[Consim-l] Seven Days - Frayser's Farm replay (Age of Rifles rules)

[Markus Stumptner]

Moving down the Peninsula... the next battle in the DG Seven Days box is 
Frayser's Farm (also known as Battle of Glendale).  This one is a solo 
replay, and the ftf version comes later.

Frayser's Farm is yet another battle during the Seven Days where
Jackson didn't do what he was expected to do.  The Gamers' rules
express that by having him sit there with defend orders (and so far
away from Lee that it is at most possibly to have him join the attack
on the last turn of the day), so his Army of the Valley will sit there
most of the day and do nothing but engage in a long range bombardment.
Most of of the brunt of the battle will be borne by the Left Wing
commanded by Longstreet (which, confusingly enough, is to the right of
the Valley Army) and which essentially has to assault frontally
without the distraction or perhaps decisive blow that Jackson was
supposed to provide.  Longstreet faces parts of the Union III and V Corps, 
with II Corps in reserve behind them.

The Confederate Left Wing starts moving into its assault positions
along the swamp and by 15:00 Longstreet's Division is in action all
along the line.  Pryor and Featherston exchange losses with Berry, but
are forced to fall back; elsewhere along the line only perfunctory
firefights develop during the first hour.

The action heats up by 1600, when Hill's Division tries to envelop the
Union left wing that is refused back from the Quaker Road in two
massive attacks on the extreme Confederate right.  The first, by
Kemper, Gregg, and J.Anderson, sees Seymour's brigde virtually
eliminated, but Anderson's brigade is eliminated in the attack. The
second sees Grover and Sickles' brigades eliminated in a coordinated
attack by four brigades.  The attackers take some losses, but more
importantly are all left low on ammo, but A.P.Hill's line is now
curling around the Union flank.

Meanwhile, the attacks by Longstreet's Division are seeing mixed
success.  Wilcox' brigade is eliminated in its second assault on
Reynolds, Anderson and Pickett rout Meade's brigade but take losses,
fall back and are unable to exploit their success.

A counterattack by V Corps catches Branch's brigade in the flank; 
Reynold's brigade of V Corps takes losses but Branch's men are routed.
III Corps artillery fire disrupts Longstreet's artillery (at this point
due to artillery fire and retreats, 4 out of 6 formed units left in
Longstreet's Division are disrupted). The Union has two demoralised
divisions, 2/III and 3/V.

In the Reserve Phase, Sumner starts to move 2/II Division into
position to defend as a second line. However, he cannot quite bring
himself to actually commit them to one flank without orders.

At 17:00 Sumner worries about what to do and can't bring himself to do
anything (in fact he rolled a 3 on two dice - a 2 would have meant a
Bad Move result).  Longstreet's Division's attacks continue with
little effect and a large attack Gregg and Field sees Gregg's brigade
eliminated from the fight.  Their rout opens a gap in the Confederate
line, interrupting command control to most of A.P.Hill's division
which, with Gregg's loss, is now demoralised, demoralising all of the
Left Wing.

However, Longstreet decides to continue the attack at 18:00, while on
the other side, Sumner again fails to act (he would need to roll a 6
and rolls a 5).  Without Gregg, Kemper and Fields continue the attack
against a lone Union battery that is guarding the corner of the Union
line. The battery is silenced but Kemper's men take losses and the
Confederates, not realising they are facing nothing but stray troops
at the moment, fall back again.  Likewise, Pickett's brigade falls
back and fails to undisrupt at the end of the turn.

The Confederates recover faster than the Union though (Lee gained
Initial Move on the 1900 turn), and Longstreet has reestablished
control over the extreme right flank. However, Pender and Archer over
there are still low on ammo - it has taken until this turn for the L
Wing train to come close enough to replenish them.

Pickett's brigade, although still disordered, goes in with Anderson's,
and they manage to knock Sully's brigade out of the fight, while
Kemper and Field finally eliminate Reynolds' at the price of running
low on ammunition.  A local counterattack by III Corps has no effect.

At 20:00 Sumner again fails a last time with a roll of 5 to gain
Initiative.  Pender and Archer advance on A.P.Hill's last attack
agains the corner of the Union line, now held by Burns' brigade and
artillery. Both sides take losses, but the attackers press the assault
and Burns' men fall back and the artillery is overrun! Further south
things do not go as well, Dana's brigade with some artillery now
defends against Kemper and Field, and Field's brigade is finally
routed. But in the north, the remainder of Longstreet's Division goes
in against 2/III Division east of the bridge, and another battery is
overrun as Robinson's men give ground after taking some losses, with
Pryor and Featherston finally advancing along the road towards
Frayser's Farm.

III Corps attempts some last minute counterattacks before darkness
falls. Carr's brigade takes losses and retreats from an assault on
Rodes, and 3/III launches a concerted attack that routs Pryor's
brigade and forces Featherston to give up the ground just won.

As darkness falls, the Confederates claim a fairly comfortable but not
decisive victory, having caused 29 losses vs 22 and gain 5VPs extra
for the southern intersection, even though they have not gained
Frayser's Farm.  It was not a decisive victory however; the Union will
have time to retreat and form a new defensive position further south.



Markus


Last 3 games played: Star Blazers, Zulu War, AOR/Seven Days
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