Shiloh - again

 As I'd done the scenario, I put Shiloh on for the chaps who had missed it at COW. I did have a bit of a tweak and am trying out variable sized units (for this, each base is around 1500 troops), and I also reduced the effectiveness of units firing at long range. As each hex is notionally around half a mile, units firing at 2 hex range are only really going to be firing their divisional artillery battalion and using skirmish detachments at that range.  

The battlefield from the south. Tim and John took on the Rebs for this one, while Pete, Simon and Mark were the US. The entire battlefield is covered in light woods which restrict visibility but have no other effect as most of the foliage and undergrowth is not there in April. 

Around Shiloh Church are Sherman and McLernand. They both have attached Corps artillery battalions but McLernand is still in camp.

Over in the East are Prentiss and Stuarts brigade. The sunken lane, aka Bloody Lane, can be seen behind. These are both small units (three bases each), and both Green.

Around Pitts Landing are Wallace and Hurlbut. Both are large five base divisions, but both are encamped. Grant is on the wrong side of the Tennessee looking for the Army of Ohio.

The mighty Army of the Mississippi. In this case Johnson (Tim) elected for a concentrated dawn attack, so the whole Army will arrive in the bottom left three hexes.

The first wave is made up of Hardee and Braggs Corps. Most of the CSA 'Corps' are actually division sized units, although Bragg has two divisions commanded by Withers and Ruggles. They are followed by Polks Corps.

On average the CSA units are bigger and with better morale than the Union, but there are fewer of them. As it is early 1862, both sides have a lot of Green units, which will be interesting. 

The only Union units not encamped were Sherman and Prentiss. They responded to the massive CSA advance by retreating. Sherman fell back to the Ridge above Shiloh, and Prentiss occupied Bloody Lane. 

The CSA continued to advance and shook all three Corps out into line abreast. Johnson took up position behind their right behind Braggs Corps and Beauregard on their left behind Hardee and Polk, to keep the units in command. 

Over on the left, Hardee exchanged long range fire with Sherman as Polk occupied Shiloh. On the right, Bragg pushed Withers and Ruggles right up to Prentiss in the sunken lane. Breckenridge now brought his Reserve Corps on up the Shiloh Road. 

By now, Grant was busy mobilising the Union Army and Prentiss was joined by Hurlbuts division in the sunken Road. 

Time for hard pounding! Prentiss pushed back Withers with close range fire, but Ruggles charged Hurlbut in Bloody Lane. 

The charge was repulsed but both Prentiss and Hurlbut took significant losses. Prentiss fell back as Wallace's division came up on his right. 

Over in the west, both sides continued to shell each other at long range. I was a bit worried that I'd break the game reducing long range fire to a maximum of two bases, but it actually worked well. Polk fell back from Shiloh with a base lost, while Hardee kept blazing away. 

With Wallace now in the line, Ruggles was outmatched and fell back with heavy losses, leaving the CSA Army artillery behind to hold the line! Things were looking a bit sticky for the CSA now, but Breckenridge had moved up.

Ruggles pulled back to reorganise while Withers and Breckenridge surged forwards once again and Polk retook Shiloh. Withers charged Prentiss, who was weakened by earlier losses.

Prentiss routed! This allowed Withers to occupy the western end of Bloody Lane and left Grant looking a bit lonely on the crossroads. 

Things didn't go so well for Hardee and Polk who were were both forced back from Shiloh by heavy fire from McLernand, Sherman and Wallace.

Hurlbut counterattacked along the lane and pushed Withers back out again, while Stuarts brigade finally activated and engaged Breckenridge with long range fire from the east. Avid readers will notice that a huge hole has now opened up in front of Breckenridge leading straight to Pitts Landing. Grant is still holding the crossroads all on his own.

So, with the rest of the CSA army in some disarray, Breckenridge marched straight forwards into Bloody Lane and wheeled to face Grant. 

