Buffalo City Revised

I was working on a map for Sylamore for THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN command simulation and had some difficulties. Taking a break, I decided to make some minor adjustments a previous version of Buffalo City (posted on May 30th) to update it to the latest version of the WIA Mod for Take Command 2nd Manassas. I ended up completely reworking the Buffalo City map. Although it is not a direct copy, the revised map of Buffalo City that will be used in the simulation is inspired by a topographic map of the area. Like Sylamore, Buffalo City's location changed after the war and moved to the opposite side of the White River. In THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN, is found in its pre-war location on the west bank of the river, just north of Buffalo Fork.

Here is a recent topographic map of the area and then some screenshots of the revised Buffalo City for THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN.

Back to Big Flat....

Both testers report that the WIA Mod for TC2M that will be used in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN seems to be working OK. We will continue to test it with a short test simulation called ENTERING THE OZARKS, that will be the precursor of the larger campaign. It will be a two-person campaign and more news on that will be coming soon.

The map for Big Flat has been adjusted for revisions that were made to the WIA Mod. Big Flat is located on the South Freight Road between Buffalo City and Locust Grove on the campaign map.
Buffalo City is being re-vised and then work will begin on Sylamore.

Locust Grove

Locust Grove was in Searcy County during the war. Its location is currently township in Stone County, but it is one of the settlements in Arkansas that disappeared post-war. It is a sleepy, but strategic crossroads in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN, being between Lebanon and Mt. Olive, with a road to Buffalo City and a variety of options for strategic side-steps of the enemy.  It is not easy terrain for fighting, being heavily wooded and having few open areas.

Here are a few screenshots:

WIA Mod Sent to Testers

The WIA Mod has been sent out to some testers. I know it works on my computer, but let's see if it can work on other players' computers....

WIA Mod Features - Flags and Officers

While making some final file adjustments to the WIA mod, I added a few new features that will be used in THE OZARKS CAMPAIGN command simulation.

Flags: Size matters
In screenshots, it will be possible to determine the types of enemy headquarters visible by the size of the flags. Brigade headquarters flags are the smallest, with slightly larger flags up to army headquarters. Army of the Arkansas headquarters will have US flags. Department of the Eastern Frontier headquarters will carry CS 2nd National flags.

Green Regiments: Regiments that start the campaign as green can be identified visually on the field. They will have mounted regimental commanders until their colonel is killed or the reach "fair" in unit quality.

Officers on Foot: When a regimental commander moves up to brigade command or a division commander has his horse shot out from under him, he will appear on foot.

WIA Mod Progress

The WIA Mod is close to completion of the beta version. The initial version will have two possible ways to install; as an addition to an existing TC2M installation or as a separate (2nd) installation that only runs WIA Mods and Maps. A future option may include Community Mod Pack 4.0 compatible maps.

The WIA Mod as a separate installation appears to be running fine. I was working on instructions for integrating it into a current installation, but realized that the WIA changes to unit speeds and weapons ranges would complicate integration. I am going back to rename the unit classes and weapons so that they can be added on to existing data files to run the WIA mod without affecting other mods or parts of the standard installation.

It should be out this weekend to a few community members who agreed to test it.

Test Game

I am testing the WIA Mod and used an open play game in which I played as Confederates on the Lebanon map. It gave a primary objective as the crest of Baker Ridge, with my corps to the north. I deployed some cavalry, with Martin's Brigade moving to the crest. Knowing the how slow and exhausting movement would be up the slopes, I planned to move the infantry by road via Coatner Junction, hoping the enemy would also be on the roads.

The enemy went straight to the objective and Martin's Brigade could not hold long enough. The infantry fought at Cedar Ledge for a while, but it was clear that it was a battle that could not be won with the enemy already up on the heights and my corps exhausted. I decided to retreat across Crooked Creek to Lebanon, covering the retreat with cavalry. The enemy pursued, but were repulsed.

I noticed a few things I want to correct, mostly in unit speeds on unit common files and fatigue modifiers on map files. Here are a few screenshots of the test: