It had been some hours since Lieutenant Justice T.  Lovetrain had begun to worry.  The piquets and cavalry scouts that should have been abroad in the countryside around General Jackson’s force at Winchester were nowhere to be seen.  As the small column marched into the northern outskirts of the town, the fields where Lovetrain had expected to see the sprawling encampments that spelt security and medical assistance for the Captain were ominously deserted, it seemed certain that his worst fears were being realised.

“If I may be so bold Captain, I would suggest that the war has moved on apace while we have been away.  It would seem that the General has moved southwards up the valley”.

“I guess you’re right L’tenant”.  Jebbediah Butplug’s voice was weak, weaker than this morning.  His wound was clearly infected and travelling by wagon had taken a terrible toll on the Captain.  Throughout the morning’s march he had remained silent, yet his discomfort was writ clear upon his face. 

 “Sir.  There’s a rider up ahead”.  Sergeant O’Malley was the first to spot the rider and for a few moments had trained his rifle on the fast moving man and horse.  As the two came nearer, however, the gray uniform of what was a Southern cavalryman became clear.  The rider pulled up and whistled.

“Sheesh, where you boys come from?  I’m supposedly the last man out’a Winchester.  I guess you didn’t get the order to move out.  Well, I can tell you more than most as I happened to be with the General when the news came in.  Johnston has pulled back to Culpeper an’ left us hung out on our own.  The General got word that Banks and his Yankees were marching up the valley from Charles Town.  There was no point in sittin’ here an’ putting out the bunting, so the Army is falling back up the valley”.

“Well, sir, I am mighty glad that we found you.  Our Captain here is wounded and we need help in getting him to a sawbones with the main body of the army.  Can you assist us sir?”

“You ain’t a chance in Hell Lootenant.  I’m on my way now to tell Colonel Ashby that I have just seen the bluebellies not more than a mile back.  Infantry and cavalry.  You have no chance of gettin’ away with a wounded man in a wagon, Captain or no.  Best to abandon him to the mercies of the Yankees.  Now sir, I have dallied for longer than I should, I must get to the Colonel with the news that Winchester has fallen.”

Justice T. Lovetrain III watched as the rider whipped his horse along the main turnpike towards Middletown.  He could not abandon his Captain.  For all his lack of grace his commanding officer was a brave and good man who deserved better than to rot in some Yankee jail.  There was but one chance. 

“Nelson, whip up your wagon and take the Captain back until you find General Jackson.  I am sending two men with.  When you reach Middletown, or before if you can, requisition a buggy that can move faster.  Y’understand?”  The driver nodded and the Lieutenant turned away.  There was work to be done, the Lord would have to look after the Captain from now on. 

—

Mr Pickens, I would be obliged, sir, if you would take command of the right.  Put your skirmishers on that rail fence and pepper those Yankees as they come up the Valley Pike.  Hold some men back in the woods as a reserve.  Once we have held up our enemies for a suitable period of time I shall be relying on you to cover the withdrawal of the force.  I shall be up by the mill house with the main body  If we can persuade Mr Lincoln’s boys that we mean business they may not press home their attack.  All we need is an hour. 

“Hold there Cap’n.  There are Rebs up in the farm ahead.  You may wish to deploy your boys for action.  They look to me like they’re settling in to defend the rise where the turnpike enters the trees.”  The Major of artillery snapped shut his telescope as he address Captain Abner Spiderwebb.  The advance had been unopposed thus far and it was said that General Banks intended to keep on going all the way to Richmond.  The Major leant forward in his saddle “I reckon I saw some cavalry back there south of Winchester, I must ride back that way now to report to old Jim Shields, I can send some to assist you if you think such an addition to your force may be appropriate?”

 “I would be most obliged to you sir”  Captain Spiderwebb eyed the ridge ahead as he spoke, “ for if the Rebels mean to fight they hold a fine position and any assistance will be appreciated”. The Captain turned now to seek out his Lieutenant “Mister Bouldermeir, take your men forward and occupy that orchard.  I shall draw up the company here while you engage the rebels in yonder farm”. 

 Nathaniel Bouldermeir advanced forward with sixteen men in extended order while behind him the Captain was drawing the company up in line.  To his left he could see Lieutenant Reliant moving off towards the cornfield, clearly being detached to cover the flank of the main force. 

 “Here they come boys, let’s give them some Southern hospitality”.  Lieutenant Justice T. Lovetrain dropped his sword downwards and thirty-two muskets crashed out a volley.  The Federals hesitated in their advance before a second volley sent a party of blue clad men running back towards the line that was forming up.  “That’s it boys, you may fire at will, keep them bluebellies under pressure”. 

“Damn those men Sergeant, get them under control”.  Captain Spiderwebb was not happy.  Half of Lieutenant Bouldermeir’s party were now running back past his line, the shock of the enemy’s fire too much for them to stand.  The Captain could see that the other half of the advanced party had been unaffected as their advance had been covered by a small orchard, however this had meant that the fire from the whole rebel line had been focussed on one small Group of men, and they had decided unilaterally that saving their skin was of prime importance. 

Sergeant Frank Chisholm’s punch floored the first man as he attempted to dodge past and continue his run.  “Anyone want some of that?”  Chisholm glowered at the men who had now stopped running, but on whose faces the shock was still plain.  At least they still had their rifles.  The Sergeant hauled the fallen man to his feet and began to get the rest into some semblance of order. 

—

The man’s kepi went spinning as the bullet took off the top of his head.  “Oh my Lord”.  Lieutenant Robin Reliant was horrified.  On the march he had enjoyed the beauty of the valley in springtime, his sketchbook was tucked into his tunic and always to hand when moments allowed flora or fauna to be captured in pencil in the watery spring sunshine.  Now, in an instant, the horrors of war transformed the landscape into a living nightmare.  A second man went down. 

“Fine shootin’ Mitchell”.  Sergeant Red O’Malley could see the Yankees hesitating in their advance towards the wheat field.  He could clearly see that the young officer that headed them was now sprawled on the ground, all semblance of leadership evaporated, “Git another Mitch, and they’ll be a runnin’”.  And indeed they were.  Another body of Federal troops were running for the rear, but this group evaded the big Sergeant from Boston and kept heading down the gradual slope towards Winchester.  Only Lieutenant Reliant was left, recumbent in the dirt.          

Captain Abner Spiederwebb watched as his plan fell apart.  Only a handful of men now were engaging the enemy from the orchard and they weight of rebel fire would surely tell very soon.  Were he to make any headway he must take his line forward, but knowing the standard of drill he could expect from his men he knew that the darned orchard would break up the formation once he moved through it.  He swore. 

“We’ve got them licked boys, pile it on!”  Lieutenant Lovetrain could see that the day was his.  For half an hour now the Yankees had stood back and sent in small bodies of men who were simply unable to stand against his massed firepower.  Even the fire from the orchard was now less than it had been only moments ago.  The Yankees could bring on their main force now if they cared to do so, they would be shot down like dogs.  He peered through the smoke that was now draped across the front of his position, damn this black powder!

“Captain, sir.  May I suggest that the enemy’s fire seems to be going high.  The smoke that hangs across their position is making their musketry ineffective”.  Sergeant Chisholm had seen this before at Chapultepec, men on high ground firing over the heads of their enemy, made worse by the build-up of smoke from their weapons.  “Were you to order an advance now I would wager that we could clear that orchard and reform before those Rebels know what we are up to”.  It was a suggestion, but Captain Spiderwebb, who in 1847 as a small boy in Baltic Russia had never heard of Mexico let alone Chapultepec, was man enough to listen to an old hand. 

 “Stop your fire!  I cannot see a damned thing!”  Lieutenant Lovetrain was now concerned.  His men were keen, but firing through a wall of smoke was a waste of good powder.  The firing petered out and the Lieutenant vaulted the fence and ran forward some twenty yards, “Tarnation” the Yankees were coming. 

 Sergeant Brendan MacMahon rammed another cartridge into his Sharps Military Carbine and fired.  From the edge of the wheatfield he could see the rebel skirmishers on the hill beginning to hesitate.  The rate of fire from MacMahon’s ten cavalrymen with breach-loaders was clearly beginning to tell.  Jaysus, Mary, Joseph and all the Saints, it was a fine weapon. 

 On the hill another Irishman, Red O’Malley, had been attempting to concentrate his fire onto the flank of the advancing Federal troops.  He could see that Lieutenant Lovetrain’s position was covered in smoke and knew that musketry there would be wild and ineffective, but now his attention was fully grasped by the incredible fire that was coming from below his position in the wheatfield.  He could only see a few men down there, but the number of bullets that cracked past his ears was truly frightening.  Two of his men had fallen in last two minutes. 

“Damn their black hearts.  Fire!”  Lieutenant Lovetrain had run back to his line, and as the last whisps of smoke had cleared he unleashed a volley down towards the yankee line that was attempting to get past the orchard.  A few men in blue fell, but then a crashing volley came back in reply.  All around him men were falling, the solid firing line that until that moment had suffered little or no loss now recoiled in shock.  Another volley, and then another, and now fire was coming in from the area of the wheatfield.  Lovetrain looked to his right, he could see that Sergeant O’Malley was running back towards the treeline.  And then the line broke. 

