Gettysburg, the 2nd day

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Rich Hamilton and myself are playing scenario 1.2 from HPS Campaign Gettysburg. It starts at 4pm on the second day with Longstreet's attack. Have completed two turns so far. Rich made a quick stab at my two forward units on the north side of Cemetery Hill routing one of them but paying a heavy price for the effort as my guns and infantry exacted quite a toll and he has pulled back. Looks like some more movement in the distance and reserves are being better placed in case he makes a move for Culps Hill or tries Cemetery Hill once again. His guns along Seminary Ridge are pounding my infantry on Cemetery Ridge and have routed several units already. Going to have to decide whether to leave some of my more exposed batteries in place or withdraw them to protect the infantry. Not going to make a big fight for the Peach Orchard as I feel this position is just too exposed. Slowly withdrawing these troops. Big push is coming towards the Devil Den and will probably lose some guns there. Big problem is that it is very difficult to get reserves to this area as the road network between there and them is not great. I did see some Reb infantry heading off to my left flank and this is going to be a concern.
 

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The gallant forces of the Confederacy continue to place pressure along the Yankee lines. In some places that is met out in the form of heavy bombardments from the artillery, weakening their lines and resolve. In other areas it’s brought to bear with the musket and in some cases the bayonet. The area from the Peach Orchard to Devils Den is the scene of some intense fighting as thousands of troops move forward on the attack. The question now is, will the Yanks run, or hold? It’s 4:40 PM…just a little over 3 hours until dark…time to get rolling!

 
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Here you can see what my line looked like after Rich's turn and before I move. You can see where Union routs have opened up a hole in my line.
 

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Turn 5 and things continue to heat up. Massive pressure on the Yank left flank is definitely making it’s presence known. While there are a lot of solid units in the line several are disrupted and suffering badly. Melees at a couple of points broke holes in the line and make way for the possibilities of routs.

A new section of action has also appeared this round, as the Rebels press towards the clump of trees and the yank center. Can they hold??

 
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Here you can see the result of Rich's last turn! Not using Rout Limiting has really kicked in.
 

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6:00 PM and a new major offensive kicks off on another part of the line. Intense pressure is applied to the North & West face of Cemetery Hill as the Rebels advance to bayonet range in a few short minutes. There’s close quarters fighting and many pieces of Yank artillery are now in danger…

The Peach Orchard, Wheat Field, and for all practical purposes the Devils Den are now in Rebel hands. Very strong artillery positions exist on the Round Tops however, so a frontal assault up those does not seem appealing…
 
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Union reserves were racing to the scene and many arrived to help shore up the Cemetery Hill defenses and in some cases throw back the Rebs. This is quickly turning into a nasty barfight. Didn't mind ceding the Peach Orchard, Devil's Den, or Wheatfield as they really aren't worth any VP. Trick now will be to hold the Rebs off of Little Round Top!
 
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Well I wish there was a way I could get a screenshot of the fighting on Cemetery Hill without giving something away. Needless to say the fighting is extremely fierce.
 

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6:40 PM…pressing my troops hard as night is approaching. If we are going to make progress it has to be soon. Meeting stiff resistance on the Round Tops now, but still making progress against the Union center, from the Wheat Field all the way to Cemetery Hill. Intense hand to hand combat on the hill now, hoping to break the defenders, but they seem to have an endless supply of reserves! Picket’s Division has arrived and is fresh though, so there’s more man power to put against them. Just over another hour to do what we are here to do, as no progress can be made at night…

 
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Victory info after the Union turn. Losses mounting rapidly but still enough Union reserves to plug the gaps. Don't even want to tell you how many routs I had when I opened the turn.
 
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Well dusk is upon us and the casualty toll continues to mount. Rich may win this one on casualty count alone as all the important objectives still remain in my hands, though he continues to edge his way to the top of Cemetery Hill.
 

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The battle for the hill still ranges, but other areas of the field are beginning to quite down. As Longstreet's historical attack did, mine dried up in the Killing Fields, before the round tops. Just not enough manpower to push the Yanks off the way the forces were distributed.
 

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Well, after 2 turns of night all of our troops are running away, since we tried to make them fight on, so we've called the game. It's ended as a solid Rebel Minor Victory primarily due to casualties, but the Yanks still hold the field.

Over all an enjoyable game...can use some tweaking in the scenario, primarily removing the victory hex at 26,77, but stilla good play and worth tackling for those looking for a realtively short scenario.

Formal AAR will be posted in the section before too long.
 
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Well Rich took good notes and saved screenshots where as I winged it and didn't take any notes. Just thought I would give you a breakdown of how I played it and how it went.
I knew immediately that Rich would put pressure on the Peach Ordhard and the Devil's Den so I sent 5th Corps over there lickety split to try and reinforce that area. I tried to pull back from the Peach Orchard and Devils Den before getting trapped there but Rich was able to stay on my heels and ended up routing most of Sickles boys. 5th Corps did the job and held the line from the area between the Roundtops to the center of Cemetery Ridge. Of course the fact that I had roughly 20 artillery sections set up to cover ground in front of them might have helped. I managed to keep most of 2nd Corps out of the fight until later and they stabilized the center of the line over to Cemetery Hill. I sent 6th Corps up the road to a position behind Cemetery Hill and Culps Hill but they didn't stay there long as the Rebs began assaulting Cemetery Hill with some seriousness. As the fight went on these boys were instrumental in keeping them from sweeping all the way to the top of the hill. The artillery did yeoman's work here but the loss of too many guns was probably the deciding factor. Routing played a big part in this battle as I had the following number of routs on consecutive turns: 29, 34, 7, 55. Not only was it bad enough to have the units rout away but they managed to disrupt just about every battery and regiment they encountered along the way. This really handicapped my ability to counterattack after a turn or two and really prevented me from putting a severe hurt on the Rebs.
All in all it was a fun game though I do think the one VP hex needs to be dropped. Rich was gentlemanly enough to adjust the score by that amount and give up the major victory. A salute to him. I would advise anyone with a desire to see what could happen on the second day of Gettysburg to give it a try but I would recommend that due to unit density that you turn rout limiting on and to maybe equalize it turn off the flank morale modifier.
Now then, anyone up for a Franklin campaign?
 
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Sir, I'm up for Franklin!!!
I would like to play full campaign but some balanced single scenario is also ok.
Optional rules - this same Rich put on the forum in "Optional rules?" topic.
Let me know if you are interested.
Oh, and I'm playing CSA side...

Tennessee – A Grave or Free Home.
 
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