The cover of “Across A Deadly Field”. ADF will be published this summer by Osprey Publishing.
Wayne Bollands from Wargames Illustrated and Mike Bradford got together recently to playtest John Hill and Osprey Publishing’s new set of American Civil War rules “Across a Deadly Field”. They faced each other in battle at the WI studio for an afternoon of ACW action! The wonderful 28mm figures and terrain are all from WI’s collection. Mike Bradford was kind enough to send us at CigarBoxBattle the following after action report and thoughts on his first game of “Across A Deadly Field”:
Wayne Bollands from Wargames Illustrated and I had our first game of ADF today. We played the McPherson’s Ridge scenario in 28mm. I had read the rules and played through a few examples. We couldn’t find many Union cavalry figures, so decided Gamble had already gone elsewhere. Briefly, the Confederates had early success, where Davis and Brockenbrough gave Cutler a pounding. Unfortunately, on the Union left, Archer came up against the Iron Brigade, where his attack was promising, until a disastrous morale roll started a chain reaction that saw his whole brigade run off, with Archer being killed.
Mike Bradford (left) and Wayne Bollands from Wargames Illustrated face of in a game of “Across A Deadly Field”.
In the center, Pettigrew was reducing Stone’s brigade until the 150th PA got shaken and isolated. He charged them with the 26th NC and they ran off. However, he got caught up in the chase and went on to charge Steven’s battery who were supported by the 6th WS. It ended badly, with grievous casualties and Pettigrew a prisoner. So I guess the Rebs lost, although Cutler was on the brink of collapse and there wasn’t much left of the Pennsylvania Bucktails. The Confederate Artillery potted away all afternoon and only managed to cause a few morale checks.
A close up of the excellent 28mm figures and terrain.
It was our first game, so it was a bit of a learning experience. We both enjoyed it. After a few actions, we got the hang of it and didn’t really need the rulebook. I liked the way that it began quietly, but when the action started, things could go wrong very quickly. The way Archer’s brigade fell apart in one turn surprised both of us, but I guess it often used to happen that way. The game certainly had a proper historical ‘feel’ to it.
Things are starting to heat up on McPherson’s Ridge!
I made some small counters to mark morale states and reactions. Also, we didn’t mark casualties on the figure bases. We used a roster sheet. We have done this with Johnny Reb in the past. I like it because, a) You don’t need to have bases with different numbers of figures, b) You have fewer markers on the table and c) It gives a bit of ‘fog of war’, as you can’t see the state of the opposition, unless they’ve lost a base.
Great looking terrain board!
As I say, this is just to let you know how our game went. Very well, I think. We probably didn’t make the best use of our leaders and there were a number of times we regretted hasty reactions, but we enjoyed the game and look forward to having another go, which I guess is the main thing.
The Rebs continue their advance!
We appreciate the collaboration with Wargames Illustrated and appreciate Mike and Wayne allowing us to publish their report and pics. Thanks guys! Be sure to check out Wargames Illustrated #321 for their coverage of “Across A Deadly Field” in their new “Showcase” feature. Here is a link to WI’s website so that you can check out more of their first rate action! http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/
For our own after action report on Across A Deadly Field, please click on this link: http://www.cigarboxbattle.com/the-battle-of-shiloh-an-adf-playtest/
Good Gaming! Cory
