"ACW AAR - Raymond, Mississippi - w/Gettysburg Soldiers rules" Topic

Hi Guys,

Here's a pictorial AAR of an ACW game I recently played using the Gettysburg Soldiers rules. The scenario situation was drawn from the Battle of Raymond, Mississippi, which was part of the Vicksburg campaign, that was fought on May 12, 1863. I picked this battle to do because it was a small engagement, and this would allow me to try out the Gettysburg Soldiers rules with just a few brigades involved. The figures I used are my Gordon & Hague 10mm minis, that I've touched up a bit from their stock paint jobs. Now I did change the rule's figure scale, making a stand equal 100 men each, and correspondingly changed the ground scale to 1" = 50 yards, with the movement and firing ranges reduced down by 1/3rd (for example an infantry regiment in the game could move 4" instead of 6" in Open terrain), and the game played very smoothly!

Here's the battle area, with the Rebel Ghost markers in place awaiting the expected arrival of the Union forces (the leading column of enemy elements from "Black Jack" Logan's Division), which will enter the area on the road in the left lower corner of the picture.

After the initial skirmish over the bridge crossing of the Fourteen Mile Creek, the two Union brigades deployed to engage the Rebs positioned in the woods along the line of the creek.

As a bold coup de main, the Union player rushed a regiment across the bridge when the opportunity arose (the red heart markers seen on some of the bases is how we tracked hits on the 100 men stands – with the combat system still using the stock 50 men per hit mechanics – now a stand is worth "2 hits").

My friend Tim, the Confederate player contemplates his options (Tim couldn't win a Fire initiative roll if his life depended on it – we felt this skewed the game play).

A picture of the final unit dispositions, with the Union units having largely broken through along the primary road axis.

I'll be putting this scenario on again in a few days, but will try it this time using a simultaneous firing phase. As-is, I really like the rules, and with my few scaling modifications I feel it'll be the "grand tactical" set I'll be presenting larger ACW scenarios with in the future.

Love the table and minis…what scale are the troops. And the mat is very effective!

Great stuff

Hi WP!

The miniatures are from the discontinued Gordon & Hague pre-painted ACW line. These are 10mm (closer to 12mm), made of plastic, painted, and already mounted on stands. The sculpts aren't very animated, nor was there a mix of positions per unit type available, but they were "ready-to-play", and not too pricey. A few of my friends have bought lots of these G&H figs, so we're positioned to be able to put on some multi-divisional/corps size engagements now. I think the Gettysburg Soldiers rules will work well for playing these larger battles.

Btw, the artillery limbers are GHQ 10mm miniatures, which are a bit smaller than the G&H figs.

I'm "all-in" on the gaming mats – I can make the road networks, water courses, and wooded areas as close to the authentic period maps as possible, and after they're rolled out on the tabletop, any 3D terrain quickly places on the corresponding areas on the mats for an efficient setup (the textured woods areas double for referencing underlays when the model trees are removed to accommodate unit movements).

Really is a great looking game…I've been tempted for some time to involve myself in the evil world of either Nappy's or the Civil War. Looking at this is presenting a seriously dangerous temptation :) The minis are pre-painted too…shame they're discontinued…hmmm…You'd recommend Gettysburg Soldiers for this level; I'll have to check it out.

Thanks WP!

Here's a few shots from yesterday's 2nd running of the Raymond scenario. The guys liked the system, and want me to do larger scenarios next time…….wanting more rather than less is always a good sign I think. Changing to a simultaneous fire phase really helped playability too! Btw, the author(s) gave a thumbs up to scaling the rules to suit the scenario (over on the GS forum).

Looks like they're having fun :)