AAR California Kriegsspiel, Strategicon May, 2015 event - American Civil War

I debated posting this AAR since I’d love for the Brits to play this scenario too, as a test of what I built and to see if they can produce the same results I did. However, I am worried they might find the scenario too light, too “free” to suit their gameplay tastes. I’ll happily make the contents and details available to anyone who wants them.

THE GAME

This game has been planned since September 2014, so it was a scheduled event at the 2015 Strategicon in Los Angeles at the LAX Airport Hilton. I must admit, I am a raw novice when it comes to actual face-to-face kriegsspiel. I have played two games before, and managed to win both of them, although you cannot judge my command acumen based on those, since you have seen my gameplay… LOL

This was my first time umpiring, and since the event was a make-or-break debut, I had to get it right.

THE PIECES

I planned long in advance and had custom pieces made for an American Civil War scenario. The pieces were made by http://www.photoncutterstudios.com/kriegsspiel-sales.html and cost me about $100 via Paypal. I recommend them. The pieces are nicely laminated plastic with a corkboard back. This keeps them lightweight and inexpensive. I will likely order additional sets for different scenarios.

I had these pieces custom numbered to facilitate tracking the stats of each individual unit.


THE MAP

I spent a lot of time agonizing over a map choice. I knew this was a critical decision as I wanted a map that would afford an interesting scenario while also being pleasant to look at. There were many Civil War maps which met this criteria, but almost all of them had markings showing the positions of units before a battle, which I felt spoiled the map. The map had to be clean of any marks which might suggest a deployment or strategy since I wanted the players to enjoy having a blank canvas.

I settled on a Hotchkiss map from the ACW, which covered a portion of Northern Virginia. The scale was too large for a strict kriegsspiel, but I saw its potential for an operational-level event. The decision to go operational would pay off.

I spent a long time figuring out how to get a copy of the map and how to print it. I downloaded the map from the Library of Congress and Ron Berg tweaked the colors and other features of the map which improved its look. When it came time to print the map however, there were no reasonable options. Printers could not produce the map (33”x36”) or would have to charge an excessive fee to do so.

Eventually I settled on what I called the “ghetto option” in my mind, which was to print it at home on 8.5x11 paper. This was a cheap choice as I only had to spend $80 on ink cartridges. One cartridge gave me 1.5 maps (I was a bit displeased with this ROI…)

Printing the map in sections was a tremendous challenge. Literally every single step of the process from converting the file to opening it, to finally getting it to print correctly with the right options required me to troubleshoot problems. Fortunately, Uncle Internet knows everything, even how to open a large file in MS Paint and to print it in sections.

Each map came out on 16 sheets of paper, all of which needed to be trimmed by hand to eliminate the white gaps that would ruin its look. This means I cut 192 edges off by hand.

I then carefully stitched each map together with tiny squares of scotch tape. Once together, I turned the maps over and taped every corner and gap at least once, strengthening the map.

Finally, I debated laminating the maps. I ran out of time and managed to have one laminated during my workday (last Thursday). That one map cost me $30. I did not laminate the other two because I wanted to see the outcome of the first before trusting the other two to the very hot and very hungry FedEx laminating machine. I was warned that such machines do not play nice with scotch tape…

Despite my fears, I wound up with a beautiful laminated copy.

Each copy was stored in tubes I special ordered (yet another adventure!) and covered with large panes of plexiglass ($75). I purchased some dry-erase pens to allow marking on the plexi during play.

The other two maps will be laminated later, all three look rather nice under plexi.

THE RULES

As for the scenario, I had to make a lot of adaptations and decisions.

My previous KS games had been tactical battles with detailed results individually tabulated. The gameplay was very slow and we only finished our games with difficulty. In fact, I think the first game was just called because we only got through a couple hours of game time in the course of a day.

I knew this would be fatal, so I began streamlining rules.

I decided against detailing the OOB since I felt this was window dressing which would confuse players. Imagine seeing a piece numbered I/100 and wanting to refer to it as the 10th Mississippi, Company D. I had bad dreams about the confusion. To avoid this, the OOB was simply the unit number and unit strengths were a randomly selected number between 450 and 500. A few units had their numbers tweaked outside of these parameters.

