"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand..."

[has.been]

Vodkafan & I managed to christen the newly insulated
ceiling in my Wargames room. An ACW Reb&Pats game.
My plan had been to use all my available figures. This
turned out to be more than I remembered, therefore
I hit upon the following.
Both sides would have a 'Corp' already on the table &
engaged with the enemy. The Yanks would have a second
Corp marching towards the guns, the Rebs had two Corp
trying to do the same. At the end of each move the players
would dice off. The winner would take the difference off the
countdown score for their Corps. (Reb 2nd Corp = 12,
Yank 2nd Corp = 20, & Reb 3rd Corp = 24). With hindsight
& the limited time we had (James had to go to work) the
Countdown numbers were too high, but it was fun. I will
use the mechanism again some time.
Now the pictures:-
DSC04117,8 & 9 = The Battlefield
117 viewed from the South.
      Rebs on the right, Yanks on the left.
118 viewed from NW. Yanks to the right.
119 from the NE. Reb side of the river. (Jordan)
120+1 The cockerel, in the farm that anchors the
            Confederate left, wakes everybody for the battle.

[has.been]

122 = My (Confederate) centre
123 = Fierce Zouaves on my right.
124 = Georgians on my left &
125 = Covering the approach across the ford,
          is battery Paul.
 
It sure do look pretty, don't it?

[has.been]

126 = The HUGE unit of Zouaves that James has
          aimed towards the ford. (50% bigger than
          any unit I have on table!)
127 = His extreme right flank, poised to support
          those Zouaves. Facing these (& his artillery)
          I have placed...battery Paul. Good luck boys,
          you're gunna need it.
128,9 = His centre, looks like he is prepared to hold
             in the centre.
130 = A dismounted cavalry unit acting as skirmishers,
          yes I don't think he'll attack here.
131  = Hold on, just a cotton pickin minute! What is that
           on his extreme left?  (Telescope out, bit blurry but...)
           My God, ANOTHER  unit of Zouaves!
           Maybe he does plan to attack on both flanks.
         
       

[has.been]

We dice for initiative & the Blue-bellies win.
132 = Under heavy & accurate fire from them,
          concentrated upon the Virginian unit led by
          Dudley Du Bose (my personality figure)
          they recoil disordered. Dudley narrowly
          avoids being hit.
133 = "If those damn Yanks want to make it personal
          I'll oblige" he tells an aide. Appletree's (James'
           personality figure) unit comes under even
           heavier firer. Yet Appletree continued to lead a
            charmed life (see previous battles) avoiding
           falling to a Southern mini-ball by ONE dice pip.
           His unit then avoided serious morale problems
           by claiming the plus one due as commander is
           still on the field!!!!!!!
134 = His Zouave juggernaut moves menacingly towards
          the weakly defended ford.
135 = With a 'Wiff of grapeshot' battery Paul persuades
          them to first halt, then retire.
136 = Infantry fire might have broken them, but only
           3 hits when statistically 6 was expected, was
           not enough.
137 = Battery Peter, on my right flank, persuade the
          dismounted cav. from crossing the river.

[has.been]

138,9 =Appletree, having become in James' own words,
           'A bullet magnet!' retires behind a wagon for cover.
140 = This allows me to concentrate on his other central
           units. They begin to crumble. Then...
141 = Yet more bad Confederate dice throwing.
142,3,4  = I decide to launch a general advance. This was
                 going splendidly until Du Bose took a bullet!

[has.been]

145 = My Zouaves pour heavy fire into the last of the
          Yank's left flank defenders.
146 =The advance continues.
147 = The moment Du Bose fell, proudly leading his
           troops against the enemy. (Not hiding behind
          a rotting wagon like Appletree)
148,9 = Following their (heroic ) leader's example
             the few survivors on his left cower behind a
             wagon.
150 = We reach Jordan's far bank, the promised land!
154 = What we agree to be the final shots seal Reb
          victory.

'But what about the re-enforcements?' I hear you cry.
Confederate 2nd Corp was due to start arriving on table
the very next turn. As this would have been on my left
flank it would have pitched their FIVE units against the
ONE Union unit that made it across the River!
Confederate 3rd Corp would (possibly) arrived 2 or 3
moves later on my right flank. Trying to stop their
SIX units was a task his remaining Zouave unit would
not relish.
James' 2nd Corp was still a long way off.

All in all an enjoyable game. We had laughs & that
is a good result.

[Westbury]

Pete, looked really good, I don't think I've seen the table out to its full extent in a long time 
Terrain features set the game off lovely.
Well done to you and James.

[has.been]

Thanks Ian. You'll get to see it all soon.

[flatpack]

Pete
Looks really nice.
One hell of a river.

[has.been]

One hell of a river.

Would have been easy to cross if it hadn't been
for James & his pesky Yankies!

[Zingara]

Great looking game Pete, and that river looks superb.  How are you handling the morale for larger units - if I remember correctly a -1 results on the morale for each casualty which means unlikely to stand around longer than a normal size unit. Again looks good - and all that clear space !!

[has.been]

How are you handling the morale for larger units - if I remember correctly a -1 results on the morale for each casualty which means unlikely to stand around longer than a normal size

Slightly wrong there Gregor.
It is -1 for each casualty THAT CAUSED THE TEST (my emphasis)
The reason that larger units DO hang around longer is...
when a unit gets down to half its original strength it becomes
permanently disordered, & that is a killer. Down to half dice
(fire/fight), can't rally it away, & one more disorder = problems,
two more = bye-bye.
So a small unit (6 figs) only needs to loose 3 figures,
average (12 figs) 6 & large (18 figs) 9.

[Zingara]

Cheers Peter, been a while since I played, and that stable of rules are similar with nuances.

[MaleGriffin]

Marvelous!

[Norm]

Lovely table and gaming space. i like the presentation of the AAR, very effective.