Rear Guard (a Portable Wargame)

Introduction

The US Federal Army in New Wiltshire, commanded by General Wise, is in retreat, hotly pursued by General Gilder of the CSA. To buy time, General Wise leaves a Rear Guard to stall the advancing enemy. The honour of leading the Rear Guard is given to Colonel Silus "I may possibly return" McCarthy, the hapless officer who lost the day at Scrubyville Junction (see previous post).

General Gilder (CSA)

General Wise (US Army)

Game Mechanics

The game is based on Scenario 6 Rear Guard from Scenarios for all Ages (CS Grant & SA Asquith).
The Federal force is outnumbered and in position at the start of the game. The Confederate force enters in random 2 unit parties at random positions on their baseline. 
The CSA objective is to move a minimum of 50% (18 Strength Points) of their advance force across the enemy baseline by the end of Turn 15. The Rear Guard must attempt to stop this happening. Exhaustion Point is set at 50% also.

The Game in Pictures

US Army opening gambit

Col. McCarthy embedded with the artillery at Clarke's Farm

Turn 1 First CSA troops appear

Turn 2 The fight for Hill 1 has already led to casualties

Turn 3 The Sun comes out as more CSA troops arrive

Turn 4 Confederate cavalry attack Hill 1

Turn 5 More Rebels have arrived but they are not moving forward

Turn 6 The fight for Hill 2 begins...

and the fight for Hill 1 intensifies

By Turn 8 the CSA is beginning to move across the battlefield

Turn 10 The first CSA troops have moved beyond the baseline...

..and they control Hill 1

Turn 12 The Rear Guard have reached Exhaustion Point but keep firing

Turn 13 The Confederate's advance is unstoppable 

Turn 14 Union troops fight on but the CSA have achieved their objective

The Union Army of General Wise will now have to turn and fight with their backs to the river Potonale on the Northern border of New Wiltshire in a last attempt to stop General Gilder's march on Washington.

A (small) Railway Incident

Introduction

In my imaginary state of New Wiltshire, the American Civil War is being fought primarily between General Gilder (CSA) and General Wise (USA). General Gilder's army marching towards Washington is constantly short of supplies. On hearing of a large depot full of food and ammunition on the edge of Scrubyville (County Featherstone), the General hits upon a bold plan and despatches 2 regiments of infantry and a squad of his favourite cavalry to capture the 10:00 train to Scrubyville Junction...
This battle drew inspiration from the Railway Incident Tabletop Teaser by C.S.Grant published in Military Modelling in March 1979. PW rules were used with the following variations. Infantry Regiments had 10 SPs, the cavalry squad 4 SPs and the Junction box guard unit had 2 SPs. Cavalry took 1 grid square move to dismount and fight as infantry (and vice versa). After the enemy was sighted from the Junction box the guard would roll a dice each turn to see if they got a telegraph through to the town. The captured train would arrive on turn 6. It would take 4 unhindered turns for a regiment to load the supplies onto the train. It took 1 turn to disembark a regiment from the train during which they could take hits but not return fire. Exhaustion Point was set at 50% hits.

Game

Scrubyville Jnc.

Junction box guard

Town garrison

Confederate cavalry race up the line

Dismounting they attack the guards

End of turn 2, the cavalry have taken hits and the town has been alerted

End of turn 5, CSA cavalry have captured and changed the points

Turn 6 the train arrives and 1 regiment disembarks

Union forces in position start firing on the disembarking troops

The train rattles on into the station and the second regiment climb down into the face of the Zouaves 

The remounted cavalry head for town

The Zouaves have fallen back from fierce CSA melee and meet the bold cavalry!

Turn 12 - the Zouaves are still fighting the remaining cavalry and the train is nearly loaded!!

The train, now full of supplies moves out leaving the soldiers to fight their way out

The Zouaves have finally killed off the cavalry

With what can only be described as a rebel yell, the CSA regiment forces back the Zouaves

The remnants of the other CSA regiment fall back under fire and eventually leave the field

The Zouaves continued to fall back and at turn 16 the battle was over

The Union Colonel wonders if he'll have a commission tomorrow morning

Invasion

Introduction, in which the scene is set

The little Kingdom of Nearsea (so named due to its proximity to a large body of saline water) is a "flickering light in a dark and chaotic world", according to the Church that is. Currently it is threatened by an invading force of "Wild men" from the East. This large group of wandering peoples is an amalgamation of tribes who have been forced to migrate by something clearly more aggressive and unpleasant than themselves. Led by their Paramount Chief, Ragnar Greybeard, they are now drawing nearer to the Kingdom looking for somewhere to settle. Hearing that the people of Nearsea are a tough breed, Ragnar has employed the services of a Giant from the Northern Isles, Angus the Terrible (who it is said was personally responsible for the Great Stool of Scooone).
Ragnar and a force of his men, accompanied by Angus, approach the town of Homlett from the hills to the North. The local Lord is Sir Edmund (Overprivileged) who's serfs saw off the Hungry Trolls (see below).

Ragnar Greybeard and bodyguard

Angus the Terrible

Game

Peasants move their kine into the town

The two forces (note the half built wall on the right - an attempt to keep out the migrants)

The enemy approach

Ragnar holds back hoping the Giant will do the work

First blows - the peasants hold their ground - the townsmen tackle the giant

On the right peasants and woodsmen hold firm too

The Wild Men fall back and regroup

Angus is taking hits from front and flank

Ragnar joins the fight

The centre collapses

The left flank weakens

Turn 6 and the Barbarians are through the wall and in the town

Turn 9 - the defenders are just hanging on

but the enemy are beginning to fire the town

Angus takes another hit, goes berserk and leaves (see house rules)

Sir Edmund and men have reached the end and flee the field

The men of Homlett kept the enemy at bay long enough for the towns folk and peasants to flee South, but now the deserted town is at the mercy of the Wild Men, or migrants (depends on your point of view). What does the future hold for Nearsea?