Blocher's Knoll Conclusion

Turn 4- vonGilsa's leaderless brigade has been used up. The divisional artillery has been shredded. Ames, who has been in reserve, mounts a desperate counterattack attempting to drive back Gordon's North Carolina brigade.

Coster also comes up to secure the Union right flank. One regiment crosses the small bridge. It's caught in column of march. Hays' men mow them down. The 134th New York, however, is able to move into position on the edge of the cornfield in an attempt to hold back Hoke's brigade.

Hoke is poised to attack in mass the next turn.

Turn 5- To the east of the knoll, Dole's men are in a bad way. Their brigadier has been killed and fresh Union soldiers of Krzyanowski's brigade are advancing to attack their thinning ranks.

Gordon feverishly tries to reorganize his brigade. Their losses have been heavy and they have little to show for it. Their hearts beging to sink as Ames's two large regiments crest the knoll and prepare to charge.

Hays and Hoke hurl their regiments against Coster in a bruising attack. Coster's men are stubborn in defense, but are outnumbered and forced back.

. Early has moved to assume personal command of Dole's brigade. One of Gordon's regiments that had been held back in reserve and a battery follow close behind. Turn 6- Revived by the presence of their divisional commander, two of Dole's regiments charge Krzyanowski's right. One is able to gain the flank of the unit it is attacking. The fighting is desperate. Krzyanowski's regiments are driven back with loss. On his left flank, Krzyanowski personally leads a regiment to attack the extreme right of the Confederate line. the rebs, now down to four stands and disordered, fire off a volley in defense. They roll a "10." The charge is halted. More importantly, Krzyanowski must roll on the leader casualty table. Krzyanowski is mortally wounded. It would appear that the threat to the rebel right has been checked.

To the west of Blocher's Knoll, both Hays and Hoke continue to apply pressure to Coster's men. The 134th New York is driven back. Two small regiments are completely destroyed by Hays. A few broken and disorganized regiments are mulling about at the southern base of the knoll with a host of general officers. Ames is still in firm control of the summit, but his position is untenable. He will have to withdraw or be completely cut off and forced to surrender.

In attempt to hold Ames in place, Gordon once again orders his men to charge up the bloody slope. A deadly blast is unleashed in defense (a 10). the charge is stopped in its tracks. Gordon is lightly wounded. His brigade has suffered grievous losses. Its lusterous reputation has been tarnished almost beyond repair.

It was at this stage that I decided to end the game, declaring it a Confederate minor victory. Early had captured the knoll and driven back Barlow's command, but he would is no condition to follow up his victory, let alone make credible attack on Cemetery Ridge. It had been awhile since I had played RFF. The rules came back to my memory quite quickly. I like the feel of it. One thing I might do is experiment with using cards to activate brigades rather than Union goes and then Confederacy goes. Especially for solo games, this would add a greater degree of uncertainty. I'll have to figure out how other brigades respond. I am invisioning a regiment being able to move and fire before being fired upon, or firing and charging. A big part of RFF is that moving units receive defensive fire before they can fire back. Often times the moving unit is disordered which cuts their fire in half. It will take some experimenting. Units being charged would certainly have the opportunity to issue defensive fire before resolving the charge. If anyone has thoughts about this I'd love to hear them. Please leave a comment.