Pea Ridge March 6-8, 1862 :Turn 1

I used the Phase MArket to represent the entry of McCullough's Division on turn 1. In fact, this division was made up of two brigades. These were Hebert and MIntosh. McCulloughs Division enters on Turn 1:

Osterhaus’s 1st Division enters near Leetown. The 1st Division order of battle is as follows:

Bussey’s 3rd Iowa cavalry enters with Osterhaus’ 1st Division. These units are to move toward Leetown.

Little’s Brigade, Slack’s Brigade and the Price “B” artillery enter at hexes 3104 and 3105. Slack and Greene’s Brigades move to hex 3404, while Price’s units in 3105 are not able to move, since they are located in a zone of control with the Union forces next to them. The Confederate goal is to outflank Elkhorn Tavern.

The Price “A” artillery enters the map and moves next to the Union 24th Missouri.

Dodge’s Brigade moves from Pratt’s Store along the Telegraph Rd.

Across Five Aprils (Victory Games) - Pea Ridge Opening Setup

The first game replay that I will be starting from the Civil War will be from the Across Five Aprils series of games from Victory Games. In the last post, I added a good link for more information on this game from Boardgamegeek. I think Boardgamegeek is a great resource for information and reviews on board wargames.

I will be using some screenshots from the Vassal module that I have for this game. I like using either Vassal modules or Cyberboard modules for online play of board wargames.

For a brief background on the Battle of Pea Ridge, check out the link at History.com: Below is a screenshot from the Vassal module showing the historical opening setup for Pea Ridge:

Across Five Aprils (Victory Games) Game Replays Coming Soon

I have recently been learning the rules for the American Civil War game series Across Five Aprils by Victory Games. I will add some screenshots from either the Vassal or Cyberboard modules to help with the replays. Here is a link to Boardgamegeek that has some good information on this game series. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4047/across-5-aprils

Napoleon at War Replay from Hexwars - 7/29/2011

Figure 1 – Starting Positions My opponent on Hexwars. com chose to not use the “fog of war” option which means that you cannot see your opponents forces on the game board unless you are in range or within a zone of control. I prefer to use the fog of war option, since it adds the uncertainty that exists in a more realistic simulation. Another advantage I have as I play the part of Napoleon is that I already know that the Prussians will arrive on the French right flank somewhere during turn 2. They have to enter on a clear hex (non-forest). The basic plan I had at the start was to try and hit hard in the center, and work some forces over to the left side of my line to threaten the British right flank. Since this game has the Prussians entering the fight on the east edge in a clear hex, I decided to try and race some of my more mobile units to the eastern edge to try and prevent the Prussians from entering too close to my right flank. It is possible to block the Prussians from entering too close to the French lines, which would buy me some time.

Figure 2 – After the French movement phase, and combat phase. The British 3-3 Reserve artillery was forced to retreat in the center. The Det/I 1-4 Infantry was defeated by overwhelming odds and eliminated. At the end of the French attack, the Allies had lost 1 point to no French losses.

Figure 3 – Second Allied Retreat in Center Two Allied artillery units were forced to retreat in the center.

Figure 4 – End of French Turn 1 Allied Turn 1 The Allied player was very aggressive on this first turn. Rather than drop back and wait for the Prussians to arrive, he did a lot of damage to my front lines.

Figure 5 – Allied Turn 1 Attack The first attack was a 3-1 assault on the French 2nd Cavalry on the French right flank The involved units have their hexes highlighted in figure 5.

Figure 6 – Second Allied Attack on French Right The next attack came again on the French right flank.

Figure 7 – Third Allied Attack of Turn 1

Figure 8 – Fourth Allied Attack of Turn 1

Figure 9 – Fifth Allied Attack of Turn 1

Figure 10 – Sixth Allied Attack of Turn 1

Figure 11 – Situation at the End of Turn 1 French Turn 2 I decided that I had better step up my own attacks with what I could. I made a gamble to try and seal off the eastern edge of the map where I thought the Prussian reinforcements would cause the most damage. I located cavalry units along the eastern side to put a ZOC (Zone of Control) over the most clear hexes as possible. My other plan was to try and dislodge the infantry 1 Br/I, but I soon learned I could not occupy the wooded hexes to the south of this unit. The situation did not look good for the French, because there were not a lot of opportunities for high odds attacks. Below is a screen shots of one of the attacks that I made along the front.

Figure 12 – French Attack Allied Right

Figure 13 – Situation After French Portion of Turn 2 Complete

Figure 14 – Status at Start of Allied Movement Phase of Turn 2 Turn 3 The Allied player continued his aggressive attacks against the French. The French center was close to being wide open at this point, with not enough units to maintain the wide front. The Allies only need to eliminate 40 points worth of French units in order to achieve a victory. At the start of turn 3, the Allies were very close to this. After the first couple of attacks, the French lost units in an attack, which brought about an Allied victory in turn 3.

Figure 15 – Start of Turn 3

Figure 16 – Allied Victory Turn 3

Figure 17 – Victory Points

Napoleon at Waterloo Replay to Begin

I don't have any plans to restart the podcast, but I would like to post some game replays here.

I am starting a replay of an old classic game that I got in an old issue of Strategy and Tactics years ago. It is Napoleon at War. It is a simple introductory hex and counter game, but it can be fun to play. The game lives online at Hexwars.com, and is available as a free play game that you can play against real opponents in a Play By Email (PBEM) mode. I plan to post information as this battle progresses.

Been Away for Awhile

I apologize for not updating this blog for quite awhile. It can take a lot of time working on a podcast, and the pay is not great. It has been a lot of fun playing around and learning how to construct RSS feeds, etc. It can be a challenge trying to keep a regular podcast schedule, however. I had planned to review a game provided in the Armchair General magazine, which I never got around to doing. I am still a subscriber of Armchair General, and if you are looking for information on military history as well as a discussion of strategy and tactics through the ages, I highly recommend this magazine.

Military Simulation and History Podcast Episode 5

Early events of the Civil War. The Battle of First Bull Run is also explained. A recent wargame by MadMinute Games re-creates this battle. Listen to the podcast for details.

Military Simulation and History Podcast Episode 4

This podcast episode gives and overview of the Battle of Shiloh and lists some wargames that cover this battle.