Fredericksburg the closing stages

"Ours to lose Longstreet," Stonewall" Shaun Jackson told me as we took up the reins of a battle left at the critical midpoint.  I think he had a point!

The previous game had led to some thoughts:

1.       The bases used are too deep. That’s easily remedied.

2.       On reflection (and recalculation)  reintroduce the right shift for Firers with Skirmishers. It was removed for historical reasons but probably should be there for the sake of maths and game balance.

3.       Cavalry need a small tweak, as follows………..

The BBB rules as written do not distinguish between mounted and dismounted cavalry. Firstly, because they were written with mainly the FPW in mind, where lance and sabre armed cavalry are the norm, and secondly to keep the mechanics as simple as possible.

Cavalry in the American Civil War, deserve a little more consideration.

ACW cavalry would operate effectively as mounted infantry. In BBB there is a big difference between cavalry and infantry. While mounted, a unit is treated as a Cavalry target, meaning the firer enjoys a right shift, and the cavalry gets no benefit from cover. Once dismounted they are considered as infantry, can use cover, and don't suffer the right shift for a Cavalry target.

As dismounting and remounting was intrinsic to their function I don’t think there should be a movement penalty involved in them doing his. However, I think there should be distinction between the two different states in game terms.      

Suggestion:

If cavalry with firearms do not move in the Movement phase, they can be considered dismounted; you could place a base with horse holders as a marker to indicate this. When being shot at in the Opponent’s Defensive Fire phase they are treated as an infantry target.

Cavalry with firearms are considered mounted if they move or change formation in their Movement phase. Give them a marker (white cube). They can still fire in their Offensive Fire phase but with this caveat (half factors).

Whatever their state, they are always treated as mounted for Evading, and for Movement & Retiring distances.

Longstreet overlooks the Rappahannock crossing at Fredricksburg

And that a silenced Union battery leaving the area.  So quick it blurred.

JEB's boys and the Yankees go at it for a few rounds

And Jackson holds his line 

More silenced Union guns 

But the bluebellends are massing to cross

Longstreet pulls back that exposed Division.

But he loses on the left to overwhelming cannon fire and an infantry charge.
Touch and go for everybody though 

And they start to cross

And they work the flank.

My reserves cover the objective.

And the treat from the centre vanished.  We killed most of it.

That sweeping right flank attack struggles.  JEB is still at it 

Finally they come for Longstreet

And he redeploys to face it.

Some of our best units hold that entre now unopposed.

Bayonets.  It's a mass attack

And my remaining reserve refuses to move.

The right flank attack materialises 

They are knocked back from the ramparts, and its the last turn.

The gap we were so concerned about is plugged by Hood.

And over on the right Jackson holds like a brick wall

A victory for the rebels.

What a great game!

Fredericksburg Bloody Big Battles

A Fredericksburg scenario for Bloody Big Battles, and a big multiplayer game!

The Club President's glorious 15mm figures were on Divisional bases.

Dave "Don't throw two ones" Longstreet

 Shaun "Breeze block wall" Jackson

Vs

Dave "Benjamin" Franklin

Steven "Gordon" Sumner

Mike "Toyah" Willcox

Army of the Potomac 

Right Grand Division

Edwin V. Sumner

II Corps – Darius Couch

1 Hancock; 2 Howard; 3 French

IX Corps – Orlando Willcox

1 Burns; 2 Sturgis; 3 Getty

Center Grand Division

Joseph Hooker

III Corps – George Stoneman

1 Birney; 2 Sickles; 3 Whipple

V Corps – Daniel Butterfield

1 Griffin; 2 Sykes; 3 Humphreys

Left Grand Division

William B. Franklin

I Corps – John Reynolds

1 Doubleday; 2 Gibbon; 3 Meade

VI Corps – William F. Smith

1 Brooks; 2 Howe; 3 Newton

Reserve

Franz Sigel

XI Corps

1 McLean; 2 Steinwehr

Army of Northern Virginia

I Corps

James Longstreet

McLaws; Anderson; Pickett; Hood

Ransom's Division was also present/attached

II Corps

Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson

D.H. Hill; A.P. Hill; Early; Taliaferro

Cavalry Division

J.E.B. Stuart

Hampton; Fitz Lee; Rooney Lee; W.H.F. Lee; W. E. Jones

Reserve Artillery

—

The Game.

Big table Great looking terrain
Sorry about the handbag, it wasn't mine!

But seriously!  Great looking terrain for BBB

Longstreet deploys

Jackson deploys to Longstreet's right.

And the Yanks cross the Rappahannock River.

