A little more 15mm painting over the last two weeks, adding more stands to the American Civil War armies. This first batch is CSA infantry.. yet to add standards, and base labels. The figures are a mix of Minifigs and Freikorps, and are for use with our favoured Volley and Bayonet rules
Now for two Union infantry brigades.
Interspersed with some new New Zealand fiction, and a diet of poetry (Cohen, Curnow, Bukowski, Shakespeare etc etc etc), I finished reading this amazing two volume set recently. I reviewed Volume 1 here.
This is some of the most detailed research and writing on any WW1 battle that I have ever read, truly eye opening.
Being something of a 'beggar for punishment', I have now turned my mind to this set:
It has sat on my shelves for a decade or more. I read half of Volume 1 at the time it arrived, but has sat untouched since. Until now. My interest was sparked by a very enjoyable ACW game hosted last month by Keith. During the usual game discourse I realised how little I really knew about the war, despite having reasonable matched armies in 15mm. So ... onwards. I am currently half way through Volume 1, intent on finishing the three this time.
In passing I spotted this great Larsen cartoon on social media.. brilliant!! I love Gary Larsen's work.
A home grown, fictional ACW scenario for Volley and Bayonet: in a race for a vital road/rail junction and rail line, two divisions of a Union Corp have crossed the only bridge across the main river when Confederate saboteurs in a daring night raid manage to blow the bridge. This leaves the corps split, half on either side of the river. Resources are pooled and a temporary raft based alternative goes in to operation, supported by a Union navy river gunboat. However as crossing operations get underway the first of the Confederate forces racing for the same road/rail junction begin to appear. The scene is set.
This game was fought earlier using my 15mm armies. The gunboat is by Sarissa. The buildings are all scratch built.
| The gunboat, and the vital road rain junction top centre of the photo |
| Union artillery in hasty defensive works |
| Union forces crossing via the rafting operation |
| Confederate forces have seized the secondary objective where the road and rail routed cross a secondary stream |
| More Confederate forces advance. The Confederate cavalry can be see top right, with a Union infantry division in pursuit. The Confederate infantry division is seen lower left advancing up the road. The initial confederate ploy had worked |
| Union cavalry |
| The Union forces withdraw to face the advancing Confederates on the confederate left |
| The Confederate cavalry turns about to face off the Union pursuers |
| The Confederate attack on the left, facing the reorganising Union defence |
| The Confederate cavalry dismounts and advances |
| On the Confederate right, the forces face off across the smaller river at the road/rail crossing of the river |
| Battlefield overview from behind the Confederate lines |
| The situation on the right |
| On the Confederate left, the Union cavalry has dismounted and moves across the two contour hill to threaten the Confederate flank - upper left of the photo |
| The Union forces have successfully reformed a cohesive defensive line - upper photo |
| Opposing forces still facing off on the Confederate right |
This was a really interesting game... the terrain meant that Confederate forces were repeatedly prevented from exploiting gaps in the Union defences, and so to break through to the main river/road/rail junction. The fragmented nature of the arrival of Confederate forces on the battlefield also meant that they struggled to marshal sufficient strength at any point to exploit the Union's initially fragmented defences. The Union ferrying operation allowed them to ferry two stands/brigades per turn. Even with this slow rate of reinforcement, they were still able to outpace the Confederates' build up in the face of the terrain that lay across their route of advance. What a fabulous exercise in using time, space, terrain, and forces, to solve the defensive problem. The net result was a draw.
This past week I've been working away at the next (and possibly nearing the last) stage in building my 15mm American Civil War armies: the dismounted cavalry stands to match the cavalry stands I completed a month or three ago. In Volley and Bayonet terms, in the ACW period cavalry regiments dismount as linear infantry stands with reduced firepower, representing the smaller units and the number of men detached to act as horse holders when the regiment fights dismounted.
| The three CSA regiments with their dismounted versions at the front |
| The three Union regiments with their dismounted versions at the front |
The mounted regiments are Minifigs figures, while the dismounted figures are Essex miniatures.
Murray and I hadn't played a Volley and Bayonet for a while.. Murray had a HotT itch that needed itching. However this week it was it... and I composed a fictional scenario with 16 Union brigades, and fourteen CSA (with two cavalry regiments). The CSA cavalry came in on a random throw. It turned out to be turn 6, and as it happened they never appeared as we had to all the game before we got to that stage. The battle had two objectives, the two built up areas. The Union began the battle with an M4 division (new recruits) occupying the central town objective. All other troops entered the table as each commander deemed fit, but within 12" either side of the pike that exited their base edge. Obviously the CSA cavalry were the exception. The game was fought using my own 15mm armies
.| The Reb M6 unit attacks the defenders of the central town block, with artillery in support. On the upper left there had been a single Union artillery battery which the Rebs also attacked.. it lost and was eliminated |
| The M6 Confederate brigade lost its melee and recoiled, leaving its supporting artillery stand alone |
| On the Confederate left a division deployed to threaten the Union right, facing off against a Union division moving in a column along a long two contour ridge |
| On their right, the Confederates attack the advancing Union, pushing a brigade back in disorder |
| The Union attacked the Confederate left, but were defeated in their attacks |
| The Confederate reserves move up to hold off the Union division that had advanced along the long ridge |
| The Rebs attack the central town sectors again. The defenders (M4), despite being behind some hasty works, failed their morale, and lost their combat |
| Meanwhile the CSA forces occupy the town sector objective on their right |
| The CSA brigade occupies the ground vacated by the original defenders in the central town sectors |
| Fire fight on the CSA left |
| The Union attacks on their left, the CSA right, and drive the CSA division back |
| Union attack in the centre |
| Firefight still going on on the left, casualties accruing for both sides |
| The CSA attack the Union right |
| The CSA right loses two brigades... and goes into exhaustion |
| Both the CSA left flank and it's opposing Union right flank divisions are both exhausted.. |
After only four turns, each side had three exhausted divisions, although none had suffered a morale collapse. The action had been frenetic and intense. With time limited we called the game at that stage, deeming neither side any longer in a fit condition to pursue the battle. Casualties were heavy. What a battle, what a game.
The week finished with a series of DBA games at Keiths at which we used my Saxons and Vikings. Other armies deployed during the evening (a...