Sunday 8 September 2024

Sunday Game - ACW

Or as some people might claim, the BEST CW!

Be that as it may, Paul put together a scenario for us, whereby, in the aftermath of Gettysburg, a Confederate force is attempting to break through the Union and make good their escape southwards. For my sins, I took command of the Rebs, with Barry and John as my subordinates, and we faced off against Nick, Rick and Chris. 

The Union deployed first, and we were then able to make a plan - which was to sacrifice Barrys command as a speed bump to slow the Union advance by Chris and Rick, whilst John and I threw both our brigades against Nick on the Union right, hopefully overwhelming him before the others could come to his assistance.....


The table before any troops arrived rebs will be to the right and Union defending the left




The Blue Bellies get in position



The Rebs arrive of the field of battle - Barrys troops occupy the woods to slow up 2/3 of the Union force, hopefully


The bulk of the Confederate force marches rapidly against the Union right flank, held by Nick



John and I got a couple of time and a half moves, early on, which helped!




On the Union left, Chris moves forwards to clear Barry from his defensive position



The Rebs shake out into line as they approach the Union position



John's brigade enters the wheat field - they were to remain there for most of the game


Luckily, our reinforcement brigade arrives to the rear of Johns position, this should help our plan to overwhelm Nicks four battalions....


My brigade had already taken a bit of damage from Nick and Ricks artillery on the way in...


Genl George Armstrong Custer arrives in the centre with Union cavalry


Chris increases the pressure on Barry


Billy Yank and Johnny Reb exchange close range musket fire


The "speed hump" doing its job!



Ricks troops have moved forward slightly


Chris assaulted this battery with infantry....


.... here was the result!


Meanwhile, another unit pushed one of the Reb units back from the edge of the woods



Georgie Boy moves up the road


The guns get in one shot but do minimal damage to the cavalry


Rebs en masse on Nicks flank but it's really just a traffic jam as John is unable to gain any advantage in the fire fight with the Union troops in the wheat field 


One of my battalions has already quit the field and a second is about to (carrying the red marker)


The cavalry skirts my Reb battery



A big mess where our primary attack is supposed to be happening - things are going somewhat awry!


My brigade is looking decidedly shaky, having lost 2 of 5 battalions; meanwhile, the Union cavalry is about to appear in our rear!


At the other end of the field, Barry is still putting up a staunch defence against Chris



The unit with the red marker is about to disintegrate, leaving only two battalions and the artillery battery of my original command!


The Union troops have finally been forced out of the wheat field but it's too little and far too late!



To support Chris (above), Rick advanced his infantry (below)



Jeb Stuarts cavalry finally make an appearance when the battle is almost over!


My guns managed to turn to face Custers cavalry but unfortunately only scored one hit in closing sire - the cavalry now had 7 dice to my 4 - I need 5 or 6 to hit, the cavalry 4 5 or 6


And here is my roll! Rick only scored two hits and was forced to retire - hurrah for the gunners, again!


They had to turn again to face a new threat from Nick, he however, did not charge, he just forced them to face him for a turn until Custers boys could recover their composure - and charge them in the rear - what a bunch of brave heroes - they will be just the boys for a bit of Pony Wars in 5 years' time!



Barry made a spirited spoiling attack out of the woods, but the Union gunners are as staunch as their Reb counterparts and also won the melee!


Ricks Union infantry advance into the empty centre of the Reb position


After relying on firepower for the whole game, the leading Reb Brigade went in with the cold steel and routed two Union battalions - but it needed to have happened two hours earlier!


Rick was good at charging people in the rear - in the same turn, his cavalry did it to my gunners, and his infantry to my last remaining infantry battalion in front of Nicks position!


Barry now close to being overwhelmed by Rick and Chris - he had done his job well, but his efforts were undone by the dilatoriness of the Reb attack on Nick.


The end of the game - definitely a Union victory, and the Rebs ain't getting back to Dixie along this route, for sure!

