Springfield Station

October 3rd, 1861. The 31st NY volunteers are tasked with clearing Springfield Station in another scenario from The Coming Thunder.

My opponent's Confederates will be facing a Union force twice the size of the Confederate force. Unbeknownst to my opponent, the Confederates have a variable number of turns (4 draws of the blank card) to escape off table, after the firing has started,  before they are surrounded by other Union forces.

He does know the mission is to delay the Yankees and then escape.

The first Union formation enters the table, but all the Confederates deploy in a firing line and are ready for them.

I decide to move forward and change formation to a firing line, but fail to get past the corn field bottleneck.

Despite firing at long range, the Confederates are hitting the Yankees pretty hard.

To make matters worse, a random event first causes the Yankees to accidentally shoot their captain (wounded, reduced 1 level) and then foul their barrels (-1 to hit).

Help is on the way, but because of the bottleneck, they cannot engage the enemy.

After a few attempts the wounded Union captain manages to convince his troops to stop firing and get out of the way.

The Confederates don't seem to be in a hurry to escape and continue to pour fire into the Union lines.

Yet another random event delivers a pall of smoke in front of the Union troops, making it nearly impossible for them to hit anything.

Anxious to join the fight, the second Union formation marches into close range of the Confederates (and past the obscuring smoke).

Then the Blank Card is drawn for the 4th time, meaning that the Confederate force has been surrounded by other Union forces and are forced to surrender.

Victory for the Union!

 

Retreat from Lewinsville

In this hypothetical scenario from The Coming Thunder the Yankee 2nd battallion, 1st California regiment and 5th Wisconsin volunteers are retreating from Lewinsville after another reconnaissance on September 25th, 1861. One of their wagons has broken down and must be repaired before continuing the retreat.

The Yankees are already deployed on the table and can expect a Confederate force from three directions!

Here they come!

The first Conferate formation appears in front of the Wisconsin Volunteers and opens fire.

A second formation is moving through the corn field intending to flank the Yankees.

I move my Wisconsin Volunteers forward to fire from effective range, thinking I'll have time to pull them back before my opponent's Confederates are able to flank them. A costly mistake in hindsight.

A third Confederate formation marches down the road on the other side of the table and starts blasting the Californians.

 With the arrival of the Confederate gun, significant holes start to appear in the Union ranks.

The Union formation collapses under mounting shock while the Confederates are trying to get through the corn field.

The Yankee force morale plummets and its over. Yankee survivors retreat and leave the wagon behind.

Victory for the Confederates!

Escape from Lewinsville

More American Civil War from The Coming Thunder, covering the actions of the 79th New York Volunteers and the 13th Virginia regiment on September 11th, 1861.

Union troops are pulling out of Lewinsville, Virginia and must get their gun limbered and transported off table. 

Fortunately for the Yankees, the gun crew deploys first.

Confederates are however already emerging from the woods.

Union troops are quick to respond and soon both sides are moving all their forces forward.

 

The Confederates clear the woods, form up and open fire.

The Union gun crew fires their gun before limbering and getting out of the way.

Their comrades are taking a beating getting into position.

With three leaders constantly removing shock they finally manage to form up and start sending volleys towards the Confederates. 

Confederate cavalry have dismounted, but are now taking fire from the second Union unit.

The Union line on the other side is collapsing under the concentrated Confederate volleys.

They have bought enough time for the gun to escape from the table.

Just like their historical counterparts, both sides claim a victory: The Confederates removed the enemy from Lewinsville. The Yankees succesfully extracted the gun.

😀