The Battle of Hadley Hall - 22nd May 1778

It's been over two years since I have played any American War of Independence games in the shed-o-war (the last one was the Battle of Freemans Farm). I really like this period and the look of the games and Posties collection of figures are excellent. Four Rejects gathered to play with sides being decided randomly before any of us saw the setup. The two C/O's (Ray and Richard) then went into the shed and deployed their forces before calling in the second in commands (Surjit and myself). 

The Setup

This is a fictional encounter set around the rather grand looking Hadley Hall...my namesake wasn't too pleased to be having a battle on his front lawn. I've no idea which side he sympathised with but as soon as the battle began he and his family wisely hid in the back yard. 

Order of Battle

This is the OOB that Postie drew up for us. To explain the letters next to the units mean the following; E means Elite; V Veteran; and T Trained. The number after that is how many figures are in a unit so you can see there is a lot of difference in sizes. 

British - c/o Maj-Gen Sir William Howe
  1st Brigade Col Meadows
    Combined Grenadiers (E) (20)
    Combined Light Infantry (E) (20)
  2nd Brigade Maj-Gen Grant (1)
    23rd Fusilers (V) (16)
    42nd Highlanders (V) (16)
    55th Line (V) (16)
    64th Line (V) (16)
    Medium Gun
  3rd Brigade Maj-Gen Leslie
    7th Fusiliers (V) (16)
    27th Line (V) (16)
    26th Line (V) (16)
    4th Line (V) (16)
    Light Gun
  4th Brigade Col von Lossberg (Hessians)
    Von Woellworth ex von Rall - Grenadier (E) (24)
    Von Knyphhausen Fusiliers (T) (24)
    Combined Grenadiers (E) (24)
    Light Gun
  5th Maj-Gen Ernst Von Prueschenk (Hessians)
    Jagers - Rifle (E) (16)

American - c/o General George Washington 
  1st Brigade Col Irving
    2nd Pennsylvania Line (T) (16)
    5th Pennsylvania Line (T) (16)
    7th Pennsylvania Line (T) (12)
    10th Pennsylvania Line (T) (12)
    Medium Gun
  2nd Brigade Gen Poor
    1st New Hampshire Line (T)  (20)
    2nd New Hampshire Line (T)  (20)
    4th New York Line (T)  (16)
    Sherburnes Additional (T)  (16)
    Light Gun
  3rd Brigade Gen Patterson
    8th Massachusetts Line (T)  (20)
    12th Massachusetts Line (T)  (16)
    14th Massachusetts Line (T)  (20)
    Webbs Additional (T)  (24)
    Medium Gun
  4th Brigade Gen Smallwood
    1st Maryland Line (T)  (20)
    2nd Maryland Line (T)  (16)
    3rd  Maryland Line (T)  (20)
    Haslets Delaware (V)  (16)
    Light Gun
  5th Brigade Col Daniel Morgan
    Riflemen (Rifle) (E)  (16)


The Action
I didn't, unfortunately, note down the positions of the various brigades. I have given myself a stern talking to and a slap on the wrist and promise not to be so lax in future!

Initial setup. The British are on the right commanded by Ray and Surjit. 

They check the rules for loopholes before play commences...

The Americans look across at a temptingly thin British line, knowing that they will take significant casualties if they attack. The plan, however, is to do just that. This is the strongest part of the American line and we have a chance (albeit a slim one) of breaking the British here. 

Meanwhile, on the other flank, my job is to pose enough of a threat to keep Surjit's Brigades here. I decided early on that I wasn't going to present myself as a target to British firepower until the very last. I keep some of my units behind a convenient hill and wait patiently. The bulk of my troops, however, are near the centre and I start with a feint forwards to keep Surjts attention. 

The advance begins. 

Richards lines move forwards. The first units to fire on each other are the skirmishers in front of Hadley Hall and they continue to exchange shot throughout the battle. 

Richard takes a closer look at the skirmishers. 

We decide that the British skirmishers are quackers so close to the duck pond (sorry, had to be said). 