And JEB Stuart, well dressed man if the Year 1862, skedaddles out with a masterly evade 

Meanwhile back at Fredericksburg the Union watch the heights before finally advancing 

They walk in front of the Confederate defences.

And a flank assault builds for Jackson's position

Longstreet is shown an open flank!

And the Confederate rules are punishing

The attack in front of Longstreet builds 

They are looking for the historical gap.  Unfortunately Longstreet fed a brigade towards Jackson to plug it.

Some good shooting drives back the right flank attack.

Longstreet's line suffers from those Union guns.

That flank attack stalls

JEB Stuart rides around the open flank.

And at the closing stages the Union are rocked 

Can they extract a retreat from the jaws of defeat?

Find out next week.

Pea's First Cruise

 Quilp's Journal

Week 1

Left Jamaica and passed through the Windward Passage, between Cuba and Hispaniola. It seems Captain Pea means to cruise the exit to the Passage and patrol the trade routes east. Wind strengthening and ship horribly knocked about. Mainmast lost and the old privateer Adams swept overboard. Several crew with crushed limbs.

Week 2

The ship jury rigged and limped into Tortuga. Chippy Woodes, the carpenter, made an extraordinary effort and a new mast was soon fitted.

Week 3

Once again off the Windward Passage. Sail sighted and gave chase. Put a shot across the chase's bow and she hove-to. The Captain took a boarding party across and inspected the chase's cargo and papers. Identified the chase as the Black Tulip merchant, Captain Van Winckle out of Amsterdam. The captain spent some time with Van Winckle and came back with intelligence of pyrate crews operating out of the Bahamas.

Week 4

Sail sighted and gave chase. On nearing the chase, she hoisted the black and subjected us to heavy musket fire. Three crew were hit immediately but Pea manoeuvred the Fancy to let loose a broadside, from the larboard guns, that smashed the chase's hull. The pyrate proved a slippery fellow constantly changing course to avoid our broadside but eventually Pea steered the Fancy to present her unused starboard guns and unleashed a second broadside. The damage was horrendous and the pyrate struck his colours. The captain then boarded the chase, the Sea Horse sloop, captain Phineas Bunce. The pyrate sloop was badly smashed up with a severely weakened hull, two serious leaks and damaged rigging, Sixteen dead pyrates were buried at sea with little ceremony. A prize crew was put aboard, under the carpenter Chippy Woodes, and our little convoy limped back to Jamaica. Bunce and his crew were handed over to the Governor and the sloop commended to the prize court.

For the first actual tabletop game, of the campaign, I gave the pirates a smaller sloop, which made sense for the campaign narrative and a reason for the chase (I also haven't assembled and painted my remaining sloops yet). This is a non-Firelock model so I had to create my own ship stats. I used the Balandra ship card but reduced the fortitude by one and amended the gun ports to reflect the model. The sloop has a crew capacity of 25 (17 on the foredeck and 8 on the poop) without guns. 

I diced for the crew characteristics with the choice being between gun based, boarding based, small arms based, swivels based or a balanced all arms crew. I rolled for a small arms based crew and used the Force Builder to crew the sloop accordingly. 

Thus the Seahorse was to be crewed by 4 Sea Dogs (no upgrades), and 4 Pirates (no upgrades) on the poop deck. 12 Roundsmen (Buccaneer guns and 3 Blunderbusses), and 12 Jamaican Privateers (Buccaneer guns and 3 Blunderbusses) on the main deck. 

The Seahorse sloop

By contrast, the Fancy was a larger sloop with reinforced bulkheads and carrying 6 guns, on the main deck, and 4 swivels on the poop deck. 7 Sea Dogs (including the Bosun) were assigned to the guns on the main deck, along with 7 musket armed Jamaican Privateers (including the Quartermaster). 6 Pirates ( including the Sailing Master) were assigned to the swivels on the poop deck, whilst the Captain led a group of 5 Jamaican Privateers (including the Carpenter) assigned to the sheets and Braces. This is not the optimal way to crew the sloop as many unit traits overlap with those of the officers but I wanted all the characters for campaign narrative purposes. 

The Fancy sloop

As this was a chase situation, I used the 'Hold the Ground' scenario from the main rulebook. Both ships start sailing with the wind astern and sailing parallel and the objective is to capture the opposing vessel.

I ran the Seahorse sloop using the Firelock solo rules. Whilst these work well for land based games, I'm less convinced for sea based games. It did however mean that the Seahorses course was completely unpredictable.

  

The Seahorse gets in an early shot with its Buccaneer guns.

The Fancy lets loose a broadside and closes to board. 

The Fancy's Nassau men fail to grapple.

