Setting My Table for the Battle of Cheraw

An overhead view of the battle of Cheraw battlefield. (Click the twice picture to enlarge).

The other day I cleared my game table of the detritus from my recent SYW action at Reichenbach and began setting up the terrain for the AWI battle at Cheraw, South Carolina. As you can see from the picture of the game table at the top of this page, it is rather covered by trees. I picked up this idea from the Camden battlefield, in which the troops of both armies fought largely in forested areas.

I rather like the effect achieved from using a variety of different trees, colors and sizes. The tall green trees were made by Herb Gundt and the rest are either K&M trees or Woodland Scenics trees.

A view of the wooded terrain on the battlefield.

There are three built up areas, using that term loosely: the village of Cheraw in the upper right corner of the picture; The Ray Farm in the upper left corner, and a smaller un-named farm in the lower left corner. Other than some open tilled fields and the road network, the battle will be fought in open forest areas - the undergrowth has been cleared by farmers or livestock so there is visibility through the trees. Movement speed will be reduced for units that are moving through the woods.

A view the village of Cheraw, with the black smith in the foreground and the  tavern with the window dormers.

An aerial view of Cheraw. Areas surrounded by snake rail fences are open areas - everything else is in the forested areas.

Life in the American camp outside of Cheraw. A few of the camp followers are seeking spiritual comfort.

The Benedict Ray Farmsted - an infamous gathering place of Tories.
(Road dust copy right of the Benedict Ray Foundation)

The South Carolina Campaign - Situation Update

Those of you who are searching through your reference libraries for information on this battle will be surely disappointed because Cheraw is a fictional battle that has been generated by my South Carolina Campaign of 1780. See the campaign map below - armies are allowed to move up to two dots at the start of each campaign turn. The armies also have to be in supply (that is, have an uninterupted line of dots from the army to a supply base).

South Carolina Campaign Map. Cornwallis' 8SPs have inadvertantly been left off of the map. He should be at Cheraw. (Click on the map to enlarge the view, double click for an even larger map)

The British army, led by Cornwallis, has chased down the American army commanded by Gates at the town of Cheraw, which lies near the border of North and South Carolina. And unbeknownst to Gates, his supply base at Hillsborough, North Carolina has been captured and destroyed by Banastre Tarleton's raiding force. Accordingly, Gates is caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place with British forces to his front and rear. Should he lose his battle to Cornwallis, he cannot retreat to any location where his army is still in supply and thus could lose the rest of his army through attrition.

So there is a lot at stake at Cheraw, South Carolina.

I plan on playing the Battle of Cheraw over the next several days, so there should be multiple posts over the same period of time.