A Postscript to the Battle of Rolla on Logistics

 

Above : Civil War Wagon Supply Train (see site footer) 

I have come back to the strategic table and map to update one or two items before plunging into the moves for week 2 of 1861. It occurred to me that I had not settled on supply issues relating to combat. In the Boardgame War Between the States any force engaged in combat may need to expend supply points present actually on the map (so in a freestanding dump made by supply train, a supply train itself or a depot). 

The tables for supply point expenditure in combat cross reference both the size of the force and the intensity of the battle to determine how many supply points a force will need. I am not using the board game combat but fighting on the tabletop.  On that basis I have decided to create my own combat supply table using an average amount of expenditure of 0 to 3 points based on the size of the force (1-10 points, 11-30, 31-100 and 101 +). 

The tricky consideration is what detriment to apply if a force is "out of supply". These need to be simple and workable.  My proto-rules are as follows :

(1) An artillery battery or battalion will have supply to fight for D6 turns which can be ticked off on the roster. This will also apply to "designated guns". I will roll during the first turn that an Artillery unit fires and add a tick box to the roster. 

(2) Infantry will have D6 turns similary in which they can fire normally after which time they will not be able to apply the stationary bonus. Again I will roll on the first turn a unit fires

(3) For multi day battles the brigade will have a 50 % chance only of receiving D3 replenishment on each new day. 

On this basis I have re-rolled for combat supply for the battle of Rolla. Lyons (deceased) force needed supply. I have deducted the rail transport points for moving the supply train with 2 points (3) to their forces original jumping off point and have deducted a point. This avoids the issue of Lyons needing to have used a command to move the supply. I have decided that a supply train that moves with an on map commander can be included in the campaign game command span for the ** rating along with other units. So a divisional commander can command a division, a brigade and a supply train. If a supply train moves independently it will need a separate command. 

As well as the adjusting the rail points for the union and the location of the St Louis supply train I have allowed both side to review positions and to consider if they need to create a sensible depots. 

A G2 has been removed in Fort Monroe to create 10 point depot sucking up two floating points that are there without a depot. Depot number "8" has been placed on the board.

It seems crazy to use infantry rather than garrison points to create a depot but I think it is needed and the points can soon be replaced. 

The union will create a further depot at Harpers Ferry to support the 10,000 infantry stationed there. I will reduce both counters to I4 and place 10 supply points on the map.  There doesn't seem to be a corresponding way to set up a depot in Winchester for the confederates. 

The Battle of Rolla - 7 July 1861 - Lyon versus Price

 

"You will soon be in a pretty hot place... but I will be near you, and I will take care of you; keep as cool as the inside of a cucumber and give them thunder !" General Sterling Price 

"In less than an hour they will wish they were 1,000 miles away" General Nathaniel Lyon 

(Wilsons Creek)

(above; Lyon leads the Union infantry column from Jamestown where it has detrained along the road towards Rolla and the waiting Missouri State Guard of Sterling Price) 

These two quotes are from  the commanding officers at Wilson's Creek which took place in August 1861. My campaign uses a historical starting position for units across the main theatres of the American Civil War and the logic of strategy has again thrown these two combatants together on the tabletop. At stake the confederates forward position in the Trans-Mississippi and Missouri.  For Both Sterling Price and Nathaniel Lyons this is deeply personal. Lyon the hothead abolitionist and former commander of the 2nd US infantry who thwarted Price's plans to seize the arsenal in St. Louis.  Price the former Missouri State Governor and a slave owner and planter. After a decade of bloodshed next door in "bleeding Kansas" over the issue of slavery Missouri rapidly erupted at the very outset of the Civil war. 

As a quick recap this battle is taking place in week 1 of the July (7)1861 turn at Rolla. The on-map counters represent two small mixed forces of infantry and cavalry totalling 6 and 4,000 men respectively. 

My Order of battle for the Volley and Bayonet tabletop battle picks up known units from the forces in the State at the time. You can find a fuller description of the characters and units I have imported into my battle of Rolla here in a prior post.

I can show the Order of Battle with my new labels which I have printed up in smart Union Blue and Confederate Grey.

The I3 counter breaks down into two 3-5 brigades. The counter is stiffened by the presence of regular US army troops hence its higher starting morale at the onset of the war. Switching between strength points in counters and strength points on the tabletop is relatively easy as they translate as 1:2 (1,000 to two lots of 500 men). The whole Union force will operate as a single command under Lyon who has a combat strength of "2" on his WBTS counter . I have decided that this should receive a +2 for morale if he attaches to a unit (similary Price will provide +1 for his combat rating from WBTS - this is the normal modifier for an attached divisional commander in Volley and Bayonet in any event). The translation from map to tabletop won't always work for leaders present etc. but I will do what is sensible to get it on the table and then translate the result back to the counters. It is as much story as science - we must never forget that we are grown men (usually) who paint model (read toy) soldiers and wargame (read play) with them.  

The C1 counter for Sturgis' small cavalry contingent is represented here with my mounted and dismounted (linear) bases - 2-5 [s][s] At Wilson's creek Sturgis took over command from Lyon who was killed leading an infantry regiment. Sturgis' base can break down into 2 dismounted square skirmisher bases as per the V&B RtG post Napoleonic rules for "light cavalry" noted in the V&B House Divided campaign rules (which I can find as version 4 online). This is a linear infantry base when working both bases work together. I am nothing if not proud of my new dismounted cavalry bases complete with horse holders.

Finally not represented as a counter but modelled within the division are Totten's artillery. I have not yet modelled the limbered units. 