They didn’t run, these were tough men, but as one they fell back from the line of the fence.  The mill house was now burning, adding to the chaos, but Lovetrain could see Sergeant Beckwith holding the line steady, stopping the retreat and reforming the men.  They had surrendered the fence line, but in doing so were safe from the Union rifle fire.  If they could be reformed to meet the enemy as they came up the slope then more time could be won to allow Captain Butplug’s escape.

 “Damn me Sergeant, these men will be put through their paces on the drill field at the first possible opportunity.  They cannot perform even the most simple of evolutions without all formation being lost!”  Captain Spiderwebb was cognisant of the fact that valuable time was being lost.   The rebels had been cleared from the fence-line, allowing his main body to advance past the orchard, but getting them back into formation seemed to take an age. 

Lieutenant Pickens crawled forwards through the wheat, he could neither see nor hear his men, but he knew they were there.  The report from Sergeant O’Malley had persuaded him use the gulley that lay before his position to bring his men unseen into the wheatfield.  If the Yankees had breach-loaders then he would get in close and give them a shock.  A cry went up just ahead, the Lieutenant leapt to his feet steadied himself for a moment and then fired into the Union cavalrymen who were scattered through the field. 

“Jaysus” Sergeant MacMahon was shocked.  Where had those damned rebels come from?  He wheeled round to face the new threat, but at that moment a second group of rebels delivered a second volley into his men.  The rebels seemed to be all around him.

Sergeant O’Malley was back on the fence and putting fire into the flank of the union line as it came up the slope.  He could see that Lieutenant Lovetrain was still frantically attempting to re-organise his men by the Mill house.  He had to try to hold up the Yankee advance. 

Captain Abner Spiderwebb waved his sword with a flourish.  He could see his line beginning to hesitate, “For Old Glory boys, for the Union” his words provided the final spur that took the men up to the fence-line and into the teeth of a rebel volley.  Men went down, for a moment the Union line seemed to creak and bow as a beam under the blow of a steam hammer, but then their Enfield rifles spoke out in reply.  Before them the rebel line melted away into the woods. 

Lieutenant Justice T.Lovetrain III looked at his pocket watch.  Fifty minutes he had bought for the Captain at the cost of twenty men dead.  He had hoped for an hour, enough time for Nelson to get his master away down the pike.  Would fifty minutes be enough?

Ethau Pickens fell back by bounds, one group firing as the other retired back up the gulley.  Red O’Malley’s skirmishers kept the main Union body at bay for another minute, enough time to pull out the men remaining without further loss.  Captain Spiderwebb’s force had lost the best part of thirty men, several of whom had deserted in the face of the enemy and would, he hoped, be rounded up and shot for cowardice.  The Yankees had opened the road, but were in no state to pursue the retiring rebels.  What of Jebbediah Butplug?  Did he escape to medical care and safety?  We shall find out next week. 

— 

A very interesting game in that the Rebels held a very strong position, however with Jebbediah out of the way they were very short of leaders of any quality.  Lovetrain was a Status II Big Man, the best they had (O’Malley and Pickens were also Status II, Beckwith was Status I).  This total of Seven command points was pretty paltry in the face of the Union total of eleven (Spiderwebb III, Bouldermeir II, Chisholm II, Robin II and MacMahon II) but they also had Sergeant ‘Dutch’ Kapp absent wounded.  Despite that the game saw huge swings from one side to the other.  After twenty minutes play everyone thought that the Rebels would simply shoot down anything that came near them, however that was before the Union cavalry arrived and tied up O’Malley’s skirmishers.  This left the rebel line of four Groups to face the Union line of five Groups.  In the end it was the additional command points that allowed the Union line to retain its order and recover from several rounds of wicked Confederate firing, whereas with just one status II and one status I Big Man with the rebels line they were unable to rally their forces as efficiently, and once Shock began to mount the line fell apart. 

I was overly generous allowing the Union cavalry to be as tactically smart as they were, but I wanted to playtest aspects of their firepower and skirmishing abilities with a larger Group.  As such I allowed them twelve men instead of eight which put ten men in the firing line (after horse holders had been allocated) and they were pretty devastating.  In reality I would not allow them to operate in full skirmish order in 1862, limiting them to extended order, so that would make them more brittle, however that aspect of the battle really was kept to one half of the table.  This allowed us to really test the line against line combat on the other half, and when they met it was (in the words of Max from “Hart to Hart”) murder.

The game was played out with about 70 rebels and 90 Federals and took two hours to play to conclusion.  Unlike the previous games which have been real skirmishes, this had the feel of a battle.  Indeed it was a truly awesome spectacle and everyone commented that it was an epic game.  Again the card deck was used to good effect, the initial union volley saw the crashing volley played, which rocked the rebel line, the rebels played two ambuscade cards when surprising the Union cavalry from close quarters and that served to ensure that no pursuit occurred once the two sides parted.  In the final advance the Old Glory card was used to rally the line for the final push up the hill, the Unions last card as the rebels had played the Tarnation card against them in an attempt to rid them of any advantage in the final clash.

“Dag Nabbit!  I jes’ can’t talk the priddy way you do Mr Russell”.  Jebbediah Butplug was downcast.  The arrival of Mr William Russell from the Times of London had seemed the perfect opportunity to improve his learning, but no matter how many hurricanes hardly ever happened in Hampshire, or how much rain fell upon the plains of Spain Jebbediah could not affect an accent that, in some circles, would be considered “educated”.

“Ah, now Captain, to be sure you have no need to talk any different to the way you do at present”, the newspaperman spoke reassuringly in his soft Irish brogue “you see men are measured by their deeds and not how they speak.  I should wager that your men are more proud of your bravery in the face of the enemy than how you speak or dress, would you not say so?”

Jebbediah could but shrug his response and send a stream of brown tobacco juice into the fire.  Recently he was certain that some of the more genteel members of the Regiment, largely gentlemen from the plantations, had commented about his rough and ready manner.  He had tried with the Englishman to prettify his speech, but a cat could not, as his grandpappy had once said, become a dog.

“I beg your pardon, sir, for this intrusion”, the soft drawl of a Virginia gentleman announced the arrival of Lieutenant Justice T.  Lovetrain III “but there is news from the north; news that I believe may be both auspicious and timely”.

“Is it fresh supplies?  My men have been near to mutiny with their complaints of the smooth bore weapons that they are armed with.  By Jiminy, some fool has been a tellin’ those boys with the old Kentucky Rifles that they should toss them away due to their lack of range and reliability.  Now that’s all well and dandy when they have something to replace them with, but we have yet to get our hands on the new fangled rifled muskets that we need to stand up to them bluebellies” 

“Well, sir, I do declare that we may have found ourselves a new Quartermaster, one who wears blue.  Our spies in Charles Town have reported that the Yankees have just taken delivery of a consignment of Enfield Rifles.  At present they are stored at their supply depot near Charles Town and are yet to be distributed”.

“L’tenant Lovetrain that sure sounds like an opportunity for us to help ourselves and git the company properly equipped.  Get the men ready to move out”.  

___

 “Well done Nate, you did a fine job escorting the … ahem … most delectable Miss Angel here.”  General Bouldermeir’s eyes seemed to protrude from his head as he looked over the young lady with clear relish, “She has appraised me of your bravery in crossing the river at Cedar Creek and for that I am most grateful.  Miss Angel will be returning to Baltimore in a day or so after we have concluded our … um … pressing business.  In the meantime I would like you to stay to hand so that you can accompany Miss Angel back to her home when that time comes.  I am assigning your company to guard the new supply depot outside Charles Town so that you shall be readily available.  Thank you my boy, you may now leave us.“   

The General’s dismissal had been clear but polite, only becoming somewhat uncomfortable when Nathaniel Bouldermeir began to press the General, his Uncle, on the matter of the identity of his newly found cousin.  What pressing business could the General have with the young lady?  There was much talk of spies in the Army now that they had crossed into Virginia, although it seemed that in this the most northerly part of the State the population were for the most part loyal to the Union, he could but hope that the comely Miss Angel Delight was not a secessionist agent.  It was too terrible to contemplate.

___

 Sergeant “Dutch” Kapp nodded, “Ja, you were correct, it is rebels indeed and is some force”, he turned to beckon forward the men who were deployed back in the small wood before turning to the picket “run youngster, run and alert the Captain.  Tell him the rebels they are arriving”. 

 A moment later a volley of musketry rattled out from the small party on the fence to the right of Sergeant Kapp’s position.  The rebels could be seen moving across the open field, some heading for the woods, others moving around, clearly attempting to slip through the ring of pickets that encircled the supply depot.  Sergeant Kapp’s men now added their fire and the lead rebel groups seemed to hesitate momentarily before pressing on. 

