Chess game at Bentonville (ACW)

We are steadily whittling away at the list of scenarios for the BBB ACW project. One of the few left to do was Bentonville. This week we had our third playtest of Crispin's scenario for this battle.

The historical situation is this. By spring of 1865, Grant's Union army had been besieging Lee's Confederates in Petersburg for seven months. Meanwhile, Sherman had completed his March to the Sea through the Confederate south. Sherman then turned north to march through North Carolina towards Petersburg. Lee called on Johnston (commanding the Confederate Army of the South) to concentrate all the forces he could and drive Sherman back.

Sherman's army was advancing in two columns. Johnston saw an opportunity to defeat the left wing under Slocum while the enemy was divided. On 19 March he attacked, sending a couple of Union divisions reeling back in disarray. The Union line eventually stabilised and the Confederates fell back to their initial entrenchments.

Little fighting happened on 20 March. It was mostly spent in manoeuvre as Sherman brought up reinforcements to extend his line, while Johnston adjusted his own line in response.

On 21 March, Sherman launched a limited attack but did not commit to it enough to cut off the rebels' retreat. Johnston withdrew what was left of his army overnight, then surrendered a month later.

Crispin captured these three days' action in a 9-turn game with strategic redeployment in the two night intervals. Here's the battlefield map. Note the long wooded ravines that are major obstacles to movement.

The Confederate attack on Day 1 happens in the lower left quarter, where the white stars are Day 1 Objectives. On Day 2, US reinforcements arrive from the right, so the Confederates need to fall back. The shape of Day 3 depends on a die roll to determine variable objectives. Day 3 Objectives may be either the red stars (representing the Confederate blocking position) or the blue stars (the Confederate line of retreat).

We'd had a couple of playtests already to refine the scenario. This was the definitive one. Seven photos show how it went, followed by some Reflections.

This is the only pic of Day 1. In fairly historical fashion, the Confederates have poured forth from their entrenchments and are driving back the US XIV Cps line. US reinforcements will arrive to try to stabilise it. Unfortunately, things went poorly for the US here: not only were a couple of divisions battered and rendered unfit to fight for a day, but also the US cavalry was wiped out entirely. That meant the US would lack a valuable weapon to strike at the Confederate rear on Day 3.

Figures are Baccus 6mm. Troops and terrain all from Crispin's collection.

Day 2 dawns. The Confederates have pulled back and entrenched in a strong central position with their flanks covered by steep wooded ravines. US XV Cps has arrived on their left, to be followed by XVII Cps, but will not be able to close effectively with them on Day 2. Meanwhile, XIV Cps, still bruised from Day 1, is pushing up past the rebels' right flank (out of shot top of pic).

End of Day 2. No significant combat happened, only manoeuvring for position. Note the couple of small isolated Confederate cavalry units centre and upper right of pic, falling back to cover Bentonville and the Confederate line of retreat in case that turns out to be the objective, rather than the hill position and road junction in front of it (white counters).

Overnight, the dice decreed the blue stars in the Confederate rear were the Objectives. Consequently, here we see the Confederates starting Day 3 by pulling back from their entrenched position, leaving only a sacrificial rear guard. (Yep, failed movement roll.)

Fortunately for the Confederates, all my US right wing can do this turn is struggle across the ravine. Note one US division at right edge of pic that is supposed to march straight on Bentonville (the buildings top right). The terrain is likely to be more of an obstacle than those few Confederate cavalry. Top centre and centre of left edge, Dave's battered XIV Cps has been reinforced by XX Cps and is pressing the rebels' front and right rear.

The effort against the right rear comes to nothing (just out of shot top right), fended off by those rebel units upper right.. However, the retreating rebels are hard pressed, at risk of being caught in the open by superior US numbers.

Endgame. Dave's US left wing is stalled at top of pic. Out of shot to the right, my one-division march on Bentonville has been held up in another ravine. (Should have had them in column of march?) Centre of pic, a Confederate division is about to be smashed and the guns beyond it driven off, so that we capture the objective counter there. However, the US runs out of time before the Confederacy runs out of troops. End result: a narrow Confederate win. Well played, Crispin.

Reflections

The Chess Game. Crispin's scenario nicely captured the three different days. In particular, the chess game of manoeuvring for position - in the strategic redeployments, the jockeying on Day 2, and then the tactical moves to threaten or cover Bentonville - was really absorbing. So much better than a simple line-out punch-up dice-fest.

Variable Objectives. Our usual scenario formula is that all objectives are known from the start. I've only used variable objectives in a few scenarios, but they include some of my favourites: the Alma, Gettysburg, Königgrätz. In this Bentonville game, having some objectives unknown until halfway through the game introduced some realistic fog of war that made the chess game of manoeuvre extra interesting. I should use this kind of mechanism more often.

How Things Ramify. Only a fraction of the Union force is engaged on Turns 1-3. A few particularly good or bad dice or decisions here can really hurt either side and have knock-on effects that ripple through to the end of the game. That's good in that it means the game can be replayed multiple times and turn out dramatically differently. It does make it hard to evaluate the playtests though! (But we're happy with the shape of the scenario now.)

