Today at Bolter, we revisited playing Gods of War: Lee 🎲, taking us once again to the time of the American Civil War ⚔️. The Union 🇺🇸 and Confederate 🇨🇸 armies faced off against each other. During the game, we tested two new armies for the Western Theatre of operations as well as some rules from errata v2.2, which is currently in progress ✍️.
The Confederacy was commanded by Krystian and Miłosz, while Marek and Tomek led the Union forces 💪. Both sides fielded armies worth 3000$ (points) 💵.
The battle was fictional, but we played it using a fantastic game mat 🗺️ representing a part of the Battle of Shiloh, specifically the “Hornet’s Nest” 🐝.
The Union Army of Tennessee, under the command of General Rosecrans, had the numerical advantage. It consisted of Ord’s, MacPherson’s, and Crittenden’s corps, along with four cavalry divisions 🐎 (including two independent ones).
The Confederate Army of Mississippi, led by General Van Dorn, was composed of two corps commanded by Generals Bragg and Price, as well as two independent cavalry divisions led by Wharton and Morgan. It’s worth mentioning that General Bragg’s quarrelsome nature 😠 caused General Forrest to leave the army, meaning he did not command the cavalry.
The first two turns were focused mainly on patrol marker movements 🚩, gradually revealing corps and divisions. The cavalry, deployed as a screen, was uncovered first, followed by the main corps. For most of the battle, Union forces took the offensive. The bloodiest fighting occurred in the woods 🌲 south of the “Hornet’s Nest,” where the Union came close to breaking through the Confederate corps but was ultimately repelled and forced to retreat.
Similarly, Union efforts on their right flank failed to break Confederate forces. Severely weakened Union brigades had to withdraw. In the final moments of the battle, Confederate cavalry 🐴 managed to capture one of the strategic points previously held by the Union. While the Union managed to hold the centre of the battlefield and strategic points on their left flank, they lost both points on their right to the Confederacy. However, it was the Union’s much heavier losses that ultimately determined the battle’s outcome—a decisive Confederate victory 🏆.
The battle was not only a lot of fun 😊 but also a valuable experience as we tested the new armies and the rules for errata v2.2.
Check out the photo report! 📸