“Hot diggity dog, Yankees” Jebbediah Butplug had known that sooner or later he would bump into the Union troops assigned to guard their supplies and had planned accordingly.  Up ahead Enos Beckwith was moving forward in extended order to pin the enemy, behind them Lieutenant Ethau Pickens and Sergeant Red O’Malley would push out to the east, outflanking the Union held wood, Jebediah now swung his men off to the north to another wood on the crest of the ridge.  He would push on and outflank the enemy on the rail fence and then push through to seize the Union supplies. 

The sound of the firing alerted Captain Abner Spiderweb before the runner sent by Sergeant Kapp had reached him but the sight of the young soldier running towards his tent confirmed the direction from which the enemy were attacking.  His Company were strung out all around the supply depot and the Captain was more than aware that getting any kind of coherent defence organised would be critical.  Already he had sent Lieutenant Bouldermeir off to from his men up and advance into the apple orchards that were in the general area of the enemy advance.  He would now attempt to form the rest of the company up and advance to support Sergeant Kapp in the woods.  If only the Sergeant could hole the enemy for long enough…

The fluidity of the motion was amazing even to Captain Butplug.  His men had been advancing in open order through the woods, but as they emerged they formed a firing line with both speed and precision and then unleashed a volley that ripped through the Union men along the rail fence.  There was no chance of a reply, and the men in blue fled back to the woods.  Behind this force came Lieutenant Lovetrain, his uniform as immaculate in battle as in the theaters of Richmond.  Jebbediah smiled, he loved it when a plan came together. 

“Fire!”  The volley was less than impressive as his men were almost still rushing forward as they fired, but it had its desired effect; up ahead the rebels hesitated in their advance, surprised by the unexpected volley for long enough to allow Lieutenant Bouldermeir’s men to rush into the orchards and find cover.   The Lieutenant could see that a Rebel force on the ridge was driving off a body of Union riflemen and that more rebels were moving up in support of this attack.  He knew that had he been a minute later the rebels would have been in among the supplies, only his arrival with less than twenty men stood between the enemy and the supplies.  He moved forward, posting his men among the trees from where they could fire on the Rebel line. 

“Gol’durned Yankees!  Where in Sam Hill did those pesky varmints come from?”  Jebbediah Butplug’s complacency was now shattered as his men, formed up and in the open were subjected to enfilading fire that tore through their ranks.  “Right wheel!  Bring the line round to face off these critters”.

“Nice shooting boys”  ‘Dutch’ Kapp hadn’t enjoyed himself so much since Schleswig back in ‘48 when he had worn the King of Prussia’s uniform.  Now he moved through the wood offering words of encouragement to his men and directing their fire.  On the open slope below the rebels, despite their numbers, were suffering.

“Hold there you men, not one step further”  Captain Spiderweb could see the stragglers falling back through the trees, leaderless men whose only thought was to save their own hides.  The Captain now sent forward the men that he had brought with him to engage the enemy on the ridge, while he set about rallying and reforming the men who had retired earlier. 

The first that Captain Jebbediah Butplug knew of the fresh Union reinforcements was a volley that hit his force in the flank.  Having turned to deal with the Yankees in the orchard he now had the woods on his flank, and Captain Spiderweb’s reinforcements were able to catch the rebels in a devastating crossfire. 

“Shoot!  Fall back boys, rally on the woods” Jebbediah was enough of a soldier to know when he was licked.  The Yankees in the woods and the orchard now had upwards of fifty men in a rough crescent around him and their firepower was simply too much for him to continue his advance.  His plan had been to get in close with his smoothbore muskets and let the enemy have a dose of buck and ball, but now, pushed back, the rifled Enfields of the Union troops were taking their toll.  Now, retiring back up the hill, it was a Union bullet that struck down the Confederate Captain.  Lieutenant Lovetrain ran forward, seizing the elderly Captain by the belt and hauling him the final few yards into the cover of the wood. “Dag nabbit, I’ve been shot in the ass!  Those no good varmints jes’ don’t fight fair”.

—

“Sergeant O’Malley, it strikes me that there are two kinds of men on this slope, those who are dead and those who are about to die.  So let us form the men up and get the Hell out of here.” 

The small Irishman looked at Lieutenant Pickens with horror writ clear upon his face.  “What, retire?”

“Tarnation no, Sergeant, I am not about to retire.  These boys are in no state to advance strung out like a flock of lost sheep.  Git these men in line, give the Yankees a volley and then let us raise a cheer for the Bonnie Blue Flag and show these blue-bellies some Rebel steel!”

It was a ragged line, but the volley felled the large blonde Sergeant that Pickens could see moving among the Union troops on the edge of the wood.  The yell that rose up from what seemed the very soul of the southrons who had suffered on that slope was enough to send a chill into any northern heart, leaping forward the men came on in a wave that swept the edge of the wood clear of Yankees.    Lieutenant Pickens held his men in check, now rallying them, reorganising the small disparate groups into a solid line before resuming the advance onto the flank of the Union troops in the wood.  A crashing volley rang out, men in blue falling, others now running. 

Captain Spiderweb stepped forward “Hold there you men, not one step further” but this time his words were not enough to stem the tide of men that were falling back.  The road to the supplies was open, the rebel tide was in full flood.   

—

“I give you the honour of the day sir” William Russell raised his glass towards the elderly man lying face down in the field hospital.  “My readers back in England will hear of your exploits sir, of your great guile and audacity, to supply your men with Enfield Rifles from the stores of the enemy will amuse them greatly”. 

Jebbediah was not so sure, he could imagine the headline already – Butplug’s Butt Plugged. 

“Dag nabbit”

—

Another playtest of ACW Sharp Practice and a really fun game.  At last Jebbediah has equipped his force with modern rifles (which should please some people!) but he has paid a price in blood.  More importantly we got to see the Rebels using their smoothbore muskets to good effect, large formations firing buck and ball at close range are hard hitters.  From a rule writing perspective we are finding that the system is pretty much complete now, the Bonus Deck is adding a lot to the game, players are using their card hand to best effect now, Pickens’ charge was aided by the timely playing of the “Stonewall” card to rally the men into good order followed by a “Crashing Volley” card and a “Rebel Yell” card that allowed them to make their attack with maximum effect.  “Dutch” Kapp was saved by “The Good Book” card. 

More fun in the valley next week when, we hope, Lieutenant Bouldermeir will discover more about the lovely Miss Angel Delight. 

One of the questions that I get asked more regularly than any other (apart from “Is it your round?”) is whether it is worth putting units into Formation in Sharp Practice.  The argument runs that if an individual Group is harder to hit than a Formation then surely the benefits cancel each other out. 

It’s a seductive argument, however one that misses the key issue of the importance of Shock within the rules.  The major benefits of being in formation are that, firstly, casualties and Shock are spread evenly among the component Groups and, secondly, that it is much easier to rally Shock as your subordinate Big Men are able dedicate all of their energies to precisely this task.  That said, I thought it might be worth a look to see exactly how this aspect of the rules performed under laboratory conditions. 

The following example take two forces of three Groups each which are about to enter a firefight.  They are drawn up (roughly) as follows:

Red’s force would, in reality, be a somewhat loser formation, but for diagramatic purposes this will serve our purposes. 

As can be seen both sides are exactly the same.  Both have Three Big Men, one Status II officer and two Status I NCOs and these command thirty men. 

For the sake of our experiment we are assuming this is a close range affair, under 12″, and that both sides are armed with smoothbore muskets.  As one side must get the drop on the other I am allowing te Red side first honours as I reckon they will need all the help they can get, however throughout I assume that the cards drawn for both sides are the same in each turn.  I am also assuming that the roll of the dice follows a pattern of even distribution, so if you roll 6 dice you’ll get 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 all appearing once.  Indeed the pattern that I have used is 6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3.  Having the 6 up front (so the first,seventh, and thirteenth dice rolled is assumed to come up 6) skews things give a slightly bloodier then average in terms of number of men dead as opposed to Shock inflicted, but we have to draw the line somewhere.  Feel free to try this out using a different spread of numbers (or even better on the tabletop with real dice rolls) I am confident that you’ll get a similar end result.  So, now I have set up my laboratory how does the experiment go.  (call a psychiatrist someone!)

Turn One
Red’s Status II Big Man opens fire with two Groups.  Both have ten men, both benefit from having fire directed by a Big Man.  They need 4-6 to hit as they get a +1 due to their target being a formation, so a dense target.  They achieve six hits each which results in two men dead and six points of Shock. 

Blue’s Status II Big Man now opens fire with all three Groups.  Two Groups are down to 9 men, but they all benefit from their fire being directed by a Big Man.  Each of the component Groups has two points of Shock, so they also lose one dice per Group for that. They don’t get a +1 for a dense target as the enemy are in individual Groups, but they do get +1 for being in formation themselves; so 4-6 hits.   They achieve 16 hits which results in four dead and 9 points of Shock. 

Next Red’s Status I Big Man fires with the remaining Group which now has 9 men and 3 points of Shock.  They achieve six hits, resulting in one man dead and three points of Shock. 

Blue’s Status I Big Man now removes one point of Shock. 

At the end of turn one the honours are roughly equal, despite Red getting to fire first. 

