Sunday 18 January 2015

Civil War campaign start.

Yes we have at long last started an ACW campaign at the club. Foolishly I was appointed the Union General in charge while Tim is the Reb General. It is a fictitious campaign so don't go saying things which may or may not happen as time goes by. It is also a small campaign with both land and riverboat battles. And this is the story of how I loose the campaign.

The figures are Matts and Grahams and the terrain is also Graham who is the referee. We have set the campaign in a river valley in the "Eastern Theatre Mid war period. Using the Peter Pig "Civil War Battles" rules we went through the "pre-Game" and the Rebs were attacking the federal homeland. So the first game was a Union defence. Gulp!

 We, Peter, Matt and Myself had to set up first and as there were 3 objectives one of which was in the confederate starting area and the other two closer to our starting position we had to leave the right hand 1/3 of the board hanging open in the air. (Thems the rules). The Confederates took advantage of this and had half their force attacking that sector and cavalry attacking our left wing.

Above you can see the rocky outcrop which was one objective. Centre of the board .And our open right wing. Peter took the left wing and Matt the centre and guess who was on the right. Yeah me!
 Peters left had a lot of troops that did not arrive in time for the battle but would roll each turn to come on. The bad news is that due to the pre-game the confederates had cut the road and thus making the roll for reinforcements harder.
 I did have some troops to move into the open right flank. but I kept one unit in the farmstead as they had better cover there.
 Well that plan did not work, Scott and Gary sent three units against the one in the farm and then charged with a veteran Red Infantry unit. My troops thought better of it and ran away without much of a fight! They skidaddled so far and fast that they went of the table never to be seen again. (Maybe they will come back in the campaign and maybe they won't as I will have troops that don't run that need bolstering! Time will tell!)
 Peter on the left also had trouble. Because he had troops just arriving Tim was able to use his cavalry like paratroops and take an objective and try to hold it until his foot could arrive.
 I went marauding with my cavalry on the right. While the cavalry did take a bit of a beating they are only a raw unit I was able to tie up twoe of Scotts . infantry units and a gun battery in the process.
 Matt (my side) and Gary( the confounded Rebs) slogged it out in the centre trading blows in a tit for tat manner. This kept on all game with little give or take and it really was a slogging match.
 This is when my Cavalry broke and failed a morale check. They only had to retreat and not flee the table so I was quite content as they had kept Scott on the right flank busy for most of the game.
 Scotts Veteran Reb unit that had taken the farm were closing up behind my blue boys.
 My Federals were able to get one round of shooting into the rear of Scotts Infantry who had not recovered from seeing my cavalry retreat battered.
 Matt still slugs it out with Gary. Matt launches a charge and the charging unit is not able to push through. they get thrown back with lots of casualties.
 Scott gets another unit onto the rough hill objective but stalls just outside canister range. And they start to suffer because if I can't fire canister I will fire something else.
 Meanwhile on the left. Peter forces Tims cavalry to mount up and leave the church objective. Straight into Peters cannon which was able to fire canister! That dealt with half of Tims cavalry!

With a swift move along the road I was able to bring my union forces behind Scotts troops on the rough hillwhile I battered it with my guns and Matt brought a raw unit into the line (It had only arrived 2 turns before)!

And then the game ended. Victory points were awarded and the final score was Confederates 47 points Federals 46 Points.

Which means that I have lost the first territory in the campaign.

Next weekend at the club the campaign will continue as the rebs push further north!

Thanks for reading. I meant to post this yesterday but time just got away from me. Have a good couple of days and I will post again soon.

All the best Clint

20 comments:

  1. Well clearly you posted this at just the right time, Clint, as I was just settling down with a cuppa when I saw this update, and promptly spat my beverage everywhere at the immortal words "And this is the story of how I loose the campaign". Isn't this just the first battle and you only lost by 1 point :-) Admittedly not the best of stands at the Farm but you were clearly doing well with your cavalry for a good part of the game. Really looking forward to the next one... fingers crossed for you :-)

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    1. Thanks Simon. The story of how I loose the campaign will be in several parts as, as you point out this is but 1 battle. Tim my opposing general will say he is going to loose as well. It's what we are both like!

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  2. Very nice Clint. I love an ACW game and this is a nice looking one. Hopefully you sill have time to turn things out - losing to the rebs by one point is doing a lot better than most of Mr. Lincoln's generals did on their first outing.
    Putting the gun on that rocky hill was a nice touch, but I would hate to be the chap who dragged it up there.
    Looking forward to more.

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    1. Thanks Michael. As that rocky hill was an objective it was considered useful to have something defending it. Like most wargames scenery it is somewhat abstract and not figurative. It is not in wargaming that I try to do everything correctly more that one should try to make less gaffs than your opponent. And that is my plan for the campaign!

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  3. Cracking start, but an unfortunate ending for the Union boys, looking forward to seeing how the campaign progresses.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Full of optimism as at the start of the campaign. As we get more used to the rules we should speed up and knowing me loose faster! You never know I may start winning eventually.

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  4. That couldn't have been closer. Losing by just one point is nothing to be ashamed of. I wish you all the best in the campaign.

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    1. Thanks Bryan. The best thing about that game is that everyone is a really decent chap. Which makes loosing less of a pain as they are all good winner and good loosers as well.

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  5. Nice batrep Clint. If the rest of the campaign is this close, it'll go down to the final game.

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    1. I think it will be quite well balanced. Thanks Bob. because the campaign structure is a "Ladder" Campaign it may hover in the middle of the ladder if it remains even.

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  6. Great report and nice effort, general Clint. I predict years to come, US troops will ride to battle in "Clint" and "Tim" tanks to honour the brave generals.

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    1. PMSL Thank you Mathyoo. I really can't see anyone naming a tank after me or Tim. But it is a lovely idea none the less.

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  7. I was going to wish you luck with this campaing, but it seems you're making your own !
    I'm already looking forward to the rest of this campaign, it does reflect the reality of the early stages of the war, but we all know how it ended.

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    1. Thanks Joe. It was only just a loss by a mere 1 Victory point so Tims army is about as badly chewed up as mine so it's not quite over yet. Maybe next turn.

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  8. If there is one thing I've learned since I've joined this lovely blogging community its not to drink tea while reading Clint's fine blog the clean-ups a bitch. Lovely looking game there Clint. Don't take no guff from those rebs they don't even have shoes!

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  9. Hmm - 47 to 46 points is about as close as you can get. I'd be pleased with such a result myself, no matter which side I was playing.

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    1. Thanks Mate. Yes we chewed each others forces up without yielding much ground. But in the campaign the Union forces were pushed back into an area know as "the wasteland" as mostly marshes and forests.

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  10. We-all's coming to get ya an we aint just whistling Dixie boy.
    See you Sunday

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    1. Thanks Tim. That put a smile on my face.
      You Rebs better be ready for a whoopin'

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