2015-01-08

Battle Report: Black Powder - Battle of Chancellorsville May 1863

Just before the new year I got an opportunity to play in a ACW game, the battle of Chancellorsville, and the best thing, I didn't have to paint a single miniature, I just showed up and played. It was great!

This game was hosted by Sören (Black Powder Games) and had miniatures from a other few members of our club as well.

Dalauppror has posted some pictures as well over on his blog as has Mark. Please visit them as well if you haven't already.

I was given the CinC of the union army as I have played Black Powder a few times. So the position of Hooker was mine.

First we have here some pictures of the deployment



And here is the confederate flanking manoeuvre, my troops are the poor sods taking the first attack, and the ones standing outside of the barricades

Here is a closer look on Dalauprors command

And mine

Stonewall and his merry men under the control of Jesper

Sedgwicks troops just outside Fredricksburg, under the command of Mark

The whole table, all 12'x6' of it

And some more deployment



The first turn saw that the fleeing regiments formed up in haste, and prepared to hold of Stonewall until reinforcements could arrive



General Lee under the control of Sören did his best to pepper our lines and prevent us from supporting the rear and stop Stonewall

Mark moved his troops over the river outside of Fredricksburg to not divide his tr85
+++5oops and drive away the confederates that barred his way.

Redeployment of Hookers troops

Reinforcements arrive at the union camp, but too late to prevent one regiment from breaking and the other from taking a ungodly amount of fire, pinning them in place for the rebs to take at their pleasure.

Sedgwick continues to march his troops over the river

Lee slowly advances his troops, but getting stinged in return

The battle over Chancellorsville is heating up 

In a moment of utter confusion one of my regiments got the idea to walk right out in the field in front of the confederate guns. Not the brightest move of the battle and one that would cost the union army.

Back over at Chancellorsville the fighting is heating up, regiment after regiment is fed into the fighting.




In the middle of the field some cavalrymen is having a skirmish with a reb regiment.

Close combats is happening all around the town

Lee prepares to send in troops for the final push on the union center

At Fredricksburg the union army as formed on the other side of the river and driven most rebs off, breaking the division.

Over at Chancellorsville the hand to hand fighting takes it's toll and ends in breaking my division. But the fighting around the barricades ends in also breaking Lees division, ending the battle with a union victory as the confederate army breaks.

Some end of battle photos


This was a great game, it only took 5 hours to play, even though we had about 500 miniatures on the table and 5 players and in this we snuck in a lunch break as well.
You got to love well written rules =)

That's all for me for this time, and remember to visit my friends blogs to see some more pictures and read their thoughts on what was going on.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting these wonderful pics of the game. It was nice to try the BP rules on this bigger format, it was a rewarding experience - even if my dear Lee had to admit to an unhistorical defeat :0) I hope we'll get to run the Shiloh game soon, keeping up the steam on these bigger games. Also, hopefully our napoleonic collection will see a battlefield as fair and large as the one above during 2015!

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    1. Well everything can't go as planed =)
      I'd really like to play some more big battles like this, as it took only a fraction of the time I had thought.
      And we really need to get some more napoleonics going, can't have too many muskets =)

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  2. Excellent pictures of a great looking game :)

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    1. Thanks, at least for the picture thing, the game itself I can't take any praise for =)

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