a rapid movement against Richmond, south along the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad from Fredericksburg. Burnside selected this plan because he was concerned that if he were to move directly south from Warrenton, he would be exposed to a flanking attack from Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, whose corps was at that time in the Shenandoah Valley south of Winchester. He also believed that the Orange and Alexandria Railroad would be an inadequate supply line. While Burnside began assembling a supply base at Falmouth, near Fredericksburg, the Lincoln administration entertained a lengthy debate about the wisdom of his plan. Lincoln eventually approved but cautioned him to move with great speed, certainly doubting that Lee would cooperate as Burnside anticipated."

Here is another choice... Is this reflected in one of the scenarios?

"As Maj. Gen. Edwin Sumner arrived, he strongly urged an immediate crossing of the river to scatter the token Confederate force of 500 men in the town and occupying the commanding heights to the west. Burnside began to panic, worried that the increasing autumn rains would make the fording points unusable and that Sumner might be cut off and destroyed. He squandered his initiative and ordered Sumner to wait in Falmouth."

This one sounds cool too...

"The first pontoon bridges arrived at Falmouth on November 25, much too late to enable the Army of the Potomac to cross the river without opposition. Burnside still had an opportunity, however, because he was facing only half of Lee's army, not yet dug in, and if he acted quickly, he might be able to attack Longstreet and defeat him before Jackson arrived."

Is this one reflected by a scenario?

Could Burnside have seen the futility of Fred before he got too far committed and shifted to the Chance area?

But I guess that is what you are suggesting for what can happen after the OOBs and map editors are made public.

[rahamy]

Not so sure you'll see a map editor, but definitely the OOB's will be unlocked.

[Lord_Valentai]

That is fantastic news Rich!

I think that what other game companies making games of this type have found is that releasing them to modding is a good thing. I refer to the Total War and Europa Universalis series here. People will come back to keep buying your games despire the modding because A) Only you can make the core game changes, and B) You make the scenarios better than we can!

So I'm delighted by this news.