Turn Two
Blue’s Status II Big Man is first out this time.  He rallies one point of Shock and then with his second Initiative he opens fire with all three Groups.  He achieves 14 hits which result in 3 dead and six Shock

Red’s Status II Big Man now uses his two Initiatives to fire two Groups, one of seven men and one of eight.  Both have 5 points of Shock, so lose two dice for that.  This results in 2 dead and 3 Shock. 

The Tiffin card now ends the turn with the last red unit firing, resulting in 3 hits, 1 dead and 1 Shock.  So at the end of the turn the firefight looks like this. 

Turn Three
Red’s Status I Big Man begins the turn, firing one Group of eight men, resulting in four hits, 1 dead and 1 Shock. 

Blue’s Status I Big Man now removes one point of Shock.

Red’s Status II Big Man fires two Groups.  This results in eight hits, 2 dead and 3 Shock. 

Blue’s Status II Big Man removes a point of Shock and fires with all three Groups.  This results in eleven hits with 2 dead and 5 Shock. 

Red’s Status I Big Man now removes one point of Shock, and Blue’s remaining Status I Big Man does the same before the Tiffin card ends the turn.  At the end of the turn the real difference is the levels of Shock on the units.  Blue has been able to rally his men much more effectively than Red and Red’s force appears to be on the verge of losing its bottle.

Turn Four.
An immediate Tiffin card sees all units fire simultaneously.  Red’s increased level of Shock means that he gets six hits, whereas Blue gets eight.  What’s more the resulting casualties (1 dead and 3 Shock on Blue as against two dead and three Shock on Red) means that two of Red’s units are now retiring due to losing their Bottle.  Blue has been hurt by the firefight, at the end of the day the equality in numbers has meant that the number of men dead has been pretty equal, but it has been their ability to have two NCOs constantly dedicated to removing Shock that has kept them in the fight for longer.   A couple of turns rallying should see them ready to join the fray again.   

So, are Formations worth it?  Yes, they certainly are.   What is more the above example saw two equal forces meeting.  In addition we need to consider the fact that were three individual Red Groups attempting to attack Blue’s Formation it is quite likley that their adavnce would not be as well co-ordinated as Blues three Groups that are united in one Formation.  Had Blue’s firing line come up against just two Red Groups the result would have been much more quick and bloody.

“Dang nabbit, we gone and dun it.  I always said that half o’ this war stuff was jes’ a case of gitting there fustest with the mostest!”  Jebbediah Butplug spat a stream of brown tobacco juice into the pile of rocks at the side of the road.  He had reached the crossing at Cedar Creek before the Yankees, he was sure of it, however if he wanted to block the road he would have to move quickly.  “Lieutenant Pickens, git your riflemen along that rail fence, if them blue-bellies show their faces you show them what the Kentucky Rifle can do, keep them over there ’til I get the rest of the company in order.” 

“Oh but Mr Bouldermeir, I do declare that I have not a clue to what you refer.”  Miss Angel Delight’s eyelids fluttered as she spoke, the young Lieutenant seemed to sense that her smile was mocking him.  The news that she was his cousin and on the way to visit her Uncle, General Bouldermeir had come as a shock to Nate Bouldermeir.  He had been raised always understanding that he had no living relatives, let alone one as comely as Angel Delight.  His mind raced that the thought that Miss Delight could be an imposter, or, and he prayed that this was not the case, a Spy in the pay of the Confederacy.

“Miss Delight, I have been told that you and I are kith and kin, yet I have spent these past twenty-two years entirely unaware of your existence.  Pray tell me, how is it that we can be cousins and yet no nothing of the other’s existence…”

“Mr Bouldermeir, sir, please come forward to the head of the column, the Cap’n things there may be Rebs up at the bridge.”  The young soldier had been running, and even as he finished speaking there was the sounds of rifle fire from across the creek.  If Nathaniel Bouldermeir could learn anything from Miss Delight it would not be now.  There was a war to fight first. 

“I must leave you now Miss Delight, I would ask you to remain with the waggon until we can drive off these traitors, once that is done I do trust that we may continue our conversation.”  The Lieutenant turned away and ran towards the small house that stood by the side of the road.  Up ahead he could see a small group of men under Sergeant Kapp who were hunkering down and taking cover from the solid structure of the stone bridge. 

“Ah, Bouldermeir, I am sorry to drag you from the bosom of your family, however more pressing matters seem to be to hand.  The rebs are deployed north of the bridge and look to me to be in some strength.  Their riflemen are playing Hell with our boys’ nerves.  Draw up your men on this side of the road, I will take the bulk of the company through the orchards and try to drive the enemy off.  Once that is done we will have to rush the bridge.”

“Keep movin’ get the men into the corn field on the far side of the road, we’ll give them a peppering when they come across the bridge.”  The rebel infantry were advancing quickly eastwards, passing Bridge Farm and heading into the wheatfield beside the bridge.  On their right one Group of eight men were in reserve in the woods whilst on the rail fence the riflemen were keeping the Union forces off the bridge with their accurate fire.  Fortunately their enemy had yet to cotton on to how slowly the Kentucky Long Rifle took to load as a quick dash could have secured the crossing. 

“Forward you men, form up along that there fence and keep up a fire on those skirmishers, a few volleys will see them off.”  Captain Spiderweb was facing the age old problem of deploying into action from a column of march.  He had sixteen men forming up on the fence and ran back to the small crossroads to bring more men from the march to reinforce this line.  The enemy skirmishers were causing far more problems that they should for a handful of men, and whilst it was a drastic measure to deploy the bulk of his company against them he had no intention of sending his men forward into the march ground by the river.  They use the cover of the fence and drive the Rebels off with weight of fire. 

“Sheesh, then Gol’durned Yankees are slipperier than a bucket of snakes.  They should be comin’’ over the bridge now, but they ain’t!” Captain Butplug was incensed.  He had marched his men down to Bridge Farm and the fields beyond them, only to find that the enemy’s main effort was in driving off his skirmishers on the right.  He could see down the lane that Lieutenant Justice T. Lovetrain III was bringing forward the reserve from the wood to support the Long Rifle men, but at that range their effect was minimal.  He could see Ethau Pickens was pulling his men back from the fence and the Yankees were now cutting down the men remaining there with thunderous volleys that resonated across the flatland by the river.  “They jes’ don’t play fair.”  Jebbediah spat again.                 

“Lieutenant Bouldermeir, move your men down into the orchard by the bridge.  I am going to bring up more men along the fence at Orchard Farm and with support on both flanks I would like you to rush forward and form an extended line across the bridge.  Use the marshy ground by the river.  I do not want you to press home your attack.  These rebels have pulled off from the fence line but they’ll be waiting for your attack.  Just skirmish with them, give me time to bring the rest of the force across.  Understand?”

Nathaniel Bouldermeir understood all too well.  The Confederates had been driven back by the rifled muskets of the company, but even so they could counter-attack at any moment.  For a few minutes he formed his men up in loose order in the orchard ready to make the run.  Along the fence by Orchard farm two dozen fresh men were forming up and preparing to fire under the watchful eye of Captain Spiderweb.  Then the Captain’s sword flourished above his head and Nate ran for the bridge.  A smattering of musketry came from the wheat field, but the stone bridge provided some cover.  Ahead along the road several well aimed shots saw two of the leading men crumple to the floor obliging the young Lieutenant to leap across their bodies as he careered forwards.  A crashing volley sounded out to his right and the rebels in the wheatfield could be seen staggering backwards, firing as they went, but overwhelmed by the close order lines that were supporting the attack.  On the men in blue ran.

“I am jes’ about fed up with this!  These pesky Yankees are too much for us to hold here.  Lieutenant Pickens, where in tarnation is Lieutenant Lovetrain?  Last I saw of his he was over with you on the fence…Gone, gone where?  Never you mind.  I think it’s time we were all gone”.  And with that Captain Jebbediah Butplug signalled a general retreat for the second time in a few days.  How far now were the Confederates from their initial elation after their first two victories.  The Yankee troops were advancing across the bridge in numbers now, their despondence of only days ago replaced with the self-belief that only victory can bring.  The men in gray were despondent as they withdrew, but one thing was for sure: they would fight again another day.

A very interesting playtest game this week.  After last week’s game we found that our group were falling into the wargamers habit of doing things “because they can”.  Because their troops could operate in extended order (somewhere between formed line and skirmish) they all decided to do everything in that formation, which led to lots of ineffective skirmishing.  We had a bit of a discussion about real tactics in the civil war, and this week the two Union commanders really took the lesson to heart and used a mix of formations to suit the situation.  Somewhat unfairly the Rebel commanders hadn’t been present last week, so they stuck to using independent Groups in extended order and, when they came up against the Union Formations in line of battle were just overwhelmed by the firepower and obliged to fall back and rally out of line of sight.  

We have also found it pleasing to see the differences between the weaponry mirroring historical results.  Smooth bore muskets loaded with buck and ball are GREAT for taking on your enemy in a close range firefight, indeed were we fighting in the Wilderness, for example, I’d prefer them to the Rifled Musket, however, they are pretty useless for anything else.  The long rifles, somewhat antiquated but still serviceable, are very accurate in the hands of good troops in a good position, however their slowness to load is a real handicap for anything other than harassing an enemy from distance.  Ina stand-up fight they really don’t cut the mustard.  For all-round performance the Enfield or the Springfield are the better weapons.  They load as fast as a smoothbore, but their range and reasonable accuracy make them a good all-round tool. 

