War for the Union - Test Game

Richard and I started playing this strategic level ACW a couple of weeks back.  It reminds me of War Between the States, so much so that I thought it must be a reissue or something, but I've now decided it is different.  

I have been trying to read the rules, but find I am forgetting them as soon as they have been read.  The game therefore seems more complex than it really is, but I am finding it a struggle to remember all the caveats, exclusions and changes depending on time, place etc.  A number of times we have had actions only to find that they couldn't have occurred for various reasons so we undid them.  As a learning exercise that's okay, but it does make planning difficult.

It is also a bugger to photograph, or maybe I just haven't got my act together.  I'm the Union so probably in character!

 Start of 1862

The war's been going for a year but the Confederates have just captured Washington.

But drilling down here is the Western Theatre in detail:

Kentucky joined the Union on the second attempt.  The US riverboats can stop the Rebels from crossing over to attack Cairo where Grant is covering the flank of the Army of the Ohio which is consolidating the Union hold on Kentucky.

In the East as mentioned Washington has been captured (a roll of a 10 will do that).

It is under the stack with the fatigue marker (which is rather a nice feature of the game)

For naval and battery units facing is important and makes things a bit fiddly as can be seen at Fort Monroe.  The similarities in counter shading for the two sides is also obvious in these photos.

In keeping with the times, Richard has provided this contribution:

Washington Bugle

8^th April 1862

DC Falls to Rebels

  White House Burned

Lincoln Flees!

Scene after the Battle

Rebels under TJ “Stonewall”  Jackson capture DC following major defeat for the Army of the Potomac

War for the Union News from the Front by our correspondent at the table’s edge

The morn of the battle did not bode well for Cadet General of the Army Haughey with a portentous spill of his morning coffee. Setting the tone for the day, an ill conceived landing in the swampy town of Beaufort,North Carolina in the middle of Winter ended in abject failure. The demoralized Union troops were finally picked out of the swamp by the Union Navy following a sharp rebuff by the Confederates under Macgruder.  Cadet General Haughey rued not having read the manual on successful Sea Movement during his time at West Point, but vowed to redouble his efforts so he can pass his final exams. Once the weather improved, however, a Major Disaster soon followed as General George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac suffered a major rout at the hands of the numerically smaller, but extremely motivated and very lucky rebel army of Northern Virginia lead by Confederate Army General JE Johnston.

Ordered by Confederate Cadet General Ciszewski to cross the Potomac after months of inactivity, the rebel army gambling heavily with the dice gods, engaged McClellan’s forces on the outskirts of the capital. Following a top of the table result and a bloody exchange with 20,000 casualties on both sides, McClellan’s nerve failed and he split his forces with the battered Army of the Potomac retreating into Baltimore, whilst a garrison was sent into the fortifications in DC.

Mr Lincoln and his family were hurriedly evacuated upon hearing news of the rebel’s victory and advance on the Capitol. Pausing briefly before departing in Carriage 1, and responding to questions from our correspondent, Mr Lincoln offered these prescient words of encouragement to Cadet General of the Army Haughey:

“Let no feeling of discouragement prey upon you, and in the end you are sure to succeed.”*

*Mr Lincoln has obviously read the scenario victory levels which make it very hard for the Rebels to avoid a sudden death game ending in 1862.

As Mr Lincoln’s carriage sped out of the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue, Confederate General Thomas Jackson, urging on his wearied, but exalted veterans to storm the DC defences, narrowly avoided death with the natural 6 thrown on the CRT. The battered and demoralized defenders of Fort Washington then routed from the city.

In exuberant scenes, rebels were seen waving Confederate Flags in the Oval Office of the White House before accidentally setting fire to the curtains whilst smoking the President’s cigars. The White House has been burned for the second time in its history.

A successful assault late in the day on the strategically important river junction of Cairo, Illinois by the Army of the Mississippi, lead to the discovery of important rules on Naval Zones of Influence, after Cadet General Haughey raised his hand and caught the attention of the umpire who disallowed the assault.

In spite of year’s of board generalship between them, both Cadet Generals Haughey and Ciszewski continue to struggle with their studies of what are proving to be truly comprehensive, but epic “Rules for a Civil War”. They hope the extensive case studies encountered over the last few weeks will stand them in good stead for their final exams.