We played this game at Jay Stribling’s home in Jackson MS. on September 15, 2012.  It was a 25mm Semi-Skirmish game set on the Florida Coast, near the small town of Cedar Key.  The rules were a second play-test of The Sword and Secession a variant for Larry Brom’s The Sword and the Flame rules set.

A number of years ago, Mark Stevens and Jay Stribling, on a trip to Tampa Florida, took a side jaunte to the charming little town of Cedar Key on Florida's coast.  While we were there, we visited the local museum, which had information about a Federal Raid during the Civil War, the purpose of which was to destroy a salt producing works. This secnario is the result of that visit.

The Gamemaster for the game was Jay Stribling.  The photos and their captions are by Jim Pitts.

Union Marine raiders encounter Confederate militia

Union Marine raiders advance against the Confederate militia defending the salt works.  We used a mixture of Union Infantry and some dismounted cavalry from our "Plains Indian Wars" forces, to portray the Federal raiders.

Confederate militia cavalry rides to the succor of the salt works defenders.

Confederate militia cavalry rides to the relief of the defenders.  And yes, there are two dark faces among the militia cavalry, either free blacks or armed servants.  We made use of gray-clad mounted figures from a number of armies, including irregular horse from the Zulu Wars!

Union Marine raiders advance against Confederate militia defenders of the salt works.

Federal Marines, landed just up the coast, encounter Confederate militia defending one of the outlying buildings of the salt works.  In the misty background, another unit of Union raiders is moving onto the battlefield.

Unfortunately the Federal navy was unequal to the task of landing the troops together, right at the town.  Apparently they had been confused by strong winds and currents and the boats scattered the landing party up and down the coast.  For each unit which arrived at the battlefield, the Union commander had to dice to see where it entered the game table.  The navy’s boats were also only able to land two units per turn.

The salt works are under attack from two Union units, one of US Marines (first rank) and the second of sailors

The salt works in the center of the field were threatend by two Union units uner the command of Ed Sansing–shown above.  One unit was composed of US Marines (first rank) and the second of sailors (being played, for this game, by British Victorian naval brigade figures).  After suffering from the volleys of the two Union units, the Confederate militia defenders morale failed and they fled from the field.

Confederate militia attack the Union Marines.  The Southerners failed to close and fell back into the woods.

Bill Hamilton's Confederate militia charge out of the woods to attack the Union Marine raiders.  They would fail their "To close" morale test and fall back into the woods again.

Another unit of Confederate militia, having arrived as reinforcements, exchanges fire with some of the Union Marine raiders.

Another unit of Confederate militia, having arrived as reinforcements, exchanges fire with some of the Union Marine raiders.  All of the Confedrate reinforcements (2 milita units were allowed to start on the field) had to come up the road, entring from the exreme Confederate right rear.  While the Rebel units were twice the number of the Yankees, they dribbled onto the battlefield.

After advancing closer, the Confederate and Union units trade another volley.

After advancing closer, the Confederate and Union units trade another volley.  This time the Confederate attack is supported by a unit of dismounted militia cavalry (right background).

In The Sword and the Flame as well as this variant, 20-sided dice are rolled, one per firing miniature, to determine fire casualties.  The brightly colored dice are being pointed to by one of the players: "That's a hit!–No, you are not reading the dice properly…."

Regular confederate infantry advances to recover the salt works from the Union occupiers.

The single unit of regular confederate infantry advances to recover the salt works from the Union occupiers.  They are also supported by a unit of dismounted militia cavalry (left background).  Between the two Confederate units, they were able to reduce the Union raider’s strength significantly enough that the Union troops could not complete their destruction of the salt works.

Confederate Player Briefing

The blasted Yankees are landing on the coast to destroy the salt works at Cedar Key.  You must stop them.  Your forces are four militia cavalry units, two militia infantry units and one unit of regulars that happened to be in the area.

Only two of the militia units may be set up on the battlefield, anywhere that you like.  The other units must come on from the edge of the table on the road.  You may roll a D6 at the start of each turn.  If you get a “1” then you receive no reinforcements.  If you get “2 – 5” then one reinforcing unit may come on.  If you get a “6” then two reinforcing units may come on, again, on the road.

There are three buildings on the table, all part of the salt works.  You must safeguard them all.  The enemy will try to destroy them.  It will take more than one turn of work, as the vessels in which the salt is rendered are quite sturdy.

