Fox Gap Scenario Is Done

Regimental Fire and Fury Scenario Page

Well, I finally finished the Fox Gap scenario that covers the morning fight.  I did it for Regimental Fire and Fury and you can find it at the above link.

Thanks, Mark

Field Trip to Fox Gap, South Mountain, Maryland

I am in the process of designing a small scenario to use with the various US Civil War miniature gaming rules I want to try out.  It will cover the 14 September 1862 morning fight at Fox Gap between General Garland’s North Carolinian Brigade of the ANV and General Cox’s Kanawha Division of the Union IX Corps.  I have finished the research on the order-of-battle for the units involved and now need to develop the scenario game map.  I plan on doing it at a scale of 25 yards equals one inch (the scale used by Regimental Fire and Fury, Gettysburg Soldier, and other rules). 

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day, with a high temperature of about 75 degrees and mostly clear skies.  So, because I live only about 90 minutes from the battlefield, I decided to take a field trip to South Mountain and get a firsthand look at the terrain.  Walking the actual ground gave me a better appreciation of the topography and will allow me to develop a more accurate scenario map.

The trip was very productive, so I thought I would share some pictures that I took.  If you would like to take you own trip to Fox Gap, the Friends of South Mountain State Battlefield web site has a walking tour of area.  You can find it here: 

http://www.friendsofsouthmountain.org/foxsgaptrail.html

Also, before I get very far into this, I would like to make an appeal for your support of The Civil War Trust.  TCWT is America's largest non-profit organization (501-C3) devoted to the preservation of our nation's endangered Civil War battlefields.   The South Mountain Battlefield has been designated as one of our nations most endangered battlefields. 

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/south-mountain.html

Additionally, if you are really interested in a detailed history of the Fox Gap area, then I would recommend you visit ‘A Gap in Time: The Wise Farmstead and Fox Gap Archeological Project’ at:

http://www.iuparchaeology.iup.edu/FoxGap/

Click on the link to the ‘Project Results’ and then the pdf under ‘II Place for the Past.’  It contains a detailed description of the battle at Fox Gap and includes some of the best battlefield maps I have ever seen.  These are by Steven R.  Stotelmyer, and I have keyed the photographs to one of his maps.

 

These pictures are of the Reno and Garland monuments which are located near the spot of the Wise cabin on the map.  By the way, the Wise house is no longer standing.

The North Carolina Monument is about 1000 feet south of the Reno Monument and was placed on the battlefield in 2003.  

 

This is a picture looking north at “17^th Michigan Field.”  The field is just north of the Wise cabin location and Reno Monument Road.  It gives you a good idea of the flat open areas in the Gap itself.  See map reference point one.

Many of the Civil War era stone fences are evident … just remember NOT to cross them and head off into the fields on the east side of South Mountain.  These fields are on private property and are not under National Park Service control. 

This is a view looking east from behind the stone fence that was used as a defensive position by Col. Daniel H. Christie’s 23^rd NC Infantry Regiment.  See map reference point two for this picture and the next.

This view is from the wall itself and the defensive position of the 23^rd NC,  looking east across the field that Col. Carr B. White’s 12^th Ohio Infantry Regiment would have attacked across.

 

See map reference point three.  This is the view toward the southeast.  Captain Bondurant’s Jeff Davis Artillery Battery fired in support of the 5^th NC Infantry Regiment from this spot.  LtCol Rutherford B. Hayes’ 23^rd Ohio Infantry Regiment attacked from left to right across the ground in the distance.

A Survey of American Civil War Miniatures Rules

I wanted to share the following chart with you.  It is a list of miniature wargame rules for simulating battles during the American Civil War.  Over the coming weeks I will review several of these rules, particularly the ones dealing with battles at the regimental level.  With a few exceptions, I only cover rules that are currently available.  The rules listed under the generic category are designed to cover 'black powder' warfare in general and are not specific to the US Civil War.  Also, if there is an asterisk next to the binding type, then the rules are available in soft-copy.

Rules	Publisher	Author	DOP	Binding	Pages	Price
Company Level
Brother Against Brother	MJD Publishing	Ivor Janci	1997	Softcover	44	$20.00
Terrible Sharp Sword	Too Fat Lardies	Richard Clarke	2010	pdf	68+52	$25.00
Smooth and Rifled	Dadi and Piombo	Lorenzo Sartori	2012	pdf	22+5	$11.80
Regimental Level
A Glint of Bayonets	Sergeants3	Larry Brom	2003	Softcover	26	$18.00
A Perfect Sheet of Flame, 4th ed.	Self-published	Mike Willegal	2005	Softcover*	38	$12.00
Bull Run to Gettysburg	Foundry	David Bickley	2010	Hardcover	176	$52.00
Gettysburg Soldiers	Self-published	Reber & Reber	2011	Softcover	22	$14.95
Guns At Gettysburg	Partizan Press	Dave Brown	2007	Softcover	64	$30.00
Johnny Reb III	Johnny Reb Co.	John Hill	1996	Softcover	48	$24.00
Micro Force: The Game	GHQ	Daryl Nichols, Jr.	2006	Softcover		$19.95
Mr. Lincoln’s War	Quantum	Gore & Phenow	2001	Softcover	34	$20.00
Rally Round the Flag	LMW Works	Scott Monsour	2004	Softcover*	34	$18.00
Rebel Yell: Battles in the ACW	OMM Publishing	Steve Winter	2006	Softcover	46	$12.00
Regimental Fire and Fury	Fire and Fury	Rich Hasenauer	2010	Hardcover	96	$36.00
They Couldn’t Hit an Elephant	Too Fat Lardies	Not Listed	2009	pdf	52	$11.00
Brigade Level
A House Divided: Fast Action Rules	Partizan Press	Halsall & Smith	2007	Softcover	120	$40.00
A Union So Tested	LMW Works	Palmer & Surdu	2009	Softcover	54	$29.00
Fire and Fury	Fire and Fury	Rich Hasenauer	2002	Softcover	74	$20
On to Richmond	The Courier	Paul Koch	1986	Softcover	32	OOP
Polemos ACW	Baccus	Peter Riley	2008	Softcover*	76	$23.50
Generic Rules
American Battlelines, 2nd Ed.	ODGW	Jonathan Coulter	2000	Softcover		$29.95
Black Powder	Warlord	Priestly &Stallard	2009	Hardcover	182	$48.00
Carnage and Glory II	Self-published	Nigel Marsh	2001	Pdf + software	60	$31.40
Die Fighting	Repiquet	Bob Jones	2011	Softcover	54	$29.95
Eagle’s Prey, 2nd Edition	Hoplite Research	Manny Granillo	2008	Softcover	128	$36.95
Field of Battle, 2nd  Edition	Piquet	Brent Oman	2011	Softcover	130	$35.00
Piquet, Hallowed Ground, 2nd  Ed.	Piquet	Brent Oman	2003	Softcover	162	$35.00
Honor and Glory	Self-published	David Marks	2006	pdf	90	free
Rank and File	Crusader	Mark Sims	2009	Softcover*	68	$30.00
There Are Your Guns	Partizan Press	Dennis Williams	2009	Softcover	104	$36.00
Volley and Bayonet, Road to Glory	Test of Battle Games	Chadwick & Novak	2008	Softcover	120	$39.95
Zouave II	Repiquet	Bob Jones	2011	Softcover	72	$29.95