The M4 map counter breaks down into two 4-4 PT NE brigades. The infantry regiments of the Missouri State Guard are poorly trained and have No Elites so will suffer a disadvantage in melee on a drawn roll. I have not made up a command base for Price but have stolen the command base from a spare Missouri cavalry unit. 

The C2 counter breaks down into two linear infantry dismounted bases for Rives and Cawthorn - 2-5 [s][s]. The first base has broken down into its dismounted skirmishing constituents. The "village" over to the left of the picture above can take a single skirmisher base under the Volley and Bayonet rules. In terms of scenery generally I am playing it very light in terms of features for this first game. Most of the linear features will be treated simply as scatter scenery. Woods, streams, built up areas, roads and hills will have an effect but I have not littered the battlefield with snake rail fence or stone walls which were not in abundance in the "young" lands of the Western theatre. The advice I have picked up generally is "if in doubt" then put on more trees ! I do need to settle on a random generation method. 

I have created this battlefield from the modern day map of Rolla online and google arial photographs stripping back to 1861. 

Here we go ! 

For such a small battle I am just going to have Lyon arrive, deploy and go at it without drawing for wing placement and so on. The Union begins as the attacker. I have placed the lead elements of Lyon's small column alongside the road and railway coming from St. Louis. 

I originally intended not to provide a blow by blow account but I have ended up with a fairly full account of the action. 

Turn 1 - 7 am 

The Union is the attacker and moves first. 

Using the road the two Union infantry brigades form line from march column once across the shallow ford of the Franz Brook. This takes half of their move allowing them each a couple of inches to fan out. The artillery remains limbered. Sturgis' cavalry brings up the rear in march column and forms up when it reaches the ford for half a move. 

There are no morale checks or combat. Lyons must decide whether to advance to meet the union troops. The Confederate artillery is manhandled forward into range and a cautious advance begins. The Union troops come under ineffectual long range artillery fire from Guibor's artillery battalion. 

Turn 2 - 8 am 

The union side advances and both infantry brigades will need to take morale tests for being in close range of the confederate artillery. Both Union brigades pass their morale test. The confederates do not need to test as the Union artillery is not in close range. 

An exchange of fire results in a casualty for Sigel's Brigade and Sturgis cavalry on the union side and on the confederate side for Slack's Missouri Militia. The confederates need to decide whether to charge however given that they are "green" and will fight at a disadvantage in a melee Price decides to slug it out at  range. There are no casualties from the resulting firefight despite the Union return fire being from some stands declared as stationary after their move. 

Turn 3 - 9 am 

Totten's artillery is manhandled forward seeking close range. No other units move. The Confederate infantry is now in close range of artillery and must also test for morale. Sigel's union brigade fails its morale test on a 6 and becomes disordered as does Guibor's confederate artillery battalion. 

The firefight now becomes bloody. Sigel receives another casualty as well as Andrews. Lyons attached to Andrews brigade which made them immune to morale tests however it is a disaster - a second 6 means that Lyons is a casualty. Weightman's Missouri State Guard and Rives cavalry suffer a further casualty. As the skirmish stand is on its own (the second is in the farm/village) it is removed entirely.

Lyons is removed from the battle - the roll for his fate is a simple one. As it is not a melee I do not think a capture option is realistic and as such I perform a  straight die roll - 1-2 he is killed outright 1-4 he is wounded for 1-6 strategic turns. A One! Lyons slides from his horse taking a mini-ball through the neck as he turns to urge his men to pour it into the confederate lines. I swore I would not re-roll, skew or backfill any result unless I have got the rules glaringly wrong. I added Lyons to the combat as I intended to charge at some point and try to rout one of the Confederate brigades. Once the Union brigade had suffered casualties from ranged fire there was a 1 in 6 chance of his being casualty with the most likely result being an injury for a couple of months. I thought the Union could live with that as Heitzleman is waiting in the wings in Southern Ohio. The small union force rode its luck and lost.  I have learnt the lesson the hard way for the Union. Do not attach a commander to a combat unless it is critical and possibly only for a melee. Commanders on horses were obvious targets. Overall there was a fair chance of not surviving the war. 

The Union units will now be permanently out of command for the remainder of the battle which means that :-

(a) They cannot move close to the enemy and only move at half movement allowance becoming disordered if they do so;

(b) They cannot recover from disorder;

(c) They cannot become stationary (not good for Totten's artillery which will now be pinned to rolling a single dice); and

(d) artillery cannot limber and unlimber; 

Already by 9.30 am the union battle plan is in tatters and there is nothing for it but to slug it out toe to toe with the confederates. I am not sure that I actually had any other plan for them ! Without a commander they cannot now press the charge home. The Union should not have been so cautious and delayed the charge. Another lesson learned. 

Below :  the confederate line holding either side of the Jamestown road with the newly built (red) Rolla courthouse in the background. I am so glad I looked this up and painted this. I am going to try and model something every game if I can and grow "the look" as I go on. I didn't manage to get the crops done for this battle but presumably we can still have wheat fields in later in July and August. 

It will be a close run thing. Slack's brigade fails its morale test giving Sigel the opportunity to successfully save against a hit. The return fire from Sigel's brigade is withering causing two more casualties. Andrew's 2nd US Infantry suffers another casualty which totals 5 in all so the Union will need to make an exhaustion throw at the end of the player turn. Cawthorn's cavalry suffer a casualty at the hands of Sturgis' combined 1st US cavalry and 2nd US dragoons. A final defensive salvo causes a final casualty to Slack's Missouri militia who evaporate on the battlefield (the stand is removed with four casualties). The Confederates now total 7 exhaustion with 4 casualties occurring in the current turn.

