Friday, March 26

"Game 1" - Move 2

As usual - current orbat - no change from last turn... click on this or any other graphics for a bigger view...



Move 2:

Union Movement Phase:


Decide move distance as per last move - Brigade Commander is still within 9” of both so they share the move dice

D10 = 5 (NB. 2D10/2 rather than a single D10)

Modifiers remain the same:
+1 for an Able Commander (Kimball)
+2 for fresh troops
-1 trained troops

Modified dice = Dice +2 = 7 Brigade is ‘well handled’ and moves its full rate… 12” in line

The 8th Ohio ends up a little more than an inch from the wall with the 14th Indiana in echelon about 6” behind and to their left..

Union Firing Phase:

One of the things I like about these rules is that both players are involved in each turn – and this is the first example as in Fire and Fury Regimental (F&FR hereafter) the firing phase in each move consists of a round of defensive fire combat (from the other player) followed by a round of offensive fire combat (your guys).

Defensive fire:

The Union infantry is now in range of the Confederate rifled muskets (maximum range 18”) so they’re going to have a pop…

Arc of fire is 15’ either side of straight ahead so I run the little guide I have along the front of the Confederate regiments firing to find out who’s in arc – my target is the 8th Ohio; both Confederate regiments will fire at it so it’s a single firing procedure. I use the centre of each stand to measure angle from, and as long as any of the enemy unit is within the arc they can fire (feel free to tell me if this is wrong anyone!) Having done this I can see that 4 stands can fire – three from the 2nd Virg. and one from the 4th Virg.

Range is between 6” and 12” – four stands equates to 8 bases (remember I have double base stands) & fire points at this range, according to my charts, are 0.5pt so 8 bases x 0.5 = a total of 4 firing points, which a quick check tells me is a 0 modifier

Other modifiers:

+1 for the first volley (so a bit of a waste for the 4th Virginia as only one stand is firing!)
-2 for the fact that the 8th Ohio are behind the wall (they aren’t but they’re very close to it so I'm going to count it)

D10 = 6

The modified dice score therefore = Dice - 1 = 5 which when the target is “trained” (ie. different quality of troops react differently to fire) results in a “Harassing Fire” - no casualties but the 8th Ohio end up disordered (yellow pin).

Offensive fire:

The Union regiment has an opportunity to fire back – they spilt the fire (because of the arc rules); 3 stands will fire at the 2nd Virg and 2 stands at the 4th Virg.

1st Fire @ 2nd Virg:

Same range, so we know that's a 0.5 FP. 6 bases x 0.5 = 3 FP’s, but because they are disordered we halve these => 1.5 FP’s, or 1FP as fractions are rounded down which is a -2 modifier (uh-oh!)

Other modifiers:

+1 first volley
Modified Dice = Dice – 1 = 3 (bugger!) which is “Desultory Fire” ie. no effect

2nd Fire @ 4th Virg:

All mods are the same so an overall -1
Dice was 8
Overall result of 7 which with a trained target results in a “Harassing Fire” result – no casualties, but 4th Virg are disordered.

Union Charging Phase:

None..

Move 2 - Confederate Movement Phase:

Brigade Commander within 9” of both so they share the move dice

D10 = 2 (oops!)
+1 for an Able Commander (Garnett)
+2 for fresh troops
-1 trained troops

Modified dice = Dice + 2 = 4

This result is applied in two different ways as one regiment is disordered:

  • 4th Virg. are disordered – so they get a “stand fast” order ie. they reform, and the disorder is removed, but they can’t move.
  • 2nd Virg. are not – they get a “tardy” order from the same dice result – this is a half move… which they use to wheel and close on the wall.


Confederate Firing Phase:

Defensive fire:

The Union regiment (8th Ohio) has another opportunity to fire back – they split the fire as per the previous move - 3 stands will fire at the 2nd Virg and 2 stands at the 4th Virg.

1st Fire:

2nd Virg are closer so range modifiers have improved we now have 2 stands at 1 FP and 1 stand at 0.5FP = 4 bases x 1 + 2 x 0.5 = 5 FP’s but because they are disordered we halve these => 2.5 FP’s or 2FP as fractions are rounded down which is a -1 modifier

No other modifiers

Modified Dice = Dice – 1 = 3 which is “Desultory Fire” ie. no effect

2nd Fire:

All mods are the same as the last time they fired so an overall -1; dice was 4; an overall result of 3 another “Desultory Fire” result.

Pitiful!

Offensive fire:

Both regiments are going to fire at the 8th Ohio

  • 2nd Virg. have now manoeuvred such that all their stands are within arc, and they are also closer.. 3 stands (6 bases) are under 6" away so get 1FP, plus the end stand (of two bases) who are just over 6” and on 0.5FP = 7FP’s in total
  • 4th Virg. Haven’t moved so just one stand for them (2 bases) at beween 6” and 12” range band which is 0.5Fp = 1FP’s


A total of 8FP’s which gives a dice modifier of + 1

Other modifiers:

+1 as the 8th Ohio (the target) are disordered
-2 for the fact that the 8th Ohio are behind the wall

Modified dice = Dice + 0 = 6 a “Harassing Fire” result – no casualties, but target is disordered – given they are already, no effect.

Confederate Charging Phase:

None..

Position at end of move:


The Union player (me) needs to get the 14th Indiana up and into the firing line soonest, otherwise the Confederate player (also me!) is going to defeat the Union troops in sequence..

Stay tuned for move 3 some time next week

6 comments:

  1. Hmm, an interesting though struck me when I saw "double bases". My normal 45mm x 45mm bases seem to large for some F&F games, but if I create some half bases and treat the rest as doubles then problem solved. Ta

    Will

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  2. You have it in one... I plan (eventually) to paint up some small casualty bases which I'll use as a marker to indicate that half the stand is "dead"..

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  3. Steve,

    Thank you for this detailed playtest . . . . it certainly helps clarify the way they work.


    -- Jeff

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  4. Thanks Jeff - much appreciated - I'm very much guided by the style/way that Don described his rule mechanics in the original "Game 1"

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  5. Splendid looking troops and a splendid little action so far. I'm planning to use Black Powder for my next ACW foray but I did download Regt F&F and we we do brakout the original F&F again, I I'll think about your 2d10/2 mechanism to level things out, esp for charge combats.

    Good stuff!
    -Ross

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  6. I am following this with great interest, it is very useful to see exactly how these much anticipated rules work in practice.

    thanks.

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