Nashville, Smashville! (ACW 1864)

We first fought the ACW battle of Nashville a decade ago. (Report here.) Now that my primary focus is to put together a complete collection of fully playtested ACW scenarios, it was time to revisit it. Of course, we now have the advantage of another ten years' experience of scenario design. I would also add the advantage of having walked the battlefield on my recent tour of ACW battlefields between Nashville and Atlanta, except that it is covered by the city and there's not much left to see.

Our game this week was an exciting and entertaining one, but it did confirm that the scenario needs some fine-tuning. 

This panorama of autumnal Tennessee pretty much sums up the game. The Confederates start in a very thin line, strung out in their fortifications along the heights above Nashville. The pic doesn't show, but there's another foot of manoeuvre space on each flank. Their left is anchored by the strong redoubts 1-5 (represented as two Forts) but their right is hanging in the air.

The white counters are Objectives: the two Forts; Shy's Hill and Overton's Hill (the Rebs' second line); and the two road exits that are their line of retreat. It's a two-day battle.

The US outnumbers the Rebs 3:2 and includes a cavalry corps with deadly repeating carbines. Exploiting their superior numbers, the Union forces will erupt from Nashville to execute a double envelopment, while pinning the Confederate centre. The redoubts hold them up on Day 1 but they wipe out the right-hand Confederate division. The Confederates are able to redeploy during the Night Interval, so fall back and dig in on their second line.

Dave W and I were playing the Confederates vs Mark and Crispin. Our right would surely have been overwhelmed on Day 2 if it had not been for what the pic doesn't show: the arrival of Forrest's cavalry behind the Union left. Historically, he was in range to do so, but did not appear. The scenario allows the possibility and we got lucky. His small but agile force was able to pin and distract enough US divisions to stop them reaching Franklin Pike or storming Overton's Hill. Meanwhile, although one of Dave's Forts fell, the other held out. However, we had lost half our army in the process.

All figures are Baccus 6mm from Crispin's collection. The custom-made terrain is his too.

Here are some pics of how it went in more detail, followed by a few Reflections.

Turn 1: US cavalry (top left) is racing around the Confederate left while US XVI Cps advances to pin the centre. No shots fired yet because of the morning fog.

I didn't take any more photos of Day 1 as I was too busy having my right wing crushed.

Day 2, looking at the Confederate left. The US cavalry was repulsed on Day 1 but is preparing to renew its assault on Redoubts 4 & 5 (left of pic). As the Confederate centre has fallen back to its second line positions, the US centre (XVI Cps, top right) shifts its attention to Redoubts 1, 2 & 3.

On our right, having overwhelmed Brown's division on Day 1, US IV and XXIII Cps will try to do the same to the rest of Cheatham's corps in its new second-line position. However, salvation is at hand, top right - Bedford Forrest and his merry men have arrived.

Forrest contemplates how his 4,000 men can best take on the 25,000 bluebellies in front of them.

The answer is to divide and harass. (Forrest's two units are right edge and top right.) This is enough to impede that US division lower right in its attempt to overrun the battery in the foreground defending our LOC. (Yellow counter = Disrupted.)

French's division held out valiantly for a long time against superior Union numbers and firepower. I think this Fort finally fell with just one turn to go.

On our right, the last of Cheatham's infantry divisions has disintegrated. Only the battery positions (presumably supported by a few surviving clusters of grim-faced riflemen) hold the line. Can they stand?

The Union charges in once more against the lefthand Fort, but two of Lee's divisions look solid and safe on two of the objectives in the second line (foreground). Time running out for the Union.

Confederate cavalry continue to cause enough minor havoc in the Union rear to detain and delay IV and XXIII Cps.

Redoubts 4 & 5 fall at last. Union cavalry exploit and get ready for a climactic assault on the other Fort in combination with XVI Cps.

The Union assault is repelled! The Fort stands! Victory is now beyond the Union grasp. Can they manage a draw?

Union hopes rest on one last desperate assault on Overton's Hill. Inspired by John Bell Hood's presence, Clayton's division sends the Yankees tumbling back. Victory to the Confederacy!

Reflections

Inevitable doom. That's how it felt for me on the Confederate right on Day 1. Just two units, with an open flank, facing 3:1 odds? My Entrenchments were never going to be enough. I did consider defusing the threat by falling back on Turn 3 as soon as the Union gun line was set up, but figured that would only bring them closer to our LOC that much sooner. I couldn't move, had more targets than I could possibly engage, all I could do was hope Mark rolled improbably low on his firing dice. It's not a pleasant feeling. But is probably uncomfortably historically accurate.