The draft scenario is available in the BBB io group files here.

Khartoum characters

This was a final check playtest of a scenario we first played back in 2022: Khartoum. (Report here.) Time doesn't allow me to do a very long and detailed report this time, so I just offer 16 photos with some light remarks.

General Gordon is in Khartoum. He has refused to recognise how desperate his situation is. That's right - he is in de-Nile. (Save your groans, there's worse to come.)

Dave T and I commanded the mad Mahdists. I had the right wing, shown here. The orange counter notes a unit of captured Egyptians forced to fight for the Mahdists. Figures are Baccus 6mm from Mark's collection.

Mahdists attack left to right. Khartoum is protected by a line of earthworks, with a belt of obstacles in front of those (the dark felt): barbed wire, broken glass, artillery shells serving as mines. Brown felt at top is where the Nile has flooded, washed away the end of the earthworks, then receded leaving a marshy gap. White counters are objectives: the artillery bastions along the fortified line; various locations in the city (forts, the cathedral, the palace, etc).

Gordon and a big Krupp gun on the roof of the palace. The paddlesteamer gunboat wrought some havoc late in the game.

Mahdist camelry.

Egyptians wait behind their earthen ramparts.

Our cunning plan was for Dave T to surge through the marshy gap. However, see that little barge moored in mid-river to flank the line? The rifle fire from there was exceedingly irksome.

I shifted my weight left from here towards the marshy end so as to marry up with Dave's push on the left. Our rifle fire was effective in the first 3 turns, wiping out a couple of the tiny Egyptian units.

We chose to take a scenario option and launch a landing force across the Nile behind the Egyptian line. Unfortunately some of our troops were slow to embark and cross. That's right - they were not well-en-dhowed. As a result, half of them never got into the fight and were just mown down by the gunboat.

However, the other half of this outflanking contingent did better - it was the only Mahdist unit to get into Khartoum. Here we see it enter the outskirts of the city, having routed some enemy irregulars.

Situation late in the game. Apart from that sole incursion into the city, the rest of Dave's force is bogged down top of pic, while my repeated attempts to storm across the ramparts have all failed and every one of my units is stuck in the obstacle belt.

Gamely our lads go in again. All these charges will likewise bounce off except for my cavalry, upper right, who will push their foes back but then be gunned down as they mill about post-melee.

Similar story for Dave's repeated charges on our left.

Gordon can't afford to get cocky, though, as Dave's city raiders work their way closer to the palace. Next turn they will overrun the palace.

That's right - Gordon and his men will be an-Nile-ated.

With a couple of turns to go, some of mine get over the ramparts at last. This prompts most of the remaining Egyptian defenders to fall back to the city, having successfully bought time.

Game end. The three units in the foreground with green cubes are mine. The one in the palace at the top is Dave's. The other four, though, are Crispin's, still hanging on in objective locations despite being low on ammo (black cubes).

And the bigger picture shows most of Dave's force still trying to finish off one last 2-base Egyptian unit (in the foreground, with the yellow cube).

Skilful defence by Crispin denied us even a draw. We could point to some unkind dice at important times - when we launched so many charges, we could reasonably have expected more to succeed - but sometimes you just have to give credit to the opposition. Regardless, it was a good game that presented challenges and options to both sides. Different plans are possible so it has replay value.

This will be one of the battles in our planned Bloody Big Battles in Africa! scenario book that we hope to complete this year.

A beer and a fight on a Saturday night: Aspern/Essling

I asked Dave O if he wanted a beer and a fight last Saturday night, so that we could narrow the gap between games from decades down to less than a year. Our last encounter was Gettysburg last September. After ACW, his other great enthusiasm is Napoleonics, so we rolled out Aspern/Essling from the Napoleon's Bloody Big Battles! scenario book.

Ammoed up for Aspern/Essling

Dave's ACW armies are in 6mm but his Napoleonics are 2mm from Irregular Miniatures. These give a really good mass effect for a big battle like this:

Austrian reinforcements that will march on in Turn 2. Coloured base edges are red for Veteran, blue for Trained, green for Raw. Flags on the corners identify which army they're from. Coloured dice identify which corps is which. You could use the dice to track strength points but we didn't do that - too fiddly and too prone to get spilled. Instead, we used the number labels as unit ID to track strength on a roster.

Most of the French army is queuing up to cross the pontoon bridges over the Danube.

Discreet little mdf rectangles indicate a unit has the Skirmisher attribute. 

The large circular bases are the C-inCs. Here is Napoleon;

and Archduke Charles.

Irregular's 2mm terrain paints up nicely. Lovely job by Dave on this village.

