by David Brauer and Ed Bernhard
Fire & Fury Scenario The battle of Low Dutch Road is a small game. However, it is quite useful in demonstrating the advantages of Union and Confederate cavalry at this point in the war. The Confederates have excellent morale and leaders, which allows them to absorb a lot of casualties before becoming spent. The Confederates better be prepared to take casualties because the major asset of the Union troopers is their firepower at short range when dismounted. Special Scenario Rules First, the three Confederate artillery units are sections and as such are represented as wrecked batteries. Therefore, the Confederate artillery units' firepower is one-half that listed in the chart and are removed after receiving one casualty. Second, the ammunition supply of the Confederates was limited. Therefore, all Confederate units that obtain a second low ammo result are permanently out of ammunition. The third special rule concerns Custer's brigade. Custer's brigade is represented as two battalion units, Custer (-) and (+) denoting the location of Custer on the battle map. At the onset of the battle, half the brigade is off the field. On game turn one, Custer (-) enters in march column on Low Dutch Road. An activation die roll is performed for the Custer (-) unit, but it is awarded one-half the movement allowance listed in the activation table. The Custer (-) battalion must be in sight of the Custer(+) battalion. The two battalions can operate independently or jointly. Custer can also move from one battalion to the other during the leader activation phase in a manner similar to that of attaching a divisional commander to a brigade. As such, Custer can influence the activation of only one battalion, if they are operating independently. Game Length 1300-1700. Victory Conditions Points are awarded as listed in the Fire & Fury rulebook, with victory being awarded to the side with greatest number of points. The significance of the victory is increased if either Confederates occupy the Low Dutch Road and Hanover Road intersection, or if the Federals occupy the Rummel Farm. Order of BattleC.S.A.J. E. B. Stuart (exceptional division leader)
Hampton (exceptional brigade leader): 9/5/3 F. Lee (exceptional brigade leader): 8/5/3 3 wrecked batteries of horse artillery U.S.A.D. M. Gregg (division leader)
Custer (+) (exceptional brigade leader): 5/4/3 Custer (-): 5/4/3 I Gregg: 6/5/3 2 batteries of horse artillery The Battle of Low Dutch Road Historical Perspective The Battle of Low Dutch Road Map Back to The Zouave Vol IX No. 3 Table of Contents This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |