6MM ACW Black Powder Battle Report

Ernie and Mike came over and played a test game using my 6mm ACW figures and the Black Powder ruleset.  The game was loosely based on the Batltle of Shiloh and involved a initially larger confederate force (6 infantry and 2 calvary brigades and 14 batteries) attacking a smaller Union force (4 infantry and 1 calvary brigades and 12 batteries).  The Union did have reinforcements (3 Infantry and 1 calvary brigades plus 8 batteries.  The reinforcements needed to be rolled for but did come on fairly quickly.  The objective for each side was to exit a brigade off the far corner of the table.  Mike commanded the Union and Ernie the Confederates.  One note of warning, Ernie does attempt to speak in a southern drawl while commanding the confederates and sounds suspiciously like a former Governor of Arkansas.  I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

Like most battle reports here at the Lair, I forgot to take a any pictures during the fight!

The picture to the left is the initial confederate deployment - 4 infantry brigades are in front with 2 and the calvary in reserve.  The game proved to be very deadly for the cavalry units as there were a good number of attempted charges with predictable results - the only real bright spot was the confederates running down a pesky artillery battery.

Here is the Union deployment - 3 brigades in line with a fourth coming up in column.  The Union reinforcements started coming on in turn three from the table edge to the right of the picture.  The battle quickly developed into to separate fights on each flank.

The fight on the Union right flank just after we called the game.  Union losses where high - 3 infantry regiments and the calvary brigade were destroyed and their position was being turned as you can see to the left of the picture.  We used Litko markers in the game - skulls for losses and red disrupted markers.  One note, these are the same markers that were used in the Black Powder game at Historicon from Architects of War (yes, that is a shameless plug).

Things were looking a good bit better for the Union on their left flank as two confederate brigades were just about to be overrun by a large Union force of 4 infantry brigades.  The Union calvary brigade did attempt a charge (lower right) but that didn't work out so well.  We called the game as a draw.

Overall, I think the game went very well and we did learn the mechanics of the rules.  BP is a game that rewards both concentration of fire and flexible tactical thinking given the potential for either really good or really bad command roles.  It is a great set of rules for larger battles and I think gave a good feel for the period.  We had just under 2,000 figures on the table and the battle proved to be very manageable.  The next test game will involved some ironclads and then I think we'll be ready for the campaign!