My Mississippi Project: Scenario One-The Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs

After a week away from the paint brush and chain, I've begun thinking about potential game topics for my Mississippi project.  One that came to mind first was the American effort to chase the Spanish out of the fortifications they were building on the east bank of the Mississippi River prior to the Louisiana Purchase (1803.) One such place was at Chickasaw Bluffs, built on a promontory at the mouth of the Yazoo River.  It was intended to command the river and control approaches to New Orleans.

I was considering a fairly terrain heavy game with some interesting game pieces.  Because the Spanish allied themselves with the Chickasaw, I am thinking about a Chickasaw village and stockade.  This reconstruction of an early 18th century village will help guide my thinking.

I generally avoid terrain-heavy games.  I know it adds a lot to the scenario, but my chief objection is the problem it creates in storage.  Even so I'm willing to take on the travails of building and tucking away the stockade, buildings and cornfields, the earthworks and encampments because it will look cool.

I've been giving some thought to the scenario itself.  The Americans will have five or so units of regulars and eight to ten units of militia troops, with artillery.  Maybe one unit of light dragoons or mounted riflemen, and some artillery  They'll be able to split their units between a direct land assault on the Chickasaw fortification and an amphibious assault with five or six units on up the bluffs on the Spanish artillery position.

The Spanish will defend with a unit of mounted cuera militia, three units of dismounted militia, and eight to ten units of Chickasaw warrior allies, plus some artillery.

Play it all on a 16 X 5 table.  It should work.  How much do I have to paint?  Not that much actually.  The Indians are already done, as are almost all the Spanish.  I need guns and gunners for both sides and the Americans are a ways away from being finished.  Plenty of time, however, to allow me to concentrate on building the terrain pieces.

The Reduction of Fort Powell

Today the Truants met in Tacoma for an Ironclads game.  I decided to build a scenario around the aftermath of Mobile Bay.  It's a semi-historical scenario centered on the reduction of Fort Powell near the southern entrance to the massive bay.

Rhode Island trading shots with Fort Powell.  Rhode Island suffered considerable damage including a level 5 fire, which Dean extinguished just before the ship exploded.

I designed the scenario for five players, and as luck would have it we had six, but that worked out fine.  The Union players, Mark, Dean and Chris had a difficult job.  They had two missions to pull of successfully.  They had three wooden vessels, a sloop and two small 90 day gunboats returning from a mine clearing operation who needed to make it off the south edge of the board, some 64" away.  They also had the monitor Chickasaw, the captured Confederate ram, and wooden vessel Rhode Island that were pounding away on Fort Powell, a brick fort with eight guns.

Confederate forces consisting of the ironclad ram Nashville, the semi-engined Tuscaloosa, and the gunboat Morgan appeared on the north board edge at daybreak, not far behind the retreating minesweepers.  These were run by Scott, Bruce, and Tom respectively. Tuscaloosa immediately began firing on the trailing 90 day gunboat, Huron, and set her afire.  Chris was able to do little as the other two vessels also began effectively shelling her.  Huron caught fire and on turn three sank. The other two wooden vessels also struggled.  Towing small boats that served as minesweepers, Dean and Chris had to decide whether or not to cast them adrift to increase their speed, and hence sacrificing victory points.

Chippewa is madly burning, while the ram Nashville races toward Kearsarge

The same view from a different angle.

With the wooden vessels in danger of being rapidly overrun, Mark, commanding the Union ironclads, chose to pound the fort circling it in a clockwise fashion and effectively silencing Powell's guns as he traveled.  The scenario rules indicated the fort would surrender when six guns were knocked out or their crews killed. Unfortunately his direction of travel took him away from the minesweepers.

Union ironclads are beginning to peek around the corner of Fort Powell.  Nashville is visible in the background

Nashville is headed toward a ram with Kearsarge.  Kearsarge avoided the ram, but the two ships collided with both suffering damage.

 Chris's second 90 day gunboat, Chippewa suffered a fate very like Huron's.  Starting with a small fire, the little vessel quickly absorbed all the Confederates' attention and it sank in a few turns.  Chris had a generally bad day with lousy luck shooting and absorbing fire. Kearsarge, the larger sloop, began to lose guns,  suffered critical steering hits, and just missed being rammed by the massive Nashville. Things looked very bad for the Union minesweepers.

 At about this time, with the fort looking largely subdued, the the monitor Chickasaw emerged from the shelter of the fort and began lobbing 11 inch shells at Morgan.  With the wooden gunboat beginning to take serious damage we agreed to end the game and tally up the losses.

 The Union agreed the wooden minesweepers were likely lost.  The Confederates conceded the fort would surrender and the Morgan probably lost as well.  The ironclads could safely retire.  The fort also did significant damage to Rhode Island, setting her seriously ablaze and doing considerable damage before forcing her to withdraw.  With that, all recognized a minor Confederate victory.

 Though all struggled with the rules at first, everyone eventually seemed to get the hang of it.  However, this may be my last Ironclads game.  I'm looking forward to Sail and Steam Navies and determining whether it is a useful substitute.

I'll be away most of this week in Ellensburg for journalism camp.  Hope to reconnect when I get back.