Salvation! Hence our whoops of palpable relief when Forrest showed up. That made it a much more interesting game for me and no doubt more of a challenge for Mark, who would otherwise have demolished me with his customary efficiency. That single die roll made such a huge difference, I've suggested to Crispin that if Forrest does appear, there should be a trade-off such as a reduction in the Union objective target for victory.

The other side of the hill. While Dave and I felt generally beleaguered and doomed, Mark was equally daunted by the successive fortifications he had to assault. When both the attackers and the defenders find a scenario to be a difficult tactical challenge, that's a good sign. Well done, Crispin!

The draft version of Crispin's Nashville scenario is in the BBB IO group files here. (You need to join the group to get access to the files.)

Weather and logistics at Kennesaw Mountain

There is a common theme to many of the battles of the latter part of the American Civil War. By 1864, much like the German armies of 1944, the generally outnumbered Confederate armies had become adept at withdrawing from one defensive position and digging in at another. The battles typically involved massed Union assaults on the Confederate earthworks, ending in bloody repulses, but with the Confederates subsequently obliged to withdraw as the Union forces outflanked or sidestepped them. This means that conventional wargames of these battles risk being dull frontal assaults.

Last month's Resaca game was an example of such a battle. To help to make that interesting, both sides had a pre-game decision about how many troops to commit to the off-table action at Lay's Ferry, whose results would only be revealed at game end. That succeeded in producing a tough and entertaining fight.

For the sequel to Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, I took a different tack. The historical background is that in the month leading up to the battle, Johnston's Confederates briefly occupied several different lines and there were more or less significant preliminary actions at New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, Dallas, Latimer's Farm and Kolb's Farm. Sherman had initially cut loose from the railroad that was his vital supply line, conducting another big right hook to bypass the strong Confederate position at Allatoona, only to find Johnston had shifted sideways to intercept him. After a few days of clashes, the weather broke and a fortnight of rain forced the Union army to rejoin the railroad, while Johnston fell back. When the rain stopped, the Union advance resumed, culminating in the actual battle - a typical bloody Union repulse by well dug-in Rebels on high ground.

I saw this as an opportunity for another of the zoomed-out ACW games that have proved so successful and illuminating where Night Intervals are used for strategic redeployment. These knit together the grand tactical and operational levels, producing major changes of situation during the game, hence generating many interesting decisions for the players. With a little geographical jiggery-pokery I managed to fit all the action into a 10x15-mile battlefield on a 6'x4' table and a 9-turn game (with up to four Night Intervals). Four of us - including a new recruit, Francis, who'd never played BBB before but picked it up very quickly - fought it to a conclusion in four hours. Those four hours have to rank this among the most consistently tense and exciting games I've played (and I've played a lot). Here's the story in pictures, with some Reflections at the end.

Looking east from the Union initial positions. The initial actions were fought around New Hope Church, Pickett's Mill and Dallas (which should all be about 18" further right, but it works). After the rains, Johnston fell back to the Mountain Line (Burnt, Pine and Lost Mountains), then gave up Lost Mountain but kept Gilgal Church, then gave that up to fall back behind Mud Creek, and finally shortened his line onto Kennesaw Mountain.

The four red stars are Objectives: (L to R) Kennesaw Mountain, Little Kennesaw Mountain, Pigeon Hill (all Level 2 hilltops); and Cheatham Hill (as it was defended by Cheatham's division). The white stars are Potential Objectives. If there is a US unit on them at game end, each can count as an Objective on a roll of 4+ on D6, representing how serious a flank threat Johnston considers them. 

The Union has 11 units, each of 8,000-12,000 men (2,000 per base), representing either a couple of divisions or an entire corps. The Confederates are outnumbered 2:1, having only six units of 8,000-10,000 men - not enough to cover the whole front - but three of these are rated Veteran, as against only one US Veteran unit. To represent the initial strategic surprise, Confederates deploy after the first US movement phase and may oblige US  units to assault. The three Confederate corps's historical positions are shown on the photo but players have some latitude over where to place them. We switched Polk and Hardee around.

The US can win either by taking Objectives or by rendering Confederate units Spent or Destroyed. For a draw, the US needs 2 Objectives or 3 units Spent/Destroyed; to win, 3+ Objectives or 4+ units Spent/Destroyed.

