Last Monday at the club, Josh put on a fantastic ACW game using fire and fury regimental and his 15mm ACW collection.  We refought the battle of Honey Hill in 1864 from Shermans march to the sea.  Tony and I were the Confederates and Greg, Ed and Keith the Union.

The Union forces outnumber the confederates by close to 3:1 but the Rebs have fortified positions

The Union's left flank emerges from the woods - its a very large attack

The left flanks attack charges home - most of the Union troops are Veterans vs Trained for the confederates

The confederate breastworks are eventually overwhelmed

I tried shifting some regiments to meet the Union attack but did so too late, dooming Tony and I to defeat.  Just after this picture was taken, the CSA force reached it's break point and the game was called.  It was a lot of fun to play regimental F&F again.

A view from the Union side.

I was able to get to the club a bit earlier and was also able to play a quick game of Churchill from GMT games.  Its a very fun and interesting card driven game of conferences between the allies to during the course of WW2.  I found it fascinating and want to play again.

Play Testing Fire & Fury Brigade: The First Day at Gettysburg

 Yesterday I got invited over to Rich's house for a play test of his revised Fire and Fury: Brigade rules, which is coming out in a new version (hopefully by year end).  With the base unit being a Brigade, one can play rather large battles and that's what we did - the entire first day of Gettysburg in 15 mm scale.

 Of course, Rich's tables are really things of beauty - the second picture show missionary ridge across the the top and the town of Gettysburg at the bottom.

Check out the rules at Rich's website: Fire and Fury.

 I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  I commanded a division form the Union 11th corps and lets just say my generalship was "off" - I got my butt kicked but had a blast.  I also got to meet another local gamer which is always a plus.

 The Brigade level rules are similar but not the same as the regimental but I really liked them.  It was really fascinating to see a"whole Battlefield" play out in front of you.

 My defenses crumble against the onslaught of Early's division.

 Hmmm, I wonder where the confederate attack will focus on?

Some Fire and Fury Gaming: AWI Style

I was very fortunate to be invited over to Rich H's house to play a game of Fire and Fury Regimental: set in the American War of Independence.  Rich is the author of the Fire and Fury ruleset which are the best rules to use for black powder gaming (IMHO).  Rich also hosts a wonderful day of gaming, repeat with a superb table and wonderfully painted mini's and food - what's not to love?

The battle I participated in was a recreation of Guilford Courthouse.  I had command of the British left flank and our objective was to batter our way through 3 successive lines of American troops.  The first two line are "raw" militia while the third American line is a mixture of good to very good Continental regulars.

 The British force is small by comparison, but made up of either Elite or Veteran troops.  The figures are 15mm in scale and are from Rich's friend's Tony's collection.

 It wasn't very hard to clear the first line of militia and soon we were advancing on the second line which was now reinforced by remnants of the 1st line.

 The Brits's attempt to envelope the American line with my troops on the left and Tarleton's cavalry and Hessians on the right

 Success! both flanks collapse due to some astonishingly bad die rolls on the US side.  My US opponent for the day, Dave, was a great sport and took the ill favor of the dice Gods in stride.

 We continue chasing the fleeing militia and also started to set up for the main assault.  The third line of US troops are held in reserve (can't move) until the Brits cross the fence line in the middle of the picture.

The Militia try to stem the tide but just can't stay rallied..

The disparity of losses heavily favored the Brits - our losses are in the lower left while the US losses are everything else.

 The final assault commences!  Sadly, I had to leave at this point for a prior commitment and I ceded my command to the other British player.  It was a grand game.

 Rich was actually running two games that day, with the second being a massive recreation of the second day at Shiloh (ASW).

The pictures really don't so the game justice as there were huge formations of troops pitted against each other.  It seemed to be a bad day for the Union during this game.

What a fantastic day of gaming.  I really enjoy the fire and fury rule system, especially the command and maneuver rules.  If you're looking for a new ruleset to play the ACW or earlier black powder time periods you should pick up a copy.  Look I even put link to the rules description to save you time: Fire and Fury Regimental Rules

Come on, you know you want to buy the rules and with Christmas so close I think you owe it to yourself.  It's the right thing to do....

Regimental Fire and Fury Scenario Book II is Out

The second scenario book for the Regimental Fire and Fury game system has been published and is now available here.  The book covers battles from the mid period of the war (1862-63).  The series is extremely well researched and these scenario books are as much historical research as they are game scenarios.  The orders of battle and battlefield layouts are extremely detailed and well researched.

There are 13 scenarios in the book and I've been able to play test a few of them.  RF&F is the best ACW rules set I've come across and does a great job in balancing playability with historical "realism".  I've yet to have a bad game playing the ruleset and doubt I ever will.

Go on over to the publisher's website and take a look!

OK, heres the deal - in addition to purchasing a great scenario book, you'll be encouraging Rich (the author) to start work on book III, which means more gaming opportunities for me via play testing.  Good karma for you, more gaming for me - that's a win-win baby!

Regimental Fire and Fury: McPherson's Ridge Play Test

 Yesterday, I spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon at Rich's play testing another scenario for his new scenario book for Regimental Fire and Fury (RF&F).  This was a big, 8 player game and recreated the afternoon fighting for McPherson's Ridge during the first day of Gettysburg.  As usual, Rich put on a visually stunning game with superb and historically accurate terrain and well painted 15mm figures.

