Chancellorsville 1-3 May 1863

 Another trip to the American Civil War and the last in the current series of 250th Independence Anniversary US battles. This one is Chancellorsville, another huge multi day battle, which tbh I'm a bit anxious about running with players because there is a fair bit going on. However I have a scenario so we may as well give it a go, as usual with my heavily modified version of Neil Thomas's ACW rules.

Chancellorsville was fought over three days in May 1863 after 'Fighting Joe' Hooker took over the Union Army of the Potomac to try and wrest control of Fredericksberg on the Rappahanoc from Robert E Lees Army of Northern Virginia.  Repeated union assaults had previously failed, but Hooker settled on a wide flanking manouvre to unhinge the defence.

Battlefield from the south, the Potomac winds north-south and Fredericksberg is in the foreground, now largely destroyed after months of siege. Further up the road leading north from Fredericksberg is the Tabernacle Church and finally at the top of the map is Chancellorsville in 'The Wilderness'. The area marked with pine tress is dense forest, left untended after earlier forestry work and now heavily overgrown and very bad going. The woods indicated with deciduous trees further south are more open in the better tended farmland and just block LOS.

This is based on the old Volley and Bayonet scenario and victory is determined by the control of critical communication points in the north, not Fredericksberg itself. The objectives are the two roads leading off the west edge of the map, Chancellorsville, Tabernacle Church, and the ford in the northeast corner. The game last for three days with two overnight turns.

Here it is with the troops deployed. Most of the CSA army is around Fredricksberg, but Hooker has sent half his Army north to try and catch Lee in an encirclement. The Rappahanoc provides protection for that road on the right right which allows for rapid north-south Union movement.

For this game the CSA were played by John B (Lee and JEB Stuart), Tim (Jackson) and Simon (Longstreet). The Union were John A (Hooker and Slocum), Mark (Reynolds and Couch), Jim (Sedgewick), Russell (Meade) and Jerry (Sickles and Howard). The CSA units were generally divisions, while the Union units were generally Corps although the bigger Corps had two divisions. I will italicise the Confederate division titles to try and reduce some of the confusion as to which  units are on which sides. 

Hooker had immense problems commanding his dispersed army, so all units more than three hexes from him are treated as having 'poor staff', so harder to activate. The Union outnumber the CSA about 2:1, hence my trepidation about playing this with the very attrition focussed Neil Thomas rules.

Around Fredricksberg the Union have three Corps, Reynolds I, Sedgewick VI and Couch II, largely dug into siege works.One of Sedgewicks divisions (Brooks) has a bridgehead over the Potomac. Most of these units are Seasoned, but Howes division (2/VI Corps) is green.

Both of Lee's Corps are here, McClaws from Longstreets I Corps is on the hill, while Jackons II Corps is concentrated west of the Union bridgehead. Lee himself is up on the hill (Marys Hill I believe) with McClaws division and Jackson is with AP Hills large five base division. All the CSA units are veterans to even the odds a bit. 

Further north, Hooker has concentrated Meades V Corps and Slocums XXI Corps around Chancellorsville. Sykes division (2/V Corps) is veteran but the other two are green.

The other division of Longstreets Corps, Anderson, is dug in at the Tabernacle Church, and JEB Stuarts cavalry division is over in the top left. Stuart had shadowed Hookers flanking move, so it wasn't the surprise Hooker was hoping.  These units are both veteran.

Finally straggling up from the siege of Fredricksberg are Sickles III Corps and Howards XI Corps, just crossing the river. Both these units are green but if they arrive in a timely fashion at Chancellorsville, they will give Hooker a crushing local numerical advantage. What can Lee do about that? Well, we shall see.

OK, enough background, off to battle.

May 1st opened much as you would expect when the artillery around Fredricksberg sprang into life. Both both sides were largely in serious entrenchments so the smoke was impressive but casualties were light.

