Northern Conspiracy February Game Day

Saturday the Northern Conspiracy got together for a HUGE ACW game of the Union approach to capture Richmond after taking Fort Monroe. I was the Confederate commanding general and fellow Blogger Ed M. was the Union Commander. Ed did a great job of preparing the Union troops with a concise battle plan and thorough supporting documentation. Having some life issues getting in the way, I relied on a council of war and solid support from my Admiral George, and wing commanders Byron and Rob. The rules used were 'Steady Boys!' a home brew set created by Ralph of the Northern Conspiracy.

The table for this game was an epic representation of the entire peninsula including Ralph's scratch built 28mm ACW ironclads and paddle wheel transports. Naval rules were simple, but allowed for the union to attempt to land a marine force behind the Confederate lines. Good fun.

The day started out with Charlie giving the general objectives of the battle, with additional information about the naval rules and special scenario rules that aren't part of the base Steady Boys! rule set.

Ralph followed up with a quick overview of Steady Boys! including going over the QRS.

Initial deployments are set. my Jonny Rebs deployed in a thin line with successive reinforcements ready to take up secondary and tertiary positions as the battle progressed.

The Union plan - rolling thunder. Their divisions in columns with artillery leading the way hub to hub across the battle line their attack advancing at the speed of the artillery.

Shameless selfie as the initial turns are started. The Union plan, cohesive and well executed worked to obliterate our first line. Our 'forlorn hope' line did well taking up a good part of the day and eliminating a large amount of the Union artillery, being given little else to target. Concentrated fire also took out 25% of the Union siege artillery train which was pushed aggressively too close to the front. 

As the first line has its last attacks and defenses, the Confederate's second line of defense is brought up to prevent the Union from using the train station. The Union's left flank, backed with a full untouched cavalry division looked strong. Their right flank while solid, was not as thick, but dust clouds filled the road behind the union lines.

On the river things finally heated up after a long stalemate. Ross rammed the Confederate with a Union side-wheeler that was supposed to carry troops. This eventually ended up as a major contributing factor to both being sunk. The Confederate navy moved in to land their marines....

Lunch break. Neither army can fight on an empty stomach.

The marines land under the guns of the Union ironclads. The Confederates counter this with a division of infantry and a division of cavalry. The latter awaits atop a larg hill outside gun range from the Union gunboats.

Unable to secure a dock and with one of their troop transports under water, the marine attack is a 'rail station too far'.

At the main battle line, the Union artillery is thinning out, but so are the field pieces for the Confederates. The photo to the left is the 'high tide of the Confederacy' for this battle. Kevin's confederates clear a path to the Union siege train, only to have local reinforcements pulled in front of it just in time. At the rear a fresh Union division arrives. Unable to use the train station, they instead marched to the front double-time on foot.

As the battle wound down, casualties on the Confederate side and the Union's disposition brought this to a Union victory. Costly in terms of artillery lost, their manpower losses were otherwise slight in comparison to the Confederates.

Fun day. Thanks to Charlie, Bob and Ralph for hosting a great event. Club participation for this was exceptional as well.

Steady Boys! Play Test

Yesterday I visited my uncle's for a rare weekday mid-day game. A few of us are off for holiday shutdown, or retired so we were able to come up with enough players for a game. Ralph is working on a new set of rules for ACW continuing on his success of Hannibal at the Gates, Nexus and Charlie's Napoleon's Rules of War. All three sets use a two D-6 roll as the primary mechanism with similar combat resolution procedures. Steady Boys! is the ACW variant. Units are regiments made of a varying number of stands based on the regiment's size. Basing is flexible enough to use what you already have. In Ralph's case units are made up of multiple Volley & Bayonet stands.

The scenario we played was a hypothetical meeting engagement. The Union were Peter, Charlie and Rob. Mike, Bob and I (all not pictured) were the Confederates. The Confederate plan was to defend in the center and right where the fences and terrain made attacking difficult, and load up on the right pressing over some low hills across a relatively open area.

The Union also chose to defend on our left (their right) while putting a massive battery on the hill that dominated our path of attack. Bob bravely pressed forward into the valley of death. His troops fared poorly losing an entire Brigade plus heavily damaging two others. The exchange eventually cost the Union one full battery on the hill and the other was eventually withdraw, being heavily damaged.

My attacks on the far right were first repulsed by Rob, then partially successful, but eventually I was stalled by Rob's Zouaves on the right.  In the center with their battery destroyed, the Union switched to the attack, but were treated similarly by our hilltop batteries as we were by theirs. The end result was both sides felt they had payed to dearly for a battlefield not won by either army. A hard slug fest of a game. In the end, possibly a slight edge to the Confederates, but in reality best to call it a good old fashioned tie.