 I commanded the Union right flank and had two brigades of infantry and a battery of artillery (I love heavy smoothbores in RF&F).  This formation had fought in the morning so was very chewed up resulting in a large number of very small regiments.  While small, all my regiments were vets which would be very important down the line.

Our Pinkerton agents were able to discern the focus of the Confederate attack by observing strange cloud formations over the battlefield that seemed to "point-out" where the giant confederate army would concentrate.  This was my largest game of RF&F to date and I was very impressed with how smoothly it went.

 My battered formation was to be assaulted by a fresh Confederate brigade with huge regiments.  I was out numbered 2:1 in terms of men.  My forces had a bit more tactical flexibility in the I had nine small regiments vs four giant confederates.  Of course, the Rebs had to cross a wheat field (open ground) which proved problematic.

 The Confederates close on my positing and begin maneuvering to try and flood my extreme right flank.  I was trying to get some regiments up in support but was struggling with command rolls.

 Through a bit of luck the initial confederate charge is repulsed.  Then disaster struck for the Confederates as confusion reigned in their ranks while reforming for a second go - (in game terms they failed a critical command roll (rolling a 1 on a 10 sided die) and were stuck out in the open for a turn.  My troops unloaded their muskets into the rebels and reduced them to below their casualty limit which incurs a -1 on command rolls.  At this point the battle was heating up and I forgot to take pictures for about half the game - I was having way too much fun.  During the Confederates second assault, I was able to execute a counter attack on their exposed right flank and destroyed one regiment and reduced another to a shell of it's former sense.

 My flank was cleared of rebels towards the end of the game.  I'd like to say it was my brilliant generalship that brought about this victory but it was really just luck.  My confederate opponent rolled, in succession a "1" another "1" and a "2" (10 sided dice) for command rolls which forced his units to stay out in the open to get chewed up.  They finally broke and fled the field.

The real fighting was over on the other side of the railroad cut where the Union took grievous casualties (oh the poor iron brigade) but managed to hold off the confederates.  The game was called as a minor Union victory and a hard fought victory it was.

I am very fortunate to have stumbled onto such a great group of players and really want to thank Rich for hosting the game and creating such a fun and welcoming environment.  If you're looking for a ACW ruleset that's fun and has a very good historical feel, I really can't recommend anything better than RF&F.  The new scenario book is coming out in a few weeks - take a look here for some details on Scenario Book 2.  I've play tested four of the scenarios and have enjoyed all of them immensely.

Now if I can only get Rich's group to convert 15mm to the one true scale of 28mm.....
:)

Fire & Fury Regimental Playtest

 Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in another round of play testing over at Rich H's house.  Rich is the author of the ACW ruleset Fire and Fury Regimental and always puts on a great event.  I played a small scenario on a 4 by 5 foot board depicting the final action in the Wheat-field during the Battle of Antietam.  The action depicted an assault by 4 Union Brigades against 2 Confederate.  I commanded the Confederate Brigade on the right flank.  The miniatures and terrain are 15mm scale and are from Rich's extenuative collection.

The first picture show this initial contact of the blue wave - the Union had 7 turns to get to the upper left of the picture.

On turn three, the Confederate side saw the chance to launch a spoiling attack which, if successful would cost the Union some precious time and likely win us the game.  The odds were in our favor and the attack launched....

While the odds amy have, indeed, been in our favor the dice were not and the Union was able to both repulse the assault and maintain the momentum of their attack.

Towards the end of the game - one last desperate assault by the confederates to regain a VP area.  Both sides were worn down by this part of the game (turn 6).  The assault failed and then my brigade quit the field due to failing a command check and we conceded the game.

The game was a blast and I really enjoyed it.  Fire & Fury Regimental is my favorite set of rules for the ACW, but they do require some investment of time to fully understand them but that investment is paid off in a great gaming experience and a real feel for the era.  I highly recommend the rules, which can be purchased directly from the author here.

Fire & Fury Regimental: Tunnel Hill

 Last night I had the opportunity to play in a ACW game using the Fire & Fury Regimental ruleset.  Unlike most games, where players often have to ponder the authors intent from just the text, we were not so handicapped since the game was put on by the author himself, Rich H.!  We were re-fighting the battle of Tunnel Hill, which was fought on Nov 25, 1863.  The battle consists of a Union Assault on entrenched Confederates atop a hill.  The first photo shows the initial confederate positions.  I commanded the extreme left flank of the CSA.

 As with all my battle reports, I forgot to take a lot of pictures - this photo shows a Union assault on the Hill.  The CSA had a rough time with this game given the accuracy of the Union off-board artillery but the game was a lot of fun to play.

 As for the rules, I really like Fire and Fury, Regimental.  They have a very good feel for the period and players need to really think about when to time charges vs standing back and trying to wear units down with fire.  I also like the movement mechanisms which reflect the difficulty of moving units in line formations.  The game also has command friction which becomes more evident as units wear down and tire - I really like that in a game.  All-in-all it's a great ruleset but requires a game to really understand how to play. Highly recommended.

 We played with 15mm figures, which were nicely painted.  15MM gives an almost panoramic feel to the game and allows a relatively large battle to be played in a reasonable amount of space and time.

All in all it was a great evening and I was very grateful for the opportunity.