ACW Armies

American Civil War

My figures for this period are all 10mm. I can field about 2 Corps for each side. 

I use Fire and Fury Brigade level rules. They are simplest and most playable set of wargame rules I have ever played. They give great games. I have also created a computer assisted play assistant for the Fire and Fury rules (and all the other derivatives developed by Col Bill Gray Retd). 

The pictures are from the Battle of Jennings Gap. This is a battle from my first ACW Solo Campaign, based on the 1862 Campaign in the Valley with Jackson.

Honours of War - Game Report 4

The Battle of Neuberg - Prussian encounter with the Austro-Imperial Corps of Prinz August von Baden

Introduction

This was to be our fourth outing with HoW. As you can probably guess we rather like the rules. They give a very good flavour for the period. In this game Paul took command of the Austro-Imperials and I took command of the Prussians.

If you have been reading other battles we fought the counters around the troops designate their cohesion points. Whilst the counters next to the commanders are to identify who the commander is!

Scenario

In this, fictional, scenario, a Prussian force under Lt Gen Retzow has been sent to attack the detached Austro-Imperial Corps of von Baden near Neuberg.

Orders of Battle

Prussian Forces under Lt Gen Retzow

Austro-Imperial Corps under Prinz August von Baden

Ground

As usual Dave had done his bang-up job on the scenery. Schloss Neuberg with its ornamental garden was a nice touch; until it was trashed by some hairy Imperial Grenadiers. 

And now for the view from the East

Initial Deployment

Austro-Imperial Corps

From the reconnaissance we conducted this is how the Austro-Imperial Force had been deployed to confront my Prussians

Although it transpired in debriefing the prisoners taken that the Austro-Imperial Chief of Staff the Prinz August had argued strongly for a different deployment and had been overruled. Moe of that later. 

Prussian Forces

In my combat appreciation I determined that I was at a disadvantage in numbers. However, I knew had better trained troops. My principle advantage was that if I could close on the enemy quickly I cold destroy them in detail before they cold react.

Consequently although I committed myself to load up my right flank to attack the Austro-Imperial left I was determined to ensure that they couldn't do the same to me. This is why I employed the Jagers and Bulow to protect my left, until such time as I could redeploy them.

Game Turns 1-7

After seven game turns we had certainly made some progress. The pictures and annotations are the work of Dave; many thanks!

My attack started, predictably, slowly on my right. Munchow's Bde did not advance as quick as I would like. However, their intimidatingly inexorable march in line forced the Austro-Imperial cavalry to retire in its face. By game Turn 7 they decided that they had had enough and the Austro-Imperial Cavalry charged Munchow's Bde. My dragoons supporting Munchow's right countercharged in support. 

In the ensuing melee my lead dragoon unit destroyed a regiment of Imperial Cuirassiers, in the pursuit they destroyed a regiment of Austrian dragoons and in doing so themselves were done for! Meanwhile Munchow's Bde stood firm and destroyed a regiment of Cuirassiers and Hussars.

On the left flank my Jagers moved forward and occupied the time of the Austo-Imperial Converged Grenadier Bde whilst they tried to extricate themselves from Neuberg Castle's formal garden.

In the centre Rohr's Bde has moved forward to conform to Munchow's left flank. To the left of Rohr, Bulow's Bde has started to move south to conform to Rohr's left flank, and to respond to the advance of the Austrian Bde.

After having no targets the 6lb battery has decided to vacate the crag and find better fields of fire elsewhere. The Howitzer Bty continued to engage the Austro-Imperial Artillery. Surprisingly most of the fuses were lit successfully, although they caused only little damage.

Game Turn 8 to 13

On the Prussian right, where my main effort was directed, Munchow's Bde contracted its line to form a supporting line to the front two battalions. This made room for the Hussars and remaining Dragoon unit to close in on the remaining Austrian cuirassier regiment. The latter sacrificed itself bravely to buy time for the remaining Austrian Hussars to withdraw to the North behind their infantry. It took all my cavalry attacking from the flank and the front to destroy them!

Once Munchow had redeployed, and Rohr's Bde was firmly protecting his left flank, Munchow launched his front line of two infantry battalions forward to close range to finish of the Austro-Imperial infantry line. And this is where it all went pear-shaped for my Prussians. 

In the fire phase the Austro-Imperial forces seized the firing initiative, and the defenders fired first, rather than, as I would have expected or hoped for, us the Prussians. Munchow's two battalions took severe casualties, but still managed to send one of the Imperial battalions to the rear in their meagre fire response. Munchow decided at that point to withdraw his lines to regroup behind the supports. 

In the centre Rohr's Bde were similarly disadvantaged by the Austro-Imperial fire and also fell back to regroup. This was fortunate for the enemy as it gave time for a much more orderly withdrawal of the Austro-Imperial forces.

On the Prussian left the intention was for Bulow's Bde to form on the left of Rohr's Bde. However as they were advancing to position the Arnberg's Austrian Bde presented their flank. A target too juicy to ignore. The rear two battalions of Bulow's Bde column of battalions smartly formed line to their left and engaged Arrnberg's right forward battalion in the flank and front destroying it with a couple of well ordered volleys.

The Jagers continued to protect the Prussian left flank and provided ample distraction for the Bde of converged Grenadiers. 

Outcome

At that point we decided that the Austro-Imperial force had been sufficiently badly mauled to withdraw. 

That evening Lt Gen Retzow dined at the Schloss Neuberg with his Brigade Commanders to plot what they would do next to pursue the Austro-Imperial Corps and how far they would pursue it! 

During the preparations for dinner one of Lt Gen Retzow's aides found this intelligence assessment prepared by Prinz August von Baden's Chief of Staff. It could have been a very different battle if he had listened to his Chief of Staff. We might have been severely mauled because he had predicted where our main effort was going to be directed at!