The Union must roll 2 or more on D6 to avoid exhaustion. The Confederates need to roll a 5 or a 6. As Slack's brigade stream off the battlefield the confederates suffer a catastrophic failure of morale. The entire remaining confederate line is permanently disordered where it stands. Any stands that were already disordered would have routed. The confederate line is now at jeopardy on all future morale throws. 

The ability of any forces to stand and fight on through exhaustion could confer a benefit after the battle in any event for the veteran divisions of the union. 

Turn 4 10 am

Price attaches himself to Weightman's militia regiments to stiffen their morale. All of the Confederate's remaining units pass their morale tests. Sturgis' cavalry fails its morale test. Already suffering a disorder they rout to the rear - they are a linear infantry stand collected together and not skirmishers so do not get removed on the spot). While routing they suffer a further casualty however and are removed from the battle on their "tally". Both lines are now thinning. All stationary markers have now been removed due to exhaustion which will reduce the fire of both sides.

Sigel's brigade and Totten's artillery direct their fire at Guibor's artillery which suffers an unsaved hit (the saving throw is because Sigel and Totten are disordered). Sigel saves a returned hit. There are no further casualties along either line. The Confederates and Union pass the exhaustion test. 

As the confederate skirmishes in the village are out of command they are unable to move out to both get into range and to attack Andrew's brigade in the flank. They can however retreat and suffer a disorder in order to approach once in command (I realise subsequently that this would have caused a rout) All of the Union brigades pass their morale tests. Weightman's brigade fails its test and routs. As it must move 16 inches it will rout off off the table. The confederates survive their exhaustion throw. 

The confederate infantry stream from the battlefield. 

Turn 5 11 am 

Sigel's division is able to advance toward the town of Rolla to take up defensive positions without moving closer to the remaining confederate cavalry on the field of battle securing the town of Rolla and threatening the Confederate supply lines. Once the Union infantry are secure in Rolla it will be next to impossible to remove them with dismounted cavalry. Totters artillery is unable to move and bring its fire to bear on the remaining confederate close order formation on the field as it is out of command and cannot close with Cawthorn's Missouri State Guard Cavalry brigade. It is however disordered and as such would rout if moved while out of command. 

Rives cavalry brigade then fails its morale test and routs. Firing is ineffectual but at the end of the Union turn the Confederates fail their exhaustion test by rolling a 1. As Cawthorn's State guard are already disordered they rout leaving the field. The Union holds the field and the town of Rolla.  Lyon's sacrifice has not been in vain.

Immediate Aftermath of the Battle 

Price's forces withdraw from Rolla for 1 hex taking the road toward Springfield. Thankfully without a leader the Union forces will be unable to pursue and give battle but for now the confederate forces in Northern Missouri that were gathering to threaten St Louis have been checked.

The fight was bloody on both sides. Lyon's leader counter is removed from the Map. The Union side will need to look to bring a further leader across to the Trans-Mississippi if there are to retain any initiative.

I am not sure if I have played the morale and exhaustion rules correctly but I applied them the same for Bothe sides and in any event the confederates failed dice rolls whereas the Union weathered them. The battle could have gone either way. The higher morale of the smaller Union force helped to defeat a slightly larger force. I will check the rules again before I play next time however interestingly I thought I would have a slight Confederate bias in my dealings given my lifetimes gentle immersion in confederate mythology- the truth is I didn't want either side to lose having spent all the hours required to paint them. Too much was at stake in this opening battle in terms of the momentum of events. It was a small interesting battle and got me used to the ebb and flow of the rules and some of the key concepts. 

If I take anything away it is that being stationary is a very good thing in terms of fire power. Again - don't attach leaders who are needed as counters for movement on the campaign Map to firefights ! 

Recovery 

The recovery rules are quite harsh where one side is forced to leave the field of battle without a rearguard under the V&B ACW campaign rules.  There is a lot to be said for withdrawing in good order. A "Rearguard" needs to be an intact battlefield command and neither routed or exhausted. The confederate side cannot recover artillery losses and will then lose all of its artillery pieces abandoned in the field. This feels right. Guibor's Missouri State Guard Artillery is lost as an inherent component of the Militia counter for now. I will need a mechanism for refitting artillery units. The cavalry and infantry will recover 1/3 of their losses only as the wounded are left behind to be captured. I can cross that artillery bridge when I come to re-fight with Price. There is perhaps something about a division being in a department or receiving reinforcements from a department to refresh its artillery. Guns were captured and lost on the battlefield and re-purposed all of the time. For now Price is without his guns as he retreats toward Springfield. 

6 of 8 infantry strength points were lost so the confederate infantry will recover 2 strength points to make 4 in V&B terms. The M4 Militia counter on the WBTS map should be replaced with an M2 which will consolidate as Weightman's Missouri State Guard (1st-4th) M4 PT NE. 

1 of the 3 lost cavalry strength points will be recovered so 2 from 4 will remain and the C2 counter on the map will be flipped for a C1 counter.  Rives base will be lost altogether or its remnants "consolidated" and Cawthorn's State Guard Cavalry brigade (and Missouri Cavalry regiments) will become a single 2-5 PT base. When it is reinforced it can be split out in terms of its components.  Where possible multiple single point cavalry stands or 2 point infantry stands within counters should not exist and should always be consolidated. This feels historical with the remnants of battalions or squadrons being thrown in together locally. The counters at their higher points values are divisions but at the lower points (1 or 2 especially) they would represent normal size infantry battalions let alone small brigades. 

