Battle at Helena, 1863

With friend Murray interested in ACW, and enjoying our Volley and Bayonet games so far, we tried a take on an 1863 historical scenario, Helena. The game we played was vaguely similar to the historical battle, but scaled, massaged, and adjusted, to make something more of it. Historically, the Confederate forces made some headway, but were eventually driven off by the Union defenders who were well supported by a gunboat in the river at their back. Their artillery was seriously delayed by the muddy state of the roads along which they'd advanced. In our game this meant that by the time it arrived on the table, the battle was decided.

Union defenders on the left, holding the high ground and the town nestled against the river

Union artillery in field defences

The Union gunboat

Confederate attack in the centre

Close up of the Union defences

Advance against the centre

Confederate attempt to push around their left/the Union right flank

The bold Confederate charge against the centre

... and against the Union left on the Confederate right flank

Both attacks in the centre were repulsed. The two brigades making the attack against the artillery failed morale, lost the combat, and routed.

The Confederate attack on their right against the Union left was repulsed

Pressure was applied against the Union right, but too little, too late

An interesting scenario, a difficult 'ask' for the Confederate attackers, but a wee bit of fun all the same. The game was played with my 15mm armies, mostly Freikorps models.