Stirring stuff. This period looks so good...This reminds me of an advert I saw as a kid on the back cover of a comic book...

Years before I discovered wargaming as a hobby and clearly I was already hooked! 

Smoke fills the air as both sides begin to come within range of musketry fire. The British fire is deadly, but not enough to halt the American advance. 

Badley mauled by gunfire some American units still get in close enough to initiate a charge

Smoke a flame fills the air and the Maryland boys show their metal in melee. 

In the centre, I push forward to put some pressure on the British that have emerged from the woods. The Brits eventually fall back to protect themselves. Meanwhile other units under my command begin to exchange fire with some German units. 

Richards attack on the flank may be paying off. One of the Maryland regiments is in, with more ready behind to consolidate any gains made. 

Musketry ripples along the front and one of my Medium gans manages to unleash cannister on one of the German units. Casualties are high but these units are so large they seem to absorb whatever I throw at them. 

Success! The Maryland regiment has routed one of the British regiments. They follow up with a secondary charge into the second line of British units but this time don't do so well. We were actually hoping the Maryland regiment would run away, clearing the way for the units that followed, but they held fast and only fell back half a move...putting them slap bang in the way of their comrades following behind. 

The British have been trying to get more units into this fight and have now got one coming in from the side. The British ability to fight in Open Order is a real problem here. This means we lose once dice when shooting at them but they still get to fire back at full strength. Plus being British they get a bonus for British Volley fire and you can see the Americans have an uphill struggle on their hands. 

In the centre, I have been keeping within effective musketry range but trying to avoid a British Charge. My fire has been a bit of a hotch-potch with the usual poor dice rolls mixed with the occasional success. On balance, nothing to write home about. However, it has kept Surjit occupied and he seems to have ignored his C/O's plan to shift units towards the left flank. 

On our right flank, my heavily outnumbered revolutionaries have stayed out of fire behind the hill. If we can just win initiative I'll bring them forward but for not two units seem to have attracted the attention of four veteran British Regiments and a Gun Battery. 

On the far left flank, the Skirmishers continue to pick away at each other. No doubt the owner of Hadley Hall is most displeased with the occasional stary musketball as windows are smashed. 

Washington provides some welcome stability to units that would otherwise have crumbled by now. The Revolutionary advance continues. 

At last, we win initiative! My two flank units surge forward over the hill and unleash two very good volleys at the British. Huzzar!

In the centre, more fire from my troops whittles down one of the British Regiments but it just retires in good order out of close range. Cowards!

The American's push forward again. Another regiment manages to close with the enemy but British firepower is starting to take its toll. 

The British line seems to be holding fast and the Americans are bleeding themselves into the ground. One more effort and we'll see where we are at. 

In they go, but the British hold fast and the Americans are forced back again. 

Rather than continue fighting fruitlessly Washington asks Howe if he will allow the Americans to withdraw from the field. Howe being a decent chap agrees and the American loose, but with their army able to fight another day. 

Richard was recognised for Outstanding Leadership and Courage on the Battlefield. We gave it our best shot and almost managed to break through the British line. But almost of not enough and conceding defeat and securing an honourable withdrawal was the only option in the end. 

Analysis
Despite being on the losing side (again!) I thoroughly enjoyed that game. I really do like the period and I think Posties home brew rules (called God save the King) work well. Not overly complicated but with enough flavour to give a real feel for warfare in the rebellious colonies. I just hope I don't have to wait another two years before we play this period again. 

Yet more terrain

I've been working on more terrain elements for my 6mm To the Strongest! games. Having made some smaller items a few weeks ago I wanted to make something a little larger that could be used as a significant terrain feature in a game. These are generic enough to be used in a number of scenarios. I'm probably going to make a lot more in the coming months as I'm hoping to significantly increase my storage and gaming space in the not too distant future (more on that in a couple of months).

The Marshy Stream

This is a two-part model that can be combined to form a significant feature. I envisage this being used to branch off from a river and represent a bog draining into the river or a shallow valley filled with rough vegetation. The marsh forms a linear barrier that can't be crossed but the land around it is treated as rough terrain and can be traversed by some troops, albeit as a difficult activation.

