The Grand Campaign: the Battle of Castle Woods

Last night was game 2 of an 11 game Longstreet campaign I am running with my 17-year-old son. In the first game, he brutalized me, but ended up getting punished in the post game. This game was payback...

I ended up outscoring him with my Reb cavalry. We randomly rolled the scenarios, which was a defensive battle at a walled farm. Knowing his propensity for ATTACK, I chose to be the defender, even though I would be understrength for 6 turns.

As anticipated, the Union hurled their greater numbers at the rebels. Due to some awesome terrain cards, I had created several choke points the Federal troops would have to pass in between. There I placed the cannons.
It was a bloodbath. The poor Ohio troops were destroyed, while the rest of the Union forces were slowly chewed up before turn 6 even arrived.
We only had a few charges, most of which the Federals won. But, it was too late.
Union lost 17 stands to the CSA 6.
The post battle round saw a Union promotion. The papers must have loved his bravery?
But camp fever slashed through both sides, again decimating the horse. US cavalry dropped to 2 stands.
However, new troops from back East bolstered the ranks once again with fresh meat.

The Grand Campaign begins...

With both children growing way too rapidly (one in college, one almost finished with high school), I decide to slow things down a bit a host a one on one Civil War campaign with the Boy. It's a chance to spend some time together and share one of my first loves in wargaming: the American Civil War.
I decided on Longstreet, as it provides a crisp, concise campaign with lots of character and it's easy to learn. Time to dig out my ancient 15mm ACW armies.
We created our forces, 3 infantry units, 1 cavalry unit and a battery of cannons, All Eager Recruits. We randomly created our personas.
Me: Col. Cletus Wayne Guthrie, a politically savvy up and comer who raised a regiment of native troops, the 1st Missouri Volunteers (the Ozark Zouaves, even though only a half dozen men actually have the fancy outfits).

The Boy: Eustus Marshal, a hot headed cavalry officer commanding a group of Northern Aggressors.
We randomly created the battlefield and and scenario per the rules. Marshal would be the defender and I would be on the attack.

I divided my forces and sent my cavalry charging down the turnpike to capture one of the objective, the small town of Prairie Landing. It was decided all battles for the campaign would be named after local housing divisions...

They were assisted by a unit of infantry. It was risky move I would later regret.
The rest of my troops moved solidly forward, forced into a deeper formation due to terrain. This limited my opening volley, but not the follow up charge which sent the Pennsylvania troops reeling back. This would be a push over....
Then Marshal swung his cavalry around and rode hard at my flank, including a still limbered battery. I blew through my best cards keeping him at bay, including throwing an unspotted swamp in the way.

Meanwhile, his other troops had recovered and were steadily blasting away my poor Arkansas troops.
The only satisfaction I got was cutting his other flank to pieces trying to cross a stream to capture Prairie Landing.
The turns quickly blew by along with my losses. My untested troops were holding, but dying in droves. At least they died on native soil.

The victory for Union was complete. I lost 21 stands to his 9. UGH!
The post battle process followed.
Thanks to my political connections, despite my horrific loss I was promoted as did the Boy.
We regained some losses as men trickled back into camp. But a few of my units dropped from Eager to Cautious after "Seeing the Elephant". Our post battle camp losses were terrible. My once 10 strong units were dropped by to 7, 7, 6 and 5. The Union fared little better.
But, our Campaign cards helped a little. I was given a Veteran unit from back East to bolster my losses while Marshal got a few new rifled guns.
As 1861 closed, it was great fun. We have 8 more games together, and hopefully some good memories.

More painted minis, more Longstreet

Up first, some retro Sci-Fi miniatures for a top secret project in the works. Emperor Xorg's Imperial Navy. I wanted these guys to have a Naval Landing troop color scheme/vibe.

After that, more 10mm goodness for Maurice/Might & Reason. The Elite Swiss Guard of the Arch-Duchy of Volborg.

Finally, battle one of the year 1863 for Longstreet. This is the midpoint of the war. The Union is getting more troops. Units are getting more experience and training, but in some cases, also getting battered. One Union regiment went to the field with 3 stands!

The scenario was #8: the Cornfields. (I gotta work on my fields) The standing crops didn't prove much of a barrier to either side. The Rebs started out aggressive, but quickly began to fight a holding action. LS favors the the side that engages in combat the most. The most an attacker takes in a charge is one stand loss. So when possible ATTACK!
The fight ended as a draw, but I think maybe the Union took the most losses. That's OK, they can afford it.

