More Fire & Fury

I slightly rearranged the terrain for another bash at my Fire & Fury 'fight for the crossroads' scenario. This time it was Tony who donned the Confederate grey of 'Old Pete' Longstreet while I retained command of two divisions of Porters Union V Corps.

The table - looking pretty similar to the last game but with the addition of some newly painted buildings.

The view from behind the Union left flank.

I got my lads moving forward whilst willy 'Old Pete' hung back to see how things developed.

My Zouaves seek the cover provided by the central wooded hill.

Meanwhile the Tigers occupy the road junction.

Buford's troopers arrive hoping for a better showing than they did in the previous game. Waiting for them at the end of the road are Ashby's dismounted cavalry.

Tony keeps his right flank refused - for the time being.

I shake out a battle line for an attack on the crossroads.

'The sweepings of the Louisiana water front'  Rob Wheat's Louisiana Tigers.

Buford's boys have sensibly dismounted and are using the extra effectiveness of their carbines at long range to annoy Ashby's men.

My attack goes in at the crossroads. The casualty marker denotes that the unit is disordered.

My Zouaves emerge from the tree line hoping to flank the Tigers.

Over on my right flank there are reserves arriving - unfortunately the Rebs have some as well, marching along the road in the distance.

Buford closely engages his nemesis Ashby but it was Buford once again who was forced to retreat!

On my left things have gone horribly wrong! Tony's men rush forward and with a Rebel Yell, sweep my men away capturing two batteries in the process.

On the right, the Iron Brigade deploy and are already disordered - not quite as iron as I had hoped.

But we push on...

...although in the centre my attack has been repulsed.

Tony's men have broken my left flank...

...and pushed right up to the cemetery gate!

The Irish surge forward - begorrah!

Charge and counter-charge as troops swirl across the fields.

Longstreet is moving to flank me in the centre.

That swirling melee from the Rebel perspective.

The table near the end of play.

The Confederates push in my centre and it's game over with an impressive win on points for Tony.

Another great little game and I'm really getting to like these rules (the original version) as I think they have a realistic back-and-forth Civil War feel. For now though the troops must return to their storage boxes while I turn my attention back to painting 20mm Napoleonics.

15mm ACW project complete!

I have just completed painting the last few figures for my 15mm Fire & Fury project - it has only taken me 30 years. To celebrate I invited Goya over for a game.

Rebs on the left, Union on the right - the road junction in the centre of the table is the objective.

The Union start the game with three brigades and two batteries deployed.

The Rebs have the same.

We wasted no time getting stuck in with both sides advancing rapidly.

My Zouaves got a run out in this game.

A clash in the woods which became a bit of a see-saw fight. We discovered that while brigades remain 'fresh' nothing too dramatic tends to happen.

Buford's cavalry make it onto the table for their first ever fight. The house is a rather nice 3D print from the Battle Honours range.

Confederate reinforcements start to arrive.

The action in full flow with brigades attacking, being pushed back and attacking again.

Ashby's Reb cavalry appear and, sneakily avoiding my own cavalry, ride and dismount on the flank of one of my infantry brigades helping to push them back.

They then mount up and charge my dismounted troopers at the crossroads with a 'Swept from the field' result!

Fortunately I have infantry reserves arriving.

The action is now general along the whole table. At this point Goya had to leave so I carried on solo for another three turns.

I was hampered by some poor die rolls on the 'Maneuver' table that slowed the deployment of my reserves.

The Confederates were now firmly in control of the crossroads.

With artillery up in the front line...

Their position looked unassailable.

That's it - Chapman's brigade skedaddles and it's game over!

Now we have more or less mastered the rules I hope to play a few more of these.

More Horse Soldiers

So I decided to complete my forces by adding a Confederate cavalry unit. These are more of the excellent AB Figures sculpts all based for Fire & Fury.

Mounted figures on 6 stands of 2 figures each.

Dismounted version on 5 stands plus a horse holder.

This just about wraps up this project except for a few terrain items I want to paint.

Horse Soldiers

I've had some 15mm ACW cavalry figures in the lead pile for fifteen plus years, bought for my stalled Fire & Fury project. They are very nice castings from AB Figures and I thought it was time they got some attention.

Six Union cavalry stands based for Fire & Fury.

When dismounted one stand becomes a horse holder.

There are some more in the lead pile that might just see the light of day as Confederates.

Rifle Brigade

I bet you thought this project had ground to a halt eh? Well, I guess it sort of has but I did manage to knock out this unit to represent part of the Light Division.

This is the same Pendraken figure as used for the previous unit but as they are representing rifles I didn't fiddle around adding bayonets.

I also painted a Divisional Command stand. I thought two mounted figures on a base would work well for this and it's also the way these are represent in the 6mm ACW armies.

These figures are from the Napoleonic Austrian range. I had to change the hat to the fore and aft position but otherwise it is a simple paint job conversion.

I do have more units in mind but it all comes down to available time whether they will get compeleted.