The Wilderness Scenarios
I have long been a harsh critic of the Overland title. To me there are just so many glaring design flaws that the entire playability of many scenarios is jeopardized. Never is that more noticeable then when you look at the bizarre set of scenarios labeled as the "Battle of the Wilderness."
How many full "Battle of the Wilderness" scenarios are there? The answer is eight.
1) 104-640505_!!wilderness_25 (68 Turns)
This scenario features "much more capable Union regiments." This scenario limits the men per hex to 800, has 30 minute turns, and it cuts firepower in half. This scenario uses the wilderness2.oob file and has a stand-alone map not derived from the larger campaign master map. This uses the mywild5.map file. This uses the Overland5.pdt file.
2) 105-640505_!!wilderness_21 (97 Turns)
This scenario features "much more capable Union regiments." This scenario has the normal 1,000-man hex limit along with 20 minute turns. This scenario uses the wilderness2.oob file and has a stand-alone map not derived from the larger campaign master map. This uses the mywild5.map file. This uses the Overland1.pdt file.
3) 109-640505_Wilderness1_05 (67 Turns)
This scenario limits the men per hex to 800, has 30 minute turns, and it cuts firepower in half. It features a smaller map than the other Wilderness scenarios. This scenario uses the Wilderness.oob file. This uses the 1st Epoch.map file. This uses the Overland5.pdt file.
4) 116-640505_Wild_A1 (66 Turns)
This scenario limits the men per hex to 800, has 30 minute turns, and it cuts firepower in half. It features a smaller map than the other Wilderness scenarios. This scenario uses the Wilderness.oob file. This uses the wild2sub.map file. This uses the Overland7.pdt file.
5) 117-640505_Wild_A3 (95 Turns)
This scenario uses the Wilderness.oob file and has the usual 1,000 men per hex limit and 20 minute turns. This uses the wild3sub.map file. This uses the Overland1.pdt file.
6) 118-640505_Wild_A5 (95 Turns)
This scenario uses the Wilderness.oob file and has the usual 1,000 men per hex limit and 20 minute turns. This uses the wild2sub.map file. This scenario includes the arrival of Pickett's Division. This uses the Overland1.pdt file.
7) 122-640505_Wilderness7_21 (90 Turns)
This scenario uses the wilderness2.oob file and has the usual 1,000 men per hex limit and 20 minute turns. This uses the wild2sub.map file. This uses the Overland1.pdt file.
8) 132-640505_Wild_A1 (95 Turns)
This scenario uses the Wilderness.oob file and has the usual 1,000 men per hex limit and 20 minute turns. This uses the wild2sub.map file. This uses the Overland1.pdt file.
The above Wilderness scenarios are all "the same" in their general descriptions as posted by WDS and/or the game designers. The only scenario with a different description is 117 which includes the arrival of Pickett's Division. But all of these scenarios are basically slightly different variations of the same battle.
What makes them different? A few things.
There are two different OOB's in these scenarios. One (wilderness2.oob) features higher-rated Union regiments than does the other (Wilderness.oob).
There are also four different variations on the Wilderness map being used in these scenarios (1st Epoch, wild2sub, wild3sub, wild5sub). These maps contain different creek and stream settings and are of various sizes.
Lastly, there are three different PDT files being used for the scenarios. These PDT files control the length of the turns (20 vs 30 minutes) and the firepower of the units fighting. The firepower ratings in all three PDT files are different from one another. The PDT files also control whether the stacking units are 800 men or 1,000 men in the scenario.
Let's break it down a little more and see if we can make any heads or tails about what is going on here.
The Order of Battle Differences
The eight different Wilderness scenarios use one of two different Order of Battles. These are the Wilderness.oob and the wilderness2.oob files. These OOB's are similar but do contain some big and very important differences.
Beginning first with the Wilderness.oob file. This file contains lower-rated infantry units for both the Confederate and Union armies when compared to the wilderness2.oob file. For the Federals, the drop off in quality is significant, for the Rebels, it is very slight. This file also includes the Federal engineering units which are attached to the Army of the Potomac. Lastly, the OOB places the 9th Corps directly under Grant which makes him a "army commander" of a single corps when using this OOB.
With the wilderness2.oob file, both sides have superior infantry ratings than they do with the Wilderness.oob file. The 9th Corps is an "army" by itself with Burnside as the overall commander. Grant plays no role in the OOB with this file. The Federal engineers are not present in this OOB either.
