Chancellorsville 1863 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Rule Formatting
• 1. Two Player and Solitaire Rules
• 2. Game Components
• 3. Game Board
• 4. Who Sees What? When?
• 5. Objective Locations
• 6. Formation Markers on the Game Board
• 7. Formation Areas on the Game Board
• 8. Activation Cards
• 9. Major and Minor Activations
  • 9.1 Major Activation
  • 9.2 Minor Activation
  • 9.3 Transfer Reinforcements
  • 9.4 Build a Redoubt
• 10. Tactics Cards
• 11. Momentum Cubes
  • 11.1 Bonus Momentum Cubes
• 12. Game Set Up
• 13. Sequence of Play
  • 13.1 Play Activation Card
  • 13.2 Momentum Cubes
  • 13.3 Momentum Cubes Bonus
  • 13.4 How to Use General Special Abilities
  • 13.5 Pay Activation Cost
  • 13.6 Play Tactics Cards
  • 13.7 How to Have Combat
• 14. Purchase Tactics Card
• 15. Draw New Activation Card
• 16. Formation Cohesion Test
• 17. How to Win
• 18. Clarifications
  • 18.1 Simultaneous Destruction
  • 18.2 Running Out of Components
  • 18.3 Tactics Cards
• 19. Solitaire Rules
  • 19.1 To Win
  • 19.2 Setting Up
  • 19.3 Difficulty Settings
  • 19.4 First Turn
  • 19.5 Sequence of Play
  • 19.6 Important Rule Changes in Solo Game
  • 19.7 Reading the BOT Activation Cards Sequence
  • 19.8 Roll the Combat Dice
  • 19.9 Redoubts with the BOT
• 20. Two Player Example of Play
• 21. Solo Player Example of Play
• 22. Historical Summary and Designer Notes
• Bibliography
• Credits
• Quick Reference
  • Two Player - Quick Reference
  • Solitaire - Quick Reference

Game Overview

The game centers around activating formations for the Union and Confederate players. The Confederates have 5 formations, and the Union have 7 formations. Each formation can only be activated by the play of a formation activation card that has its formation named on the card. Each side only has 15 formation activation cards, and each specific formation has a very limited number of activations within those 15 cards. Each activation allows movement, combat, construction of redoubts and transfer of reinforcements.

Each formation has a limited amount of cohesion. As formations are activated – move and have combat – their cohesion is reduced.

When formations are activated, they generate momentum represented through Momentum cubes. Momentum cubes allow the purchase of Tactics cards which portray variables from the campaign and battle.

Unique to this game is that some formations are moved on hidden movement mini maps, until revealed when crossing paths with opposing formations or entering certain locations on the game map.

Victory is obtained by destroying enemy formations or occupying victory locations.

Rule Formatting

DESIGN NOTES: Blue boxes give designer's thoughts on why certain concepts were applied to the game mechanics.

KEY RULES: Green boxes break down the rule section to one or two important thoughts about that rule.

Game Examples: Grey boxes further explain game concepts.

1. Two Player and Solitaire Rules

The following rules are focused on the two-player version of the game. For rules specific to the solitaire version see the back of this booklet.

2. Game Components

• Game board
• Rule book (two copies)
• 7 blue Union named formation markers
• 8 blue cubes for Union formation Cohesion and the General special ability on the board tracks
• 3 blue cubes for Union control markers
• 15 Union Player Activation cards
• 15 Union BOT Activation cards
• 12 Union Reinforcement cards
• 1 Union screen, placed around the Union Hidden Movement Map on board
• 5 red Confederate named formation markers
• 7 red cubes for Confederate formation Cohesion and the General special ability on the board tracks
• 15 Confederate Activation cards
• 15 Confederate BOT Activation cards
• 12 Confederate Reinforcement cards
• 1 Confederate screen, placed around the Confederate Hidden Movement Map on board
• 36 Tactics cards
• 25 black Momentum cubes
• 12 brown Redoubt cubes
• 9 six-sided dice

Extra cubes may be included for spares, be sure to play with the numbers given here, leaving any spares in the box.

3. Game Board

The game board represents the Chancellorsville battlefield, and the positions of the Union and Confederate formations. Each formation is named for its commander and represented by a wooden troop marker.

Arrows and lines between locations show where formations may move on the battlefield when they are activated and under certain conditions.

The movement locations have a dotted line and a location number that formations can move to and occupy. This movement location can be occupied by various formations from both sides. Locations are adjacent if connected by lines and arrows, including lines across rivers.

There are three victory locations on the game board are 13, 18, and 22, they are identified by red circles.

4. Who Sees What? When?

Each player starts the game with some units visible to the enemy, and others not, which are placed on the Hidden Movement Map behind each player's respective screen.

If, at any point in the game, units on the Hidden Movement Map occupy a referenced location that is adjacent (connected by lines and arrows) to an enemy unit on the main board it must be immediately transferred to the main board.

For example, during the Union turn they play a Major activation for Meade, who is currently on the Union Hidden Movement Map. Meade moves from 3 to 11 then to 12. He must move the unit from the Hidden Movement Map to the main board to reveal his formation to the Confederate player, since he is now adjacent to Confederate formation Anderson.

If the situation changes, and enemy troops move away, then it's possible that formations, once sighted, will become unsighted again, and so be removed from the main board back to the Hidden Movement Map.

Certain locations are colored red. These indicate locations deep inside Confederate lines of communication. Any Union formation that moves onto one of these locations on the Hidden Movement Map must be moved to the main map.

Similarly, locations that are colored blue indicate locations deep inside Union lines of communication, Any Confederate formation that moves onto one of these locations on the Hidden Movement Map must be moved to the main map.

In addition, some locations are hashed red. These indicate a possible line of Union march being tracked by JEB Stuart's cavalry. A formation (or formations if there are two of them in the same location) that is furthest along on this line of march will be visible to the Confederates, and so placed on the main board. Location 9 is further along than location 8, which is further along than location 1. Any Union formations that are behind the lead formation(s) cannot be seen by the Confederates and so would remain on the Hidden Movement Map, not on the board, unless actually adjacent to Confederate formation occupied locations.

Usually about a third or half way through the battle there are no longer any units unsighted, so the screens and Hidden Movement Maps can often be put aside at this point.

Example of units adjacent: Reynolds and Early are adjacent. Sickles is adjacent to Reynolds, but would only be on the Union Hidden Movement Map, since he is not adjacent to any Confederate unit.

5. Objective Locations

There are 3 objective locations on the game board: Fredericksburg (location 13), Salem Church (location 22), and Chancellorsville Junction (location 18). They are assumed to be Confederate controlled unless there is a Union control marker in them. A Union formation does not have to remain on the objective for the objective to remain Union controlled. Once controlled, at the end of a Union turn, a Union formation may move away from the objective. However, if a Confederate formation occupies a formation at the end of a Confederate turn, the Union control marker is removed and control reverts back to the Confederates.

Example of an Objective location: these are circled in red.

6. Formation Markers on the Game Board

Formations are represented by named wooden blocks, one block per named formation. These blocks are placed in the starting locations shown in the setup. Blue blocks are for Union formations, red blocks are for Confederate.

Any formation that fails its cohesion test or is driven to zero cohesion is considered destroyed and its formation marker is permanently removed from the game board.

A formation, once destroyed, may NEVER be reassembled, even by moving reinforcements back into it.

