The Battle of Gaines' Mill

Welcome to the first proper game of Two Splendid Lines, our 6mm regimental-focused ACW game!  I think I'll let the pictures (properly captioned) do most of the talking.  This was a small snapshot of the 4th Texas attacking the Federal positions on top of Turkey Hill at Gaines' Mill, June 27th 1862.  As part of our campaign we are playing every battle in which the 4th Texas participated in, in order.  We had a minor skirmish at Eltham's Landing last week, but this is the regiment's first pitched battle...

The basic situation.  The Texans start in the gulley on the right, and have to advance up the hill and take the defences.



The Texans wait anxiously for the order to advance... lovely Baccus figures.
With the Federals eagerly anticipating their advance.  They have two guns from a Rhode Island battery to support them.

The drums roll Forward!  With the famous General Hood behind them, the Texans march steadily forwards.  Moving in line of battle is difficult, and I constantly have to halt to get the men back in proper alignment.  I also order my lieutenant-colonel (Ollie) to lead two companies of skirmishers to try and get round the flank.


The dice gods favour those who get into the spirit (and clothes) of the game.  Come on, boys!
 
Ollie's skirmishers, hiding in the woods, can't hurt the Federals with their smoothbores.
The plan comes together.  The skirmishers distract the left of the Federal regiment and harass the gunners, allowing me to effect some complicated manoeuvres.  Wheeling is a difficult move more suited to parade grounds, and liable to throw the men into confusion.  To bring them into proper alignment I march by the flank (effectively sidestepping), before ordering Change Front Forward.  This is a much simpler and safer move which the Texans easily manage.

The moment of crisis approaches!  My regiment (on the right) is a little disordered from the advance but I form line of battle and advance to within 40 yards.  My skirmishers force the enemy to refuse a flank, sparing me crucial firepower.

Meanwhile, the skirmishers manage to get into a farmhouse and soon drive the guns away.  They have to charge the last one, but the canister only causes a few casualties and the cannon are ours!

And it's all over!  I let loose one volley at 30 yards, before leaping over the walls.  The Federals flee in terror!  Hurrah!
 The game mechanics had been simplified since our first game, and worked much better.  We took heavy casualties, but because we kept moving steadily and didn't stop to get bogged down in a firefight, we could overcome their defences.  But it was costly - 23 killed, 62 wounded and 2 missing.  About 20% casualties!


Comments

  1. looking good! I am interested to see a finished version of the rules. Thanks for the post!!! Keep up the great work!

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    1. Hi, thanks for stopping by and commenting. The rules are very nearly done and I hope to do an overview post looking at them in detail soon, so stay tuned!

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  2. This sounds like a super fun system mate. Sounds also that 15mm figs might work with the rules too?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yes it is, very much something we've been wanting to do for a while. Any size would work really, we just picked the smallest size so the number of figures on the table would be closest to the number of men we're representing. 15mm would work fine, you'd of course just have fewer men per stand.

      After this positive feedback I think I'll work on getting a preview up later on this week.

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