All in all we have seen excellent progress this week.  The game incorporated a full range of random events and bonus cards, like the original Sharp Practice rules, and they added to the general Civil War feel of the game.  That said, it seems that Nate Bouldermeir will have to wait to learn more about his mysterious ‘cousin’, the delectable Miss Angel Delight.

Jebbediah Butplug took a long draw on the stone jar of whiskey and sighed; he was a contented man.  He’d whipped the Yankees twice in the last two weeks and seized supplies that his men were now taking back to the main army around Manassas, but for now he could take his time to enjoy the warmth of an unusually clement early spring evening in the Valley.  He’d licked them blue-bellies for sure, they wouldn’t be back…

Captain Abner Spiderweb looked back at the men who marched behind him; they were a fine body of men, but there could be no doubting their despondency.  They’d been in the field for only a month and they’d been beaten on both occasions, however the rabble of greenhorns they had once been had emerged, despite all, as a drilled body of tested men who could adequately perform the manual of arms and who had now “seen the Elephant”.  In the week since he had assumed command, following the polite but firm removal of Hyram Washington to a more suitable position on the staff, he had even attempted to introduce the Gymnastic Pace so beloved of the New York based Zouave company he had served with before the outbreak of hostilities.

The previous evening had been pleasant, but the night was now quite cold, although his men were warmed by the march and the chance to catch the Rebs on the hop.  Old Ma McInnerney had ridden in their camp on the Potomac in the late evening with news that the traitors were encamped at Brokeback Farm from where their singing and general demeanour suggested that they were taking strong drink and troubling the livestock.  Here was a chance for the newly promoted Captain to face his baptism of fire and to lead his men on to some kind of victory that would raise their flagging spirits. 

Lieutenant Justice T. Lovetrain attempted to focus as he stood by the fence rail that marked the edge of the Farm.  The land sloped gently down to where the ford passed Old Ma McInnerney’s smallholding and then rose up to the woods on the far bank.  Among the trees, their movement seeming to flicker in the dappled light that penetrated the boughs that overhung the track, a body of men marched in column of fours.  For a moment the Lieutenant stood transfixed, his brain sluggishly assessing the situation, overly encumbered by the residual effect of the evening’s embibement to work with its normal alacrity, until at last the true was upon him.  “Hot diggity dog; Yankees!”

It was more by luck than judgement that a small party of riflemen was at that moment heading out towards the woods. Intent on using their Kentucky long rifles to provide a breakfast of woodland critters to fortify them for the morning’s march, but now their presence stood as the sole resistance to the advance of the Yankee column.  Lieutenant Lovetrain ran for the encampment amid the wheat field while behind him he heard the first shots from the slow loading but accurate riflemen. 

Captain Spiderweb swung his column into the trees to the south of the road, throwing forward Sergeant ‘Dutch’ Kapp with a party of men in extended order to move down towards the stream.  Conferring with Lieutenant Bouldermeir he rapidly decided that rather than engage the riflemen ensconced behind the stone wall at Brokeback Farm he would attempt to outflank their position, moving through the cornfield and across the stream to the south where, he hoped, the small orchard  would provide his force with some cover. 

“Yankees, dang nabbit!  Never trust a gol’ durned Yankee to fight fair” Captain Jebbediah Butplug was not a happy man as he was roused from his whiskey induced slumber.  “Call out the guard! Summon up the company!  Find me ma britches!”   In the Confederate camp chaos reigned as men emerged bleary eyed from their tents. 

Sergeant Red O’Malley was a veteran of the Mexican War, a man of few words but with an understanding and appreciation of things military that surpassed his rank.  He had sat aside during the evening’s excesses and now retained a clear head.  Climbing a small tree by the farmhouse he was now able to use his height to spot the Yankee movement to the south and direct the fire of the riflemen.  It was clear that their accuracy was taking its toll on the Union men, as each part of the column came within sight they would break formation and scuttle into the trees or down the small path at the rear of Old Ma McInnerney’s home.  He could but hope that the disruption caused would allow his comrades to form up and resist.

Lieutenant Ethau Pickins (rumoured to be overly familiar with chickens) grabbed the first group of men he could see and ran for the orchard.  He could see that Sergeant O’Malley was pointing in that direction and that some of the riflemen had now moved round behind the snake rail fence to bring their fire to bear in that area.  Slipping into the trees a the jog his men now loaded buck and ball into their muskets.  If the Yankees came that way they would find a welcome for them.

“With me Sergeant Kapp, let us attempt the ‘Gymnastic Pace’ of which I told you”.  Captain Abner Spiderweb almost seemed to skip as he leapt the small creek with one athletic bound and ran on into the cool safety of the orchard.  His men were following him, equalling his speed if not his grace.  Perhaps, wondered Spiderweb, red trews and a Zouave cap would be most fetching for the men of his company. 

“I do declare, gennelmen, that there Yankee seems to veritably fly upon the air”  Ethau Pickens could not fail to be impressed, “Let us send him our own flying response” and with that the muskets crashed out from their hidden positions behind the apple trees, the range being so close that almost every shot hit its mark. 

There seemed little doubt to Captain Spiderweb that his men were running faster now than when attempting the Gymnastic Pace, but in the wrong direction.  As they ran a second volley cut down four more men and saw the captain run past Sergeant Kapp and his men on the edge of the cornfield and off into the woods at the top of the hill.  “Okay boys, let’s give them Rebs some pepper of their own”, and from the field two groups of Union soldiers in extended order began a steady fire into the orchard. 

After several hundred yards Captain Spiderweb realised that, despite his Zouave training, his men were outpacing him.  Alone in the shaded woodland he gave up the chase and turned to collect his thoughts.  This was not the most auspicious start to a military career, if he carried on like this he’d be following Captain Washington to command a mule train.  He would need to do better.  Wandering to where they cornfield met the trees he could see that Lieutenant Bouldermeir was now down the smallholding and seemed to be trading fire with the Confederate riflemen on reasonable terms.  Down towards the orchards Sergeants Kapp and Franklin were also standing their ground and trading fire.  The longer ranges were suiting the rifled muskets of the Union force now, the buck and ball of the rebels less effective.  Drawing his sword he strode once more into the fray. 

It was with some surprise that ‘Dutch’ Kapp saw the new Captain return, and this surprise was increased when the Captain moved along the line, steadying the men, dressing their ranks and then forming them up into one extended body.  Moving forward to the stream they directed a steady and overwhelming fire into the orchard, obliging Lieutenant Pickens to fall back to the wheatfield where he now met with Lieutenant Justice T. Lovetrain who had brought a party of men forward from the camp. 

Lieutenant Robin Reliant had seen the action to the south develop as he came up with the rear of the union column.  He had been a late arrival as his platoon had been out foraging when the order to march had come through.  He had almost caught up with the main force under Captain Spiderweb when it reached Brokeback Farm, however he had not spoken with the Captain and now felt he had some freedom of action.  With the rebels seemingly drawn down towards the action in the orchard he took his force swiftly through the woods to the north of the road, forming them up in extended order among the trees and then pushing on towards the snake rail fence that ran by the creek.  They were greeted by a volley from a party of rebels among the rocks on the far side of the stream, however this was ragged and suggested that their rapid manoeuvre to the north had surprised the men in gray.  A concerted volley crashed out from the Yankees and in moments the rebels were running back for the farm.  Lieutenant Reliant now brought his fire to bear on the Rebel riflemen that still held the centre and, added to the fire from Lieutenant Bouldermeir’s men this was sufficient to drive them back into the large barn. 

Captain Jebbediah Butplug drew up his reserve for a counter attack just in time to see Lieutenants Lovetrain and Pickens come running back.  He could see his men were jumpier than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  “’tenant Lovetrain, you pull yo’ self together and get the men to haul their no good asses out o’here.  These blue boys got their punch in this time, and I have no intention o’ sittin’ here and taking more of this.  We fight again tomorrow”.   And with that he about-faced his men and marched from the field. 

So ended the latest playtest for the ACW variant of Sharp Practice.  All in all we had a force of around 70 Union and 50 rebels on the table.  It was an interesting action as we saw the Union forces somewhat shocked by the accuracy of the rebel riflemen early on and attempting to deploy into action straight from march column.  In truth this resulted in a messy advance that saw the lead Union elements dealt a bloody nose by very small groups of Confederates when they advanced into short range, and especially when they were ambushed by hidden force.  That said, the Union forces did manage to shake themselves out into a respectable firing line and now at a longer range their Enfield muskets began to take their toll.           

Captain Abner Spiderweb was humiliated in his early attack, but then pulled himself together, rallied his force and formed them up to make a significant attack.  A relatively green force such as the one he commanded was never going to hold its formation together for long, in extended order an inexperienced force tends to break down into smaller clumps which are then harder to control, however he did manage to get them forward and to drive off the rebs in the orchard and the fields behind them. 