No more than two friendly formations can be in the same location at the same time (unless there is combat occurring, in which case there could be 2 defenders, and 1 attacker temporarily in the same location).

KEY RULE: Only two friendly formations may occupy a location at the same time.

7. Formation Areas on the Game Board

Each side (Union and Confederate) has areas representing its formations on the game board. Formation areas shows how many dice it rolls in combat, and how many times it may be activated with the type of activation (major or minor).

Cohesion is tracked using cubes on each formation's individual cohesion track, using the corresponding color - red for Confederate, blue for Union.

A formation area sample shows: the formation name, its starting location(s), the cohesion track, the number of dice used in attack, the number of minor activations, and the number of major activations.

DESIGN NOTE: Cohesion is a numerical representation of a unit's overall combat effectiveness. It combines concepts of troop numbers, morale, stamina, equipment, and experience, into one unified value for ease of play, and to concentrate the design lens on maneuver and high level strategies.

When formations are activated they reduce their cohesion by 1 and may have their cohesion reduced during combat. Once a formation cohesion total reaches 5, or lower, it must conduct a Cohesion Test to see if it breaks and is removed from the game (see paragraph 16 on page 11).

DESIGN NOTE: Whenever commanders ask anything of their troops there is always a cost. Even troops who march happily into battle become tired. Troops riding a wave of elan cannot evade hunger or the need to sleep indefinitely. Campaigns take a toll on formations so long as those formations are put to any task. Accordingly, the game concept of Cohesion has formations 'degrade' with use. This has the additional design benefit of ramping games to an end state, where multiple formations in play, especially those bearing the brunt of battle, will be red-lining their ability to remain effective. Formations are not only destroyed by dint of them being attacked by the enemy. They are also destroyed by dint of their own offensive endeavors.

8. Activation Cards

Each side has its own deck of Activation cards. When played, these cards activate the formations named. Activation cards also simultaneously generate momentum equal to the cubes shown on the bottom of the card. The player acquires the total of Momentum cubes shown from the common pool and adds to his own pool.

An activation card for a formation that is destroyed still collects Momentum cubes and bonus Momentum cubes when played.

Activation Card Sample: shows a formation name (e.g. REYNOLDS) as a Major Activation, and a second formation name (e.g. Meade) as a Minor Activation, with the Momentum cubes awarded for playing the card, and a reminder that a Major Activation reduces cohesion for each activated formation.

It also fulfills the requirement to play an activation card (one must be played each turn).

Instead of drawing from the top of your activation draw deck at the end of your turn, you can spend 5 Momentum cubes to get the activation card you want. (If it's in the deck.) If the desired card is not in the deck you must draw from the top of your deck (and lose the 5 Momentum cubes).

DESIGN NOTE: One of the key features of the history of warfare is chaos over responsiveness. By which I mean, we see countless examples of units not following orders as intended, whether of the volition of their commander, or the troops themselves, or by accident through confusion. Just because a commander orders a unit to do something it doesn't necessarily follow that it will do that thing, let alone in the intended time frame. The orchestration of multiple units - perhaps many thousands of men across many miles all facing their own local factors (topography, weather, enemies, etc.) is its own dark art. The game convention of move some, all, or none does a poor job of reflecting the press of time and the constraints commanders had restricting their knowledge and ability to convert an idea directly into action, let alone their capacity to neatly orchestrate complex and precise synergies of action.

This game's activation system is an attempt to represent those practical constraints a commander experienced. The hand of three cards and the limitations on each formation means a player is not free at all times to ensure any unit they want will always perform the action they want when they want. The player is tasked with managing their hand to effect their intended strategies, pushed and pulled by the desire to maintain momentum (to match sets) and perhaps take advantage of available Tactics cards.

KEY RULE: Activation cards allow each of the named formations to do one of three things:

1. Pay activation cost to move, twice with a major and once with a minor, or do nothing and not move. OR
2. Not pay activation cost and transfer reinforcements. OR
3. Not pay activation cost and build a redoubt.

9. Major and Minor Activations

Activation cards show combinations of major and minor activations for different formations on the same card. The formation written in the largest letters at the top, with the accompanying commander portrait is a major activation. Any other smaller names detailed are minor activations.

The active player can decide in which order to conduct these activations.

In each case, ALL movement is completed for a formation before any combat it is involved in is resolved, and only then can movement for the second activated formation begin.

Whatever the order, an activated formation ALWAYS pays an activation cost (-1 of its cohesion total) to move with a Major or Minor activation or do nothing.

An activated formation does not pay activation cost if it has 3 redoubts in its location and chooses to do nothing, build a redoubt, or transfer reinforcements. Tactics card may also cause exceptions.

KEY RULE: Pay activation costs ONLY when activating a Major or Minor activation for movement and to do nothing.

9.1 Major Activation

This permits the formation to move up to two locations, and to end their movement in a location occupied by the enemy (i.e. in combat).

If the formation only moves one location and attacks it may attack the same occupied location again, without an activation cost, or move to/attack a different adjacent occupied location - again, without an activation cost. If moving/attacking adjacent locations the major activation can be thought of as 2 attacks.

When moving formations with a Major Activation players should move them one location at a time and give the other player the chance to announce any of their formations which now become sighted, and so are moved from their Hidden Movement Map behind their screen onto the main board.

9.2 Minor Activation

This permits the formation to move no more than one location, and to end their movement in a location occupied by the enemy (i.e. in combat).

KEY RULE: Unlike in Freeman's Farm: 1777, combat does not occur in adjacent locations, but ONLY when units of different sides are in the same location. If a unit is in the same location as an enemy piece combat MUST occur.

9.3 Transfer Reinforcements

With either a major or a minor activation, instead of moving/fighting, formations may pay no activation cost and, transfer reinforcements.

An activated formation may give or receive 1 or 3 cohesion points to or from an adjacent friendly formation.

To track this, from the reinforcement decks, find two linked numbers +3 and -3, or +1 and -1, and place them face-down below the corresponding formation areas.

For example, +3 to the formation receiving 3 cohesion points, and -3 to the formation giving those points.

Reinforcements cards sample: two paired cards, one marked -3 and one marked +3.

These cards help players keep track of the real cohesion totals, and to hide them from the other player. All cohesion rules apply as normal. The moment a formation drops to 5 cohesion points or lower it must test. If a cohesion test is required according to the track and that formation has any face-down reinforcement cards a player must reveal those cards (and discard to the side of the board) and adjust the track to its correct total.

Similarly, if a cohesion track doesn't show there to be a test due, but there is when reinforcement cards are taken into account, the owning player is responsible for ensuring the modifiers are revealed (and discarded to the side of the board), and that the test takes place. At the end of the game all those discarded cards, and any still left unrevealed must cancel each other out when collected together. If a pair (+1/-1, or +3/-3) is revealed during play that pair can be returned to the Reinforcements draw deck.

DESIGN NOTE: Fog of war is represented in this game not only through the Hidden Movement Maps and the screens giving hidden movement, but also through the transfer of reinforcements. Players cannot always be certain of the strength of the enemy's formations, and nor can he always be sure of the strength of your own formations.

9.4 Build a Redoubt

With either a major or a minor activation, instead of moving/fighting, formations may pay no activation cost and, build redoubts.

Take a brown cube from the redoubt pool on the board, and place it at the location that formation occupies. (3 cubes per location maximum.)