I also wanted to use all of the infantry pieces, so both sides had their full compliment of infantry.

Combat would be decided by dice, with 1 die being rolled for every 100 men in a unit or fraction thereof. Each pip would be a hit. I created a little spreadsheet to track the unit strengths as they declined.

I did not bother with a system for tracking hits to cavalry or artillery. I would eventually mark artillery hits by making a dot on the artillery batteries on my map, representing the loss of a gun. Each batter was assumed to have 4 guns.

I then decided that units would fall back if they suffered 10% casualties in a skirmish. A unit that feel back could recover and reenter the fight within 10 minutes or in an emergency. Other levels of degradation were “broken” which required about 30 minutes for a rally, and “shattered” which would take an hour or so. Fall back was used commonly in the game, broken occasionally, and shattered only twice. One unit would be so bad off, I labeled it captured and removed it from play.

As you can see, I basically created my own system for resolving combat which hardly resembles actual KS, however the system is what was needed to keep the pacing of the game on track.

THE SCENARIO

I spent a lot of time pondering the scenario. I noticed the map was largely wooded with an incredible network of roads. I decided to set the game in the fall when weather in the region can be a little unpredictable. I made the terrain wet with mud in the wooded areas to simplify the game. This restricted most (although not all) of the movement to the roads, which simplified the game substantially. Units were able to move across country, but with a substantial penalty.

The weather would be variable with a cold morning and patchy fog giving way to a warming, increasingly humid day. I was prepared to introduce thunderstorms in the PM in case I needed a reasonable excuse to end the game early (in scenario time).

The scenario was a bit elaborate. The backstory was that the Confederates captured a Union supply train weeks before and included in that train was a wagon with four Gatling guns. The Confederates would have the guns in the field, being tested by engineers with a plan to reverse-engineer the guns to save the Confederacy from the rapidly-growing might of the late-war Union.

Confederate forces were also tasked with sending the remaining wagon train south (off map) and with holding the region, in particular the town of Tappahannock, from the Union.

Union orders were to take the town and locate and seize the Gatling guns, if possible.

I did do some historical research on Gatling guns for the scenario. I feel I weaved them in as reasonably possible despite the extreme rarity of their use in the ACW. They really were a post-war weapon, but they did appear around the time I set the scenario. My goal was to build a fun and engaging scenario, as opposed to historical accuracy. Nobody appeared to have an issue with their inclusion in the scenario.

I also restricted their use to 7 reloads of ammo (they could fire only 7 times) and I discouraged their use and even movement, threatening a substantial point penalty for even moving them. The idea was to create an objective as opposed to adding a powerful unit to the game. It also created a dilemma for the Confederates who would be hungry for firepower in the early game.

I divided the Union into three columns, then I made the columns lose one another so the Union would arrive in a staggered fashion. This would prevent the Union from massing their units early and using their massed formation to just smash their way through.

Interestingly, the Confederates had a slight manpower advantage for the scenario, but their units would be badly dispersed, which negated that advantage in the early-to-mid game. I put some of their units off map as reinforcements which could be called for a penalty.

Here are some of the Confederate units, badly dispersed.




THE GAME

The game was joined by six players, many who were fans of Napoleonic warfare or the ACW. I found that merely showing them the map and pieces and telling them a little about the game (my “elevator pitch,” as I called it) was plenty to get people excited.

All of the players arrived on-time and eager, with several making it early. I took advantage of their early arrival by appointing commanders and sharing briefings while scrambling to get prepared. I believe I started about 10 minutes late. I was reluctant to set up pieces too early, lest errant eyes wander across the board. Nonetheless, we got off to a good start.

THE BATTLE

The Union column started on the board and all three commanders took a post within the column, a decision which baffled me. Later it was explained they did not realize they’d get additional reinforcements. As reinforcements arrived, they divided the commands more equitably with each player taking their own column.

The “0” marker you see was used to represent the lead general’s avatar.


The battle began in morning twilight with the sun about to rise. Confederates held a bridge crossing to their front with just one battalion (half-battalion piece.)

