REGIMENTAL FIRE AND FURY - 'HOLD THE GAP'- GAME

On Sunday we played a Regimental Fire and Fury game in which the Union had to seize a gap in the hills from its Confederate defenders before nightfall and the arrival of Confederate reinforcements brought a halt to the fighting. The Union outnumbered the Confederates. The Confederates enjoyed the protection of the heights and did not have to deploy anything which could not be seen by the Unions troops.

 Troops on the Union right flank begin their advance. A lone Confederate artillery gun disputes their advance.

The lone Confederate gun inflicts some harassing damage but eventually pulls out and disappears behind the ridge when the Union infantry get too close.

 Regiments on the Union left begin to advance cautiously.

The troops on the Union right flank reach the rising ground and begin to march up the slope. A Confederate regiment waits for them out of sight just below the opposite crest of the ridge.

 The Union left flank continues to move forward cautiously.

Having crossed the ridge on the right flank the Union troops receive a close range volley from two Confederate regiments waiting for them on the reverse slope of the ridge. One Union regiment is disordered and driven back by a spirited charge from the Confederates. The other Confederate regiment is only a small one and it cannot stem the tide of Union troops which overwhelm it forcing it back to a farm house. 

The Union force on the right flank disposes of the smaller Confederate regiment and begins to advance against the center of the field where the gap objective is. It is getting late in the day, however, and they still have a Confederate regiment to fight through before they reach the fresh defenders of the gap.

Here is the situation on the Union right flank at the end of the game. Four Union regiments with artillery in support are moving to organize an attack on the woods and farmhouse that form the center of the battlefield and the objective of the game. To their front waits the Confederate regiment that met them when the crossed the ridge, which despite fighting since then remains fresh. On the far side of the woods is one fresh Veteran Confederate regiment and one fresh Crack Confederate unit of sharpshooters. The same gun that had been harassing the union advance on that flank all day remains in action. It is almost dark and there is now no time left for the Union troops to reach and secure their objective before the game ends.

On the Union left their troops finally reach the ridge line two turns before nightfall and climb it. They cross the crest right into the face of three Confederate regiments who had been waiting on the reverse slope and when the opportunity presented itself fired massed volleys at close range into the Union line. The whole Union line is disordered. The Confederates charge and one Green Union regiment is swept from the field in chaotic rout. The Union force on the ridge grinds to a halt with no chance of pushing ahead in the time that remains. 

It was a good game which required careful thinking from the Confederates and the Union players.