Thin Blue Line

No, I wasn't expecting this either.

I've returned to a project I haven't touched for almost exactly eight years and finished off almost the last few unpainted 6mm American Civil War miniatures for my Union army.

Almost a decade ago our little gaming group got very briefly grabbed by 6mm gaming following attending the Joy of Six show in Sheffield.

We opted to dip our toes in by painting up American Civil War forces, with two of us building Union forces and two doing Confederate armies, using Bacchus Miniatures as our supplier.

At the time we played through a brief Vicksburg campaign using Black Powder rules, in which, despite starting well, Matt and I got out manoeuvred and defeated.

The campaign can be read about here and here.

I suspect that's why it's been eight years since I did anything with them.

However, I was lacking a bit of motivation yesterday and had some time on my hands, so I went with something that seemed easy.

6mm miniatures, especially in the regular uniform blue of the Union army, are incredibly easy to do.

The trick is to remember that the aren't meant to be looked at up close and so there's not much call for more than dabbing paint on in the appropriate places.

With the miniatures and bases I had left I've put together two regiments and two stands of skirmishers. The skirmishers have a couple more models on each base than the ones I've done previously and so will be good for representing regiments that have been deployed as pickets as opposed to the skirmishers put out in front of a regiment.

I still have five strips of infantry, with no command, that I'm not sure what to do with, but it was a nice change of pace and removes a healthy chunk from my backlog - I originally counted each strip as a single miniature when I started on Lead Mountain, and so this bunch qualifies at 16 miniatures.

Acquired: -84
Painted: 75
Lead Mountain: 498

The Battle of Vicksburg

As discussed in my last post, our American Civil War campaign had reached a crucial point, and potentially and decisive battle. Major General Ulysses S. Grant, leading the XIII and XV Corps of the Federal army, has brought the Army of the Mississippi, under Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, to battle just south of Vicksburg. Steele's Division, of Sherman's XV Corps has advanced to engage the enemy, drawing them out of the defences surrounding Vicksburg, and now awaits reinforcement.

The Union army  has a slight advantage in numbers, but is arriving piecemeal to face a concentrated enemy. Victory for Grant would allow him to place Vicksburg under siege, and open the way to achieving his campaign objectives. Defeat would force the Union away from Vicksburg and possibly buy enough time for Confederate reinforcements to arrive from Jackson.

The terrain around Vicksburg has the fortified city in in north, by the Mississippi River. The railroad from Jackson heads off east, but no help is arriving from that direction. To the south, towards Warrenton, are the woods from which the Union army will slowly emerge.

With 6 Union Divisions facing off against 5 Confederate Divisions, both sides would have to break three enemy divisions to seal victory.

The Confederate forces are massed around Vicksburg: Forney's Division are in the city itself; Smith's Division facing off against the advancing Federals; Loring's Division are positioned along the railroad; and Stevenson's large division is holding the left, aware of the dangers of a Union flanking movement. 

Steele's Division, of Sherman's Corps, are the only Federal troops in the field and emerge cautiously from the woods to engage the enemy.

Federal reinforcements begin to arrive in the form of Smith's Division, of McClernand's Corps, threading their way along the road (yes, I know you can't see it, but it's there) towards the ford.

The Rebels also receive support from Bowen's Division, arriving from the west. However, they arrive in march column worryingly close to the enemy and take fire from Steele's artillery.

More of McClernand's Corps, Hovey and Carr's Divisions, arrive and split their forces. The artillery is sent along the road to support Steele, whilst the infantry break into skirmish formation and begin to thread their way through the woods, aiming to keep Stevenson from moving to where the battle is developing.

Tuttle's Division arrives on the western flank and engages Bowen, breaking one of his brigades with the shock of their arrival.

With two divisions apiece engaged, the battle is now fully engaged, but the Confederates seem unable to stem the Federal tide (a series of terrible rolls from Pete fails to inflict any damage on the Union line).

Meanwhile, in the east, Osterhaus's flanking force arrives, but finds Stevenson's Division ready for them. Not only are they unable to get around the Rebel flank, but they are heavily outnumbered and the rest of McClernand's Corps are still slowly picking their way through the woods (Matt was repeatedly failing orders tests for the divisions in the woods).

