First Kernstown With 'Valour & Fortitude'

Last night Ralph and I had a go at a smallish refight of the ACW battle of First Kernstown using the free 'Valour & Fortitude' rules. Both of us are pretty rusty with this particular set, albeit that they are short. There's a few oddities to remember, but once you get going with them they are pretty slick. I like them, despite not having internalised them yet.

Anyway, I took the outnumbered but attacking Confederates, whilst Ralph took the numerous, but shaky, Union defenders.

I didn't really take many photos to create a narrative. There were two objectives on the board and all I had to do was capture one. I had three brigades to do it with. I advanced on both. This is my attack on the objective to my left.

And the one on the right, which was covered by a grand battery. 

My forces looked confident on the right but they didn't look that way for long. Still, it tied up two Union brigades.

I had more luck on my left, facing one Union brigade which definitely started to waver as I attacked. Mind you, I wasn't free of casualties either.

I had one reserve brigade and brought it up to bolster my left.

Things were really going badly on my right. Still, the Union were being kept busy. 

View of the left. My lead brigade was shattered but the reserve was ready to go in on a Union brigade that was really starting to look shaky. 

We called it a draw at that point, with a couple of turns still to play. Either side could have suffered a catastrophe at this stage, but it was hard to tell who.

I adopted a Fire & Fury approach to tactics, simply hurling troops into fights and hoping the odds would go my way. It probably wasn't the best approach, but it got the game moving quickly and I'm not sure that caution is the best Confederate strategy here either.

Thanks to Ralph for putting on the game. I think we both came away feeling more confident with these rules.