This caused a degree of consternation in the Union ranks. Mclernand and Wallace continued to engage Hardee, Polk and Withers, but Sherman marched off the ridge and positioned his division facing southeast behind Bloody Lane.

Meanwhile Hurlbut (with two lost bases) fell back to Grant on the crossroads and Stuart marched up close to Breckenridges rear. Grants Reserve Division (also commanded by Wallace) had now arrived. Breckenridge had apparently marched into a trap.

The rest of the Confederate forces moved forward again despite their losses to keep the Union busy.

And in the rear, Nathan Bedford Forrests cavalry had arrived and began marching along the base line.

Johnson rode forward to accompany Breckenridge and the whole force simply kept marching through the middle of the Union army, harried by skirmishers but advancing undaunted. Meanwhile Grant attempted to rally Hurlbut under fire and caught a Minie bullet for his troubles and was carried from the field. The Union army was now out of command, so every unit needed to roll a 3+ to move. 

In the west, Hardee, Polk and Bragg under the command of Beauregard kept the Union busy. Sherman re-occupied Bloody Lane. The Union right flank was looking fairly secure now.

By now however, Breckenridge was next to Pitts Landing. Prentiss fired an ineffective volley and Wallace moved up adjacent to support them.

The rest of the Union army was immobilised by command failures, as the CSA cavalry headed towards Stuarts Brigade.

The long range firefight continued in the west, with losses steadily mounting.

Prentiss occupied Pitts Landing to defend it with his depleted division while Wallace took Breckenridge under fire. Three hits, not quite enough to remove a base and force a morale check. If only Prentiss had fired as well...

The CSA cavalry meanwhile launched a successful charge against the rear of Stuart, and the Union infantry fled to the banks of the Tennessee.

Breckenridge charged Pitts Landing, and despite heavy losses, pushed Prentiss out. The fighting was so heavy the picture is a bit blurred. The Confederates lost a base but as they won the melee they were immune from morale checks. The crossing was in Confederate hands!

The cannonade continued in the west. Sherman lost a base and unable to retreat, lost another one. The damaged Union units in the centre just milled around out of command.

Stuart turned around to dissuade the Confederate cavalry. Forrest was having none of it at rolled a 6 for his pre charge morale test. As veterans, they needed a 6 to pass (better troops are more reluctant to make frontal charges in these rules).

The Union line began to get more sorted out. Bloody Lane was now fully occupied and the Union even managed to knock out the CSA artillery in Shiloh. Hardee continued to hang on despite heavy losses.

Forrests cavalry managed to push Stuart back again, but lost a base in the process. With only one base left, the cavalry fell back to reorganise rather than  be annihilated.

As the Army of the Ohio arrived to find the river crossing blocked, all eyes were on Breckenridge. The surrounding Union units poured fire into the Pitts Landing, but despite losing another base, Johnson managed to rally them and they hung on.

As it was now evening, we called it then with a well deserved Confederate victory. They had achieved all that Johnson had hoped to, and although both Union armies had linked up, they would be seriously inconvenienced the next day. 

That all went very well and I was pleased with the tweaks to long range firing. My only slight doubt is that it now seems to be very hard indeed to actually destroy enemy units which makes the fighting hideously bloody, but also quite indecisive. There is an awful lot of back and forth though, so perhaps it is a reasonable reflection of the ACW after all. I need to watch the unit count in scenarios, playing it solo is one thing, but it is inevitably slower with lots of players, so I need to cap the unit count at around six to eight max (excluding guns). 

It is nice to see that Shiloh is actually winnable for the Confederates, although it was very touch and go at times. Bloody Lane lived up to its name, and the Union was crippled by the loss of Grant as a number key units fell into confusion at critical times. Without that they could have blocked Breckenridges advance, or at least inflicted enough losses to rout him. Conversely, the Confederates made excellent use of their two leaders to keep their troops in command, and it was a joy to see the Confederate cavalry doing so well.