American Civil War Action using Pickett's Charge.

As is usually the case with me the scenario is not from a Civil War battle but from Napoleon vs the Russians. The Union taking the French and the Confederates taking the Russians.

The objective of the game was to take either the village on the T junction or the redoubt on the hill on the Rebel right flank.

Potential ADC’s were allocated, five to the Rebels and six to the Union requiring 4 to 6 to be in command and 1 to 2 Hesitant. Hesitant Brigades are limited in what they can do. I also set the game up as two divisions and made the players take it in turns dicing, hoping to instil a little friction between them when it came to allocate the ADC’s on their throw.

https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/picketts-charge/

To start the game the Rebels set up first. This was to signify the union recce. I have to put it out there now that things took a bit longer for this game because only myself and Nathan have played these or 

General d’Armee II (GDA2). Steve M, Matt and Tom were Picketts Charge virgins. Some amendments such as the skirmishers (plus my own take as well) and the casualties were taken from GDA2. I hope Mr Brown is not too offended. I may incorporate others at a later date, perhaps he’ll offer me a job, hee, hee.

Anyway, The Rebels deployed along the entire front with their cavalry on the left. Due to the recce the Union forces were able to deploy as they wished. They decided to keep the Rebel right flank in place by putting their cavalry brigade, which included a battery of 12-pdrs and dismounted cavalry. I had decided that dismounted cavalry would be treated as skirmishers.

For information - each skirmisher stand had one D6, at effective range 4,5 and 6’s were required. At long range 5 and 6, less any modifiers for cover etc. Two hits were required for one casualty. It seemed to work OK.

Onwards. The Union main thrust was in the centre and they pushed up along the road in column. They used their ADC’s to reroll Brigade activation and to Double quick their movement. Meanwhile on the flanks the Union forces were holding the Rebels in place with probing attacks.

The lead Regiment on the road was taking a pounding as the rebels in the centre used their ADC’s to ensure the centre brigade remained active by using one ADC for a Command reroll. Hoping that the activation would take place they also added two ADC’s for Artillery Assault Fire. I can’t go into all the different options available for your ADC’s, you’ll have to buy the rules.

A note about the use of Artillery Assault fire. Neither Nathan nor myself could find any restriction on its use. I am inclined to amend the use to every other turn or low on ammo, or fatigue casualties for continued use. More things to think about.

Needless to say, casualties mounted on the front regiment, and after a few turns of abuse, it was forced to disperse. This caused a Faltering Brigade test on the next turn (my interpretation and my game). Adding a command reroll, Matt, our union commander threw a 2, Withdraw. Thinking he couldn’t do any worse he rerolled, and you’ve guessed it got a 1. Catawamptiously Chewed Up, the whole Brigade was forced back 300mm and took two casualties per regiment in the brigade.

With the centre in disarray Tom was forced to reroute his infantry brigade to the centre. Luckily his cavalry was strong enough to keep Nathan occupied. Matt used his other brigade to pressure Steve on the Rebel left pushing him back.

With the Judicious use Of ADC’s, One for command reroll and three for Rally. Matt threw a 6, well in command, and then another 6, so three casualties removed from each of the regiments. This put them into a good state.

The damage had been done though, and despite getting back into the fray and all the pressing now in the centre by two brigades, and the flanks, the Union attack just wasn’t in a state to carry out the mission.

Attacking forces will always take more casualties than the defenders and if the dice had gone better for Matt this could well have been a closer thing. The joys of throwing dice. Some you get and some you don’t. For Matt, he wanted to try the rules as he has figures, and this was an opportunity to try them, even with my amendment’s.

He said he liked them and went home with a copy of the QRS and other stuff I had written. A convert. I like them and will play them again.

A note about David Brown’s scenarios. I have played various sets of his rules from WW2 to ACW and things in between and his scenarios have always left me thinking, I may have lost or I may have won, but if something had happened differently, or someone had done this rather than that, then the result could have been very different. In short you seem to be ensured a balanced battle.