If they have more than one redoubt cube they keep spending them and setting more dice to the face they want, with the limit of 3. Defenders can do this between rounds if they have any redoubts left, but they may only set the face of dice about to be rolled, they may not change the face of any dice the attacker has already rolled and has decided to leave in place.

DESIGN NOTE: Redoubts, or prepared defensive positions, were a feature of the Chancellorsville battle, especially by the Confederates. Sometimes the best course of action for a formation is to prepare the ground for defensive action. In the game this activity is deemed not to adversely affect a formation's cohesion - what it expends in energy it gains in sense of confidence in its position.

Redoubt cubes remain in place even if formations vacate the location.

BEFORE an attack a formation may voluntarily remove any redoubt cubes in its location. (This does not use up an activation.)

If a formation already has 3 redoubts in its current location it may not build any more. However, in this case, when activated, a formation may do nothing, and pay NO activation cost.

KEY RULE: A formation that has a major activation and moves or attacks may make a second attack to the same or an adjacent location without an activation cost. However, it may NOT attack once, then build a redoubt or transfer reinforcements. Building a redoubt, or transferring reinforcements (receiving or giving) takes an ENTIRE activation, whether major or minor.

10. Tactics Cards

The Tactics deck is used by both sides. These cards are 'purchased' by using Momentum cubes from a player's own pool of cubes. The cost is shown at the bottom of the card. Momentum cubes used in the purchase are returned to the central pool on the game board. When purchased, Tactics cards should be kept face-up. These cards are single use, unless their effect is stated on the card as 'Ongoing'.

Each turn, at the end of their turn, a player has the option to buy only ONE card from the face-up Tactics tableau. If a card is purchased, refresh the tableau by shifting all the remaining cards to the right (if possible), so the newly drawn card appears on the far left of the tableau. If no card is purchased at the end of a player's turn, the card on the far right of the tableau is moved to the discard pile, the remaining cards are all shunted to the right, and a new card is drawn on the left of the tableau.

Tactics draw deck: cards are placed face down. Tactics Tableau: Tactics 1–3 and Discard areas, all cards are shown face up.

Any number of Tactics cards may be played when the cards allow it.

Even if purchased, Tactics cards may not be voluntarily removed from play (for example, in an attempt to prevent a Prisoners card from taking a card and putting it back into play).

At any time you can 'cash in' any 3 Tactics cards for 1 Momentum cube.

Tactics Card Sample: shows the card title (e.g. RELOCATE), the card event/action text ("Activated unit may swap places with any adjacent friendly formation, but neither formation may do anything else this turn."), when it may be played (e.g. "PLAY DURING PLAYER'S ACTIVATION PHASE"), and the price of the card in momentum cubes.

DESIGN NOTE: I have read of battles being described by commanders as a series of windows of opportunity which pass before them. Knowing when to take advantage of these opportunities (as well as when to ignore them), how hard to try to exploit them, and being alert to the possibilities that might unfold as a direct result is something these Tactics cards attempt to represent. Each card comes at a cost, and different card synergies may present themselves over the course of each game. The way the tableau keeps being refreshed is an attempt to visually and spatially represent this notion of a shifting opportunity window. A card will be purchasable for three turns, at least one of which is yours, before it disappears into the discards. The Tactics deck also helps encourage replayability.

11. Momentum Cubes

The black cubes in the game represent momentum generated and used by both sides. A common Momentum cubes pool is located on the game board. Momentum cubes are earned by activating formations and are used for acquiring Tactics cards and combat re-rolls (3 Momentum cubes per re-roll). Players take or return Momentum cubes to the pool as these actions occur.

DESIGN NOTE: Momentum is a rather nebulous concept. Many soldiers and analysts have spoken of it - a sense that on a broader scale than that of individual soldiers and their direct units, a battle is swinging perhaps one way or the other. But what does it tangibly mean, and how can you quantify it? Well, game designers quantify intangible concepts all the time and give them values they can apply within the context of game systems. The generation of momentum, as a currency, that permits attacks to be sustained, or for other advantages to be sought - through the purchase of Tactics cards - is how this game represents this concept.

11.1 Bonus Momentum Cubes

Matching 3 Momentum token icon sets of your own played activation cards (3 x 3s, 3 x 2s, 3 x1s) over 3 consecutive turns gives a +2 Momentum cube bonus. This bonus can only be applied once per set.

12. Game Set Up

• Decide who will be the Confederates, and who will be the Union.
• Place a screen around each player's Hidden Movement Map on the game board.
• Place an appropriate colored marker on the start (14) of the cohesion track on each formation area.
• Place appropriate colored markers on the READY box of any generals in the formation area.
• Place the formation markers according to the starting locations indicated on the formation areas on the game board. Formations without options are placed on the game board. Formations with optional starting locations are NOT placed on the game board, they are placed on a player's Hidden Movement Map, behind their screen.

Unit	Starting Location
Anderson (Confederate)	10, 12, or 22 on Hidden Movement Map
McLaws (Confederate)	10, 12, or 22 on Hidden Movement Map
Early (Confederate)	13 on Board
Hill (Confederate)	14 on Board
Colston (Confederate)	15 on Board
Reynolds (Union)	6 on Board
Sedgwick (Union)	5 on Board
Sickles (Union)	4 on Board
Meade (Union)	2, 3, or 7 on Hidden Movement Map
Couch (Union)	2, 3, or 7 on Hidden Movement Map
Howard (Union)	2, 3, or 7 on Hidden Movement Map
Slocum (Union)	1 on Board

• Shuffle the Tactics cards, and place the top three cards face-up on the game board on the tableau. The remaining cards should be placed face-down on the draw deck space on the game board.
• Place the Momentum cubes in a pool on the game board for use by both players. Players begin the game without any Momentum cubes.
• Place all the redoubt cubes in a pool on the game board.
• Shuffle each activation deck and deal 6 to each corresponding player. Each player chooses 3 for their hand, returns the other 3, then reshuffles the draw deck, placing it on its space on the game board.
• Place the reinforcements decks on their respective places on the game board. They don't need to be shuffled - players will go into them and look for the cards they need, but they should be face-down. It will speed up play if +3s are next to -3s, and +1s next to -1s.

Place the unit markers BEFORE you draw activation cards.

13. Sequence of Play

The Union player takes the first turn in a round. Then the Confederate player takes their turn in a round. Play continues until all Activation cards have been played, ending the game.

There may be up to 15 rounds in the game. Each round consists of one turn for each player.

Each player's turn has the same phases:

1. Play Activation card from one of the three in your hand and gain Momentum cubes for the card played.
2. Determine whether you are playing the major, minor, or one of the free actions of transfer reinforcements or build redoubt.
3. Pay Activation cost by reducing cohesion for the activated formation.
4. If, as a result of movement, combat occurs, perform combat.
5. After all actions have been performed, optionally purchase one Tactics card, and refresh the tableau with a new card.
6. Draw a new Activation card.

13.1 Play Activation Card

From your hand of three Activation Cards choose and play one card, which activates formations.

13.2 Momentum Cubes

Each Activation card says which formations are activated, and has Momentum icons on it (1-3).

Play the Activation card (discard it, face-up into the discard pile) and receive the relevant number of Momentum cubes into your pool. Activation cards played for destroyed formations still provide Momentum cubes.