In the north however Brooks and Couch advanced on Anderson at the Tabernacle Church, while Sykes moved southeast and engaged Stuarts cavalry in the woods. Typically both Sickles and Howard failed their command rolls and were stuck around US Ford in the northeast. Having sent his forward divisions into battle, Hooker rode off the see what the holdup was at US Ford.

Jackson led Hill and Rhodes north and the shook out into line southwest of Anderson. So far all so historical.

There was heavy fighting in the north, Sykes managed to push back Stuarts cavalry with loss, who retired to the Spotsylvania Road exit to reorganise. Anderson and Hill inflicted enough losses on Slocum to force his Corps back into the Wilderness once more, while Rhodes advanced to the road between Stuart and Anderson. 

Back at Fredricksberg the guns continued to roar, enough to inflict some actual losses by now, but units in siegeworks can rally adjacent to the enemy, so damaged units paused to reorder their stragglers. The two CSA divisions here were comfortably holding off the Union troops.

Hooker had however lost confidence in the original plan and instead led Sickles and Howard back down the Potomac, where they are dimly visible in the northeast corner.

Suddenly there were an awful lot of Union troops around Fredricksberg as night fell on 1st May. Reynolds I Corps had left its siegeworks and moved opposite the crossing to Fredricksberg. Overnight units rallied and there was some shuffling around. The units in the open dug hasty fieldworks.

In the north, JEB Stuart reoccupied the ground he'd held earlier and Griffin moved back to the front as well having rallied. The other units dig rifle pits along the line. The CSA had numerical and qualitative superiority here, so what would the next day bring?

Dawn on the 2nd May saw the Union attempt to overrun Tabernacle Church! The charge failed in a hail of musketry and Griffin fell back once more, leaving dead and wounded behind him.

The guns roared out at Fredricksberg with losses on both sides, but McClaws (on the hill with Lee) lost a base but didn't feel able to make a rally attempt as Sickles crossed the Potomac via Banks Ford right next to him.

Lee indicated to Jackson that help was needed further south so Hill broke off and headed back down the road. There was now a parity of forces in the north. Hmm, well that is an interesting development. The CSA have pretty much got the objectives locked down here, but have just given up any real hope of taking Chancellorsville. Perhaps more worrying, is that overall losses (in bases) are now equal, whereas earlier in the battle, the CSA had a clear lead.

We broke for the evening at that point as the game moved into the afternoon of 2nd May.

The ring around Fredricksberg tightened, Sickles declined to charge(!) Mary Hill but Reynolds moved across the river into Fredericksberg while everyone else covered them with fire.

In the north Sykes drove Stuarts cavalry back again, but Griffin fell back with heavy losses into the wiilderness to join Slocum. Both these units were finding it hard to rally.

As night fell on the 2nd, Sickles charged up Mary Hill covered by the rest of the Union army, but was bloodily repulsed, many routers drowning in the river as they fled. AP Hills division had meanwhile moved into position northeast of Mary Hill to shore up McClaws position on the hilltop.

Stuarts cavalry infiltrated back into the woods as Sykes didn't show any great inclination to follow them, but Griffin and Slocum dithered in the forest although Griffin finally rallied a base back. The Confederates were probably a bit over committed here, but with three objectives in close proximity there was little choice.

As night fell the Confederates dug in (both Anderson and Rhodes had now improved their positions to fieldworks). Sykes also extended his entrenchments, but under cover of darkness Griffin moved back up the threaten the Tabernacle Chapel while Slocum marched west to join Sykes, hoping to overwhelm Stuarts cavalry the next day.

Around Fredericksberg there was mainly the sound of pickaxes and shovels overnight as most people dug in where appropriate. Howards Corps moved down to the Fredericksberg crossing ready to follow up after Reynolds however. Couch and Sickles exchanged places at the ford east of Fredericksberg as Couch's Corps was still fresh. The Confederates sneakily moved the Corps artillery from the Tabernacle Chapel and placed it on top of Mary Hill instead.

