After Action Report; ACW (Longstreet rules) 25 Jan 2015

This was the 4^th battle (early 1863) of a 9 battle mini-campaign using Longstreet rules by Sam Mustafa (Honour Publishing). I commanded the Union force, whilst Ian commanded the Rebels. Previously in the mini-campaign I had won the first two battles and lost the third battle. In each battle the defending force had won. My Union force consisted of 8 infantry units (2 large units of ‘Eager, Recruits’, and the rest were small units of ‘Veterans’), these were supported by 3 artillery stands. In contrast Ian’s Rebels had more large units (and I think more were ‘Veterans’), plus a large ‘Recruit’ cavalry unit but only a single artillery stand. My commander (2 Eagle rank) was an ‘Indian Wars Veteran’ (improved scouting and better chance to select whether to defend or not); and in this battle I also had the ‘Sabotage’ characteristic. Ian’s commander (3 Eagle rank) was a ‘Drillmaster’, with ‘Political Savvy’ and ‘A Friend in the Statehouse’ characteristics.

We randomly selected the ‘Outflanked’ scenario and the terrain placement was fairly neutral (a central hill in my forward deployment zone, and a mix of standing crops and woods scattered between the opposing armies). I was the defender and had to deploy first. One objective marker was safely in my deployment zone, whilst the other was outside my zone on my left flank. My deployment had to be spread out to cover both the object I held and to contest the other objective. My strong artillery deployed on the central hill and could cover both sectors. Ian deployed second and choose to concentrate on taking the ‘free’ objective, ignoring the object I already held. This effectively isolated a significant part of my army from where most of the initial action would happen.

In the opening moves Ian rapidly moved on the ‘free’ left-hand objective whilst I attempted to move my forces from my passive right flank to the weak, contested left flank. I had to move behind my artillery on the hill because Ian’s cavalry unit covered the more direct route. My artillery scored no hits during this opening phase, in contrast to Ian’s single artillery stand which picked off a couple of stands from my already outnumbered infantry. At this point Ian launched his cavalry against one of my infantry units that had tried to sneak past. The rebel cavalry pushed this infantry unit back and then continued their charge into my artillery on the hill! The artillery were thrown off the hill and lost a stand of heavy rifles. The jubilant cavalry continued over the hill, hitting one of my infantry units moving behind it in the flank. These infantry were thrown back with some losses but they remained in the fight. The Rebel cavalry spent a number of turns trying to take out my remaining artillery whilst under fire from my surviving infantry. Meanwhile, Ian’s infantry advance successfully took the left-hand objective and started pushing my weak forces back, inflicting considerable loss.

At this point in the battle I thought the game was lost; the enemy had taken an objective, inflicted significant losses on my force, and his cavalry was in to my rear area and all over my artillery. Ian must have been full of confidence after such a brilliant opening to the game.

Things were to change! Firstly, Ian needed to reshuffle his Action Card deck; this involves losing 6 cards from the deck, but my ‘Sabotage’ characteristic increased this to 10 cards, plus I held an Action Card that increased the total to 13 cards lost! This severely impaired Ian’s ability to use beneficial cards, plus unless he was careful, he could lose the game by running out of Action Cards. Next, my artillery finally worked out how to use their guns and wiped out the pesky Rebel cavalry with canister! Finally, my uncommitted infantry finally moved from the right flank and hit Ian’s so far successful advance in its flank. I started to inflict casualties on the Rebels. By now Ian was beginning to make (unsuccessful) Victory dice rolls to end the game, but after a couple of turns I also reached a point where I also could roll for Victory. The battle was in the balance; we were both making Victory dice rolls. Ian had very few Action Cards available and so had to be very selective in his actions, whereas as I still could apply pressure and improve my chances. Eventually I reduced the odds and made the successful Victory dice roll!