On the Union side fully 75 % of casualties will be recovered as they both won and retained the battlefield. 3 of 4 lost infantry strength points will recover. On that basis the counter can remain the same but there will be a single  5-5 consolidated base under Sigel for now representing the 1st US infantry, some companies of the US 2nd infantry  and the 1 st, 3d and 5th Missouri infantry.  I modelled the I3 division counter as a two on tabletop 3-5 brigades initially rather than a single full strength 6-5 "Death Star" stand. With 5 tabletop strength points remaining but only 2.5 map points it does not feel right to model as a division with two stands with 2 (a linear stand ?) and 3 points respectively. A 5 strength stand now seems correct which is a brigade of 2,500 men. 

Totten's artillery counter is retained and had no losses. As a makeweight to the infantry situation I will recover 1 of 2 lost union cavalry strength points only rather than "rounding up" and retain a C1 counter but on the tabletop it will be a much reduced  brigade which can operate as a skirmish cavalry stand only. and dismounted as a skirmish sized infantry base.  So Sturgis' brigade is now 1-5 (s) as a tabletop stand representing somewhere around 500 troopers. 

Promotions

The general rule for the battlefield is that 3 victorious divisions for the victor should receive a promotion and 1 for the loser. I think I will model something a little more granular going foward for smaller battles. 

Price' Green division could be promoted to Veteran under normal rules to promote a single losing division but as the infantry are militia they cannot progress beyond "green" under my current home brew of the promotion rules. They will not receive a morale upgrade to 5. The is one of my key concepts for the Boardgame and Volley and Bayonet arena of the campaign. I have to retain an incentive to develop militia counters into properly trained infantry going forward. Under my system Militia counters always retain their PT status even after 6 months. I do not consider that without a charge or being charged with a melee during the battle that they should lose the "No Elite" status either (I could remove that as a discretion for some militia if they perform stunningly well but it is better not to). As a compromise I will however "drag" experience with any Militia unit into any augmentation as an infantry counter to represent the experienced core of the unit.  

As Lyon's command was already veteran it can choose a stand to promote to "Crack". Its morale will increase to 6 and the exhaustion level for the whole counter will be set at 60 %. So Sigel's Missouri brigade will be 5-6. This seems a little strange but the rating of the majority unit would be used (Sigel) when the two infantry stands consolidate. A 2 strength point linear stand is not really allowed if avoidable so Andrews brigade must consolidate. We are not switching units between counters so the integrity of the "division" is not being upset.  This seems fair - the Union persisted with a victory after a couple of rounds whilst losing their overall commander and becoming exhausted. To get from Veteran to Elite for a stand in a division this is the test. They persevered to victory. Essentially the counter on the map is a 2.5 strong brigade which models as a 6-5 crack unit on the battlefield. Any augmentation of the counter can add new brigades so that the division will operate as a "mixed" experience/morale  unit but with a 6 "crack" or "shock" brigade. The overall exhaustion level for the division should however be 60 % unless that becomes a nonsense in which case I can model the division's exhaustion on a more granular level if it gets too big. 

I don't think the battle is large enough to contribute to victory points. 

All that remains is for me to update the tracker for the two commands position and any known components. I will then move to phase 2 of Turn 7 1861 with the initiative chit draw. 

Conclusions

I am sure that I made some mistakes around the effect of Lyon being killed and the effect on the Division of permanently being out of command. I love the rules and the way that the attrition of casualties feeds through to the concept of exhaustion. Rather than simply removing a whole division at once from the battlefield an even fight between divisions then becomes balanced on knife edge. I am also really happy that the post battlefield promotion process will reward a unit in a division which  has suffered that baptism of fire. 

The elite "Black Hats" who fought in the Eastern theatre for much of the war were made up I believe of regiments from Iowa and Wisconsin. Now that the Union has a "crack" brigade which includes elements of regular army battalions and various Missouri regiments I will order and paint up a brigade with regular  "Black Hats" from Pendraken to celebrate their battlefield promotion on the field of Rolla. This is the stuff of notoriety and battlefield legend that I was hoping for when I opted to go in at the deep end with a campaign.

The decision or limitation on the part of the the union to send in a smaller force comprising of just a regular infantry division and an attached regular cavalry brigade gave the union a stiffer line. While the confederates outnumbered the Union 3:2 on the battlefield rolling against a base morale point of 4 rather than 5 made their elements twice as likely to disorder. This led to less effective fire. Both sides reached their exhaustion threshold in the same turn but luckily the Union had become stationary prior to this and inflicted a large number of casualties in a single turn leading to a collapse in morale throughout the small confederate force. For a simple system it delivered a lot of nuance - I found myself wishing for fresh confederate troops to throw into the fight.

The newly built and painted red Rolla courthouse will as in real life now be used as a Union hospital and supply station to support this new staging post for the union forces in Missouri. Do the confederates regroup and hit them back ? Or will the Union consolidate its forces in Missouri and press on to seek a final and early large battle in the Trans-Mississippi such as a "Pea Ridge". I love the way that a campaign begins in effect to tell a story.

 

Confederate Dismounted Cavalry and Artillery

 

A part of me wants to just crack on with my first battle of Rolla but another annoying perfectionist voice is telling me that I have waited 45 years or so as a Toy Soldier player to launch a project this big so why not get all of the bits and pieces in place first. One of the hold-ups has been a system for dismounted cavalry. I cracked this relatively recently. A "Light Cavalry" base with more than 2 points will dismount as a Linear infantry base which can be populated using my tray system by 2 x 30 mm square bases. Each of those single 30 mm square bases can be used as the dismounted "skirmish" base produced by a 1 point mounted Volley and Bayonet ACW cavalry base. As there are 6 cavalry figures for a single point mounted cavalry base I have tried to replicate on each dismounted base with at least 5 figures including a horse holder with two horses and a standard bearer and troopers. 

