Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Battle of Iuka: The Bloody Finale

Today was our third and last session of ACW Black Powder.  My two novice players got to the crisis point, and when a Confederate brigade routed, they realized that Price's army was in an untenable position.  For kicks, they fought until bitter end, even after the Tyler, the Confederate commander, said he would pack it in to save the lives of his remaining troops.

Tyler began this last session with a skirmish line protecting his second line of defense.  While the Alex, the Union commander, declined to clear the skirmishers away with a mad charge, he was able to bring enough firepower to bear to blast the skirmish line away.

After the first Confederate line evaporates, Tyler contemplates his next move. Now outnumbered 2-1, he needs to make his remaining resources count. Unfortunately, devastating fire from the Union left his troops disorganized, and there were few maneuvers available to him.



Finally a charge!  However, it was stopped by a volley of musketry that theft the attackers stunned and disorganized.  Tyler was able to concentrate fire on a shaky regiment, whose loss caused one of the two Union brigades to break.  Though both sides had equal numbers on the battlefield, two of the Confederate regiments had been shaken by enemy fire. It was just a matter of time before Union firepower showed them off the field.

The Confederate left found itself flanked, and the shaky soldiers turned and bolted for safety.  Here is the situation at the end of the game, before the remaining two Confederate regiments got picked up and put away.

The kids had a good time. They have told me that their gaming sessions are a high point in their week.  Next, we are going to do some Napoleonics, again with Black Powder.  I'm looking forward to it.

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