After a devastating broadside the Seahorse strikes her colours.

Basileus Manuel, the Hunting Expedition

The Tales of Quinci al-Dim – The Lion of  Lidl Hunts the Emperor

Scenario: Emperor Manuel is hunting in northern Syria when his huntsmen report the presence of Saracen warriors lurking amongst the scrub. Manuel suspects an ambush, but, being Manuel, plunges his hunting party—and the army accompanying it—straight into the fray.

---

From The Tales of Quinci al-Dim, as faithfully recorded by the Scribe Al-di

When Sheikh Quinci al-Dim, Breaker of Tea Urns, the Lion of Lidl, rode forth, the earth trembled, the camels groaned, and merchants hastily concealed their discounted dates. No kettle was safe from his wrath, and his warriors could scent a Middle Aisle bargain from three days' ride across the desert. 

The battlefield is prepared.

And it came to pass that the Best Beloved of the Centre Aisle deployed two companies of steadfast foot amidst the scrub at the heart of the field. Many said it was bait. Others declared it a cunning snare. None could agree, save that it looked suspicious.

The Saracen infantry wait patiently amongst the scrub.

Then Basileus Manuel, Emperor of the Romans, demonstrated remarkable powers of deduction...

"It is an ambush!"

...and immediately charged straight towards it from the eastern margins.

The Byzantines advance.

The air hummed like an angry hive. Shafts fell in such number that Byzantine shields resembled particularly nervous hedgehogs. Horses reconsidered their career choices. Veterans muttered darkly that this was becoming excessively educational.

Thus did Basileus Manuel learn the First Lesson of Quinci al-Dim:

If the Lord of Discount appears to be inviting you forward... he has even more archers than you think.

Manuel had very few archers...

The Byzantine deployment was split by a great wood. Manuel's army was forced to advance on either side of it, unable to support itself properly.

Even the proud Varangians—men he believed he could rely upon in difficult terrain—moved with all the urgency of sleepy snails.

The Varangian Guard struggle through the woods.

To encourage the advance, one of Manuel's cavalry trumpeters sounded an inspirational, iconoclastic, ecumenical blues tune.

It did not help.

Meanwhile, Islamic foot and horse entered from both flanks, using the folds of the ground and scattered scrub to remain hidden from the Emperor's gaze..

Fresh Saracen troops arrive on both wings.

Manuel's columns were close-order formations of first-rate fighting men. Again and again he attempted to close with the enemy.

But, of course, some units refused.

These were, after all...

Byzantines.

The advance begins to stall.

With arrows falling relentlessly, Manuel's army began to die one unit at a time.

The great wood dominating the centre of the field robbed him of room to manoeuvre, but the lack of archers proved the decisive weakness..

The big wood in the centre of the Byzantine position stymies most of Manuels options, but the lack of archers is critical.

The Byzantine casualty pile tells the tale.

This was a battle already lost.

In one final attempt to snatch victory from the jaws of the Emir of Discounted Flatbread, the Emperor led his household cavalry in a desperate charge against Quinci al-Dim himself.

One last charge.

The Islamic army had paid dearly for its victory. Its formations were battered, its losses heavy, but its line still held.

Then everything came down to a single combat between the two commanders..

The Islamic forces have suffered for the victory, battered but recovered.

And losses high on both sides.

But it comes to this
A single combat between the commanders.

Emperor meets Emir.

And Manuel fell.

The Defender of the Middle Aisle stood triumphant over the fallen Emperor.

A glorious first victory for...

Sheikh Quinci al-Dim, Breaker of Tea Urns, Defender of the Middle Aisle, the Lion of Lidl, Sultan of Special Buys.

A Challenge to the Lion of Lidl!

News of the Emperor's death spread swiftly throughout the Empire.

His son, Prince Basil of Adli, known to history as "The Grand Replenisher" swore before the court that he would avenge his father's defeat.

Raising his sword towards the east, he proclaimed:

"Hear me, Quinci al-Dim, Breaker of Tea Urns, Defender of the Middle Aisle, Sultan of Special Buys! You have humbled my father with your endless arrows and your suspiciously well-priced flatbread.

I, Basil of Adli, Prince of the Romans, Warden of the Weekly Offers, Keeper of the Legendary Aisle of Wonders, do challenge you to meet me in honourable battle.

Let the bargain stores decide whose prices—and whose warriors—are truly supreme!"

Whereupon the Scribe Al-di records that Quinci laughed so heartily that his camel sneezed.

Thus began the legendary War of the Discount Dynasties, in which many brave men fought valiantly over the right to claim dominion of the Middle Aisle.