Sunday 24 July 2022

The Battle for the Crossroads.

We finally managed to gather the clan for a game (bar one player who came down with the plague yesterday). The most pleasing thing was that our host, who has been very ill for the last couple of months, was able to join us (and did so in full uniform for the occasion).


The scenario was an American Civil War game titled “Take the Crossroads”, although the crossroads themselves were of no particular importance other than the convergence of the roads in the area. The Confederates have moved to flank the Union Army and their force of three infantry divisions and a cavalry division converged on the crossroads before forming and striking the enemy flank off to the north.

First contact is west of the crossroads where a force of Union cavalry of divisional strength has been encountered by a Confederate infantry division advancing from the west. Further Confederate forces (a cavalry division and two infantry divisions) are approaching along the road from the south, the cavalry leading, but they are still some distance away from the crossroads. Three Union infantry divisions were racing to support their cavalry and were to be expected to approach along the roads to the north and northeast. 

Above is a very rough sketch map of the terrain that was largely open. The dashed lines represent wooden fences, although this is not the exact positioning of the fences. All of the buildings were small farmhouses, not big defensive positions, and at best they can hold one skirmish stand (1 firing die). There are some clumps of trees and areas of scrub that will be disordering to troops, will block line of sight, but will not provide cover. The hills are gentle.

I not am going to try to describe the sequence of events. Instead I will simply  provide a host of images, in no particular order.





































In the end it was a draw, perhaps slightly in the Confederate favour, but it kept nine of us happily and out of mischief on a miserably wet Sunday. I am sure my friend Keith at Bydand Blog will have a a view of the game from his side of the table.

26 comments:

  1. Thanks for so many photos of a rather spectacular game Mark:). The flags looked superb and appeared to be made of actual cloth and painted. If so they were really well done. I look forward to Keith's view from the otherside of the table.

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    1. Thanks Steve. The camera doesn’t really to the visual display justice. There was one moment when I looked down the battle line from the table end that it was just spectacular. Yes one of our group paints his flags in fabric and yes they look superb.

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  2. Thanks for a great game Mark - it may have been the most enjoyable ACW game I have participated in, to be honest! And yes, of course, I have inflicted 89(!!) images of the game on the blogosphering public, plus my own biased attempt to try to describe the ebb and flow of the action!

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    1. You did a much better job than me describing the game Keith…I always end up rushing from one end of the table to another to answer questions and always seem to lose track of the action.

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  3. outstanding news that Barry's back in the saddle

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    1. Certainly is Bruce, he was the best I have seen him for a while.

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  4. Lovely armies and table - quality gaming time with friends.

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    1. Thanks Norm. Yes it was nice to get together…there have been too few opportunities this year.

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  5. A Marvelous game! And, good to see your host is on the mend.

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    1. Thanks. Yes he has had a pretty rough time in the last few months.

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  6. Outstanding! Just read the post at Keith's blog and quickly dashed over here for a second helping. What a wonderful game. Outstanding figures and excellent terrain. The battlefield looks just what a miniature wargame should be. Attractive looking, some terrain to make things interesting for both sides but not so cluttered you cannot play. Love the look of it . while not a big ACW buff I think the figures are excellent looking. Just a great job and a full day for you all. And I am glad the hist as able to get kitted up for the game!

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    1. Thanks Mark. There was a need for a BIG game since we hadn’t had the whole crew (less our “plagued” friend) together for six months.

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  7. That looks great and I am sure it was a welcome return to gaming. Barry looks like he could have stepped right out of the 1860s in that regalia.

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    1. It was great indeed and it looks at though regular sessions could start again. He had that uniform (a full general’s uniform) made in the late 1980s. I reminded him yesterday about a time when he wore it at a demo game at some community show and someone came up to him and asked them what sort of chicken he was selling.

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    2. That is hilarious. I can still remember that convention you drove us to in Wellington where the only food was available was the local chicken outlet. Three days of that was more than enough.

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    3. I can recall that trip too. It was when I had my old Vauxhall Viva so it had to have been somewhere around 1980.

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  8. Saw this on Kieth’s blog. Really outstanding display of ACW goodness. I love me the ACW. Lots of great pics and a fun scenario too. Great job! đŸ˜€

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    1. Thanks Stew. When I realised we were going to have as many as nine players I knew I had to make it a big game and so it was - three full infantry divisions and a full cavalry division on each side. ACW is my first obsession - I have owned four complete armies for each side in 15mm, 20mm and 28mm over the years and more books than I care to think about.

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  9. Fantastic stuff, just wonderful the scale and scope.....
    Cheers
    Stu

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  10. A splendid game indeed Mark…
    That’s a serious amount of toys… mind you with nine people you need plenty to go round.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. It was nice to see all the toys out of their boxes. I didn’t count them, but I reckon there was somewhere around 2,500 figures on the table. More important we were all together again (excluding he who has the plague) for the first time since January.

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  11. Mark Great to see this and Barry obviously telling Rick to hurry up and get forward :)
    I remember his Gaming Room and the Vendee game we had there ..
    Top Stuff

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    1. Thanks Paul…ironically I was looking at those VendĂ©e pictures just the other day

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  12. Wonderful looking game Mark. I particularly liked your mix of close-up photos of units and the wider perspective. Looked great!
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James… new camera app gives me much better control over the macro feature of the iPhone camera, so I have been trying a bit more with the closeups.

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