Preparing for the Inaugural Game

The opening positions as seen from the Union start line. The small town of New Rayleigh and the centre of the Confederate position.

I finally got around to setting up the inaugural game using my 30mm Spencer Smith ACW collection and to say I was delighted would probably be something of an understatement! The actual battle report will feature in a later post, simply because I want to go full on purple prose for the write up - you have been warned...

The view from the Confederate lines showing the extent of their defensive position.

This post will go over some of the organisation of the game and why have done what I have done to bring it to the table. To begin with the rules I am using are something of a hastily cobbled together conversion of the tactical rules found in Worthington Games Honour and Glory. Now it would seem a little odd using a set of rules for the war of 1812 For an ACW game but there is a couple of reasons for this. To begin with I rather like them - they are similar to the usual Command and Colours system - as they have a couple of little tweaks that appeal to me (more of which in a later post). Secondly, they are very similar to the ACW rules that  Worthington have available online and that accompany their new game on the subject. Obviously both of these sets are designed with hexes in mind but I have made the necessary adjustments for a square grid. I will be using the Portable Wargame in due course - indeed, they are my preferred set - but this was an itch that needed scratching!

I mentioned that I wanted to organise some theatre specific scenery so in its absence I had to make do with what I had to hand. Out came the Town in a Bag buildings, my very crude but functional hills and roads etc. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it all looked within the confines of using a 3ft by 2ft playing area. 

The scenario was a straightforward attacker/defender game with a small Confederate force tasked with holding the town of New Rayleigh against a probing attack organised by the Union. The Rebels are outnumbered but this is offset by the Gentleman of the South being in prepared positions. 

The forces are comprised of the following:

USA

7 x 4 infantry

1 x 3 cavalry

1 x 2 artillery

1 x 2 Command

35 strength points and exhaustion level 12

CSA

4 x 4 infantry

1 x 3 cavalry

1 x 2 artillery

1 x 2 Command

23 strength points and exhaustion level 8

I toyed with the idea of replacing one of the Union infantry units with another cavalry unit and increasing the artillery strength point to 3 but I stuck with my initial choice - mainly because by the time it occurred to me the game was set up!

So there you have it - the forces are deployed, the plans have been made and all that remains is the fight itself.

I hope you will enjoy reading about it as much as I did fighting it!