The Battle of the Bloody River
The Rebs, finally having got all their forces on the board, are now pushing towards the bridge and the enemy breastworks. In the woods to the north the 95th Pa and the lead regiment of Hays' Louisiana brigade, 7th La, have exchanged fire, with the Rebs getting the worst of the exchange. The Louisiana Guard battery (4 X 10pdr Parrott) and Staunton's Va battery (4 X 12pdr Napoleons) have moved forward and unlimber in short range of the now rallied 121st NY. Bill has sent two ADC (designated by yellow pipe cleaners) to act as guides if he decides to pull the regiments back to the river's west bank. Smith's brigade is still trudging their way over the hill.
In the centre the 13th Ga close with the bridge. They are in skirmish order and are acting as a screen for the artillery and formed infantry behind them. To the south the 10th Va CAV again failed to find a ford, and the 6th NC take casualties while masking the other two regiments in their brigade. Firing by both sides causes some casualties, but the units shrug off their morale tests. The 5th Maine rallies and deploys along the northern breastworks. (#%Y&*^%!!!!) Meanwhile the light starts to fade.
Part of Gordon's brigade heading past the batteries and towards the bridge.
6th NC screening the Reb advance, south of the bridge.
With three turns to go, and so Bill can see why I consider the melee rules to be too fussy, I throw caution to the winds and order 13th Ga to charge the guns.....
Elsewhere the Louisiana Guard battery and Staunton's battery have unlimbered, but 121 NY are heard to mutter "Bugger this for a game of soldiers!", and withdraw across the river- and out of close range of the guns. The other regiments of Hays' brigade move out of the woods so they can form up and move on the breastworks. 21st NC moves forward in line, hoping to suppress fire from the Yanks behind the southern breastworks. The 10th Va again fail to find a ford and Yankee fire takes a toll of the 6th NC- but they hold their ground. The regiments of Gordon's brigade in assault column shuffle forward.
North of the bridge.
And south of the bridge.
You want to know what happened in the 13th Ga charge? To reach the guns the regiment, in skirmish order, had to close up and cross the bridge- which disordered them, and they barely reached the guns. Defensive fire from the guns and some infantry reduced the regiment by 60%. But my 13th (the first non-Airfix-ACW unit I painted) didn't flinch. Having not repulsed the Rebs, the gunners now had to do a Fear of Charge Morale test (getting a bit fussy, ain't it?). Despite Bill's best efforts with the dice his gunners passed their fear of charge morale test and stood fast.
Now it gets more complicated and Bill agreed that the melee process is a tad over-engineered. The next step is the Impact Test. So you find the units' modified morale by checking 19 factors that can affect the charging and charged units. Both roll two dice and the lower total wins the impact test. The impact test gives one of three results:
1. Defender wins. The attacker is thrown back and Bill will blow away the 13th Ga's survivors in the next turn's First Fires phase.
2. A tie means that the troops are in melee. The 13th Ga's superior numbers, and having bayonets, gives them a big advantage.
3. The attacker wins and chases off the defenders, and takes ownership of the guns. If the attacker catches the defenders, a melee is fought.
The dice were rolled. I rolled a four, Bill rolled a 10 and lost. His crew scampered back, outrunning their pursuers. It was then that the CO of the 13th Ga, who was looking at the masses of blue uniforms on both flanks, was heard to mutter the most common command question of all (see caption below). (The photo below shows the Yank gunners still at their guns, but that's an optical delusion. I should buy a couple of guns for "abandoned gun" markers. And yes, I know the limbers should also have retired when the crews ran.)
"WTF do I do now?"