Sickes Salient - Report

DBACW game using the Fire and Fury Sickles Salient scenario .

This is a brigade level game with each unit an infantry brigade or artillery battalion of 24 - 32 guns.

For this game I combined some of the smaller union brigades so Caldwell Division consists of 3 rather than 5 brigades.

The table is 2ft 6in by 2ft 6in. The game lasts 9 turns. 

I also revised how I would translate unit quality from Fire and Fury to DBACW  as follows:-

Green = Raw

Experienced = standard Muskets

Veteran = Veteran

Crack = Veteran and ignores first hit.

Overview of the battlefield. 

As the Confederates deploy General Hood is hit and wounded.  I used a simple 50% chance of Hood being wounded and takes no further part in the game.

Confederate artillery opens up with a bombardment of Sickles position.

Hood division advances overunning Devils Den forcing back Wards brigade.

Mclaws Division advances supported by 2 Brigades of Anderson Division.  Union artillery fire is heavy pushing back Barksdale brigade who reform and come on again.

Union positions along the Emmitsburg Road come under pressure from McLaws division.

Hoods division continues to push forward towards the Wheafield. Musketry erupts and Hood brigades gain the upper hand destroying Robertson and De Trobriands Union brigades.

The Confederates surge across the Emmitsburg Road forcing back Union artillery in the wake of their advance.

Sickles line is collapsing under the pressure from Hoods and Mclaws divisions.

McLaws division moves forward from the Emmitsburg Road towards the Peach Orchard and the Wheatfield.

The lead brigades of Hoods division cross the Wheatfield and push back Burlings brigade confusion.

Mclaws clears the Peach Orchard driving back Grahams brigade in disorder.

Help is at hand for the Union as Caldwells division moves off Cemetery ridge to support Sickles faltering line.

With 7 Confederate brigades concentrated in the Peach Orchard and Wheatfield area it is little surprise that Sickles command is pushed back with heavy loses. 

Sykes Corps rushes to support the crumbling Unon line.

Longstreet orders forward his artillery to add support to the attack he plans on Cemetary ridge.

To releave pressure on Sickles Caldwell divsion pushes back Anderson from the Emmitsburg road.

On the Conederate right Laws brigade advances to attack Little Round Top but is halted and then pushed back by Vincents brigades accurate musketry.

Sykes brigades advance with Union artillery support forcing 2 brigades of Hoods division into a musketry battle. 

Panorama at the end of Turn 6. Union reinforcements are slowing the Confederate attack but will they hold. All to play for with 3 moves of the game left.

The Union rush reinforcements to blunt Hoods Division threat to Little Round Top. In the foreground Sickles rallies his two remaining Brigades as Mclaws brigades prepare to advance.

Rebel yells reverberate across the battlefield as they push towards Cemetery ridge.

Union volleys and artillery fire rips into the Confederate ranks as their Brigades on the left are thrown into disorder.  Sickles seizes the moment and leading from the front orders two Brigades to charge. The fight is close but when the smoke clears it's the Union that has faltered and been pushed back. Sickles is stricken in the leg by a musket ball and goes down wounded.

Hoods Brigades advance north of the Little Round Top and initially push back the Union defenders. Laws Brigade attack on Vincent position on Little Round Top is again pushed back in disorder.  

The Union receive more reinforcements from General Meade.  Mclaws is attacked on the flank by one of Caldwells Brigades and the rebels are decisively beaten. Meanwhile Hood is attacked on his flank by Vincent Brigade charging down from Little Round Top whilst being attacked in the front. The initial assault is held by the Confederates however they cannot hold their ground and are pushed back. With Dusk approaching Longstreet calls of attack.  The Confederates hold the Wheatfield and the Union Little Round Top. The game ends with an historical result.

DBACW provided an entertaining game with the better quality Confederates gaining the upper hand in the initial moves before the superior Union numbers where able to slow and then turn back the Confederate tide. 

1st Day of Gettysburg - the action

DBACW - The first day at Gettysburg. 

The action opens with Archer Confederates and the Iron Brigade disputing Herbst Woods. The famed Iron Brigade are forced back by effective rebel volleys and go Shaken. On the Chambersburg Pike the Federal successfully hold their ground.

