Crisis Point 2025 - Sunday report

On Sunday morning we gathered once more at the Village Hall to start some new games. 

Andy and Neil went with Maurice again (I should perhaps point out that the rules are named after Maurice de Saxe, the German general of the War of the Austrian Succession and not the BeeGee of the same name), this time with a larger game depicting a second attempt by the Honourable Black Sea Company to establish a presence in Andreivia.

Again the British were unsuccessful in their efforts. Good! That means I don't have to make any adjustments to the previously published "History of Andreivia" timeline.

Great news was that Mark was able to join us after the previous day's hospital visit. He quickly set up his Force on Force game, recruited Matt and Stuart as players, and got started.

Somewhere in the Southern Hills

The British are coming!

I do like the burned-out car

An Andreivian T-55

Finally I persuaded Ron and Jamie to play in my Port Gibson Arc of Fire game.

This was the fourth run-through of the scenario after two player-run games at Steel Lard and a performance starring John and Andy back in February. 

In the February game the rapid firepower of the dismounted Union cavalry's breech-loading carbines dominated the affair and some lucky dice rolling by John (General Green was killed early in the action)  gave the boys in blue a comprehensive victory.

This time the Union troops were late deploying; Confederate skirmishers under Sgt George W Reagan made a dash for the sunken road in the centre of the battlefield before the Tiffin card ended the first turn with no Union units on the table.

On the second turn Jamie's luck appeared to have turned slightly and he managed to deploy Lt William J Gore's dismounted cavalry in a skirmish formation in front of Lt Harris Biden's infantry.

Almost immediately a random event would see Gore's cavalrymen low on ammunition and only able to file at close range. This was the first of a series unfortunate events as far as the Union side was concerned.

The main Confederate units deployed at the Shaifer farm whence the family were preparing to flee with their belongings.

Sgt Reagan's skirmishers having deployed in the sunken lane it was obvious to Jamie that he would lose a firefight so he launched Biden's line infantry into a charge.

The first round of the resulting fisticuffs saw Biden killed and the result a tie. This called for an immediate second round. Again kills were equal and this time Reagan was knocked unconscious. The third round saw the Confederate reduced to a single survivor and the Union men reduced to three! Both formations were effectively destroyed.

Meanwhile Gore's Union cavalry men were, thanks to poor movement dice rolling and the effect of Shock, unable to get out of the arc of fire of the main Confederate line or to catch up with the small group of Rebs under Sgt Jeb Bush who were escorting the Shaifers off table.

In the end it was a complete Rebel victory. Ron managed to avoid getting two Confederate generals killed. All in all it was a far cry from the previous run out of the scenario.

Oh and if you're wondering how an ACW action fitted with the theme of the weekend, I pointed out at the start of the game that many of the Confederate troops at Port Gibson were recent immigrants from Andreivia!

Given the challenges involved, I was pleased with how Crisis Point went. Having said that, it's apparent that the event can no longer be what it was originally. The loss of the Royal Hotel and the Padley Farm B&B mean that we'll no longer have people staying in the village and socialising on Friday and Saturday evenings. 

At the moment I don't plan to organised a weekend-long Crisis Point next year but the venue remains a possibility for when I want to put on larger games. Maybe when Chain of Command 2nd Ed comes out I'll be inspired to put on something substantial.