ACW Isolation Kriegspiel: Battle of Kernstown 1862

Time for another remote Kriegspiel, this time using Black Powder rules and on a lower level of command. Instead of the whole army the players commanded on the Volley & Bayonet Second Manassas game, they had a division each. The scenario I picked was the Battle of Kernstown scenario in the Black Powder second edition rulebook. Unlike last time, I'll keep the commentary brief this time, only offering a rough outline of the events. 

For background on the scenario, I suggest you read the wikipedia article on the First battle of Kernstown, but in a nutshell it was a division versus division affair where Thomas Jackson attacked a Union force which was much larger than he anticipated and got beaten back in a rare loss for him.

I drafted briefing documents for the players along with a historical map of the area. The players drafted their plans and away we went. I would update them on the situation every turn or two and send them updated maps with incomplete intelligence. 

Union briefing (PDF) 

Confederate briefing (PDF)

 

Briefing map given to the Confederate commander

Map given to the Union commander

Union troops taking position on the hill north of Kernstown

 

The Union commander set his forces up in a line centered on a hill north of Kernstown with one brigade in reserve. The Confederates started their day by scouting the Union positions with their cavalry, being generally successful in gaining intel, but not enough to realize their initial estimate of enemy strength was underestimated.

Confederate guns line up west of Kernstown

Infantry lines up for attack

The Confederates decided to push the Union center aggressively and take the hill. They massed their artillery in the center and sent their cavalry on the right to see if they can turn the enemy flank.

Confederate map after initial deployment. Due to blunders on scouting rolls on the right flank, the dismounted union cavalry brigade is seen as infantry pickets.

A Union cavalry brigade is mistaken for infantry pickets

 

 

The attack on the hill begins

The attack on the hill succeeds but only barely. The Confederates are pretty beat up, but manage to avoid breaking. The Union brigade holding the hill breaks and the Union commander has to relocate his HQ.

After an aggressive charge by the Stonewall brigade, the Union center breaks.

Union map after the Confederates take the hill.

The Union commander calls for reinforcements, but during this time his second brigade also breaks in the firefight. The Confederates have managed to take on two brigades in turn with a smaller force and concentrate fire well. Union cavalry moves to counter the Confederate cavalry flanking manoeuver, but neither cavalry commander commits to attack the other.

Union reinforcements arrive but decide to stay on defense rather than counterattack.

The confederates keep the hill, but are in no condition to fight.

In the end, both armies order their troops to defend and as the scenario clock is around 5 PM, I call the game. The Confederate division broke two Union brigades without having any of theirs break taking ground in the process so they win the day.

The Confederate success owed a lot to the Union commander being uncertain whether there were still forces forthcoming and thus didn't converge on the Confederate main attack. Also, he didn't know the attackers were close to the breaking point and so didn't opt to retake the hill. This is again a feature of a limited intelligence game. In a normal miniature game, the players would be a lot more decisive in their actions and immediately spot good opportunities.

In hindsight Black Powder wasn't the best set of rules for a game like this. The action progresses fast in Black Powder and I think kriegspiel is best played on a higher level of command. On the plus side, this was much easier to set up and run than the Manassas game.