I have noted that the Volley and Bayonet rules allow basing for figures less than 15 mm for artillery on 1.5 inch squares (rather than having to produce the 3 inch depth). This looks better but I will use a deeper base when the artillery is limbered. You can see above my first confederate smooth bore artillery piece representing a small battery. The buildings on the left of the picture are my first attempt at a 3 inch x 2 inch "village" base. I have left space in each corner for a 30 mm (my 1.5 inch square) cavalry skirmish base. All of my built scenery is at 6 mm scale and this seems to be working well with 10 mm figures. Red Vector make a good mdf 6 mm fence section with a base which when quickly painted and flocked comes up well. I have invested in a lot of stuff from Timecast as well including the latest rubber fields. These come up really well with a good coat of cheap Burnt Umber from the hobby store and and some Javis field scatter. I am starting to get the look I want. 

The Union forces at Rolla include elements from the 1st and 2nd US cavalry these troopers made the leap to the tabletop last week before I set off on a short holiday. I will need a couple of dismounted bases as well for these guys.

S&A scenics are providing the real background for my tabletop in terms of roads, streams, hills and good set of trees to get me going. I have heard that any civil war battlefield should just be over populated with trees so I will set to work with that. I have painted up a model  Appomattox court house model bright red in homage to the original Rolla court house on my battlefield.

Elements left to complete include at least two bases for limbered artillery, a couple of leadership bases and probably one more Union massed infantry base. The Union forces at Rolla are a single 3 point map counter in the War Between the States Game (c. 3,000 bayonets) which could either represent on Volley and Bayonet tabletop as two massed 3 point brigade bases or a single full strength 6 point brigade base. I think the latter is a better representation for the union forces. Smaller contingents for this small initial battle. On the scenery front I am now almost there. Trees, trees and more trees and a couple more village enclosures. I could do with quite a few more fence sections as well although I note that fences were much rarer in the Western theatre than in the East so I won't beat myself up if every road is not lined with fences. 

See you in Hell Bill Yank ! See you in Hell Johnny Reb ! 

Confederate Cavalry Units

 

I am waiting on one or two more scenery pieces and have a few more union bases to complete and artillery to paint but in the meantime the Prices' Missouri guard units for my battle of Rolla are complete including the mounted cavalry. 

I went for a very "dressed" and new 1861 look with the yellow cavalry cuffs. I will add some much more tousled and ragtag cavalry units later for the wars progression. These are Pendraken 10 mm confederate cavalry. They come with essentially two poses - carrying carbines at the ready and with sabres drawn for the troopers and then 3 different style command figures - an officer with a curved sabre and a standard bearer and a bugler. I am really pleased with how these have turned out. A few clear rules for painting 10 mm are emerging. Firstly paint the unit and not the figures. Secondly keep the figures tidy but less really is more with the details. A good flag and some shiny weapons and decent cuffs and all is good. Finally keep the paints as bright and light as possible. Any small figure will come up "dark" especially when using a wash - and with washes use a very soft or light shade. I think I am using medium brown from Army Painter. Any darker with the wash and the figures just turn to mud. 

Under the ACW Volley and Bayonet Rules cavalry can be 2 to 4  strength points on a 3 inch square base and is designated as "light cavalry". I am using two rows of 3 bases (20 x 30 mm) with 2 mounted figures on each. The back two bases are mounted as full light cavalry brigades. A full light cavalry base will dismount as a 3 inch x 1.5 inch linear infantry base.  I have yet to settle on the size of my infill dismounted bases. I may just use two 30 mm square bases as two of these will fill up a linear infantry tray. I might be able to fit a horse holder on each at the back and perhaps 4 or 5 other dismounted cavalry figures - possibly also dismounted command. This may not convert across to other rule systems such as Fire and Fury or Johnny Reb III or Alter of Freedom, but I can always do something else for my cavalry with those rules. I will make up some 20 mm squares as well and see what I prefer later. Given my 5 year timespan with this project I am in it for some detail. 

Light cavalry can throw off skirmish cavalry bases of a point each. A 1 point V & B cavalry stand is actually also on a 3 inch square base. So I can use blanks on a big base or  try  a smaller linear base which might be easier ? This would denote the 1 point value and be less confusing and less needy for  blank filler bases. A 1 point cavalry base dismounts as a 1.5 inch square base which would take one 30 mm square base. Can I get 6 figures on a base with a horse holder ? I think so as a small vignette and this would work well for occupying a village or section of wall or fence.  So I think this settles the issue of what to do for dismounted cavalry for other games. Just buy some more dismounted figures and make nice horse handlers etc. and prepare smaller bases. 

The OOB for Rolla has the confederates with a 2 point cavalry counter on tree map (4 strength points for V & B or 2,000 horses) which will come into the game as two separate 2-5 PT cavalry bases. These can of course be broken down each into 4 cavalry 1 points skirmish bases. I think given their numerical superiority it might be preferable to have just two 2-5 bases which will dismount as a 2 point linear infantry base. Either way I will need to make 4 30 mm dismounted cavalry bases. 

I am keen now to crack on with the battle so will not wait too much longer for further supplies of scenery, finish of the extra couple of units (mostly union now) decide the future of Missouri ! 

See you in hell Johnny Reb ! See you in hell Billy Yank ! 