Initial collisions, seen from the Confederate point of view. Malcolm and Anton advanced boldly, so three of their units were ambushed. I commanded the Rebel left, advising our new man Francis on our right. Figures are Baccus 6mm, left to me by Nick when he emigrated, recently rebased by my. Terrain is mine.

Turn 2, from Union POV. After the initial surprise, the Union starts to bring its full weight to bear on our outnumbered Rebs. Left of pic, Hood has enough to hold them off. Centre of pic, the black smoke markers show that Hardee's ambush and ensuing counterattack has rendered two US units Spent already. However, Hardee has left his rifle pits and exposed his lead division to envelopment. Meanwhile, the Union hammer really falls right of pic, where two corps from the Army of the Tennessee hit our weakest unit: part of Polk's corps recently cobbled together from garrison troops and rated Fragile.

The result of that now viewed from behind the Confederate left. Polk's Fragiles have been pushed back but survive for now (bottom left). Hardee's division right of New Hope Church has been flanked by the US Veterans (represented as zouaves), while part of Howard's IV Corps slips through the gap that has opened up between Polk and Hardee (centre of pic).

At the end of Turn 2, we need 4+ on D6 for the rains to arrive, which would be most helpful as our line is fragmenting and we risk losing precious units. But no, the weather stays fine and the Union attack stays relentless.

Top centre, Hardee has pulled back his enveloped division, but not without grievous loss (black smoke = Spent). In the foreground, Howard's lead division overruns Polk's artillery, takes Lost Mountain, and chases off Johnston himself. It has also got behind Polk's Fragiles (left edge), whose days are now numbered unless the rain saves them ... 

... but it does not! Turn 4, we fight on. Our left wing is in tatters. The Fragiles are wiped out and a second US unit is pushing through to Lost Mountain. That sad 2-base item upper left is the remnant of Polk's veteran division, bayoneted out of its rifle pits. Further right, Hardee is hanging on, anchored on his entrenched guns at Pickett's Mill; similar story for Hood, who has made two US units Spent, but has lost his Trained division wiped out entirely. Surely the rain will come now??

Praise the Lord! The rain arrives after Turn 5 (I think) and gives us a chance to regroup our battered army. In this Night Interval (NI), all Confederate units must redeploy >36" from Allatoona Station (away above top right corner of pic), >6" from enemy - roughly the line indicated by the measuring sticks - but we get to dig new rifle pits and roll to recover lost bases. This we really need, as two of our units are wiped out and another 3 reduced to just 2 bases. We elect to hold the line with just two units and some guns (one top centre of pic; the other between the railroad and the large hill right of pic). The other two we put in column on Cheatham Hill and Little Kennesaw Mountain, with Johnston there to help rally them. This maximised their chances of recovering bases.

Meanwhile, the Union was forced to redeploy all its troops to within 24" of the railroad and >6" west or north of the nearest Confederate unit. Because our line was so threadbare, the US was able to mass two or three units in front of each of our frontline divisions, with a couple more to work around our right flank, and the Spent ones queued up along the railroad to rally back lost bases and/or move to occupy the Potential Objective hill (just visible right front edge of pic). The rains may have ceased but a fresh storm was gathering ...

I think I then took no photos for a turn because of intense action. Briefly, the US massed assault bounced off our lefthand outpost but forced the righthand one back. We immediately called another NI, doing a Johnston to pull the righthand outpost all the way back to Kennesaw Mountain, the lefthand one back to Mud Creek, and give ourselves another chance to recover bases.

(Turn 6 or 7, not sure.) Here they come, boys! Two Union corps slam into our division behind Mud Creek, while another comes round the left. The good news is that our division on Cheatham Hill has recovered a base.

So have our two divisions on Kennesaw Mountain and Little Kennesaw Mountain. Crucially, the one that was Spent is now all better. This is important, not only to fend off the impending assaults, but because it takes our losses below the 3 units Spent/Destroyed that the US needs for a Draw.

Still, the immediate problem is these multi-corps assaults.

Although Little Kennesaw Mountain holds, Kennesaw Mountain itself - the rightmost peak - falls! Hood's veterans are driven off! (That Confederate red Objective counter is about to flip to a blue Union-held one.) Everyone is wreathed in the white smoke of Disruption.

More bad news, as Blair crosses Olley's Creek to take the white Potential Objective counter, so may present an outflanking threat on our left -

- and Howard leads a small column to offer a similar threat on our right.