And the Winner is…

The result of the game was that the Yankees were too hard-pressed by the constant flow of Southern Militia units to destroy the buildings housing the salt works.  Their requirements of "Three turns work by ten men" (unkown to the southern defenders) was too much for the Federals.  In the future, the salt works will be more lightly constructed!

The Jackson Gamers gathered at Jay's house today, Labor Day, to test a new variant of The Sword and the Flame rules which Jay calls The Sword and Secession.  From the title you would be correct in presuming that it is an American Civil War variant.

As Jay states, "This is an adaptation…for use in gaming the smaller actions and raids during the War of the Rebellion." And he further states, "But for every great Bull Run or Wilderness, there were a hundred small cavalry actions, naval landings, and foraging expeditions."

The scenario was very basic – a Union raiding force of cavalry and infantry is sent out from Memphis to try to capture and burn a Confederate supply area somewhere in northwest Mississippi in early 1864.  The Confederates, of course, are trying to prevent that from happening.

We had seven players.  Phil, Bill, Jay, and I (Col Campbell) were the Union commanders.  John, Ed, and Sean were the Confederate commanders.  We used a combination of "real" Union infantry and Western Indian Wars cavalry for the Union side and various Boers and Victorian Colonial mounted yeomanry for the Confederate side.   The Union force had three white cavalry units and two black cavalry units (the 3rd Cavalry, USCT, formerly known  as the 1st Miss. Cavalry (African descent)) and four white infantry units (including the 1st Miss. Mounted Rifles).  The Confederates had three cavalry units and four infantry units.

Commanded by Col Campbell, the 3rd Cavalry, USCT, advances on the Union left flank.  In the left background is the 1st Miss. Mounted Rifles (dismounted), one of the units commanded by Jay.

One of Ed's Confederate infantry units deploys in a patch of woods, awaiting the Union advance. Behind the woods another of Ed's units advances

The 1st Miss. Mounted Rifles (dismounted) [actually an assorted collection of Western Indian Wars cavalry figures] under Jay's command takes one hit from Confederate fire.  The red (and other colored) rings on various figures denote the leaders – 2 per infantry or cavalry unit and 1 senior leader per player.

The Union right wing with cavalry under Phil's and Bill's command and infantry under Bill's and Jay's command advances on the Confederate positions.

Part of Jim's 3rd Cavalry, USCT, dismounts and takes a firing line against one of Sean's Confederate infantry units. The Union cavalry was all armed with rifled, breechloading carbines which could fire twice per turn. It didn't help the USCT much as I don't think I ever got over 3 hits with 18 to 20 shots per turn!

The other half of the 3rd Cavalry, USCT, has dismounted to face off against Sean's second infantry unit.

One of Ed's Confederate and Bill's Union infantry units begin to shoot at each other. In the background, John's Confederate cavalry has begun to advance against Phil's Union cavalry.

Suddenly Sean sends a cavalry unit of Miss. State Troops around the left flank of my USCT cavalry. Needless to say I was a little worried here!

Meanwhile on the other end of the battlefield a huge cavalry melee develops. Both of John's Confederate cavalry units have charged both of Phil's counter-charging Union cavalry units. The firing line in the foreground is Bill's dismounted Union cavalry unit.

The big cavalry melee resulted in one of John's units beating one of Phil's and the other of Phil's beating the other of John's. (Did you follow that?) After the melees were over, both winners got bonus moves and immediately turned on each other.

Back on my end of the battlefield, Sean's MST cavalry was too far around my flank to attack my USCT troops.  (Whew!)  But he could see Jay's 1st Miss. Mounted Rifles (dismounted) so he attacked them.

In the middle of the battlefield, Ed's two Confederate infantry units are now trading shots with Jay's other Union infantry unit (foreground) and with Bill's Union infantry unit (background). In the far right background, Bill's Union cavalry unit has remounted and is advancing. He wants to break through the Confederate lines so he can pillage and burn their supply area (which is located off the Confederate rear table edge).

Having beaten off Sean's MST cavalry, Jay moves the 1st Miss. Mounted Rifles (dismounted) against Ed's Confederate infantry in the woods while also charging them with his other infantry unit. In the background, Ed's Confederate infantry has charged Bill's Union infantry. In the far background, tape measures are being flourished as John Phil, and Bill maneuver their cavalry.