13.3 Momentum Cubes Bonus

In addition, if the activation card just played matches the same number of Momentum icons as the previous two consecutive activation cards played by the same player, then the player receives +2 cubes this turn.

For example, if an activation card with 2 Momentum icons is played, and the two previous, consecutive activation cards also have 2 icons on them, the player will receive 2 momentum cubes for the card, and 2 more for the bonus. The previous cards must be consecutive to qualify for this bonus.

You only see the benefit of the extra momentum once for the same set of 3 icons. Activation cards played for formations that are broken/destroyed still receive a Momentum cube bonus, if applicable.

13.4 How to Use General Special Abilities

Countermand Order with General (Lee & Hooker)

Instead of activating the chosen formations for that turn, a player may countermand that order, and use their respective General ability instead. This gives them 3 Momentum cubes instead of what was on the Activation card (not as well as), and replaces all the listed activations with one major activation anywhere, and one minor activation anywhere (although never to the same formation). In addition, the formation with the major activation may receive a +2 dice modifier as an intensive artillery barrage). This modifier only applies to one attack, but if there are rerolls in this attack the player retains the +2 dice.

The replaced activation card is still discarded. Players receive Momentum tokens from their commander card - and a Momentum tokens bonus if it is completing a set of 2 preceding Activation cards showing 3 Momentum icons. But they do not begin or participate in a new set of Momentum icons. They only ever complete a set.

These abilities can only be used once (unless Tactics cards cause exceptions).

KEY RULE: Countermanding with Lee and Hooker allows you to substitute the named formations on an activation card with any other formations for one major, and one minor activation, plus a +2 die roll bonus in combat for artillery.

General Jackson

General Jackson gives the Confederate player two linked abilities, which must be played in a specific sequence.

The first ability is to move AP Hill up to 3 locations at ANY TIME in a player's turn (this ability use is in addition to the Confederate Activation card played for this turn), but not into combat, and not when it entails AP Hill moving again in the same turn through an activation. This is not an activation and has no cost. When this is done the marker is moved down to the next space in the sequence on the board, and the next ability is unlocked.

After this has been used (but NOT in the same turn) AP Hill gets a major activation (at no additional cost) instead of a minor activation indicated on an activation card (or another activation card countermanded by General Lee).

Once both abilities have been used the ability is exhausted.

Jackson's 1st Special Ability. Jackson's 2nd Special Ability.

KEY RULE: Jackson's first ability is for AP Hill to move up to three locations in addition to the Confederate Activation card play, as long as it is not AP Hill. The first ability use, does not cost AP Hill a cohesion point. His second ability requires an AP Hill Major or Minor Activation card play.

13.5 Pay Activation Cost

Unless involved in transferring reinforcements, or building a redoubt (or in a location that already has 3 redoubts), a formation must pay an activation cost of 1 cohesion point.

13.6 Play Tactics Cards

You can play any number of Tactics cards you have previously purchased (with Momentum cubes). In the first turn you won't have any Tactics cards, or any Momentum cubes.

Some of these cards must be played before rolling any dice, others can be played at other times. Check each card for details.

KEY RULE: Tactic cards may overrule game rules.

13.7 How to Have Combat

Roll the Combat Dice

Each activated attacking formation rolls a different number of dice, shown at the bottom of its formation. This roll may be modified as given below. Combat results take effect on the attacking or defending formation.

KEY RULE: Combat occurs when the activated formation moves into a location occupied by opposing formation(s). The activated formation is the formation rolling dice for combat. The defender does not roll combat dice.

Using Redoubts in Combat

Before the attacker rolls, the defender may "use-up" 1–3 of their redoubt cubes to set the face of one of the die as they choose. This face is set for the remainder of the attacker's turn.

The attacker must always allow the defender time to decide if they will spend any redoubt cubes or not.

Terrain Modifiers

• Attacking along double-headed green arrows = +2 dice
• Attacking along single-headed red arrow = -1 die
• Attacking along all other arrowheads = no effect

Combat Results

When attacking, each player always uses the PLAYER combat results table.

• Double 1s: Attacker loses 1 Cohesion
• Double 2s: Attacker loses 1 Cohesion
• 3: gain 1 Momentum cube
• Double 4s: Defender loses 1 Cohesion
• Double 5s: Defender loses 1 Cohesion
• Double 6s: Defender loses 2 Cohesion + must retreat from current location

1 Momentum cube is awarded for each 3 rolled.

For example, a double 3 gives 2 Momentum cubes.

Any Momentum gained is only gained AFTER the players have finished rolling all dice in the current attack including re-rolls.

If the defender is not forced to retreat, the attacker must retreat back to the location they passed through or came from to begin the attack. (They just retreat one location back, in the case of units that moved 2 locations to launch their attack.)

A formation with 0 cohesion points, or that fails a cohesion test is considered destroyed.

If the defender is destroyed the attacker MUST occupy the location attacked.

Combat results are inflicted on ALL defender formations in a location. If the defender has 2 formations in a location and suffers losses to cohesion they are incurred by both formations.

For example, if an attacker rolls a double 5 this inflicts 1 cohesion loss but to EACH formation. In the event of a double 6, both formations suffer a loss of 2 cohesion, and both must retreat, although they may retreat to separate admissible locations.

DESIGN NOTE: The game punishes players for trying to 'throw men at the problem' (I'm looking at you, Burnside, and the first battle of Fredericksburg). If you have too many men on top of each other they can't deploy properly and they make excellent targets for artillery. Having two formations in the same location is a terrible strategy. You must maneuver.

Defender Retreats

Formations forced to retreat must move out of their location, and away from the location where the attacking formation came from.

Formations may never retreat into a location occupied by the enemy.

If formations have more than one possible target they will go to the location with the fewest friendly formations.

Two defenders in a location forced to retreat may retreat to two different locations.

Confederate Formation Retreats

• Retreating Confederate formations ALWAYS try to retreat closer to location 22 (in terms of the number of locations, not the physical distance).
• If they have just been forced out of location 22 they will first try to move to location 21 or 23. If neither of those are free, they will move to 12 - if there is no enemy there.

Union Formation Retreats

• Retreating Union formations ALWAYS try to retreat away from location 22 (in terms of the number of locations, not the physical distance).
• If there is a choice they will ALWAYS try to retreat to a location farther north and over the river, if possible.

The maximum number of friendly formations on the same location is two. If a retreating formation cannot retreat it is destroyed. If two formations are forced to retreat and only one can retreat, the one with the highest Cohesion value is saved.

KEY RULE: The maximum number of friendly formations on the same location is two. The maximum number of formations that can attack a location is one.

A retreat must always be in the spirit of a retreat, and MUST NOT be used in such a way that the retreat move is clearly being used as an advance.

Example: Howard's current cohesion is at 8. Confederate attacks against Howard cause 4 cohesion losses. Moving his cohesion from 8 to 4. He now must perform a cohesion test by rolling one die and compare it to his current cohesion because his cohesion has fallen below 6. If the roll is 5 or 6 he fails his cohesion test and is destroyed and removed from the board. A roll of 4 or under Howard passes his cohesion test and is allowed to stay.

Re-roll

Player can choose to re-roll by:

• Cash in 3 Momentum cubes to re-roll any or all dice again OR
• Reduce the active formation's cohesion by 1 to re-roll any or all dice again.

Apply Combat Results

When all the rolling has ceased for the round apply the results, as outlined above.