Dawn of the 3rd opened with Couch charging McClaws on top of Mary Hill. They were cut down in droves as Lee himself encouraged the defenders, and like Sickles, they found their retreat route blocked by the river so losses were catastrophic.

Reynolds Corps slipped northwest of of Fredericksberg, impeded by ZOC while Howards marched into the town. Suddenly that big gap between the two CSA trench systems was looking to be a problem (of course the Union could have done this manouvre days ago with the units already over the river, but it didn't seem to occur to them).

The CSA responded with fire. Hill routed and destroyed Couch, blocked in by the river. Combined fire from McClaws and Early inflicted 50% losses on Reynolds, and in the north Griffin was flung back once again with losses while JEB Stuart hung on grimly against two Union divisions. Slocum attempted a frontal charge but failed his morale test. If units want to charge in the ACW, they need to find an open flank, and Stuarts flank has been wide open all game. Union losses have skyrocketed in the last couple of turns while the rate of CSA loss has remained steady, mainly among the poor unfortunates on top of Marys Hill under attack by six Corps(!).

Reynolds sets off west towards the objective on row F, but Rhodes simply abandons his fieldworks and moves south the block the move. Having destroyed the threat at the ford, AP Hill starts to move back around Mary Hill. Reynolds needs to try and break through the CSA fire to move further west but has already taken heavy losses. The rest of the Union troops batter McClaws who is reduced to 50% strength, despite his siege trenches.

The tide turns on the afternoon of the 3rd. Reynolds takes enough losses to be forced to retreat, reduced to one active base., and hard up against Hills division, it is hard to see him surviving another turn. McClaws inflicts enough losses on Howard to force him back out of Fredericksberg and the Union position around the town is starting to look a bit dicey.

Catastrophe in the north, Stuart weathers heavy fire from Sykes and in turn puts enough hits on Slocum to force a retreat, but with their back the table edge there is nowhere to retreat to, so losing another base is enough to destroy them completely. With the losses this turn the Union army is well past its exhaustion point and is now coming close to its rout point.

With the army exhausted it is unable to take offensive action any more and Hookers attack grinds to a halt late on 3rd May. Lee still holds all his starting objectives and has managed to shatter the Union army as well, so a great Confederate victory! The CSA are well off their break point, despite heavy losses on Mary Hill and being outnumbered almost 2:1.

Gosh, that was a slogging match and quite hard to run, with more moving parts than I was happy with for two short evening sessions. We did reach a conclusion however with ten minutes to spare no less. A very interesting result as Hooker basically gave up on the Chancellorsville encirclement on turn 2 and decided to refight the battle of Ferdericksberg instead, but with the units in the north pinning the CSA (which they did very successfully until 3rd May). 

Sadly Fredericksberg is a horrible position to attack and not worth any VPs at all. Lee could use his interior lines to reinforce threatened positions and the Union suffered disastrous losses trying to attack the fortified heights across the river, just as they had in 1862. It was a brave effort and pressed home with vigour however, and the Confederates had some agonising command decisions to make about how many troops to commit to each sector.

Many thanks to the players for taking part in such good spirit. Following the requests to run Gettysberg, I am working on a scenario which may appear in due course....

Operation Market - Groesbeek 18th September 1944

 Second in my little Arnhem/Operation Market trilogy is the 82nd Airborne at Nijmegen, specifically the Groesbeek Heights on 18th September. I've run this before using NATO Brigade Commander, but this time I'll do it with One Hour WW2. The original scenario is from the Command Decision 'Market Garden' scenario book.

Briefly, Gavins division landed without much incident on the 17th but had to capture six bridges as well as the Groesbeek Heights. All the important objectives were captured including the major bridge at Grave, but the 82nd didnt have the strength to overcome the defenders at Nijmegen. The latter were reinforced by the 9th SS recce battalion on the the night of the 17th which (astonishingly) had driven over Arnhem bridge just before Frosts battalion got there.

