Manley's Run

As you may have noticed from an earlier post, Dave Manley is moving away. I recently rec'd an email from Dave wondering if we could indeed sneak in one more game before his departure. Naturally, "yes" was the answer. So, we conspired to meet at my house on the 23rd with Doug Wildfong and Matt Grippin and send Dave off with a proper gaming session with friends.

Matt and I prepared Cajun Sheppard's Pie from the Paul Prudhomme "Louisiana Kitchen" cookbook. It is a loaf of ground beef and ground pork topped with carrots, onions, zucchini, squash and mashed potatoes - served with a tomato-beef sauce.

We had plenty of scotch, beer and 28MM soldiers, so, we were ready. We concocted a scenario to frame our battle - Manley's Run. We used Black Powder for the game. We wanted to play Regimental Fire & Fury, but none of us had yet purchased a copy!

Here is the write up:

Manley’s Run
Northern Virginia, September 1863
Gettysburg. The devastating battle has left both armies hurting, especially the Confederates. Lee skillfully guided his troops back to their homelands to await the actions of the new Federal commander, Ulysses Grant. Lee has dispatched Longstreet to Georgia and the two armies have entered a period of stalemate. The largest action to be fought in Virginia this fall will occur near the small hamlet of Henderson.
The toughest action on the battlefield took place across the soon-to-be-harvested fields that run along a small watercourse known as Manley’s Run. The run takes its name from the family homestead nearby.

The Manley family, southern by birth, relocated soon after the war began – to Pennsylvania. Never slave holders and fierce abolitionists; the Manley’s sold their holdings in Virginia when war became inevitable. Ironically, their home, near Gettysburg, was used as a hospital after that terrible battle.
The battle near Henderson was part of a Federal maneuver to turn a portion of the Rebel line in an effort to improve positions for the coming spring campaign. As a result, the Union troops are attacking from the southern end of the battlefield.

Well, the Rebels lost, but fun was had by all. Dave, we'll miss you around here, best wishes in Arizona!

Here are some images with text details.