Wednesday 16 May 2018

Devil’s Den : Gettysburg July 1863

For our second Historical ACW game I pulled out an old copy of Wargames Illustrated this included two 150 year anniversary scenarios (David and Phil you’ll know this one well🙂) I have enough figures for these now and with a bit of thought,including hunting the garden for some rocks I was able to set up a passable version of the Devil’s Den Scenario.
They take up a lot of space but old magazines do come in 
Our set up as close to the Magazine version as I could get, I did check out a few other sources, although the photo doesn’t show it well there is quite a rise in ground left to right up to Houck’s Ridge, as usual I took too many photos so feel free to skip.
Our set up was as close to the scenario set up as possible, including the timed arrival of the Rebel Forces but from then on we had no constraints and the game would develop naturally. Photo above from Big Round Top behind the 44th and 48th Alabama
Rebel left flank the 3rd Arkansas
The flank attack from Big Round Top has already thrown the Union defenders in to turmoil, the 4th Maine have taken a number of casualties, but Smith’s artillery has turned to bring their guns to bear on this flank
The third gun is currently unable to target the rebels but you can see the Union Forces nervously waiting the attack along the ridge
1st Texas Regiment deploys into line in Rose Wood but comes under fire from Sharpshooters and find themselves pinned down
The 2nd Georgia have started their advance across Rose Run and up the slope of the ridge but are turned back when they fail a morale check
Union General has redeployed the 124 New York to support the left flank but despite their advantage the rebels regiments form Big Round Top can’t seem to make it count
The 44th Alabama retreat back into the woods (they do rally later)
Turn three I think with the 15th and 20th Georgia being pushed into the attack
Rebels are making progress on their right flank hoping to catch the weak point in the union line where they have turned to deal with the rebels on Big Round Top
1st Texas still pinned down in the woods, union troops are even advancing ! And the Texas boys are unsupported as the 3rd Arkansas had fled the field some time ago
The Rebel advance being pushed all along the ridge
The danger of the flank attack is currently under control and smiths gun can turn again to wither the rebels attacking the front
On the left the 1st Texas have also temporarily been pushed back under fire
The rebels need to take those cannons to make any real progress
Finally the 4th Maine who have been under pressure from the start flee backwards through the risks of the Den, they won’t be able to rally but just in the nick on time the 120th New York reinforcements arrive to plug the gap
A shot along the ridge
The Union Forces on the right flank been pushed forward to clear the Rose Woods a dangerous advance under the circumstances
Finally the attack from Big Round Top is being pushed on 
And the 48th Alabama raising the Rebel yell give the New Yorkers the bayonet, the Union boys are pushed back
Finally one of the Georgia Regiments has made it to the ridge fence line and over Run one of Smiths Guns. It might be all over for the Union
A shot at this stage the union forces advancing off the ridge in the distance seemingly oblivious to the impending disaster at the Den itself with rebel forces crossing the stream and having made it to the fence line
.......you have got to be joking with literally seconds to spare the second Rebel gun manages to get off a final canister shot a double six😫, canister is deadly at this range and the 20th Georgia are literally blown to pieces.
We had allotted six turns plus a random seventh for the rebels to take the Den, even with the extra turn this loss of the 20th meant they couldn’t quite push the remaining Union troops out of the Den
The final shot of the Den the 120th New York having come on late are now holding the Den, the union line on this flank has been smashed but the Rebels can’t quite claim a victory.

A very fun game it was all over for the Rebels after 3 turns so it was amazing to see them gradually pull back only to be thwarted by the canister shot at the close. Enjoyed by both generals and a very well written scenario so many thanks David and Phil😀

22 comments:

  1. Nice see saw game, figures look great as does the fencing and walls etc,do you use a mat and build up from there? Can't have too many photos for me,it all helps tell the story .
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain in answer to the mat question this it a fleece cloth. Underneath which is my normal terrain boards but I then place under those blocks of foam board to create the height. I find the figures on MDF bases stand really well on the fleece texture. Everything else sits on the top.

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  2. Brilliant gaming by table, Matt! As always a real pleasure to see. The Federal gunners got off a well-timed blast of canister to save he game.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan.......as the Rebel commander having struggled up and over the fence it is fair to say i was slightly cross to see the double six 😡 but thankfully it is only a game 😀

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  3. Inspiring report Matt, what a beautiful and realistic terrain...Looks awesome!

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    1. Thanks Phil as always one day I will do more with my reports 🙂

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  4. Lovely representation of Devil's Den, your table always inspires. Also good to see the dice thing going on at the end, both players sigh, one with relief and the other in anguish!

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  5. A good looking game. My wife and I walked the Gettysburg battlefield last year. That area around Devil's Den is really broken up. I can see why General Gouveneur Warren decided it was a good place to defend.

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    1. Few years since I have been but would like to go back again.

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  6. Another stunning set up Matt, really impressive.

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    1. Thanks Michael I guess I sometimes forget 🙂

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  7. Superb stuff Matt, your table shows that one doesn't need sculpted terrain to have a stunning one. I can't believe it has been five years since I played this out at WI HQ, where does it all go?

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    1. Thanks Phil, no doubt sculpted is always the best but a bit inflexible for us average gamers 🙂

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment another ACW game planned for this weekend 🙂

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  9. A fine report on your variant of the scenario. So pleased the Rebs were seen off at the death!

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    1. Thanks David as you can see the ACW is progressing fairly well, hopefully another outing this weekend 🙂

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  10. Awesome AAR and scenario. You are killing it with all the awesome ACW stuff. It’s fun to play iconic parts of a battlefield like this.

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    1. You’re very kind thanks for the support. The boys in blue and grey are certainly getting table time at the moment as we are likely to see another big game this weekend.🙂

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