Back of Beyond

Regarding wargaming, I have split personality. I have collected 25mm Napoleonics for 30+ years and find adding new units a never-ending source of satisfaction. On the other hand, I start other new collections/eras without much thought. I go where inspiration leads me...

This has led me into, from my point of view, an off-shoot of WW1 called Back of Beyond. It is not so much an era as an idea. It encompasses the events during the Russian Civil War that played out in Central Asia as many varying factions competed for control over regions stretching from Persia to China. Like the Napoleonic era, it is the home of larger-than-life characters leading relatively small armies into battles that had far-reaching impacts.

Much of my new found enthusiasm for this era comes from a book called Setting the East Ablaze by Peter Hopkirk that I found at a rummage sale. For the expense of 1 dollar, an era of history has been opened up to me. Now I am reading about the possibilities for wargames set in Back of Beyond at < http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?board=4.0 > and wondering what I have gotten myself into! I look forward to getting some sample figures and seeing where this takes me...

Few shots from recent games

I have managed to unload a few pictures from my camera of recent games.

From our ACW game: Battery Robinette

CSA troops approaching Battery Robinette

CSA troops approaching Battery Robinette

 From our Napoleonic game: Tarviso

Opening positions in center

French Legere take the village

French Line Infantry entering Tollo

View of Tollo from the French cavalry positions

Final positions where the French win only because of time limits. Note the large number of Austrians regrouping to swarm the village

Hungarians on the march

Early in the battle. Austrians prepare to charge into Tollo

Austrians holding Tollo

A large number of Austrians in the center!

French troops on the left wing facing Austrian Hussars

Map making for wargames

I am about to reveal how little I really know about map making. This is especially painful as I was trained as a geographer in college! I use a program called Macromedia Freehand running on a few different PC computers. The "secret" to making my maps is understanding layering. In Freehand, one layer set atop another layer will obstruct your view of things on the lower layer.

So, in my mind, I deconstruct the map that I wish to make into sets of items or layers... maybe, if I show you it would make more sense. Here is a map that I made for a game that I hope to run someday soon.

1. Base layer - draw a rectangle, mix some blue, and fill in the rectangle.

2.Ground layer - I use the pencil tool to free hand the outline of the ground. In this case I mixed a darker brown for the earth and chose a tan/sand color for the shoreline.

3. Trees layer - Next I draw a small sample of circles, fill them in with some green color from the mixer, and then cut and paste my circles until I have enough to make a forest.

4. Rapids layer - I needed to show rapids in the river so I drew the needed shapes, colored them a lighter blue, and then close a pattern for the rapids and whirlpools to differentiate them.

5. Portage and shooting range layer - Using the pencil tool I drew the shapes needed for the portage trails and the shooting range, colored them a tan color, and then chose a pattern for them to differentiate them.

6. Rocks and Movement Info layer - I drew a few rocks and placed them over the rapids area. I added text boxes to give movement information for players to use if I ever get to run this game.

7. Event markers, Title box, and border layer - Lastly, I added "event markers" and a title to my map. Most importantly, I added a thick edge border to cover up all of my imperfect drawing of shapes on the lower layers...

It really sounds more complicated than it is. Map making is only as complicated as you wish to make it. As long as the map conveys a good idea of the terrain and helps a reader understand the action being described then it is a good map. I hope that this helps a little for those who wish to make maps to describe a wargame battle.

Scramble in the Woods Report

This game was intended as a "quick" game so we could all head off in different directions for cookouts to celebrate the Memorial Day Weekend. This scenario was heavily modified from the original idea that I found at GHQ (http://www.ghqmodels.com/pdf/american_civil_war_scenarios/10.pdf ) in order to accommodate our rules, available figures, and time constraints. The Confederates were led by Mike and I while Carl had the task of commanding all of the Union troops. The battle began @10:30 and ran until @14:45.

The engagement began with the Federals deployed near Winfrey Farm. Willich's Union Brigade moved to extend the Federal lines on their left while Dodge's Brigade moved toward the Union right wing once the flank march of Wood's Confederates was spotted. This left Baldwin's Union Brigade to hold the center and "bend" in the Union lines. From the outset Baldwin's men were engaged in a maelstrom of musketry and artillery as Polk's Confederates moved up to engage Baldwin's blue-coated troops. Baldwin's men gave as good as they got and both sides began to suffer as crushing volleys were delivered from each side.

Baldwin's men had to be disturbed in seeing Wood's Rebels rapidly marching down the Federal right flank while being mauled by Polk's men just to their front. As Dodge was still moving across the Federal rear to try and hold the Union right flank, Baldwin was compelled to begin shifting some of his regiments to avoid being hit in the rear by Wood's troops. Baldwin and Polk continued to trade crushing volleys which caused both sides to waver.

Meanwhile, events of the Federal's left wing were going a bit more leisurely as Willich's and Deschler's men were content to hold their positions and trade skirmish fire. In that area, the slightly larger Union battery (1st Ohio Light Artillery) gave the Union men the advantage as their weight of fire kept the Confederate skirmish line from closing effectively. In time, the superior numbers enjoyed by the Confedrates began to tell as Union regiments fell back from the firing line through casualties and failed morale tests.

