Category: American Civil War

We present Society member Peter M’s report on an operational megagame he run earlier in the year. As noted by Peter, this was a committee / map game with no figures on the table, but the editor has taken the liberty of including a  picture from one of Stephen’s ACW games played at the Society as the header, purely for the aesthetic effect. We also owe Peter an apology for taking so long to post this article. 

Over to Peter:

Despite having suffered my previous multi-player efforts (the ‘Platoon’ VietNam firebase defence and ‘Over The Top’ in 1918), May 9^th saw a large group of players descend on the club to try my megagame of operational and reputational actions in the mid-1863 period. For those unfamiliar with the term, megagames differ from ‘normal’ multi-player encounters by:

• • • Being team-based, reflecting higher levels of command and requiring communications
    • Generally, take place with maps rather than figures
    • Actions take place over several days (sometimes weeks), so planning is key
    • Above all there is the dreaded ‘fog of war’, with only vague information on enemy forces or even friends!

Background

This time I chose a game I’d run twice before, a ‘What If?’ scenario based on some passing references I had come across many years ago about strategic options discussed by both Union and Confederate governments following Lee’s greatest triumph at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. Each side had apparently considered the advantages of a ‘spoiling action’ in the Shenandoah Valley, albeit for very different reasons…

Right from the beginning of the war, the Union had always had plenty of ‘thrusters’ in the Army and Congress who wanted to see more action (at a distance) and less of this sitting around training, logistical stuff. That even minor successes could lead to significant personal gain (as with MacClellan) was not lost on many of these men, and they would be willing to take great risks with even green troops as resources were abundant. Except among the officer corps. Given this abundance of men and matériel, and in part to shut this faction up while the Army of the Potomac recovered, a thrust south into the Valley would create a crisis for the Confederacy by threatening the politically ‘wobbly’ state of North Carolina, removing a key food-production area, and placing a substantial force on Lee’s flank should he decide to move north or even stay in place.

On the ‘other side of the hill’, there was much discussion within the Confederate Govt in Richmond, Virginia as to What To Do Next. Yes, the previous victory was magnificent, yet again bloodying the poor old Army of the Potomac (but not demoralising it, as they would find out in July). But with an entirely defensive overall strategy (by default rather than real conscious decision; one big reason they ultimately lost), it really rested on waiting for the Union public to get tired and give up! There are plenty of documented accounts of the planning conference called by Davis (who really wanted to be general-in-chief rather than President), with the most famous idea being for Longstreet and Lee to take one corps of the Army of Northern Virginia by rail to the West front, replacing Bragg. Then, with 125,000 veterans, drive north into the heartlands of St Louis, Cincinnati etc and dare the Union to attack. However, Lee was fixed with his giant ‘raid’ into Pennsylvania and besides was heavily into reorganising the army follow the death of Stonewall Jackson.

As almost every strategic move by the Union was either predicted, signalled in the press or betrayed by a rather efficient network in Washington (or all three), it is impossible that the South would not cobble-together some counter-force to this new Union plan, and thus we have the basis for the game.

The System

Previous outings had involved rather more players (up to 50 last time), but still I was both pleased and not a little relieved that the club managed to field four teams. I also decided that teams would be roughly corps-level, with three players per team having wangled key positions as divisional commanders, each overseeing three brigades of infantry with a few additional extras.

As both sides are assumed to be putting together rather an, ah, ad-hoc set of units and commanders not necessarily drawn from the first rank, I came up with a ‘unit profile’ not just with the usual orders and combat strength, but also a profile of the brigadiers, in the style of the NPCs you might encounter in an RPG. These would reflect their ability to organise their forces for supply and march speeds as well as how well they could deploy that unit strength in battle (‘lastest with the least’). Apart from furthering their own personal reputations (and/or bank balance), the player would have to manage their units via interactions with their NPC brigadiers (the little dears). OK, but who was in command of the corps? You may well ask…

Given the generally poor level of high command in all the armies (with a few key exceptions), and to add another dimension to the player experience, I arranged that the corps commander would also be another NPC, but less a ‘Rommel’, more a ‘Sgt Wilson’! These would be influenced each turn by the players bidding their precious reputation points to get the ‘ear of the commander’, then issuing orders in his name.