Taking full advantage of the Rebel inaccuracy, Tuttle advances into close range and breaks Bowen's Division with a powerful volley. (Union 1 - Confederacy 0)

With this, the Rebel flank was exposed. Smith's (Confederate) Division was now significantly outnumbered. To make matters worse Smith's (Union) Division finally reached the end of the woodland road, and the final Union reinforcements arrived from the West in the form of Blair's Division of Sherman's Corps. Thinks looked bleak for the defenders of Vicksburg.

Major General William T. Sherman took full advantage, and began to pour fire into the exposed secessionists, hoping to completely turn the Rebel flank.

Despite the successes in the west, Osterhaus's Division finds itself completely outmatched by Stevenson, and begin a holding action designed simply to keep Stevenson's large division from moving to support the Rebel's collapsing right flank.

Smith (Confederate) holds his ground as Loring's Division (which so far had remained in reserve) moves up to stem the Federal advance. The artillery of Forney's Division also moves out of the fort in support. Worryingly accurate cannon fire allows the Confederates to inflict damage on Smith's (Union) Division, and disorders Tuttle's Division and stopping the flank being fully turned.

Stevenson's Division continued to inflict massive damage on Osterhaus's Division, but the beleaguered Federals hold on in grim defiance, despite their cavalry breaking.

However, any hope of respite is removed with the rest of McClernand's Corps lost in the woods, despite being joined by Grant himself.

With Tuttle's Division halted, Blair's Division is moved up to take over the assault at close range...

...breaking Smith's (Confederate) Division and completely collapsing the Rebel right flank. Only Forney's small division, occupying the city itself, stand between Sherman and victory. (Union 2 - Confederacy 0)

A new, hastily assembled line is put together amidst the wreckage of the Confederate right flank. Could Loring's fresh division invoke the spirit of Stonewall Jackson at Bull Run and rescue the Confederacy?

Hope comes for the secessionists as Osterhaus's Division is finally broken, potentially freeing up Stevenson. (Union 2 - Confederacy 1) 

Sherman masses his forces for what will hopefully be the final assault, whilst Tuttle's Division gets moving again and enters the outskirts of Vicksburg.

Loring's Division unleashes accurate fire which pushes Smith's (Union) Division close to breaking. It won't take much to make them go. Perhaps there's a chance that the tide could turn? 

Grant finally gets the divisions in the woods moving, just enough to keep Stevenson's Division torn between helping against Sherman and protecting their own flank, and potentially being able to quickly break the weaker divisions in skirmish formation.

The strong Confederate defensive position allows them to inflict damage across the lines of Union soldiers, threatening to break them in numerous places.

With his line wavering at various points, Sherman orders a general advance into Vicksburg to drive the Rebels out of their positions. Tuttle is repulsed from the fort, but Blair sweeps one of Forney's brigades away with some vicious hand to hand fighting.

Despite taking casualties, Loring's Divsion grimly holds on and manages to fianlly break Steele's Division, which has been engaged since the very beginning of the battle. With all of the Federal divisions on the right flank wavering, could the battered Rebels snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? (Union 2 - Confederacy 2)

Aware of the need to decisive, Sherman risks exposing the flank of Blair's Division to enfilading fire to inflict as much punishment on Loring's Division as he can.

At the same time, the bloody remnants of Tuttle's Division pout fire into the fort in the vain hope of somehow breakings Forney's artillery.

Despite the volume of fire they are subjected to, Loring's Division somehow holds their ground.

The desperate situation to the west finally causes Pemberton to order Stevenson's Division to ignore McClernand's Corps, who have finally emerged from the woods, and move as quickly as they can to engaged the battered Union forces on the right.

With the battle hanging in the balance, the Confederate resistance is enough to drive back Blair's Division, but not break them. The Union are still able to unleash devastating fire at Loring's Division...

And this time it's enough to break the stalwart Rebels. (Union 3 - Confederacy 2)

Battered and bruised, Sherman's command had managed to drive off three of the four Confederate divisions they had faced. Stevenson had numbers and was still relatively fresh, and Forney still, just about, held the centre of Vicksburg, however the eventual arrival of two fresh divisions under McClernand was enough to drive Stevenson away from Vicksburg and split the Army of the Mississippi in two. Victory belonged to Grant.

The campaign isn't over, but the Confederate army is in disarray. A handful of units remain to hold Vicksburg, whilst Stevenson's Division and Loring's artillery have been driven north. This has allowed Grant to begin the encirclement of Vicksburg and made it incredibly doubtful that Pemberton can do anything about it.