This was easily the closest game of Longstreet we have played. Yet again the defender won. Neither of us can immediately see why this should be the case, but the desire to be the attacker in future games is low for both of us. I feel Ian played a very strong game. His attack on my left flank was highly effective and the success of his Rebel cavalry was beyond both our expectations! By mid-game I was close to throwing in the towel. The pivotal event was Ian’s reshuffle and my ability to drastically reduce his Action Card deck. This forced Ian to conserve cards and restricted his actions. My Union artillery continues to frustrate me; they rarely seem to hit anything (although they did finally come up trumps to see off the Rebel cavalry). This game of Longstreet did have more sneaky card play than normal: There was the usual placement of ‘Trackless’ marshy terrain blocking key moves by both players (I think this card is a bit of a pain and should be restricted in its usage somehow). Ian played the ‘Local Assistance’ card to inspect and discard from my hand on a particularly important turn. We both played the ‘They couldn’t hit an...’ card and Ian even managed to force me to discard all 6 cards in my hand!

In terms of the campaign, we both earned 3 Epic Points (EP) and I think I remain slightly ahead. Both forces seemed to suffer in the post-battle attrition. I had gained 3 Heroes (!). My general was not promoted. From the Campaign Cards the Union gained 4 stands of Light Rifle artillery (very useful), plus the ‘Sabotage’ characteristic again for the next battle (really good). The Rebels gained a second artillery stand, some Sharpshooters, plus Ian’s general was again promoted to 4 Eagles due to a ‘Promotion’ card (this Rebel commander is a real political brown-noser!). He now greatly out-ranks me!

Finally, what do I think of Longstreet? The Action Card deck mechanism is good. It really forces players to think hard about their hand and card resource management. Some of the cards (especially the ‘Trackless’ card) can be a bit tedious and overly used. The combat mechanisms are sound, simple, and are profoundly influenced by use of modifying Action cards. I feel the use of Action Cards to reduce casualties can be a bit too powerful, but I can see why the mechanism exists. The clear Victory end point is good and there is a degree of uncertainty about when the game will end. I am not so certain about whether the rules give a strong ACW ‘feel’ to the games. I cannot imagine using Longstreet for single, stand-alone ACW games. I can only see myself using these rules within the mini-campaign setting, which is excellent! The mini-campaign really links the games together; you start to feel a bond with your chosen force and are interested in how it develops over time. I can easily imagine a second campaign being undertaken, this time with me commanding the Rebels. To conclude I would highly recommend Longstreet for players wanting to undertake linked games within the mini-campaign environment. If you want to play stand-alone games then I would look to other rules such as Fire and Fury, or Johnny Reb, in preference to Longstreet.

My Union force available for battle number 5 will be:

Commander	Personality				Rank		EP’s
“Art” Rooney	Indian Wars Veteran (Scout: 2D6 & keep higher)				2 Eagles (I/61)		16
Unit	Type	Elan	Exp.	Strength		Notes
9th Pa Artillery	ART	-	-	2		2x Napoleon
37th Pa Infantry	INF	Eager	Veteran	6
13th\14th Pa (Prov) Inf.	INF	Season	Veteran	6		Sharpshooters (5,6 Skirm Fire) Hero
40th Pa Infantry	INF	Eager	Veteran	3		Old Reliables (Confusion/Old Rivals)
16th Ohio Infantry	INF	Caut.	Veteran	3		Sharpshooters (5,6 Skirm Fire) Hero
45th Ohio Infantry	INF	Caut.	Veteran	5		Hero
26th NJ Artillery	ART	-	-	2		2x Lt Rifle
29th NJ Artillery	ART	-	-	2		2x Lt Rifle
14th NJ Infantry	INF	Season	Recruit	8
88th NJ Infantry	INF	Season	Recruit	7
				44 bases
Sabotage: Opponent next shuffles deck, may force him to discard the top 4 cards from the game.

Notes: Original units (battles 1 & 2) are from Pa; those from Ohio were introduced into battle 3; those from Indiana were introduced into battle 4 (wiped out!), & those from NJ are new for battle 5.