ACW Naval Campaign

Started a ACW naval campaign at our last club meeting.  Using a couple of set of rules from Wargame Vault.   Anaconda Capital Navies for the strategic side and Sail and Steam for the tactical battles.  Ran the first two turns in a 5 turn campaign.   The scenario starts with the Spring 1861 turn and turns are 3 months each.  Each turn has a random event which could be good or bad for either side, reinforcements in the shape of new ships, shore batteries and troops also later in the war obstacles and mines.   Then you determine the mission assigned to each navy in which they are trying to earn victory points and who moves first and second on the turn.  As each side takes it's moves if fleets of both side end in the same square you switch to a tactical game to fight it out.  The rules provide tactical maps the areas to set up the battle.  On the first turn there was no random event (the event rolled didn't apply).  Both sides rolled for reinforcements with the Confederate getting one ship and a 3 gun heavy shore battery. The Confederacy gets to roll for ship building once at each port it owns and builds the ship there.  The Union rolls 6 times per turn for ship reinforcements and they get placed in the Atlantic Ocean box to begin with.   The Union was very unlucky on the first turn and received no ship reinforcements but did get a cavalry regiment and a 5 gun light shore battery.  The land reinforcements and shore batteries can be deployed to any area the side controls during the movement phase.

The imap setup after the first turn moves.  I took the map from the rules converted it to one sheet and then enlarged it to fit on a 2 x 3 poster board and created 3/d4 inch counters to display the unit status.

This shows the first battle a lopsided affair of 1 Confederate ship vs 7 Union ships.  We set up the battle using Sail and Steam rules who also sell top down ship counters which I doubled in size and mounted on foam board.  We changed the naval rules slightly in that the rules call for two movement phases and we substituted just one.

This was at the end of the first turn of the action.  With the union entering from the North and the South set up on the table as they moved there first.

Here were the ships involved the Confederate had the CSS George Paige and the Union consisted of the USS Pawnee, Thomas Freeborn, Pocahontas, Anacostia, Mount Vernon, Reliance and Resolute.

The initial firing by both sides was ineffective causes only suppression hits with no real damage.   But the range is closing quick.

The range closed to close range and the damage started to build up with the Union getting a critical hit on the George Paige and her rear gun was dismounted.

With the rear gun gone the George Paige decided to ram the Mount Vernon bad decision) and did more damage to herself then the Union ship and with the gunfire the George Paige was quickly sent to the bottom thus ending the battle.  But the Pocahontas' Captain was relieved of command for grounding is ship.  A fun battle with mistakes made by both side.

The second turn was mainly a reorganization phase for both sides as the Union lost 5 ships to blockade duty (random event) which depleted his fleet and the Confederate had a catastrophic loss on the first turn and was able to do a massive build program but it takes forever to get ships from Richmond and Petersburg to the front.  We will run turn 3 at least at the next club meeting.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the final map but after the moves the Confederate were able to capture Annapolis getting a 4th port and a large battle appears to be building there for next turn.  More to come next month.

Gary

1st Day of Gettysburg in 3mm at Kublacon

I ran two games of Gettysburg at Kublacon and both went very well and fun was had by all.

The first game was on Saturday afternoon.  It was on a 6x9 foot board with about 700 stands of figures fought using the Volley and Bayonet rules at full scale.  The objectives of the game were control of Gettysburg and Cemetery ridge

Here are the forces involved and the board setup:

The initial union setup with Buford's cavalry division awaiting the Confederate arrival and the 1st division of I Corp moving up in support.

The Confederate brigades of Heth's division advancing on the union with a brigade of cavalry moving to outflank them.

The first attack on the cavalry brigade fails to force the cavalry off the ridge line.

And the union cavalry charge in and force another brigade to rout throwing the confederate advance into confusion.

The union had delayed the confederate advance enough so they fell back on Gettysburg with the infantry moving thru the town to setup a defense north of the town.   But the confederate reinforcements came in at just the right place and was able to catch the union brigade in route march just coming out of the town causing them to rout back.

This is the view of the overall battle just before the union brigade was routed back thru Gettysburg.  The confederates hold the left and bottom and union reinforcements are arriving in the top right.

 

Both sides are getting ready for the battle for the town.

 



 

 

The confederates make the first assault but the union are able to force them out of the town so it is still contested while the union reinforcements threaten the confederate flank.

 

And the union are able to disrupt the confederate forces east of the town and once again were able to destroy the confederate brigades that were trying to take Gettysburg.



 

 

In the next turns both sides setup facing each other in front of Cemetery Hill.

The confederates assaulted both flanks with significant losses to the union included a Corp (Doubleday) and a division commanders lost in the fight.

But they hold as the confederates have no fresh forces to exploit the losses and the union are able to once again defeat a brigade in Gettysburg while XII Corp advances to support the defense.

It is looking desperate for the confederates as the union is forming a solid battle line behind Gettysburg and may be able to retake the town for a complete victory.

But the confederate reinforcements from Anderson's division arrive at just the right time and are able to keep the union from retaking the town thus the battle ended as a draw with a good time had by all.

It took about 2 hours to setup the battle and we were able to fight it to a conclusion in 6 hours with a 30 minute dinner break.   Next up the same battle fought on Sunday but with a different conclusion.

3mm Gettysburg Preparation for Kublacon

Here are some board tryout pictures for my Gettysburg game I am putting on at Kublacon this weekend.  This is a one quarter view of the board all I can fit in my gaming area for the Con it will be a 6' x 9' area.  Also a couple of pictures of a regiment passing thru Gettysburg.



Will post pictures of the game from Kublacon hopefully next week.

3mm ACW Battle of Shiloh

Here's the action of a civil war battle that I fought last year and am finally posting.

Initial board setup the hexes are 4" inches across and the board is 3x4 feet.  This was played with Volley and Bayonet rules at 1/2 scale.

The Rebels enter the fray and the board after the first turn.

A View from the Confederate lines towards the Union defenders.

The Confederates advance while the Union trys to setup a defense

While the Rebs maneuver the first blood is happening on the Union left which looks in trouble.

 

The Rebel firepower is devastating routing and destroying the first division they face.

With a Confederate division entering on their flank it doesn't look like the Union will hold.

But the Union troops around the church are holding and the second line of defense is setting up to give the Rebs a warm welcome.

The Confederates start to flank the Union.

But the Union defense around Shiloh church holds and the Rebels are being held on their right.  Sorry for the quality of the next pictures but my camera ran out of space and I had to use my IPhone for the final pics.

The Confederate advance stalls while the union adjusts their lines and the battle around the church continues.

The Union counter attacks in the center and catches a Rebel battery in the flank and destroys it.

The center blows up for the Confederates which spells the doom of their reaching their objective with any strenght of force.

These are the final positions of the battle as the Rebels decided that the losses at Shiloh church were too much and they couldn't continue.

Overall it was an enjoyable battle which was played by four members of my local gaming club.  Hope you enjoyed this action.