Started Wilson’s Creek, one of the earliest in the Great Battles Of The American Civil War Series (GBACW), which appeared in Strategy & Tactics Magazine way back in 1981.

What is really scary is that my first and only previous play of the game was way back in 1981.

The exclusive game rules are mercifully short.  However, they significantly shape the course of play.

The Confederates start the game “encamped”, activated either individually by  “spotting” an advancing Union unit when it comes within three hexes, or by a  2xD-6 roll for the entire force beginning Turn 3.  In either case, the spotting unit(s) or entire Confederate force must then take individual morale checks.

Given the relatively low morale of many Confederate units, the result can only be characterized by-the-now-over-used word, “Mayhem”.  Routing units retreat the usual three hexes.  Given the density of the Confederate bivouac, the army becomes a  rabble.  To compound matters, brigade commanders must also make morale checks (morale level four), and can also rout.  From my reading of the rules, they cannot self rally.  This puts a real burden on the division commanders.

To make things even more interesting, the battlefield terrain is hilly and covered with brush, which limits fields of fire (units can fire through two hexes of brush into a target) and movement (two movement points per hex – for both column and line formations – with six movement point maximum).

Here’s a depiction of the entire game map.

And now a close-up of the opposing forces during Turn 4 (the Confederates had a very low die roll) after contact/rout and before rallying.  The units with a “Rout” marker are mounted, and unlike infantry, do not have a reverse side designating rout.  By the way, these routed mounted units must remain dismounted for the rest of the battle since it is assumed their horses have scattered in the confusion.

The darker the hex, the higher the elevation.  Wilson’s Creek runs left-to right and is in the lowest terrain.  It can only be crossed at fords, which is going to effect how/where the Confederates (eventually) form up.  The north-south water feature is a tributary which can be crossed at any point.

I’m curious as how all of this confusion develops…..

Read the Pea Ridge Night Rules.  Too much.

Lots of motion involving shifting forces, collecting stragglers, and recalculating Brigade Effectiveness.  I’ll pass.

While it might be interesting to play out another 6-7 turns, I just don’t feel the need.

I do feel the need to get another Great Battles Of The American Civil War (GBACW) on the table, if only for the enhanced enjoyment of playing a game that one is fairly conversant with the rules.

So, I’ve put  Wilson’s Creek on the table.  I last played this circa 1981 when published in Strategy & Tactics magazine.

And then, I do need to regain my momentum on the Der Weltkrieg series………if only to finish off my long dormant try at  Serbia/Galacia.

Finally made it to the night turns.  Took 18 turns to get there……Jeez…this is such a long game.

We’ll pick up my fragmented narrative with the Confederate phase of Turn 16.

Here’s battlefield view looking West.  Pea Ridge (at least my version) is really two fights.

This is a closeup of the “Western Fight”.  Here, the Confederates have pushed back the Union left, with Rebel forces forming to assault the Union’s right flank.  With a key  unit out of ammunition and the left flank crumbling, the Union situation is deteriorating.

The Union situation in the “Eastern Fight” does not look promising, either.  Three units have rolled “1” during fire attacks.  This can lead to Ammunition Depletion if a follow up roll of “1” or “2” is made.  Yes, that has happened three times, in addition to one unit being Pinned by Confederate fire.

This above depicts the overall situation during the Union’s phase of Turn 17.  I include this to show the Union’s ammunition resupply entering the game at the upper left (south) of the photo.  BTW, wagons are frustratingly  slow until they hit the Pike road.

In the East, the Union line is holding due to strong artillery support.  Artillery is not involved in ammunition depletion rolls.  They are for small-arms, only.

The Union’s defense  in the West is a “fish hook”,  buttressed by reinforcements.   However, there is considerable pressure from Confederate units just moving into melee.  The Confederates have some very real limitations for melee combats  Unless stacked with a leader, a unit must be adjacent to a leader and roll a “1” or “2” to enter melee.  All melees must be declared before rolling for entry.  If one fails, the others must still roll.  This makes for some bad, low odds, attacks.

Here’s an battlefield overview for Turn 18.

And now overviews of the East and then West Fights.

The Confederate attack has been repulsed in the West, with only limited success in the East.

