the franco-prussian war - Strategy & Tactics

Certainly the Confederate solider was no angel biased towards the Communists, was very Rebuilt M60IM60A1 tanks are excellent withunless one wishes to make a comparative objective. . .yet, it offended many naive and/or the exception of the fact that 3 to 4 years ofanalogy between thesoldier of Lee'sarmy and nationalistic readers and unfortunately you storage between rebuilt and issuance doesthe soldier of Sherman's armv. It is indeed orinted an editorial of a~oloav. tend to cause the rubber (such as road wheels.remarkable that the Southern soldier behavedwith as much restraint as he did while in thelush and rich Pennsylvania country, consideringthe pillage and rape of Northern Virginia bythe undisciplined mob of potpourri optimisticallycalled the Army of the Potomac. TheIt is absurd to think that a historical writer canplease everyone, but it is not absurd toencourage a historical writer to tell the truth -especially when the truth helps nationalharmony. - M. E. Canipeseals, etc.) to deteriorate.MTOE for Europe is 90% of the full TOEauthorized for use by Army units in time ofwar. At the present time most units are closeto the full MTOE. However, a year or two agomust units were 70-85% of MTOE.Army of Northern Virginia had (humanemotions being what they are) every reason forA.A. Nofi responds:The 8th Infantry Division does indeed have fiveseekina venaeance while invadina Pennsvl- The first impression one gets from this letter is tank battalions, broken down as follows: 1stvania. tompared with Sherman's introduc$on that Mr. Canipe ought to go back and read Brigade-2 airborne infantry battalions-soonof "total" war and destruction during his "The Gettysburg Campaign" in SEtT 38. 1 say to be converted to mechanized infantry; 1march throuah Georaia and the Carolinas and this because his objections to several of my airborne infantry battalion, which is in Italy; 4ththe destruct& of thYe Shenandoah valley-by comments are based on incomplete reading of Battalion 69th Armor-formed in 1972; 2ndanother Northern military mind, the Army of the article. For example, where he says Brigade-3 mechanized infantry battalions; 1stVirginia was a model of generous behavior "cynical comment about 'unofficial' looting" and 2nd Bns 69th Armor; 3rd Brigade-1towards the land and people of Pennsylvania. andso forth, he demonstrates that he failed to mechanized infantry battalion; 3rd and 5th Bnsread, three or four lines further on, "And of 68th Armor, as well as the divisional cavalryThe not so subtle Northern chauvinism of Nofi course looting is a perennial disease among squadron which is attached for administrativeis obvious in many other places of his work as soldiers." Similarly his comments about my purposes. - L.F. W. Beck, Lt, USAwell as bewildering contradictions. He would evaluation of Sherman and other Federalhave us to believe that there was not much generals as being the equals or superiors of thedifference in the soldiering qualities of Johnny Southerners also betray a lack of carefulReb and Billy Yank but that what differences reading, for I noted several times that the really Sniper! Free-For-Allthere were ". . .were most evident at still good U. S. officers were all out in the West athigher ranks, in the corps and the army that rime. But this is mere nit picking, and Mr. Sniper! ha,s been played in many variations atcommands." It is rather perplexing from a Canipe seems to have tried hard to find nits to SPI. The one that has been most durable andpoint of logic to then read that "Men such as pick. The real issue is one which he has been responsible for more 5 AM SaturdayGrant and Sherman were probably the equals approaches obliquely: he objects to my play than any other has been an every-manofLee as army commanders. . ." and that unsvmmthetic approach to the Southern for-himself f ree-for-ail.. . . .". . .Jackson was one of the top corps cause. The rules are simole. First out some Sni~ercommanders of the war, probably surpassedMaybe Lee and the slave- counters into a cup. Ten riflemen, 5 MP'S,only by Sherman and Sheridan." Mr. Nofiholders, southerners 3 sa sand a couple of MG's make up the bestfinally concludes that "Sherman may well have fighting slavery, but for balanced mix. Then someone holds up the cupbeen the finest officer on either side." the economic and political independence of and everyone picks one. Try not to smile tooConsidering the aforementioned statements of the South. Fin. But let us not forget that the much Or everyone will that you pickedMr. Nofi and considering that the population of economic system of the South was rooted in UP the Machine gun.the Confederate