My annual trip to Basingstoke has come and gone. This year the battle was Chancellorsville from the ACW. I was Jackson so had command of most of the Ocnfederate 2nd Corps. The scenario was sneaky, a holding force attracts the bluebellies attention then a flanking force bursts from the wood. Or rather didn't. There were simply too many troops to deploy sensibly.
Most of 2nd Corps started off in woods, so was limited to small moves unless in column of march. This meant quicker movement but made the troops very fragile if fired upon. There was also a large log jam at the edge of the woods as the columns chaged to line formation. This doubled their frontage, so made advancing difficult. Regiments had to wait for the ones in front to be shattered before taking their place.
The Union managed to place a unit in a building that held up the whole right flank for nearly the duration of the battle. So this and the delay in the woods gave the union commanders lots of time to reorganise to the flank threat, meaning that the Confederate troops had an almost WW1 experience advancing into entrenched (behind stone walls and picket fences) troops with lots of Artillery.
A union battery of 5 guns managed to get into a flanking position. The enfilading fire on lines of troops was devistating, and many units were broken without firing a shot themselves.
The rules we used were Black Powder with the ACW supplement. I think we saw the best and the worst of the rules during the weekend. If you are lucky then your troops can make a sweeping advance of up to 36", but then can't fire. So the furthest you can move and still shoot is 12", which makes moving over 6' of table a long process. The ability to recover wounds means that units hang around for ever unless you direct the fire of a whole front on them, and then they vaporise with little chance of mitigation. Artillery fire is devastating or ineffective, and has no real effect on morale.
The worst rule in my opinion is the behaviour of "broken" or "whipped" units. One of my brigades had been badly shot up and so became broken. They retired over 12" to the edge of the woods where they reformed line. This line was of 3 regimenta and 2 cannon facing down the road out of the wood, so a fairly strong defensive position, which even a weak unit could have held, even by being a potential threat.
Under Black Powder, broken units must maintain 12" seperation from all enemy units. So my opponant used this rule to force my units back, just by moving closer to them. This exposed the flank of my Corps to his massed cannon and carnage ensued.
I understand the need to denote demoralised and defeated troops, as well as the concept of moving the game along to a conclusion. I think it would have been better to devise some house rule that allowed the broken units to trickle back to the front, as this is what happened historically. Perhaps coming back at half strength after so many turns out of firing range and without additional casualties.
The weekend was fun, but that was due to the company and the beautiful figures I had access to. The game itself won't be logged as one of my better ones. By lunch time on the Sunday my only purpose was to roll dice to see how many casualties I took, with no way of countering them. It was probably a result of my generalship and lack of intimate knowledge of the rules, but when huge numbers of my troops broke, with no real warning, then the only one having fun was the opposing general who looked to maximise my discomfort at every step.
Still, it was great to catch up with the gang. Even though we tend to see each other only once a year, the friendship is still there. Traditions such as the sheep and penguin jokes continue, and this years best dressed was Henry Hyde with his art deco bovver boots. Steve Dix was the most sporting General, and was awarded a model of Longstreet.
Next year is Colonials with Fancy Dress and Pith Helmets. Can't wait!
