Mini-Campaign Game 2a (Solo Miniature Wargaming Part 6)

The minicampaign is off to a good start. There was a clear victor in the first battle but neither army was wrecked.

My initial intent for the second game was to make a list of  six attack/defense scenarios including flank attack options but looking at the situation, one Confederate Divisions driven back down one road with the other two, with the Army Commander, retreating along a different road with a Union division in between them, I decided to just roll up a defensive position (dividing the table into sectors and rolling to see how many, if any, hills, woods etc were in each, adjusted to looj natrual to my eye) with the two roads which were available to the Union merging into one road  defended by the main confederate army.

I then added a cross road to allow the third division to rejoin from the flank. Both sides are aware that the other division is out there, marching to rejoin, but not when and not where it will reach the field. Will it appear down the road from the flank or has it marched to join from the Confederate rear?

Ideally I should have recorded precise losses before clearing the table and have had a rule for determining what percentage of losses could be recovered in between battles. However, one joy of solo gaming is that you can change and fudge things in between games if you want so I used a rough count of lost stands and careful perusal of battle photographs to get a good idea of how each division fared and went from there.

Ready to Receive the Enemy Assault

The goal for the Yankees is to drive back the Rebs and be in a position to pursue straight down the main road. This will lead to a rear guard action to allow the Rebs to try to save their train and army.

If the Confederates can hold with their army intact, and force the Federals to withdraw, they will win and a Federal rearguard action will follow.

Any other result will be a draw. In this case, there will either be a renewal of the fight in the morning or else the armies will break contact to regroup, followed by a meeting engagement to decide the campaign.  That decision will probably be diced for. 

The Calm Before the Storm.

While it is ideal to use one set of tabletop rules rules for a campaign, I was in the midst of planning a change for my ACW collection, a shift from an Old School approach with Regiments as units to using Brigades as units but I hadn't settled between several choices of rules and organization. My plan had been to stay off grid but with the smaller table and new 5" squares I couldn't resist trying them. It was ok but there were a number of minor issues and my three stand units had to be broken up. I decided to try the other leading alternative so this game will be fought with brigades composed of 6 stands when at full strength but without the grid.