Finale

 The final game in my OHW mini campaign, set in the imaginary US state of New Wiltshire, saw General Wise retreating north with the surviving members of his Army. With fresh troops a days' march away, the Union force set up a rather disorganized triple line of defence in order to slow down the approaching Confederates. The CSA General Gilder knew that success could give him a chance to take the strategic town of Scrubyville, County Featherstone, opening the road towards Washington.

To win the scenario, a side needs to exclusively occupy the hill to the North of the river. To give the smaller Union force more of a chance I made the woods impenetrable so only a frontal attack is possible.

Game 5 Triple Line, or Crossing the Papercon

The Confederates approach the bridge across the River Papercon

Fierce fighting for the crossing point delays the CSA

A breakout is finally achieved

Lines are formed. The Rebs hope for the same success as their previous battle

The larger CSA force looks unstoppable as it closes in

The Union troops staunch defence of the hill

The last line of defence

With time running out, a charge with fixed bayonets is ordered

Battle's end and the Federal force has held the Southerners at bay

A disappointed General Gilder pulled his forces back and started planning the next campaign.

Final Campaign Scoreboard: USA 8 CSA 7

Tolled

 The fourth battle in my OHW mini campaign is probably the least interesting of the 30 scenarios in the book. I have added a road, and a building that represents the toll booth for a now removed turnpike, to the otherwise symmetrical landscape. These have no affect on the game mechanics. The side with the largest surviving force at Turn 15 (or when both sides reach exhaustion point) will win.  The two sides diced to see who would play Red (moves first each turn) and the CSA won. With this in mind I decided to play the CSA, under General  Gilder, aggressively, and the Union force, led by General Wise, defensively. 

Game 4 Pitched Battle, or the Battle of Gushville Turnpike

The two armies face each other across the Gushville Valley

 

General Wise establishes himself on the hill known as Little Square Top

CSA cavalry roar towards the Union's left flank

The Union guns miss their mark

Early action on the left flank

Musket fire rings out across the valley - the Union side take hits

The Blues fall back to the hill...

..and are soon at Exhaustion Point

The CSA troops close in on Little Square Top

The CSA hit EP and win the day

General Wise and his surviving men escape, abandoning their guns, but with a chance left to stop the Confederate surge towards Scrubyville, the supply hub for the State of New Wiltshire.

Campaign Scoreboard after four games: USA 3 CSA 7

With 5 points on offer for the final game, can the Blues cause an upset?

Juncture

 The first two games of this OHW mini-campaign have seen the Federal Army dominant; in the third game, however, the North finds itself very much on the back-foot. In this scenario, the winner is the side in control of the hill at turn 15.

Game 3 Fighting Retreat, or the defence of Dunce's Hill

Part of the Union Army has become separated from the main force and is hurrying back to join them, pursued by a stronger Confederate contingent. Spotting what he hopes is a defendable hill, Colonel Brandon leads his men across a pair of fords...

The Blues rush towards the hill.
The light green area is marsh, impassable to all units.

The CSA in hot pursuit 

The Federal force established on Dunce's Hill 

Artillery opens fire across the river as the CSA infantry close in

Early afternoon and casualties mount on both sides

The Union force is at Exhaustion Point as the Rebs close in

The CSA troops are on the hill

Heroic last stand

Despite the Union force still having a tiny presence on the hill at turn 15, the Umpire ruled that control of the hill was in the hands of the men of the South. A Confederate victory; is this the turning of the tide?

Campaign Score Board after three games: USA 3 CSA 3.

It's all to play for. 

Infiltration

 The second game in the OHW mini-campaign (see preceding post) follows. There has been a slight change in the scoring system; the suggestion in Mark Cordone's comment has been taken onboard and so this game will be worth 2 points, game 3 will be 3 points etc. No Exhaustion Point was applied in this game as the scenario lends itself to a savage fight to the finish.

Game 2 Infiltration or, Bushwhacked!

A party of Confederate troops have been out foraging (stealing) for supplies and must make their way back to camp, avoiding Union patrols.

Bushwhackers

The CSA force starts a mad dash across the board

Union forces are blocking the exit point
Confederate cavalry attempt to cut their way through

With an inevitable Rebel Yell, the Rebs charge in

One Union company falls but the exit is still held...

and help is on the way from the South (ironically)

The Blues close in

and close in again to ensure that there's no escape

The Rebel General slips away disguised as a Fur Trapper

"Onward to Victory!"