I gave a synopsis of the historical battle last time I played it, back in 2020, so shan't repeat myself. Here is the battlefield:

Red stars are Objectives. Austrians need to take 3 to draw or 4+ to win. Essling is treated as a Fort (3 cover); Aspern as a Town (2 cover). The berm between them provides 1 cover. The French have only 3 divisions on the table initially. Each turn, they have 50% chance of getting another division across. It is a 9-turn game. After Turn 3 there is a Night Interval, in which they will get another 4-6 divisions across. All the Austrians are either on table initially or arrive on Turn 2. There's a lot of them! But they are almost all rated Passive, which means it may take a while to get them all into action and can be hard to coordinate assaults.

Austrian Passivity means Hiller on the extreme right makes virtually no move towards the Gemeinde Au. However, Charles manages to put four divisions into an assault on Aspern on Turn 2. The yellow Disruption puffs are because the preceding turn's firefight killed off both sides' Skirmishers - losses the numerous Austrians can absorb better than the French. 

Disaster for the French! Boxcars mean the Austrian offensive fire wipes out the defenders of Aspern. Bellegarde's corps will swarm through and hit the French reserves who have moved up behind the town.

Some revenge for Dave on the Austrian left, where Hohenlohe has recklessly advanced through Gross Entzersdorf in column (indicated by the blank square template behind the Austrian infantry unit) and gets charged by the French heavy cavalry division (rectangular template = In Depth).

Hohenlohe's infantry take casualties and are hurled back to seek refuge behind their cavalry (top left).

But it is the Austrian turn to attack again. Bellegarde debouches from Aspern for another go at the disrupted French. His cavalry charge over the berm, sacrificing themselves to distract the French artillery.

The Austrian cavalry has died but done its job. The infantry assault succeeds, driving back the French infantry and cavalry (top left), then rolling up and driving off the French gun line. 

Blessed relief for the desperate French as night falls. Both armies regroup. Napoleon crosses the Danube. He now has 8 divisions crammed into a pocket around his bridge, with a fresh gun line.

But his heavy cavalry, his only support for his division garrisoning Essling, is somewhat isolated next to Gross-Entzersdorf.

Archduke Charles waits for the French hammer to fall on Aspern. Hiller (right of pic) finally has a toe in the Gemeinde Au woods but there are French tirailleurs in there.

The hammer duly falls. It will take a couple of turns of hard pounding but the French will retake Aspern.

But the Austrians are preparing their own assault on Essling (top right). Apart from the Essling garrison, the artillery and the cavalry next to the Danube are the only French in the picture. They face eight Austrian divisions, including Lindenau's grenadiers (the two units with black dice and green puffs for Aggressive).

The Austrian assault on Essling (top of pic) is being prepared by this substantial gun line. Although it looks formidable, so are Essling's defences, so all it produced was clouds of dust.

Five Austrian divisions storm Essling. The supporting French cavalry and artillery are wiped out by other Austrian units.

Turn 6: Austrians hang on in Aspern; French hang on in the Gemeinde Au. In terms of victory conditions, the game is currently a draw.

The Austrians get their noses in front by taking Essling.

Austrians again repulsed from the Gemeinde Au on their right. Archduke Charles is displeased.

From displeased to dismayed: a 6:1 die roll means the French retake Aspern. The scores are level again!

Triumphant French now occupy Aspern. Blue puff shows their defeated opponents are Spent.

However, the French right is about to collapse. The Austrians pour onward from Essling in overwhelming force to rout the division they had expelled from there.

They then exploit the breach to overrun the French guns covering the Lobau bridgehead. Napoleon himself is next to the bridge and about to make expeditious use of it. There was a turn or two left, but Dave conceded at this point.

These five French divisions - including the Imperial Guard - never made it across the bridge. Never mind, they can provide the core of Napoleon's new army for his next campaign.

French casualties: three divisions and two artillery units wiped out.

(The Austrians lost one destroyed and one Spent.)

Reflections

Small figures, big battles. As a devotee of big battles, I am a fan of the small scales that make them feasible. My own collection is nearly all 6mm from various manufacturers (apart from a couple of 2mm armies); I also like the 10mm armies some of our group use. As this game shows, 2mm is also very good - perhaps the best of the three - for making battles look like battles rather than skirmishes.

Exponential effects of early luck. I was fortunate early on with a couple of lucky dice rolls that resulted in one precious French unit being destroyed and Aspern falling on Day 1. Although the luck evened out (eg Dave's 6:1 roll to retake Aspern), the French were always on the back foot after suffering that early blow, as its ramifications made themselves felt in terms of gaps in the line, etc. Napoleon said, "Give me generals who are lucky". We might amend that to "Give me generals who are lucky on Turn 1". 

Never surrender? When Dave conceded, it was still technically a draw: he held 3 Objectives (Aspern, the Gemeinde Au, and the bridge), so I needed to take one of those to get the 4 I needed for a win. True, I had several units close to the bridge, where Dave had nothing left. But if he had got one Imperial Guard division across next turn, they might well have held the earthworks against my disorganised troops. I might or might not have retaken Aspern and was making no progress in the Gemeinde Au. So although victory was undoubtedly beyond Napoleon's grasp, a draw was still very possible.

Still, Dave drubbed me at Gettysburg, so I'll take the win!