Set this one up a few days ago.

A meeting engagement, regiments arrive piecemeal, with the Confederates having to negotiate constricted roadways in order to attack and reach their victory objectives.

I always tussle with whether or not to read about a battle before I play it.  I tend to not consult a reference so to avoid any pre-conceived notions about my approach for my first play-through.  After that, I’ll take a look, especially since I am fortunate enough to have the original two volume West Point History of American Wars.

Here’s a bad shot of the situation after five turns.  Top of picture is North.  The Confederate victory objectives are, for all intents and purposes, at the south end of the board.  Union victory objective is to hold in-place at their present position (Elk Tavern) to the East.

The game’s characteristics are interesting.

Union forces are outnumbered, but most Confederate units are armed with short ranged (one hex) muskets.  But, using fire and melee tactics is complicated by the need for Confederate units to be stacked with a leader in order to melee.  This rule is intended  to reflect the high historical casualties among Confederate brigadiers.  It also makes a two hex melee attack very difficult.

Many regiments’ morale is unknown.  A die roll the first time a check is necessary determines their rating.  Units keep that rating for the rest of the game.  This differs from TSS, which calls for a new roll for each check.   There is also a night turn, when both sides have an opportunity to regroup.

Managing the movement to contact is difficult.  Command radii are limited, there are lots of artillery units to clog roads, with very little room to deploy from column – necessary for movement at any pace through the heavily wooded areas – to line.  This makes coordinating attacks difficult, especially when time is of the essence for the Confederates.

All-in-all, an interesting challenge.  Here are close ups of the west and east flank’s action.  Notice at east flank (2nd photo), that the Confederates have to move through heavy woods (which effectively limit movement to one hex per turn) in order to envelope the Union blocking force at Elk Tavern.