14. Purchase Tactics Card

Players can choose to purchase one face-up Tactics card, if they can afford it.

Players can never examine this deck to see what cards are coming.

15. Draw New Activation Card

Players draw the top card of their Activation deck (if there are any left in the draw deck) and bring it into their hand, ready to make a decision next turn on which formation to activate.

Play then switches to the other player.

When both players have expended all the Activation cards in the draw deck and their hand the game ends (if it hasn't ended already).

16. Formation Cohesion Test

The cohesion marker tracks a formation's cohesion as the formation is activated and attacked throughout the game. When the cohesion marker is reduced (from activation, combat, etc.) to the number 5 or lower, a cohesion test must be performed for that formation at the instant it occurs.

A cohesion test is done by rolling a six sided die and comparing the result to the location of the marker on the cohesion track of the formation card. If the die roll is higher than the marker location, then the formation has failed the test and the formation is then "broken." If the die roll is equal or less than the marker location, the formation has passed the cohesion test.

A cohesion test is not taken if the Cohesion marker moves back 'up' the scale, from a 3, to a 4, for example.

A passed cohesion test means play continues, it doesn't halt an attacker's attack to take a Cohesion Test that's passed. A broken formation marker is removed from the game board.

A failed cohesion test results in the formation becoming destroyed, unless prevented by a Tactics card. A failed cohesion test cannot use Momentum cubes or a cohesion reduction to re-roll.

17. How to Win

The Union player must capture 2 out of the 3 objectives on the board by the end of the game. An objective is captured if a Union formation was the last to occupy it, the formation does not have to remain in the location (mark with a blue cube to show Union control).

If the Union player breaks 3 or more Confederate formations they immediately win the game.

The Confederate player wins if the Union player does not win.

The Confederate player also wins the game immediately if they break 3 or more Union formations.

18. Clarifications

18.1 Simultaneous Destruction

If an attacking and defending formation are both destroyed at the same time in the same turn the defender is adjudged to have been destroyed first.

If both players must take a Cohesion Test in the same turn, the defender takes the test first.

18.2 Running Out of Components

There may be times where you wish to roll more dice, acquire more Momentum cubes, acquire more redoubt cubes, or more reinforcement cards. The boxed components are: 9 dice, 25 Momentum cubes, 12 redoubt cubes, 12 reinforcements for each side. These totals should never be exceeded, and play is bound by these available components.

18.3 Tactics Cards

Play Anytime

Play Anytime cards can be played on any player's turn at any time. (When sequence matters it's the first person to speak and make clear their intentions that gets to act first.)

(3) Immaculate Timing

This card can be used for only one attack.

(12) Confidence

The +1 Cohesion to the attacker is awarded if the defender suffers a reduction of 2 Cohesion as a result of the same attack, or, in the instance where the same attacker attacks again (with a major activation) the damage inflicted may be combined. The +1 Cohesion is not awarded to a formation if it only inflicts 1 Cohesion loss on the enemy, regardless of how many other losses the defender has incurred in the same turn.

(25) Back in the Saddle

The card takes immediate effect meaning that the expended general (Hooker or Lee) is ready to be used again. But this doesn't mean that the commander is activated at that moment. He is available for use as per the same player choice - to countermand an activation.

(35) Night March

This card cannot be used to take a formation into an attack. However, it could be combined with an Activation card, or a General countermanding an Activation card, to bring the same formation into combat in the same turn.

(36) Artillery Smoke Screen

As above.

19. Solitaire Rules

19.1 To Win

As with the two player game, the Union player must destroy 3 Confederate formations for an automatic win. But in addition, in the solo version of the game, the Union player must hold all 3 objectives by the end of the game. If 3 Confederate formations have not been destroyed, and all 3 objectives are not held by the time the game ends the Union player has lost.

The Confederate player must destroy 3 Union formations for an automatic win. The BOT must hold just 2 objectives (like the player in the two player game) to win.

If the Confederate player stops the Union BOT from winning, the player wins.

If the player ever has 3 of their own formations destroyed they automatically lose.

19.2 Setting Up

• Decide if you will play as the Confederates, or the Union. The side you don't play as is 'The BOT'.
• Neither the screen nor the Hidden Movement Map are used in the solo version of the game.
• Place an appropriate colored marker on the start (14) of the cohesion track on each formation area.
• Place appropriate colored markers on the READY box of any generals your side has in the formation area. (Do not place any markers for the BOT.)
• Place the formation markers according to the starting locations indicated on the formation areas on the game board. Formations without options are placed on the game board. Player formations with optional starting locations ARE ALSO placed on the board. BOT formations with optional starting locations are NOT placed on the board, or the Hidden Movement Map - they are placed on the 0 space of the Hidden Movement Track on the game board.
• Remove all NOT FOR SOLO PLAY cards from the Tactics deck. Shuffle the Tactics cards, and place the top three cards face-up on the game board on the tableau. The remaining cards should be placed face-down on the draw deck space on the game board.
• Place the Momentum cubes in a pool on the game board for just your own use. You begin the game without any Momentum cubes.
• Place all the redoubt cubes in a pool on the game board.
• Shuffle your activation deck and deal 6 to you. Chooses 3 for your hand, return the other 3, then reshuffle the draw deck, placing it on its space on the game board.
• Shuffle the BOT activation cards and place them face-down on the game board.
• The reinforcement decks are not used in the solo version of the game.

Note: place the unit markers BEFORE you draw activation cards.

19.3 Difficulty Settings

In the solo version of the game there are 3 different difficulty settings.

• Standard: No changes.
• Hard: Remove the top card of the Activation deck of the side you are playing as. Keep it face-down and do not look at it for the duration of the game.
• Hardest: Remove the top two cards of the Activation deck of the side you are playing as.

In the Hard and Hardest modes the BOT will have 1, and 2 additional turns respectively at the end of the game.

19.4 First Turn

When playing the solo version of the game, the player ALWAYS takes the first turn, even if playing as the Confederates.

19.5 Sequence of Play

The sequence of play for the player is the same as in the two player version.

For the BOT the sequence is:

• Turn over the top card of the BOT activation draw deck, read it, and apply the directions.

19.6 Important Rule Changes in Solo Game

The BOT NEVER pays an activation cost for its formations.

The BOT NEVER receives any Momentum cubes.

The BOT General(s) abilities NEVER feature in the game.

The Tactics deck is NEVER cycled through in the BOT's turn.

19.7 Reading the BOT Activation Cards Sequence

• Read the cards in sequence from top to bottom.
• If no conditions apply - which can happen if a formation is on the Hidden Movement Track (HMT) but not sufficiently along to trigger an attack - the formation does nothing.

KEY RULE: The Hidden Movement Track (HMT) is only used in the solitaire version of the game by the BOT player.

• If the formation cannot be activated because it is destroyed ignore that part of the card. It's possible that a card might be entirely ignored if all formations have been destroyed.

BOT Activation Card Sample: shows the bonus instruction "+1 COHESION TO WEAKEST FORMATION" (add +1 cohesion to the formation listed below with the lowest cohesion), followed by named formation instructions, e.g.:

ANDERSON — Major Activation. Attack if adjacent to enemy (not over river) (2 dice). Otherwise: +2 HMT. If HMT 2: attack 22/10/9/8/18 (2 dice). If HMT 3+: attack 21/18 (2 dice). Otherwise: build redoubt if in objective. Otherwise: attack towards nearest objective (2 dice).

