CapnJim's Colonial Stuff: Fenian Raid Battle Report - 13 May 23

[CapnJim]

One does what one has to do.

And it's really more the number of cards (i.e. number of units/heroes/leaders) you want in the deck each turn.  That really governs pace of play.  Once you do that, you divide them between the players....I tend to use/create scenarios, so that governs the units, etc.

[CapnJim]

Well, this coming Friday, my weekly wargaming group will be playing out a Fenian Raid in Upper Canada scenario, using the (relatively) new Blood & Steel rules.  This will be our first try of these rules, so we will do a smallish scenario.  I made up the army lists, using the example lists published in the main rules to guide me along.  We'll choose missions and board edges Friday upon commencement of festivities. 

I've set it in the run up to the Battle of Ridgeway on 02 Jun 1866 a few miles west of Fort Erie in then-Upper Canada (now, Ontario).

Below are the Army lists I've made up, pics of forces to be used, and the table on which we'll play (it's about 3-1/2 ft. N-S, and about 4-1/2 ft. E-W).  I will GM, and Ted and Gene will duke it out...and, of course, I will post an illustrated AAR afterwards...

If anyone has any suggestions regarding the army lists, I'm all ears (well, eyes really...) 

[CapnJim]

Okay then.  We played the game yesterday.  But first, one correction - please ignore the "Tactician" trait for the Canadian Captain.

As I mentioned, this fictional scenario occurs a few hours before the Battle of Ridgeway on 02 June 1866.  While Gen. O'Neill and his Fenians were moving south, he sent a Major forward with a company-sized detachment to find the Canadian force that he had heard had just de-trained in Ridgeway.  At the same time, LTC Booker was ready to move his men - units from the Queen's Own Rifles (QOR), 2 Independent Rifle Companies, and units from his own 13th Battalion Militia - north to find and engage the Fenians,  LTC Booker had been informed by locals that the Fenians had supplies stashed around farms a bit north of Ridgeway, so he sent a Captain with a company-sized detachment, consisting of a men from the 13th Battalion and the QOR, to find and destroy those supplies.  That set the stage for our little affair.

As I mentioned we used Blood & Steel for this fight, our first foray with these rules.  After a few random die rolls per the rules, Ted played the Canadians and entered from the south board edge.  His mission was to capture and destroy 2 of the 3 objectives along the centerline of the table (represented by a barrel - powder - and a crate - muskets - in the woods and a pile of bags - of food - near a farm.  Gene played the Fenians, and he was to enter from the north board edge.  His mission was to advance his leader as far forward as possible.  I acted as Umpire.  We set the game limit at 8 turns.

And away we go:

Part 1 - Find those Supplies!

The Canadians moved up near the road near the northeast of the field.  They led with their 2 units of the QOR, followed by the 3 units of the 13th Battalion.  They moved straight north at first.  Meanwhile. the Fenians moved down the road near the northwest board edge, toward a farm.

For a while, the forces had no idea their enemies were about.  The first hint of trouble came from smoke billowing from the woods east of the Fenians.  A units of the QOR had found and set fire to the crate of muskets. Then, the lead Fenian unit, as it moved down the road just south of the farm, spotted the left-most unit of the Canadian 13th Battalion.  Those 2 units traded ineffectual volleys.  BUT, the 2 forces had now discovered each other.

The other QOR unit found and destroyed the barrel of powder, while the Fenians deployed around the farm, facing southeast toward the Canadians.  The 3 units from the 13th Battalion wheeled northwest to face the Fenians.  Units traded volleys, and both sides began to take the odd casualty here and there.

To be continued...



 

[CapnJim]

Part 2:  Close, but not quite...

The Canadians had accomplished their objectives, but to win, they now had to do it the old-fashioned way - engage and defeat the enemy.  The Fenians had only met one of their objectives - their Major had only made it to the centerline of the field.  They had some more work to do.  Advantage - Canadians.

The units from the Canadian 13th Battalion moved deliberately west toward the Fenians, firing musket volleys as they went.  And since the units from the QOR had done their job - they had found and destroyed the crate of muskets ad the barrel of powder - they now moved west through the woods to hit the Fenian left.

But the Fenians didn't just stand there. They formed a rough line centered on a farm cabin, and sent volleys toward the Canadians.  And the Fenian Major slowly made his way, behind his line of troops, to near the southwest board edge.  That met the Fenians' 2nd objective - back to even up!

Then, the deciding event occurred.  The 2 units from the QOR took up positions behind a fence at the farm, and delivered devastating close-range volleys into a Fenian unit, destroying it.  That tipped the scales back toward the Canadians, and the Fenians decided they had had enough.  With the destruction of the Fenian unit by the 2 QOR units, the Fenian Major had his drummer sound the retreat, and the Fenians quit the field.

And that was that.  Both sides had accomplished their mission objectives.  But the Fenians got the short end of the stick in casualties.  Both sides started out with 42 figures.  The Canadians lost 4 men, while the Fenians lost 11.  And that did it, as the Fenian Major failed his required Resolve test at the end of the 8th turn.  It was a hard-fought game, and it went right down to the wire.

It took about 2 hours to play those 8 turns. We liked the rules, and will likely play them again.  Maybe next time with my 28mm War of 1812 troops...

Hope you enjoyed this battle report.  We enjoyed playing the game it's about.