Diversion at Glass Mill : Chickamauga 1863

A second game this week in the dungeon so a quick turn around. Looking for something we could play in an evening I dipped into Brad Butkovich’s Chickamauga scenario book. This is a what if scenario as historically it was only an artillery duel before the Confederates chose to pull back. But what if Breckinridge had pushed into a full assault to try and drive away the Union 2nd Division under James S Negley. The scenario is a good size three brigades a piece with supporting artillery.

I shrunk the table down a bit so we would get into action quickly. The woods are light so give cover but don’t reduce visibility, I also ignored any movement penalty for crossing fences to get things moving. Helm’s brigade can be seen already across the Chickamauga Creek. For the Union Beatty is deployed around the farm and off in the distance Stanley’s Brigade. We would be using V&F which allows pretty quick and flexible movement.

We were straight into the action with Adam’s Brigade marching on immediately.

Beatty’s brigade around the farm house and orchard

The confederates have a numerical advantage on the table at the start so it is upto them to get stuck in before the Union reserves arrive. Their artillery opens up as well

The confederates quickly negotiate the fields and woods to get into range of the Union defenders.

Initial skirmishing as the two lines pull closer together

Unfortunately in the distance the Union 3rd Brigade under Sirwell has already arrived !

It’s now going to be a tough one but the Confederates have the numbers still, they ride their luck and charge in ?

Around the farm the battle is descending into a shooting contest, both sides firing volleys at full pace, both sides are taking casualties but not yet decisive

Across the road Stanley’s brigade is so close to breaking, but they manage to pull back behind their reserves just in time. This leaves the confederates facing a fresher Brigade and being hit from more than one direction…..the inevitable happens 

The Confederates break, Adam’s Brigade first who have taken the brunt of the fighting along the road. Helm’s brigade although technically still on the table is being cut to pieces by the Farm and only had two Regiments still fighting. The assault is over and Breckinridge concedes the day. A Union victory which will please some I’m sure. A fun battle it was close for a while but with hindsight…….The forces are too balanced for a frontal assault, should we play this again I will delay the Union reserves longer to put them under more pressure , just a bit too easy for them to sit back and wait.

No more holiday photos this time, although I have plenty !

Thanks as always for checking in on our dungeon activity.

I’m off to London next weekend so won’t be at the other Partizan. I’m sure it will be fun for those who do go…enjoy 👍

Matt ❤️

The Battle of Cheriton 1644

Friday saw a return to Face to Face gaming in the dungeon. I had earmarked the Battle of Cheriton as one to play when an opportunity came up, so we jumped in with both feet.

There are lots of different maps and descriptions of the battle, none agree on the numbers of troops and there appears some debate exactly which ridges the armies drew up on. The key features are the Cheriton wood which saw fierce skirmishing, the higher ground disrupted by hedges and at some point both armies are on opposing ridges.

Cheriton in our setup. The Royalists on the left under Hopton and the Parliamentary forces on the right under his friend Waller. The standard history has a numerical advantage to Waller, and it seems Hopton didn’t really intend to fight until his infantry foolishly marched off their ridge. At this point Waller seeing his chance swooped and a more general engagement ensued much of the Royalist infantry being badly cut up by Parliamentary cavalry.  I felt I needed to provide for the potential for the Royalists to move off their ridge otherwise it would be an almost impossible battle. In fact without this i doubt a battle would have taken place, the Royalist would just have moved away.

My royalist infantry had to roll at the start to see if they were impetuous enough to move forward , two regiments duly failed their tests and marched off into the valley ! My rule required them to keep moving until fired upon or attacked.

As happened historically I couldn’t just leave the infantry to be wiped out so the Royalist cavalry moves forward to support 

The Parliamentary cannons open fire in the centre

The woods at the time seem to have been fairly light so this would reduce movement and and cavalry bonuses for charging etc….unfortunately the cavalry on my right flank gets drawn into the woods where nobody can really get an advantage 

On the other wing there is a stand off , but seeing a lone cavalry unit in the centre I throw my cavalry forward, high risk but exciting and unpredictable 

Cavalry continue to skirmish in the woods unfortunately the parliamentary forces have a regiment of Cuirassiers who in the woods prove very hard to kill !