Meanwhile, over in the east, McPherson's scattered divisions are closing in on Jackson. Unless reinforcements arrive, the Rebels look unable to prevent the city's fall. However, should reinforcements arrive, McPherson's isolated units look ripe for being picked off and pushed back. All is not lost.

Overall, this was a brilliant game. The campaign rules gave us a really interesting scenario with genuine consequences to consider. The desperate, and sometimes foolhardy actions of the Confederates almost snatched victory, but ultimately have left their divisions unable to function (I'm going to suggest merging divisions which currently have less than three units, as otherwise, they are just too fragile in game). Had they succeeded, however, victory would almost certainly have won the campaign for Pete and Wes.

The key events for me were as follows:

• The lamentable performance of Bowen's Division: being caught in march column, failing to inflict any damage on Tuttle's Division and then being driven off so quickly meant the Confederates were on the back foot almost immediately.
• Diverting Stevenson's Division. Keeping the largest Rebel division away from the main fight for so long was crucial. Matt and I deliberately threw Osterhaus's Division at them for that putpose.
• Piecemeal defence. The Confederates were perhaps a bit slow in bringing up their reserves, which allowed to combined weight of Sherman's Corps to engage a single division at a time. When they did manage to combine their defending units on the outskirts of Vicksburg, the battle was almost won.
• The long march through the woods. Initially we thought that repeatedly failing orders checks on the divisions on the woods was a bad thing as it left Osterhaus unsupported. However, Stevenson's Division would have had the opportunity to break either Carr or Hovey, potentially winning them the game.
• Blair's Division. Arriving late, Blair took over from Tuttle and broke Smith's Division, then charged in to drive Forney's troops out of their defences, and finally was instrumental in breaking Loring's Division. All without losing a single unit.

A great game.

There are still four more turns to play, however, it may be that there isn't another major battle in the campaign, and if there is, it probably won't be as big as both sides took damage. We've each lost a complete division and two of the remaining Confederate divisions have been reduced to a single battery of artillery. There might need to be a bit of re organising to make things make sense.

A battle in the east is possible, but the Confederates need a couple of turns of reinforcements before this can happen. However a few more skirmishes are possible in the interim.

It's definitely not over.

Vicksburg: Gibraltar of the West

I've been threatening to do a campaign for a while, and a couple of weeks back we managed to get started on one. It's a American Civil War campaign set in 1863 featuring, unsurprisingly, the Union attempts to capture the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg in order to free up the passage of the Mississippi and cut the Confederacy in two.

I'm not going to go into the history as, if you're interested, there's a plethora of resources available online, one of which is a set of free campaign rules for the game Altar of Freedom, which I've adapted for our use.

During this campaign, Matt and I will be commanding the Union army under General U.S. Grant as he takes the long route round to surprise and besiege Vicksburg. Meanwhile, Pete and Wes are controlling the motley collection of Confederate forces assembled under the hapless General John C. Pemberton, and potentially General Joseph E. Johnston, with the goal of holding of the Union forces for as long as possible.

The campaign takes place over 8 turns and each turn features an event card and various forces trying to outmanoeuvre each other. The campaign, realistically, is not likely to feature many major battles, but those that do happen will matter a lot.

What follows is an account of the first few turns.

Deployment

For the Confederacy, Pemberton's forces are mainly massed around Vicksburg, with outlying pickets and divisions stationed at Warrenton and Edwards Station. the city of Jackson is only sparsely defended, but the campaign allows for the possibility of reinforcement there, so any planned assault would have to be quick before it becomes too well defended.

The Union army is stationed around its supply depot in Willow Springs. Sherman's Corps is to the west, McClernand's Corps is in the centre, closest to Vicksburg, and McPherson's Corps is in the east, looking at the longest route to any planned destination.

Turn 1 - Soaking Rains

Several days of rain saturate the roads,
turning them into muddy quagmires.

The Union assault gets off to a slow start as all movement is severely hampered. McPherson's Corps trudges slowly northwards towards Utica, whilst McClernand's Corps limps towards the Big Black River, only to find that Confederate pickets (not pictured, for some reason) have destroyed one of the ferries, limiting their opportunities to cross. Sherman's Corps is completely unable to leave Willow Springs due to the inclement weather. There is some movement amongst the Confederate forces, but they are happy to sit tight and let Mother Nature fight on their behalf.

Turn 2 - Panic in Jackson

Fearing for the safety of the capital,
Johnston evacuates Jackson in haste.