The Confederates were badly dispersed. Their commanding general was parked in Tappahannock, almost an hour away from the action. This meant that units would not be able to respond to what was happening for quite some time, giving the Union an incredible starting advantage.

But that advantage was negated by the terrain and the bridge which led to a Thermopylae-like sand by the Confederates. The Union responded by rotating units and deploying artillery. As the Confederates began to fall back, reinforcements arrived in the nick of time to replace them. This would be a common theme in the fight for Munday Bridge.

While the Confederates concentrated on the bridge crossing, the second Union brigade arrived. This brigade managed to find a crossing defended only by cavalry, which had already been repulsed in an earlier effort. The cavalry fell back allowing the Union to cross. Another Confederate unit, within eyesight of the bridge, did not maneuver until too late, as it was holding a crossing of its own.

The stalled Union attack at Munday Bridge and a second Union column pushing across the river.


With the Union now across the river, the defenders of Munday Bridge were doomed in their effort. Reinforcements marched north to flank the Confederates. The Confederates made good tactical decisions and replied to Union threats in kind, but the Union had superiority in artillery which eventually showed. The Union manpower advantage also allowed them to recycle men to the front, keeping fresh men on the line as the Confederates tired. Eventually the Confederate commander ordered a withdraw to Newtown.

The Skirmish at Munday Bridge.


The Union made the decision, entirely on their own, to wait. They crossed the bridge but failed to purse the Confederates in a timely fashion, allowing that force to get away.

The Confederate force was also in some disarray as units from two commands had been split and spliced together in the skirmish. The Confederates remained somewhat scattered. The arrival of the second Union column was a significant surprise.

The Confederate CiC, to his credit, wasted no time calling in his reinforcements, points penalty or no. Those units began to arrive slowly over the course of the next few hours of game time.

Confederate reinforcements moving to the front.


The third Union brigade arrived around 10:00 game time, and by then they had the gameplay figured out. Using cavalry they scouted a crossing and found one that was undefended. Interestingly, the Confederates were aware of this undefended crossing and were sending a unit to defend it just as it was discovered.

The result was a hand-to-hand melee at the crossing between a double-quicked Confederate unit and a veteran Union element. The Confederates had an advantage in numbers against the one Union unit, but they were exhausted. The Union commander sent a second, fresh unit in which broke the Confederates.

Now the Union had crossed in three locations.

About this time, a Union scouting party located the Gatling guns, which were effectively cut off from communication from their commanders. The Union CiC ordered two units to charge those guns, which were supported by a Confederate Cavalry detachment and an infantry unit. One of the Union unit commanders asked the CiC to confirm the order which delayed the inevitable by several minutes. Nonetheless, the attack was a disaster with both Union units being repulsed.

The Confederates, now retreating from the river, and to their credit, decided to hold a line away from their objective, instead of just turtling like cowards. This was a fun decision.

One Confederate column retreats from Newtown to Tappahannock, another forms a defensive line to the south.


Taking position on some ridges SW of Tappahannock, both sides managed to form battle lines with the Confederates enjoying a local advantage. They used this advantage to attack the Union. The Union line was saved however by the timely arrival of reinforcements. One Union unit was caught in the flank and shattered. Then, the Confederates were themselves flanked by even more Union troops arriving from the west. Both sides fought, then paused, their men exhausted.

It was around 1:00 in game time.

Confederate staff.


Union staff.


Meanwhile the Confederate force in Newtown marched east towards Tappahannock, unaware of the skirmish to their south.

Chaos in the south as the Confederates slam into a Union line, breaking some of its units. The Confederates are about to be hit with a charge from the Union, in turn.

At least an hour passed while the Union rested their men and reorganized, since their order had been disrupted and units were separated from their commands. During this time the Confederates retreated to a defensive perimeter around Tappahannock, a move which I anticipated would likely happen in the late-game.

During this time the Gatling guns finally began moving of their own accord and they had the good fortune to run into a Confederate column on the way. Unfortunately, that column was caught in the flank by two Union Cavalry units which attacked the Gatling guns. The guns were not fired and one of them was lost. The other three managed to escape.