My thanks to our Union commanders, Tom and Matt (who took the ribbing in good heart. He did come back to the pub after all), and Nathan and Steve M who fought valiantly to keep the Rebels in place. Also cheers Nathan for helping go through things with some whilst I was explaining things to other players.

Any misinterpretation or misuse of the rules were entirely my fault. It was my game.

Steve L

For those who may be interested.

Rule Set – Picketts Charge (mostly)

Figures – AB and Blue Moon. As always, I would like to thank Nick S and Mr Steve who painted my figures for me.

Trees were from Buffers near Axminster, and Amazon

Roads and Rivers – Search Fat Frank on EBay.

Snake Fences – also on EBay. Search 15mm snake fence.

Walls – I’m pretty sure they came from Pendraken and came ready painted but I can’t remember the link.

Hills –totalsystemscenic.com.

Battle Cloth – the now defunct Tinywargames

The Trent Affair - Pickett's Charge

RMS Trent is stopped by the USS San Jacinta

Historical Backdrop to Scenario
The Trent Affair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair

In November 1861 the RMS Trent set sail for Great Britain with two Confederate States of America
envoys and their families. Their names were James Murray Mason and John Slidell. Their mission was to persuade GB to recognise the CSA.

The times of sailing and destination were well known to everyone and on 8th November 1861 the Union Steam Ship USS San Jacinta, under Captain Charles Wilkes , intercepted the Trent and after a little bickering between Trent’s captain and Wilkes’ first officer, Slidell and Mason handed themselves over to the Union officer.

This was fairly universally liked by the citizens on the USA. However it soon became apparent that a
major diplomatic storm was brewing and Lincoln eventually let Slidell and Mason go and they continued on their mission to GB. Their mission was, as we are all aware, unsuccessful and GB decided not to recognise the CSA.

The fallout from the Trent incident was that the GB government carried out an extensive review of the British military situation in Canada. They were appalled. They had 3000 British troops plus the Canadian Militia. The artillery was old and in terrible disrepair and most of the powder was damp and unusable.

In December 1861 GB dispatched 11000 troops plus batteries of artillery and various fresh munitions. At the same time plans were drawn up to invade the USA although no physical preparations were made.

What if?
This game was set up on the premise that GB had, in fact, recognised the CSA. Canada was now secure from US invasion and it was decided that GB could now play a more direct part in assisting the CSA.

The British have now sent “Military Advisers”. To paraphrase Richard Nixon, “there are no British
combat troops in America. You now know better. The advisers have been set up at a farm somewhere
in Virginia and have the first two CSA regiments under training. The British troops consisted of two line regiments, riflemen, a battery of Whitworth guns and two squadrons each of light and heavy cavalry.

At this point Allan Pinkerton managed to find where the training camp was and, more surprisingly for the Union, got the numbers correct. He had to get something right at some point after all. Lincoln
immediately ordered McClellan to destroy this camp and force the British out. McClellan dispatched his very best division. These units were well trained and considered to be elite for the purposes of this
game. This force consisted of three infantry brigades each of five regiments with their own artillery plus a cavalry brigade of two regiments.

The confederates knew that this force was on its way and sent their own forces to reinforce the training camp. This force consisted of two infantry brigades each of five regiments with their own artillery plus a cavalry brigade of two regiments. These troops were veterans but not yet fully trained.
This game was organised by me, Steve L  and our players were Mr Steve, Steve H, Steve M and …. Dave. But he did say his middle name was Steve so that was OK. The rules were Pickett's Charge.

Dave and Steve H took the parts of the Union troops whilst Mr Steve and Steve M took on the
Confederates.

Dave took the Union right with an infantry brigade and the cavalry and pushed forward over the hills
and through the woods heading for their target whilst Steve H, with two infantry brigades, moved up
the left in column and on the road, As he rounded a corner he was spotted by the British Guns. In
Pickett's Charge, Whitworth Guns fire using the effective table, even at long ranges. This battery opened fire and inflicted the first casualties of this encounter.

Steve H shook his units out into skirmish order. This was going to be the norm for all the troops in this game. Any units in line or column would quickly take casualties very quickly.