Somehow my Royalist cavalry fail to break through and the gamble doesn’t pay off a swirling cavalry battle ensues in the centre whoch can really only go one way 🙁

In for a penny the Royalist infantry in now pushing across the valley to get to grips with the rebels

Unfortunately it is too late and the Royalist cavalry is broken, with my right flank now completely exposed Hopton has no option but to concede the day and salvage as many troops as possible for another day. An entertaining battle, I didn’t roll very well at all failing on one turn to score any hits at all. The Royalists really should have stayed on their ridge but then I don’t think we would have had a battle as the Parliamentary forces probably aren’t strong enough for a frontal assault. Great to get back gaming in the dungeon.

Don’t think I had posted this but Jonathon invited me to play through his Salem Church Battle, we had a lot of fun Sedgwick did a bit better than I had expected !

Finally some nice shots from my holiday 

The Medieval gates into Verdun

Dukes of Burgundy Palace in Dijon 

Armour collection in Turin

Cittadella Viscontea di Piacenza home of the Farnese family for a while and now a series of museums

Castello di San Giorgio, part of the Ducal palace and now also a series of museums

The Sforza Castle in Milan, guess what a series of museums

Arco della Pace in Milan, started by Napoleon when he conquered Italy, but not completed by him so the inscriptions etc are dedicated to the Congress of Vienna after Napoleons downfall.

Amiens Cathederal and a beer 

That’s it for now another game on the table so another game to post in the next few days.

Thanks as always for popping by

Matt ❤️

Post holiday Painting and some Roman stuff

Back from my holiday and I seem to have hardly been at home, a trip to Yorkshire and I’m just back from a weekend down in the SW, whilst I’ve not been able to get a game in in the spaces between holidays I have managed some painting. The mojo never really went away but it has been very nice to chill out in the dungeon with brushes in hand.

First up some AWI Americans technically the uniforms are I think the 2nd Pennsylvania but the flag is from a militia unit some collections I’m a bit more careful on the standards but less so for the AWI

Two more units of ECW cavalry one light one heavier Roundhead types. I have a problem now as the cavalry don’t all fit in one box !

And last night I finished off another unit of Prussian SYW Cuirassiers painted to match the others I have.

Hopefully two games in the next couple of days so I can post some action on the table. In the meantime I thought I would blog up the Roman stuff from my holiday, travelling through Eastern France and into northern italy you get to see quite a bit and I planned this in along the way. I did visit some smaller locations on the way but these were perhaps the pick of them….

Porte Saint-Andre in Autun

Also in Autun the Porte D’Arroux

The curious Temple of Janus just over the river from Autun

The extant Roman town walls around Autun, modified in places but preserved by being built into later medieval buildings

The massive Amphitheatre and Odeon at Lyon

Famous brass transcript of Claudious’s speech from AD48

You get some good views form the Lyon locations

Temple of Augustus and Livia in Vienne, saved by being converted into a church and later a library now just a spectacular Temple again

Vienne amphitheatre

Across the River at Vienne a huge Roman site and the Archeological museum

Famous mosaics

The largest of the Lugdunum (Lyon) aqueducts just outside the city. It was worth cycling up the very steep and long hill to see this 

Suza in Italy nestled in the mountains the Arch of Augustus

They have a small amphitheatre as well in a spectacular location

The Porte Palatina in Turin

The remains of the Hypodrome in Milan preserved as part of the archeological museum

Many lovely artifacts

Travelling back up into the mountains to Aosta another Arch of Augustus built this time in 25BC

The spectacular amphitheatre in Aosta with its towering back wall remaining they are currently doing some renovation work here replacing walkways so it wasn’t open but you could still see much of the structures

And finally one of the towns gates heavily modified but still recognisably Roman. These towns must have been so spectacular back in their heyday.

These were the pick and many towns have multiple sites to visit some well preserved some not.

Hopefully these are of interest and perhaps a bit of inspiration I would certainly like to return to Aosta as it is a lovely little town as well as having spectacular Roman heritage.

Thanks as always for following along. Hopefully some battles to share soon.

Matt❤️