On the 18th further reinforcements were due to be flown in, as well as Brownings entire 1st Allied Airborne Army HQ. The Germans meanwhile had got their act together and organised a major counterattack against the landing zones east of Nijmegen.

Battlefield from the south. The Groesbeek Heights are the wooded rise to the left with the small village of Groesbeek in the centre. Kranenberg is to the north and Mook to the south. The waterway is the Maas-Waal canal, and the Reichswald and German border is off to the right. There is a flooded area in the top right, otherwise the area id dotted with fields but little else. The drop zones are marked with gliders, one in the top left and one just east of Groesbeek.

The Germans win if they capture Mook, Kranenburg and both DZs (but not Groesbeek, although it is certainly critical ground).

On Groesbeek itself we just have A and B companies of 1/505th PIR. They are spread out in two detachments to cover more ground. Each detachment only has three hits and 1 combat dice, but if they combine back into a full unit, they become Veteran with seven hits and 2D6.

They have excellent artillery observation from up here though. Jerry commanded these.

In Kranenburg we have C and weapons companies of 1/508th PIR. These are veteran heavy infantry. I actually made a mistake in the briefing and they should be dug in at either A4 or B3, as they cant actually see anything from the town due to the fields! I gave the US the option of moving them. John commanded these.

Closer view of Groesbeek.

In reserve we have two batteries of 75mm pack howitzers with four fire missions each. It is less than 24 hours since the drop, so supply isn't an issue for them yet. The defence will rely heavily on these...

We also have the other two companies of 1/508th, a veteran leg infantry unit, plus the only divisional reserve available to Gavin, the 307th Para Engineer battalion. Another leg infantry unit with a bonus at close range. The reinforcements will turn up on turns 3 and 4 from the west, hopefully in the nick of time.

Finally we have two jeep supply columns, one no doubt driven by James Caan. As with the artillery, plenty of supplies for now, and no real opportunity for the Germans to interdict it yet. Terry is overall CO, and gets to run the artillery, logistics and the 307th.

Rolling on from the east, we have the mighty 'Korps Feldt', a roughly divisional size formation hastily cobbled together from fortress and training units in the area. Like KG von Tettau west of Arnhem, the Corps HQ would become the command centre for all the random junk units thrown into this sector. Operational command devolved to Colonel Rasch, playing by John B in this game.

This is the edge of the Reichswald and the German border and Westwall are not far behind, as is the arms depot at Kleves. The forest provided excellent cover for the assembly of troops and largely protected their supply lines. Allied intelligence originally misplaced II SS Panzer Korps at Kleves - which was of course the original German plan, 9th SS was largely ready to move to refit there on the 17th, the perils of Ultra intercepts. They remained concerned about a heavy armoured attack from this direction for some time.

In the north we have KG Hermann, comprising Heer NCO Schule Julich (an NCO training school) and Landschutzen 254, a home defence battalion. The NCO trainees are a regular leg infantry unit and the Landschutzen are a poor light infantry unit with only five hits and reduced firepower at long range as they have few/no heavy weapons. Mark commands KG Stagard.   

In the centre we have KG von Furstenburg with Landschutzen II/6, yet another home defence battalion but reinforced with a few armoured vehicles irl some armoured cars and armed halftracks. I could have modelled this as two units but instead did it as a poor quality heavy infantry unit. This is commanded directly by the CO, John, and can conduct a flank march around the marsh. A typical rotten German trick.

There is also KG Greschick, with Luftwaffe Fortress Battalion 17 and the infamous Stomach and Ear battalion, comprising veterans with stomach wounds or hearing wounds - many of the latter being almost completely deaf, which made hearing orders hard. I rated both of these as poor light infantry, and the Stomach and Ear battalion needs a 3+ to move each turn. These will be commanded by Tim on Wednesday, but on Tuesday are split between Mark and Jim. 

Finally we have KG Hermann with NCO School Wehrkreis VI and Ersatz Bn 39. As with KG Stargard, I made the NCOs regular leg infantry and the 39th Div training battalion poor light infantry. Jim commanded these.

