Friday 5 May 2017

A Battle From The Past.

Have been sorting out some files on my computer and came across this battle , think it's from my old defunct blog so I thought I had better publish it here to save it from oblivion .



'A' had expressed a wish to try out O.S. ACW  I decided to dig out some Spencer Smith ACW figures to play a game .


The layout of the table and objective - Thoroughfare Gap . The game will last 8 moves .


My opponent 'A' scrutinises the rules for loopholes !


The Union forces march onto the table - been playing around with Picassa for period effect !


The Confederate general sights the artillery personally.


The Union forces deploy .


The Union take the Gap under heavy artillery fire ! . The rules seem to be giving a fast paced game - maybe artillery fire needs toning down a bit but will see how the game progresses . 


The Union Zouaves close in and engage the Rebels .


The Confederates charge and engage in a bloody melee .


The Confederates are defeated and flee , with the last move done and night falling it was time to work out who had won !.


As the situation was mixed for both sides I did a head count of casualties and the Confederates had suffered half as many again - so I judged that they had lost and would have to retire . The above photo is the finishing positions of the troops . On the left the Union hold the ridge and have succeeded in causing casualties on the Rebel gun preventing it firing each move . The Confederates hold the road in the centre , on the right the Confederates hold the ridge but are isolated as the survivor's of their flanking regiment stream to the rear and they face off the 2 Union regiments . A close call but the Rebel heavy casualties and the loss of the firepower of their gun just turned it into a victory for the Union forces ! . The rules gave a very fast game , my initial worries about the artillery firepower seemed to even out as the game went on. I would allow both ranks to fire not just the front one as my figures are based and Donald Featherstone's were not and they would take up to much room in a single line  . I don't want to mess to much with the rules and so will give them another game or two to try them out .

13 comments:

  1. Marvellous! - very atmospheric pics - just like DJF's originals. Rather stupidly, the pictures in "War Games" always make me think of cocoa - I had a copy on loan from the library for ages, and I used to read it before bedtime!

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  2. Looks like it was a fast and fun game. The B&W photos do make it all look wonderfully old school.

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  3. Certainly you have captured the Old School flavor with the Spencer Smith figures and B&W photos...delightful ACW encounter. Well done! Cheers. KEV.

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    1. Thank you , I got a big box of the plastic ones cheap of EBay quite a while ago and am slowly working my way through them ,Tony

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  4. Nice report, a great looking battle!

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    1. It must be from about four or five years ago I think as it was saved from my old blog that blogger lost ,T

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    1. Some in metal some in plastic , a classic range of figures,Tony

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  6. Tony,
    Beautiful Black and White photographs of classic figures, a feast for the eyes. And my favourite book ... thank you for sharing. Mark, Man of TIN blog

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    1. Yes think I prefer Featherstone to Grant in the long run ,Tony

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