ACW-Brigade Fire and Fury

 

This past Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to game with the Rockton group again.  ACW Fire and Fury was on the agenda as they are getting ready for a mega Ckicamauga game this weekend.  More importantly my eldest son, Justin, decided to come along and give it a try.  He was very impressed with the groups massive gaming collection which we had the chance to check out before everyone arrived. 

Portion of Mark's impressive figure collection

When we arrived and the battlefield was laid out similar to Chicamauga, but the OoB was generic (Troops were labeled for Gettysburg) as the intent was to refresh everyone with the rules.

Initially there were only four of us to play so Justin and I squared off as the Confederates vs Pete and Brian as the Union.  Rob showed up shortly after we started and he joined the Rebel cause so we each commanded a Division which also include a Corps commander and an Artillery reserve against a slightly larger Union force.  Later Mark our host arrived after a meeting and acted a judge for the remainder of the contest.



Initial Layout with Rebels coming from the right and Union from the left

Basic set up was two crossroads which were the objectives.  The Confederates had two divisions on the right (Rob and I) and one slightly smaller division on the left (Justin).  The Union was similarly deployed with Brian's command facing Justin and Pete aligned opposite Rob and I.

Rather than give a Blow by blow AAR of each turn I will provide a pictorial account with captions.



Justin's first Fire and Fury Command

After some early poor command rolls Justin finally was able to start to get into position against the Union forces to block the crossroad



On the left I deployed toward the center while Rob worked to sweep the far left against Pete.

I deployed my division artillery along with half the Corps reserve in mass to cover the crossroad.

The Union tried to pressure our extreme left, but Rob was more than up to the task

As I attempted to move some troops to the right they came under fire while in march column and quickly deployed into line

Rob organized the Confederate Left and started to apply constant pressure while our cannonade pounded the crossroad.

I managed to press from the other side damaging the batteries that were harassing my troops as they advanced to support the right

The far left became hotly engaged with multiple melees

On the right Justin had his hands full holding off the slightly larger Union force.  He quickly learned some valuable lessons as his smallest brigade was swept from the field.

Help was on the way to shore up the right if he could hold out long enough.

The entire line was engaged as a mass of humanity struggled to decide the outcome

On the right both sides charged and counter charged until finally Justin started to gain the edge driving the union attackers back.



In the center after driving the Union Artillery back I sent two brigades headlong into the crossroad in a gamble to smash the Union position and capture the second objective.

On the Left the Rebels had success and were rolling up the Union position while the Artillery continued to pound the center.

His blood now up, Justin, successfully broke through the center of the Union right leaving two Union brigades with their flanks hanging in the air with larger rebel formations closing.

The charge into the crossroads was a smashing success resulting in a breakthrough which allowed the Rebels to capture the crossroads while sweeping two more Union brigades from the field with subsequent charges to the flank.

Overall the night turned into a major victory for the Confederacy.  the Union right was broken and in full retreat.  the Union left had failed to advance to the crossroads and was in the process of be driven from the field. 

Most importantly Justin had a great time and he talked about the game all the way home and even the next day.  No matter who won the game it is always a victory when you can pull a 17 year old away from all the other life distractions for a few hours of historical gaming.

Many thanks to Mark for hosting as well as Pete, Brian and Rob for having patience to teach a new gamer.  He is now hooked and looking forward to the next ACW battle.