A few hours later the aide also discovered a partially burnt parchment with the battle plan the Chief of Staff had proposed and which was rejected by Prinz August.

Honours of War - Game Report 3

Honours of War Scenario - The Battle of Holtzheim1760

Introduction

This is the third game of Honour of War which we have done over Zoom. The pictures and graphics are again courtesy of Dave who organized and hosted the game. Even if myself and Paul who was in command of the French reserve may not have fought it exactly to his liking!

One of the things we have learnt from playing over Zoom is that it is important to give the remote players a sense of the scale and distances involved, and the amount of ground that troops take up. This was provided pre-game to help the remote players plan and deploy their forces.

Scenario General Situation

The scenario is inspired by the battle of Warburg 31 July 1760, and concentrates on the allied right flank attack by the Erbprinz of Brunswick. There were victory points (1 Army Point each) for the 3 stared objectives.

The French reacted to the turning movement by deploying the second line of the left wing ‘en potence’ on the Hein Berg; The Reserve infantry were in the process of being brought to the left, followed by the Dragoons.

There would be no intervention from other French or Allied forces not included in the OOB that Dave provided.

Orders of Battle

Ground

Game Turns 1 to 6

In telling the story of the battle I shall it tell it from the allied perspective as I was in command of them and know which troops were which. I have to confess I get very confused with all the different French names of the commanders and their regiments!

My overall scheme of maneuver was to place my best troops on the right to defeat the French Reserves as they deployed and try and roll up the French line from east to west. In doing so I knew I had to keep the centre covered and force the French to honour the threat. The open ground on the east was ideal cavalry country, where I knew the French cavalry would try and deploy, and that is where my own Cavalry headed.

This is looking west from the east flank of the battlefield. In the foreground are the advance guard of Beckwith's Brigade. His two grenadier battalions are advancing and giving fire to the French reserve that has arrived. Meanwhile his Highlanders which are deployed as light infantry are working their way around the French flank.

Behind you can see the Brigades of Dreves in line with Behr behind them. To the rear of Dreves are Schlottheim's two grenadier battalions in column of  lines.

The French reserves have moved much too far forward and are causing significant congestion, and nice targets for ricochets from Storch's Batterys which are posted on high ground behind Beckwith

This is the view looking from the South behind the Allied lines. The Allied Cavalry are starting to work their way around the French right flank. A large cavalry battle looks in the offing.

Game Turns 7 to 12

By the end of the game turn 12 Beckwith's Brigade have started to turn the French left. In their remorseless advance Beckwith's Grenadiers have destroyed 3 French battalions. Meanwhile Beckwith's Highlanders have continued to move around the flank providing harassing fire.

On Beckwith's left Schlottheim's two grenadier battalions in column of  lines are moving up in direct support ready to engage the left end of the French main line of battle.

Dreve's Brigade have retired under artillery fire and musketry and are now rallying and regrouping.

On the French right flank the cavalry battle is fierce. In the epic cavalry battle Colonel Eliott's British Cavalry Brigade and a Prussian Hussar Squadron have destroyed two French Dragoon units, at the expense of one of Eliott's Regiments and the Prussian Hussars. 

Although the remaining Dragoons are now match for the remaining Allied Cavalry it is going to be difficult to work around the right flank of the French Infantry.

Outcome

At the conclusion of the game the French committed to withdrawing leaving a strong rearguard to cover the retreat. The allies felt that honour had been satisfied and decided to regroup and rest for the day.

Overall a spirited and lively action. The game planning by Dave contributed to a relatively smooth and painless game. It would have been nice to move the troops, and be present, but Zoom did at least allow me to exercise command and spend time wargaming with friends. 

One big plus point for Dave was the use of movement trays (which I had recommended) for the troops which greatly speeded up the game!

Which of course is what it is all about really.

Honours of War - Game Report 2

The Encounter at Zoom

Introduction

Dave and I agreed following our trial game over Zoom of Honours of War (HoW) we needed to explore both what the rule system and playing by Zoom would be like in a larger encounter. Also it would give Dave the opportunity to remove his 7YW figures from their boxes and once again deploy them on the table for a game.

All credit and kudos to Dave for the scenario, troops, game and orchestrating us through the game.

Scenario

In this scenario the French have established a strong defensive position to confront the allies. The Allies have decided to give battle and need to deploy from Line of march to attack the French and drive them from the battlefield.

Orders of Battle

Ground

As usual Dave built some nice terrain for both sides to consider from their own unique tactical perspective.

Initial Deployment

Within the scenario the French were already deployed for battle, while the Allies were required to deploy from Line of March.

 

This is how I decided to deploy the Allies. A fairly typical 7YW formation with the Cavalry on the right covering off the right flank and facing of the French cavalry. My plan was to commit the Allied Infantry to attack from the high ground to the French Centre left, strongly supported by the artillery.

Mid Point

By the midpoint of the battle. My plan has already become rather broken. My infantry attack broke down badly. The French Cavalry advanced towards me and I was committed to a large cavalry battle. In the ensuing cavalry engagement both sides lost units in mutually assured destruction. Although the Allied Cavalry fared better than the French it has given time for the French Infantry to move up in support of their cavalry. I have in turn had to commit my reserve Hanoverian Guards Brigade to support my right flank.

Outcome

By the end of the battle the Allied right is starting to look increasingly fragile as it has to give ground from the fire it is receiving from the French. With the Allied left pinned by the French it is not possible to release a Brigade to support the right, as such I decided to withdraw from battle and lick my wounds and try and learn what I had done wrong!

An earlier commitment of the Allied cavalry given their success might have been a better proposition. A thought for future games.

Here is the view from the French side with the units highlighted!