So, the player forces ended up with:

Union:

• • XXIV Corps (drawn from the Army of the Cumberland in Tennessee), under NPC General Lee (no relation)
    • 2^nd Division, under General Legg (a West Pointer of promise but overlooked as a pre-war Democrat)
    • 4^th Division, under General Campbell (from a major manufacturing background, plus supply)
    • 6^th Division, under General Livermore (organised many militia units for his brother, the Senator…)
    • ORDERS: Essentially, they were to co-operate with the fanatics of XXVIII corps, but on no account lose control of the railways or valley exits to the NW.
  • XXVIII Corps (a temporary title, not yet approved by Congress), under General Godfrey
    • 10^th Division, under General Kirk (a prolific author of military treatise and romantic fiction)
    • 12^th Division, under General Johnson (helped to design the Washington defences, siege expert)
    • 14^th Division, under General Smith (veteran of Mexican War, much praised by Gen Santa Anna)
    • 16^th Division, under General Roche (ex-Navy, ex-cavalry, ex-Episcopal Bishop; pre-war Democrat)
    • ORDERS: They were to drive south, clear any ‘residual forces’, and prepare to thrust into Central Virginia. Ideally winning the last battle but letting others do the work!

Confederate:

• • IV Corps Army of Northern Virginia (provisional) under General Lincoln (no relation)
    • 11^th Virginia Division, under General ‘Liberty or Death’ Ockleford
    • 13^th Virginia Division, under General ‘Might Makes Right’ Simons
    • 15^th Virginia Division, under General ‘Freedom Now’ Gibbs
    • ORDERS: To blunt any drive into the valley and prevent any threat to Lee off the SE section of the map.
  • Carolinas Relief Force (a temporary title, not yet approved by Congress), under General Abernathy
    • 1^st South Carolina Division, under General David ‘Burn Washington’ Simes Snr
    • 3rd North Carolina Division, under General Tony ‘Don’t Tread On Me!’ Pellett
    • 5^th Georgia Division, under General Sean ‘States Rights’ Holden
    • 7^th Provisional Cavalry Brigade under Christopher Simes Jr (a protégé of JEB Stuart)
  • ORDERS: To cover the southern exists to the valley at all costs and embarrass the uppity Virginians!

Some Rebels plan, others discuss… Note Gen Simons is awake

In addition to these player teams there were also the current ‘occupation forces’ which were the remains of the three small Union and Rebel contingents left to watch things in the Valley after the former’s thrashing by Jackson in his classic 1862 campaign (still studied by military students today). The Union was grandly titled The Department of the Shenandoah and based centrally at Winchester (which changed hands 73 times during the war!), it was therefore an independent force not directly under anyone’s control. But it still had four decent brigades and could be ‘persuaded’ to co-operate – if enough political influence could be brought to bear. Or anyone noticed they were there… but more on that later.

The Confederate force was similar, currently hiding in Front Royal behind a river and entrenchments under General Jubilation T Cawnpone, who hoped that no-one would notice. At the start of the game neither the War Dept in Richmond or the State capitals of North Carolina or Virginia seemed to have any idea of who controlled them, although they did draw a lot of supplies…. Unbeknownst to the players, therefore, the two sides were in effect identical, the Union having more artillery whereas the Confederates had much better cavalry (and more accurate reports).

The final aspect of the game – which was, you recall, centred on the players, not their respective causes – was to reflect the impact of the ‘larger picture’ of the war and their part in it, plus possible effects on operations in the field. To model this, while the umpires struggled to process orders and decide on cavalry reports the players could chat and indulge in four main areas of ‘extra-military activity’ by risking their precious reputation points and sometimes cash to try four tables:

• • Inventions – either personally or being paid to flog some new idea to their War Dept
  • The Power of the Press – giving briefings to the hordes of story-hungry journalists following the armies
  • Investments – primarily the flogging of War Bonds to provide loans to their govts (on a nice commission)
  • War Plans – to lobby the War Dept and Congressional committees with yet more war-winning ideas

Each of these tables (via rolling 2d6) therefore had the potential for substantial gains – but also the risk if any move backfired (being charged with fraud could be a career-limiter).

SO, WHAT HAPPENED?

Still with us? Well, what now follows is my own somewhat limited take on what took place on the map and combat tables. As to why and how the players got there, that will be down to future historians (and possibly litigation). Opening moves in any large, unfamiliar game would always be slow, not helped by yours truly frantically setting-up, explaining rules – oh, and coping with last minute drop-outs and no-shows…

• • XXVIII Corps began by probing generally south (good, good; knew they’d get the hang of it) from Harper’s Ferry, although General Smith’s progress was not as fast as planned when he discovered that the railway only ran about 20 miles from his starting position and he could have gone faster with a hoop-and-stick!

