Battle of Boxville.A.C.W. 1866.

Last night Paul,Brian and I had a good A.C.W. game,based on a ficticious battle,whereby a train full of raw recruits from New York,had been de-railed,at a town called Boxville,and a column of Union troops was rushing to their rescue from an all out attack by a large Confederate force .( commanded by Paul,whilst I commanded the relief force and Brian commanded the raw recruits,in and around the town.)

This is the de-railed train,still steaming! It's amazing what you can find in the "pound shops" for wargaming.

Paul's objective was to capture both Boxville and the train (full of supplies and ammo.)This photo shows his attack starting on our right flank,held by the raw troops,and seeing that Paul's Zouaves were all veteran,Brian was going to have a real fight on his hands,I,being the lovely fellow that I am,promised to send him my best troops and a battery of guns....a bit more about the guns later!!!

This shot is of my battery on a central hill,this did a great deal of damage to Paul's centre units,who pushed onto me quite fast,he had decided to abandon his right flank,and concentrate his efforts on my centre and Boxville,this proved to be a mistake,as it allowed me to pressurise his right flank,and caused his troops to take morale early on in the game.

Paul isshown here attacking the New Yorkers on the left hand side of the rail track,his first attack failed,but he kept piling troops in and eventually he held the fence line,and put Brian under alot of pressure,until he could bring more troops to support.

A fire-fight developing in the centre,my outflanking troops can just be seen in the left of the picture,this fight went on for a while with neither side really getting the upper hand,Paul used his guns well, and I thought about retiring at one stage,but persevered.

Paul is still sending troops to attack Brian's raw troops defending this fence section,you can see his reinforcements rushing forward to try and stem the tide,this was good old fashioned wargaming!!

My attack in the centre gains momentum,I am pushing forward but getting cannistered for my troubles,and one of my units decided it had had enough and fled the board,however my outflanking units were starting to make their prescence felt at this time,and Paul was having to think very carefully of where to position his troops.

Paul's magnificent attack, by his Brigade of Zouaves,hits Boxville,Brian was fighting desperately here,and some good dice throws allowed him to hold the town for a while,in the background you can see the troops I am sending Brian,good infantry and a battery of guns,use them well Brian,use them well!!

This shot shows,from the Confederate side of the board,Paul's attack in the centre,he is using a mass of troops to try and take the fence line,to no avail!!

Oh look!! Brian's guns are in position,however he placed them too close to the Zouaves,who shot all his gunners!! Also in this picture is the good infantry I sent to help him,they also look under pressure!! However Brian had held the Town, and the train,and with me pushing Paul forever rearwards,Brian and I were declared the winners.

This was a good Thursday night game,enjoyable,and with set objectives,that dictated the action taken by both sides.Roll on Sunday,we will be depleted in numbers however I'm sure we'll still have a good game,probably Ancients.