The Confederate defenders of Munday Bridge arrived in Tappahannock by 3:00 and formed a defense around the town. A Union force appeared and took position opposite them, but happened to be locally outnumbered –they had split from their main force earlier with part of their force dedicated to stopping another Confederate force nearby.

Confederates form a defensive line and wait for their Union pursuers to arrive.


They arrive.


The Confederate commander wasted no time and ordered a line and sent his men forward. The Union commander saw this, but did not react.

The Confederate attack was broken up by terrain and despite overwhelming numbers it did not destroy the Union forces. One Union unit was broken, but not destroyed.

The Union stabilized their line with the continual arrival of reinforcements.

The Confederates work to organize themselves and for a time have three lines, one with a badly exposed flank...


Now, both the Union and Confederates were arriving outside Tappahannock in groups as individual units and brigades concentrated. One Confederate unit was split off to delay an approaching blue column. This unit held the column, but when the Union commander on the other side recognized it was unsupported, he made a hasty attack against it.

The Confederates organize their defense, but are slow to order one brigade.


The little “201” did not stand a chance and they surrendered. Only a small number of their men were able to flee to Confederate lines.

The 201 pays the price for the error and is forced to surrender.


As this happened, the Gatling guns were loaded onto a ferry on the Rappahannock, ensuring a Confederate objective was met. An earlier objective to move a wagon train off the map was also met, but put a unit out of communication for several hours. This unit returned later, but had minimal impact on the situation.

Eventually the lines form.


Around Tappahannock, opposing lines formed by about 4:30, with an hour of daylight left. Both sides began to exchange artillery fire with the Confederates concentrating on counter-battery fire. Both sides lost guns in the action.

By 5:00 with the sun setting, the Union decided to end the battle by ordering an attack. Unfortunately, only one commander was coordinated enough to go in. He made his attack, but was unsupported and his initial attack was repulsed.

By 5:10 however, the Union generals had sorted themselves out and ordered the attack properly. This attack was much more effective. One general insisted on leading his men in a charge against a Confederate battery. This player was mortally wounded (based on a die roll) but his attack was decisive and it broke Confederate lines. He also broke their lines in a second place. On the Confederate right, the second wave broke the defenders.

The Union first wave, First Brigade, entirely unsupported by its peers.


The unhorsing of a Union brigade commander was an occasion for a “happy dance” from one of the Confederate commanders. This is notable because it shows just how emotionally invested the players had become.

Happy dance.


At this point, the outcome was no longer in doubt. The sun set on a bloody-red melee that resulted in Confederate surrender just after dark.

The Confederates are thrown back from their defenses and into disarray. It's all over but the tears.


THE AFTERMATH

The end of the game was a nail-biter for both sides. Ultimately, the Union enjoyed an advantage in numbers, especially in artillery. This made a difference.

Post game debriefing.



Interestingly, both sides accomplished some critical objectives. The Union captured Tappahannock, which was their main objective, while the Confederates sent three of their Gatling guns away to be reverse-engineered. I made the solemn declaration that this result caused the war to last several more months, ending in August, 1865, with thousands of additional Union casualties. Both sides were satisfied.

CONCLUSION

I grew tired of rolling so many dice and by the end I was guesstimating results instead of taking the time to roll them. This was especially true with hand-to-hand, for which I hadn’t thought to prepare a chart. I based outcomes on the relative strengths of the units modified by a single die roll.

I also grew weary of updating the umpire’s map. I was very tempted to go off the two maps and abandon mine altogether, but I resisted this temptation.

The written messages became tedious, partly because of the players tend towards verbosity and partly because of their handwriting. I eventually found it was much faster to let them mark the map (dry-erase on plexiglass) than to have them scribble orders. Despite this mid-game shift, they still generated an incredible pile of correspondence.

Some of the player correspondence was banal, but most of it was of good quality. The slips of paper were small which led to smaller handwriting, but discouraged detailed orders.

Player correspondence.




