Tinkering with 'Volley & Bayonet'

Some pics from a re-fight of ACW’s  Champions Hill again with Volley and Bayonet. The idea in this case was to get players enthused for a future BIG game. 

High ground results in a mod for the MORALE roll - interestingly positioned in the turn sequence - and a natural 6  is not always a fail - therefore you can get your troops into the situation where morale is solid and unbreakable, but this is rare.

The turn sequence is everything here as ever: command, move, rally, morale, combat, exhaustion…

Reb defensive positions on Champions Hill

 One key of course is the morale phase, where there is always a chance of a unit becoming disordered – with mods for flanking, support etc. …but if passed then combat can be a 50/50 or better; if failed however, one disorder can become a rout very quickly in a melee situation. The game also quite succinctly brings home the value of sustained musketry on one half of the battlefield, with close range melee on the other. Just like 'Piquet, Field of Battle', it plays as battles read.

Union attack

   Key design elements include:

• ·         Scale and Movement: The default ground scale is 1” = 100 yards with a time scale of one hour per turn, enabling units to march at realistic sustained rates (2.5–3 mph) while accounting for battlefield friction.
• ·         Unit Structure: Armies are organized into brigades (1,500–3,000 men) to keep command and control systems austere, focusing on player decision-making rather than complex mechanical modifiers. 
• ·         Simplified Formations: The rules omit traditional infantry formations like line, column, and square; instead, these are modeled through mechanics like morale, stationary status, and unit training levels. A 'faf' to make things simple, or actually genius design?
• ·         Sequential Action: The game uses an alternating activation sequence to capture the cyclic nature of command and counter-command, avoiding complex simultaneous resolution systems - although defensive fire can be activated if the attacker fires at same unit - a genius little mechanism, that makes tactical play very interesting.
• ·         Merit-Based Performance: The system rejects "national modifiers," arguing that unit performance is determined by training, leadership, and combat experience rather than inherent national temperament (and leadership mods are not there - relying instead on the temperament of individual players).
• ·         Scenario Flexibility: The rules support both historical re-fights and fictional battles through an innovative scenario system, with specific period hacks available (of note is J.D. Glasco's fantastic AWI stuff).

  …and to quote Frank Chadwick and Greg Novak themselves (these design notes are considerably expanded in both editions of the rules):

‘One of the first things new players notice – after the large movement rates – is the lack of the familiar column line and square infantry formations. In the original edition of these rules I said that you don’t need them because that is not the job of corps and army commanders; the decisions on formations are handled at lower levels, and the game assumes that troops are in formations appropriate to the tactical situation in which they find themselves – or perhaps not, in the case of less capable troops, which in part accounts for their lower morale ratings. ‘

20mm artillery with some old 'Minifigs' gunners - supplied by 'Steve the Wargamer' many years ago

This game is for big battles – yes, there have been concessions made to ‘playing with toy soldiers’ – no commander ratings, no formations at the micro level, BUT much is made of the big corps movements, division exhaustion, and putting yourself in Lee or Napoleon’s seat…and even enabling a scale-less approach to big basing, and big battles - that’s what I want for my toy solders.

Union troops close on the Confederate positions on Champions Hill

More interesting is the fact that multiple scales are available for differing levels of battle – yes, of course the game is designed for big battles, and sensible games with toy soldiers – that notwithstanding, tweaks and hacks are always there to use same system across multiple sizes of battle – does it work at reduced? Well, we shall see, as I have several AWI re-fights in mind…as example consider (taken from recent ‘Storm in the Valley’ supplement::

Regiment Scale

• 100 yards per inch
• 1hour per turn
• 500 men per strength point
•  6 guns per strength point

Battalion Scale

• ·         50 yards per inch
• 30 mins per turn
• 200 men per strength point
• 4 guns per strength point

Wing Scale

• ·         25 yards per inch
• 15 minutes  per turn
• 80 men per strength point
• 2 guns per strength point

2nd edition - some changes to light infantry / skirmishers, and clarification that 'combat is sequential, not simultaneous' - this is actually quite pivotal, especially so with low strength units

 

The seminal and ground-breaking 1st ed. I always loved the fact that AWI units on the cover have a very economic three figures per base...outstanding!

Stones River 1862, with Volley & Bayonet

Having some time over Easter to set up a large game, one of the ACW battles from the old V&B '90s scenario book seemed appropriate.

Stones River is of an appropriate size for the table and troop numbers, but even at that, is definitely designed for 4-5 players rather than two - mainly for the management of simple paperwork on the rosters - which can be time consuming with less players. The added advantage of many players also is that some may consider 'orders' as mere 'suggestions' bearing in mind that their division is about to collapse, which seems very in period. 

 

First army to lose 3/4 (ish) of its divisions to exhaustion would lose here.

Confederate positions with the river to their back...not healthy at all!

