A Bloody Affair at White's Farmstead

As I hope some will recall, Jon and I started a large Blackpowder ACW game last week, with a view to playing over two, or more, sessions to help me learn the rules! In the first session we played 12 Turns and when I wandered into GHQ occasionally to look over the table in the intervening week it seemed to me that the Union were up against it. A quick review of the table at the end of Turn 12 ~

When Jon turned up this week we got straight down to action. As He had the initiative in the game he at once pressed the Union boys wherever he could in the first turn. My boys are driven from the corn field and on my right one regiment breaks under great pressure. The 5th New York hurry to fill the gap and hold back the Reb tide ~

In Turn 14 of the game the Reb cause was held up by poor Command Rolls, including an unwelcome Blunder! The 144th New York counter attacked the stalled Rebs while the 54th Massachusetts stormed the Rebs held up in the corn field by the restored US Sharpshooters!

Add caption

With the Union right holding up well more Boys from New York rushed forward to hurl the Damned Rebs back, despite their mounting losses!

In Turn 15 the Union Regulars drive the remaining Rebs from the corn field and stabilize the centre. Losses are heavy on the Union right though and finally the last of the US Colored Troops is broken. Fortunately the Rebs are also broken on that flank so all is looking up for the Union cause.

Away on the Union left, the fighting around White's Farmstead has settled into a prolonged fire fight with neither side able to advance due to a storm of 'Disordered' results turn after turn! The Pennsylvania troops, supported by elements of the Irish Brigade trade lead with the enemy with quiet determination.

In the centre the Reb generals simply cannot urge their men forward while the Union boys consolidate their position and the artillery plays havoc with the enemy's morale!

Sadly though, at the moment of triumph, many Union units cannot take it any more and melt away, as do their Reb counterparts. A quick check in Turn 16 shows that both armies are Broken by a combination of Routs and Shaken units. The game has run out of legs in a bloody draw!

The Reb right was broken by sustained volleys from the last of the Union regiments holding their ground.

The Union centre was still strongly held though, even at the end fresh units were marching to the front full of confidence!

While over on the UNion left the boys from Pennsylvania simply could not be dislodged by the Rebs!

The final indignity for the Reb cause was the simple lack of a decent Command roll in the centre, leaving a whole Brigade to trade ineffective rifle fire with their foe for four turns!

The game ended, as I said, after 16 Turns when both armies were reckoned to be Broken due to a combination of Routed and Shaken units. the four turns played this week took 1 1/2 hours to complete as there was much firing, combat and morale resolution to tackle for both of us in our turns. Jon's Rebs were thwarted by a combination of poor Command Rolls and unusually poor shooting dice, while the Union cause was redeemed by some smart bayonet work at times! All in all a great game over two sessions and a fair result we both thought! Next up for us will be a pair of Ancient games using first Hail Caesar and then Neil Thomas' Ancient and Medieveal rules. In the meantime, Phil and I have scheduled a French Revolutionary Wars game next week so pop back to see how that went in due course.