The umpire explains which way is north to XXVIII Corps

• • General Johnson, however, drove along the all-weather Turnpike (ignoring the Union forces in Winchester – except for a nice lunch), until confronted by no less than the two divisions of Simes Snr and Holden (from the Carolinas Relief Force) just south of Strasburg heading north along the same road, aiming to take the forces at Front Royal in the flank….
  • Meanwhile General Kirk stayed on the East of the river, which meant that he quickly came on to Front Royal from the flank, thus negating all the defences which faced north across the river… He then had a sharp action with the Valley Defence Forces – sharper than it could have been in fact, as Cawnpone was actually in the process of bugging-out but his tardiness vs Kirk’s speed forced the action! Unsurprisingly, therefore, the Union force “…drove-off…” the Rebs – but then decided to follow-up, without waiting for support and with the uncrossable N/S river between them and Johnson the other side. More of this anon…
  • As mentioned, the Carolinas Relief Force decided to thrust up the central valley, cleverly using both the railway (for supplies) and the all-weather Turnpike for speed. Early operations seemed to be something of a shock as they realised (to their horror) how spread-out their NPC-led brigades could become if ‘given their head’(!), but they wisely took a turn out to close-up and also collect stragglers. However, there was also the issue of geography to consider as the main valley was itself split north-south in several places by extensive hills if not actual mountains. With scant roads between them, any Union force striking south along the Western edge could cause acute embarrassment, as there was only the provisional cavalry under General Simes Jnr allocated to that whole sector…
  • …Which is exactly what the Union XXIV Corps had planned! Driving quickly south from Cumberland, General Legg gradually drove the Confederate cavalry ahead of them, acting under the suggestions of newly-transferred General Roche (back at corps HQ), with General Campbell’s division (one of the drop-out players) in reserve. Although it did cost some time, slowly and inexorably Legg became the most southerly division in the valley. A point not lost on the Governor of North Carolina, as he explained – quite forcefully – to the players of the CRF team during an ‘interview’ later in the game!

• • This little chat, a few threats, a bloody if victorious action against Johnson near Strasbourg, and an even bloodier one by gallant General Pellett holding the passes to the West of the Turnpike, not against a ‘probe’ but in fact the bulk of XXIV Corps, persuaded the CRF that they had done enough for now. A two-pronged attack on Legg (actually ordered back north) by Pellett and Simes Jnr was sufficient to satisfy the Governor – for now – and allow Simes and Holden to retire gradually, unmolested. Just in time, as it turned out, given the large XXIV Corps forces hovering in their left-rear near their lines of supply and with three other dented but unbowed (and very well-armed) Union divisions ahead….

• • Meanwhile, the slightly undermanned Rebel IV Corps had been feeling it’s way north, aided in great part by General Gibb’s intelligent use of the railway network to shift the base of operations quite some ways up the map. General Simons was the first actually in action as he ran first into General Cawnpone (heading south at some speed) and then swiftly followed by Kirk’s forces in pursuit. An appeal to Cawnpone’s sense of duty (plus a substantial bribe and threats) caused his force to ‘support’ Simons’ units, and in another battle drive the Union back at some speed into Front Royal, which Kirk quickly fortified.
  • The last critical acts were therefore in the NE of the map. An attack by Simons and Cawnpone drove Kirk’s battered forces over the river from Front Royal, but they were then reinforced in the nick of time by General Smith, whose use of the massed Corps artillery tore large holes in the Rebel ranks and forced them back. This was even more tense at the start, as a degree of enmity had arisen between Smith and Kirk after several scurrilous stories appeared in the Washington Post questioning Smith’s fitness for command (rightly, I think, but not for these reasons), and attributed to Kirk who had by now scored phenomenally high on the ‘Power of the Press’ charts! However, duty prevailed (more reputation points for that) and honour was satisfied. For now…
  • Finally, there was General Gibb. Having detrained half way up the map, he then manoeuvred north in a series of well-connected right-hooks which eventually both severed the line-of-supply for Kirk at Front Royal (although they were by now leaving via Winchester), and ended the game within striking-distance of a very lightly-defended Harper’s Ferry, causing consternation in Washington, and the recall of XXVIII Corps! Lee would be proud……

That then concludes the ‘alternate history’ of 1863. I did have a combat system, but it was intended for multi-player contests, so a bit too much for the several smaller actions which actually occurred, necessitating some rather ad-hoc rules but still trying to reflect both force-balances – and fate; sorry guys. So, what might have happened to our heroes? Well, given their historical counterparts my suggestions would be…

UNION:

• • General Johnson is offered the No2 spot to General MacClellan in his bid for the Presidency next year
  • General Scott is offered a Chair on the Board of Procurement in Washington (not a position, just a chair) …
  • General Kirk (heavily wounded at 2^nd Front Royal) may retire and co-operate with General Lew Wallace to work on the latter’s ideas for a sweeping historical/biblical epic provisionally titled ‘Get Hur’….
  • General Roche is appointed to French Liaison Officer, headquartered in Paris….
  • General Livermore is appointed to command of the Dept of the Valley (until later in 1864 when he remembers a pressing engagement) …
  • General Legg is to be Head of Tactics at West Point…