 To review turn sequence: 

Command Determination (check which stands are in command)

Movement (generous, but a turn is 1 hour)

Rally (routed units in contact with corps/army commander - these are essential)

Morale Checks (both sides in contact, or in 'close' range - artillery is the only element that enforces that here)

Combat (firing/melee resolved together; attacker chooses order – KEY, if shot at, the defender shoots back – choose carefully).

Exhaustion & Collapse (division checks if over casualty threshold - these become very important and affect ability to charge and move) 

A successful union defence (albeit a very close run thing) in the centre

 To zone in on one of these this episode: 

The rules state: 'combats take place sequentially' - granted defenders can fire back, but not if they do not survive the volleys against them; also - 'defending stands which were not attacked may fire defensively at any enemy stands...at close range'. 

The beauty of this is that artillery ha a close range, though infantry rifle muskets and carbines do not - which makes choice of who to fire at, and which units to do it with, all the more interesting. This matters if your division needs to focus on a particular unit, or escape vector, and avoid being clobbered by stronger units before their half of the turn...gamey?, but it works well - especially so when divisions are on the verge of collapse, since your opponent will be playing exactly the same game.

the confederate right, where divisions would simply stare at each other for hours, waiting for a flank action to their right...which never really happened

The Reb attack on their left flank

Union stationary units give dense fire

The centre, where each side tries to goad the other into attacking first...the Rebs buckle and attack, because they are forced to due to action on their left

View from the Reb right - everything is happening on the left initially, though note the movement of Union reinforcements in the rear

Union brigades defend well...at first, and yet do take a heavy toll on some of the Reb brigades

It looks like somehow, the centre will be key

Union assault on the centre - unsuccessful as Palmer's division is simply blown away!

...but they keep coming...

The left becomes a trap for the Rebs, losing division after division, being forced to move troops from the precious centre...as well as corps commanders and Bragg himself

Union troops move to reinforce the centre now

...as their right holds fast...just

The Union have enough troops to plug the gaps - the Confederates...not so much.

Another Union push in the centre - which will be pivotal this time, breaking the Reb centre

'Hang on boys!'

View across the battlefield, from the Rebel right

The Rebel left is cooked...and the Union are in little better shape

All that is left of the Reb centre

Rebs hold on the Union left, but crossing the river, with three divisions already exhausted elsewhere is too dangerous

'Watch the flank boys!' Too many gaps to cover now in the centre

...and now with pressure on the Rebel right

In the end, 5 Reb divisions were exhausted - too much to come back from, as the Union troops could plug all the gaps, but a great game!

 

Champion's Hill 1863 - more 'Volley & Bayonet' action

 More V&B action, with a scenario from Grant's 1863 campaign, and a flanking action near Memphis. This is taken from superlative 1995 edition 'Battles of the American Civil War' scenario book, by Greg Novak and Frank Chadwick, designed for the 1st edition of 'Volley and Bayonet'.

Again, these rules are straightforward (with some very nice nuances - especially for ACW and AWI), allow for big battles with brigade bases, and though there are a lot of moving parts, everything is intuitive and there is just enough 'chaos' (of which more later), to keep things frantic, tense and with plenty of 'off the chair' moments.

 Some tinkering with the mechanisms pre-battle - and confirmation re. 'disordered' mechanisms, the ability to remove same, and then charge in same turn...but all resolved. 

20mm plastic out in force once more, on 3"x3" bases - granted, with some support from old 1970s Minifigs 25mm chaps (donated by Steve of Steve's blog).

"What's that Zeke? You believe that the design philosophy of Volley and Bayonet is sleek, elegant and somewhat based upon old 1970s 'hex'n'chit' systems, pioneered by Avalon Hill, then refined by GDW...Hmm, yes, worth due consideration after we fire that cannonball in your hands with our heavy smoothbore, at those demned yenkees...suh!"

Moves on the Union left - two divisions would be exhausted, with a third on the verge

The Union right seems more 'do-able' - yet the Yankees would have some hard fightin' here too

Union troops avoid the dug in position, though shooting stationary troops in V&B always a tough ask. It pays the attacker to focus attacks on a single brigade to open a hole...

The Union assault on the right

One division exhausted, another pushed back. "Reform and Rally to the flag boys!"

A lot of Union reinforcements - essential as the Confederate flank begins to weaken...

Some of those Reb brigades down to the last strength point...about to cave in ...but you will notice, oh casual reader, that Army Commander..U.S.Grant has decided to attach to a Union brigade - very dangerous in these rules as...

..."why suh!, a single roll of 6 on a d6 could get him killed! ..uhhh just like that!"

Every V&B game turns into a great contest. We do not have 'commander characteristic' rules, nor massive amounts of 'friction'. Honestly, it does not seem to matter, as the rules and play-style give a great game every time.

There are some key things to do though:

• Get your troops stationary as rapidly as you can and focus readied firepower with those additional dice.
• Assaults are difficult - focus on a flank or centre, and promote the exploitation of a gap when it comes.
• Watch out for weak divisions, and rally where you can.
• Be careful when you attach Army Commanders, as affecting the entire subsequent history of the US was not intended  ...oops...
  

 Why Suh! It's just like a real battle!