By the end of Turn 18, Union forces have completed their ammunition re-supply and stabilized their defensive positions.  While the situation in the West is the same as shown above, here is a picture of the East fight.  While there is some pressure on the Union’s right, the Confederate attack is not well supported, with Union reinforcements arriving.

While there has been some back-and- forth, the Confederates have been consistently stymied by the short range of their muskets, ammunition depletion (without any chance for re-supply) and the aforementioned melee limitations.  The Union forces have benefitted from their ability to deploy and use artillery  (especially effective on Confederate units at close range trying to use muskets and enter into melee), the longer range of their rifles and, on a limited but very effective basis, the devastating short range fire of those units equipped with carbines (x5 increase in firepower at one hex range).

Now it’s time to read the Night Turns’ special  rules.

Made it to Turn 15, and now consistently applying the Command Span rules, and have my unit stacking squared away with infantry regiments on top to absorb any fire casualties, protecting artillery batteries from hits.

As to the other rule application “deficiencies” noted in my previous Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) post, I’ll hold off on fire column shifts for unit density until after the night turns – as a weak attempt at consistency, and bag tracking artillery ammunition use until my next game.

I decided to use Russ Gifford’s Powerpoint GBACW Rules summaries for a rules review and (maybe) an easy way to find anything I’ve overlooked.  Very helpful and highly recommended.  His tactics discussions are also of value.  These aids seem to work best now that I have a good working knowledge of the rules.

Lots of football this weekend, but I’m going use an app to listen so I can get some gaming in.

Starting Turn 14, but only half-way through the game.  Long game, with its duration compounded by my inability to sit down at the table for longer than one-hour.  With four (well, three active since my Der Weltkrieg efforts have stalled)  games going on, one must allocate their time.

A little less grinding now, and a little more flow.  I toyed with the idea of finishing using just one side of the battlefield, but decided not to.  Perhaps a firmer grip on the rules is the reason.

Still, I need to improve my rules application, especially for these….

• Unit Density – Seven or more factors in a hex results in a one column shift right for fire combat.  My implementation is sporadic.
• Ammunition For Artillery – Yes, they can run out.  I’ve simply forgotten/ignored keeping track.
• Command Span  – Getting better.  Early on just a mess letting different brigade units intermingle and stray.
• Stacking Order – Top units take casualties/morale checks first.  I tend to put artillery on top of a stack so they aren’t forgotten.  Need to get over it, and get it right.
• Game Exclusive Rules – The only one I’m consistently implementing is Confederate morale check to allow advancing into melee.  Need to refresh my knowledge since the Night Turns are coming up and there are several exclusive rules for them.

Here’s a couple of End Turn 13 photographs with comments.

Union forces have consolidated their defensive positions, with some reinforcements on the way.  The Confederates finally have their artillery in position.  As noted in my previous post, I did a terrible job positioning their artillery early in the game.

The Confederates were finally making progress until the Union’s Phase, with a low firepower attack  (aided by horrible morale check die rolls) causing several units to rout, completely disrupting their advance.

The Pea Ridge game is progressing.  Not exactly as a model of the tactical art, but progressing.

I’m happy about my rules learning curve.  That will make the next games much easier.

I’m not happy about my tactics.  I’ve done of poor job of positioning artillery batteries for both sides.  Sure, the terrain is not the best for artillery, but still.

One problem is that I misread the terrain effects chart and thought that artillery movement in heavy woods was prohibited.  No, just very slow.  Even very slow would have helped both sides, especially the Confederates.  Their infantry has muskets, with a maximum range of two hexes, at one-half firepower.  It is only when adjacent to a Union regiment that the Confederates can fire at full strength.  On the other hand, the Union regiments fire a double strength at one hext range, full strength at two hexes and one-half at three.

The Confederates need to get their significant artillery assets into position sooner rather than later.   A “Pin” result will suppress the Union rifle fire and allow the Confederates to move adjacent, fire at full strength and, perhaps, pass the morale test they need to melee.  Better yet, artillery fire with a  “Rout” result or loss of fighting strength (with accompanying morale check).

Here’s an overview  of the battlefield.  The top of the photo is west.  It is the start of Turn 13, Confederate phase.

