Saturday 21 April 2018

The Battle for Knutsville Crossroads : 1862

I finally got the American Civil War project onto the battlefield this weekend. A project that has been a long time in the planning so it was a real pleasure. We didn’t rush into anything historical although that will no doubt come later. Instead a smallish divisional battle somewhere in the Shenandoah valley with two roughly equal forces attempting to secure the strategically important crossroads.
The Union 1st Brigade lined up on the left flank awaiting the order to advance
On the other side of the main turnpike the Rebels have positioned two Parrot Guns on the only available high ground
More Rebel infantry close to the church
Including a Regiment of Louisiana Zouaves
The Union 2nd Brigade are on thee right flank
The Rebels have a third artillery piece set up by the church
....and have an independent cavalry Brigade covering their right flank
After the first couple of turns the Union Forces have taken the initiative advancing over the turnpike and deploying into line, unfortunately this means the flat ground they have positioned their artillery has made them almost totally ineffective !
The Union right flank advancing
The Rebel line forms up looking to hold a more defensive position
The 2nd Brigade forms into line on top of the small hill by the log cabin .....but this brings them directly into line of the powerful Rebel cannons beyond the turnpike 
The Rebel guns make full use of the target practise !
In the centre the Divisional General (looking a little like Picket 🙂) has ordered two units to advance towards the barn
Coming under fire the Union 1st Brigade gets bogged down in the Wheatfield
At least the Wheatfield is giving them some cover
The Rebel Zouaves have assaulted the Union Regiment who were holding the road
Much of the Union 2nd Brigade has now been decimated by the cannon fire so the final NY Zouave reserve Regiment is pushed forward but across the road the Rebels are holding a strong position
Things are looking better in the centre where the Union general is advancing a unit towards the church trying to break the Rebel centre
The 1st Brigade is finally making some leeway 
But the Union right flank, is looking very vulnerable 
The hand to hand combat in the centre has continued for a couple of turns but the Zouaves are veterans and getting the better of it
Eventually they win the combat and the Union general appears to be referring to his orders to see what to do next ?
On the right the Rebels are starting to break through across the turnpike
And it is unclear whether the 1st Brigade will have the strength to break the Rebel right wing
We call a halt to the battle at this stage a hard fought draw 😀
A good battle and an excellent run out for the new ACW collection. I realise how much terrain I already have which works in this period, which is great. For rules after a lot of consideration we used my own adapted Bolt Action rules. These worked well and gave a reasonably good feel of ACW without having to relearn a complete new rule set. We’ll be trying some other options. Another game planned this weekend😀

28 comments:

  1. Inspiring stuff, I am going to keep coming back to this while I get my own 'Battle in a Box ready. Some of those pictures are 'screen saver' worthy :-)

    I have just been reading the Black Powder rules in conjunction with the Glory Hallelujah supplement, which I think has enough information in it to make the purchase worthwhile even if you don't play Black Powder. Great project, thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Norm....you do get a LOT of stuff in the big box 🙂

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  3. My above post was about Phoenix, but I note, West Coast Gamers have 'just' posted information. Are you doing a table again?

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    1. More than likely as it is so close to home. Just not sure what yet...and need to chec the date 😀

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  4. Splendid looking game! Congrats on getting your new collection out onto the table. No matter the era, your gaming table always is finely presented. Absolute pleasure to see!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan worth the effort when they get on the table 🙂

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  5. Awesome, can't wait until tomorrow. Happy to play your black powder tweak

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  6. Brilliant stuff, a fine looking game and super toys on display.

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    1. Thanks Phil nice to get them on the table 🙂

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  7. An immersive and wonderful report Matt, fantastic pictures!

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    1. You’re very Kind Phil....I just need some animation 🤔

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  8. Wonderful stuff Matt.
    Looking forward to the next outing.
    Cheers
    Stu

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  9. Fabulous game and report Matt.

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    1. Thanks Michael 😀pleasure to share

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  10. Fantastic looking game, lovely figures and as always the terrain looks splendid and all in record time!
    Best Iain

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    1. Sadly I may have spent quite a bit of time on the project but I think I enjoyed nearly every minute, the good thing is I’m not bored yet so want to get on with the next unit 🙂

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  11. Marvellous looking battle. How hard did you find adapting the BA rulesset?

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    1. Thanks....The answer to the rules question could be quite a long answer ! In essence it is quite easy. There are some key elements of BA dice system I really like, especially avoiding the ugoigo in many rulesets. The mods are all written on a bit of paper at the moment but I will try and type them up if you are interested in giving it a go. 🙂

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  12. Very impressive set up for the first time a force has seen the game table! Nice AAR. I’ve never even heard of BA being played with muskets but it’s cool that it played well. 😀

    I do enjoy an ACW post. It’s one of my favorite genres. There always seems to be some vital cross roads... 😀

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    1. Thanks Stew.......BA seemed to work pretty well although having had a second game we have tweeted the morale ratings slightly. But yes always another cross roads to capture 🙂

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  13. Very nice images, Matt. Your troops and terrain are wonderful to behold.

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    1. Thanks Dean you are very kind.........all quite simple stuff really 😀

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