Another group game at Steve's Bunker today, and great ACW action using the guys' 15mm collection and Regimental Fire & Fury.
Yes. Those are curtain tassels...yes, yes they are...
The encounter is (mostly)fictional set around a Union attack near Savannah in 1864 - so expect lots of veterans (and lots of 10s rolled..so..so...many 10s rolled).
It was mainly a 2 on 2 game with a Union assault on a partially fortified position across a river.
Excellent game as always, with significant conversation on the nature of reality as per usual...at least in terms of wargames rules. Oh, and in case debate spilled over into actual timewasting arguments over the nature of rules interpretations (don't mention 'cold steel'), I brought a whistle.
The fabled 'Sacred Whistle of Argument Enfeeblement', designed by Knights of the Order of Kwitcherbitchen, to stop rules arguments in their tracks; and lo, the artifact was used...often...
Also - every time someone says 'it certainly looks the part' ...TAKE A DRINK!
Union approaches on the Reb left
Breaking out into extended line
The Rebel centre - hold the bridges
Action on the Reb right, where bridge assaults were the order of the day early on. This flank would start to fall mid game, as the Rebs are pushed off the river. In hindsight, reserves could have been kept closer to this flank.
Another view of the left - with Yankees streaming across the bridge
Using the wheatfield as cover
On the left, Rebs are driven back to the stone wall
...as the Yankees push on
Mid battle - and troops are engaged all along the line of the river
Blue token? Yep - low on ammo - we rolled so many 10s...so devastating fire, but you are wondering where all the ammo went
The Reb left...Union charges which ultimately result in the Rebs losing the position
Rebs pushed back on the left. Though they held in the centre...
...but with both flanks collapsing, are under so much pressure that the Rebs could scarcely hold the bridges, we called it.
Another great game with an excellent set of rules that is certainly reminiscent of ACW.
Our annual July game (which folds neatly in with the Christmas / Easter and 'any excuse for a piss up' games), are now back with a vengeance.
John and Stephen set up Salem Church, for 4 players + ref, with the excellent Fire & Fury (Regimental) - which definitely has some advantages:
There is clear and unarguable attrition, as in the ACW accounts, so it feels like the ACW - though there is a 'cold steel' charge rule, which inevitably means that there are distinct advantages in charging home without shooting . We debated this for hours...well, minutes anyway (many minutes)...at least in terms of how 'ACW' it was, and whether it was a game balance thing.
(Yes, those are curtain tassels attached to the hat...)
The setup used the excellent 15mm collections of John & Steve.
The Union was forced to attack Reb positions - inevitably perhaps coming unstuck on one flank. A Reb drive on their left threatened to make good on the scenario conditions, after the Union had captured / and lost the church, but neither side was going to win in the end - neither the Union capturing the Church, nor the Rebs the toll house. In the end, it became a hard fought grinding draw - but a great day - followed by wine, beers, Indian food and John's (not) gay beer.
NOT a gay beer
Reb positions at the church, with skirmishers along the walls. It's not a big position, and thereby only holds skirmishers at this scale.
Union attacks straight at the centre, with cold steel charges for the most part, with some smoothbore/RM discipline from the Rebs
Billy Yank was determined to say the least
Union attacks in the centre initially - but they can expect reinforcements
Federals hold the church...for a time
Building attacks on the Reb left
A mass battle in itself on the Reb right - was turning into a bloody stalemate - though the Union were still concerned enough to send multiple reinforcing regiments in that direction...
'Here they come again boys!' Union attacks are hard and fast, but, the Rebs can still counter-attack as the turns wear on, on their left...
Terrible melee on the left flank (my dice rolls were terrible anyway)
The bloody centre
Reb pressure tells terribly on their left flank...but it's too late
We fought this relatively small battle (with Greene vs a weakened Rawdon after Guilford Court House) using the ACW rules Fire & Fury, but with online (yahoo group originally) variants for the AWI.
We've been trying a lot of AWI sets recently, though the F&F variant has some nice features:
Units are sometimes fairly big (10 or 11 stands at max, with a few 2 stand units), which means that they take up a lot of real estate on the table, but it all still works - though 25mm means a bigger table.
D10 with mods control degree of movement and rally etc.
A lot of features that we like to see as part of any AWI set:
Movement can be difficult if out of command, but easier with good troops.
Terrain affects a lot of things.
Grades of unit are vitally important for almost everything - ranging from Elite, Veteran, regular down to militia grades.
In the game we saw:
British deployed in loose order, but were effective both in giving and receiving shot.
American numbers convinced them to charge on several occasions - all came to naught due to 'Regular' vs Veteran British
The command D10 roll can be so bad for poor quality or disordered troops, that in the face of interpenetrating units, lesser troops like militia, simply change their minds about standing and fighting.
All in all, it is very representative of period characteristics. I think with experience comes the ability to zip through modifiers for all the players - which was the only thing that slowed us a bit - but that's no real issue.
Yes, it's more AWI in a sea of recent AWI games, but we're a little obsessed. Next game will probably entail a subtle change of pace.
The battlefield, smaller than usual, but big, fat units
British in loose order advance toward the ridgeline
A lot of Americans
First musketry starts to go off
Early cavalry action on the British right, hurts the Americans, but the British breakthrough charge leaves it broken
The fight for the centre
On the British left, two stands of troops manage to hold off a continental charge...
The American centre also starts to fold
Highly mobile British units engage to open a flank
The flank is open
British troops hold on the left and assault on the right and in the centre
Flank wide open
American units suffer from poor command rolls, and the threat on the British left subsides, drifts, then melts away
Here they come lads!!
Americans start to be pushed back as British troops pile on the pressure
The British left - suddenly secure as Americans pull back
The centre
The right, where a British breakthrough brings an end to proceedings.
