ACW river crossing battle

The other day we ran another ACW battle using rank & File rule set,this time using the random troop tables provided in the rules to find out what morale type our troops were, we picked the 1862 East part of the war. The aim of the battle was to control the bridges at the end of tne allotted time. Tneir was also a possibility there could be other crossing points on the river, if a 6 was rolled if any troops were in base contact with the river it would be a ford otherwise the river was uncrossable.

I aimed to control the central bridge and the right hand bridge with my mostly veteran and regular forces and the cavalry and green troop brigade were to contest the left hand side bridge. After deployment my dads unions had a similar goal with him concentrating most of his forces on his right side bridge and central one, the union cavalry opposed their left hand side bridge.

The battle proved a gruelling affair with both armies taking heavy casualties as a fierce fire fight took place over the crossing points. A ford was found late in the game by my Reb cavalry and a unit of Rebel infantry managed to cross it onto the union side but it was to have no effect on the games outcome. By the end of the game we both held a bridge each and with a late move by my dads Union cavalry the right side bridge was contested. However my Green brigade was close to withdrawing from the field after a right back and forth fire fight over the left hand side bridge.

The Left bridge which probably saw the most fierce fighting over the game.

The central bridge was held early in the game by my Rebels and despite the unions best efforts to take the bridge I was to hold onto it for the remainder of the game.

The line Rebel unit which managed to ford the river. It managed to charge into the union troops in the hill in the hope of turning the unions flank but after a few rounds of h/h combat it was forced to withdraw

The wooden bridge on tne right flank held by my Vetran Texans was to be contested late in tne game by the union cavalry as the Texans failed go drive them away with a poor round of shooting.

The Union troops finally capture the bridge on left after pushing tne Rebel troops back. Tne union battery had caused some heavy casualties on tne Reb infantry once they got deployed at close range.

My confederate artillery had been decimated during the game and this was all that remained by the end.

The middle bridge held by tne Rebs at tne games conclusion despite one last Aust by tne union brigade.

My hospital wagon was busy during the game as two commanders were shot leading the Rebel attacks on the bridges. Another Rebel commander was killed during the game. It proved to be a tough scenario for either side to win but both sides fought hard to try secure the victory which eluded them both. Once again the game ran smoothly usurping the Rank and file rule set with very little need to stop the game to check rules etc.

10mm ACW encounter

With my dad still unsure what rules to use for his 10mm ACW games we decided to play test Rank and File rules set as my dad had a couple of solo games under his belt. The game played very easy and the action moved along at a good pace. I played the Union force and after some fierce fire fighting ( and better dice rolling to day ), particularly around the action on the hill, I managed to come away with a winning draw. I was just starting to push the rebels back on there right flank after I had repelled the Rebs initial attack and my right flank was secure holding the farm area when the game came to a close. We will definetly have a second outing using the rules but as for a first go are concerned they ticked a lot of boxes. Here are some photos of the action.

The set up

The Union right flank takes refuge behind the fencingaround the farm house, 

The Rebels launch their main attack against the hill just off the centre of the board after ceasing the initiative.

The Unions launch a counter attack against the hill

Union troops quick March from the right flank to reinforce the centre and threaten the flank of the Confederate centre.

Union skirmishes occupy the farm house as the union rifle fire holds the rebels at bay.

The unions now push forward after checking the Rebel attack on the hill.

The union right flank holds fast in the farm area. The confederates struggle to loose their disorder for much of the later stages of the game.

The union forces make a final push to break the Rebel brigade in tne centre but the veteran morale of the Rebs holds strong despite some telling union fire at point blank range.

Close quarters fire fighting

The union troops start to attack the flank of the Rebel centre threading to flank them.

As night falls the Rebel line is still holding but only just as they start to take some heavy casualties.

The end of the game resulting in a winning draw to the unions!!