Gettysburg Solo Turns 30-38 (the fight for Little Round Top)

 

Sickles rout turns into a stampede with the whole corps skedaddling. Fortunately Vincent's brigade of V corps arrives at Little Round Top in the nick of time!

For the moment nothing will stop Sickles' boys but once they are out of Rebel artillery range they will start to rally. The rules allow for a unit out of an active enemy ZOC (zone of control) to automatically rally by one morale step each turn.

Following a successful activation die roll Sykes puts his V corps in motion towards the Round Tops.

And VI corps have now arrived to bolster the defences on Cemetery Hill. There are a lot of Union troops in a very small area and despite the collapse on the left Meade is growing more confident that he can hold.

A crucial moment - Laws brigade have swept Vincent from the crest of Little Round Top but in the foreground Anderson's Confederate brigade have been repelled by Ward's veterans. The Rebs rolled a one on the assault table which causes an attacking non-veteran brigade to rout.

Meanwhile across the valley Pickett's division is deploying behind the Chambersburg Pike.

Lee has ordered A P Hill to advance and demonstrate against Cemetery Hill but once again a string of failed activation die rolls means that only Anderson makes a belated move forward. In the end a frustrated Lee rescinds the order as the troops are coming under artillery fire to no purpose.

Sykes forms a solid defensive line as Longstreet pushes forward in the gap between Little Round Top and Cemetery Hill.

Although now at reduced strength, Ward's Union brigade clings stubbornly to the saddle of the Round Tops. Both attacking Confederate brigades are shaken and cannot launch an assault.

McLaws' men push forward towards the V corps line. Longstreet tries to call them off but once again their is a failed activation die roll that leaves the Confederates under a heavy fire - both lead brigades are now at reduced strength and near breaking point.

But at last Ward's men have finally broken leaving Little Round Top in Confederate hands!

Part of VI corps deploy on the end of Cemetery Hill in a position where they can direct flanking fire on McLaws.

It's too much for the Rebels to bear and both Semmes and Barksdale's brigades are broken and removed from play.

Longstreet is up with Hood trying now to organise a defence before the inevitable Union counter-attack.

And when it comes it's Vincent's brigade that drive the Rebels back - a variation on their role in the real battle but still playing an important part!

As the Confederate position starts to collapse Hood receives a mortal wound.

The men of V corps surge forward as far as the Trostle House.

While the Rebs retreat back across Plum Run. They have given everything they had but in the end just didn't have the numbers to succeed!

The situation at the Round Tops at the end of Day 2 - turn 37

Turn 38 was another night turn and the remaining brigades were redeployed ready for the morning as below.

The view across the table from the Round Tops towards the Seminary.

The view from Lee's HQ looking towards Cemetery Hill.

Once again I allowed for some limited strength point recovery and this time the Confederates did reasonably well, especially Heth's division.

Tomorrow is Pickett's charge!

Gettysburg Solo Turns 19-29

Day 2 (July 2, 1863) begins with the 10.00am turn (Turn 19). Lee has ordered Ewell to renew the attack on Culp's Hill whilst he waits for Longstreet's Corps to get into position opposite the round tops. Ewell orders his only fresh division (Johnson) to make the attack supported by Early.

Johnson has 'assault' orders but with only two brigades and one supporting battery he is outnumbered by the Union XII corps defenders.

However, Walker's veterans do managed to break Greene's brigade who go running down the back of Culp's Hill.

But Slocum orders McDougall to fill the gap whilst the remnants of Reynolds corps stand ready behind them by the cemetery gates!.

Uncharacteristically, Early's men fail to advance in support of Johnson by failing three command die rolls in a row. They only manage to give support from a single battery deployed across the Tanneytown Road. 

Walker's brigade is broken and the Rebel attack fizzles out.

Slocum's men did get a bit shaky during the action and the general had to risk himself personally on two occasions to stop potential routs. Luckily he escaped without a scratch.

To add insult to injury (to the Confederates) Gordon's brigade was routed by Union artillery bombardment and went streaming back through Gettysburg.

Culp's Hill remains safely in Federal hands.

Ewell's corps is now a spent force and not capable of making a further attack without reinforcement.

The time is now 2.00pm (Turn 27) and Lee has ordered two batteries from the central artillery reserve to shift to the right in support of Longstreet's anticipated attack on the Union left.

Longstreet can try to activate his divisions from the start of this turn but rolls a 1 (anything but a 1 would have been fine!). His men wait patiently in their ranks.

Finally, with a Rebel Yell, his men surge forward and knock de Trobriand's brigade clean out of the Peach Orchard.

To the left, Law's brigade advance on the Union line near the Trostle House.

But frustratingly Hood's division fails to activate!

Better news for the Confederates - Pickett's division has arrived on the Chambersburg Turnpike. All the Rebel forces are now on the table.

Meanwhile following a successful activation test (allowed once Longstreet had attacked) Sykes (V corps) has despatched Vincent to occupy Little Round Top.

3.00pm and Hood has got his boys in motion by the Rose House.

Putting Sickles under pressure with three of his four brigades routing!