44!

Forty four years old today. Probably 40 spent playing with soldiers and 32 painting them. Thanks to everybody that has made them good years. I have a great gang to do battle with every Thursday (Wednesdays lately), and great space to battle in (thanks to my lovely wife).
Last night was campaign battle #2 for Longstreet. We had an odd number so I sat this one out to let somebody else play. I felt like drinkin' anyway.
The scenario was a hilltop defense. The Union won the scouting roll but decided to be the Attackers. They got to add 4 extra pieces of terrain. Most of their choices ended up helping the Rebs. To make matters worse, one of the Reb generals had as his personality trait "Engineer" which allowed his troops to spend several turns reinforcing their position. This would make them a tough nut to crack.

Terrain favors the defender.

The earthworks

Yankee troops await the order to assault the ridge

Rebel left flank

I really thought the Union would stack their troops on one side and overwhelm the dug in Rebs with sheer numbers. Instead, the assault was spread out and uncoordinated. The outcome was expected.

Of course, it's easy to sit back, drinking really good beer and armchair general. 

Longstreet provided another entertaining game. The campaign mechanics are brilliant, especially the after battle sequence. Camp fever took it's toll!

Longstreet: the Battle of Smedley's Tavern

Longstreet came out last week. We have been playing the free, Lite version for a couple of months and now we finally got a chance to try the real thing. From my earlier post you can see we got into the spirit of thing by Photoshopping some portraits of our alter-egos. Part of the full version of Longstreet is the introduction of Biography Cards. These randomly drawn cards add flavor to Generals. I drew "Cavalry Officer". Any one who knows me, knows a kill little metal horsies whenever I get them (except for a bizarre string of cavalry victories lately). My alter ego would be a disgraced Prussian aristocrat recruited by the South named Karl Friedrich Wolfgang Von Schtuppe (in honor of Madeline Kahn from Blazing Saddles). I can add bonuses to my combat dice when using cavalry, but have a chance of getting wounded in the process.

I chose the Meeting Engagement setup from the book. Then, both sides rolled for scouting and the Union decided to be the attacker. Both sides randomly drew 3 Terrain Cards. You may either play these, or place a road, stream or wall. We stuck our 2 woods, and 1 swamp right in the middle of the Yankee deployment zone. We got swamps and standing crops in return.
The Southern commander, Jeremiah O.B. Hungwell's special ability as an Engineer was to place entrenchments, which he put in front of our guns in the center. Our mission was to hold the town of Smedley's Tavern.

The right flank of the Confederates

Rather than hold back and wait, the Rebs surged forward to meet the Yankee invaders. Cavalry quickly outstripped the infantry and guns. But this aggressiveness paid off. Reb cavalry caught 3 of the Union guns isolated out front of their troops. The gray cavaliers hacked the crew to pieces and spiked the guns. This was especially humiliating for the Union Commander, General Jonathan Vincent Fleckman, as he was a Artilleryman himself.

Rebs man the works.

On the Southern right, cavalry took a small hill. Going against everything in my being, rather than charge down the hill gloriously, I elected to dismount and hold the ridge. This worked for awhile, but eventually they were overwhelmed by numbers and swept from the field.
The real battle began, with it's slow grind of fire, charge and counter charge. This is where the mechanics began to shine. There were several instances where a charge could lead to potential heavy losses by the defender, but because they can burn cards to decrease losses, the attackers were forced back. This may seem seem like not alot happened, but it forced the defender to eat cards faster. A large attack along the line could really wear them down, and force actual casualties.
Two hours in, both sides were getting beat up. It was agreed the Rebs held their objective and thus won.

The Union lines

The post battle sequence is fun too. You check for promotion. Obviously there is bias against foreigners, because I didn't get a promotion. Then see if the Elan of your units changed. The bitterness of the fight changed my Missouri Volunteers from Eager to Seasoned. The entire Cavalry regiment had to be replaced so they came still eager.
Then you check for losses form campaign (sickness, desertion, etc). I lost 2 stands per regiment.
 Thank God for the final step, Campaign Cards. I got replacements for most of my units and 2 new guns fresh from the Richmond foundry.