Another notable difference is the command ratings for the leaders in the two OOB's. In the wilderness2.oob, where the infantry is rated better, the Federal leaders are poorly rated and the Confederate leaders highly rated. In the Wilderness.oob, the Confederate leaders have slightly lower ratings while the Federal leaders all improve their ratings quite a bit. Perhaps this was to make up for the lower infantry quality in the Wilderness.oob file.
Both OOB's have strengths and weaknesses and so I would not necessarily rate one as being better than the other.
The Scenario Numbers
Below are the statistics for the eight different Battle of the Wilderness scenarios. These numbers EXCLUDE permanently FIXED units. Only the active unit numbers are counted below.
Scenario 104
This scenario has permanently FIXED the Colored Division of the 9th Corps, along with the Provost Guard and two brigades of the Cavalry Corps (along with Sheridan himself).
This scenario has permanently FIXED the Colored Division of the 9th Corps, along with the Provost Guard, two brigades of the Cavalry Corps (along with Sheridan himself), and the 9th Corps Cavalry.
Scenario 105
Scenario 109
This scenario is different from the others in that is features a much smaller map and excludes most of the cavalry forces from the battle. Because of this, it has only the 6th Corps artillery which is FIXED throughout the scenario. Also missing is the Federal Artillery Reserve.
Scenario 116
The Colored Division, the Artillery Reserve, and the Cavalry force are all missing from the 9th Corps in this one. The Army of the Potomac's Artillery Reserve guns are also absent along with a brigade of Federal cavalry, the Provost Guard, and the Engineers.
Scenario 117
Most of the available Union army shows up in this scenario and is free to move.
Scenario 118
This scenario includes Pickett's "Division" (actually a weird mix of brigades with Pickett commanding) and frees up the whole Union army for action.
This scenario has no fixed units on the map. It excludes the cavalry division of Fitzhugh Lee from the Confederate OOB.
Scenario 122
Scenario 132
This scenario has permanently FIXED 6th Corps artillery on the map. It also has all the artillery of the 9th Corps Reserve FIXED throughout the scenario. Some engineering and Provost units are also permanently FIXED.
Different Maps
Why are there so many maps for the Battle of Wilderness scenarios? Great question. I do not have a great answer.
Some maps are larger or smaller than others. This allows the designer to concentrate on just part of the historical battlefield if they wish to. This is easy to understand.
But there are notable differences between the maps when you look at the placement of roads, woods, trails, streams, and creeks. This can make the maps very different from one another and give you a much different experience in your game depending on which map you are playing on.
The map that offers the most maneuverability is mywild5.map. This map has more roads and fewer creeks and encourages more offensive action. The most "defensive" map is wild2sub.map which includes a easily defensible creek in the south, fewer roads, and a more secure Confederate line of movement on the western edge of the map. The 1st Epoch.map and the wild3sub.map files are smaller maps with their own quirks.
You can take a closer look at the four different Wilderness maps below. Each map can be clicked on to be expanded.
mywild5.map
1st Epoch.map
wild2sub.map
wild3sub.map
Charting the Scenarios
The above chart shows the various Wilderness scenarios and the general details about them.
My Descriptions
It is very easy to understand why "fighting the Battle of the Wilderness" has been so incredibly frustrating for so many people. With eight different options, each using numerous variants and rules, it can be very difficult to know which to choose. Or, even what the differences are! The scenario descriptions by WDS do a very poor job of outlining how the scenarios are set up. Below are my brief descriptions of the scenarios.
Scenario 104
This scenario uses 30 minute turns, 800-man stack limits, and has reduced firepower for units. The OOB features higher-rated Union infantry.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Fitzhugh Lee arrives from the southeast at 1:20 PM. Longstreet arrives overnight from the west.
For the Federals, Hancock begins the battle fixed in place, as do various other units in Warren's and Sedgwick's corps. By midday all of these units are free to move. Burnside's 9th Corps arrives throughout the battle though some of his units remain permanently fixed. Also fixed in place are two brigades from the Cavalry Corps.
Scenario 105
This scenario uses 20 minute turns, 1,000-man stacks, and has increased firepower for units. The OOB features higher-rated Union infantry.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Fitzhugh Lee arrives from the southeast at 1:20 PM. Longstreet arrives overnight from the west.
For the Federals, Hancock begins the battle fixed in place, as do various other units in Warren's and Sedgwick's corps. By midday all of these units are free to move. Burnside's 9th Corps arrives throughout the battle though some of his units remain permanently fixed. Also fixed in place are two brigades from the Cavalry Corps and the 9th Corps Cavalry.