To the west, the Union forces have withdrawn across the open area, and  set up their artillery assets (finally) to sweep the open field to their front.  The one Union artillery unit outside their new defensive line failed to limber up (due to a form of withdrawal fire).  The Confederates now have to figure out how to cross the open ground.  Here’s a closeup.

A firefight has developed to the east.  Here, the Union forces’ longer rifle range is a significant advantage, with Union regiments starting to flank the Confederate right.  Again, most of the Confederate artillery has not deployed.  Sigh…..

Plan to get back on this after Thanksgiving dinner.  Can’t blame the turkey if I’m too drowsy…..just have to watch all the other stuff.

Have now finished up nine turns.  Both Army’s respective flanks are locked in contact, with the terrain favoring the Federal defenders.

On the Federal right flank….

Although the Federals’ positions seemed exposed, the Confederates are armed with muskets which have an effective range of only one hex.  At two hexes firing strength is halved, which renders their musketry ineffectual.  The Federal rifles have an effective range of two hexes, doubled at one hex.  This is a significant advantage.

However, the two units anchoring the Federal right have run out of ammunition.  This occurs on a fire combat D6 roll of “one”, with a follow up D6 roll of “one” or “two”.  But, the Confederate requirement to roll a D6 to enter melee, with score equal to or below their morale rating, combined with their already low ratings, have hindered their efforts to turn the Federal right.

On the Federal left, the terrain/situation is different, but results  much the same.

The Rebels have to cross open ground to engage the Federal left, while their center advance is channelized by unfavorable terrain.  Some progress is being made  in flanking the Federal right.  However, the Federals will receive reinforcements beginning Turn 10.

The battle is being shaped by terrain that limits each side’s ability to fully or even partially deploy their rather significant artillery assets.

I am looking forward to reading about this battle, but want to hold off until the game is finished.  It’s always fun to find out what I did that was historical, and what was ahistorical.

The Pea Ridge game is developing some action as both flanks are  in contact.

To the South, both sides are deploying, with the Confederates moving into contact.  Van Dorn’s force has managed to unlimber artillery to support this advance against the Union right.  Little room to maneuver, so Van Dorn’s brigadiers are moving right down road, with supports moving into the adjacent woods.

A different story to the North, where McCulloch’s wing is deploying in the woods in order to flank the Union position.  The Confederates have been able to unlimber two artillery units for support but, again, the terrain is masking fields of fire`

You can only read the rules and stare at the setup for so long.  At some point, you have to play the game.

Started my Great Battles Of The American Civil War (GBACW) game the other day.  Pea Ridge is a classic meeting engagement, with only one unit on the map before Turn 1. Then both sides start moving troops onto the map, with each side’s respective forces entering through two hexes.

During movement I maintained brigade integrity for the most part, attaching artillery to brigades to maximize unit density and minimize the length of the “column of columns” moving on roads through heavy forest.  Here’s an overall shot of the game map during Turn 5,  when contact first occurred.

One of the problems I’m having working with the game system is the rules.  There are a number of iterations, which is not surprising since the initial game (Terrible Swift Sword – a true Monster Game) was introduced close to fifty years (!) ago.  The rules changed as publishers changed;  first SPI, then TSR , SDI, and then GMT.  These changes were in both additional detail as well as scope.  In fact, from what I’ve read, the earlier editions of the game are not playable with the new – GMT – rules.  Fortunately, for those just getting into the system, GMT has reissued the main games, and has added others.

Since I had the earlier games, I decided to work with the earlier rules and sold off my GMT GBACW collection.  But the question remained, “Which set?”.  I’m not the only one with this  quandary.

Another rules problem is that many of charts are printed on the individual game maps,  not in the game specific rules packets so they can be copied, consolidated and stapled.  One possible  reason is that the scales of the games vary.  The best I can tell is between 150 and 120 yards per hex.

Ugh!

My current approach will be to use the Standard Rules V.1 (with the included charts), individual map charts,  Quick Reference Card and Consolidated Errata.  The latter two are available over at Russ Gifford’s great SPI site.

Enough of this.  I’ll get to the game in the next post.