We call another NI, but not before Hood's men have counterattacked and ejected one Union corps from Kennesaw Mountain on our right. That's not enough to reclaim the Objective, but they dig in there. On our left, we pull back our outpost from Mud Creek onto Cheatham Hill. That frees up a division to go into reserve next to Marietta (bottom of pic) with a view to counterattacking to retake Kennesaw Mountain. The Union corps mass for a climactic triple assault.

It all goes wrong for the Union! Three corps are not enough to kick Hood off Kennesaw Mountain - the bluebellies reel back and yield the Objective! (Actually, one thing goes right for them: the Union assault on Little Kennesaw Mountain, out of shot further left, succeeds and drives the defenders back to Pigeon Hill.)

To add injury to more injury, our reserve division counterattacks and wipes out one of the newly repelled corps.

Final Union assaults on Turn 9 against Cheatham Hill, Pigeon Hill and Kennesaw Mountain. All of these are repelled. The last act was a Confederate counterattack from Pigeon Hill to try to retake Little Kennesaw Mountain. We drove back one Union corps but couldn't get the Exploit we needed to storm the Objective.

This shows the situation at game end: Confederates still holding the line in their ring of earthworks above Marietta, while the Union army is running out of steam. Confederate losses (2 units destroyed) are not enough for the US to claim a draw. The US only needs 2 Objectives for a draw or 3 for a win, but only holds 1 (the blue counter on Little Kennesaw Mountain, centre of pic). However, it does hold both the white Potential Objectives to our far left and right. That means all three results are still possible! Malcolm and Anton rolled a D6 each - and, of course, they got one, making the game a draw!

Reflections

Praying for Rain. As the early turns went by, Union numbers inevitably started to get through and around our thin grey line and threatened to swamp us, so Francis and I greeted the weather dice with increasingly desperate prayers for rain and immense relief when it finally arrived. It was an effective scenario mechanic that both reflected the history and built tension and excitement into the game.

Building the Tension. The tension didn't stop when the rain started. The three dimensions of troops, time and territory were all in play to keep it tense for both sides. On the Confederate side, we were hoping we could survive each Union assault, then use the night withdrawals and trade territory to regain troops. On the Union side, Malcolm and Anton were up against the clock and every turn mattered. The assaults on the final turns, with Kennesaw mountain itself changing hands twice, were tense and exciting. With everything coming down to the final two dice for the Potential Objectives, it could not have been better.

Reflecting the History. I was really happy with how the rules just naturally generated historical player behaviour and historical episodes within the game. There were combats on table that were recognisably equivalent to the historical actions at New Hope Church, Kolb's Farm, etc; the Confederate shortening of the line was much as per the history; the climactic assaults on the Kennesaw Mountain objectives were just what the script required.

Grand Tactical meets Operational. Using Night Intervals for strategic redeployment has established itself as such an effective mechanism. A conventional wargame of Kennesaw Mountain would have been just another boring frontal assault. Instead, we were able to draw the frame of the game wider in terms of both time and space, allowing/obliging both sides to manoeuvre and, accordingly, to make lots of important decisions along the way.

Endgame Jeopardy. In the Resaca game, the fact that the variable objectives off-table at Lay's Ferry were not resolved until the end of the game kept the outcome in doubt until then. In this Kennesaw Mountain game, the two Potential Objectives performed the same function. I used something similar but different (political impact) in my Balaclava scenario. In its way, I suppose this in-built uncertainty about whether taking some particular location(s) will be enough for victory is more realistic than the usual formula where everything is clearly cut and dried. I may use it more in designing future scenarios.

Resaca - an inverted Gettysburg

The basic outlines of Gettysburg are familiar to many wargamers: in a three-day battle, ~70,000 Confederates attack an eventual 90,00+ US troops defending the famous 'fishhook'; an important cavalry action is fought a few miles to the flank at East Field; the defenders win both actions and the attackers withdraw.

Resaca is a battle of similar shape and size but far less famous. In a three-day battle on 13-15 May 1864, ~100,000 US troops attack ~70,000 Confederates defending a 'fishhook'; an important action is fought a few miles to the flank at Lay's Ferry; the defenders hold their fishhook but are forced back from Lay's Ferry; because of the resulting threat to their line of retreat, the defenders withdraw. (Fun fact: the town of Resaca was itself named after an earlier battle, Resaca de la Palma, fought in 1846 during the Mexican-American War.)

