Antietam, Part III, The Confederate Riposte

     With all the Union cards on the table, and the balance (however slowly) shift in the favor of the Bluebellies, the Confederate Commander (Joe) had hard decisions to make; Hill stood little chance of stopping Sumner's slow-moving (but overwhelming) advance, while Hooker was finishing off J.R. Jones in the center. The one shining spot was Hood's indomitable defense of the snake-rail fence that stood in the path of Mansfield. With precious few brigades in reserve where would he send them to stymie the Union attack and gain a chance to win the day?

the Texans attack along the road had slowed Hooker's advance 
but the one brigade of bold Southern boys was swamped by the mass of Northerners
 and Hooker's troops began to flow past them to the west

Antietam Refought Part II; Opening Moves

    Having shown you the terrain, and the Union's Cunning Plan, we will now begin to unfold how the game progressed. As always the Plan did not survive contact with the enemy.........but it at least provided a framework for action. The Fire & Fury Brigade level rules functioned very well, providing a fast playing game with its share of frustrating Command breakdowns and offering realistic results.

     I played Mansfield, the narration is told from the Union viewpoint (mostly mine). J&R or R.U.P. please add the opposing narrative if you wish.

 

and the Cunning Plan runs into problems right away, 

Mansfield's Corps is slowed by atrocious Command rolls right off the bat 

moving at half speed instead of a stunning sudden assault

Antietam Fought Part I, The Cunning Plan

     Before to see how we fought it out you might like a quick reminder how the actual battle proceeded. The Civil War Trust has produced a lot of great material. Watch this highly informative video on the historic battle  it is chock full of information and is very well done.

     Our refight was slightly different. We ignored the whole Burnside Bridge fight as a wash and played the game with the idea that, on that front at least, things would follow the pattern of historical events. You will see that the rest of the battle turned out rather differently.

     As for the rest of the battle you will see from the photos below that the troops were laid out largely according to historical deployment. We did allow for a bit more coordination between the Union Commanders that was followed that fateful day one hundred fifty-five years before.

     Thus we have the field of battle reduced to manageable proportions; the area contained within the green line is the area represented by our tabletop;

Antietam it is

    Tom from Texas would like to host Antietam this Sunday at noon.

So all you ACW fans get your kepis on and let's see if we can do better than the original cast .
Reply in comments or call/text/email

Below you will find photos of the table ready for the action;

A Great Deal Done on the Star Fort

     Having the luxury of two consecutive days off of work I allowed myself the pleasure of wasting most of one of them in the workshop. The Castillo has been occupying the game table like some invading Leviathan, virtually demanding attention. I finished the molding line that runs along the parapet on all of the walls and bastions, completed the stairway, made the hard decision to only card-clad the vulnerable corners and edges (the sheer volume of surface argued against cladding the entire thing as I had done with the first bastion) and started on applying a coating of wallboard compound to simulate the stucco that covered the original fort. All in all a good bit of work.

 

the stairway had been started earlier, a simple enough thing, built up layer-cake style,

 it took up a surprising amount of time to complete

Not Dead Yet!!!!

    Despite my job's best efforts at working me to death I managed to get a day off. I took a little while to unwind  and worked on the Castillo project for a few hours. I had to make the walls deeper (another math error had left them too thin by almost 33%). Then I got to work filling gaps and added details. After this I am back to the card cladding of the surfaces then mounting the whole thing on sections of thin plywood.

 

the extent of my error is visible here,

 the blue at the back of each section is the depth that needed to be added

Just a Quick Note

     In one final outburst of gaming before my job ruined my vacation I played on Sunday. Only Joe could make it so we set to with my new favorite rule set Pikeman's Lament. Three back-to-back games in just over four hours tested Joe's new "Combat Only" force of Pikemen, Clansmen and Aggressive Gallopers fronted only by two units of Commanded Shot against my standard firepower-heavy force. Joe won the first two games, the first by a narrow margin , the second by a landslide and we fought the third "Morning Assault" to a draw. We were having too much fun to stop to record things but I did snap a shot of the draw at the end of the third game

      The Morning Assault envisions a dawn attack against an enemy held defensive line with a sneak attack on its flank. Victory conditions are only achieved through the complete destruction of the enemy force or, when there are five of fewer units still on the table. We battered each other until only four Commanded Shot were left; two of Joe's and two of mine. As usual, my Leader fell in combat as did Joe's. Both survived their wounds and will be back next game.

the figures were left largely where they fell showing the intensity of the fighting,

 only thirteen figures on my force fled and ten in Joe's; the rest fell in combat on the field

To The Rescue, a Pikeman's Lament AAR

     Having lost my Leader, captured by oldSarge's Duelist in the last battle, I was resolved to try to rescue him from captivity. I laid out the terrain with a small farm in the center and offered oldSarge his choice of sides. From there we played out rescue mission in the rule book; half of oldSarge's troops were in the and around the buildings guarding the prisoner while the rest of his force was away foraging. With great caution and stealth my troops had crept close during the night. As dawn broke my troops charged forward with a loud "huzzah!"........or something to that effect.

the situation at the beginning of the battle

the French troops are arriving on the near edge, the Dutch reinforcements will appear on the far (top) edge with the two building in the center already occupied by some Dutch foot

How the Heck did I miss this?

Warning Order is a free online wargaming magazine. Loaded with reviews, scenarios, and thoughtful articles it also has the color photos that would make it a match for one of the British glossies if it were published in a hardcopy format.

Take a look and be prepared to spend some time, there are now 46 issues published. 

Enjoy!

I hate when this happens....

.....somebody beat me to it!

       My grand plan for building a Pirates game wherein the ships sail around in an imaginary sea and the game tables are islands has already been done. And in grand style I might add. R.U.P. found this gem that I somehow missed ages ago when it showed up on Jay's Wargaming Madness blog (which is an interesting way to spend some of your free time, I might add). Check his post here for more pictures.

Nine Years War, a minor action Pikeman's Lament AAR

     The French confronted the Dutch in some anonymous corner of the Netherlands on the fringes of the main armies. Pikeman's Lament (once again) handled the action admirably; I wish I could claim my generalship was as effective. 30 points on a side; the Dutch had two units of Shot, two of Trotters, two units of Forlorn Hope and a single unit of Commanded Shot. Opposing the the French possessed three units of Shot, two units of Gallopers, two units of Commanded Shot and a lone Forlorn Hope.

 

the battle begins, I had advanced the two units on my left then failed a Command roll,

 this turned out to be a theme for both myself and oldSarge in this game

A Little More Housekeeping

I just finished reorganizing all of the Perry Brothers, Victrix, Wargames Factory, Warlord Games, and Fireforge 28mm plastic minis and Zvezda and Plastic Soldier Company  kit reviews so that they link back to the original review instead of being one long run-on page. Hopefully this will help anybody looking for a particular kit.