Gettysburg: Turns 25 - 26

 The Round Tops

The Union have now formed 2 clear lines to defend the Union southern flank. The single heroic battery in the upper middle of the photo suffered heavy casualties from rifle fire but once again pumped a round of canister into another Confederate brigade, this time that of Wright from Anderson's Division. The casualties it inflicted took the brigade past the 50% dispersal morale check point which it failed and dispersed from the field.  

In the foreground, the rallied Graham's Brigade, and the only survivor of Birney's Division, stood its lonely ground and fired into the advancing Confederates.

The loss of Wright's Brigade generated a divisional morale check for Anderson's Division which it failed. The division will retire broken in the next turn which is bad news indeed for the Confederates. This consists of troops in the upper middle and right of the photo which were to have provided the main thrust towards Cemetery Ridge.

Continued -

Turn 26. On the right, the remnants of Anderson's Division consisting of the brigades of Mahone and Posey begin to reform having suffered a 'broken' divisional morale result. 

In the foreground, Graham's isolated Union brigade continues to engage advancing Confederates from Hood's Division.

Only Robertson's Brigade, who has been joined by Hood, remains to threaten the Union troops east of Little Round Top. They managed to finish off the Union artillery battery that had caused so much damage.

The dwindling brigades of Semme and Barksdale continue to engage the Union troops on Cemetery Ridge and at the foot of Little Round Top. Both are now dangerously close to their automatic dispersal point of 75% casualties.

Cemetery Hill and Ridge

Pender once again attempted to launch his division on Cemetery Ridge. And once again he failed. 

A clearer view of Pender's Division. Pender himself received a light wound and was out of action this turn. Lane's Brigade failed to charge home retreating through Perrin's Brigade with heavy loss. They successfully rallied but nevertheless their initial morale failure had an adverse effect on Thomas' Brigade who attempted, and failed, to rally from retreat, routing instead (lower middle of photo).

This meant that Pickett's Division were solely responsible for taking the ridge. Garnett's and Kemper's Brigades failed to charge home reducing Pickett's charge to just that of Armistead. 

With Pickett leading the charge they launched themselves at the green brigade of Stannard. The Union troops did not like the look of what was approaching them and retreated through the rear regiments. Armistead gained the ridge but did not have sufficient move remaining to go any further. 

Turn 26. The Confederates have the initiative and Pickett orders Armistead to charge the unformed Union troops to his front.  He utilised a 'Rebel Yell' token giving melee and morale bonuses for one turn. 

The initial target was Zook's brigade who followed Stannard into an uncontrolled retreat before impact.

Armistead continued with his charge with half his brigade contacting the small brigade of Stone who steadfastly stood to fight the melee.

Armistead's troops that were not in contact continued their charge towards Brooke's Brigade who also retreated. This brought to a conclusion Armistead's charge who now concentrated on the melee with Stone.

In that melee, Stone was heavily defeated with significant loss (almost half his brigade). They routed leading to Stannard's green brigade deciding to quit the field in panic!

Armistead's Brigade, having swept all before it and blasting a significant hole in the Union line on Cemetery Ridge, were now 'tuckered out' and will have to spend a turn reforming. 

The Confederates were in no position to exploit this success. Garnett's Brigade that had gone to ground in the field at the bottom of the photo suffered heavy losses to rifle fire from the ridge taking them below the 50% dispersal point which they failed.

The last of Pickett's Brigades, that of Kemper on the left of the photo, faltered having been blasted by canister from two Union batteries on the ridge.

Pender returned to the fray having been patched up by the medics. He is reluctant to order a charge at this stage and Perrin's Brigade engages in a firefight with the Cemetery Ridge defenders failing to achieve anything significant.

Cemetery Hill is now secure as Howe and Williams' Division begin their assault on the few Confederates left in Gettysburg.

Williams lead the charge on the right with McDougall's Brigade charging that of Gordon whose depleted brigade promptly retreated into Gettysburg.

A combination of rifle and artillery fire hammers Pettigrew (upper middle) generating a 50% loss dispersal test which it passes.

END GAME

Pickett's charge proved to be the final success for the Confederates.

A glance across Cemetery Ridge indicated why. Only Pender's Division (bottom left) were still capable of any sort of offensive move but even they had suffered significant losses and therefore doubtful any further attacks on the ridge would bear any fruit.

Armistead's Brigade were still in good shape but very isolated with no prospect of reinforcement.

The Confederate high-water mark occurred with the capture of the Round Tops. Nearly all brigades though had seen action from the start and were now in no fit state to make any further impression.

An overview at the end of turn 26. It was at this point I decided to call it for the Union. With only 2 daylight moves and 2 possible twilight moves available little more could be achieved in the time available.

Had the time been limitless, Gettysburg was about to fall allowing significant fresh Union forces to sweep around the northern Confederate flank. This would have signalled the demise of the entire Confederate centre with their right flank around the Round Tops unable to intervene. 

A success story for the Confederates was their artillery. They outgunned the Union with counter-battery fire and did much to cancel out that Union advantage. More than a third though were now low on ammo reducing their ability to tip the balance in their favour.

I had briefly considered continuing into Day 3 but even bringing back those units that had dispersed from the field would have left the Confederates with impossible odds. The attrition rate was simply too high.

In summary, playing Gettysburg proved to be an enjoyable experience and for a time it looked as though the Confederates could change the course of history. The time of greatest danger for the Union came with the fall of Cemetery Hill. A large number of Union brigades were caught in a disorderly mass at the northern end of Cemetery Ridge. Routing units from Cemetery Hill generated numerous morale checks. This could have lead to a complete breakdown of morale leading to mass panic. Fortunately for the Union they were blessed with high dice rolls at the right time.

A similar situation developed around the Round Tops and in this instance the Confederates simply ran out of steam.

A common problem occurred for the Confederates in all sectors of the battlefield including their early success on Culps Hill. They simply lacked the numbers to capitalise on any successes. Their greatest chance in this respect was with the addition of Anderson's Division to the southern flank around the Round Tops. But it was not to be!

A long game to play, especially my method of wargaming! A combination of available time, ability to stand for too long (old age catching up with me) and the time it takes to photograph the game along with updating the blog meant I could only complete a turn a day at best. It does though mean I came to the game fresh for each turn allowing me to fully enjoy it without suffering brain fatigue.

One of the beauties of 6mm being the ability to mount a game of this size and fully appreciate the difficulties faced by the respective commanders. I had all but given up hope of doing so when I played ACW in 15mm.

It has been a long time in coming but got there in the end. Its origins began in the '90's when I acquired the Fire & Fury rules inspiring me by the scenario contained within the book.

I hope you enjoyed this rather epic game, my next will be rather more modest!