Why is Resaca so obscure by comparison? Well, whereas Gettysburg was pivotal, Resaca was really just a speed bump. It is the first major battle of Sherman's march on Atlanta. Given Sherman's numerical advantage, his march was inexorable and he was generally able to outflank successive Confederate positions and oblige his opponent to withdraw. Even if Johnston had fully repelled Sherman at Resaca, that would only have delayed the inevitable. Also, the casualties were only a fraction of those at Gettysburg (<5,000 a side at Resaca, vs >20,000 at G'burg), as Sherman's attacks were more of a pinning nature than pressed to the hilt - he knew the outflanking moves would swing it eventually.

On the face of it, this doesn't look like the most inspiring situation for a game. A scenario could all too easily degenerate into a one-dimensional exercise in frontally assaulting entrenchments. (See my essay on the conundrum of "Can frontally assaulting redoubts make a good game?"). So I incorporated two ingredients to make it tastier.

The first was to include an Objective that plausibly encourages the Confederate side to do as they did historically and launch attacks by Hood's corps, rather than just sitting tight and shooting. The second was to give both sides a pre-game decision about how many troops to commit to the off-table action at Lay's Ferry. Their decisions would then modify a single die roll at game end to see how many Objectives they gain or lose there.

With that, let's betake ourselves to the scene of the action and see how it went. Photo-drama is followed by some Reflections as usual. There are quite a lot of pics this time - about 20+ - but hopefully each of them has something interesting to say. NB - click on a pic to enlarge it.

Overview of the Resaca battlefield. It's not huge, only 6km x 4km. Righthand edge is north.

Red stars are Objectives, representing either the Confederates' defensive line or their line of communications. The blue star is a kind of highwater mark - if the Confederates attack and ever take that bridge, they earn an Objective. They need a total of 6 for a draw or 7+ for a win. The star top left is the special off-table end-of-game Objective(s) at Lay's Ferry.

Confederate formations are divisions of varying strength but generally a bit smaller than the US Corps formations facing them. Arrows indicate our Union plan. Dave T and I (the US players) chose to go all in at Lay's Ferry, so XV and XVI Cps went there instead of on table. Our main effort was by "Fighting Joe" Hooker's XX Corps on our right, supported by Palmer's XIV Cps, while Schofield's XXIII Cps demonstrated against the main Confederate position. Howard's IV Cps has no option but to march on and try to withstand Stevenson and Stewart's divisions (Hood's corps) attacking around the bridge.

You can see the resemblance to Gettysburg. The Confederate line forms a fishhook with the IV Cps bridge being where Gettysburg would be; 4-gun Battery fort standing in for Cemetery Hill; Stevenson advancing from our cognate of Culp's Hill; Bate and Cleburne's position serving as Cemetery Ridge; and Cantey and Loring defending the round tops. Our plan of attack is like Longstreet's urging "to the right, suh!". XXIII Cps's advance is more like Pickett's Charge.

Initial deployment of our Union left. Dave T commanded here. His lead division of IV Cps is about to march on, under Sherman's personal supervision, and encounter Hood's Cps. The 'fort' was a complex of earthworks rather than the brick edifice depicted here, but it looks good. The model is the 1/600 Coastal Fort from Peter Pig's ACW Riverine range.

Figures are 10mm Pendraken. Union from Dave T's collection; Confederates from Dave W's collection. (Dave W commanded the Confederate right.)

Initial deployment in the centre. Schofield's XXIII Cps (also under Dave T) looks very small compared with the three well dug-in Confederate divisions opposite.

Our weight on our right: Palmer in the woods, Hooker on the hill. Imagine how even more impressive this would look if XV and XVI Cps were on Bald Hill, to the right, rather than at Lay's Ferry. But that was a strategic choice - would it pay off?

The comely womenfolk of Resaca are out in their finery to watch the display. Those zouaves from Walker's division aren't really there - the Confederates have likewise gone all in at Lay's Ferry, so these are just a dummy unit that will get removed when US troops come within 6".

Not the start we wanted. In a couple of bruising rounds of fire, the well-manned Confederate line wipes out half of XXIII Corps and its artillery, leaving just a cloud of smoke where they were. Brown smoke shows Rebs now low on ammo, having shot down so many bluebellies. So much for our demonstration in the centre. (Pretty historical - in the actual battle, both XXIII and XIV Cps were brusquely rebuffed here early on.)

As expected, Hood's attack hits Howard as he arrives at the bridge.

I command our right against Crispin. My men are frustratingly slow to move out and deploy for the assault. The 'zouaves' left of pic are our one veteran unit (actually US Army regulars).

