Simulation Rules: Contact Report, Part I

Players will give orders to their subordinate units to move across the campaign map. When a unit encounters an enemy force, the player will receive a contact report. The contact report will show screen shots of all enemy forces visible to the unit making contact. The contact report will provide the date and time (in-game), the locality, name and specific location of the commander who has sighted the enemy, and the location of the enemy.

After receiving a contact report, the player will issues orders that provide a stance of their unit. There are only three possible orders:

1. Attack
2. Withdraw
3. Maintain Position

Players may not give additional orders or provide any tactical directions. The result of the players' orders will determine what happens next.  Here is an example of a contact report.

1. Background: Captain John Quincy Winfield has been given command of a detachment composed of Companies B and G of Ashby's Cavalry, totaling 146 men. He has been ordered to cross the South Branch as Taylor's Ford and advance to Green Spring Depot and destroy the railroad there.  His advance on Green Spring Depot will be along the Taylor's Ford Road, around River Mountain and passing the Ketterman, Harper, and Stickley homesteads.

2. Contact Report: Captain Winfield makes contact with the enemy. The Confederate Player would receive a report like this:

CONTACT REPORT

Date:January 17, 1862
Time:9:00 a.m.
Commander: Captain John Quincy Winfield
Locality: Green Spring Depot
Location; Taylor's Ford Road, just west of Stickley at the junction with the W. French lane
Enemy Location(s): Taylor's Ford Road, on the west bank of Green Spring Run

3. Decision: Based on that information alone, the Confederate Player must make a decision from the perspective of Captain Winfield. Does he attack, withdraw, or maintain his position?