At my end of the battlefield, one of my USCT cavalry units has broken around Sean's Confederate infantry, trying to reach the Confederate supply area. The other USCT cavalry unit has remounted and is following in their path. Sean's Confederate infantry will be shooting at my cavalry to prevent them from escaping into the supply area.

In the center, Ed's defending Confederate infantry (foreground) has repulsed Jay's Union attackers. In the background, Ed's Confederate and Bill's Union infantry are in a fight.

Ed's Confederate infantry eventually loses and falls back, pinned and "prone." They remained like that for the rest of the game, not being able to rally enough to stand up and do anything.

One of my USCT cavalry units has broken through into the Confederate rear (as has Bill's Union cavalry unit on the other flank). But my other unit, which is leaderless, is trapped. Sean's infantry has just gotten one hit on it and what's left of his MST cavalry is charging my troops from the rear. Surprisingly my troops stand and fight, but lose the melee. All but one of them is able to cut through the surrounding Confederates and escape back toward Memphis.

The game ends at this point with two Union cavalry units in the Confederate supply area, soon to be joined by a third.  The Confederate cavalry is reduced to just Sean's six and a few of John's.  Both of Sean's Confederate infantry units are intact but they won't be able to interfere with the Union cavalry's pillaging and burning of the Confederate supplies.  It was a fun little game although there were some hiccups, as might be expected from a new rule set, even one based on the venerable The Sword and the Flame.

We plan on testing these rules again on September 15 at Jay's in lieu of the Seven Years War game that was originally planned.  Jay wants to unveil this variant at the Colonial Barracks convention in early November so we need to test them again.

Today my son ran a Battle Tech game for our group. Even with the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac, there were six of us there. The scenario was a gladitorial arena type game where all of us were against each other.

My mech was rather small and only had two offensive weapons although one was potentially lethal to an opponent.

My main opponent turned out to be the mech of Bill H.  With that axe, I didn't want him to get into hand-to-hand fighting range.

I attempted to persuade Bill to gang up with me against Ed S.

But when Ed moved away, I decided to move against Bill.  That was not a good idea.  Bill and I traded shots in the second turn and he blew my head off my shoulders.

That quickly ended my job as a mech gladiator!  Also that turn John M. had his head blown off by Jay S., who in turn had his head blown off by Fred D. and Ed S.  Then Ed had his head blown off by Fred, who then suffered the same fate courtesy of Bill.  So six mechs entered the arena and five of us had our heads blown off.  Very unusual game, to say the least!

A couple of weeks after the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Gorodetchna between the Russians and the Austro-Saxons on the southern wing of Napoleon's invasion of Russian, the Jackson Gamers fought an engagement loosely based on that battle.

Jackson Gamers refight the July 1812 Battle of Gorodetchna.

A good web site on the battle is: http://www.antiquesatoz.com/habsburg/1812/gorodets.htm . In map at the start of the article, the top is west.  Our battle was loosely based on the Saxon-Austrian outflanking movement depicted along the left part of that map.  We didn't have the exact order of battle so had to make so with Lord Sterling's Austrians and Russians and Col Campbell's Saxons.

On battlefield was 16′ long and 5.5′ wide with ridges down both long sides and a gentle valley between.  The Saxons and Austrians set-up some of their forces on the western half of the ridge down the south side of the battlefield while the Russians did the same along the north side of the battlefield.  Additional units entered the battlefield as the Austro-Saxon flank attack developed and the Russian defensive countered their moves.

The Austrian commanders were Lord Sterling (Feldmarschal Schwarzenburg), Arkansas John, and Marshall (a new player and co-worker of Bill).  Their Saxon Allies were Sean (son of Col Campbell) and Bill.  The Russian commanders were Electric Ed (General Tormasov), Phil, and two new players, Chris and Jody, both co-workers of Phil.  Col Campbell was the game master.

The pictures are by ColCampbell, Electric Ed, and Arkansas John.

The Russian commanders pose before the battle begins. Later they would be joined by an additional player.

The Saxon (left two) and Austrian (center and right) commanders pose before the battle begins.

The initial Russian set-up with infantry and artillery in the center and a light cavalry brigade on the left (distance).

The Saxon and Austrian commanders have deployed their troops with the Saxons on the right flank (left side of picture) and the Austrians in the center and left flank (right side of picture).