Building Rolla

 

I took delivery of a nice package of terrain from S&A scenics  this morning. Essentially a tester purchase of roads, rivers, trees and hills. Some absolute basics. I am really pleased and I have put in another bumper order so that I can populate fairly decent tables up to perhaps 12' x 6'. The roads in particular are great and reasonably priced. Felt on one side which is rubberised and textured and painted.  

It was very hard not to have a "play" and to march Price's Missouri State Guard through the town and off down the Jamestown  Road. I found a German website which has paper models of a town in 6mm/N scale for the locals to download and make for Xmas. The school can double as a Court house for now and there are a bunch of wooden farm buildings that look the part. The CourtHouse in Rolla was of course red - I am considering getting my pencils out. 

The narrow river kit is also really well made - all backed on MDF and it comes painted in sensible sections. The mat is a nice fleece from Geek Villain. I want to get more but they are currently sold out.  I have worked out what else I need to buy to complete the Rolla map. I am setting a deadline now for fighting the first battle I think as soon as the final terrain arrives which might be 3-4 weeks. 

The confederate cavalry is complete and just needs the bases flocking. I then need the Union cavalry and dismounted troopers for both sides and a couple of artillery pieces. Perhaps another 1-2 weeks work in total. I am due to take a "break" - seems odd calling it that as I am retired. I am going up to Northumberland for big beaches and landscapes - Berwick on Tweed, Bamburgh and the Farne isles etc. I am tempted to pack my stuff but I very much doubt I will get away with that. I could take some paints and a brigade or two to fill the evenings. 

Plotting Rolla

 

Above : Google Image Rolla 

I couldn't sleep last night which was annoying so I got up about 4 am and decided to create my battlefield for Rolla. The screenshot of the local area above has been tipped on its side so that the top of the Photo is East. The large woodlands of the Mark Twain Forest are to the East also and the Ozarks wilderness and lake area broadly to the South East. 

There is a lot you can work out from maps and  satellite photos  on google. I have already established that Rolla was a  quite a small town in 1861. It still is - population c. 20,000 today. The Court House was roofed but unfinished  in 1861 which is presumably why the Union were able to use it as warehouse and hospital during the early part of the war. There are a handful of heritage buildings in Rolla but apart from the courthouse it would appear wooden built. Main Street is barely 200 m long and there are a few other gridded roads from old photos. It is wonderful bringing an old place back to life.  

The picture below is the town in 1860. Maybe a handful of  two story buildings only. A hotel and one or two grander houses and stores in town. Towards the edge of town just simple single story two or three room wooden houses.  There is probably some warehousing and facilities for the railroad terminus in the photo (the railroad planned to reach San Francisco from St.Louis ended here in 1861). 

Above : Historic Photo of City of Rolla (see footer) 

I don't think the town will need more than one Volley and Bayonet 6 inch x 4 inch template (An area 600 m x 400 m in ground scale). I have found a few more pictures of heritage buildings on public sites online. The courthouse : -

An old wooden schoolhouse :- 

And the County Jail block from the early Nineteenth century :-  

The road plan reveals an "Old St. James Road" leading on to St. Louis. From the map I have been able to find other old roads leading at different points of the compass to the nearby locations of Vichy, Salem and to Yancy Mills. The area is much more wooded than I expected with numbers of watercourses. It's possible that these might be seasonal given one of the names - "Little Dry Creek". I have been able to place some high ground to the North and West of the town, probably from where the photo above might have been taken. There are some tree lines  along the old watercourses and a few farms. Out come the coloured pencils and some common sense and can think back to this roughly 3 mile x 2 mile or 6 x 4 foot table for Rolla in 1861. 

The names of the tributary streams display the part German heritage of the town - "Franz Branch" and "Burgher Branch" e.g.  The aerial photo shows that the irrigated sections that are not hilly or wooded are densely marked out with square land claim plots. This original land claim parcelling is thrown forward into the more recent land use. So for example a local golf is crammed entirely into a  square plot that must have been bought originally as farmland. The same holds true for housing developments that fit to the square "claims" pattern out into the farmland surrounding the historic town. You just don't get that grid pattern of land use in the UK. In the US it is is extended into the farmland itself. 

The areas that are white on my "original" plan will randomly be carpet bombed with some square fields and a few square orchards or "wood lots". to show the land usage.  As the battle will take place in July some of the fields can hold crops which will behave appropriately under the Volley and Bayonet rules - blocking line of site until trampled by massed stands.  The streams whilst perhaps dry(ish) can operate as fordable streams for the purpose of the rules. They will cost half a movement to cross and where lines with a thicker area pf wood may affect visibility/ 

This will do - The Confederates line of communication will leave the map ay the middle bottom (West) toward Jefferson City and the Union troops from the East along the St. James/St.Louis road. I will post again when the two forces are complete and on my newly dressed tabletop. I am tossing up whether to build a small scratch built red courthouse from card. It does seem appropriate. I have opted for 6 mm scenery with my 10 mm figures and a lot of scenery and "dressing" is in the post. My cavalry are coming on in fits and starts so it may be a week before I can roll a dice in anger. 

Until then See you in hell Billy Yank ! See you in hell Johnny Reb ! 

Research for the Battle of Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri - Detailed Order of Battle - Tabletop Terrain

 

Above : Rolla Courthouse today (from a public site on the City of Rolla) 

I am paused at the end of phase 1 7/61 in my game creating a tabletop and the final units for the battle of Rolla. This is my early alternative to the Battle of Wilson's Creek. 

