Gettysburg - East Cavalry Field

 For our final game we played the action on East Cavalry Field that occurred on day 3 of the battle. The intent was for JEB Stuart to support Pickett's attack and exploit his "success". He found himself instead entangled with Gregg's Union cavalry.

Both sides deployed half their troops mounted as Light Cavalry and half dismounted as Mounted Skirmishers. This was a compromise to enable a bigger game with the troops available.   

The first action took place with Witcher's skirmishers attacking the Union troops opposite them in an attempt to push them back. They made some progress but were enable to really exploit it as both sides fed cavalry units into the area. 

In the west side Fitz-Lee advanced slowly on Custer's command, with both sides mounted troops clashing in the fields. Custer got the upper-hand and pushed the Confederates back.  

Centrally the Confederates attacked 1st New Jersey and wiped them out after a couple of turns. As both sides fed-in reinforcements a fluid attack/counter-attack melee formed in the centre.   

 The final result was a 3-2 win for the Union with JEB Stuart unable to break through the Union lines. 

Gettysburg - Roundtops week 2

At the end of last week's game Little Roundtop was under threat, the Confederates were pushing forward in the centre and the Wheatfield was firmly in Union hands. 

The Confederates attacked around Little Roundtop with heavy fire quickly weakening the troops on this exposed position. Meanwhile attacks continued in Devils Den and the ridge. The Union's first set of reinforcements launched several charges which pushed the Rebs back but led to heavy losses in the next round from shooting. 

Little Roundtop falls

Eventually Little Roundtop was taken and the Rebs wrested control of the ridge, giving them 3 objectives. Both sides received some additional reverses which both directed against the ridge. 

In the last couple of turns both sides made late attempts to contest  some of the objectives. The Union were able to contest the east side of the ridge and the Confederates the Wheatfield. So a final score of 2-0 to the Confederates.    

Wheatfield contested

  

Gettysburg - Roundtops part 1

We're moving towards the close with Gettysburg and so this week's game looks at Day 2 and the iconic locations around the Round Tops, Wheatfield and Devils Den. The Confederates are on the attack as they look to break the eastern-end of the Union lines.

Both sides deployed as per the map, with the Rebs assigning their first set of reserves to attack through the centre.

Kershaw's Division

McLaw on the flanks

Little Roundtop's defenders

Devils Den

The Wheatfield

The Rebs attacked across the line as they sought to press the Union.

Under heavy fire the Union troops holding the ridge and Devils Den decide to pull back behind the crest and await the inevitable attack. 

In the Wheatfield the Indians stormed into the Federal defences but were destroyed in the process.  

Centrally the Confederates attacked in great numbers into Devils Den and managed to clear the Union forces from the area. 

The attack on the Wheatfield was stalled though as Union troops countered the initial thrust by the Indians. 

On Little Roundtop the Rebs attacked and captured the summit before being pushed back again. 

The evening ended with 7 moves played. The Wheatfield is a little stalled, Little Roundtop is about to fall and in the centre the Rebs have made good ground but the Union reserves have arrived.

  

Gettysburg - Culp's Hill what-if

This game is a what-if scenario. On the evening of the first day General Ewell ordered and attack on Culp’s hill to weaken the Union defence. The commander of the Stonewall Brigade mistook enemy scouts for a stronger force and so never attacked. But what if he had pushed on? There could have been an encounter battle as both sides tried to capture the vital hill on the eastern end of the Union lines.

The Confederates were the more aggressive, storming forward to occupy the hills while the Union made a more cautious advance.   

 

On the unwooded end the Rebs captured the heights and looked to hang on as they came under Union fire. On the wooded end the Rebs sat within the woods out of sight daring the Union to move in and risk being shot first. 

Under growing fire the Confederates pushed a unit into the backfield that caused disruption to the Union troops seeking to attack the wooded end. This delayed the attack for a few turns. 

The battle ended with the Union troops finally pushing forward. They were able to contest half of the wooded hill and captured half of the open hill. So a draw with both sides holding one of the four objectives.