There is also the 'Corps' support elements, a pair of horse drawn wagons. Due to the cover of the forest and proximity of heavy Flak concentrations, there isn't any interdiction of these. The only motorised element in the entire formation is Johns HQ with a small staff car. 

There isn't any artillery support, although a battalion of Soviet 152mm howitzers arrived on the 19th, and later in the battle, 10th SS Panzer Artillery Regiment was in range of Nijmegen after moving across the Rhine.

Korps Feldt opens with KG Stargard and Herman busily marching along the roads to Kranenburg and Mook respectively. Still too far away for the US to see them.

Next turn the Germans continue to advance and KG Greschick enters the fray. Oberst Rasch has seemingly directed them on a southerly axis.

In the north, KG Stargard continue to advance down the road but spread out into the fields east of Kranenburg as dug in US Paras are spotted.

In the south Jerry consolidates his scattered companies into one unit, and brings down artillery fire on the road approaching Mook, which delays the Germans even if it doesn't inflict many losses.

KG Herman deploys and advances out of the barrage. KG Greschick also shakes out into combat formation. So far the Stomach and Ear battalion have been behaving admirably.

Things are looking a bit hairy in the north. KG Stargard infiltrates around the US flank and takes Kranenburg, while KG von Furstenburg makes an appearance. The US shell the road and shoot up Lanschutzen 254 in Kranenburg, inflicting two hits.

US reinforcements enter the fray, the other two companies of the 508th and they make it to the ridgeline overlooking Kranenburg. The US are very fortunate and manage to eliminate the Germans in Kranenburg (the Paras three two 5s and a 6!) while shelling KG von Furstenburg. Things are looking slightly better for the US here now, although Kranenburg is still German controlled.

In the south waves of Germans threaten to swamp Jerry. Mook is captured and the LZ overrun. The Germans make use of their ample logistics to reorganise one of the battered infantry units while the US continue to fire at everything in sight.

In the north the Germans opt to focus on Johns entrenched battalion rather than reoccupying Kranenburg, and combined fire manage to inflict a couple of hits.

But in the south the 307th Para Engineers arrive in the nick of time. The road to Mook is covered by fire, so instead they march along the tracks in the woods and take up position northwest of Mook. The German units in the open are suffering from US artillery and small arms fire, and one becomes disorganised. The Stomach and Ear battalion chooses this moment to stop moving.

A/B/508th move into Kranenburg, retaking the village.

The Germans go for broke and NCO School Julich assault C/W/508th. The Germans inflict enough losses to disorganise the paras but the assault is repulsed and the NCOs fall back. The assault will prevent the US reorganising next turn, but against elite entrenched troops, you really need to be in a position to conduct multiple assaults over a few turns.

In the south things settle into a familiar pattern of firing and units reorganising, neither side gaining the upper hand. Luftwaffe Fortress Bn 17 actually manages to push up onto the heights, outflanking Jerrys paras. The Stomach and Ear battalion still steadfastly refuses to move though.

This persists for a couple of turns, although the Ear battalion finally manages to move west of Mook. So far the Germans are unable to capitalise on outflanking the paras as they can't get enough fire superiority to make an assault worthwhile. The US keep disrupting their units with artillery strikes.

A rather battered KG von Furstenburg seems to be heading south though.

In the far north the US have fortified Kranenburg, this obviously keeps the village safe, but it effectively ties up a US unit doing nothing as it cant see anything from there.

To keep the pressure up, KG von Furstenburg moves onto the landing zones while one of Jims units reorganises. The rest keep up relatively ineffective fire against the US.

The US smash von Furstenburg with massed artillery fire. This however leaves three good order German units in contact with Jerry's paras - will they be able to capitalise on it? With that cliffhanger at the end of turn 8, we broke for the night. Tim will be joining us for tomorrow, taking over KG Greschick, which amazingly is relatively unscathed.