The remaining brigades of Heths Division arrive and extend the Confederate line facing the Iron Brigade. Musketry erupts.  The Iron brigade start on 3, plus 1 for Elite but are down 1 each for being shaken and for the Confederates having a supporting brigade, so are on a 2. The Confederates are on a 3. The Union roll a 1 and the Rebels a 5.  Final scores 8 - 3. The Iron Brgade are doubled and take 2 hits but as they already have a hit they are removed from play. Not a good start for the Union.

The Iron brigade have however bought enough time for the remainder of the 1st Corps to form a new line on Seminary Ridge. But Confederate reinforcements are arriving with Pender Division and Rodes division of Ewell Corps arriving on Oak Hill.

Penders 4 Brigades private to advance.

Union artillery are posted to support the defences on Seminary ridge.

The Rebel yell can be heard across the battlefield as Hills Corps attacks with 2 Divisions.

The initial advance is meet by resolute Union volleys and the Confederates take loses and 2 Brigades fall back.  

In DBACW hits can be recovered by using Cap points. A unit with one hit (shaken) can recover the hit for one Cap. A unit with 2 hits (Badly Shaken) can only recover the first hit. They have a permament Shaken marker. Once a unit has reaches 3 hits it is removed from play. I use a black die force first hit and a red die for the second hit. The black die can be recovered the red is permanent.

However concentrated Confederate artillery bombardment by Hill Corps artillery wreeks the Union artillery and defending brigade on the Chambersburg pike.

Looking towards Gettysburg from Oak Hill 2 Divisions of Howard's corps can be seen moving northwards to meet Ewells growing threat.

The final Division of Howard's Corps and Corps artillery arrive to support the 1st Corps.

The First Corps line is pushed back from Seminary ridge. Gamble's cavalry is broken and removed from play. The Confederates however have taken loses and lost formation and will need to reorganise.

The Confederates reorganize and launch an attack on the Lutherian Seminary. Are beaten back, rally and attack again this time driving Rowleys Federal brigade back. 

The Rebels are unable to exploit as both Hill and Ewell commands await Lee's orders. Hill rolls and gets 3 Cap points and Ewell only 1. Both commands only rally back hits and are unable to move forwards.

North of Gettysburg Ewells is unable to force back 2 of Howards brigades whose disciplined musketry beat back repeated advances by Rebel troops. Howards XII corps protect Reynolds 1st Corps right flank and restore their pride after the events of Chancersville.

Another of Howard's divisions  deploys on the 1st Corps left  flank to encounter Penders brigades massing around the Lutherian seminary.

Hill Corps moves forward to attack. Federal artillery forces the leading brigade back but the attack does not falter.

Howard plugs the gap in time and in the resulting close combat thrown the Confederates back who lose a brigade.

The Confederate do however destroy aUnion brigade which breaks from massed Confedrate musketry.

Ewell Corps is ordered to advance down the Mummasburg Road to support Hills attack if practicable. However he misunderstand the order. (Ewell again rolls low for his Cap points).

Ewell uses his limited Caps to push down the Harrisburg Road with artillery clearing the way destroying one and severely damaging the 2 brigades facing him.  A single Confederate brigade of Ewell Corps almost reaches the outskirts of Gettysburg but it is too little too late.

Howard's Corps artillery supports Reynolds line as the Confederates mount another attack. Loses are mounting on both sides with Reynolds and Hills Corps both taking a s passing Corps morale tests.

Reynolds orders a counterattack against Hill and is a able to destroy an isolated Confederate brigade in close combat.

Hills strength is close to exhaustsion. He rides over to his last 2 effective brigades and leads them forward in one more desperate assault. Its close but the Federals are a able to hold and drive Hills brigade back destroying one of them.

Howard and Reynolds confer on a their famous victory.  

Final scene showing the battle lines.  Ewell Corps is relatively intact and infact some of his brigades did not fire a shot in anger. Lee rues the missed opportunity due to Ewells poor command Cap dice rolls. Would Jackson have made a difference.

A fun solo game of DBACW. I am going to tinker with the rules some more for my next Brigade level game.