The stoic Russian commanders look over the Austrian advance.  The fourth commander (right) has joined the Russian line-up.  We had three new players this time.  All of them are co-workers of two of our regular members.

The Saxons (left) and Austrians (right) advance to attack the Russians.

The massed Saxon and Austrian battalions advance as the game master draws an Austrian movement card.

The Russian dragoon brigade of 4 regiments has now entered the battlefield, extending the Russian line even further to the left to protect their line of retreat.

The Austrian left wing division, commanded by a new comer to our group, slowly advances against the Russians.

The Austrian cavalry has now made an appearance, coming on in the center of the line. The Saxon and Austrian infantry continue their slow march across the valley against the Russian defenders.

A view from the rear of the Austrian center as it advances against the Russians defending the ridge.

The Austrian cheveau-leger and uhlan light cavalry regiments trot towards the Russians. A couple of Austrian dragoon regiments are slowly moving down the slope to support them.

Another view, from the Austrian lines, as the Austrian cavalry develops its attack against the Russians.

Several turns into the game, the Russian cavalry has firmly established itself on the left flank, protecting the Russian line of retreat. But the Austrian cavalry has gathered to engage them.

Supported by three batteries of Austrian artillery, the Saxon and Austrian infantry continue their advance.

The heavily reinforced Russian defenders stoically await the Saxon-Austrian onslaught.

The six Saxon battalions advance in perfect order against the Russians.

After some poor morale rolls resulting from Russian artillery fire and a little bit of cavalry combat, the majority of the Austrian cavalry has fled back behind the Saxon infantry.

Supported by a battery of horse artillery, Russian dragoons, hussars,and cossacks attack the Saxon cheveau-leger and Austrian dragoons.

In the center, the Saxon infantry is closing on the center of the Russian line. If they can penetrate the Russian defenses the Saxons may be able to cut off the Russian left wing.

Two Russian hussar regiments, supported by a cossack pulk, attack an Austrian line battalion. Even though the left hand hussar regiment didn’t close and the Austrians emptied a number of Russian saddles, the right hand regiment handily won its melee and sent the Austrian scampering in panic to the rear.

The victorious Russian hussars followed up and scattered the Austrian battalion. Now they are behind the enemy gun line (Saxon and Austrian artillery) – just where dashing light cavalry like to be!

The center and north end of the fight. The Saxons in the center and the Austrians on the (north) left wing close with the Russians.

Although many of the units in the Russian center are routed or falling back (lower right corner), there are still enough Russians in place to handle the Saxons. In the left background, most of the Austrian units clustered along the table edge are routed.

A close-up of some of the defeated Austrian units as they cluster in the Austrian rear.

A view of the entire battlefield lokoing from the north, with the Russians on the left and the Austro-Saxons on the right. Most of the Austrian units clustered along the right hand table edge are routed units from previous Austrian attacks against the Russians. Many of the Russian units clustered in the left hand distance on the table edge are also routed units. In the center far distance, the Russian dragoons are successfully blocking the Austrians from advancing and cutting the Russian retreat.

So, who won?  The game master ruled that the Russians had succeeded in holding the Austrians and Saxons at bay long enough for their forces along the stream (off the west edge of the battlefield) to march past the rear of the defenders and further east into Russia.  With four dragoon regiments and three light cavalry regiments intact, plus a fourth light cavalry regiment in the enemy rear, the Russians had plenty of forces to cover their withdrawal.

On July 21st, several of the usual suspects showed up at my place to give my latest VSF air-naval rules a spin.  I drew some inspiration from the Seas of Steel rules that we have played in the past, and melded it with ideas taken from a few other sources.

The game was straightforward.  A British dirigible convoy, escorted by two squadrons of Aeronef, were set upon by a French commerce raiding flotilla.  After the French withdrew, one of the British squadrons gave chase.  The escort commander, suspecting a trap, moved most of the remaining squadron up into the thick cloud cover above, staying just low enough to track and follow the dirigibles below.  The plan was to lure more French raiders in to attack the poorly defended convoy.

The British transports and their escort sail steadily toward their destination.  As always, click to view a larger image.

A French commerce raider flotilla in two squadrons moves to attack the British convoy.

The British pursuit squadron rushes to the rescue of the dirigible convoy.