CONFEDERATE:

• • General Simes Snr is appointed by the Governor to command the defences of Savannah…
  • General Holden is transferred, with the Governor’s support, to the Western theatre to assist General Pendelton in the defence of Vicksburg…
  • General Pellett is made Chief Procurer for the South Carolina militia (I think it was about munitions, but…)
  • General Simes Jnr is transferred to the Army of Northern Virginia under General Stuart…
  • General Simons is appointed to command of the Valley Defence Forces, in place of General Cawnpone…
  • General Gibb is commended by both Lee and President Davis, being allocated immediately to a prestigious post in Longstreet’s 1^st Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia – under General Pickett…

Thanks once again to all the players, but especially to my long-suffering fellow umpire Chris Steadman, without whom the whole game would not have worked as well as it did. And if anyone who is chuckling at all the small cock-ups or missed opportunities after reading this, well, try it – and see how you fare with the dreaded blank map and uncertain allies…….

Next time I may stay with the 19thC (1814 France, 1859 Italy, 1854 Crimea), or perhaps go back to a point when Rome was in crisis – there’re plenty of them.

What I like about the American Civil War for gaming is that it is a simple period.

There’s only a couple of troop types, and uniforms were uncomplicated. Compare that to the nightmare that is Napoleonics…

So I decided to have myself a game, using my own rules. In fact, I thought the Battle of Little Round Top would be ideal.

Troops were deployed as their historical counterparts and then it was up to me from there. The table stretched from the Round Tops in the south, up through Devil’s Den, the Wheatfield, with Codori farm to the north. The Confederate forces consistent of Longstreet’s I Corps (minus Pickett’s division), and the Union III Corps under Sickles.

The game started with a general advance by the Confederates. Hood’s division was looking at the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top, where the union brigade led by Ward was ensconced with an artillery battery. This looked like it would be a difficult approach for the Confederates so the rest of Birney’s division looked north to where McLaws’ confederate division was covering Codori farm and the Wheatfield. This would make the union have a strong presence in the northern part of the battlefield – with Humphrey’s division and most of Birney’s concentrated that way.

Sure enough, things got off to a good start for the union. The artillery at Codori farm and the Wheatfield gave Barksdale’s brigade a hefty pummelling. They advanced under heavy fire. They tried to force it to a charge, but they’d taken a serious bombardment and any charge would come to nothing. So McLaw pulled them back and advanced Wofford’s brigade to cover.

Meanwhile, Hood’s division plodded forward. The union artillery on Little Round Top opened up on them, but the fire wasn’t that effective. The confederates took the risk on a steady approach – rather than the infantry charging forward they moved up at a pace with their artillery.

Like in the actual battle, there was a lot of fighting around Codori farm (which would see even more fighting the next day, being on the south of Pickett’s ill-fated charge). Both Union and Confederate were beating the living daylights out of each.

This left the centre.

Graham’s union brigade advanced through the Wheatfield. Opposite was Kershaw’s confederate brigade. A firefight started in the Wheatfield. Realising he could soon be outflanked by Trobriand’s brigade, Kershaw made the decision to charge.

And in he went!

Not only did he push Graham back to Plum Creek, but he followed up the charge by rushing the artillery battery that had been holding back Carr and Brewster at Codori farm.

This signalled a change of confederate fortunes.

Hood’s division had moved up to Devil’s Den, with only Ward and a single artillery battery opposing them! Trobriand, in the middle, had made a bad decision – he should have been looking south where he could have outflanked Hood, but instead had been distracted north by the hard fighting there and Kershaw’s advance.

Ward and his artillery pulled back to the top of Little Round Top, hoping to delay Hood’s advance. The union artillery under Burling turned south, where it could make a long shot against Hood’s advance along Plum Creek.

Then it became the turn of the Union to see what it feels like coming under sustained artillery fire.

McLaw’s artillery batteries on the Emmitsburg Road opened up and caused massive destruction amongst the union troops but left them low on ammo (they all rolled 10s!).

This, effectively, did for the union north flank. And with Kershaw’s push in the centre leaving the union in disarray, it meant the sole focus would now be on Little Round Top – with Ward’s brigade trying to hold off Hood’s division and what was left of McLaw’s.

At that point a victory was declared for the confederates!

It had been a tight victory.

In hindsight, the Union had failed when they allowed themselves to be distracted by McLaw’s advance, concentrating all their brigades except one on stopping him. This left Hood to advance pretty much unmolested until it was too late. The guilty party had probably been Trobriand who was in an ideal position to outflank Hood’s advance but had, instead, been spooked by Kershaw, who he should have left to Birling and Graham.