This Hallowed Ground v3.0 Update (ACW Rules)

This update has been long overdue.  For my Waterloo game I had completed the 3rd revision of the Napoleonic rules (Empires at War or EAW).  That involved replacing the Kings of War style morale system with a new one.  This Hallowed Ground (THG) needed the same updates.

If you've played THG in the past, or Kings of War, you'll know the morale system isn't very reflective of real battles.  Units stick around relatively undiminished for a long time until the "pop" due to excessive casualties.  While this worked better than other systems, it just wasn't the right feel to the game and period.  The new system I like far better and provides a far more realistic result IMO than the previous system.  Combined with the disorder rules, and overall being simpler, is a win.

In addition to the much improved morale system, a lot of information has been consolidated into (hopefully) easier to read tables and formats.  This has worked really well for EAW and based on our game yesterday works really well for THG.

Perhaps the single largest improvement is the orders table.

The rules can be downloaded from the right side download section or directly from here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kgt985v9bw5vds4/thg_playsheet_v3.0.pdf

Anyways, pictures below of the rules.

ACW Battle Report - Meeting Engagement

I hosted an ACW game at my place yesterday.  This was a bit last minute, but it just happened to work out for everyone.  So, Roy Scaife, John Lantz and Dan Kerrick joined me for a meeting engagement scenario.

All miniatures are Perry Miniatures 28mm.  Table size is 6 feet by 8 feet.  We used my This Hallowed Ground rules - the 3rd edition (posting that next).

This game was a bit symmetrical in that each side had a brigade deployed (or mostly deployed) and a second brigade in march columns trying to get out to the flanks to hold the line then possibly push on the enemy lines.  Cavalry starts for both sides on the "flank" the marching infantry brigades are attempted to get to.

Lots of pictures ... and more about the battle results about 1/2 way down.

Table setup and starting positions can be seen below ...

UNION OOB

C-in-C

1st Brigade
Commander
5 x Regular Infantry Units (Standard Size)
1 x Artillery Battery (Standard Size)
1 x Skirmishers (Berdan's Sharpshooters - Standard Size)

2nd Brigade
Commander
5 x Regular Infantry Units (Standard Size)
1 x Artillery Battery (Standard Size)

Cavalry Brigade
Commander
2 x Cavalry Units (Standard Size)

CONFEDERATE OOB

C-in-C

Virginia Brigade
Commander
2 x Regular Infantry Units (Large Size)
3 x Regular Infantry Units (Standard Size)
1 x Artillery Battery (Standard Size)

Texas Brigade
Commander
5 x Regular Infantry Units (Standard Size)
1 x Artillery Battery (Standard Size)

Cavalry Brigade
Commander
2 x Cavalry Units (Standard Size)

RESULTS

The Virginian brigade (run by me) got a steady advance on the Union cavalry.  I took light casualties on the advance but the Union 2nd Brigade units soon engaged and casualties started to mount.  That halted my advance as I needed to start rallying units as much as possible to keep that Union brigade from advancing while the Texas brigade did it's work on the other flank.

John, running the Union 1st brigade was very aggressive.  He drove several march columns straight at the dismounted Confederate cavalry.  Dan (Texas brigade) quickly deployed his artillery and the Union march columns took severe punishment on the advance.  This has longer term effects for the flank as John failed rally orders to try to recover those wounds.  Disordered units confused the Union advance and the Texas brigade was able to come online on turn 3 and really start to push hard.

Roy (2nd Union brigade) got online more conservatively, but with far fewer casualties, effectively halting my advance with the Virginia brigade.  He was plagued periodically throughout the game with some terrible morale tests that resulted in disordered units, which slowed the brigade deployment and advance.

Overall this was a very fun game and a long overdue wargame in general.

Victory went to the Confederates, who scored 31 VPs to the Union scoring 23 VPs.  We played 6 turns and really should have played a 7th as I believe the game would have been much closer, but some players need to head home.  If we played a 7th turn, I imagine the VPs would have been more like 34 for the Confederates and 30-32 for the Union - making it more of a draw.

Lots of pictures below ...

Two large Confederate units from the Virginian brigade.

The Virginian artillery is ready for action.

Union cavalry face the Confederate onslaught.

1st Union brigade deploying.

1st US Sharpshooters pressure the
dismounted Confederate cavalry.

If you made it this far - thanks for checking out the post!  More games to come.  PacifiCon is right around the corner in 4 weeks!