DBACW - 1st day at Gettysburg - Set up

It's been a while since I have posted anything so without further ado here is a post on the set up for the 1st day of Gettysburg for DBACW

I have used the scenario from Fire and Fury for the map and orders of battle. The game will be played  using the DBACW supplement for the DBN rules.

The table is 3ft by 2ft 6in and my units are based on 60 by 30mm with each base representing a brigade. 

I am using standard 1" equals 100 paces as this keep ranges realistic for a game using a brigade as the basic unit.

The bulk of the troops are off table and will be arriving during the game. 

Each side has 2 Corps. For the union these are Reynolds, who is army commander, with a +1 to his Cap dice and Howard. The Confederates have Hill and Ewell as Corps commanders each with a CAP dice.

Devin and Gamble brigades cavalry both get an intrinsic 1 cap. They however start the game with 1 hit each to represent the earlier fighting. 

Each turn represents 30 minutes.

For this game I translated Fire and Fury unit qualities to DBACW as follows:-

Green - Militia

Experienced - Muskets

Veteran - Muskets but brigade is Stoic for all combat.

Crack - Elite.

If a brigade had 10 or more Fire and Fury stands then it was gets the DBACW Stoic trait.  For this game it applies to Pettigrews Brigade of Heths Division and Daniel's Brigade of Rodes Division.

Conversely if a brigade has 5 or less stands then it has the new Skeddadle trait and loses all tied combat rolls. This applies to Von Gilsa in Barlows Division and Smith's bigade of Earlys Division and Brockenbroughs in Heths Division.

Battlereport will follow shortly

Combat at Zinnberg

I had my first game using my Zinnfiguren this morning. The Combat at Zinnberg was played using the DBSYW supplementary rules for DBN.

The game is a simple affair with the Prussians attacking the Austro- Imperialists.

The Prussian army consisted of 3 Battalions of Grenadiers, 2 of Musketeers and a Frei-battalion. Their Cavalry has 2 Cuirassier with a one regiment each of Hussar and Dragoon.

The Austrians deploy 2 Battalions of Grenadiers, 2 Hungarian Battalions together with single battalions of the Mainz Lamberg and the Imperialist Erbprinz. The Austrians also have a Grenzer unit. They slightly outnumber the Prussians in Cavalry having 3 Cuirassier regiments and 2 Dragoons. Each side has a single battalion gun.

Each side has a break point of 6.

A panorama of the battlefield with Cavalry massed in the foreground and the Infantry in the centre.

A closer view of the Prussian infantry with the Grenadiers massed in the front line. The battalion gun is attached to one of the Grenaduer units. The Prussian CinC is Von Kneesoff and he is rated as average.

The Austrians have fortified Zinnberg with the Erbprinz deployed among the buildings. The remaining Austrian infantry are deployed in 2 lines.

The Austrian Grenzers are deployed in a small wood.

The Prussians advance. 

Volleys ripple  back and forth. The Prussians are gaining the upper hand. A black dice is one hit and a red one is two hits and shaken. 3 hits and the unit is removed. 

Von Kneesoff orders his grenadiers forward and they close with the  shaken Austrians. But these are not the Austrians of Mollwitz. They stand and repel the Prussian Grenadiers who loose all 3 close assaults.

The Prussians are however successful in capturing Zinnberg and threatening the flank of the Kieler Austrian Grenadiers.

The second battalion of the Prinz Moritz regiment are deployed against the Grenzers who have had the temerity to leave the cover of the woods. A couple of volleys and a quick charge soon sees the Karlstsder Oguliner Grenz cut down and destroyed.

The Prussians decide to launch their cavalry against the Austrians who heroically accept the challenge.

 

The melee swirls backwards and forwards with neither side gaining the advantage. 

The Prussians are well led and finally gain the advantage destroying all 3 Austrian units for no loses of their own. The tide is turning once again.

Can the Austrians turn the tide in the centre.  The shaken Frei-Infanterie von Lüderitz are holding the centre for the Prussians. Can the equally shaken Austrians  Grenadiers prevail. The muskets roar. When the smoke clears it is the Austrian Salm and Roth Wurzburg Grenadiers that have melted away from the heat of the prussian volleys.

The Austrians have lost 6 units and the Prussians 3.  Victory to the Prussians.

A pleasant little solo game that was done and dusted 75 minutes.