Meanwhile on the confederate side Mr Steve took their left with the smallest infantry brigade and the
cavalry and headed for Dave. On the right Steve M had the larger brigade and headed over the hills
towards Steve H.

The training unit was ensconced behind the walls and fences of the farm … waiting. Steve H pressed
forward in skirmish order, got his own artillery into action and forced the formed British units into
skirmish order themselves and they moved back from the fence lines to get behind the farm walls.
There was a general move forward on all fronts with Dave pressing his cavalry forward very quickly
trying to get to the farm before the confederate reinforcements got there. The first cavalry regiment
arrived and dismounted and moved forward into a withering long range rifle fire from British Riflemen.

The Union cavalry pressed on but they were no match for the well trained riflemen and decided to fall back out of range and wait for the infantry to arrive.

Steve H moved one brigade to the fence line on the extreme left and waited for Steve M to get there.
His other brigade moved towards the farm and there then ensued an exchange of fire that lasted the
game. Casualties mounted on both sides but nobody withdrew. Meanwhile Steve H’s artillery pounded away or rather became what Mr Steve calls self-exploding. Throw low and the rules put casualties on your own unit.

Meanwhile Mr Steve moved his forces forward towards Dave, his cavalry in the van. Steve M on the
right filtered his troops though the woods in skirmish order, his artillery moved around these woods.
As casualties mounted on both sides everyone was shouting for reserves. Now we could have
introduced them as Mr Steve had brought his figures with him, but if we had then we would still be playing the game at ten at night.

The game continued and the rates of attrition increased on both sides. Now a vagary of these rules is
that morale or “Elephant Test” only occurs at certain times and no amount of casualties brought this
into being. We checked and double checked the rule books but that was the way it was.

Mr Steve eventually managed to push the Union right back by force of his dismounted cavalry , infantry and British Riflemen. On the Union left Steve H was pressing forward and a duel was continuing with Steve M who was just about holding his own. Steve H pushed his other brigade towards the farm and was pinging away all the time. Lack of morale checks was proving to be a bone of contention for all players.

As we neared the end of the game, time constraints, Steve H charged into the farm and pushed the
defending CSA unit back. However, there, in front of his troops were British heavy cavalry who charged and forced them back. The cavalry pursued and cut them down to a man.

At this point we stopped the game. It was a well fought battle and it was the easiest game to umpire.
The rules were picked up very quickly as the Reference Sheets are pretty good. I gave the game to the
Confederates but then I may be slightly biased. Sorry Dave and Steve H.

It is not often you play ACW fantasy games. The British were just there in small numbers and I was not sure if I was going to continue with this “Intervention Force”. I am now seriously considering this. The intervention force may well include French from Mexico. I will look this at a future date.

At the end of the game we had a discussion about the rules. The consensus was that we liked the
command and control and movement of Pickett's Charge but Fire and Fury for the rest. Perhaps there is scope for having a mess around and see what happens.

I have been asked to list what figures, terrain etc. was used and where I got them so here goes:

• Rule Set – Pickett's Charge 
• British Troops - Lancashire Games.
• ACW troops – Mostly AB but I have had these a long time and are now very expensive. I am now using Blue moon figures – Old Glory UK, 50% infantry command stands and a lot of the artillery are Blue Moon and they did not look too bad. . Mr Steve supplied the Horse Holders. 

At this point I would like to acknowledge the fact that all the troops were painted by Nick S and thanks to him.

• Buildings Mr Steve brought from Pendraken. My own I got from http://www.timecastmodels.co.uk and Hovels 
• Trees, ploughed fields and other bits and bobs – were from Buffers near Axminster, a very congenial place and you get a cup of tea or coffee. This type of stuff is used by war gamers and model railway people. Yes I have that as well which I use with my brother.
• Roads and Rivers – Search Fat Frank on EBay.
• Snake Fences – also on EBay. Search 15mm snake fence.
• Walls – I’m pretty sure they came from Pendraken and came ready painted but I can’t remember the link.
• Hills – Not seen but were under the cloth were from Total Scenic Systems
• Battle Cloth – Tiny Wargames

I hope all this helps but if you have any questions just drop a comment and I will try to help.