States of America was slavery and the ~olitical~roblem which led the Divide the map edge into as many sectors asoutnumbered 10 to 1 and that she had a veryprimitive base, then why did the SouthSouth to demand independence was the factthat the rest of the nation was becomingthere are players. Decide who gets whichsector. All counters enter from his respectivesucceed in surviving for five years against such increasingly hostile to the ';oeculiar institu- ma0 edae.overwhelming odds and forces? It is neitherremarkable nor surprising that she lost the war- that was inevitable - but that she survivedas long as she did.The United States won by attrition. If hersoldiers had been more or less equal and hertop generals equal or superior to those of theConfederate States, then a war of attritionwould not have been necessary. I believe thatthe superior 'material resources and manpowerof the North certainly outweight anyhome-ground defense advantages that theSouth enjoyed.Be that as it may, Mr. Nofi did not write withhistorical objectivity in mind. Such antiquatedapproaches towards the emotional issues ofthe war per se (which he played on) are anoffense to readers seeking objective andquality works. Such writing belongs to theemotional period of the Northern Press (circa1860) and not on the pages of Strategy &Tactics 1973.My critique of certain aspects of Mr. Nofi'swork will probably be a "cry-in-the-dark" and Iwill be considered as just another indignantand irate Southerner still fighting the war.Therefore, I am prepared to be ignored. Irealize that most of Strategy 8 Tactics readerslive in the North and West - consequentlythey will probably be pleased with the article. Ibelieve in letting the cards fall where they mayregardless of reader sentiment and prejudice. Ivividly recall your printing of the superb worktitled "Year of the.RatM by John Prados; thecourageous work, to the contrary of beingtion." Lest we forget the ultimate cause of thewar we should recall that Longstreet issuedorders to capture all fugitive slaves and returnthem to their masters. And remember FortPillow, where Southern troops gallantly shotdown surrendered black soldiers, their whiteofficers and many of their wives and childrenas well. [lncidently, the commander of theseSoutherners was Nathan Bedford Forest, wholater went on to greater things as the founder ofthe Ku Klux Klan.1 Then of course we have a100 years of L ynchings to top it all off. I ratherthink Mr. Canipe 's remark about encouragingan historian to tell the truth in the interests ofnational harmony is rather amusing, as heseems to prefer the fairy tales which willassuage Southern feelings rather than anythingelse.*RS/WS and the Paper TigerThe Red Star/Whire Star errata in S8T 38prompted me to make these few comments.The article was very well researched andwritten. I would not dispute your conclusionsin "USAREUR -The Paper Tiger" but I wouldlike to point out that the 8th lnfantry Divisionhas made two division sized field trainingexercises (FTX's), one in February 1972 and ariver crossing in May 1973 as well asparticipating in the V Corps FTX with the 3rdArmored Division in Decevber 1972. Ofcourse, some realism was definitely lost due todamage control considerations, but practice inproviding logistical support and controlling theunits involved was gained.All Counters are face down at the start. Youonly see what kind of weapon a man iscarrying if you can see him according to thenormal Sighting Rules. When a man fires hisgun then everyone gets to see what he has,but turn him face down again after thatGame-Turn. You never know, someone mightforget.Don't use any markers, so no one knowsanything he shouldn't. Of course, it helps toplay this game with people who are fairlyhonest. Whenever there is a question ofwhether or not someone is peeking (sighting)through an aperture, all questionable parties(and a game like this usually is) should writedown on a corner of their plot sheet (orsomeplace else if you run out of corners)whether or not they are sighting and reveal itto whomever could potentially see their man.Well thats about all you need to know,so go to ...You might want a few tips on tactics. Onegood ploy that nearly all good players will useis to go to a stairwell and stay there a few turnsrolling a die. Everyone else won't know ifyou're climbing or preparing a rifle grenade.This is good to do if people don't know whatyou have, even if you really have a MachinePistol and can't prepare a rifle grenade, theydon't know, and half this game is psychingeach other out.Another standby maneuver for some players iSto go up on a roof with a loaded rifle grenadeand wait for a suitable target. In fact, grenades