Monday 9 March 2015

How to lose a campaign part 3

The table set up, Federal troops on the left.
Yes another lose for me and the federal troops. I have yet to win or even draw a game in this campaign and I swear I am not trying to lose it. I read the campaign rules last autumn that Graham had written and made the prediction back before a dice was rolled or a figure was put on the table that whoever won the first game in the campaign would win the campaign. So far I have found that to be the case. I am not having a go at Graham who wrote the campaign rules I really am not but I am enjoying saying "I told you so!"

2nd Objective captured on turn 2 by the Rebels.
Anyway here is what happened this campaign turn. I can already tell you what the result will be for the next one as well. But I will let you guess.

We are playing Civil War battles by Peter Pig. A very well balanced and good set of ACW rules. Not my first choice for rules but I do like them.

My 0ne victory of the day.
 The first upset for me was that as I was again defending I would loose troops from the table before the game started. I had a nice VETERAN unit in the 2nd Objective who rolled so badley they all had to start the game at 1/2 strength and off of the table. Oh well bad things happen in war. And I had 2 other veteran units. 1 started at 1/2 strength on the table, the other at full strength off the table. I did have 3 average intantry units as well and did have 2 of them on the table at 2/3rds strength.

So as Scott and Tim had already Captured the 1st objective in the start phase nothing I could do to get it back. So I managed to move (Just move) an average unit into the farm (2nd objective) to hold it. Almost immediately a veteran Rebel unit close assaulted them. My troops instantly turned tail and fled the board. So the second objective was lost on turn 2!

Foolishly I had put my cavalry too far forward and a second Rebel Veteran Unit managed to charge them, they fled but took some damage . They did stay on the board though. This meant that Scott was able to bring 3 confederate units altogether and keep forcing them back. No complaints my mistake for moving them there in the first place. Eventually by the end of the game they had been whipped out to a man with just nothing I could do to prevent it. Shame but I made the mistake so I will live with it.

Elsewhere on the board with 2 objectives held there was no way I could move the Rebs. This gave me the choice of trying and loosing even more troops of carry out a fighting withdrawal. With each of my units out numbered between 3 and 5 units to each of my depleted units I decided the base action from a campaign point of view was to withdraw.

I tried to get everything from the table while keeping everything in good order. I was still clinging precariously to the last objective. I had a 1/2 strength Raw morale Union Cavalry their and a single (Now Damaged) gun . At the other end of the board I had 2 guns (Undamaged) and a battered Veteran unit that started the game at 1/2 strength . The infantry would not get motivated enough to move from the table. So Scott sent his 5 Infantry units to budge them as he was intent on slaughtering them. Not that I blame him both confederate players played well. I was able to ruin one of his units (an average one) and make another fall back.

But the countdown had meant the end of the game. So another Federal Loss 45 pts to 48. yes just 3 points in it and if we had stayed and fought on the loss would have been FAR greater so with the exception of the bad placement of my cavalry I don't think we did badly. But a loss is still a loss.

The next battle will not see the campaign come to an end. But It will mean from now on I will have to pay full points for units that have absolutely no chance of remaining intact before the game starts. So win or lose the game after that will see what is now a VERY tattered  army take the field.

The way the campaign is set up I am now facing a snowballing steamroller and there is nothing I can do to alter that. Graham (Campaign administrator) will still insist that IF I get a naval battle I could win that battle. And true I still could. BUT my land forces are so battered that the Confederates will continue to attack no matter what happens in a single battle as they know there is nothing I can now do to stop them.

But I will play on.


Cheers for reading. Take care and have fun. All the best Clint

19 comments:

  1. Mmm kinda hard to continue playing in such a campaign if that is the case.. mentality wise...

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    1. Yeah but they are a great bunch of guys so |I am happy to play knowing that I have no option but to loose. And Graham will insist that I can still win the whole campaign. So If I quit early he will not learn that he had set the campaign up wrongly in my opinion and will forever insist that I should have played on. The worse part is I know even when I loose the entire campaign he will not admit his mistake no matter what the outcome.

      Still they are friends and wargaming is not all about winning. Imagine if this was real life and that you were the commander and that knowing you could not win what else could you do but to carry on.

      Thanks Kyle. (I may be a bit down after that game)

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  2. I do sympathise with you, Clint. You are clearly on a hiding to nothing. I do admire you for carrying on as I know a few of my former wargamers would have thrown in the towel by now.

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    1. Thanks Mate. I knew how the campaign would go so I can't say I am at all surprised. It was all about who won the first game as you were never in a position to fully recover after that so would always be on the back foot and the ledge you were standing on would get thinner and thinner.

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  3. One of the things I liked with the Longstreet Campaign I did with JohnM is the system more or less "reset" your army to a minimum size regardless of your losses. You didn't exactly start each game "even" but you never faced what you seem to have here... the necessity of taking the field with little to no chance. John and I both lost badly in one game or another but we were back in fighting trim (more or less) two weeks latter when we met again. I can't recommend Longstreet enough.

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    1. Thanks Adam I shall look into Longstreet. As I have said the rules work very well for a one off game and I would also feel confident that they will work for a campaign. Just not the way this one was set up. The real downside is that after this campaign I will steer clear of Peter Pig rules for 6 months or so.

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  4. Looks like a tough road ahead Clint. I'm sure every battle teaches you something. I always learnt more from defeat than victory. Maybe, just maybe, there is a chance for the odd moral victory.

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    1. Thanks Bob. I think there is only 2 maybe 3 games left in the campaign. If I loose any 2 of them that is the campaign over. But as I said from the way the campaign was set up it was always going to be like that. Still it's only a game.

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  5. I can honestly that say reading the report has made me want to dust off the 10mm acw figures and crack on painting some and getting in a game :)

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    1. Thanks Roy. That sounds like a very good idea to me.

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  6. Oh dear, being morally obliged (blackmailed?) into continuing with this seems inhuman to me. The campaign is obviously flawed and any further play seemingly pointless so much so that I personally would throw the towel in and explain why, despite any disappointment your mate has. This hobby should be about fun and when it ceases to be fun .... well.
    Surely the bottom line is that the campaign in over ?

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    1. I do hear what you are saying. But it is not just up to me. WE can't win we can only delay the inevitable. I know the campaign administrator will say that we still can win and maybe technically we still can. But I think I have more chance of being selected to play football for England. And besides even loosing is fun with these guys. So I am not really complaining.

      Cheers Joe.

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  7. Admirable spirit there Clint. All tings considered I'd say based on the constraints you are under you did rather well in getting most of your troops out in good order, save those poor cavalry chaps. But then those boys are always running ahead then losing their heads.

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    1. Oh I like the new banner.

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    2. Thanks Robert. The new banner is because I am doing some battletech reading and wanted a change.

      As for the cavalry that was entirely my mistake. I was reckless.

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  8. Well, it's just not good enough, I say. We're all counting on you to pull a brilliant victory from the jaws of almost-certain defeat, Clint. Never give up, never surrender!

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    1. Thanks C6. Yeah there is about as much chance of me winning the campaign as the "Old Ash Tree public house " football team winning the FA cup this year! It would be slightly easier to get hit by a comet!

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  9. Chin up old boy! Once more into the breach!!

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