Large Hill

Well, it's a large hill...there's not much more that can be said about this. I've made this to sit along a table edge and I will eventually make some more like this. I'll also make some that can go together to create much larger features, but for the moment I have just made this one. Built entirely from corrugated cardboard then coated in filler, it is surprisingly robust while still being very lightweight. I have noticed a little bit of warping as the plaster dried, so that's something to consider. I think next time I'll arrange the layers at 90° to each other to improve their structural integrity, particularly on larger builds.

Large Rough Terrain Features

So we have a large boulder-strewn area and a muddy field. Both are treated as rough terrain which means they can be traversed by regular infantry but only as a difficult activation. Imagine a formed unit of orderly Romans trying to maintain formation as they passed through that muddy ground. Light troops, however, ignore difficult activations for this type of terrain. 

For comparison, the square grid is about 7.5cm (3") and each box comfortable holds two bases of  6mm infantry or cavalry. I'll be making more terrain in the coming weeks and of course, I'll post some pictures when complete. 

Battle of Moonshine Ridge - 1862 Maryland

Sunday was unbearably hot inside the shed-o-war, but we persevered because we were playing an excellent ACW game using the Fire and Fury rules. Its been a while since I have played this period or these rules (I think I missed the last game at Reject HQ) so I pulled out my copy of the rules and skimmed through them on Saturday in preparation. Apparently, in that last game, all the players were so frustrated with the way the game played that Postie said he would try to alter some aspects of the rules. So having dutifully read the rules I turn up on Sunday to find that Postie had prepared several changes that made large chunks of the rulebook invalid! So this game was more of a test of some ideas he had that would 'fix' some of the supposedly frustrating elements of the original rules.

The Setup
The game is a fictional battle but set in the midst of a real campaign, so Postie drew up our orders of battle from forces appropriate to the time period and location. Both sides started the game in march column, streaming into the field of battle. We all got a 'free move' before play commenced, based on the roll of 2d6. In keeping with my poor dice rolling tradition, the average score for my Brigades was about 5 and consequently my Division bearly moved!

Order of Battle
Errr.... I forgot to copy the OOB's at the end of the game, so you'll probably have to look at Ray's BatRep (when he does it) if you want to know exactly what forces were arrayed against each other. In my defence, it was very VERY hot in the shed-o-war and by the end of the game, all I wanted to do was get outside to gulp down some fresh air.


Action

Both sides started the game in a column of march

We then rolled for an initial 'free move'. 

Ray's Brigades moved well, gaining a lot of ground with that initial move. 

Surjit and I as the Confederates did less well!

Turn one and Ray brought on some reserves, two brigades of Mounted Infantry, by the second half of the turn they were across the table and behind our flank! They then dismounted and took up a position in the wheatfield on the left of this picture. 

Surjit moves to counter this shifting two Brigades to the hill. 

Meanwhile, my guns have got themselves in a good position and begin to open fire on the advancing New Yorkers across the table. My artillery fore was above average for most of the game and did significant damage to some of the Union Brigades. 

Surjit's Virginians continue to move into position, although sending two Brigades to deal with the Union dismounted infantry may be a bit of overkill. 

Meanwhile, the Unions Michigan Brigades adopt a strong defensive position in a wheat field.

Fire begins to be exchanged between the dismounted Union cavalry and one of Surjit's Virginia Brigades. 

While more of his infantry get close to the Union troops. Ray was compalining endlessly about how we (the Confederates) weren't attacking enough so he moved forward on us. We'd lost time at the beginning of the battle with poor movement but we also were not stupid enough to assault Union troops in the favourable ground.

Michigans charge Virginians on a hill. Despite the advantage, Surjit was never going to win this without the support and his unit was thrown back badly mauled. 

Meanwhile, my Brigades have finally got into position. The poor initial move was compounded by a subsequent turn where I managed to roll a 1on the movement chart. Three Brigades were unable to move or change formation, one of which was under fire from Union artillery. Surjit didn't want me to advance here but I had spent nearly three turns unable to even take advantage of any cover. 