And now, as has become something of a tradition for both Mark (1866 and all that) and me - here is the whole thing again but in close up - courtesy of mate John!
































































If you made it this far - phew, well done - that was close on 100 images, I think! Thanks for your perseverance - please leave a comment to let me know what you thought of our efforts!

38 comments:

  1. Great looking game and plenty of photos of the game

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    1. Thanks Scotty....and yes, certainly plenty of photos!

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  2. Great looking game and an enjoyable report. Loads of great miniatures on show but I especially like the Dixons, they are so full of character.

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    1. Thank you, Donnie, and yes, Dixons feature heavily in all the guys ACW collections here, bar Chris who now has Perry plastic figures!

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  3. Epic ACW battle Kieth- glad your gaming such large games.

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  4. Marvellous looking game Keith. Enjoyed your report and photos.

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  5. Lovely large table setting to give the full scope of battle. The rules did a good job of managing all of that to a conclusion in a single session.

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    1. Thanks Norm. We were, as always, using home brew rules, written by Mark.

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  6. What a great looking game!
    Fantastic photos photos!

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    1. Thanks Michal and there certainly was a double ration of photos!

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  7. That looks great Keith, and well worth the 100 photos. Not sure where you guys find the time to document the game in the midst of all the action. I know my groups tend to moan when anyone tries to take pictures on our tables which I always think is a shame as so many games have been lost from memory.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence....we are obviously less efficient gamers than your group....I never find any issues finding time to record events 😉

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  8. Good stuff, Keith! I enjoyed both report and close up photos. One general waving his hat looks like he has taken a minie ball to the nose. I sure wish my artillery performed as well as yours.

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    1. Thanks Jon and glad you liked all the pics! My "revolving" battery certainly frustrated Rick for a bit...it was great fun rolling those three of four hits and pushing back Custers cavalry!

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  9. OK, Keith , I see what you mean about the photos helping the battle report. I especially like the close up photos.

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    1. Thanks a lot Joe...pleased you liked John's contribution to my AAR!

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  10. Great set of photos Keith. Unlucky result but still seemed like a lot of fun to play.

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    1. Cheers Ben..not sure we could claim it was bad luck...John probably should have been more aggressive earlier, and maybe I should have reinforced my first brigade with our infantry reinforcements, rather than John.....

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  11. Great AAR there Keith and as always, lots of eye candy to enjoy. However each time I see this big table, my back twinges at the thought of stretching to reach the middle!

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    1. Thanks Steve...at 5'8", or 172cm, I do find moving troops in the middle of Barry's table a bit of a stretch...both figuratively and literally!

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  12. Can you have too many pictures of an ACW game?
    No you cannot.
    Nice looking game.

    "oooohh, the ACW is the best CW..."

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    1. Oh great, now, we all have THAT tune stuck inside our heads!

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    2. Indeed, we do, although after my recent Cheriton replays, some players singing that the ECW is the best CW!

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    3. Haha....I would be on board with the revised lyrics, Jon.....but each to their own!

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  13. A splendid game indeed Keith…
    And nice close ups from John…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks a lot Aly, it wasn't a bad way to spend a few hours!

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  14. Splendid looking game, great sounding AAR, unfortunate result for you but the good guys have to win sometimes!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, glad you enjoyed it and your last point is fair enough too 👍

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  15. That's incredible, what an amazing looking game!

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    1. Thanks Bill, it is always a bit of a spectacle at Barry's place!

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  16. Great looking game Keith! You really can't go wrong with a good ACW battle on the table.

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    1. Cheers John, I will take your word for that....not sure I have ever been on the winning side in an ACW game! It does look pretty, though!

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  17. Oooh my eyes are hurting after so many photos , a nice looking battle though and a reminder that I need to get the ACW aback on the table ?

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    1. Haha....there were rather a lot, weren't there Matt! Look forward to seeing you ACW getting an outing soon 😀

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  18. Just another super Sunday for you fellas! :)
    Regards, James

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