Devon Wargames Group at Legionary 2017

This month proved a bit of a problem for the club as our normal weekend meeting clashed with our local show 'Legionary 2017' and so several of us were over at the show running two games, with Nathan and Jason hosting the 'Pickett's Charge' 28mm ACW display game and my (JJ's) 18mm Napoleonic collection using 'Over the Hills'.

I grabbed some pictures from both our games at what was as usual a fun day out.

There is an AAR on the Over the Hills game on JJ's Wargames
http://jjwargames.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/casa-de-salinas-talavera-over-hills.html

and here are a few of the pictures from the game.

Normal service should be resumed for next month.

JJ

Pickett's Charge - A View from the Front

Editor JJ Comment - Following on from the game report posted, Battle of Antietam/Sharpesburg - Pickett's Charge,  fellow DWG member Mr Steve L, not to be confused with "Mr Steve", sent me his thoughts about the rules and how they play and so for completeness and to add comment to what are a still relatively new set of rules to most of us they are posted here for your information.

As an aside to Simon's report I would like to add my 'two penneth worth' about the rules. This is based on first impressions.

I am not going to go into all the mechanics of the rules as then I would have to copy whole sections and that would infringe copyright laws. Buy your own copy.

These rules are all about Command and Control and Morale. You have ADC’s who job it is to take orders to brigade commanders. These are diced for to see if you get them and then to see if they get to give the order. Certain jobs require more than one ADC so allocation of them is critical. Allocate too many to one job and another can’t be done, so beware. All of this is done concurrently.

After the allocation of orders you then dice for initiative. The winner then becomes the “Phasing” player and the loser the “Non Phasing” player. Why? Because in this PC world, everybody is a winner remember!

The phasing player then does everything first.

Charges are declared and supports are allocated by the phasing player. Only cavalry can counter charge just like in a lot of rules. Both sides then dice, adjusted by the modifiers and then do what the results table says. Only on a draw does melee actually occur. Only once in our game did that happen. The non-phasing player now does his charges. Now I like a good melee so I may have a house rule so that + or – 1 also results in a melee I will have to think about that.
(Editor JJ Comment - I guess it rather depends what 'melee' means. Actual bayonet crossing and hand to hand fighting in the open was comparatively rare with one side usually breaking and running before it came to that. Perhaps that it what the author is attempting to model)

We are now into the movement phase. This is pretty obvious. There is a table of movement distances and in certain circumstances you will need to dice to make sure you can move and to see if you remain formed, change formation or going over certain ground for example. This is where I come to another possible house rule. I will look at moving normally until interdicted by enemy fire. This may be artillery or infantry depending on terrain.

Firing is nice and neat. Check the range then dice. Add/subtract the modifiers then reference the casualty tables.

Casualties from all combat are allocated to the target. You can record these using the forms provided or various stands in as Simon used. The number four is important and this number denotes when you move down in effectiveness. Just like in Fire & Fury (F&F). However in this game no stands are removed. For casualty read morale as it is assumed that people are not just dead or wounded but there are tired shocked soldiers as well. At a certain point, depending on the size of unit, the unit will disperse.

The action hots up in this month's game using Pickett's Charge

There is much more to these rules than I wish to write about at this point so you will need to try them yourselves.

The rules include a point system so you can build your own units and try and get a balance when playing attack/defence games. I actually checked the points for the game we played had it been in full and as per the rules and the Confederates actually had more points than the Unions by about a hundred.

After only one game I will say that I can compare them favourably with F&F. I will be playing them a few more times with different people and gathering their views. A lot of problems I find with new rules are that we often go into it with fixed views based upon other rule sets and we can be quite biased. In my opinion this is because we inherently don’t like change. At this point a strong 7/10.

I will post another report and more views as we play and introduce more of the optional rules.

