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. 

Another ACW Sharp Practice AAR

This game was a few weeks ago now at the club, between Brian, commanding the Union side and my force of Confederates. Both sets of troops were my Peter Pig 15mm ACW ones. The buildings and fences were also mine. The rest of the terrain was the club's.

We used forces for 1864 from the Sharp Practice rulebook, plus a couple of basic supports (medics, extra Status I leaders);

CONFEDERATES, 1862‐1865

Leader, Status III

Three Groups of 8 Infantry, Rifled Muskets

Leader, Status II

Two Group of 8 Infantry, Rifled Muskets

Leader, Status I

One Group of 6 Skirmishers, Rifled Muskets

Leader, Status I

One Group of 6 Skirmishers, Rifled Muskets

UNION FORCE, 1863‐1865

Leader, Status III

Leader, Status I

Three Groups of 8 Infantry, Rifled Muskets

Leader, Status II

Two Group of 8 Infantry, Rifled Muskets

Leader, Status I

One Group of 6 Skirmishers, Rifled Muskets

The mission selected was Scenario Two; Sweep The Table, and the table was laid out as seen below. The Confederate deployment was from the bottom left in the first photo;

The Union force would deploy from the road at the bottom right;

We modified the objective so that the sweeping force's objective would be capturing the opposition's deployment zone. The Confederates were the sweeping force due to their higher Force Morale. I began by deploying skirmishers. I had a plan, and that involved tying the Union troops down as early as possible.

The Union troops began to arrive; skirmishers to the fore and a column marching behind.

My sharpshooters were soon in action, sniping away from the edge of the cornfield and causing casualties on their opposite numbers.

I quickly brought on my second group of skirmishers who moved up to add their fire.

Meanwhile the Union main force slowly began to deploy behind the skirmish screen.

My main force began to arrive, two groups advancing in line to take up a position on my right flank, while the rest moved to my left.

The main Union firing line advanced towards the central farmstead.

My left-hand skirmishing group moved up to threaten them.

My main force began its march along my left flank. So far, things were working pretty smoothly.

My right-hard skirmishers came under sustained fire, taking shock and a casualty. Their leader was able to rally off some shock and they advanced to fire again.

Hiding in the long corn, they began to pepper the Union troops with accurate musketry, causing casualties on the two groups advancing along the road.

My troops advanced slowly.

Eventually ending up as a three group formation behind a line of snake fencing.

However, this was a feint, and the formation moved off on a flanking march, behind the dense forest on the Union right.

Back in the centre, my advanced group of skirmishers, much reduced, were skulking in a patch of green corn.

I needed to keep the Union force engaged along the road.

The fighting was keeping the main Union body in a defensive line on a hill and the other two infantry groups were holding the chapel and the road junction.

My marching column on the left carried on moving through the woods.

I began to advance in the centre through the cornfields.

My flanking force finally deployed into line formation, ready to threaten the deployment point.

My left-hand skirmishers kept up their fire on the main Union body. So far, so good.

Finally, the Union realised the threat on their right. Groups of infantry began to move across to counter my advance.

This led them to a strong position in the corn and trees, where they were able to engage the Confederates.

This developed into a firefight, with both sides suffering casualties and shock.

Time was running out, but Union Force Morale was plummeting and casualties and shock were mounting. Having all but surrendering their left and centre, the Union was struggling to defend its deployment point.

At this point, we called a halt, agreeing that the outcome was a victory for Johnny Reb.

Securing the redoubts (Take Two) - A Sharp Practice ACW AAR

A while ago, I umpired a game of Sharp Practice for Andy and Nick at the club. The scenario was one where the Union side had to try and capture some reboubts that had been abandoned by the Confederates, while the Rebels were attempting to regain control of the same defences.

The scenario was fundamentally sound, but the Union side was pretty much handicapped by having too much open ground to cross before being able to engage with the enemy. I wanted to replay this, but decided that what was needed was a more cluttered table, so that there was more cover for the attacking Union troops, led by me. I also gave them a unit of cavalry, who were defined as Dragoons with breech-loading carbines. The Confederates, with Nick once again commanding, gained an extra unit of musket-armed militia.

Here is the battlefield, with more tree cover and fences than previously. The hill on the Union side creates the effect of a valley between the two sides.

From this end of the table. we can see the Union deployment point, marked by the tents. The Confederates will deploy from the middle hill on the right of the table.

The Union troops began to deploy quickly, with the carbine-armed cavalry aiming to secure the hill on the Confederate left.

The Rebels also began to deploy, with their cannon making an early appearance.

Quickly getting the cannon into the central redoubt, and a unit of skirmishers in the paddock below the hill, the Confederates had stolen a march on the Union troops

While the main body of Union infantry took up a firing position along the fences on the Union right flank, both units of skirmishers and a second group of infantry took up position on the hill and in the wooded ground in the valley. From here, the idea was for the skirmishers to advance and pick off the gun crew.

On the Union right, the cavalry advanced, dismounted and began to deploy in cover behind the hill on the Rebel left. 

The main Confederate infantry line waited in support of the cannon position, with the militia being pushed forward to try and neutralise the Union  skirmishers, whose accurate fire had already caused casualties and shock on the cannon crew, actually hitting the gun commander and knocking him out. He would stay down for much of the battle, limiting the effectiveness of the cannon.

The Confederate infantry were soon in action against the dismounted Union troopers, to good effect. The Union skirmishers were also taking casualties but succeeded in driving off the Confederate sharpshooters who had been screening the gun.

The dismounted cavalry were forced back with heavy losses but were replaced by the main Union infantry line, who split into two parts and advanced to occupy the hill.

The central redoubt was captured by Union skirmishers, who succeeded in killing the gun crew, but were themselves then pushed back. This fight would to-and-fro for a while while the Union troops were able to force the Confederate militia to flee the field.

Although the troops on the Confederate right had been mainly stuck with the task of holding the redoubt there,  they did eventually send one group of men to reinforce the centre, making it difficult for the weakened Union centre to hold on to the redoubt. With one redoubt in Union hands and two controlled by the Rebels, the issue became one of attrition. Which side was strong enough to seize the advantage?

As things turned out, the Union forces would prove to be too weak to press their advantage so, with time running out, the game was guaranteed to be a draw. Perhaps the Union side had a slight advantage in numbers, but not enough to capture the central redoubt.

Once again, this scenario was an entertaining one. In typical Civil War style, the fighting was inconclusive, with both sides taking a lot of casualties. With hindsight. it would probably have made more sense to send the cavalry on a long flanking  manoeuvre on the Union left and use the skirmishers on the right instead, sending the bulk of infantry through the centre.