Meanwhile, Surjits Virginians have charged and seen off the Union mounted infantry. But the cost was high. Posties changes to the rules give defenders a bonus for being behind light cover but also incur a penalty for anyone trying to assault across the same. This 'double penalty' made the fight here very costly for the Confederates. 

In the centre, the Unions troops from Pennsylvania and New York have advanced and charged the Confederate lines. 

Finally, on turn four our reserves arrive. Before the game started Stuart gave us a choice of where and when we wanted our cavalry to arrive. Surj wanted them to come on later in the game, although with hindsight I think an earlier entrance would have been desirable!

The Union charge, seen from the perspective of the blue bellies.

There is hand to hand fighting along most of the line. 

Union troops sweep up onto the hill after defeating one of Surjit's Virginian Brigades. 

 

A narrow victory in the melee send the Virginians back, but they are not out of the fight just yet. 

Meanwhile, I have had enough sitting behind my fence and decide to attack the Union troops that have come into charge range. My concern here was that if I continued to do nothing here Ray could move 'spare' units towards the centre where we were looking very thin. However, I now fell foul of the double penalty for charging across a fence. Despite getting a bonus for charging the enemy, another for outnumbering them, another for having my 'dander up' (a special rule invented by Postie) and more for having fresh units, I still lost by a significant margin. 

Boom Boom Boom... the only good part of the game for me, as my Artillery continues to perform well against the enemy. 

Lining up for another charge in the centre. However, by now time was getting late and we called the game a draw as neither side had the upper hand. 

Analysis
Well, I think it's fair to say that didn't go entirely to plan. I lost two turns early in the game simply trying to get my units into the formation and positions I wanted them. I was able to send a couple of my units to assist Surjit in the centre, but it took us so long to get started it felt like the game was already decided by that point. Over on the right, Surjit was wrong-footed by the excellent move of Rays mounted infantry. I don't think Surj would admit that, but I think we were both taken by surprise by Ray's bold move and I think that's why we both overreacted to the threat. Surj diverted two battalions to the threat of the dismounted infantry on our flank, which I'm convinced Ray had no plans to move once they were in position behind soft cover. That extra battalion could have helped us hold the line against the Union assault on the hill in that sector.

Then when our cavalry finally came on in Turn 4 (waaay too late in the game, but that was the C/O's decision) I don't think Surj handled them very well (sorry mate). I think he was lining them up for a Napoleonic style frontal charge of the Union infantry, but that's just not how cavalry of this period worked and I'm not convinced the rules would have favoured such a move either. Personally (and Ray agreed with me) I think they would have been better used to swing wide behind the Union flank, take a turn or two to get into position and then dismount to become a thorn in their side as his dismounted infantry were in ours. But I wasn't in command of these reserves so it's hard to say what I would have done when faced with such a conundrum. I had my own problems...

So, over on my flank, having spent several turns just trying to roll higher than a 1 on the movement chart (*facepalm*) I was effectively ordered to hold my position and support the centre. I was able to send two Brigades into the centre and one of these was instrumental in holding back a Union breakthrough charge that had destroyed one of the Virginia Brigades. Eventually, Ray brought his troops close enough to my line that I decided to charge his position. Despite supporting the charge with a second Brigade and have the benefit of a 'Dander up' charge, I was unable to beat the union troops because they were lined up behind a fence. We discussed this after the game and I felt the bonuses for standing behind a rail fence were just too high, effectively putting this on par with a fortification.

I had better luck with my Artillery. Indeed we all did with some devastating barrages falling on enemy units. I concentrated my fire on the leading Union brigades in front of my line and although I didn't destroy anything I did significant damage which possibly held back another union advance. We all felt that artillery was a little too powerful for the period and needed to be scaled back a little.

So at the end, we called the game a draw but I felt the Union forces had the upper hand. (Ray will probably say he won, don't belive it!). Postie needs to rethink some of the rule changes he was trying out but I hope to give these adapted rules another try because I have always enjoyed playing the period.