As with all new rule sets we are seeing the playtest group learning the tactics of the period.  We had precisely the same thing with TW&T where the first few games were VERY bloody with people attempting Hollywood tactics, with the games improving hugely once they began reading up about real period tactics and using them.  We had exactly the same with Charlie Don’t Surf as well, so this is part of the fun of a new period.  In the post game discussion (a hugely important part of developing any new rule set) the union players rued the fact that had they formed up in cover and then advanced a co-ordinated force against the rebels they could have got the same result but at a lesser cost.  We live and learn. 

So, in our valley campaign Nate Bouldermeir has recovered the secret papers for his father, Brigadier Bouldermeir.  Next week we will be meeting the Colonel’s Lady as Captains Abner Spiderweb and Jebbediah Butplug fight it out in the Shenandoah Vally.

With Fire and Sword is the latest product to be added to the TooFatLardies catalogue.  Penned by Chris Stoesen from Atlanta in Georgia it is a natural follow on from Chris’ first AWI supplement, This Land Divided, that concentrated on actions in Georgia in 1779.  In this latest publication Chris looks at events in neighbouring South Carolina in the following year, presenting twenty-four scenarios for Sharp Practice along with a range of rule suggestions which may be used for this conflict. 

As part of the celebrations we flew Chris in to Lard Island for the launch and got the opportunity to chat with him at the Lard Island News offices.  

Chris, welcome to Lard Island.  Thanks for joining us here to discuss your latest supplement for the Lardies, With Fire and Sword.  Can you tell us a bit about your interest in the American War of Independence, or the American Revolution as I am sure you’d call it on your side of the pond?

Sure.  It has always been a fascination for me.  It was one of my favorite things to study as a small child.  At that point, I think I just liked the three cornered pointy hats.   As a college student, I lived just a few miles from the King’s Mountain battle site.  That and the fascination of how the founding fathers managed to pull it off and then manage to piece together a government that has lasted more or less intact since then.  Their lives are a marvellous mixture of virtue and vice that always make for a great story.  Living in the South, there are a large number of battlefields to visit that are only a few hours away.   It is just an easy period to get excited about.  It was the AWI that had me first find the TooFatLardies.  I was looking for a good rule set to game the period with some 6mm Adler figures.  I could not find any that I liked when I found Le Feu Sacre and wondered if I could morph those into something usable.  After that I found I Ain’t Been Shot Mum and I ended up writing the Greece supplement.  My Gamers Attention Deficit took over and it was a few years before I came back to the Revolution.

Tell us a bit about With Fire and Sword, where did the name come from?

Major Patrick Ferguson is the reputed source.  He delivered an ultimatum to the Over Mountain Men to stay out of the conflict or he would destroy them and their community “With Fire and Sword.”  It was this that was pretty much the beginning of the end for the Major.  Ferguson was an interesting character unto himself.  He developed a breach-loading rifle that had significant potential but was never adopted by the military.   I believe he was a commissioned Major from one of the Highland regiments.  As such he was entitled to a higher rank within the provincial and Militia establishments but did not take the rank.  He was one of the best leaders of British Militia in the war yet was beaten at Kings Mountain by a large number of men from what would become Tennessee and the colonies of North & South Carolina and a small Georgia contingent (Elijah Clarke’s men). 

How would you describe With Fire and Sword to someone wanting to know a bit about it?  What’s in there?

It’s about the Revolution as experienced in the South.  I think it represents the bulk of the fighting that took place in the South during the revolution.  The militias on both sides carried the fight on a day to day basis.  Some of this was rather ruthless and barbaric with actions against civilians occurring on both sides.  The militia battles were passionate and sharp but generally did not involve a huge number of men, so they are ideal for Sharp Practice.  Shots were exchanges and usually after a limited exchange one side fled.  The winners and losers would be engaged again within days.  The large battles such as Camden and Guilford Courthouse are exceptions rather than the norm for the battles in the South. 

What scale figures do you use for your games of Sharp Practice?

I use 15mm figures.  I have a mix of Old Glory, Lancashire, QRF and now Peter Pig.  I am more comfortable in this scale as I already have terrain for it and the cost is significantly less.  Plus my painting skills are not up to larger scales.  They are more suited for even smaller scales but that is another story.

Do you have any favourite ranges for the scenarios in With Fire and Sword ?

I really like the Old Glory ragged Minutemen pack.  It has a large variety of figure poses and they look to my eye like militia.  The Peter Pig range is quickly growing on me and probably will be my favourite when I get to see their mounted militia packs. 

Is all of your gaming with 15mm then?  I know a lot of people use mainly 28mm for Sharp Practice, do you change the rules at all for the smaller scale figures?

Not all of my gaming is in 15mm.  I have 6mm armies for LFS (Russians & Ottomans), Taxes Tea and Tories and IABSM (French, Russian, British Western Desert, Italians – Desert) as well.   I had some ancients in 28mm but have since sold them.  I have some Ancients in 10mm (Late Saxons and Normans) but they have never seen a table yet.  I also have a 6mm Seleucid and Maccabean army that needs a coat of paint somewhere.

For Sharp Practice, I don’t change a thing with the rules.  The ground scale is very well suited for 15mm.    I can see doing it in 10mm or 6mm and adjusting the measurements to centimetres if I am allowed to mention the whole metric thing on Lard Island.  

You can, but you’ll have to put some money in the swear box.  What’s the gaming scene like in the Atlanta area?  Is there much Lard on offer?

There are a number of us in the Atlanta area.  Mark and Terry are active on the list.  Mark gets to game far more often than I do and runs several Sharp Practice and IABSM games each year.  Terry has been playing some Charlie Don’t Surf and play-testing Chain of Command.  There are several others in the area that join in to get a helping of Lard when it is offered as well.  That is my New Year Resolution every year is to get more games in.

Ah yes, the famous Mark Luther and his stunning terrain.  It’s quite amazing what Mark can do, his games looks like film sets, wargaming meets Hollywood almost.  You’re very lucky to have him to game with.  Tell me Chris, how long have you been gaming with TooFatLardies rules?

Hmm….. I am actually not sure.  I think back in 2004. 

What’s the attraction of the rules for you?

I see the TooFatLardies rule sets as tool boxes.  They give you the tools needed to craft just about anything from them.  From TW&T, I have played Lebanon ’82 out of it.  From Sharp Practice I have played the AWI, ACW and even Dark Ages.  Mark games the French and Indian war and the Seminole Wars.  Le Feu Sacré led Vincent Tsao in New York to develop Taxes, Tea and Tories.  You can bend the rules without breaking them to fit other periods.  The community offered by the Yahoo group allows you to share ideas and move on one’s enthusiasms. 

I like the fact that the rules are not ridged; they make you think.  They add the right amount of battlefield chaos to make things unpredictable but reward good tactics and punish poor tactics. (Like charging a group of Ferguson Rifle Armed infantry with a group of Lauzon’s Legion cavalry as I did recently… ugh)

Do you have any favourites?

IABSM is always a great fun but I have enjoyed the smaller scale rule sets the most.  TW&T and Sharp Practice are my all time favourite rules.  I wouldn’t like to choose between the two of them.

You’ve written several supplements for the Lardies now, do you have any more in the pipeline? 

Well…. Kind of.  I have another IABSM supplement that is partially finished in a drawer.  It covers the Italians in the East Front.  I have some ideas for Dark Ages modifications to Sharp Practice with Early Saxons and Romano-British, actually I’ve got a couple of scenarios worked out for that.  I also have some scenarios written for early war ACW in Northern Virginia.  I am working on getting materials together to cover the Atlanta campaign in 1864.  I have a dream project of doing a Lardies Game Day in Atlanta doing a series of games with They Couldn’t Hit An Elephant covering the Atlanta campaign.  It would be great if we could do that at one of the battle sites, maybe Kennesaw Mountain or possibly the Atlanta History Centre.  Oh and I am looking at an AWI supplement coving Francis Marion’s actions across the swamps of South Carolina.   For Sharp Practice I am working on some scenarios to get my Cossacks out on a game table.  For TW&T I have some ideas for the Yom Kippur War and well… let’s just see where I drift off to next.

Gosh, sounds like you’re very busy.   Well, whichever path you go down we’ll be looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 

Thanks very much for joining us here on Lard Island, and thanks for the superb With Fire and Sword, you have certainly got us painting our AWI figures like mad to get some games going.

Playing Sharp Practice always drives me on in my never ending search of pretty terrain, so launching into work on the ACW supplement has seen me not just seeking to enlarge my figure collection, but also do some work on some terrain pieces for a few homesteads to populate the table.

Naturally I’ve been knocking out wheat and corn fields and rail fencing by the bucket load, but one idea that I saw at Salute really caught my imagination for a smaller, more homely piece; a kitchen garden.  Now I’ll admit that 28mm cabbages is not something that I had even considered until I saw the superb terrain produced by the chaps from South East Essex Military Society for their Great War game using our ‘Through the Mud and the Blood’ rules.  Their Belgian force was defending a Flanders village which was beautifully modelled and included several small gardens, one of which had rows of cabbages.  With this serving as inspiration I knocked up a small sample that graced our table yesterday evening, and as it was so easy to produce I thought I’d run through it here. 