So the game is still shaping up broadly along historical lines with a failure by the Confederates to take Culp's Hill while Longstreet puts the Union left flank under heavy pressure...

Gettysburg Solo Turn 18 (Night)

Turn 18 is a night turn and the forces have been repositioned roughly along historical lines except that Union XI Corps has been completely removed following its rout. All Union Corps are now on the field except for Sedgwick's VI Corps who are scheduled to arrive on turn 30. The only missing division from the Confederate army is Pickett's which is due to arrive on turn 28.

I rolled dice for each brigade or battery that had lost SPs during the fighting on Day 1 to allow the possibility of limited recovery. This resulted in a marginal increase in SPs for both sides. Any 'shaken' units have been restored to good morale.

The view from the Union side of the table. Troops deployed in column are in reserve. Reynold's I Corps is greatly reduced and has no attacking value.

This is the Confederate side. Note that Heth and Rodes' divisions are at low strength and have very little attack effectiveness. 

My Turn Schedule doesn't allow Longstreet to make any attacking moves with McLaws or Hood until turn 27 to represent Longstreet's tardiness in the real battle. Ewell and A P Hill are allowed to attack as they see fit. The Union forces can only make an attacking move if Meade is personally present which effectively limits them to attacking with only one corps at a time.

This may be the crucial sector of the field - Sickles III Corps does look very isolated!

To win the battle the Confederates must hold Culp's Hill, Little Round Top and have a foothold on Cemetery Hill - a big ask but a decisive victory is needed to end the war in their favour!

Just to spice things up a bit I am open to any suggestions that may bend my timeline so please leave a comment with any ideas (for either side). I'll moderate any ideas with a die roll and may incorporate them into play.

Gettysburg Solo Turns 8-17

I've played the game through to the end of Day 1 which is 7.00pm, nightfall. There was a lot of action, too much to cover in detail here (mostly because I've already forgotten a lot of it!) but here are the main points.

Rodes men continue to push in against the Union right flank forcing Reynolds and Howard to make an ad-hoc defence line. Casualties are steadily mounting on both sides.

The arrival of A P Hill allows the Confederates to finally issue an 'Assault' order at the Seminary. The assault order allows units to charge the enemy which is a quick and brutal way to decide things. I'm only allowing assault orders to be issued if the corps commander (Confederate) or army commander (Union) are adjacent to the command being ordered. Here you can see that Perrin (Pender) has just charged and broken Stannard (Reynolds) - the Seminary is finally in Confederate hands.

To make things worse for the Federals, Early's division have just arrived on table and are pushing into Gettysburg threatening the Union rear.

Bufords exausted troopers have rallied on Cemetery Hill. When a unit gets down to 3 or fewer SPs it has very little combat effectiveness however, the Union cavalry are the only troops in place to try and stop Early from advancing and taking Culp's Hill.

The Rebels continue their headlong charge into the Union flank along the Chambersburg Pike. Once issued with an assault order the units must continue to charge unless they are eliminated or called off. In this case Pender took two turns to get his men back under control.

The Union line has now fallen back behind the Turnpike still trying to halt the Confederate onslaught. The artillery ammo for both sides is getting low and some batteries are out of action awaiting the arrival of the wagons.

Early advances with his eyes on the prize of Culp's Hill and the enemy rear.

The defensive line drawn up by Reynold's and Howard is still holding but casualties are mounting as the Confederates come forward one more time.

Disaster - every single Union brigade along the turnpike is broken and running. Fortunately the Rebel troops are not in good enough shape to pursue.

After one failed initiative test the Union cavalry deploy a 'thin blue line' to defend Culp's Hill and the exposed end of Cemetery Hill.

If they can just hold on for a couple of turns Slocum's XII corps may just be able to provide support as they emerge along the Baltimore Turnpike. The time is 5.00pm.

Rodes men catch their breath and reorganise whilst the Federals attempt to rally what they can along the line of the Emmitsburg Road.

The Confederates need reinforcements in order to continue the attack and these are arriving in the shape of Anderson's fresh division moving towards the Seminary along the Chambersburg Turnpike.

Slocum is pressing on while the remnants of the Union cavalry somehow manage to keep Early's men at bay!

These are the only two Union brigades defending the Emmitsburg Road position. ALL the brigades of Howards XI corps have been completely broken and removed from play.

Anderson's division is now deployed and ready to continue the Confederate attack but it's getting dark and there will be no further fighting until the morning.

Both of the Union cavalry brigades are gone now (units are removed when they get to -2 SPs) but Slocum's infantry are on Culp's Hill. At the end of Turn 17 Avery's Confederate brigade fails its morale test and becomes shaken, this means that they will have to concede ground during the night move - the Federal rear is safe for now!

The positions of the remaining commands at the end of turn 17.

It was a humdinger of a fight but somehow, by the skin of their teeth, the Union prevented a complete disaster and have held Culp's Hill. However, the losses have been huge with six brigades of infantry (including the whole of XI corps) and two of cavalry destroyed without the loss of a single Confederate brigade. I think I would have to say that Day 1 goes to the Rebels!