EARLY — Minor Activation. Attack if adjacent to enemy (not over river) (2 dice). Otherwise: build redoubt if in objective. Otherwise: attack towards nearest objective (2 dice).

MCLAWS — Minor Activation. Attack if adjacent to enemy (not over river) (2 dice). Otherwise: +1 HMT. If HMT 2: attack 22/10/9/8/18 (2 dice). If HMT 3+: attack 21/18 (3 dice). Otherwise: build redoubt if in objective. Otherwise: attack towards nearest objective (2 dice).

+1/2 Cohesion to Weakest Formation

Any Cohesion increased detailed on the BOT card goes to whichever formation has the lowest Cohesion total. If there is a tie between two or more formations use a D6 to resolve it.

Attack If Adjacent

• If the BOT is adjacent to more than one enemy formation it will attack a formation in an objective.
• If the BOT is adjacent to more than one enemy formation in an objective it will attack the one with the fewest redoubts.
• If the BOT has no enemy formations in objectives adjacent, but has more than one possible target it will attack the one with the fewest redoubts. If the BOT cannot decide, roll a D6.
• The Confederate BOT NEVER attacks over the river.

REYNOLDS: If south of the river, attack if adjacent to enemy… If not south of the river, and not adjacent to an enemy formation, move Reynolds to the HMT. It is possible for Reynolds to move between the board and the HMT in this way. (Other formations may also move between the board and the HMT.)

SLOCUM AND HOWARD: Otherwise, if in objective, and enemy adjacent, build redoubt. If Slocum or Howard is in an objective location but an enemy formation is not adjacent, they do not build a redoubt, but attack towards the nearest (other objective) instead.

• If the BOT is successful in causing a formation to retreat in an attack off the HMT it moves into the attacked location, and the player must retreat.
• If the BOT is unsuccessful in causing a formation to retreat in an attack off the HMT it occupies any free adjacent location. If there is more than one possibility, it will move to the location that would give it the best combat modifier in any future attack (where there are 2 green arrows into the target location). If there is still more than one option use a D6 to help it decide. In the rare instance that all adjacent locations are occupied by enemy formations, the BOT formation moves into the location as close as it can to the attacked location. Again, it will choose the location that would give it the best combat modifier in any future attack. If there is still more than one option use a D6 to help it decide.

Redoubt

If instructed to build a redoubt but there are three already in that location the formation does nothing, and pays no Activation cost.

Attack Objective

The BOT formation moves towards/attacks the nearest objective. In this instance, the BOT formation will always move 2 locations, if it can. If there is more than one possible target it will attack towards the one with the fewest friendly formations. If there is a choice roll a D6.

Helping the BOT Decide

If an instance occurs when the BOT cannot decide between possible targets, or possible retreat locations, use a D6. Designate the possible options as choice, 1 and 2, or also 3 and 4, as appropriate.

With 2 options: 1-3=option 1, 4-6=option 2. With 3 options: 1-2=option 1, 3-4=option 2, 5-6=option 3. With 4 options: 1-4=options 1-4, 5-6=roll again.

19.8 Roll the Combat Dice

The BOT rolls a set number of dice determined by the activation card, and modified by the arrowheads of the locations they are attacking from. Combat results take effect on the attacking or defending formation.

BOT Terrain Modifiers

• BOT attacking along double-headed green arrows = +1 die
• Attacking along single-headed red arrow = -1 die
• Attacking along all other arrowheads = no effect

Note: regardless of modifiers from arrowheads and redoubts, a BOT formation will ALWAYS attack with the minimum of 1 die.

Combat Results

When attacking, the BOT always uses the BOT combat results table, apply the results for each die.

• 1: Attacker loses 2 Cohesion
• 2: Attacker loses 1 Cohesion
• 3: Defender loses 1 Cohesion
• 4: Defender loses 2 Cohesion
• 5: Defender loses 2 Cohesion
• 6: Defender loses 3 Cohesion + must retreat from current location

19.9 Redoubts with the BOT

When the BOT attacks a player formation that has one or more redoubt in its location it rolls one fewer die than detailed on the card for every redoubt the player has. As in the two player game, redoubts that are used are consumed, and returned to the general pool. But the BOT will ALWAYS attack with at least 1 die.

Redoubts are only consumed after red arrow modifiers. If the player has 3 redoubts on a location, and the BOT has 3 attack dice, 2 redoubts will be consumed, so the BOT has 1 die with which to attack. The location retains 1 redoubt which can be used in a subsequent turn. If the player has 3 redoubts and the BOT is attacking with 3 dice through a single red arrow, 1 die will be removed because of the red arrow, and 1 redoubt will remove 1 other die, but the BOT will still attack with 1 die, and 2 redoubts will remain in place.

When the player attacks a BOT formation that has one or more redoubt in its location the face of a die is set to 1 for each redoubt. As in the two player game, these dice faces are set for the duration of the attack. If the player has a major activation they may attack again, with new dice.

BOT Retreats

Formations retreat in the same way as in the two player game.

Additionally, if, for the BOT, there is still more than one possible target location, use a D6 to help the BOT decide.

20. Two Player Example of Play

I'm playing as the Union, and Grant is playing as the Confederates. In the two player version, the Union player always goes first.

I set up the game.

Unknown to Grant, I place Couch in 7, and both Howard and Meade in 2. These three formations are all behind my screen.

I don't know where Grant has placed Anderson and McLaws, but they are either in 10, 12, or 22.

I draw 6 activation cards, and return 3. Grant does the same, but agonizes over the decision. The level of concentration is evidently painful in some way. I say nothing. It would just slow him down.

My selected activation cards are: SICKLES/Meade; COUCH/Meade; MEADE/Couch/Sickles.

I play the activation card: MEADE/Couch/Sickles, and receive 2 Momentum cubes from the pool on the game board. In addition Grant now announces that he had placed Anderson in location 22 at the beginning of the game, so he is now also visible to Meade, and so moves from the Hidden Movement Map onto the game board.

(If there were already 2 formations in location 22, then McLaws would not have been able to move there. He would have to move to another adjacent location - one without any enemy formations. Although away from location 22, he would, in that instance, have been able to move to location 21. Formations are only destroyed in retreats as a last resort.)

Grant elects to complain about the dice I'm using.

On the Tactics card tableau is a card I like the look of in slot #1. REORGANIZE. It costs 2 Momentum cubes. I decide it's worth it, and return my 2 cubes to the pool on the board, in exchange for the card.

I take the top card from the top of its draw deck, turn it face-up and put it in slot #1. No cards are removed to the discards deck because a card was purchased this turn.

I receive a new card from the top of my activation deck.

My turn is over.

Grant looks at his activation cards and can't decide which to play...

I decide to use Couch's minor activation first and move him to location 4, where Sickles is. This reduces Couch's cohesion by 1.

Couch is now adjacent to the enemy so I transfer him from the Hidden Movement Map to the main game board.

I use Sickles' minor activation next and move him away from 4. I decide to move him to location 3, but don't put him on the game board yet. Since he is no longer adjacent to the enemy I move him to the Hidden Movement Map. For all Grant knows Sickles could be in location 7.

