Shiak- Brookshire War: Battle of Edgewood Crossing

     I decided to fight a mini campaign using my newly painted Peter Laing Zouaves and Confederates. I picked out three scenarios from ONE HOUR WARGAMES and will built the narrative around the results of the battles.

      The Shiak invasion of Brookshire has been a dismal failure. All along the border the Shiak army has been turned back. Another army is being raised by General Loring, a young lion of a soldier. Now Loring thinks part of the problem is the uniforms the army wears. They are bland and does nothing for the spirit of the troops. And so he orders new uniforms for his infantry units. Each uniform stands out from the rest.  His army has 5 infantry units, 2 artillery batteries and 2 cavalry units.

    General Lorings' first goal is to seize the strategic crossroad at Edgewood Crossing. Here two turnpikes meet; one linking Shiak to Brookshire, the other runs parallel to the border. His cavalry scouts tells him that there is a battery of artillery, supported by 2 infantry units. This force is drawn up between heavy woods on one side, and a small lake on the other.  He plans to advance up the road before more Brookshire units can come up.

    General Gillingham of the Brookshire army is guarding this district. He has 5 infantry units, 2 light infantry units, and 2 batteries. Without cavalry, he is unaware that the Shiak army is so close.

The Shiak advance guard starts down the road.

The Shiak army starts deploying on both sides of the road. They suffer hits from the artillery, but manage to hit the battery with long range rifle fire. A Brookshire light infantry unit moves into the woods.

The Shiak infantry charges into the mouth of the gun....

...but is forced to retreat. Meanwhile, the light infantry in the woods is hitting the Shiak artillery with long range fire.

Three more units of Brookshire troops arrive on the field. The original force is still holding their own, even forcing back more Shiak units.

Another Shiak unit comes up to relieve the hard pressed infantry on the road.  This unit overruns the gun. Meanwhile, the Shiak battery on the right has hit the Brookshire infantry hard, and an infantry unit starts chasing them. On the far left, another Shiak unit has entered the woods trying to outflank the light infantry.

The Brookshire infantry in front of the artillery manage to pick off the rest of the gunners, the other Brookshire battery  hits the infantry  that captured the other battery, and the rightmost infantry unit of Shiak breaks and runs.

The Shiak infantry in the woods start clearing the woods and the cavalry charges the infantry in front of it, giving the battered infantry time to regroup. The artillery battery by the lake manages to score a hit on the infantry to it's front. 

The Shiak infantry on the road storms the battery in front of it and carries the gun. The Brookshire army is at it's breaking point...

...but three fresh Brookshire infantry units arrives to save the day!

With the new reinforcements the tide of battle seems to change. The Brookshire infantry in the woods  rout the Shiak infantry in the woods. Even worse for Shiak, their cavalry unit is wiped out. The Shiak infantry on the road loses 2/3 of their remaining men, and another unit forced to retreat.

Another shot of the disaster that hit the Shiak's right flank.

Most other Shiak generals would have called it quits, but not General Loring! The mauled unit on the road gets off the road to cut off one Brookshire unit. The infantry in the woods counter attack and clears the woods of Brookshire troops. The other Shiak cavalry swings around to threaten the Brookshire left flank.

However, General Gillingham is made of the same stuff as Loring and orders all units to attack.

The Brookshire army is down 4 units. To lose another will force them to retreat.  The Shiak cavalry  attacks the unit guarding that flank. They force them to retreat...

Hoping to force them to retreat off the board and win the victory, the cavalry launches their followup attack. However, the infantry loses 50% but holds fast.

Both armies are near their exhaustion points, but neither side can gain the upper hand.

The Shiak army loses another unit; to lose one more will spell defeat.

However, the Shiak Light Horse finally breaks the infantry, forcing them to flee and  wins the battle.

The Shiak army is too exhausted to pursue the battered Brookshire army. 

The army will regroup on the field of battle. General Loring then plans to continue his push into Brookshire.


This battle was one of the most brutal I have fought in a long time. As can be seen, there's not much of either army left.   I used Bob Corderys' Memoir of Battle rules.  However, I use BATTLECRY rules as to victory points on deciding when the battle ends, which is when an army loses 50% or greater, the battle is lost.