Some of you may be familiar with the self-adhesive paper flowers that can be had from hobby stores to be stuck on random things, usually when some poor sod is foolishly persuaded to wed.  The photo to the right shows a sheet of these that I got from our local branch of Hobby Craft for five pounds.  You will note that some of these have been painted cabbage green, however this is entirely unnecessary as will be revealed. 

I measured a suitable sized piece of MDF for the base to accompany the Perrys’ North American Farmhouse.  This was essentially dictated by the size of the fencing that I used, which in this case came straight out of the box.  I have chosen to leave this open on one side as this will allow me to incorporate it into a larger set up.  Anyway, with the fence and a couple of barrels and a chair stuck in place I removed the sticky backing from the flowers (easy, they just peel off) and with a dot of superglue I stuck them in place.   Once that was dry I painted the flowers with a 50% PVA glue and 50% water mix.  This sets and leave the flowers/cabbages nice and solid.  Once that dries I simply undercoated everything, including the flowers, black with an aerosol (completely negating my painting the flowers green earlier!) and then painted up from that.

For the cabbages I used Vallejo Olive Green, then added some yellow and dry brushed that on, before finishing, once dry, with the same with some added white.  The base was then covered in Basetex and flock with the usual dry brushing of colours from there.  Once it was all done a liberal coating of spray on matt varnish sealed it all in place. 

I now have over forty flowers/cabbages left over to produce a larger garden area where I may well start off with some lines of “no nails” or similar builders filler to create more of a ridged effect and then leave room between the rows of cabbages to allow the figures to cross the field without tread in the greens.   To my mind it is stuff like this that elevates our wargames table from the anodyne to the inspirational, and it is even better when the total cost is less than two pints of beer.   

Sergeant Abe Hubermeir cast an experienced eye over the terrain around the stone bridge that crossed Forge Run.  On either side of the river there was about thirty yards of open ground where the river would expand when in full spate after the winter thaw.  To the edges of that were boulders that though immovable to man had been casually tossed to their resting place by the forces of nature.  It was in these, on the eastern side of the river, that Abe deployed his dozen men, pacing out the range to the bridge so as to ensure that any Rebels who attempted to cross it would find themselves met by the full power of the Sharps Military Carbine.

Captain Jebediah Butplug spat a stream of tobacco juice towards the standing crops that would be ready for harvest in the next few days.  Not for nothing was the Shenandoah called the “breadbasket of the Confederacy”.  With the Yankees so close at hand there were real concerns that in this part of western Virginia some of the harvest could be lost, and Jebediah’s company had been despatched to guard the crossing of Forge Run in order to ensure no blue-bellies could interfere before the wheat was safely gathered in.

Lieutenant Ethau Pickens had stationed his men in the rocks to the south-west of the bridge, scanning the far bank for any sign of the enemy.  He signalled to Sergeant Beckwith to move across with ten men and the big man from Alabama immediately moved forward into the low-lying open ground that ran down to the large stone bridge.  He had gone some dozen yards when the rocks to the north-east of the bridge crashed into life, a dozen breech loading carbines objecting to the Sergeant’s advances, one man falling dead before the rest made it into the lee of the bridge.

“Fire!”  Captain Butplug had rushed his men out from the small wood and into the cover of the rocks from where they fired their muskets at the Union cavalry opposite.  He could see Sergeant Beckwith down by the bridge, unable to go forward or to retire.  The Captain’s instinct was to press on, his men were veteran troops used to whipping their foe wherever they met them, but these damned breechloader covering open ground could murder his force.  For now he would attempt to shoot them out. 

“Sergeant, I can barely see those northerners now!”  The Corporal was right, over by the rocks the rapid fire from the Union cavalry was producing a cloud of thick dark, smoke that was now largely obstructing their positions.  Sergeant Beckwith looked up to see Lieutenant Pickens and his men scrambling through the rocks, clearly intent on rushing the bridge while their foe was temporarily disadvantaged.  He stood tall now and began to yell, his legs pumping as he rushed across the stone bridge, his men at his heels. 

“Hold your goddam fire!”  Sergeant Hubermeir ran along the rank of skirmishers, it was vital that he could see the bridge and by now he was concerned about the amount of ammunition his men were using up.  “Holy cow, the rebels are coming, hold it boys, wait until they get within twenty yards”.

Up in the rocks Lieutenant Ethau Pickens called out to his men to stop.  It had taken too long to cross the broken terrain and he could see that the smoke that had momentarily obscured the view of the Union cavalry had now, cruelly, been dispersed by a sudden breeze.  Sergeant Beckwith and his men were beyond help, surely they could do nothing now other than seek the shelter of the bridge parapet?

Enos Beckwith was quite literally between a rock and a hard place, or at least the rocks and the hard cover of the bridge.  For now, however, he was in the open ground and could see the Yankees crouching in the rocks, their carbines levelled.  Any moment now the fire would begin.  He ran on, braving the hail of lead that now seemed to fill the air all around him.  He plunged his bayonet into the first blue-belly, turning to look for his men, several had fallen, and the remaining half a dozen or so were attempting to fire from the base of the rocks.  The fire was simply too great to advance through, and, obliged to stand to reload his men were at a terrible disadvantage.  Beckwith slipped back, now running for the cover of the bridge.

This was the opening engagement of our second playtest of the ACW variants for Sharp Practice which resulted in an interesting game.  It was the first outing for the Union cavalry with their Sharps Carbines and they certainly proved to be a fun addition.  Their fire was rapid, however not so totally dominating that it unbalanced the game, especially as there were only a dozen of them.  In fact Sergeant Beckwith’s charge, combined with fire from twenty musket armed veterans under Captain Jebediah Butplug across the river combined to actually oblige Sergeant Hubermeir to withdraw his men back into the woods to rally them.  However by this stage Captain Hyram Washington and a 60 man company of Union infantry had arrived to take up the fight with their Enfield rifles.

At present we are really focussing on balancing the weapons so that they “work” in terms of historical performance.  We went on to find that whilst the Enfield was more accurate than the smooth bore musket that the rebels were armed with, they had a  slightly slower rate of fire which, at the close ranges that the terrain dictated, saw them pretty much equal in the results they achieved when the rebels’ veteran status was taken into account.  A promising start which, after last week’s fight in a farmyard saw the rebels scrape a winning draw to continue their unbeaten record. 

The photo below shows Enos Beckwith attempting to cross the bridge while the Union cavalry are obscured by smoke.  Unfortunately for them an immediate “Tiffin” card saw the smoke disperse rapidly and they were soon heading back across the bridge in the other direction.  Captain Butplug’s men are in the rocks to the left in extended formation.

Editing the Summer and Christmas Specials must rate as one of our favourite jobs here on Lard Island, and this latest edition has been one of the most fun that we’re produced in what is now the seventh year of their existence.  In some ways the history of the Lardy Special is somewhat odd.  Initially the 2004 Summer Special was produced as a stop-gap as at the time we had very little supplementary material available for our rules and the plan was to try to provide a smorgasbord of scenarios, articles and rules ideas for people to sample.  Since then the Specials have become hugely popular and much anticipated – look at our web site and you’ll see that second and third in the “hit parade” of products sold are the Summer and Christmas Specials from 2009, only Sharp Practice outsells the Specials. 

Our objectives with any Special are fairly broad.  In the first place we want to always provide some kind of supplement or self contained game.  Over the years we’ve covered the Falklands, Korea, a fast-play version of Algernon Pulls it Off, Corps Blimey, and many others.  This year I think we have really got a couple of crackers with Chris Stoesen’s Malta Convoy Campaign system and the Battle for Hue expansion and mini campaign for Charlie Don’t Surf.  Some of the most fun games we’ve had with Bag the Hun2 have been attacking shipping, and the opportunity to do that as part of a campaign is going to be fantastic fun.  Hue is an interesting subject as it really saw the US Marines developing their own brand of urban warfare tactics.  How these developed and the story fo the battle is charted, along with rule amendments for refighting Hue and a mini-campaign of linked scenarios that see the gamer attempt to relieve the MACV compound on the first day of the battle.  Semper Fi!

In addition we have always attempted to bring you the freshest ideas for developing, tweaking or simply stripping out and replacing rule mechanisms wholesale.  Joe Legan piles in with the sledgehammer and rebuilds two sections of Bag the Hun2, with ‘Brag the Hun’ a fresh look at attacking ground targets, and ‘You’re Havin’ a LAAF’, his new Anti-Aircraft rules.  James Schmidt comes up with some interesting suggestions for doing away with card decks altogether and Tim Beresford has some great ideas on making your Blinds more aesthetically pleasing.  

