Ohio Valley Skirmish - Brother Against Brother AAR

Recently, John was kind enough to host a game of Brother Against Brother for our semi-regular Thursday gaming meetups.

Bill commanded the Rebels, while John and I managed to convince Sam to put on a Federal coat. For a little while, at least.

The goal was to control the town by the end of the game.

Sam and I had each had a commanding officer and for units of infantry. Bill controlled two officers with three infantry units each, with a supporting light artillery piece. 

Units in the game activate using a deck of cards that match the letters on a unit's base. There were also two Halt! cards that, once both were drawn, ended a turn. We ended up adding one more Halt! card as turns in the first half of the game were ending too quickly. 

The Union managed to get half their forces on the table and moved up in a wide front.

The Confederates moved up along the road into town thanks to some good movement rolls (movement for infantry and unlimbered guns is 2d10 inches. On the road, units roll 3d10 and take the two highest dice). They focused on moving up behind the woods on the other side of the town. 

Since the Confederates were closer to the town, they managed to set up a defense first. But it also meant they were in range of the Union's rifles. Rebel soldiers were the first to fall from skirmishing Union fire. 

Meanwhile the Union officers were busy trying to call up reinforcements as Sam pushed one unit of Zouaves forward to force the issue in the town. 

Those Zouaves were going to be in a bad position if they couldn't get into the building. The Confederates were massing in the woods, hopping over the streams to ready an attack on that flank. 

I was trying to support Sam's advance towards the town with my own troops, but they started to take fire from both the Confederate artillery and a unit that had moved up to the fence line. 

Sam's attempt to capture the green building seemed to go well, with his Zouaves pushing the defending Confederates out. Unfortunately, a Confederate counter-charge and the dice saw the Zouaves scattered and the house reoccupied.

Other Rebel fire smashed into the leading Union units and blunted the attack. And before the Union could rally for another push, the scenario came to an end.

We discussed the rules afterwards. They were great, light set for skirmishing in the horse and musket area. There are even rules for playing games set earlier in the era, like the French and Indian War and the American War of Independence.