CapnJim's ACW Stuff - Gettysburg Wheatfield Complete AAR - Pg. 5 - 22 Jul 24.

[Pan Marek]

 Thanks.  I find assigning cavalry carbines to all the Confederates to be a bit odd.  I've read about the campaign and the battle.  It seems the CS troops had a mix of weapons, smoothbore muskets, rifled muskets and shotguns.   Not much in the way of carbines.  Most of them were mounted infantry.  Do you think the CC is meant to reflect such a mix?

[CapnJim]

Yep.  The rules kinda say that.  I may tweak their firing stats a bit, though, to better reflect that.  We'll see.

And I've been to Fort Craig.  Couldn't get to the Valverde battlefield though.  The dirt road from the fort to the battlefield was too wet from then-recent rains.  It's all in the middle of nowhere...

[schoey]

Great write ups and interesting games, the trans-Mississippi is an interesting theatre in the civil war, thinking of going down this route with my collection.

Paul

[CapnJim]

Good man.  I didn't have any ancestors fight that far west, but I had 2 at Pea Ridge, in an Ohio artillery battery.

And work on the 5th Texas is proceeding slower than I had hoped.  Other obligations keep getting in the way...but, I'll soldier on.

[CapnJim]

Work on the 5th Texas Cavalry is progressing, slow but sure.  In addition to real life intruding on my time demands, I'm trying to get the horses "right".  So, I'm taking more time than usual on the cavalry.  But, I have 8 of the 14 figures done.  I thought I'd show you all what I've done so far.  The other 6 will get done in due time, hopefully.

All 28mm Perry Miniatures plastics.  As you can see, I have the 2 stands of lancers done, as well as the command stand and a stand of generic Reb cavalry.  The other 3 stands will be generic Reb cavalry.  Anyway, here's what I have so far:









I'll post pics of the whole regiment when it is done.  And, then I think a unit or 2 of Yankee infantry will be next...

[vtsaogames]

Dang, didn't know the Rebs had lancers. Nice work.

[CapnJim]

Thanks! 

The 5th Texas had 2 companies of lancers, and they used them at least through 1862.  At Valverde, at least one company of lancers charged men from the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Infantry, who formed square and repelled the charge......quite Napoleonic, and a rare event in the ACW.

On the Yankee side, the 6th Pennsylvania had lancers, and apparently used them until some time in 1863.

[vtsaogames]

6th PA, must be Rush's  lancers.

[CapnJim]

6th PA, must be Rush's  lancers.

Yup!

[CapnJim]

OK.  I've finally got some 28mm ACW stuff completed.  As I mentioned, I'm building forces for the Battle of Valverde, in New Mexico in 1862.

First, we have a unit of Confederate cavalry, all Perry plastics.  5 stands can portray bog-standard Reb horsemen, as such:





But add 2 stands of Lancers, and we have the 5th Texas at Valverde...





Next, we have 2 units of Union infantry.   I got most of these guys, already painted, at a convention flea market a number of years ago.  I did an ink wash and dry-brush on them, and added the colors.  Most of them are of a maker I can't figure out (I've done a bit of Google Fu...), but the color-bearers on the left unit at Perry plastics.  The flags are Perry Miniatures.  These guys will be the New Mexico Volunteers at Valverde.





It's been slow, but I'm making progress...

[CapnJim]

During the weekend of 27-28 July, the town in which I live (Blissfield, MI, USA) will be celebrating its Bicentennial.  The Bicentennial Committee has asked me to have my wargaming building (which is right in our downtown) open, so the public can see what I do there.  I, of course, agreed. 

The ToyBox (as my wife dubbed it) will be open Noon-4pm both days, and my regular wargame group and I will run demo games each day.  In order to tie it in to Blissfield's history, I decided to do the evening phase of the Battle of the Wheatfield, on 02 July 1863 during the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg.  The 4th Michigan Infantry, part of Sweitzer's Brigade in the Union V Corps), was very active in that part of the fight, and the 4th included men from Blissfield.  The 4th Michigan was also regarding, according to some sources, as one of the finest regiments in the Army of the Potomac.

Having read several accounts of the fighting in the Wheatfield from about 6pm to nightfall (all of which vary slightly), I've put together a scenario for our demo game.  It might not conform exactly to the actual fighting, but should present challenges for both sides.  We'll be using Valour & Fortitude rules, with some of their ACW mods. 

Here is the Union scenario information:





And here is the Confederate scenario information:





And here is the scenario map:



The Order of Battles, which included unit starting strengths, was taken from Osprey's Gettysburg 1863 High Tide of the Confederacy, from their Classic Battles series.  The map I did is based on one included in Regimental Fire and Fury Civil War Battle Scenarios Volume 2: 1862-1863.

My regular group and I will run a playtest of this scenario this coming Friday, to see how it goes.  I'll post an AAR on it, hopefully sometime this coming weekend.

[vtsaogames]

Figures look goof and so does the scenario!

Edit: figures look good, not goof. Fat fingers strike again.

[CapnJim]

Figures look goof and so does the scenario!

Thanks!

I've got the game set up for Friday.  Here's what it looks like...



I think we're ready to go.  Units hit the start line at 11am Friday...

[CapnJim]

Well, we played my Gettysburg Wheatfield scenario yesterday.  Ted played the Yankees, and I played the Rebs.  It was quite to to do.  I'll post the AAR within the next few days, but here are close-up shots of the deployment of the 3 brigades that start out on the field.

But first, just a bit of background.  Fighting has been going on in the area of the Wheatfield and Rose Woods for several hours by the time my scenario starts.  The ground has changed hands a number of times.  At the point my scenario begins, Union Gen. Caldwell's brigades of Cross, Kelly, and Zook (from II Corps) had been chased out of the area by the Confederate brigades of Kershaw and Anderson.  Caldwell had sent in his last brigade (Brook's Brigade), and Brook managed to chase off what remained of Anderson's and Kershaw's Brigades.  Sweitzer's Brigade (from the Union V Corps) had moved over to support Brook.  And Gen. Ayres (from the Union V Corps) had sent a brigade of US Regulars under Day west to aid brook and Sweitzer.  Meanwhile, Confederate General McClaws ordered his fresh brigades of Semmes and Wofford in to attack the Yankees in the Wheatfield.  This is where my scenario starts.   

First up is the Sweitzer's Brigade.  They are in the woodline north of the Wheatfield, moving south and west.  The 9th Mass. and 4th Mich. (with Blissfield boys!) are on line and leading (left and right, respectively), while the 62nd Penn. and 32nd Mass. follow the 4th Mich.  Next and to the right of them, Bigelow's Mass. Battery is deployed, facing south.

   

Brook's Brigade is just southwest of the Wheatfield in supported line oriented southwest behind the Plum Run.  The front line has the 64th New York on the left, and the 2nd Del. on the right.  Behind them are, left to right, the combined 53rd Penn./27th Conn. and the 145th Penn.

   

For the Confederates, we have Semmes' Brigade, who has just advanced from the Rose Orchard heading northeast toward the wheatfield.  They too are in a brigade supported line, with the front line consisting of 53rd Georgia (left) and the 10th Georgia (right).  Behind them are the (left and right) 50th Georgia and 51st Georgia.



That is where the game starts.  AAR to follow soon, once I get the pics sorted....

[vtsaogames]

Yummy.