The American Civil War,  Brigade Fire & Fury, 10mm

With Sean away, Nick opted for a 10mm American Civil War game. So, it was off to the backwoods of Mississippi this week, and a refight of the Battle of Corinth, fought in early October 1862. In this one, Nick opted for the attacking Confederates, while it was up to me to hold the line with my heavily-outnumbered Union boys,at least for a while.The tree-covered 6×4 foot table was roughly like the one above, from F&F’s Western Battles scenario book, but we had to take some liberties, as we didn’t have enough tracks and streams, or tents, or for that matter the right hills. However, we did have some nice railroad tracks, earthworks and even an abatis, pruned from my garden just before I left the house!  In all we had about 180 stands on the table – the equivalent of 36,000 troops, with most of them wearing grey. Obviously, the Confederates were on the attack here, but for the first couple of turns only Lovell’s Division on their right flank could move. So, that’s what Nick did, slamming into Oliver’s Brigade which was propping up my left flank. Surprisingly, the defenders held their ground, and saw off Lovell’s first assault. the Rebs rallied though, and came on again, and this time Bowen’s brigade drove them from the earthworks. Still, Oliver’s was able to pull back, down the Chewalla Road to the relative safety of the Union camp. Over in the centre it was the same for Baldwin’s brigade, when Maury’s Division finally got moving. Despite being harassed by fire from Lovell’s troops, Baldwin’s stood its ground for a couple of turns – almost too late. By then their left flank had been turned by units from Hebert’s division, and by Lovell’s troops on the right. Time to withdraw! On the Union right, Oglesby’s brigade held its hilltop position for a while, despite being outnumbered badly – around three to one. Inevitably though, when Hebert’s Confederate division got moving, they had to retreat. I sent the gun battery off first, but when it was their turn Oglesby’s men refused to budge. Against all expectations they survived the melee, withdrawing to the rear. This wasn’t as easy as it sounded as by now the Confederates had lapped round their. Somehow though, they rolled well, and  formed a line alongside Hackleman’s brigade. For the moment then, the Union right flank was safe.Over on the left and centre, the Union plan was to fall back on the Union camp. As I’d no tents, I stuck a buildings there, to mark the spot. Just to the left of it was a gun battery in a hilltop redoubt, with a clear field of fire along the line of the railroad. That and the camp would be my ‘backstop’…The retreat to this new line didn’t go smoothly at all, thanks to Nick sending  columns of Rebs forward to cut them off. When Baldwin’s brigade withdrew from the entrenchments they only just got through, as ‘Oliver’s Hill’ was swarming with Confederates. They  made it though, and safely reached the ‘backstop’.At that point Lovell’s division on the Union left and Maury’s division on the Union centre recovered from the disorders caused when they stormed the entrenchments. Their only real casualty was Villepique’s raw brigade from Lovell’s division, which broke and ran. This then, was the real test – a full-scale Confederate against the hastily-formed Union line, anchored on the redoubt and the Union camp.In fact, the first bit of defending was easy. When Lovell’s assault came, Rust and Bowen’s rebel brigades were repulsed, thanks largely to that battery in the redoubt. The scenario called for Lovell’s division to stop just short of it. So, McArthur’s brigade defending the camp managed to hold the line. Actually, by this stage we were running out of time.   On the Union right, behind yet another creek, Hamilton’s division were arriving, to help shore up the defences over there. In the centre, the line running through the redoubt and the Union camp were holding the line. The problem lay in between…When we ended the game, after  eight turns, or four hours of fighting,  Maury’s Confederate division were pushing forward down the line of the creek which ran down the centre of the table. The Confederate aim was to get units across the line marked X- Y on the map, at the centre of the Union table edge. They were well on their way there – two more turns would have seen them cross the line and secure a victory. However, as that didn’t happen, Nick kindly called it a draw, citing the surprisingly stolid Union defence of the entrenchments. The Confederates did really well, but we simply didn’t have enough time. Despite that, we both really enjoyed ourselves. It’s certainly inspired me to paint up more of these little guys!

Tags: Fire & Fury