This was a nice test run for my convention game in this upcoming Historicon. I needed to do a playtest and some fellow gamers answered the call for a Sunday morning/afternoon. The night before, I had just finished the last of the forces for this game. It has been a long trek, but it has been worth it. I am down to just some trees, markers, and casualties to end the project, so it exciting stuff.
For game testing, my friend, Danny elected to be on the Confederate side. Kalissa and our friend, Tim were on the Union side. I was not sure how this game would play out, since it can be in favor of the Union if they roll well and are aggressive. In this case, both applied for the Union side. Tim is notorious for rolling well, and so is my wife! It is also worth noting that Kalissa picked up some free trays that are excellent for rolling. My first roll in one on receiving them on 20 D6's were 18 sixs. They roll rather well. The joke of the game for Danny and I was that we have run Confederate battles of Victory before in scenarios were we loose horrendously! As luck would tell, this was not the case.
In the scenario for the Battle of Olustee taken from the Fire and Fury book, I had the Union start the turn. I did this, since the Union side was most likely going to be in defense. Due to the players at hand, everyone knew our normal luck abilities. The Union came right at the Rebels. This turned into four turns of the Clash of the Titans at short range firing. After the first Rebel units of infantry ran out of ammunition, I thought it best to charge!
Around the charging point, both of our extra players had to leave for various life duties leaving Kalissa and I to complete the game through. This is why some of the photos get darker in the end. Thunderstorms and evening time. However, my Confederate charges paid off destorying countless forward units in the Union lines to finally dissolve in melee combat. The brave Rebels did not die in vain, since it bought time for reinforcements to back the assault up. In the end, the Rebels caused higher casualties to the Union. The Confederates took 431 losses versus the Union's 526 men killed. The whole game last roughly about 6 and half hours. Based on this playtest, the game should be manageable for six hours with about eight turns. Ours took longer based on us talking about various other non-related subject and three breaks. All of these things will probably not be a factor in the games I am running. Plus, everyone will not know each other's abilities, fighting styles, and the board will be a five foot section longer, which will effect the Union forces a little more. Many, the Union will not traffic jam as easily when troops come on.
