Tuesday 26 November 2019

ACW mini campaign

Now that the ACW rules are starting to come into some semblance of order and the changes are less frequent it is time to string together a few games with a mini campaign. The plan with the campaign is to keep the games small and on a 4x4 foot tabletop.

As inspiration I flicked through War Game Campaigns (Donald Featherstone) and found in chapter 23 a small campaign for the Franco-Prussian War which would seem well suited for being repurposed for a mini ACW campaign. It has a Confederate force of 4 divisions defending the North side of a river with four bridges, and 4 Union divisions trying to force a crossing.


The bridges at coordinates B5 and D3 can be crossed by all units. While the rail bridge D4 and a partially destroyed bridge F1 can only be crossed by infantry. Additionally, the river may be fordable and Union forces can also attempt to construct a pontoon bridge.

The hope is the campaign will provide a series of actions which can be viewed a one battle fought over 1-2 days which each campaign turn representing a third of a day.

Taking a lead from the book "History shows that few armies seem to go into war with accurate maps". Each map square is a tabletop and is an indication of the terrain which will be determined using terrain cards stacked with cards to fit the likely terrain.

Each side has four divisions which start the game laid out as in the picture below.


During a campaign turn (a third of a day) both sides take turns to alternatively move one division at a time until all divisions have had an opportunity to move. When moving a division roll a D3 dice (1,1,2,2,3,3) to determine how many squares a division can move. Diagonal moves are not allowed and units cannot stack or move through other units. When a unit tries to move into an enemy occupied square the action moves to the tabletop.

When an action is going to be played the make up of a division is determined with dice and recorded. A division will start the campaign with 6 units.

When a game is being played on the tabletop one reserve unit from any adjacent division can enter the game. If there are two adjacent units there is an opportunity to call upon two reserve units.

Finally, the post arrived with a recent secondhand book purchase. I have always wanted to own a copy of The War Game by Charles Grant since borrowing a copy from the school library when it was first published.



11 comments:

  1. Very much looking forward to this. Single ACW battles can be bland affairs, but the addition of a campaign focus I think will make all the difference.
    Your maps are things of beauty by the way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you both. I am hoping this creates 3-4 games which are interconnected to a greater or lesser extent.

      Delete
  2. I agree with the comments already posted. I've just finished Featherstone's book, which is an excellent read and full of great ideas. Looking forward to seeing updates on the campaign.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. War Game Campaigns is certainly an excellent book, and one I often revisit and always come away with ideas.

      Delete
  3. Following with great interest :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great! Another 'campaign', can't wait for the first game. As the sides are taking turns moving a division is this a 2-player game or solo? I ask because when it comes to second-guessing where someone will try and force a crossing your orders system from your recent WW2 campaign would seem ideal and I do like the uncertainty the terrain cards bring.
    One last question; do the divisions dice for composition for each action or just their first after which it is fixed (with losses carried over)?
    I too have a nice vintage hardback copy of The Wargame, and a paperback reprint for use to keep the original nice. Again I acquired these recently having drooled over library copies as a schoolboy - the photos are the inspiration for my SSM armies, although I use the CHARGE! rules with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am planning to play both sides, Union freely and Confederate by deciding options (orders) and dicing for them. More of that in the next post.
      The division compositions are only diced for at the beginning when they enter a game, and the effects carried over into the next game.

      Delete
  5. Another Campaign, excellent! Looking forward to viewing the games.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I will have to see how many games I can fit in with the lead up to Christmas.

      Delete