Overall, it was a great game. Fire & Fury holds a special place in my heart, but this was way more fun. One thing we would change, though. In large games, only the C-in-C is allowed Interrupt cards. In one on one games this is part of the fun, and without them, defense becomes really hard. So, as a house rule, Interrupt cards may be played by everybody, but only the C-in-C can play the more powerful RED Interrupt cards which tend to have a more battlefield effect.
I tip my big feather cavalry cap to you Mr. Mustafa for another fine game.

General Hungwell

Some news

I too have bee struck by the "Beginning of School Chaos". The Girl started high school and with it Volleyball and marching band. The Boy is still doing competitive soccer with team we don't seem to have enough players for. Not good, since this is the year we play on a full size field with 11 players instead of 8.
With all these activities, I'm trying to finish two rule books, help on another and get my work done. Painting has taken a back seat.
On a lighter note, I will be hosting a Saturday morning game at RECRUITs. It's the Great Race game I hosted a few weeks back. Then, I using my rules, but Cluck Amok's toys for a FIW game in the afternoon. Then its off to a soccer game.
And Thursday's regular game night is now Wednesday irregular game night. But, it seems like everyone is excited for Longstreet and with a little fun with the campaign. Meet some of the generals, thanks to Photoshop.

Lead Addict

John of Curio Clashes

Essjam

Yours Truly

Return to Longstreet Lite

Since one of our biggest Civil War fans missed the last game of Longstreet, we decided to give it another game. Last round was very enjoyable, even with the Lite version. This time I added some more terrain and 3 objectives. Both sides held a town, but a hill in the center dominated the battlefield for the final objective.

Most of the players now had experience with LS. Play was a little more calculated. Decks of cards were burned quicker. I won't get into the full battle, but it was close for both sides. I thought I was kickin' ass in the center until I stopped to count the losses.

Once again, several of the boys commented they really liked the game. It may be awhile before we can try this with 28mm minis, but we have a little time before the full version of Longstreet hits the streets.

And the game's always better with a few brews. I highly recommend the Van Winkle and the Milk Stout.

A little Longstreet Lite

I was VERY excited when it was announced last week Longstreet, by my favorite rules author Sam Mustafa, would be available FREE as a lite version download. As the name suggests, it's a wargame for the American Civil War. This was my first period I painted and one close to my heart. I've loved Fire & Fury since it came out, but it isn't always easy to put a game of F&F on with the time constraints and player numbers for our regular Thursday night game.
Might & Reason, Fast Play Grande Armee, & Maurice have always given me a good game. So, when the chance came to bring two of my favorite things together I had to do it.
Longstreet uses a similar mechanism as Maurice and really has similarities to Commands & Colors too, in that it combines the card management system of a board game with the tabletop finery and mechanisms of a wargame.
To shoot or move your troops around, cards must be played/discarded. Each time you go through a deck, the cards are reshuffled and you lose 6. When you take "x" amount of casualties or there are no more cards, you're finished.

The Propaganda Architect contemplates his move

The Lite version, as you might expect, is really trimmed down. Only rules for infantry and guns, and no use of variations in troop quality and limited cards. It's made for 2 players, but I just printed enough for a 6 player game and kept the terrain simple.
The game started with both sides within gun range. As the cannons roared, hits were taken. Hits can can be cancelled by playing cards for their Morale value. But, there in lies your first decision: "Do I burn cards to save my troops, or save them for something bigger?"
Card hoarding might seem like a tactic. But it won't pay off. Your troops will start to dwindle quickly if you don't play some morale cards. You'll reach your target losses and lose the game before you ever execute that master plan. A balance has to be struck.
Then the troops closed. Shooting may not seem that effective at first glance. If your opponent cancels your hits you may on pick off one or two stands, but you're making him burn cards.
Charging is separate from Moving, both of which require the use of cards to activate. But, you can only do one or the other in a turn, so plan accordingly. The combat mechanism is simple but effective.
I think everyone caught on quick and I don't think we looked at the Quick Reference sheet or looked up a rule more tan twice. For a Lite game, it was a lot of fun.
I'm most excited for the full version. Each player creates a force that, in almost campaign, RPG-like tradition, your troops will get better, take losses, create heroes and lose them. Veteran troops are crack shots and can take a beating, but are leery about closing with the cold steel. Conscripts are full of enthusiasm, but are quick to crack once make contact with the enemy. I can't wait to see what this game does in 28mm! Sorry you missed it John.
Next week we continue Mustafa month with some 6mm Fast Play Grande Armee.