 I give full credit to Wikipedia without which I would not get very far for quick research. I need to understand how to get access to the National Archives of the United States and State Archives - I prefer prime sources ! In particular I am really keen to get my hands on a copy of a map of the Central Counties of Missouri from about this time. I expect it was created to assist with the railroad survey. I love all this history. I am from the UK but it feels like "our" history as well. Every family of British origin in the United Kingdom has forgotten parts of it scattered all over the world. Fully a third of all soldiers fighting in Civil War armies were first generation immigrants. British Immigrants had been streaming to the Colonies and then the United States in increasing numbers for two hundred and fifty years. The Mid-West and its new frontier for settlement was a focus for migration from Central Europe and in particular Germany and Scandanavia as well. That's reflected in the Union armies of the Mid-West in particular. 

So I have been having fun researching the place of a battle that never happened. For this first battle of my campaign it feels as if it was meant to be. Historically Price's forces actually withdrew further to the South-West around Wilson's Creek and Sigel's 3rd Missouri Regiment (the beloved German American General  - "We fight Mit Sigel") took possession of the town bloodlessly on  3 June 1861 after the fall of Fort Sumter in May. 

The town was strategically important for the fight for Missouri as it is the terminus or extent of what was to become the South-West Pacific Railroad from St. Louis to the West Coast at the outset of the War. The Phelp's County Courthouse, which was completed in 1860 was a Union hospital serving casualties from the battles of Wilson's Creek in August 1861 and Pea Ridge the next year. The town was host to a concentration of up to 20,000 Union troops. As well as the railroad  from St Louis there was a road which ran from St. Louis to Rolla which is now the interstate I44. On my campaign map the railroad peters out as it did in 1861. 

Rolla is located in Phelp's County Missouri, a County that was only created in November 1857. The first farms were settled along the rivers in this area in 1819. The town itself was named on the suggestion of one George Coppedge from South Carolina for his home town of  "Raleigh".  The townsfolk agreed after a discussion but only if it could have a simpler spelling - "Rolla". A dispute over which town would be the seat of Phelp's County between  newly arrived "Easterners" in Dillon and "Westerners" in Rolla was settled in the confederate leaning "Westerners" favour by the Missouri legislature in November 1860.

As Fort Sumter fell the townsfolk came out for the confederacy. The area's circuit judge James McBride left to take up a position as a General under Sterling Price. Outside the courthouse a group of men tore down the star spangled banner and raised a confederate flag stitched by the women of Rolla. The mob then went to  the offices of the Rolla Express, a paper owned and run by a union sympathiser Charles Walter and forced him to stop his presses. The  belligerent Southern mob then patrolled the town forcing Union sympathisers to leave. 

I am not sure I need too much of an alternate history - we have fertile newly confederate ground for the Missouri State Guard to defend ! Sterling Price together with the circuit Judge James Mcbride does not leave but begins to take up positions to protect the town. Union sympathisers turned out of their homes  begin to arrive in St Louis. Lyons decides to move before Sterling Price can be reinforced from Arkansas and Louisiana to the South . Lyons moves his men by railroad to the next stop on the railway at St James. His Federal force of 4,000 cavalry and infantry is just ten miles from the town and begins to march to seize back control of the crucial railway terminus. The fight is on for the gateway to the rest of Missouri and in particular Springfield to the South West. 

So both sides want the railroad terminus. Price to maintain a way to move troops toward St. Louis to physically re-take Missouri and Lyon's to begin to stage and build logistics in order to eject the Confederates from the State altogether. The battle for Missouri will begin 6 weeks earlier than occurred historically. It "feels" historical and thank you whoever wrote the description on Wikipedia of events in Rolla at the outbreak of the Civil War. 

Order of Battle and Painting Progress 

I have time to "flesh out" some colour  on the orders of battle I am completing for the tabletop for the two sides at Rolla. I am going to give the second infantry brigade to another lawyer turned soldier William Slack rather than James McBride. Slack has a good story. 

Confederates 

The game counter line in the tracker  should now reads as follows :-

A2014 Rolla, Price***2-1, C2, M4 (Weightman 4-4 PT NE,  Slack 4-4 PT NE,  Cawthorn Cav 2-5 SS PT, Rives Cavalry 2-5 SS PT,  Guibor 2-5 SB-F PT)

I am assuming that the battle is too early for any State regiments to have arrived from the "Army of the West" across Arkansas and Louisiana. Price will have at his disposal the Missouri State Guard and other locally raised confederate volunteer Regiments. I will not treat Militia counter bases as "militia" under the V&B rules (i.e. apply a disorder marker from the outset)  :- 

Price Command 

Price ** Divisional Commander - Exhaustion 5 

(1) Militia Brigade Base 1

Col. Richard Hanson Weightman - Missouri State Guard Infantry Brigade (1st-4th) M4  [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] PT NE

Above : Weightman (see site footer)

Colonel Hanson-Weightman was killed at Wilson's Creek. 

(2) Militia Brigade Base 2

Brigadier General William Slack commanding Various Missouri  Infantry Regiments  M4 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] PT NE

Slack was lawyer and member of the Missouri General Assembly. He had served as a young captain in the Mexican War and was appointed a Brigadier General of Militia to command one of the small "divisions" of the Missouri militia at Wilson's Creek in Price's hotch-potch army of 12,000 men. Slack distinguishes himself at Wilson's Creek and is in the thick of the action buying time for the confederate army to organise itself after the initial assault and receiving a wound to the hip. He is then appointed by the confederacy to the command of the second Missouri Brigade in the "Army of the West". He dies on 21 March 1862 aged 45 from a further wound  sustained at the battle of Pea Ridge on March 7 1862. He can lead my second Missouri Militia infantry base at the Battle of Rolla. 