For reasons known only to himself, General Johnston evacuates Jackson leaving the Confederate forces under-supplied and with less ability to move and respond to the Federal army. Perhaps it was the fact that McPherson was clearly heading towards undefended Jackson, with some of his troops reaching as far as Raymond.

Meanwhile, Sherman finally gets his Corps moving north towards Warrenton whilst McClernand reroutes his forces to cross the Big Black at a different point, thanks to the actions of the Confederate pickets.

Turn 3 - Lost Courier

Couriers riding between Johnston and Pemberton
are captured, delivering intel to Grant.

More misfortune for the Confederacy, however, in this case the intel received was their current score of victory points, and Matt and I were surprised that simply by the being no Union troops surrounding Vicksburg, Pete and Wes were already almost half way to victory.

Their discovery spurred the Federal troops into action. McPherson's Corps continued it's fast advance, cutting the rail lines at Clinton, in striking distance of Jackson. McClernand pushed on to almost the outskirts of Vicksburg, but was unable to make contact with the enemy.

This was not a problem for Sherman, however as Blair's Division clashed with Bowen's Division at Warrenton. Fully aware of the full might of the Union army massing in the countryside around them, Bowen retreated back to Vicksburg before he was cut off.

With Grant at the gates of Vicksburg, a major engagement was surely imminent.

Turn 4 - Old Grudges...

Still simmering with personal grievances,
McClernand protests Grant's orders.

McClernand was clearly unimpressed with the idea of leading the assault on Vicksburg and refused to move, so it was left to Sherman to initiate battle, which he did with zeal. Dispatching Blair after Bowen and then sending Steele across country to draw Smith into battle. This would surely pull Pemberton out from the Vicksburg defences and force McClernand to get off his behind and into battle.

A major engagement ends all further action for the turn as the battle is fought.

The Battle of Vicksburg

The battlefield is outlined in red.

The coming battle is going to be a tough ask for the Union, who, despite having a slight advantage in numbers and artillery, will begin the game with only a single division deployed on the table, facing a worrying four Confederate divisions dug in around Vicksburg. However, as the battle goes on, reinforcements will arrive by road from the south, west and east, potentially allowing the Union to outflank the rebels and bring their numbers to bear.

The consequences of this battle could be dramatic. A rebel victory will surely see them amass enough victory points to be within touching distance of victory, whereas a Union victory will drive the Confederates out of Vicksburg and completely change the complexion of the campaign. This one matters.

Amassing the Army

The size of this battle required a bit of painting in order to provide enough troops, so I've done another three units of 6mm Union infantry, and a few more commanders. Technically, I've painted these units up as US Colored regiments (you might just be able to tell), but they won't serve in this capacity in the battle as we're a couple of years too early for them.

I now have all the troops that I need to be able to take control of Sherman's Corps in the coming battle. I will be attacking from the west, closest to the Vicksburg defences, whilst Matt, as the recalcitrant McClernand, will be entering via the east and south, rushing to support my advance units. I'm not sure how Pete and Wes are dividing their forces, but they will have to watch their flanks as the advance.

The results of the battle will be in the next post...

Black Powder - The Battle of Wilson's Creek

Models were painted, scenery was placed, it was time for battle to be joined. Matt and I would be marshalling the proud blue bellies of the Union in our attempt to win Missouri to our cause against those vile, traitorous, secessionists of the Confederacy, Pete and Wes.

The battle we would be fighting was the Battle of Wilson's Creek, 1861, the first major engagement in the western theatre of the American Civil War. Brigadier Nathaniel Lyon had chased Sterling Price's Missouri State Guard to the southwestern corner of the state, where the Missouri rebels had been joined by Benjamin McCulloch's troops from Arkansas. Despite being outnumbered, the aggressive Lyon saw his opportunity to drive all significant Confederate forces out of the state.

Confederate Forces (Benjamin McCulloch)
1st Brigade - 1 Large Infantry Regiment (Rifled Muskets), 2 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets)
2nd Brigade - 3 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets), Smoothbore Artillery Battery
3rd Brigade - 6 Infantry Regiments (Smoothbore Muskets), Smoothbore Artillery Battery
4th Brigade - 3 Infantry Regiments (Smoothbore Muskets), Smoothbore Artillery Battery
5th Brigade - 3 Infantry Regiments (Smoothbore Muskets)
Cavalry Brigade - 2 Cavalry Regiments

Union Forces (Nathaniel Lyon)
1st Brigade - 3 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets), Smoothbore Artillery Battery
2nd Brigade - 3 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets), Smoothbore Artillery Battery
3rd Brigade - 6 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets)
4th Brigade - 4 Infantry Regiments (Rifled Muskets), Cavalry Troop, Smoothbore Artillery Battery

Our forces arrayed for battle.

