A week of 'Chalk and Cheese'

Gaming this week had something of a 'chalk and cheese' feel about it, as the saying goes. It began with a 3000 point ACW game, fought using my 15mm armies. The town sectors use buildings that I scratch built with card, whilke the smaller 'village' sectors used 15mm buildings from the Hovels cata   logue. The Confederate army was outmanoeuvred by the Union forces who managed to slip around their left flank, dislodging them from their position. The game was devised using the Volley and Bayonet Road to Glory scenario system. Just a few 'in game' photos.

A CSA brigade having fallen back disordered from a melee finds itself in front of two still mounted Union cavalry brigades.. ouch

This was followed with three spiffing good games of WW2 Wings of Glory. Two dogfights P51s vs FW190s were followed by a bombing mission with tw B17s escorted by by a P51, taking it to four Fw190s.

A great week of games played in damned fine company.

Volley and Bayonet action for the week ...

 Two Volley and Bayonet games this week, both set in the mid nineteenth century, one during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 (also known as the Seven Weeks' War), the other during the American Civil War (specifically 1862 in this case), and both played using 15mm armies.

This first is the Austro-Prussian War featuring Adrain's 15mm armies.

This second using the Volley and Bayonet Road To Glory scenario system (3000 point armies), fought using my own 15mm civil war armies.

 

It's always nice to get the armies out on the table, and it;'s been a while since these ACW armies saw action. I have in the meantime painted up some extra units. 

Both games were the usual VnB 'goodness'.

Additions to the ACW artillery parks

I've gradually been adding additional units ot my 15mm ACW armies (based for Volley and Bayonet). I had prepared two 3000 point lists based around the historical guidelines given in the 'Road to Glory' scenario system, and needed some extra artillery stands. I had to buy some crew, and having painted all of the crew, then matched them with guns. The crew are mostly Essex (with a few from the old FreiKorps range) while the guns are from the Minifigs range. I have quite bafew more guns, but probably won't need them. I would need to buy more crew If I did find the need for the extra stands.

CSA smoothbore artillery

The Union rifled artillery pieces

More Confederate infantry

A little more 15mm painting over the last two weeks, adding more stands to the American Civil War armies. This first batch is CSA infantry.. yet to add standards, and base labels. The figures are a mix of Minifigs and Freikorps, and are for use with our favoured Volley and Bayonet rules

Now for two Union infantry brigades.

Some 'serious' historical reading....

Interspersed with some new New Zealand fiction, and a diet of poetry (Cohen, Curnow, Bukowski, Shakespeare etc etc etc), I finished reading this amazing two volume set recently. I reviewed Volume 1 here. 

This is some of the most detailed research and writing on any WW1 battle that I have ever read, truly eye opening.

Being something of a 'beggar for punishment', I have now turned my mind to this set: 

It has sat on my shelves for a decade or more. I read half of Volume 1 at the time it arrived, but has sat untouched since. Until now. My interest was sparked by a very enjoyable ACW game hosted last month by Keith. During the usual game discourse I realised how little I really knew about the war, despite having reasonable matched armies in 15mm. So ... onwards. I am currently half way through Volume 1, intent on finishing the three this time.

In passing I spotted this great Larsen cartoon on social media.. brilliant!! I love Gary Larsen's work.

Battle for the rail junction: an American Civil War game

A home grown, fictional ACW scenario for Volley and Bayonet:  in a race for a vital road/rail junction and rail line, two divisions of a Union Corp have crossed the only bridge across the main river when Confederate saboteurs in a daring night raid manage to blow the bridge. This leaves the corps split, half on either side of the river. Resources are pooled and a temporary raft based alternative goes in to operation, supported by a Union navy river gunboat. However as crossing operations get underway the first of the Confederate forces racing for the same road/rail junction begin to appear. The scene is set.

This game was fought earlier using my 15mm armies. The gunboat is by Sarissa. The buildings are all scratch built.

The gunboat, and the vital road rain junction top centre of the photo

Union artillery in hasty defensive works

Union forces crossing via the rafting operation

Confederate forces have seized the secondary objective where the road and rail routed cross a secondary stream

The initial confederate advance had seen a three regiment cavalry division advance towards the main junction. Union cavalry and infantry had pursued. The Confederate cavalry were deliberate in moving to draw the Union forces away from the route of advance. The confederate commander was intent on taking the Union forces in the rear

More Confederate forces advance. The Confederate cavalry can be see top right, with a Union infantry division in pursuit. The Confederate infantry division is seen lower left advancing up the road. The initial confederate ploy had worked

Union cavalry

The Union forces withdraw to face the advancing Confederates on the confederate left

The Confederate cavalry turns about to face off the Union pursuers

The Confederate attack on the left, facing the reorganising Union defence

The Confederate cavalry dismounts and advances

On the Confederate right, the forces face off across the smaller river at the road/rail crossing of the river

Battlefield overview from behind the Confederate lines

The situation on the right

On the Confederate left, the Union cavalry has dismounted and moves across the two contour hill to threaten the Confederate flank - upper left of the photo

The Union forces have successfully reformed a cohesive defensive line - upper photo

Opposing forces still facing off on the Confederate right

This was a really interesting game... the terrain meant that Confederate forces were repeatedly prevented from exploiting gaps in the Union defences, and so to break through to the main river/road/rail junction. The fragmented nature of the arrival of Confederate forces on the battlefield also meant that they struggled to marshal sufficient strength at any point to exploit the Union's initially fragmented defences. The Union ferrying operation allowed them to ferry two stands/brigades per turn. Even with this slow rate of reinforcement, they were still able to outpace the Confederates' build up in the face of the terrain that lay across their route of advance. What a fabulous  exercise in using time, space, terrain, and forces, to solve the defensive problem. The net result was a draw.