Campaign Score Board after 2 games: USA 3 CSA 0

Inspiration

 A question from Peter on yesterday's post reminded me that I have yet to try the simple Campaign method suggested by Neil Thomas in One Hour Wargames (2014) Chapter 21.

I randomly chose five scenarios for the Campaign as follows: For each of the five games, throw D6 to determine which group of the 30 scenarios will be diced for. 1 = 1-6, 2 = 7-12 etc with a roll of 6 meaning roll again. Then throw D6 to determine which of the 6 scenarios in the group to play. I chose the following:

1. Scenario 12 An Unfortunate Oversight

2. Scenario 25 Infiltration

3. Scenario 20 Fighting Retreat

4. Scenario 1 Pitched Battle

5. Scenario 26 Triple Line

The side with the most victories wins the Campaign which will probably mean the Campaign is won before all 5 are played, but we'll see! To determine which side plays either Red or Blue, D6 are thrown before the game begins - highest plays Red.

Game 1 An Unfortunate Oversight, also known as the Battle of Griffithberg

Union forces splash across the ford

For anyone who hasn't played this scenario, the Unfortunate oversight is the ford across the River Potonail that only the Union forces are aware; though the second oversight turned out to be the Confederate General forgetting what the objective of the scenario was for 2 turns.

"Victory is secured by being in exclusive occupation of the hill at the end of the game".

Colonel Sanders throws his men at the town.
Only the Union cavalry appearing on his flank prompt him to check his orders

Colonel Moutarde covers the flank whilst two of his battalions head for Griffithberg hill 

Close combat on the hill

By early afternoon Union troops are in full control of the objective

while fighting continues in and around the town

Turn 10, the Umpire checks his notes and realizes that both sides are at EP

As both sides retired to tend to their wounded it was clear that the Union force had won the day.

Campaign Score Board after 1 game: USA 1 CSA 0

Continuance

 Back in January 2022 I started a Campaign that was, I thought, going to easily brought to a conclusion as it was going to be played in a series of small games using my Risk figures. Quick and easy to set up, play and put away etc... Of course I got distracted. To cut a tedious story short, I've played a couple more games.

To summarize earlier events; in the Spring of 1845 Rubiria invaded Northern Amethysia. Amberil, allied to Amethysia declared war on Rubiria. During the Summer of that year, Rubiria gained full control of the region having defeated the Amethysian Army that had marched North from their capital. The Rubirian Third Army replaced the Second in Northern Amethysia.

Situation in Autumn 1845

As Summer turned to Autumn, Amberil joined the war, attacking the Rubirian third army.

For this battle I used a scenario that Ross Mac has recently played here. The road North passes through a gap between two impassable terrain features; a bog to the West and densely forested hills to the East. To achieve victory, Rubiria (red) must hold back the attacking Amberil (yellow) force. Yellow must get at least two units to exit the board via the Northern edge.

Green and orange zones are impassable

Initial positions - the farms act as BUAs

Yellow's fierce attack on the gap

Mid-day, Red is at Exhaustion Point but still holding

As Yellow reached EP their 2nd unit exited the board
Yellow Victory (just)

As the Winter of 1845 arrived the battered Rubirian Third Army had retreated back across the border. After the Mid-Winter festivals, protracted negotiations for Peace began between the warring parties, in neutral Obsidia. Events further North were, however, to force the moment to its crisis...

Situation is Spring 1846

In the early Spring of 1846, Azzuros sensing a weakness in their old enemy, invaded Eastern Rubiria on the pretext that this disputed region had once belonged to them. Rubiria's Third Army, mostly raw recruits and conscripts, was rushed East to meet the enemy...

Control the Village

For this game I used two forces that were balanced in size and unit type but were of different quality. Azzuros (Blue) had regular (Average) troops, whereas the Army of Rubiria (Red) was of Poor quality, being barely trained. The objective for both sides is complete control of the village and its strategically important crossroads.

 

Blue heads straight for the objective

As casualties mount on both sides Blue gets a toehold on the Village

Red reaches Exhaustion Point

Late in the day, Blue controls the village, Red concedes defeat

With the defeat of Rubiria's Third Army, Azzuros now controlled Eastern Rubiria.

Having been forced to an early, and costly, Peace with its Southern neighbours, Rubiria now faced either a new war with Azzuros, or the prospect of ceding territory...