The convoy sat at the middle of the table, moving toward the northeast edge.  A French flotilla entered sight from the northwest, rushing to intercept the poorly protected convoy.  And the British squadron that had hared off after the earlier attackers makes best speed in line astern from the southeast, trying to rejoin their charges.  This sets the stage for the game; the remaining British ships are hidden on the table, waiting for the right moment to descend and attack.There are two play markers for each ship.  The die on each base shows the ship's altitude.  Altitudes go from 0 (for a ship that is landed) up to 6, and altitude affects what targets are available.  The yellow and red rings (which will end up hanging from the ships in later pictures) show the ship's current speed rating: red for slow, yellow for cruise, and green for full.  These ratings determine how far each ship can move in a turn.  The clouds in the distance were also at altitude 3, providing cover and protection to the ships.  Everything else shown is ground color and had no effect on the game.

Msrs. Ed and Sean, the two French players, have started their attack against the convoy.

British escorts screen their charges, taking fire and damage.

Combat began quickly (maximum range is 36", and the table is 60"across, so gunfire started as soon as there was a clear line of sight through the clouds).  French fire damaged the Vulcan (the round black token next to the base) and inflicted a critical hit, damaging the ship's lift systems.  Each turn it had to test, and if it failed it was forced to descend an altitude level.

Jim's British squadron races to rejoin the convoy, as the escorts continue to take damage from French gunfire.

The French move to cut off the convoy's escape, while the British struggle to catch up.

After another turn, Sean attempts to cut off the convoy's escape.  Tiger has been destroyed, and Vulcan is crippled (the red token) and has suffered multiple critical hits.  The hidden British (under my command) have descended from the cloud cover, but at altitude 5 they cannot fire on the French Their deck-mounted guns cannot fire at ships lower than they are. Sean's French L'Epee (the leftmost ship, facing to the right) has climbed to altitude 4 in order to bring her heavy forward guns to bear on the British Exeter without Ed's ships blocking her fire.

British attempt to intercept the French before they can cross the convoy's "T".

The British squadrons continue to advance; Hyderabad and several light escorts (visible with Exeter in the distance) open fire and shatter a French destroyer.  Exeter, less maneuverable, is still too high to engage the enemy escorts.  She fires at L'Epee in the distance, damaging her.

Exeter takes severe damage. A critical hits the primary magazine, detonating it and destroying the ship utterly.

The French cross the convoy's "T", with concentrated fire destroying the Majestic and one of the lighter transports.

Ed's ships engage the Exeter, Hyderabad and their escorts, destroying the Exeter and several light ships.  Meanwhile, Sean cuts off the convoy.  Note that they descended, preventing Jim's escorts from firing back at them with their main guns.  The dirigibles' guns are mounted low, and thus can fire at anything that is not higher than they are.  However, they are lightly armed and their fire was ineffective.  The escorts light weapons, which could fire high or low, inflicted a "ship shaken" critical hit on one of the destroyers, preventing it from firing next turn.

The British move broadside to broadside at point blank range…

Jim positions his light escorts to fire broadsides into Sean's squadron, with Rawalpindi and Lahore firing broadsides into the head of the French line.  Behind, I move the remaining convoy dirigibles into the cover of the cloud, where they can't be seen by the French gunners.  Beyond them, Ed's ships are ready to mop up my remaining escorts and then encircle the convoy next turn.

…and both sides take a beating.

At this point we called the game.  The British ships were heavily damaged, while the French were still in good shape for the most part.  Jim and I could see no way to get the dirigibles off the table before the French could destroy them.  In discussing it, the scenario setup was heavily biased against the British, as they had to cross half the table to get into range while the French started out able to fire on the convoy.  There were also some glitches in the ship designs that caused problems.

Overall, it seemed like the system worked well for everyone.  Movement and maneuver were quick.  Combat was sufficiently bloody at close range, while long range fire was mostly ineffective, mostly providing an opportunity for critical hits to occur.  I need to fix the broken ships, rework how I calculate the stats, tweak the ship record sheets a bit, and make some small rule adjustments.  But overall I like how it turned out.  Especially for a game where, in fine Jackson Gamers tradition, I finished writing the rules less than 12 hours before play.

For future games I'll want to get some smaller dice for altitude, and possibly some of those acrylic dice docks that various people make nowadays to hold them steady.  I also want to get acrylic tokens for the various game markers:  critical hits, fast move markers, speed markers, etc.  The paper markers I knocked together worked, but colored acrylic markers would be less obtrusive.