Wargaming in 54mm (part 3) Artillery

Artillery, the “King of Battle,”  generally accounted for about 5% - 10% of battlefield casualties during the Civil War, excepting Antietam, where some estimated the losses ranged above 30%. For the sake of brevity, this entire scenario centers around artillery in only one part of the field. 

The next card in the deck activated the Federal artillery as indicated by the King of Spades. During this activation the artillerist may move his guns or fire them, provided they have a clear target.

 The battery commander has decided to use his 6-gun battery across from the cornfield. Guns 1 and two, shown here, are firing, respectively, at the space between the advancing Federal line in great coats and the first ruler, and the smaller space between that ruler and the one to its immediate right. Gun 1 is firing solid shot (cannon ball) and gun 2 is firing explosive shell (common shell).

 The dice in front of the field represent shot. Because smoke partially obscured the gunner’s line of sight, the gunner has to roll a die to indicate whether the round went long, went short, or [if blank] actually hit the target. This one went long by 2 inches and therefore missed the line but could hit the major behind it. To score 1 hit the D10s have to have 1 pair. If it had three of a kind it would inflict two hits. In this case it hit nothing. If it had hit the officer, he would have to roll 1 D6 for each hit and suffered the consequences.


Gun 2’s shell burst and was a direct hit above and in front of the men. Again, shooting through smoke, the blank red die indicates a direct hit. Therefore, the red “6” does not count at all. Had it been 6 inches long or short, no one would have been hit, because the blast radius is 4 inches forward. Note there are two “2s.” With explosive rounds, every matching number counts as a hit. This line suffered 2 casualties.

Guns 3 and 4 have fired case shot through smoke at the two last sections of the cornfield. Case shot consisted of an explosive round filled with musket balls and proved quite deadly.


A look at gun 3’s target show that the piece fired long by 1 inch, which places it over head and therefore will hit the line. While it could, theoretically, score up to 7 hits, this round inflicted 2 hits (8 casualties) on the line.


Gun 4’s case shot exploded short but within the blast radius and scored 3 hits.


The Gun 4 nicked the lieutenant colonel, as indicated by the “6” on the D6. The colonel, however, having been wounded once earlier, suffered 3 wounds from Gun 3’s shell and has been removed from the field with a total of 4 hits. The lieutenant colonel rolled 2 D10s and because the blue die rolled the higher of the two, the regiment did not react to the fire.

To the right, Gun 5 has decided to unload canister on the left flank of the Confederate regiment to its front. For a rifled gun, it could contain around 60 musket balls packed in sawdust (depending on the manufactured) and for a 12-pounder smoothbore it could have around 27 lead, iron, or steel balls the size of golf balls, also packed in sawdust (depending upon the manufacturer).

The measuring stick has 6-inch intervals on it because of the extensive range of the canister round (450 yards). The crew will have to take a deduction of 1 because it is firing through smoke and it will have a second 1 space deduction because it is firing downhill. Therefore the 8 on the measuring stick will become a “6.”


The gunner will roll 9 D10s. All number “6” and lower will be hits. The round inflicted 4 hits. However, because it is canister the player multiplies it by the number of pieces on the crew. 4 X 3 = 12. The problem is that the round hit the regiment on the flank which doubles the hits to 24 (96 casualties) which means the Confederates lost 2 pieces (1 stand).

The Confederate officers refused the two left companies and refused the line to the rear, creating an “L” in response to the hit. (Not shown in this frame.)
The colonel took 2 hits from the round. The major, while not injured, failed to rally the men but the colonel succeeded as noted by the “5” on the blue die.

The Number 6 gun on the far right faced its gun to hit the regiment in the lower part of the plowed field. (There are no deductions to face a gun up to 90 degrees in one direction.) The gunner fired case shot through smoke at the target. 

The round struck 1 inch short a panicked regiment. (The “P” indicates the regiment is prone.) The roll produced 2 pairs which translates into 4 hits.

The lieutenant colonel was killed instantly. (D6 – “4.”) The colonel got nicked. (“6” on the D6). Since the lieutenant was eliminated, the colonel rolled to prevent more panic and succeeded. (light blue “8” on the D10.)


This scenario was repeated for the other brigade toward the middle of the board and ended this activation.


As always, I encourage you to send me courteous comments, suggestions, and observations about this segment and any of the others I have penned. During this cantankerous lockdown, I really look forward to speaking with someone else other than myself. 


Stay safe. Thank you.