Next I use Meade's major activation to move 2 locations. I reduce Meade's cohesion by 1 before I forget. First he moves to location 9. But since this is hashed and farthest along the line of march he is now visible (thanks to JEB Stuart's cavalry screen), so I move him from the Hidden Movement Map onto the main game board. Grant then announces that, in fact, he has placed McLaws in location 10 - sly fox that he is - and so he moves McLaws from his Hidden Movement Map onto the game board too. Meade still has one more move left in his major activation. I could attack McLaws, or head to my original (although unstated) intention of the objective at 18 (Chancellorsville Junction). I could also move to 8. While I'm contemplating this I remove Slocum from the game board to the Hidden Movement Map. JEB's cavalry are no longer in contact with him. Only the lead formation(s) on the hashed track are visible to the Confederates. Although Grant still knows where Slocum is I decide - sly fox that I am - I'd like to keep him guessing. Indeed, there is a ripple across his forehead suggestive of intelligence.

I decide to take on McLaws with Meade, and so move to location 10, where combat now occurs.

In Meade's formation area it tells me he has 5 dice. Since I am attacking from location 9 there is a black arrowhead, which gives me no modifiers to this roll.

I roll 6, 6, 6, 1, 2.

I decide to re-roll, and don't have enough Momentum cubes to pay for it (I only have 2), so reduce Meade's cohesion by another 1.

I keep the 6, 6, 6, and re-roll the 1 and 2, with which I get a 6 and a 1. Grant scoffs at my good fortune. This is unworthy of Grant, who should admire my sense of dash and elan in an instance such as this.

The two pairs of 6s cause a loss of 4 cohesion for McLaws, and force him to retreat.

McLaws tries to retreat to 22 per the retreat rules. There's no impediments, so move there without complication. McLaws is still adjacent to Meade, so he remains on the game board. In addition Grant now announces that he had placed Anderson in location 22 at the beginning of the game, so he is now also visible to Meade, and so moves from the Hidden Movement Map onto the game board.

I take the top card from the top of its draw deck, turn it face-up and put it in slot #1. No cards are removed to the discards deck because a card was purchased this turn.

I draw a new card from the top of my activation draw deck.

My turn is over.

The BOT has its turn.

I turn over the top of its activation deck.

[BOT Card 2]

This awards +1 cohesion to the weakest formation. But all formations are at their maximum levels, so the instruction is ignored.

Meade is not on the board, he is on the Hidden Movement Track (HMT), so he is not adjacent to the enemy (me), and so cannot attack.

So he is moved +2 up the HMT. He is at 2 on the HMT, so the next condition triggers. There is no one to attack in location 12, so he looks to the next location. McLaws is in 22 so Meade attacks there, with 3 dice.

He rolls 1, 3, and 6. Looking at the results table on the game board this gives us:

• 1: Attacker loses 2 Cohesion
• 3: Defender loses 1 Cohesion
• 6: Defender loses 3 Cohesion + must retreat from current location

This reduces Meade's cohesion by 2, and McLaws' cohesion by 4. In addition, McLaws must retreat.

Since Meade has come off the HMT we don't know for sure where has come from. Locations 21, 12, and 23 are all a possibility.

As a Confederate retreat, I must first try to retreat to 21 or 23, when being forced out of 22. I choose to retreat to 21. I don't like that being in 23 could box me in.

Meade occupies location 22, and takes control of the objective.

(If Meade had not caused a retreat he would have been placed at one of the three possible attack locations (21, 12, 23). There is no future attack advantage to it being in any of those locations so a D6 would have been used to decide its placement.)

Sickles attacks because he is adjacent to Early, with 2 dice. However, Early is across the river, so Sickles has one die removed. Early also has a redoubt, but since Sickles' dice total can't be lower than 1, the redoubt remains in place, and Sickles' attack is reduced to 1 die.

Sickles rolls a 4. This inflicts a loss of 2 cohesion on Early.

21. Solo Player Example of Play

I'm playing as the Confederates. In the solo player version the player always goes first.

I set up the game. I place Early, AP Hill, and Colston in the locations they must go. I decide to place Anderson in location 10, and McLaws in location 22.

I draw 6 cards from the top of my activation deck. I select 3, and return the other 3 to the deck, and reshuffle it.

My selected activation cards are: MCLAWS/Anderson; EARLY/AP Hill; MCLAWS/Anderson

I play the activation card: EARLY/AP Hill, and receive 2 Momentum cubes from the pool on the game board.

Early has a major activation. He builds a redoubt where he is, and pays no activation cost because of it. I take a brown redoubt cube from the pool on the game board.

AP Hill has a minor activation, but also builds a redoubt where he is, and pays no cost.

I see nothing I want on the Tactics tableau, so I buy nothing. The card in slot #3 is moved to the discards, the other two cards are moved a slot to the right, and a new card is moved from the top of the Tactics draw deck to the slot #1.

I draw a new card from the top of my activation draw deck.

My turn is over.

The BOT has its turn. I turn over the top of its activation deck.

[BOT Card 2]

Meade is not on the board, he is on the Hidden Movement Track (HMT), so he is not adjacent to the enemy (me), and so cannot attack.

So he is moved +2 up the HMT.

He is at 2 on the HMT, so the next condition triggers. There is no one to attack in location 12, so he looks to the next location. McLaws is in 22 so Meade attacks there, with 3 dice.

Sedgwick is also adjacent, and so he attacks Hill with 3 dice.

Hill is also across the river, and has a redoubt, so Sedgwick's dice are also reduced to 1. In this case the redoubt is used, so it is returned to the pool on the game board.

Sedgwick rolls a 3. This inflicts a loss of 1 cohesion to AP Hill.

The activation card is placed in the discard part of the game board.

This is the end of the BOT's turn. The BOT is faster than Grant.

Note: none of the BOT formations paid an activation cost.

22. Historical Summary and Designer Notes

Combat in Battle Formations Games

It has long bothered me that in many years of playing wargames - of both the miniatures and board game varieties - the actual combat resolution has so often proved to be the least fun part. Poring over Combat Result Tables, calculating odds, adding modifiers, subtracting others, staring at some dice to discern their meaning, checking the maths, and then figuring out the result, before remembering some forgotten modifiers and rechecking results is how it can often go. I've even found myself avoiding combat in some game systems because the calculations were unappealing. But, instead of this often messy and poorly paced moment, it felt like combat resolution ought to be the apex of a wargame - a dramatic, tightly orchestrated moment that could be representational of the historical elements - as well as fun.

We know dice rolling can be fun. Games like Yahtzee and King of Tokyo have shown this. With this thought in mind, reducing the number of modifiers, and reducing the cognitive distance between a roll and its meaning felt like steps in the right direction. I felt that you should roll the dice and know as soon as possible what they meant or that moment of drama was being dissipated. A lifetime of not only playing and making games but of also writing stories have had a bearing on this sense of the critical role of pacing. This critical moment in gameplay needed to be theatrical in construction and work like a good punchline, not like a potentially good punchline once you'd cross checked references.

Yet the moment of climax in combat between many hundreds of troops is often not just one moment on which everything is staked. It is also an ebb and flow lasting many minutes. There is tension in the build up to the apex of a drama. Even better if the player has the agency to determine the extent of this build up. That way they're complicit in the construction of the drama they're partaking in. This conceptualizing is really the heart of what games writing, or narrative designing, is really about. So, making re-rolling central to the combat results moment was a way to capture some of this thinking. By offering re-rolling I could neatly represent the tactical choice commanders made between pushing an attack, or relenting. Pushing an attack would always incur losses, perhaps pushing a unit closer to implosion, but might prove to be the best call. Throughout it all the player would be at the center of this drama with difficult choices.