I was a bit of a jerk (not in a horrible way) when it came to accepting orders. I made players give me orders as opposed to explain their “visions” to me. My question back to a verbose player was often “what is the order? –what is the order?” If they could not spit out an order on the spot, I simply announced a new time, (I generally advanced it in five minute increments, sometimes a little more) and walked away. Their orders did not get processed until they could give an actual order.

I found that taking a snapshot of the map was a fast way to accurately update the other maps.

Both sides made identical complaints, which I found amusing. Both sides complained that their enemy moved faster than they did and that they were hopelessly outnumbered.  Fortunately, I had prepped the players that they would feel this way at some point, “like the deck is stacked against you” and that this was “normal, and was in-fact the hallmark of a good game.”

I have no idea how true that little white lie is.

I know I broke some cardinal rules of KS, if not all of them, but my criteria was to produce an enjoyable game that ended in a reasonable timeframe. We finished in 8.5 hours.

That 1:1 ratio between umpires and players makes all the sense in the world now!

The game was the talk of the room for hours afterwards despite other games going on. That made me feel good that players enjoyed discussing their game with others including people who were not in the game.

It has already been mentioned that we will run the event in September and we will possibly offer a prize to all players. Players will receive $10 for their participation, because, this is America (‘Murica!). I have thought of making up little buttons or medals for players who do well because, I kid you not, gamers feel mighty proud of these things and will wear them, which will also advertise the game. I’ll be thinking about that later.

I deserved a juice after this was over.


If you managed to read all of this, you deserve a medal yourself.

I welcome your QUESTIONS and FEEDBACK.

Please and thanks.

Looks fantastic. Well written AAR with an appropriate number of pics.
I hope that you, yourself, had a blast despite the work overload.
Thanks for the writeup!

Commander Happy Dance, reporting in!

Jokes aside, first things first, thank you so much for running this Kriegsspiel! It was easily the highlight of the entire convention for me. I was somewhat nervous signing up, potential committing 10 hours of my time to something I knew very little about. I am not in the least bit disappointed with my decision.

My favorite aspects of the game was easily the fog of war and the line of communication mechanics, they worked brilliantly together with the scenario to create a sense of paranoia, dread, and constant second guessing of one's decisions (and the decision's of one's fellow commanders!). My original task was to guard the North against possible attack. When Union scouts and then some troops began showing up to the South West I was torn over how to respond. Is it a feint? Is it a real attack? If I leave my position will the enemy outflank us? If I delay will we be overwhelmed to the South? These sorts of decisions were agonizing (in the best possible way).

Then I received orders from my commanding officer to send half of my troops to an area, I didn't want to split my forces, and I felt like we could perhaps hold the bridge without my men there, but orders are orders so I followed them.

These initial parts of the game where definitely my favorite parts of the experience, the limited information coupled with having to make tough calls in real time was a treat. My favorite personal moment was when the half of the forces I retained, after lurking in some woods, managed to isolate and surround an element of the union forces that had advanced rather greedily up the middle.



While it did not have the utterly devastating affect on the Union that I had hoped for, it was a treat to glance over at the commanders of the other table and see their stress, and it was deeply satisfying to spring a trap on someone in a way that few games allow.

As the game progressed and information about both sides became more clear and more solid battle lines were drawn I will admit that the game play became less interesting, though still enjoyable, and I was still deeply invested in the outcome as things (see dancing for proof). My fellow commanders wanted to go for a grand stand when I personally would have liked a more spread out, defense in depth that slowly gave ground to buy time till sunset, instead of one pitched battle. I do have to wonder if as the defender if we could have used fog of war to our advantage more frequently, focusing more on shoot and fade style tactics, but I don't know how well such a thing would work with civil war units.

Having one game under my belt, I can't wait to play again with the lessons I have learned. I should have been more active in writing strategic advice to my fellow commanders. I should have recalled the half of the forces I split off to be back under my command after the bridge fight was over, but in the heat of the moment I did not think of the possibility. I should have taken a picture of the map and studied it before the game. I should have read up a little more on civil war military tactics and strategy, as to avoid things like being surprised that my cavalry didn't want to charge infantry, even near the flanks. In short I'm itching to play again!

