Fistful of Lead: Big Battles play test- 15mm ACW

Not often I get some wargaming in with the Boy, so when he announced he had Sunday afternoon off, we jumped at the chance to get another play test in for Fistful of Lead: Big Battles.

This round I wanted to see how using stands of minis vs single figures in a unit held up, along with the Heroes. I dug out my truly ancient 15mm ACW stuff, originally based for Fire & Fury. Most of these guys were some of the first historicals I ever painted and they have seen much blood.
We each had a Commander, 4 units for Infantry, 1 of Horse and a Hero. This meant 7 cards a piece. There were 3 objectives. Each turn a unit held an objective they earned one victory point. We would play to 8 turns and check to see if the day ended.
We built our units, arming them with traits. My Rebel force I designed pretty Close Combat ready to reflect their willingness to close up screaming the Rebel Yell, while my son made his Yankees decidedly "shoot". Lastly, we rolled randomly for unit leader traits. This is a fun way to add some character and sometimes throw a monkey wrench in your plans. The Boy got a Leader that ran off as soon they took fire.

 The Bluebellies got the jump with a bunch of face cards. One unit had the Ranger trait allowing them to cross the fields of crops at full speed.

 But, joined by their Hero, one of my units captured on side of the bridge. They quickly formed up and started blasting troops across the stream.

 My cavalry dismounted to enter some woods across from the town.

 My brave boys at the bridge took Wound (remove a stand or miniature) and 2 shock (here represented by casualty markers). They lost their fearless leader in the fire. Yes, he really had the Fearless trait. The shock reduces firepower for every shock marker. in this case, the 7 stands would only roll 5 dice.

 That's when the US cavalry arrived! Poor bastards. My attached Hero not only threw in some extra dice for us, but his trait allowed us ignore Shock in Close Combat. we rolled a whopping 10 dice to the Federals 6.

The beginning of the game made it seem like a crushing Rebel victory. By turn 5, though I had the edge in points, I had lost most of my troops. The cavalry in woods were crushed by fire and follow up charge. The boys at the bridge just couldn't hold on.
All in all, a really fun game, with lots of swings.
Designer notes: This is NOT a historical recreation of the Civil War. It won't be for everyone. Like all our games, it was meant to have a Hollywood feel to it. You don't have to play with Heroes, but the Heroes did heroic things. 
Assigning traits to units is what really makes them distinctive. Using the right unit at the right time makes all the difference.