My next game will be on mirrored terrain and with mirrored troops. I just want to make sure that the rules are not favouring one side or the other. The results should be based upon dicing ability only and better generalship not on rule bias.

After that it’s making sides based upon the points system so a lot of gaming still to be done. It’s a dirty old job but I will do this for the greater good of my fellow wargamers.

Steve L

Battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg 1862, Bloody Lane - Pickett's Charge

The Irish Brigade attacks at the infamous 'Bloody Lane' by Mort Kunstler

Game Report: Si B
Pictures: JJ

This was our first attempt at Picket's Charge (PC) and as such, a couple of explanatory notes might be useful before recounting the action.

Pickett's Charge ACW Rules

An initial read of the rules and solo run through suggested that the game is designed for each player to command a roughly division sized force. We would have four players so this might require more troops than were immediately available. However, as a first attempt, the start point for this game was the intro scenario in the rule book.

This gave each player a Brigade each to control initially with more forces arriving as time went on. The idea was that players would become familiar with the rules before adding hordes of troops.

As ever though, the umpire couldn't resist tinkering. The original scenario was modified and eventually owed more to Scenario 4, 'Bloody Lane' from Brad Butkovich's 'Brave hearts trembled.' The maps in this series are the best I've come across and the orders of battle appear very well researched. This meant we played length ways down an 8 x 5 table.

Brave Hearts Trembled Regimental Wargame Scenarios For the-Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

Map depicting the setting for the game around 'Bloody Lane'

The other change to help the game work for four players was to the historical deployment of the initial Union Brigades. Rather than deploy each Brigade in line across the the Divison front, the two lead brigades deployed alongside each other, either side of the road to the Clipp Farm, just off table to the North. More on that at the end.

We started playing at 1130, having taken about forty-five minutes to set up and explain the basics of the rules. The scenario started at 0900, slightly earlier (1 game turn) than the book suggests. However, the initial Union Brigades started closer to the table edge, effectively giving us a turn to learn the play sequence before making contact.

On the Union right, 2nd Bde, 3rd Div led by Col Morris immediately became hesitant, eyeing the deep scary cornfields in front of them nervously. In the centre Brigadier Weber’s 3rd Bde stepped off sharply towards the Bloody Lane.

As they crested the rise, they came under fire from two Confederate batteries deployed on the rising ground behind the Bloody Lane. This fire caused some casualties and some green regiments became unformed crossing the snake fences.

Meantime, an off table battery of 20lb Parrots engaged the right of the Rebel line in the sunken lane. Whilst being at extreme range, they did inflict a few casualties and caused some nuisance.

Around 0915, Morris Brigade finally moved into the cornfield, crested the rise and approached the sunken lane down the forward slope. In doing so, although invisible to the Rebs in the lane, Boyce's battery were able to see them. For now though, the battery continued to engage Weber in the centre.

Weber's Brigade made good progress towards the lane. As they came down the forward slope they were engaged by Anderson's Brigade in the lane. This fire over thirty minutes (2 turns) crippled the leading regiment, which dispersed. The brigade faltered in the open under sustained fire. Another thirty minutes and the brigade was effectively finished for the day.

At 0930, Kimball's first Brigade entered as the last brigade of the 3rd Division. This brigade followed up Weber's, however these regiments deployed in skirmish order. This made a significant difference to the casualties sustained, kept them in the fight and allowed them to start doing some damage to the Rebs. Concurrently the Division's only artillery battery deployed and opened fire on the Rebel batteries.

At about the same time, Morris's Brigade emerged from the cornfield right on top of Rodes' Brigade in the lane. Unfortunately, the Rebs were ready for them and one good volley sent the whole Brigade packing, back over the rise they'd just clambered over.

At this point, the Rebs appeared to be sitting pretty. Two Union brigades had both been repulsed with a third stuck in a losing fire-fight in front of the lane.

Help was at hand. First, Morris rallied his brigade in dead ground and began a second advance on the lane. At the same time, the lead brigades of the 1st Division began to arrive. First in was Meagher's Irish Brigade. This brigade followed up Kimball. Behind Meagher came Caldwell on the right behind Morris.

