This game used GASLIGHT, but without any of the Victorian science fiction elements. It was called “Bridge Over Twisted Moose-Nose Run Near the Peach Orchard by the Wheat Field at the end of Devil’s Sunken Bloody Angled Lane.” I wanted to include all those features that seem to exist in every ACW battle. This scenario had it all: a stone bridge, peach orchard, wheat field, stone wall, sunken road, railroad cut, rocky hill, bloody run, river of death, slaughter pen, round forest, corn field, Dunker church, West wood, bald knob, hornet’s nest, and even an ironclad that had run aground.
All of the infantry in the game was mine. I borrowed the cavalry and artillery from Eric Schlegel. The infantry was a mix of the new Old Glory second edition ACW figures (which are VERY nice), old Hinchcliffe I had painted in high school, old Heritage likewise painted in high school, a few Foundry, and even some South African Engineering figures from the early 1970’s.
My Devil’s Den rocky outcropping began as the hill sections from two Battle of Five Armies GW sets. I supplemented them with some plaster rocks I made myself and then applied liberal flocking to hide the seams. I think the end result was pretty good.
This shot shows the entire table. The buildings are from Grand Manner, painted by me. The ironclad in the foreground was scratch built. The deck is just foam core board scored and then hand painted. The turret is made from a pressed cardboard box from the craft store. These come in a variety of shapes for craft projects. I thought the round turret looked better than a heart-shaped one would have looked. The round hill at the back left of the table proved to be the crucial point the second time I ran the game.
I ran this twice during the convention. The first time, the Yankees won nine points to eight. The second time the Confederates won by a wider margin.