(3) Militia Cavalry Brigade Base 1 

Colonel James Cawthorn - Missouri State Guard Cavalry Brigade - M5 [S] [S] PT NE - Armed with muzzle loading carbines (treat as muskets with 2" range). 

2 and 3 strength point cavalry are treated as Light Cavalry under rule 23.1.1 of Volley and Bayonet RtG. Lights Cavalry is on a massed base initially. The bases can break down into cavalry skirmish bases. A massed Light Cavalry base dismounts as a linear infantry base. Skirmish Cavalry bases dismount as skirmish infantry bases. 

(4) Militia Cavalry Brigade Base 2

Colonel Benjamin Rives commanding various Confederate Militia Cavalry Regiments including the Rives, Majors, Browns and Campbell's cavalry  - M 5 PT [S] [S ] (see rules above) 

There are two artillery batteries in the Missouri State Guard and Militia regiments - Bledsoe's and Guibor's Battery. I will combine them but give the command to Captain Guibor, another veteran of the Mexican War who was originally arrested in the Camp Jackson affair (the attempt to secure the Missouri state arsenal for the confederacy). After being paroled and ignoring this on a technicality Guibor then commands his Missouri battery and fights a long and distinguished war. Guibor is wounded, captured at Vicksburg and fights on to eventually surrender in South Carolina with the remnants of Joe Johnston's army in March 1865. 

(5) Guibor -Missouri State Artillery 2-5 SB-F PT 

My Bases for the Confederates then now all have names. 

Union - Lyons Command - Exhaustion 5 

Lyons*** -  Corps Commander 

The game counter line in the tracker should now read :-

A.      Lyons ** C1, I3 (Sigel 3-5, Andrews M5 3-5, Sturgis Cav 2-5 SS, Totten Art 2-5 SB-F PT 

(1) Infantry Brigade 1 

Franz Sigel 1st and 2nd US Infantry & 3rd and 5th Missouri Infantry M5 [ ] [ ] [ ]  

(2) Infantry Brigade 2 

Lt Colonel George Lippitt Andrews 1st Missouri Infantry, 2nd US Infantry M5 [ ] [ ] [ ] 

(2) Cavalry Brigade 1 

Sturgis 1st US Cavalry & 2nd US Dragoons M5 [S] [S] (Treat as Light Cavalry rule 23.1.1 V&B RtGlory - Breach loading carbines) 

Sturgis was a cavalry officer in the Mexican war and served in the cavalry throughout the Civil War until eventually having his command routed by Nathan Bedford Forest at the Battle of Brice's Mill in 1864, 

(3) Artillery Brigade 

Captain James Totten 2nd US Artillery Brigade & Backofs Missouri Light Artillery - SB-F PT  M5 [ ] [ ] 

Totten was an artillery officer in charge of the arsenal at Little Rock and was surrounded and captured at the outbreak of the war. Transferring to Lyons command he remained in command of the 2nd US Artillery. He was noted as having a colourful style of cursing while giving orders to his battery, so much so that bystanders would form to listen to the show ! He was commanding a siege battery at Mobile when the war ended in 1865. He remained in the US Army but eventually was court martially in 1870 for insubordination and conduct unbefitting an officer. He died in Missouri in 1871. I am assuming he was a big drinker. Totten can lead the US Artillery in the West for now ! 

Table Top 

Rolla itself was not a large town in 1861. There is the road and railway to place on the board leading away to the North-East towards the Union staging point at St James and on to St. Louis. Any map of the area does not suggest anything major in terms of hills - the Ozarks are away to the South. There are no large areas of woods or wilderness areas. I will "dress" the battlefield in gentle hardscrabble farmland and small woods with crops appropriate for July. Given the size of the two forces a 6 x 4 table should be more than adequate. It is the West so it will be less manicured than say South Carolina or Virginia which had been populated by whites for over two hundred years. 

There is no need for any complicated RtG random system plan. Neither side is possessing sufficient commanders or units to attempt anything complex. The Confederate forces will deploy to defend Rolla itself and the Union side aim will be to expel them from Rolla and to secure the Confederate line of communication back to Springfield. 

Other Battle Rules 

I am using the Volley and Bayonet ACW campaign rules for battles. Relevant rules are as follows :- 

The battle will commence at 1 D6 plus 5 am in July and end at 8 pm. The Union forces will appear at 7 am at the LOC in March Column and deploy. 

The side in posession of the battlefield will recover 2/3s of their lost strength points. Strength points will be rounded up when being transposed back to the counter strength. The actual bases can be amended accurately on the roster.  An orderly withdrawal with a rearguard will allow a retiring army to recover 1/2 of its losses including artillery. An army that retires in disorder or rout will lose all of its artillery and  only recover 1/3 of its strength point losses. 

Finally after the battle each side will be able to test for battlefield promotions. I will apply the principles in the Volley and Bayonet ACW campaign rules for promotions from Green to Veteran and Veteran to Crack. The Green to Veteran promotion can affect all of the stands in a single division counter. The division must have either taken or given casualties.  Crack promotions would affect only one stand whose division would need to engage in combat and become exhausted without also suffering a loss of morale. So this in theory could apply to Lyons command at this stage.  Crack divisions can also be created through a reoccurring promotion on a quarterly basis. Two counters in each army can also receive a promotion to veteran through training after each phase. It does seem that "Green" status is quite easy to lose after the first battle but as noted I am not applying this for Militia or garrison units.