Battle of Waynes Junction... Part 3

...following on from the two previous parts of this elephantine report (here and here), the battle has now ended with a Confederate win.... you might argue that this was somewhat of a Pyrrhic victory, but given that Waynes Junction is the primary Confederate objective of the campaign [click here] that DG and I are playing I can't see that I had much choice as to whether to attack it or not, so first part of the job done - all I need to do now is get those supplies home....

Either way - here's how the battle ended.... at the end of move 18 you'll remember that I was beginning to get a little worried as there were still ten game moves to complete before I would say I had officially won the game, and precious few fresh Confederate units to do it with... the next ten moves then were dominated by the tactical doctrine "hold on with your fingernails"..

Move 19 (next picture) and the 126th NY are making their (very slow, and therefore menacing) approach but I'm hoping a flank approach by the 21st NC (top of picture) will worry DG enough to make him stop, even if the regiment in question is down to the bare nub.. (for the Fire and Fury players among my readers, both DG and I were now on heavy casualties modifiers)

It didn't, and by move 20 (next picture) he'd seen off the 8th Louisiana to his front.. the damn supply buildings are blocking the line of sight from my 6th NC, and all I can get off is a few desultory volleys..

Slightly to the south my artillery continues firing at the 7th WV without much success - simply put, all our forces were worn out...

Turn 21 (next picture) and faint heart never won fair maid and all that... the rebel yell is heard again as I throw in a last ditch charge to clear the New York boys away from my objective... success!

Turn 22 (next picture) back to my original positions while the Union 126th NY lick their wounds...

Turn 23 (next picture) and DG decides to see off the the flank threat so that he can have another go - the New York regiment were "green" but they didn't act like it... a sterling effort. To the south DG moves the 7th WV into cover...

Turn 24 and stalemate...

Turn 25 (next picture) and DG advances on the 21st NC and brings the 7th WV out to open fire on my artillery - you'll note a number of piecemeal units being manoeuvred to the south...

Turn 26 (next picture) and it's all too much for the 21st NC - they rout north (off the picture)

Turn 27 and the primary question in my mind is has DG left it to late??!

He has, he has! Talk about skin of your teeth....

Around about now one of my staff officers was wounded and killed during an exchange of gunfire.. I don't care, I still hold the supply buildings and, in terms of my objectives, I'm winning but the charge of the 7th West Virginia on my artillery has seen for them... the last gasp of the Union though...

End of game...

Post Match Analysis:

• Another good game for me - I enjoyed this game even more as the plan went exactly as I'd hoped - can't even say it was the dice that won it for me this time, it was purely down to the quality of the regiments I had.... in stand losses though the Confederates lost 86% (!) against the Union 75%. The battle lasted 6 hours in real time, but at the end of the I hold Wayne's Junction and the supplies it holds.
• During the night the Union forces withdraw to the south and the Rebs consolidate on the battlefield. Lost troop stands will return to the colours according to experience (we're dicing for stands to return with a positive modifier based on unit training - I can only hope I recover more than I did after the last battle as these are good guys!)... damaged gun stands are repaired according to experience... wrecked gun stands are permanently lost (that'll be that artillery I lost at the end of the game gone then!)
• Something like our fourth game with these rules, perhaps the second with this version (which are the full set as sold) but I have to admit I struggled a bit with them - in the end DG was correcting so many of my errors I just asked him to do the calculations for me so that all I had to do was throw the dice and move the units! I need to do something about this - I'm thinking at the moment I prefer the old beta version of the rules simply because they were... simpler.... I may post separately on the issues I'm having - see what other folks have to say, but I may not!
• My final objective is now to get those supplies home to Stewart Springs.... I have a few surprises for DG up my sleeve, but that story will continue on the Campaign Diary blog..
• Still not happy about the random die/dice rolls but you lot already know about that..  thanks for some excellent feedback that DG and I will be discussing prior to the next game...
• DG's come up with a few other things to also sort out:
• Firing dice modifiers based on experience - it seems strange that all other elements of the game include modifiers based on experience, but not shooting??
• Provisional commanders; should we allow them at brigade level or just divisional?? Seems a bit of a kludge to us...
• Spent unit capabilities - there doesn't seem to be anything that penalises a unit that has taken a significant number of casualties.....
• End of battle criteria - campaign battles seem to throw Fire and Fury!
• Town/village as cover ie tactically significant structures - it seems strange to us that in a regimental level set of rules buildings are so unimportant - maybe it means that there weren't so many buildings that they would be considered, but it needs some thought..
• Buildings blocking line of sight and stuff; how much of a stand must be in the arc of fire, line of sight and range?
• Command Radius; same thing, how much of a stand must be in the radius to be considered in command?

In the meanwhile the campaign rolls on...