Overnight the John issued new orders to the Germans to hold onto their gains now they were in a winning position. In practice this basically involved them sitting there and shooting at the US, while the US shot back. The US artillery advantage was now becoming more apparent and two German units became disorganised. 

The Germans rallied the disorganised units and shot up the Americans - who also had a unit go disorganised. Naturally they just reorganised it. I suggested the Germans might want to assault it to prevent it reorganising but they seemed rather reluctant.

Much the same thing happened in the north as Mark and John duelled across the fields. The Germans in the open fields being at something of a disadvantage to the dug in elite US paras!

This tit for tat exchange continued for some time, the US had a cunning plan up their sleeve however.

In the north the 1/508th began to counterattack eastwards, with superior quality, numbers and artillery support, the remains of KG Stargard were soon looking distinctly shaky. They were reduced to one hit and disorganised.

In the south however the Germans finally made a concerted effort to shift the US away from the LZ objective. KG Herman managed to disorganise Jerrys paras, and Tims Luftwaffe Fortress battalion charged them! I suspect the last time the hastily armed Luftwaffe ground crews had fixed bayonets was in basic training...

However with the combat bonus for assaulting a disorganised enemy AND double attack for a flank attack, they rolled just enough hits to overrun the Paras. Jerrys men dispersed into the woods and the Germans overran their foxholes.

Terry was having none of this. All the US artillery landed on the unfortunate Luftwaffe men (woods don't provide cover against artillery) and the 307th counterattacked them behind the barrage.

The Lyftwaffe proved no match for the veteran parachute engineers and they were soon all heading back towards the Reichswald. The Americans reoccupied Jerrys vacated position, nicely positioned to simply march straight on the LZ, which Jim had unaccountably declined to defend.

In the north Mark didnt have much option but to reteat. The barrage slowed him up but by moving down the road he managed to break contact. The 1/508th followed up as fast as it could. Just two turns remaining, would the Americans take the road exit?

Mark fell back down the road the objective, planning to sell his life dearly. The Fuhrer would be most displeased if the Americans crossed the border into the fatherland.

With the American line shrinking, the Stomach and Ear battalion infiltrated into the woods, threatening the US HQ which fell back towards Kranenburg. If only the Germans had done that a turn earlier as they had numerosu opportunites to move up into the woods.

KG Herman still hunkered down around Mook.

In the north half of the 1/508th continued the pursuit of KG Stargard.

While the other half wheeled south, linked up with the Para Engineers and re-occupied the LZ covered by a heavy artillery barrage! KG Herman seemed rather stunned by this development.

The Stomach and Ear Battalion made its activation roll but only had enough movement to reach the outskirts of Kranenburg. It still counted as controlled by the US.

Despite being supported by the entire US artillery, the assault on KG Stargard failed (they had been resupplied the previous turn) and the Paras bounced back disorganised.

But in the south, KG Hermans attempt to retake the landing zone failed in bloody chaos. 1/508 was left disorganised on the LZ, but the attacking Germans were scattered to the four winds. With three objectives in American hands, it was a win for the 82nd Airborne.

Well, that was an exciting end to the battle. Things suddenly opened up again after the mid-game slogging match, and the outcome broadly reflected real life where the Germans did overrun the LZs but were eventually sent packing with heavy losses by US counterattacks. The US had been biding their time to counterattack at a favourable moment, and had meticulously managed their artillery and logistic resources to keep the guns firing as much as possible.

Jim noted rather sheepishly that he hadn't even noticed there was another objective next to his troops at Mook. Real life fog of war! Stars of the day have to be the Stomach and Ear Battalion though, who despite their disadvantages, managed to advance the furthest of all the German units and with the least casualties. 

That was great fun to run, and the players seemed to enjoy themselves. Everyone likes an Arnhem game don't they? I've got one more in this trilogy covering the 101st, and then another planned trilogy for Operation Garden, the ground component. All in good time though, more ACW games to go and we still haven't finished with Gazala yet.