Of course we have always wanted the wargamer’s bread and butter: scenarios, and this edition has them by the skip load.  OverLeutnant von Strüdelheim makes his entrance as a new character for Sharp Practice as he leads his Austrian Jäger on a wine snatching exercise on the banks of the Danube in 1809.  Tom Ballou takes a detailed look at the battles of Mill Springs and then suggests how to run the game with “They Couldn’t Hit An Elephant” (see Tom and his fantastic looking game on the US Convention circuit where he and his buddies are running the same scenario with three different sets of rules).  Housewives’ favourite Max Maxwell is back with two scenarios both using Through the Mud and the Blood, but neither are for the Great War.  “Toro!” is set in 1936 on the outskirts of Madrid, while the superb “Get the Fakin’ Fakir” is a rather jolly inter-war bash on the North West Frontier. 

Charlie Don’t Surf is well represented in this issue.  As well as the Hue expansion we have an introduction to VC tactics with “Winning Here with Charlie” that provides not just an overview of how the PAVN fought, but also how to replicate that on the table-top and how to hone your skills whether you are controlling Free World or Communist forces.  Charles Eckart provides us with “A Bird in the Trees” where a LRRP group has been inserted to find a helicopter crash site on the Cambodian border while Robert Avery has written “Manchu Alpha” which begins with US forces pinned down on the banks of the Saigon River. 

Stephen Milam provides us with some data on British Jets of the post-war period for Bag the Mig, Allen Coleman takes us to the Arse End of Nowhere with “The Mad Baron and the Living Buddha”, we have two scenarios set on Sicily for IABSM, one with British, one with US forces.  We head for Tamames and the 1809 battle for Le Feu Sacré, Moncacy for The Couldn’t Hit an Elephant and then Sir Sidney Roundwood presents two excellent scenarios on the Western Front for Through the Mud and the Blood, both examining cavalry and armour cooperation as they attempt to reach the green fields beyond.  The Flight of the Golden Pheasant is a WWII skirmish game with a difference.  Set in 1945 a Gauleiter is on the run and in desperate need of transport while some Soviet chaps have the transport and are in desperate need of a Gauleiter. 

Fat Nick weighs the anchor and hoists the White Ensign as he says “Make Sail for Montechristo” and attempts to cut out a ship with Kiss Me Hardy, whilst simultaneously taking a trip up the Tigris as he attempts to rescue Townshend in Kut with a scenario for If the Lord Spares Us. 

All in all it is a real bumper issue with something, we hope, for everyone.  It’s 142 pages in length and we are still holding the price at a great value £5 for the seventh year running.  If only the landlord at the Lard Island Arms took the same approach with his beer!

With Charlie Don’t Surf and Surf’s Up due for publication in just a few days time, we thought we’d take a look at Surf’s Up and see just what goodies were in there for the gamer thinking about getting ready for the rules.  We asked Richard to talk us through what is in there.     

Well, my prime objective with Surf’s Up was to obviously provide some scenarios for gamers to crack on with, but I have been quite careful in selecting what is in there.  I was tempted to follow one particular unit through their experiences in Vietnam, but I came to the conclusion that this was potentially too limiting, and that I wouldn’t get the variety that I wanted.  The other option I considered was to go with a particular phase of the war, maybe a major operation like Attleboro or Junction City, or maybe even the Tet offensive, but I discounted this for pretty much the same reasons as mentioned.  The war in Vietnam was really multi-faceted, and to just concentrate on one campaign or one period of the war was to lose out on the colour and feel for other areas that weren’t included.

In the end I went for what could reasonably be called a smorgasbord of scenarios that will hopefully provide something for everyone.  What I have tried to do is show the changing nature of the war and the participants, when I showed the supplement to Robert Avery – who let’s face it is the King and Queen and Jack of scenario writing rolled into one – he said that the timeline of the scenarios actually told the story of Vietnam.  Actually, it’s probably a good idea to briefly mention each one to give people a feel for what they’ll be getting.  I will, of course, keep some secrets hidden so as not to give the game away.

The first few scenarios are set in the very early days of the main Free World forces arriving.  In the first game, set during Operation Attleboro we see US forces moving into a VC held area intent on seizing rice caches; they know that the VC can’t maintain troops in the field without food.  The next scenarios see them attempting to clear the area around their new operational base, surveying the land to set up a Firebase for support, Engineers clearing the roads in order to get South Vietnam functioning.  I wanted to show the realities of war were not about John Wayne kicking the door in and zapping the bad guys, but about achieving a sensible military build up that occurs a step at a time.  Of course, you do get the zap the bad guys while you’re doing that, but it gives a better feel for how real military operations work. 

After that we move on to Search and Destroy missions, Operation Junction City in 1967 is the setting for scenario five with a similar emphasis on scenario six as well, as Free World forces are now established in country and are pushing out aggressively, taking on the VC forces in the south, regaining control of the countryside.  Indeed in scenario seven we have a classic Hearts & Minds operation, with a US and ARVN force clearing an area prior to a South Vietnamese Civic Action team moving in with medical assistance and propaganda teams to spread the word that the government of the RVN is back in charge.  The next couple of scenarios have a similar, but more aggressive theme, as first a Mechanised Infantry and motorised force attempt to clear an area, then an Aircav assault on a village.  I really like this scenario as the air mobile force has to evacuate the civilian population of the village by helicopter before they get the Free Fire Zone authorisation and can then really go in with all guns blazing against the VC – or maybe NVA, who knows. 

The next bunch of scenarios look at the Tet offensive.  The tenth scenario is an NVA night assault on a CIDG outpost, this was great fun to play, the game was a nail biter with the outcome hanging in the air for most of the game.  I wanted to show the Communist forces attacking in the countryside at the start of Tet in an attempt to draw the Free World forces out of the cities before their main attacks went in.  Scenario eleven is one of those city fights, with ARVN forces facing NVA in Ban Me Thuot, and Scenario thirteen is US Marines in Hue fighting their way up a street.  That one is a small game in terms of table size, but it’s one Hell of a fight, troops really get swallowed up in urban area.  In between those two we  have a CIDG Mike Force unit led by an A Team attempting to ambush NVA forces coming across the border from Cambodia to reinforce the Tet offensive. 

From there on in we are into Vietnamisation and some conventional warfare stuff from the later part of the conflict when Free World forces have pulled out.  We have a CIDG and ARVN Ranger force being lured into an ambush, we have the 18^th ARVN Division fighting at Xuan Loc in 1975, and finally one of my real favourites, The Convoy of Tears.  Set in 1975 with the NVA advancing on Saigon this is a real cracker, with a mixed force of ARVN attempting to keep a bridge open for a convoy of wounded military personnel and civilians to escape.  Desperate, heroic stuff, but with a real twist in the tail. 

So, that’s sixteen scenarios in all, and I like to think it’s a well thought out collage that really gives a picture of the conflict as a whole.   Really importantly the scenarios will provide the gamer  with a bench mark for the type of actions that the rules are designed for.  I know from my own experiences of gaming Vietnam that it seems the majority of rule sets that have covered the period have tended to focus on platoon sized actions.  I wanted to really make the move from patrol actions to real battles.  I suppose what I am saying is that when reading the wealth of personal accounts written by the grunt on the ground you get the feeling that it’s all happening at platoon level.  However if you then read US military reports of actions, and in particular some of their very detailed assessment and analysis projects immediately after the event these show that battles in Vietnam were normally controlled at the company level.  It’s the old wood and trees thing.  The platoon actions are great for looking at the individual trees, but if you want to see the whole wood then its company level that you need to go for.   At least that’s where I wanted to be.    

Of course the beauty of what I vaguely call “a company sized force” is that this is the size unit that would realistically be deployed for independent action, and also able to call upon a wide variety of support from its parent unit or even units from different arms of service that have been designated to work together in an all arms force.  That said, the detail at company level is granular enough so that the men, and in particular those large than life “Big Men” who naturally come to the fore in warfare, are still very visible and individual leadership can still be the main focus of the game system. 

 Pretty much all of the scenarios use US forces as the main Free World force (until the late war anyway), but I know that people will be keen to use other forces, such as ANZAC troops.  What I have done here is to provide a whole section where I provide ANZAC forces for nine of the scenarios that are suitable for their involvement  that will show people who want to use other troops, maybe ROK or Thai units instead, how I convert the scenarios.  It’s very simple, but the illustration I think helps. 

Finally we have the Tour of Duty campaign system.  I am really pleased with this, it focuses the players on the long term rather than just the immediate game, but also provides for some real command decisions from the players.  The system focuses on a fresh company commander arriving in Nam.  He has a twelve month tour ahead of him, but the chances are that after six months he will be likely to be transferred into a Staff role.  So the campaign will run for six, seven, eight months (the company commander can try to extend his time in the field if he wants to, but he can only delay the inevitable for so long) during which time he’ll be using the scenario generator in the main rules to put games on the table.  We can then track his, and his company’s progress over that period.  It’s a real challenge, but equally importantly it is really a fun way to link your games up.  Actually that will be made even more fun by an idea I have for the Summer Special, but more on that another time.

Hopefully that has given an insight into what Surf’s Up is all about.  If anyone wants to join in the chat about Charlie Don’t Surf then the TooFatLardies Yahoo group is positively buzzing with the Nam at present, so come on in.  The water’s lovely!