The game felt very well run to me. Things did bog down some during combat, but I feel like that is to be expected, and the game did not overly slow. I did miss some opportunities to issue orders, and have my troops not respond as a result, but that was on me for not fully recognizing the windows and timing for me to input orders. I am amazed that you managed to make it all run so smoothly as a single person.

I'd really like to participate in Kriegsspiel again, be it again as a player, or as an assistant to help the game run more smoothly. I'd love to see bigger games, more players, more troops, bigger maps. The idea of a game with three factions or tables with full fog of war going on is very interesting. Obviously all of these things create a larger workload. I'd like to see Kriegsspiel grow, hopefully next convention you can run it again, and hopefully we get even more sign ups! I'll definitely be trying to peer pressure folks into playing. If we get enough signups that you think you need an assistant I'd be happy to help.

Thanks once again for the great experience!

You forgot the Father General rule: -1 to all dice rolls if you don't attack

Very nice AAR Neal.  Map and troop blocks look very fine indeed, and no doubt added to the experience.

To umpire 6 players for over 8 hours is nothing short of heroic  

As a suggestion, you might consider longer 'turns' for future games.   For a game of this scale, the Little Gaddesden group normally works in 15 or 20 minute increments.   It would probably make your life a bit easier in various ways - some of them not obvious.   As well as the reduced general admin, with the coarser grain this implies, players are likely to expect less detail to be reported on combat.   Also, many messages might not have to be timed as the players will often be sufficiently close etc.  

Martin  (J)

Sounds like a great game Neal. I am stunned - did you umpire this entirely by yourself?

Digby, yes I did.

Gen. Happy Dance, I'd like to see you command an entire side, and not just a brigade. I think you have natural talent and it would be a treat to see you at work. After a few more events, assuming the community grows healthily, I'll be able to play again, and you can umpire! But with help. It's quite a lot of running for one person.

-Neal

An entire side? Natural talent? You flatter me sir! I'd be a liar if I said I wasn't excited by the prospect of running a whole side though. Of course, I don't mind sharing command either so more people can experience the joy of this game. I do hope things grow so we can shuffle roles around and let yoy have a chance to play! Umpiring sounds really fun, but a team of umpire seems ideal. Doing what you did solo, well, I think herculean is the only apt word.

Hopefully we can grow enough interest that someday we can have kriegsspiel game events on their own, outside of the umbrella of strategicon. Playing more than three times a year would be a treat!

Umpiring can be fun, however it's a lot of work. You have your head down, you have to be very fair to both sides and you have to let the players make or break themselves. It can be hard to watch at times. It's also hot and sweaty work because you're practically jogging from one side of the room to the other for the duration of the game.

Adding umpires will help, but before you can umpire you should get a little practice under your belt.

I do recommend, Winterflea, that you explore this group a bit, get to know the members and try participating in some of their online activities. Presently we have a Napoleonic KS running in which you can probably take a command on the game map.

If you have a computer and some time, they also play individual battles on weekends.

I'll be putting my mind to what I want to do in September. My Free kriegsspiel, operational-level action seems to work pretty well. I'll probably stick to that as long as I know I can make it work. As time goes by and umpires arrive to help, I'll increase the complexity level to make the events even more interesting. However, for now, I'm just trying to earn my stripes and some experience.

I think I would prefer to play than umpire, but it will probably be awhile before that can happen.

No matter what, this event will become a regular for Sundays at the Cons.

As for other games, if a group can be gathered, we can talk about something in between. I am very happy to start running events outside of the cons.

I have informally started a group, the "So Cal Kriegsspiel Society." I think we should see about getting a subforum going on here. This would be an excellent place to gather and schedule more games if our English hosts don't mind.

I would also like to someday arrange a real-time game with our neighbors across the pond, in spite of the time difference. Maybe play it in 4-5 hour blocks over a few weekends, networking over Skype or Google.

Exciting times are ahead!

-Neal

"I have informally started a group, the "So Cal Kriegsspiel Society." I think we should see about getting a subforum going on here. This would be an excellent place to gather and schedule more games if our English hosts don't mind."

No they don't mind at all. We've always been hoping that other KS groups would start up

Martin (J)

Martin, can we get a subforum for the So Cal group started?