Back at the farm, Baldwin's troops were suffering under the weight of fire from all of Polk's brigade and two regiments from Wood's brigade. Although Col. Baldwin was hit twice (roll on double six chart) he survived and his brigade held steady. Dodge had deployed his brigade behind Baldwin and that prevented Wood from enveloping Baldwin. The lines had stabilized into an "L" shape with Baldwin's rapidly shrinking brigade holding the 90 degree bend in the Union line.

Finally, at around 14:30, Baldwin's units began to leave the field (when units reach 25% of strength they disperse and leave the field). With three of his infantry regiments gone and his gunners nearing dispersal, Baldwin was compelled to withdraw from the farm area. This was going to leave Dodge's men to hold off the intact units of Wood and the bloodied units of Polk. It would have been a repeat of the gallant stand of Baldwin's men.

Seeing that all signs were pointing towards a Confederate victory, the battle was declared over as the Union men were forced back. The Federal troops had fought hard and suffered mightily but Cleburne had not gotten to "knockout punch" that he had been looking for. The Confederates of Polk's Brigade had suffered heavily and would have likely "fallen down and gone to sleep just where they were" just as happened at the actual battle.

It was a fun and fast battle. As always, the Guns at Gettysburg rules provide a simple game with a few bits of fun thrown in to make it interesting and evocative of the era. I did bring my camera to this battle and now I need to see if any of those photos are worth uploading. Stay tuned for a picture or two soon...

A map is worth 1,000 words

View from Confederate left looking at Winfrey farm holding Baldwin's brigade with Dodge's brigade behind them

Scramble in the Woods Scenario

Winfrey Farm

Cleburne vs. Johnson at Chickamauga 1863

This scenario is an adaptation of a scenario on GHQ’s website depicting Cleburne’s twilight attack on Federal troops at the Battle of Chickamauga. Cleburne’s plan was to surprise the Federal troops in the area, hit them very hard, and drive them back by an unexpected assault. In reality, the fighting was confused and chaotic as troops shot at friends and foes alike since they could not distinguish the troops they were targeting. Our scenario will assume that Cleburne’s troops began their attack a bit earlier in the day. Of course, since it is light in our scenario the Federals will not be taken by surprise as they were in reality.

Objectives:

1    Destroy at least one enemy brigade through rout, dispersion, casualties, or brigade rout.

2    Control the farm by having the last formed unit to occupy the farm area.

3    Kill, or capture, enemy CiC.

Federal Troops

Brig. Gen. Richard Johnson

1 AdC

Brig. Gen. August Willich
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
89 Illinois	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
32 Indiana	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
39 Indiana	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
49 Ohio	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
1st Ohio Light Artillery	3” Rifles	3 Section	VET

Col. Joseph Dodge
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
79 Illinois	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
29 Indiana	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
30 Indiana	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
77 Pennsylvania	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
20th Ohio Light Artillery	12 lb Napoleon SB	3 Section	ELITE

Col. Philemon Baldwin
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
6 Indiana	RM	20	LINE	1st CLASS
5 Kentucky	RM	20	LINE	1st CLASS
1 Ohio	RM	20	LINE	1st CLASS
93 Ohio	RM	20	LINE	1st CLASS
1st Ohio Light Artillery	3” Rifles	3 Section	VET

Confederate Troops

Brig. Gen Patrick Cleburne

1 AdC

Brig. Gen. S.A.M. Wood
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
16 AL	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
33 AL	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
45 AL	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
32 & 45 MS	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
15 MS Sharpshooter Battalion	RM	20	ELITE	Sharpshooters
Calvert’s ARK Battery	12lb Napoleon SB	2 Section	VET

Brig. Gen. Lucius E. Polk
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
1 ARK	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
3 & 5 MS	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
2 TN	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
35 TN	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
48 TN	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
Douglas’ TX Battery	12lb Napoleon SB	2 Section	ELITE

Brig. Gen. James Deshler
UNIT	WEAPON	STRENGTH	MORALE	SKIRMISH
9 & 24 ARK	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
6 & 10 TX (CAV)	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
18 TX	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
24 TX	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
25 TX	RM	20	VET	1st CLASS
Semple’s AL Battery	MIXED	2 Section	VET

 Terrain Effects:

Woods – For sake of game play, all woods are considered light woods and are classed as DIFFICULT TERRAIN. Units in woods receive -2 Cover modifier when being fired upon.

Farmstead – The “field” part of the farm represents the farm in this game. The buildings are decorative and offer NO benefits. Any unit in the “field” receives a -1 Light Cover modifier to represent fences, farm buildings, and other “cover” in and around the farm.

Hills – These hills are more representative of rises in the terrain and do not cause movement penalty. The hills do block line of sight.

Special Rules:

      Tactical March - We will use a modified version of the Divisional Redeployment March (rule 14.16) as our Tactical March. Any BRIGADE may move 24” provided that they remain more than 24” away from ANY enemy unit for the entire move. The Marching Brigade must have all of its units in March Columns and on MOVE orders.

      Skirmishers - Skirmish lines MUST have a minimum of 3 inches between figure bases; otherwise it is counted as Extended Line. Exception: If a stand cannot sit on a terrain piece then it may be closer than 3 inches to an adjoining stand but it must be made clear of the intent. This rule is being enforced to maintain ground scale and spacing.

Initial positions