American Civil War battle report

Great game, thanks for posting.

Thanks all for your interest and positive comments.

I find his Introduction to Wargamimg and One Hour wargames too simplistic, but Napoleonic Wargaming works well for big games. This battle was 15 units per side.

I made a number of changes which are at the end of this post. 

The new command rule worked well it gave just enough friction for the game too little be a little bit unpredictable without it being dominant.



The new inter penetration rule worked really well because it meant that we could bring forward fresh units to replace those that were degraded, though there is a risk that the interpenetrated unit would suffer more casualties as a result.


If an interpenetrated unit failed a morale test as a result of being interpenetrated, then it threw a D4 to see how many hits it took.



This works really well 'cause it means that sometimes an interpenetrated unit takes no casualties at all, or if you're unlucky you might lose a base, which I think reflects the loss of morale/cohesion which could happen if a worn unit was replaced by a fresh one.


The new test to charge and test receive rules also worked well and were just right for Acw. So we had cases when chargers refused to charge, and in one case a fresh charged unit refused to stand and ran off instead. They ran for two more moves and only rallied when they were just about to leave the table.


So most of the time the infantry stood and shot at each other, and then there were occasional charges when the opposing generals thought that they had the advantage, which I thought was very American Civil War.


Acw amendments for Neil Thomas Napoleonic rules.

Sequence

Both sides declare charges

Roll for initiative – winner chooses to move first or second

Firing – simultaneous

Melee – player with initiative chooses order of combats

Command

Command friction– roll a D6, on a 1 the unit may not move. Does not apply if there is a staff officer with the unit.

Units accompanied by a staff officer test when they lose a base – on a 1 the officer is killed. And not replaced.

Move

Infantry move and fire – 8 inches, move and not fire 12 inches

Cavalry move and fire 12 inches, move and not fire 20 inches

Artillery may not move and fire. Limbering is free, move is 12 inches

Units may turn up to 45 degrees without penalty.

Ranges

Rifled musket – 18

Carbine - 12

Artillery – short range under 20 inches, long 20-60, point blank (3 dice halved) 0-8 inches.

Firing

Units may move and fire at a penalty of -1.

Skirmishers – infantry units may deploy in skirmish. If so they are 1 point harder to hit. They may not charge, and if charged must fall back 1 move and take a morale test.

Charge test

Morale roll affected by modifiers

-1 per base lost;

+1 if unit is accompanied by a staff officer

+1 for Confederates

Test before any defensive fire.

Receive charge test

Morale roll affected by modifiers

-1 per base lost

+1 if unit is accompanied by staff officer

+1 if unit is in cover

Failed charge – unit may not move, may fire

Failed stand test – unit falls back 1 move facing away from the enemy and takes morale test. Unit must test each turn until it passes to return to the battle. If it fails in subsequent rounds it does not take more casualties.

Charger occupies the ground. Infantry may charge larger units.

Cavalry may only charge infantry units they outnumber. They may charge artillery frontally but must test to charge with -1 modifier. They use the same combat factors as infantry.

Units may interpenetrate, except when charging. The interpenetrated unit must take morale test. If the test is failed it takes D4 additional casualties.