Perhaps more importantly, a dismounted cavalry squadron entered on the extreme left of the Union line, in a position to enfilade Anderson's Brigade in the lane. After fifteen minutes, they'd caused enough discomfit to prompt the right hand Rebel regiment to leave the lane and charge the cavalry. Deployed in skirmish order, the cavalry had to evade.

At the same time, the centre regiment of Anderson's Brigade charged Kimball's skirmishers to their front, partly to protect the flank of the those taking on the cavalry. These two charges on the right cleared away the skirmishers but then left the rebels exposed to the advancing regiments of the Irish Brigade.

At 1130, Colquitt's Brigade of Hill's Division could be seen moving up the road from Sharpsburg towards the sunken (Bloody) lane. The question was whether they could arrive in time to stabilise the Rebel line.

By 1200, after three hours of combat, two Union brigades were 'chewed up,' but now both lead Confederate brigades were feeling the pressure. Boyce's battery had been forced to withdraw by counter battery fire. Anderson's Brigade on the Rebel right was exposed and on the left, two Union brigades were poised to charge Rodes' Brigade.

At 1215, Morris made a second charge out of the cornfield on the right. Morris made good use of his supports. The same could not be said of Rodes, whose supports appear to have fired on their own troops. Rodes' Brigade was badly beaten, the lead regiment routed and the supports whipped. They retreated over the rise to the Piper Farm orchard. Morris took the ground and occupied the lane.

On the Union right, the remains of Kimball's Brigade along with Meagher's Irish, inflicted more casualties on the centre regiment of Anderson's Brigade, causing them to disperse. The whole brigade faltered.

At this point, approximately 1245, General D H Hill decided his Division had done what it could for the day. He had one uncommitted brigade, but the two lead brigades were in a bad way. The Bloody Lane was untenable so the decision was made to fall back to the area of the Piper Farm.

On the Union side, the 3rd Division wasn't in a state to do much more. The 1st Division was still reasonably intact and had time permitted, could have made a fair fight for the Piper Farm. However, Lee and Longstreet still had troops to feed in to the fight so the outcome was by no means certain.

Summary
The scenario played out to a historical outcome. We arrived at it by a slightly different route, partly because as umpire (I) allowed the Union commanders to use reinforcing brigades where they chose. Nevertheless, the Rebs inflicted serious losses on the leading Union Division as they did historically. On the Confederate right the decisive moment was probably Anderson charging out of the breastworks, leaving regiments exposed in the open.

On the Confederate left, Union right, it was Morris's ability to rally his brigade and make a second attack about the same time as Caldwell arrived.

Conclusion.
The rules worked very well, for a first outing. None of the five of us had any major 'tooth sucking' moments. As the umpire, I could leave most of the gaming to the players within three turns, just needing to coordinate the two sides of the table.

Personally I really liked the way it all worked, the game had ups and downs for each side. In about five and a half hours we played sixteen turns and used nearly all the rules. Artillery fire, counter battery, musketry, skirmishers all came into play. I thought the charge and melee mechanics were particularly good, something which breaks a lot of rules in my opinion (which is worth exactly what you paid for it). With half a dozen charges, we only had one melee and one pursuit, both of which were decisive.

Perhaps the best part of the rules though, is the command system and the use of Staff Officers. Much simpler to use than almost any other attempt I can think of to create command friction but creates lots of decision points for the players.

Our experience should be seen in the light of a first attempt, with smaller troop numbers per player than perhaps intended by the author. Nevertheless I get the impression everyone walked away happy to give the rules another go. For my part, I think these are now my ACW rules of choice.

We made a couple of mistakes, entirely my fault as the umpire. First, we should have diced for Staff Officer availability before posting them. There were a couple of occasions when one of two officers failed to appear, thus wasting an extra officer. Second, we missed the need to spend a movement phase reforming unformed regiments. This probably had a greater effect in favour of the Union, whilst the Staff Officer mistake probably favoured the Rebs.

Si