So, although there are many dice in a battle formations game, it's not just a matter of rolling and seeing if you're lucky or not. It's all a question of how you respond to the rolls. Do you use your Momentum cubes to re-roll, or save them for the Tactics cards? Do you reduce your Cohesion levels to re-roll, or accept the lost opportunity and cut your losses, hoping to gain advantage in a later attack? Do you have your eye on the Tactics tableau and how to maximize your situation in upcoming turns?

The point is, the design intention behind the combat resolution was to try to reclaim the combat resolution moment as a moment of drama. I was searching for a way for it to be experientially appealing - more Give me the dice I want to roll!, rather than I hate figuring out the odds and modifiers so let me take a deep breath first while I think about it and you get bored. I wanted to attempt to conceive of combat resolution as a gameplay moment that could reflect something of historical truth at the same time as it could be fun.

Chancellorsville

In attempting to wargame the battle of Chancellorsville - or, as it could more accurately be considered - a series of interlinking battles at the climax of the Chancellorsville campaign - the fog of war seems unquestionably critical. As Clausewitz termed it, this wasn't just the obscuring of what you could see. Rather, it was more profoundly, the obscuring of what you could know - not just about dispositions, but also about how troops in combat would definitively perform. Of course, Hooker and Lee couldn't clearly see what they were each up to at every stage of the campaign. Without representing the fog of war a wargame on Chancellorsville seems to me as if it's missing the real essence of what's thrilling about this campaign for players. The bluff and counter-bluff as the armies sought positional advantage, Hooker's daring flank march Lee couldn't immediately detect, Lee's daring response to split his army Hooker likely didn't expect, and then one of the most renowned flank attacks in the annals of military history are the real stuff of this campaign.

The attempts to represent the fog of war in this game are modest. After all, playability and accessibility are critical to this series and the intended audience. Firstly, the use of screens for hidden movement is nothing new. We have seen it commercially since at least the 1980s with GDW's double blind series. But this approach has so largely been discredited by lack of commercially broad application that it may, indeed, be new to many players. Considerable thought - and trial and error - has gone into the design of the board so that Hidden Movement Maps and screens are sufficiently functional to do their job, but not too disruptive to the social experience of playing a board game that players feel disconnected from each other and trapped in cardboard isolation zones. Although many - indeed most - units in this game begin on the board and exposed to view - the effect of having 2 Confederate and 3 Union units off the board is, I suggest, sufficient for players to feel the thrill of uncertainty about dispositions and likely related strategies, and for them to attain the sense that they have a surprise or two to unleash on the other player, whilst accompanied by a sense that they have reasons of their own to be wary of enemy plans.

The second main way fog of war is represented here is through the reinforcements deck. Use of this deck is a simple way of masking a formation's precise cohesion total. Armies, after all, don't always have accurate information about the strength of their enemy army's constituent parts.

The uncertainty of the draw of Tactics cards, the uncertainty of their purchase, and the uncertainty of the timing of their being played at all are further ways the system represents fog of war.

In the solitaire version of the game the hidden movement track also ensures that the solo player cannot be certain where the unseen enemy units are nor where they might appear giving them a further fog of war experience.

When I told Mike I planned to tackle Chancellorsville next after Freeman's Farm, he, entirely reasonably, asked me how I planned to tackle Jackson's flank march. I told him, entirely honestly, that I didn't know yet, but I was confident I'd figure that out when I got to thinking about it. I had a strong feeling that I'd just know how to do it when I focused my mind on it properly. The result was a game more different from Freeman's Farm than we had perhaps all envisaged. But one I think attempts to appropriately absorb the history that informs it, and one I think we are all delighted with.

DESIGN NOTE: Where is Rodes? Brigadier General Robert Emmet Rodes was present at Chancellorsville, with D.H. Hill's division (D.H. Hill had fallen foul of Robert E. Lee and was in South Carolina recruiting troops at the time of the battle). In this game his presence is represented by the increased effectiveness of A.P. Hill's division - uniquely 6 dice for combat as a default, instead of the usual 5. His otherwise absence is a design choice, because I wanted a 7-5 balance in the number of Union to Confederate formations in play. The scaling of the game is such that Union formations are corps, whereas Confederate formations are divisions. Although Confederate divisions tended to be much larger than Union divisions, the fact remains that the Union troop numbers were close to double those of the Confederates in this battle. I wanted to ensure Union numerical superiority was reflected in the game, to give some nod to the simulation, but I also wanted to ensure some playable asymmetry in the game. I didn't want players to be lost in micromanaging more than a very limited number of units each. I wanted the Union to have more, so they had an array of offensive strategies to pursue, but I didn't want them to have too many more so that the game became horribly unbalanced, or so that it became markedly ahistorical through misrepresentations of organizational limitations.

Once again, thank you to Mike, Grant, Sean, Mark, Sam, and playtesters.

-Maurice, Charlottesville, Virginia, (Prezcon) 53 miles from Chancellorsville, March 2020.

Bibliography

Smith, C., Chancellorsville: 1863. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1998.

Gallagher, G., Glatthaar, J.T., Krick, R., Engle, S., The American Civil War: this mighty scourge of war. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003.

Mackowski, C., and White, K.D., Chancellorsville's Forgotten Front: the battles of second Fredericksburg and Salem Church, May 3, 1863. El Dorado Hill, CA: Savas Beatie, 2013.

Credits

Game Design: Maurice Suckling

Solitaire Game Development: Mark Wylie

Creative Direction: Sean Cooke

Original Map Design: Sam Chung

© 2020 Worthington Publishing

Quick Reference

Two Player - Quick Reference

Sequence of Play

The Union player takes the first turn in a round. Then the Confederate player takes their turn in a round.

Each player's turn has the same phases:

1. Play Activation card from one of the three in your hand and gain momentum cubes for the card played.
2. Determine whether you are playing the major, minor, or one of the free actions of transfer reinforcements or build redoubt.
3. Pay Activation cost by reducing cohesion for the activated formation.
4. If, as a result of movement, combat occurs, perform combat.
5. After all actions have been performed, optionally purchase one tactics card, and refresh the tableau with a new card.
6. Draw a new Activation card.

Combat Results

When attacking, each player always uses the PLAYER combat results table.

Terrain Modifiers

• Attacking along double-headed green arrows = +2 dice
• Attacking along single-headed red arrow = -1 die
• Attacking along all other arrowheads = no effect

Solitaire - Quick Reference

Sequence of Play

The sequence of play for the solitaire player is the same as in the two player version.

For the BOT the sequence is:

• Turn over the top card of the BOT activation draw deck, read it, and apply the directions.

Rule Changes in Solo Game

• The BOT NEVER pays an activation cost for its formations.
• The BOT NEVER receives any momentum cubes.
• The BOT General(s) abilities NEVER feature in the game.
• The tactics deck is NEVER cycled through in the BOT's turn.

Combat Results

When attacking, the BOT always uses the BOT combat results table, apply the results for each die.

BOT Terrain Modifiers

• BOT attacking along double-headed green arrows = +1 die
• Attacking along single-headed red arrow = -1 die
• Attacking along all other arrowheads = no effect

Note: regardless of modifiers from arrowheads and redoubts, a BOT formation will ALWAYS attack with the minimum of 1 die.