Seize the crossroads - a 15mm ACW AAR

Here is another Sharp Practice game played at the club yesterday.

I took the job of commanding the Confederate forces against Kev's Union troops. Both of us were using 15mm Peter Pig figures. The buildings were my Peter Pig resin ones and all the scenery was the club's, apart from my 15mm snake fences. Here is the table from the Union side. I would be entering from the road on the upper edge of the table.

To add visual interest, I placed various civilians around the hamlet, together with some livestock.

Kev had a strong force from the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an Afro-American unit, while I fielded a larger, but less well-trained force from the imaginary Hazzard County Volunteers and Militia, commanded (of course) by Major J.D. Hogg.

Both forces were soon advancing across the table towards the strategically-important crossroads. 

The main body of Rebel infantry moved towards the large farm, while the Militia, under Sgt. Roscoe P. Coltrane marched along the road towards the crossroads. If they could get there first, the idea was that they could resist the Union advance, even though they were only equipped with smoothbore muskets. Both sides deployed skirmish troops, with the Union side proving to be better shots.

The 54th Massachusetts got into the hamlet in good time, with all their infantry taking up a commanding position pretty quickly. This would prove decisive.

The Hazzard County Militia, a poorly-trained bunch, came under sustained fire from the well-drilled Union troops, who were firing controlled volleys to good effect. The Confederate skirmishers on the left also took casualties, limiting their usefulness.

Although Rebel fire was causing some damage to the Union infantry, the superior musket drill of the Union side took a heavy toll on the hapless militia, forcing them to withdraw with many casualties and a lot of shock. Before long their formation would break and the group led by Sgt. Coltrane would flee the field. This cause a rapid fall in Rebel morale.

Maj. Hogg managed to get the main body of Hazzard County Volunteers into a firing line and musketry was exchanged with the Union troops. The local civilian population was by now fleeing in panic from the battle (they were activated whenever a blank chip was drawn from the bag, moving in the direction indicated by a scatter dice, with distance being decided by rolling 1D6)

With depleted ranks, it was only a matter of time before the Confederate defenders were defeated. The only question of whether they would be forced to flee or their morale would drop to nothing.

In the end, the battle was decided by morale. Maj. Hogg was struck by a Union ball and on the roll of 1, he was killed. 

So, a pretty comfortable victory for Kev's Union Infantry, a clearly superior force, which even though it was outnumbered by the Rebels was better drilled and capable of sustained accurate musketry. The Militia were unable to make any impact, being subjected to volley after volley before they were even able to fire a shot. It was their loss which really decided the outcome.