Despite the scenario giving us the option to have one brigade attack the enemy in the rear, Matt and I opted to concentrate our outnumbered forces, and hope that Pete and Wes were worried enough about the rear attack to deploy troops to deal with the threat, preventing them (initially, at least) from overwhelming us. I was commanding the 1st and 2nd Brigades, which we placed on the flanks to be held back  in case of sweeping flanking movements (one of which we knew would come from the cavalry which were off table). Matt's 3rd and 4th Brigades were massed in the centre, although this was a bit too cramped to bring them all into play, and things got a bit confused over the first couple of turns.

Worryingly, for me at least, Wes and Pete decided to mass on the flanks too. Pete was controlling the 1st, 2nd and 4th Brigades, as well as the Cavalry, and had placed his two better brigades (more resilient and armed with rifled muskets) facing my 2nd Brigade, and we all knew that the Confederate Cavalry would be showing up on that flank at some point too. Meeanwhile, Wes had placed his massive 3rd Brigade on the opposite flank. Only the 4th Brigade was in the centre, whilst the under-strength 5th Brigade was held in reserve as defence against a rear attack.

To an extent, our plan had worked. At least one brigade had been held back, and the rest we scattered and had to negotiate the stream before they could get to us. What's more, we not only out-ranged the Confederates, but we also had better artillery to greet them as they attacked. Until either the cavalry showed up, or the 5th Brigade was able to get into line, the numbers were also pretty much even.

It was time to put our theory to the test.

A series of failed orders tests see the Union stay where they are.

The Confederates advance in force.

The artillery of the 1st and 4th Brigades fail to get across the stream.

The 3rd Brigade also leave their artillery behind.

Rifled muskets get into range.

Confederate regiments are disordered by sporadic fire.

The entire line is disrupted.

Sporadic return fire causes one Union regiment to retire 'whipped'.

Close range negates the Union advantage and tests the flank, which holds.

Another regiment from the centre is whipped, leaving it vulnerable.
The 3rd Brigade redeploys to protect the 4th.

2nd Brigade take the brunt of almost half the Confederate army.

Combined artillery and musket fire takes it's toll.

The largest Confederate brigade retires, and the flank is secure.

2nd Brigade begins to crumble.

Despite a valiant defence, the 2nd Brigade can't hold.

The stubborn 4th Brigade is finally pushed back.

The Confederate forces sweep around the flank.

The battered 4th Brigade cannot cope and collapses.

That was close!

We were within a whisker of breaking the Confederate 5th Brigade as both armies raced to envelop each other's flanks. If we'd held for another turn, we might have done enough to drive off the enemy. Black Powder is a funny game in that both sides experienced shooting failing to have the expected impact, whilst battered regiments just wouldn't break.

Personally, I think I did the right thing putting my toughest regiments on the flanks of my brigades and both were instrumental in my little brigades holding for as long as they did. Matt and I definitely benefited from Wes and Pete having trouble getting their artillery into action quickly, and we were able to disorder their lines consistently with our own artillery. We probably didn't make as good use of the hill as we could have, and we probably should have worked harder to bring more of our units into the battle earlier. We were also a bit too cautious, and I should have tried to charge to drive off the cavalry, as shooting had not effect on the dismounted skirmishers.

Wes and Pete were very aggressive, as befitted having the advantage of numbers, but putting the 3rd Brigade at point blank range from my artillery, enabled me to do damage quickly to counteract their numbers advantage. Massing on the flanks ultimately won them the game, and was a sound strategy.

Overall, I think we did well, and came closer to beating the Confederates than our historical counterparts. At some point, it might be nice to play a game where we have the same size force as Pete and Wes, although that shouldn't be a problem as we move through the Civil War - number were usually the Confederacy's problem.

Next week, Pete and Matt are going one on one with each other in the scenario from the main rulebook, Daybreak at Hangman's Creek. I'm going as 'umpire', mainly to iron out the rules mistakes we made in this game. We're also working towards the Bartlett's Farm scenario, which requires me to paint another four stands of infantry.