On our left, Hood's first onslaught pushes some of Howard's men back but does not take the bridge.

On our right, my men trudge laggardly across Camp Creek. For some reason they do not seem keen to storm rebel entrenchments ...

... until they do! Butterfield's division carries a line of works, driving back Cantey's newly-formed unit of garrison troops (green counter indicates they are raw and fragile). We turn an Objective counter blue. This too is fairly historical.

Next turn, Butterfield presses his advantage and smashes Cantey back with heavy losses. We have gained a good position south of Resaca, outflanking the main rebel position there. The column on the road top of pic is the first of several as the Confederates desperately rush troops down from their centre.

In the north, though, Hood has surpassed history, finally broken through and taken the bridge, hurting Howard's corps badly (though not without some pain of his own).

So ended the five turns of Day 1. Both sides were allowed to redeploy some troops overnight and prepared to fight the remaining four turns. 

Having done his job at the bridge, Hood pulled back so that more Confederate reinforcements could head south. Meanwhile, Howard and Schofield combined the remnants of their battered corps and prepared to attack the Four-Gun Battery fort and/or the ridge behind it.

At my end of the pitch, although some of my men were briefly obliged to withdraw out of rifle range overnight, next morning we promptly reimposed a ring of blue steel around Resaca, backed up by a grand battery on Bald Hill (left foreground). Left of pic, part of XIV Cps threatens the central hill so as to pin a Confederate division there.

My grand battery did grand execution. Crispin fed more Confederate veterans into the mincer. He dished some damage out as well: black smoke shows that Williams's Div (centre of pic) is now spent. My red-fezzed veterans, upper left, contemplated storming the earthworks in front of them but opted instead to shift left, hoping to get up on the Objective ridge (top left corner).

Dave T demonstrates in front of the fort while working round it towards the currently undefended ridge behind it, as the Confederate line has been stripped of troops to defend Resaca.

Penultimate turn on our right. The murderous firefight around Resaca continues. Williams (centre of pic) makes a desperate assault to cover Johnson's veteran US regulars climbing towards the Objective ridge (top left). Butterfield audaciously storms across the bridges lower right, hoping to get lucky. Both assaults bounce off. Confederate counter-assaults have been similarly unsuccessful.

Penultimate turn on our left. Dave T is poised to storm up and take the heights.

Final turn on our right: my veterans fail to move; Confederates retain the Objective here.

Final turn on our left: Dave W has got a Reb brigade across in the nick of time; only one of Dave T's US divisions moves; his assault fails here too.

At game end, the Confederates held 8 on-table objectives. The Lay's Ferry Objectives remained to be resolved. Both sides had committed maximum effort here, so there was no die roll modifier, it was a simple opposed roll. If we won that by 4+, we would gain 2 Objectives and earn a draw. As it was, we gained one and narrowly missed out. Victory to the Confederacy - this time, as emphatic as the Union's victory at Gettysburg!

Reflections

Good game, good game. As Dave T said, "A really good game that had options until the last move and went down to the last die rolls". I achieved my aim of making it more than a dull frontal assault. Both sides got to attack, all four players got to do significant maneuver and conduct assaults. The Night Interval redeployment helped (as it so often does); the Permanent Objective at the bridge worked. The game balance was close enough that all three results were still possible on the last turn. I think the US needs a little help, but just a couple of minor tweaks - don't want to overcompensate. After all, our Confederate opponents played well and deserved their victory.

Off-table action. I was particularly pleased with my Lay's Ferry rule. This was simple to implement (always important). It gave both sides an interesting choice to make pre-game, and it meant the outcome was still in the balance right to the end. It also adds replay value: as both sides have three levels of troop commitment to choose from, that gives nine possible permutations of force balance on the table, each of which could play out a little differently.

Getting the toys on the table. It's been a long time since either Dave T or Dave W used their 10mm ACW armies, so it was nice to dust them off. Dave T said it has actually inspired him to paint up some more now. That's good, as we have quite a few more ACW battles in prospect, so he will have more chances to deploy them.

Update: after a second successful playtest (a draw this time), the scenario is now freely available from the BBB io group files here (you need to join the group to get access).

Join us and try it! To that fraction of readers who are (a) in range of Yorkshire, (b) interested and (c) free that day: come along to the BBB Bash Day convention in Sheffield on Saturday 27 June and join in one or two of the participation games then. ACW will be represented by the battle of Pea Ridge. Full details here.