The monthly ClubNight had KevinA, the Micro King, put on his “three-day Gettysburg in an evening” game. Spoiler: it only went to the end of the first day, but it was an interesting game.
We, the all knowing gods, could indeed see all the 14 by 11 miles of the field of battle and surrounding territory but still with the long distances the troops could travel in a turn (some four hours game time) things moved quickly and so kept the mysteries alive. I didn’t quite know in which direction the Union troops would take and that was mirrored in my own decision for the entry of Longstreet’s corps, the third and last to arrive. Go north and reinforce Hill and meet the onslaught of the masses of Union troops arriving in a couple of turns, or go slowly across country to mass against the isolated Union corps on this side of the the Round Top ridge line? After some internal deliberation, I choose the latter. The pressures of higher command!
After setting up the classic - pin the front, threaten the flank, and finally “hit the hinge” maneuver - so loved by Napoleon, my dice (and the Union commander ChrisP’s good dice) failed me. All five attacks failed and my forces were pushed back and bloodied. The main attack I set up on the hinge unit itself had my 12 dice to the Union’s 5 only to have me to roll 40% success to the Union’s 80%! Ugh. Did Napoleon have to endure that?!
Thus ended Day 1 and the game unfortunately as time ran out. While not really feasible in only four hours, with experienced players with the rules, and a full day to play, yes, Gettysburg could be done. The rules were “Bonnie Blue Flag” HEAVILY adapted by KevinA. Diced for command points use is crucial. Combat dicey but simple.
The overall look and feel was good. I like the 6mm for the grand tactical effect. Each stand represents a brigade of some 2500 men. The long ‘operational moves’ (infantry stands could move up to 12 inches off road and 18inches (!) on road) meant corps would be quick to be placed in the battle but real thought would be to where, as once in battle that is really where they would remain and die.
yes, a board game could do the same, but it would not have the visual 3D look now would it?
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| Buford's cavalry before the Lutheran Seminary. Their commander choose not to fight there and retreated to the hills beyond Gettysburg thereby changing the game from a historical to a what-if. |
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| Union has the darker blue labels, the Rebs the whiter ones. The player commanding Hill's corps departed suddenly so I was left with what he had done. Like Robbie Lee trying to make sense of what was what when he arrived on the battlefield I suppose..... |
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| The red beads represent disorder. Note my Rebs have a lot of them, and lots of hits too... The infamous "hinge" was near the location of the blue die and marks the high point of Confederacy in this game! |