ACW Demonstration game at Battleground Wargames show

Last weekend the Independent wargames group put on a demonstration game at the excellent battleground wargames convention bring the wargaming season to a close. We put a ACW gameon demonstrating  the Pickets Charge rule set using Robbie's wonderful 28mm ACW armies which he has just about completed (or so he led us to believe). The game attracted a lot of attention and a lot of positive comments which is always a satisfying outcome when putting on a demonstration game. The show it self seemed busy but unfortunately I really didn't get a chance to have a good rummage around the trade or get a chance to really check out the other games although from my fleeting walk around the hall the games looked to be of a excellent standard. I did manage to grab myself some 40k bargains from the bring buy stands which was a nice bonus to the day. The game didn't play out to a conclusion as is the case normally for demonstration games but hopefully it won't be to long to I can get a 'proper' game in using Robbies beautiful collection. I will leave you with lots of eye candy from the game......

In one word..Whipped!

As the title suggests I suffered a heavy loss in our latest Pickets charge game, taking command of rebels I was given a complete 'whipping" as my grand plan unraveled before my eyes. Tasked with taking the high ground right across the centre of the board (5 hills all been objectives) I decided to focus on the my right flank where I placed two brigades hoping to take the hill and be able to turn on the Union left flank while the centre engaged the Union forces and over on my left flank I just wanted to hold with the brigade and allow my dad to control the objectives on that side. Although my centre attack  started off bright as I cleared the hill of union troops with some solid shooting and charging that was about as good as it got. My flank attack just didn't get going due to been unable to get my orders through and my brigades spent much of the time hesitant. My dad reenforced the Union centre and a couple of truly devasting shooting turns and some bad morale throws left my central brigades spent and sent into a speedy retreat (basically they routed))

I was a little unlucky when rolling for the quality of our regiments at the beginning of the game with the result been much of it rated green troops. Although my dad had  a large presence of green troops too in the Union army he had a number of elite and Olag troops which with their extra shooting dice proved  a telling factor. My dad also managed to upgrade his general by rolling aD6 before the game started, rolling a 6 he gained a extra staff officer, I was unsuccessful with my roll.

The game was over when the centre collapsed although I did continue for another move but this just confirmed my thoughts. It was a tough defeat to take as not much went right for me with the dice rolling and my ideas of turning flank weren't executed particularly well TBH as I had little room to manoeuvre the way I deployed and when the right hand flank brigades weren't hesitant I could do little with them. My central brigades became out numbered 3-2 and this told after my initial sucessful attacks against the hills as my dads fresh reserve troops were to much for my weakened Rebs to withstand. 

Even so I still really enjoyed using the rules again, they really are excellent for wargaming ACW though once your army starts to faulter it is very hard to regain control of it, (as I found to my expense) especially if your order dice show 1's and 2's at an alarming rate. I also like in these rules how the different qualities of troops are represented, their is a really good balance on how the benefits for been elite troops don't make them to powerful as other rule sets have done but still puts them at an advantage against green troops who are also reflected very well in their capabilities, again this is another reason of how Pickets charge helps captures the feeling of this period very well.

I will leave you with some final pictures of the my grand evacuation of rebel troops from of battlefield 🤔

I will 

Belated post of some ACW action

It's been a number of weeks since my last post for a number of reasons but I've finally getting round to uploading some photos of a ACW game  we had using the excellent Pickets charge rules set. These rules as I have stated before lend a great flavour of the period you are fighting , with enough tactical challenges to deal with without the rules been to 'clunky'. The game flowed well again and by the end my Union army was starting to waver after a hard fought contest. The battle mat we used was my dads latest purchase and the dark colour of the green looked really effective, especially for this period.

The union battle line ready to advance

The leading rebel unit advances in skirmish formation

A union battery opens fire with limited sucess (my artillery firing in every game of Pickets charge to date has been diabolical and inevitably I do more damage to myself than the enemy)

My dad used his Reb cavalry to great effect and when dismounted they shot my regiments defending the hill to pieces

Again the lead Reb regiment advances in skirmish order, I eventually released the best way to deal with them was not in a fire fight but to fix Baynot, that sharp got them out the way and been a nuisance!

The Reb attack in full swing as the Union desperately try to hold the high ground

The Rebs didn't have it all their own way as their left flank came under severe pressure from the advancing long in the tooth Union old lag regiments

The blue line of the Union is well advanced attacking the rebel line

The Reb cavalry remount after clearing the hill of Union troops

Desperate close quarter fighting develops across the corn fields

The rebel left flank starts to falter and with the arrival of the Union reserve cavalry they retreat under heavy fire from the advancing Union infantry giving up the defence of the high ground

After some heavy fire fighting my central Union brigade starts to retreat as the Rebs start to get a foothold on the game

The final position sees the Union just about holding on but the confederates had amassed the more victory points for objectives and were definitely in the ascendancy to push on for victory if the game could have continued.

During my absence from posting on my blog I have been still active in the hobby with just about all my spare time been invested into painting up a blood angels force for Warhammer 40k which I have found myself returning to. My dad and I have ran a coup,e of trial games with the new 8th edition rules for 40k and it has to be said they have been a lot of fun and it does seem as though games workshop might actually have finally done something good for the actual game play, however as for my wallet of late Gamesworkshop has not been so good! I will be posting some pictures of games we have ran next on my blog and some photos of the progress I have done with the painting of my force. 

Another try at Pickets charge....

Last weekend we had another go at fighting a ACW game using pickets charge rules, this time without a couple of rule errors around the command phase which we had done wrong in our previous game. Once again I can only but commend the rules on what turned out to be a cracking game, there was plenty of highs and lows for both sides and in the later stages of the game It looked like I might be defeated using the Rebs as my Texan brigade began to fold like a pack of cards. However I managed to get them to steady there lines just as it looked like they were about to flee the battlefield and fight my way back in the game as the union left flank eventually started to withdraw after some heavy fighting. A stalemate result in the end but this game was anything but a bore draw. I particularly like the command phase and with some clever use of your staff officers you can really dictate how the battle will be fought, that is however if you can get them to deliver their orders which is not always the case ha ha. Pickets charge are definetly a set of rules which you should explore if you are a ACW wargamer, it gives a great feel for the period your fighting and despite the Rulebook being quite daunting when you turn the front page the game is reasonably easy to play. Here are a few photos of the game, this weekend will hopefully see us fighting a WW2 game to give my Russians and Germans a run out..

The battlefield at set up

The far right hand Reb brigade took a few turns to get their orders through and into the actionô

The Rebel attack on the Union held hill on the Right flank

The thin Rebel line in the centre facing the out numbering Union troops who have just received support from the reserve brigade ,as the Reb reserves become hesitant just as they are needed.

The Texans start to give ground as the Union Irish  brigade push onto the taken ground after out manouver ing the Rebs

The Union troops holding their left flank start to falter and start to retreat away from the hill

The battlefield in the thick of the action

The Union pressure proves to much as a Texan regiment are routed as the brigade starts to falter and retreat 

Desperately the Rebel reserves try to strengthen the central brigade late in the day

Having taken the high ground the rebels consolidate their position

Although faltering and retreating for a couple of turns the Texans manage to rally up and get ready for one last stand against the Irish brigade who have now pushed far into rebel territory 

The final union defenders abandon there position on the hill as they become "tuckered out" after a fierce fire fight with the attacking Reb forces just left of centre on the battle field

Both union and rebel reserves arrived on same table edge and quickly became involved in a desperate fire fight around the wooded area

The Reb reserve brigade at the double 

The highly rated Reb General watches his army steady the battleline