Rebel Raiders Replay  (Turn 4)

Designer Mark McLaughlin as CSA; Naval Historian Brandon Musler as USA

When we last left our happy warriors,, the Union had taken Louisville only to suffer a horrifying defeat at Nashville – costing them 10 Victory Points and a key Card.  The South, however, is not smiling too broadly, as the Blockade is tightening and the Union is capturing Blockade Runners almost as fast as the Confederacy can build them…

Turn 4 – April 1862   The Battle of Island No. 10

The South’s joy over holding Nashville is tempered by the loss of FOUR Blockade Runners, all fully loaded with 2 VP each!  Still, despite those losses 10 VP of cargo make it through the blockade, and the Raiders manage to squeeze 3 more VP.     The South places the Ironclad built last turn in Memphis, and spends 20 VP to start building another Ironclad.  Once again, a Raider and four Blockade Runners are built. (As it is now 1862, two of those Blockade Runners may be and are built in foreign ports).

Beauregard  (Card 88) shows up, allowing placement of a third battery instead of the usual two a turn, and these go in Nashville, Chattanooga and Memphis, as Brandon has been steadily building up Ironclads and gunboats in the West.

Brandon, repulsed by land, is now eager to push on the river, as he has accumulated a strong fleet.

The Battle for Island No. 10 --

Brandon takes his Cairo fleet of 1 Ironclad and 5 Gunboats to fight the two Rebel Gunboats and Battery at Island No. 10.

On the first round, two Union and one Confederate Gunboat are sunk.

On the second round, another Union Gunboat goes down – but the Yankees destroy the Battery and sink the other Rebel Gunboat.

This paves the way for the attack on the fort space itself.  As it is now 1862 the North is no longer at a disadvantage and is rolling two dice a turn in combat, the same number of basic dice as the South. To make sure the Confederacy can’t change the odds Brandon plays “Three Cigars” (Card 45) (as that Union card prevents the South from playing cards in the fight.    Island No. 10 falls; it is the first piece of Southern territory to be reintegrated into the Union.   (See photo of game map below).

…but not without company; St. Augustine falls to the Union Navy in an amphibious assault.   It is the first Southern city to fall.

 All the South can do to take its revenge is to play Royal Navy (Card  62) (as allowed by the previous play of the Trent Card) – forcing the North to build 3 Screw Sloops to put on the Royal Navy card  (to “watch” the British fleet that was assembled at Halifax).