Turns 8 and 9. 3:45 - 6:15.
With the battle in the balance (see here for part one and here for part two if so inclined) and the Union aiming to defend below the Culp/Cemetery heights while reinforcements continue to come up, Pender, Early and Rodes' divisions attempt to get to grips with the Union line. The Union left pulls back but the fighting around Gettysburg itself is intense (the victory hexes for this first day scenario are denoted by wooden cubes).
In the first round of fighting the Union centre is blown out.
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| The advantage is with the Rebels after the first round of fighting. |
In the second round, the weakened Rebels are fought off and the the Union line pulls back to the heights.
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| Both sides take a moment to catch their breath. |
The remnants of Heth's Division go in against the Iron Brigade but encounter withering fire and are shattered in the attempt.
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| The Iron Brigade stands firm. |
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| Heth's Division is no more! |
The attack is pressed again.
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| Battle is joined all along the line. |
The fighting is murderous. Both sides take high casualties but Ramseur gains the heights for the Rebels after a successful advance after combat.
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| Ramseur makes it onto Cemetery Hill. |
Turns 10 and 11, 6:15 - 8:45
A counter-attack is launched. There is high-stakes fighting on Cemetery Hill (so engrossing I forgot to take photos!). The Rebels will not be denied.
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Conclusion
It was a breathless end to a fascinating refight. It was not until the last turn that it seemed possible for the Confederates to achieve a win. In throwing men into attacks towards the victory objectives as night drew near it felt as if the horrendous losses would all be for nothing. The initiative rule which allowed the Rebels to chose the timing of their combat chit and some unfortunate ordering of chit pulls for the Union meant that the Confederates were able to concentrate and prosecute attacks better at the very end of the day and the brave efforts the Union troops had put in fell away at the close due to exhaustion.
Casualties
The Union had almost three entire corps shattered. 23 points of infantry casualties (c.6900 men), 1 point of cavalry casualties, 72 points of men demoralised and shattered.
The Confederacy for its part had almost four entire divisions shattered. 26 points of infantry casualties (c.7800 men), 1 point of artillery casualties, 52 points of demoralised troops in shattered units and 6 points in demoralised men in units still on-table.
I think it would be unlikely that the Confederates could hold the ground taken on day one on day two given the high number of units shattered, but overnight rally-attempts could alter that equation if the game were to continue (and I was wrong in my estimation of the Confederate chances to take the heights as well!).
Thoughts on the game
There is a lot to like about Battle Hymn. Apart from the combat rules, everything is pretty straightforward, and the fact that it is chit-pull is great when playing solo. Combat is dice-intensive, and there are quite a few stages to work through. This makes it difficult to predict results, but also gives the combat turns an epic atmosphere. A problem I found was that remembering who has fired and who has not became an issue in later turns. I fear that once or twice I may have fired twice for one unit and not at all for another! Oh well, I will put it down to the chaos of battle....
Next time I play I will use markers to show when a unit has fired as well as using dice to record the hits on each individual unit.
I do have a couple of reservations though - one being that it is very difficult to get rid of artillery. I wonder if there needs to be a rule that ties artillery units to their parent formations so that they will retire if the rest of their formation does. By the end of this game most of the units left on the field were artillery!
But all that aside, I really do enjoy a good Gettysburg game, and this playthrough will rank up there as one of the most engrossing I have played.
