Longstreet 'The Crossroads' Union v Confederate

After a considerable gap I thought I'd revisit Sam Mustafa's 'Longstreet' ACW rules, partly as they have an interesting campaign system and partly as they need less space than 'Fire and Fury'. When I played them years ago I wasn't that enthusiastic about them (partly as I really like F&F) and lost interest quite quickly without really giving them much of a chance.

In this game my Union force took on Ian's Rebels. Each side starts off with a brigade sized force of three infantry regiments, a cavalry regiment and an artillery battery. The game is run partly by a card deck and partly by dice.

The scenario we went for was the encounter at a crossroads, Ian won the initiative and decided to attack.

My force deploys to defend the crossroads. As we don't know if the Reb's will attempt to out-flank us one infantry regiment and the cavalry are in reserve:

The Rebels choose a simple frontal assault, hoping to overwhelm the Union front line before the reserves can move up:

Union artillery and infantry open fire. defending the fence line gives them an advantage in combat:

Unfortunately Ian plays one of his cards, 'Confusion' to move the Union infantry over the fence towards the Rebel attack! Obviously the men felt the Reb's were wavering and a solid advance would drive them off:

The union men regret their choice as the Rebels charge!:

The Union regiment is forced back and takes some losses but mitigate the situation with a 'like a Stone Wall' card that improves their defence against the charge:

The cavalry also clash:

Volley fire rolls along the Union lines hitting the advancing Rebels:

the Reb's charge again, this time engaging the artillery as well as the infantry regiment:

The Union cavalry is gradually being pushed back:

The Union artillery is forced to limber up and retreat leaving one gun behind while the infantry fall back over the fence:

At this point we called it a day as we'd spent quite a while going through the rules reminding ourselves how to play. It was more fun than I remembered, when/if to use the cards (either to activate units, 'save' hits or for their special effects) is something to think about for sure.

The balance of the game also changes over time, in 1861 the Rebels tend to have the advantage while the Union becomes better in the later years. 

The campaign system follows a single brigade over the war and, I think, is really designed for multiple players but Ian and I enjoyed our game so we are going to start a campaign off with our next game and see how it goes. It was certainly good to get the boys in blue and grey out again even if it was only a small proportion of them!