Saturday, October 01, 2011

Field Of Battle 2 ACW Action

Tried out Field Of Battle 2nd Edition today at Stephens using his 15mm ACW forces (as I dont have any but am being sorely tempted !) Stephen set up a scenario 'Gaines Mill 1862' adapted from a Guns Of Gettysburg scenario booklet. I took the Rebels who had a very tough attacking mission across a wooded and boggy stretch of ground into teeth of equal sized Federal force. Both had 15 units but Rebs had a mere 12 Army Morale points to Union 18. However they did roll a Skilled CinC with an Exceptional Sequence deck opposed by an Average Union leader and Average Deck.
Rebs advanced generally and initially had better of fire fights and their off-table reserve Brigade came on rather quickly (after their 3rd Move card) trying to turn Union left. But several devastating Union volleys and artillery barrages saw the brittle Reb army morale plummet to zero tout bloody suite ! A smallish game but a nice run out for rules which are essentially unchanged but just slicker/better especially the more dynamic Melees. We both love the sense of 'narrative' that a Field Of Battle game engenders and the lack of predictability of the card and impetous combinations. Great fun.


Central Confederate position 

Confederate right

Confederate left


Union deploy into the boggy area

Center on Union line


Penders reserve Brigade arrive on Rebel right

A New York Union Regiment caught in the open


Union line the hedgerows


Union right on the hill

Greggs Veteran Brigade enter the boggy area

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8 comments:

  1. Ray Rousell8:23 pm

    Great photos, not played the rules though, we use Fire'n'Fury for our ACW bashes.

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  2. Sgt Steiner9:06 pm

    Hi Ray

    Stephen is the ACW buff and he uses and likes RF&F as well as Guns Of Gettysburg also wants to try They Couldnt Hit An Elephant from Lardies stable. All seem to me much more nitty gritty tactical scale systems than big game/fastplay style of FOB.
    Am very tempted by horde of Rebs :-)

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  3. Christopher(aka Axebreaker)10:49 pm

    Seeing ACW games just puts a nice grin on my face. Good looking table and nice report.

    Christopher

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  4. Gonsalvo2:11 am

    Nice looking game! FoB2 refines and improves the original rather than radically altering it. That's a good thing as the original was already very solid. We ahd fun using Tim C's 15mm ACW armies for the battle of Stone's River (Murfreesboro)at Historicon 2011; see my blog for the write up and pictures.

    Peter

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  5. Rodger3:10 am

    Looks great Sgt. We prefer the RF&F rules too.

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  6. Chris C.3:56 pm

    Great photos of a really handsome table.

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  7. Sgt Steiner8:56 pm

    Hi Rodger, have not played only flicked thru RF&F but they are certainly more period specific than FOB and indeed more nuanced in terms of being tactically intricate BUT for a dabbler in the period FOB is ideal as its 'higher' level and certainly fast play. I did play JR back in the day but they seem so slow and micro detailed now.

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  8. The Angry Lurker9:49 am

    As Ray said we only get to play Fire and Furious Anger rules but a change is always good, nice report sir.

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