Description

“Gettysburg: America at War” takes place in a time of swords, horsemen, and muskets. In our game, we attempt to simulate the feeling of being the commander of a Corps commander in the Civil War, notably it’s most well known and well studied battle, the Battle of Gettysburg. The desire to simulate a realistic battle has to be weighed against the constraints of time, attention, and ease of play. As such, we’ve streamlined the game a good deal since its initial play testing, and hope that you’ll find this version of the game easy to learn and play, taking no more than a few short minutes to get your first game underway. We have also attempted to order the scenarios not only by chronological order, but by complexity. This was done so that you can learn the finer points of strategy as you go along, without feeling bogged down trying to command half the Army of the Potomac.
Each chit in the game represents roughly one battalion of soldiers, or a single battery of guns. Although historically many of the battalions came from all over the country, and had a variety of names, to keep the game simple, we have avoided putting unit names on the chits, and simply created names for the OOB for each mission. Commander’s names have been kept though, and are generally correct in terms of participation in the events they are represented in.
Players take the role of either a Confederate or Union officer commanding his soldiers, alternating between players. The game is divided into a variety of scenarios to represent individual portions of the battle, and one large "Campaign" scenario. To win the player must complete the objectives stated on the scenario orders, which generally align to the historical goals of the respective commanders. Players move the chits around the map, having to take into account terrain, roads, and overall tactical situation.