Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Longstreet Campaign

My son and I were inspired by the Baron and his son to start a Longstreet campaign. I must say it has been an incredible amount of fun. We have played three battles now and our armies are starting to develop some character. I highly recommend the Longstreet rule set, by Sam Mustafa, to all. It is very entertaining and provides a chance for some quality time together.

The campaign system provides overall flavor for the individual commanders as well as lighthearted moments as the post battle process takes place. If one is rolling Ones on that particular day then a plague of camp fever is likely to produce more casualties than the actual battle.

My son is playing the Union side in this first campaign. His commander is a Mexican War Veteran and Drill Master named Jack “Pellets” McKenna. He commands a brigade of troops from Rhode Island. When we started this campaign, his troops were all eager recruits, after three battles his brigade is a mix of cautious veterans and new recruits. And after three battles, it is apparent that Pellets McKenna is an absolute assassin when using counter battery fire.

The Confederate troops are a brigade of rascals from deep in Georgia. A former Cavalry Officer and Drill Master, Eustace P. Marmalade, has been granted command of this fine and eager brigade. While George Pickett may have graduated last in his class at West Point, Marmalade may have been a close second. He has proven to be an offensively minded commander that loves to charge. After the second battle his antics were so brazen that he got his name in the papers back home.

We have been been using the random scenarios from the Longstreet rule book. Our battle in 1861 was the Walled Farm scenario. Pellets McKenna won that engagement handily, kill off most of the Confederate artillery in one battle. EP Marmalade just couldn’t quite understand that charging a walled defensive position was not a great idea. McKenna was promoted after that battle for meritorious conduct.

 Walled Farm - Overall table
 
 Walled Farm - Rebel Columns on the attack

 Walled Farm - Rebels press attack to their peril

The second battle was the scenario for the Railroad Embankment. By the Longstreet campaign system, this was the first battle in 1862. This time EP Marmalade had some room to maneuver and get his boys in a position to ram his charges home. The fortunes of war (dice gods) were smiling on Marmalade that day and it was a decided Rebel victory. Eustace P Marmalade was promoted after the battle and a picture of him astride his faithful mount Macaroon was shown in all the papers from Savannah to Atlanta. Pellets McKenna was also promoted by an act of congress because of his continued ability to destroy enemy artillery.

 Railroad Embankment - Overall
Railroad Embankment - Rebel Columns massing for a charge

The third battle was the Outflanking scenario. By the campaign system it is the final battle for 1862. This one had a bit of everything including some extremely poor surveying that completely missed a rocky out-cropping that appeared somewhat magically. This was a battle where Pellets McKenna seemed to have the advantage the whole game but EP Marmalade kept sniping at the union troops and snatched a victory out of thin air.

On the outflanking scenario, one objective is positioned outside of the confederate staging area to the left (Union right). The Rebs deploy first, but the Union gets the first move. Once the rebel position was observed, Pellets ordered his command to grab the exposed objective. He came around the rebel left flank like an avalanche. 

 OutFlanking - Overall

 Three Reb cavalry units orders to secure supply objective.  Are you nuts?

 The bulk of the Union force arrives to claim the undefended supplies

 Final position, the Rebs get one more kill that provides an outside chance at victory.

Longstreet has been a rare treat for my son and me. It has provided some great entertainment and a lot of projects for me to complete on a timetable. For example, my son’s artillery advantage beginning the 1863 battle is now eight stands to five and that is only because I got lucky on a campaign card after the last battle. I now need to paint some more union artillery. It has also provided for those priceless gaming moments where they become part of our gaming lore. “Needed a six, rolled a six.”