Scenario 109
This scenario uses 30 minute turns, 800-man stack limits, and has reduced firepower for units.
For the Rebels, Ewell advances from the west while Hill arrives from the southwest. Longstreet arrives early on May 6 from the south. Stuart's Cavalry are absent.
For the Federals, Hancock begins to arrive at 1 PM from the southeast while the rest of the army is mostly free to move at the start. The Federal Cavalry Corps is almost completely absent.
This scenario uses 30 minute turns, 800-man stack limits, and has reduced firepower for units.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Longstreet arrives from the south at midnight. Fitzhugh Lee arrives from the southeast at 1 PM.
For the Federals, the army starts largely fixed in place and only slowly is released over the first six hours of gameplay. Burnside will arrive from the north to reinforce the army.
Scenario 116
Scenario 117
This scenario uses 20 minute turns, 1,000-man stacks, and has increased firepower for units.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Longstreet arrives from the south at 1 AM on May 6. Fitzhugh Lee arrives from the southeast at 1 PM.
For the Federals, they have no fixed units. Burnside arrives from the north.
This scenario uses 20 minute turns, 1,000-man stacks, and has increased firepower for units.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Longstreet arrives from the southwest at 1 AM on May 6. Fitzhugh Lee arrives from the southeast at 1 PM. Pickett's force arrives from the southeast at 4 AM on May 6.
For the Federals, they have no fixed units. Burnside arrives from the north.
Scenario 118
Scenario 122
This scenario uses 20 minute turns, 1,000-man stacks, and has increased firepower for units. The OOB features higher-rated Union infantry.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Longstreet arrives from the southwest at 8 PM. Fitz Lee's cavalry are not present.
For the Federals, they have no fixed units. Burnside arrives from the north.
Scenario 132
This scenario uses 20 minute turns, 1,000-man stacks, and has increased firepower for units. The OOB features higher-rated Union infantry.
For the Rebels, Ewell and Hill advance from the west while Longstreet arrives from the southwest at midnight. Fitz Lee's cavalry arrive from the southeast at 1 PM.
For the Federals, they have various fixed units which are released during the first few hours of battle. Burnside arrives from the north.
Are Any of these Worth Playing?!
That is the best question of all. The answer is completely based on your own evaluation of the scenarios. None of the scenarios are very "fun" in the sense of grand maneuver or strategy. This battle is all about static lines and slugging away at your opponent until one can no longer fight. The following is only my opinion on the scenarios. Feel free to disagree.
Any scenario that has no FIXED units for the Federals should immediately be discarded. Being free to move from the start will allow the Federal army to corner and destroy arriving reinforcements with ease (especially Fitz Lee's cavalry). This eliminates 117, 118, and 122. It does not eliminate 109 because of the smaller map size of that scenario.
Scenarios 104 and 105 are very similar and are playable. Between the two, 104 seems friendlier to the Confederates as it contains fewer turns and 800-man stack limits. This should make it harder for the much larger Federal army to overwhelm defensive stacks with brute force.
Scenarios 116 and 132 are also playable because of the solid creek on the southern part of the map. This create an interesting wrinkle in the game and may cause action to shift to unexpected places.
Overall, the "best" option might be scenario 109. This limits the scale of the battle and excludes much of the cavalry. Relatively fair victory conditions make this one pretty even. The Federal player will lament the loss of their artillery reserve in this battle. But given the small size of the map and the extremely wooded nature of the battlefield, I'm not even sure that having an overabundance of guns isn't more of a liability than it is a strength.
Conclusion
There you have it, my breakdown of the Battle of the Wilderness scenarios.
WDS did a very poor job, in my opinion, with the design of the Overland title. The Battle of the Wilderness options are all so similar that you wonder "why" they didn't just eliminate half the options and try to create a more "definitive" scenario. Traditionally, this is what they do with every other major battle scenario. They also usually organize the title far better so that a major battle, and its variants, are easy to locate and understand.
Never is their failure with Overland on greater display than when you look at Scenario 224. This misplaced and incomplete "Battle of the Wilderness" scenario is included in the final release of the title. If you venture to open it you will see the date of the battle is wrong, it is missing the Confederate reinforcements, and all Union reinforcements do not arrive because of the incorrect date being used. It is a great example of why the Overland title desperately needed an Editor to go in address and fix the errors in the title before it was released.
I continue to be harsh with Overland but with good reasons. Maybe someday WDS will address all these issues.