Skirmish at Signal Tower Hill - Game

So to continue from the previous post herewith...

The Game:

A fairly short game - I think we worked out afterwards it was about a dozen moves....

Either way, while the Confederate signal corps observe proceedings (picture following), Jackson's Brigade lurch forward in reaction to the approach of the Union brigade opposite...  my intent is to deploy as a blocking force no further forward than the edge of that ploughed field but in line abreast..

...like follows - artillery has also deployed....

On the other flank (picture below) however, we had both seemingly come to the same conclusion and were using it as our flanking edge...  the cornfield and farm would see the site of some serious fighting...

I shifted one of the regiments in Garnett's (picture below) to cover the approaches to the farm as DG clearly had the intention of seizing it so as to cover his flank march... 

About move 5or 6 (picture below) and the battle lines are drawing close - musketry ranges are fairly long but initial volleys have been exchanged - the artillery has been banging away at each other fairly ineffectively for some time, but mine clearly now has a tempting target to its front..

Three or four moves later (picture below) and we switch back to the left flank where DG can be seen manoeuvring the remains of his sorry band of Zouaves.. his Brigade as a whole however had done well and as you can see the other regiments remain at near or full strength.. mine however, are nearing end - the blue pin signifies half strength so in Rank and File rules these troops remain shaken - they can't recover, only remain the same or get worse...  we used the small dice to track hits as these are carried over move to move (unlike Blitzkrieg Commander where they are removed at the end of the turn) - 3 hits and a base is removed...

On the right it's far more evenly balanced (picture below) but this isn't the strategically important flank..  in the cornfield Wheat's Tigers unleash the rebel yell (and their fury) on the Union regiment to their front... interestingly (or not!) there's no bonuses for charging which I found a little strange - charging unit can't fire but gets no equivalent of the Fire and Fury "cold steel" bonus.....  

Left flank a couple of moves later (picture below) and my force has all but disappeared leaving the objective wide open unless I can get units from my right flank disengaged to protect it..

....which wasn't going to happen in time (picture below) - the Zouaves have seen off that Union regiment, but not enough for them to be able to turn their back on the remaining unit which hovers just out of range - they're too far away from the signal tower anyway... 

I do like this picture....

....and that's where we (or rather I) called it... it was getting late, and it was clear that I couldn't win the game even though it wasn't completely over... so a Union victory to DG.

Post Match Analysis:

• Casualties... first the Union:



First Brigade: Colonel Nathan Kimball 39th Illinois - 5 bases lost 2 8th Ohio - 5 bases lost 3 67th Ohio - 5 bases lost 2

Second Brigade: Colonel Jeremiah C. Sullivan 84th Pennsylvania - 5 bases 14th Indiana - 4 bases lost 2 5th New York Volunteer Infantry "Duryée's Zouaves" - 5 bases lost 3

Artillery: Battery L, 1st Ohio - 12pdr Napoleon


Next the Confederates..:



Garnett's Brigade 2nd Virginia - 4 bases routed from the field 27th Virginia - 4 bases routed from the field 33rd Virginia - 5 bases lost 2

Jackson's Brigade The First Louisiana Special Battalion: Wheat's Tigers - 5 bases lost 1 4th Virginia - 5 bases lost 2 5th Virginia - 5 bases lost 1

Artillery: Carpenters Virginia Battery - 12pdr Napoleon Destroyed


So 15 bases lost v's 12 - DG comprehensively won the signal tower flank, I had him running on the other one.. where it didn't matter....

• The rules played very well - DG had put together a summary sheet that was extremely useful...  I had some concerns about the numbers of modifiers early on, but can confidently say that after 3 moves it was mostly from memory... what did I like??


1. Much simpler firing mechanisms (throw x D6's per base - you score a hit on a modified 4+, a base is removed for every 3 hits), 
2. Melee also worked well (similar mechanisms). 
3. Movement is fairly business as usual but manoeuvring rules were much simpler
4. You roll each turn for initiative (winner decides whether they want to move first or last), then after that firing/melee is simultaneous..
5. Morale is very interesting - the 50% rule in particular I like very much - once a unit gets down to half strength their morale can never recover - the best they can expect to do is stay at the same level which at least allows them to shoot or melee at a much reduced effect - very clever... there are also some interesting army level morale break points that I'

All in all - roll on the next game!