I thought that perhaps my fellow ACW gamers might be interested in a scenario I recently developed and solofought for the battle of Gettysburg. Since the entire battle is just too much to take on I focused in on the crucial struggle for Little Round Top or the "little rocky hill" as it is called in may Southern battle reports. The rules I used were JEB though I must admit to fudging a bit on the ground scales (you 15mm gamers wouldn't have to). I designed it to be solo-fought but it could be adapted for competition ... II the opponents were more interested in having a good time than in making each other look bad. The setting is JULY 2,1862. General Sickles, the commander of the Union lil Corps, has taken up a position somewhat in advance of the one intended for him by General Meade. Sickles' extreme left rests on some high ground which terminates in a mass of borders known as Devil's Den. Due east of Devils Den is Little Round Top which is unoccupied except for a signal detachment and a sharp-eyed general named Warren. Poised to strike this portion of the line are three brigades of Confederate infantry of the division of Major General Hood. At 1600 hours we begin. Order of Battle UNION Brigadier General Ward's brigade (all fire class B except the U S who are class A. 20th Indian - regular vets 3rd Maine - regular vets 4th Maine- reg vets 86th New York - reg vets 124th New York - regular vets 1&2 U S sharpshooters - elite vet! Smith's 4th New York Battery (3 sections 10 Parrots) RV CONFEDERATE Major General Hood Brigadier General Law's brigade (all are fire class B and regular vets) 4th Alabama 15th Alabama 44th Alabama 47th Alabama 48th Alabama Brigadier General Robertson's brigade (all are fire class B and crack vets) 3rd Arkansas 1st Texas 4th Texas 5th Texas POTENTIAL CONFEDERATE REINFORCEMENTS Brigadier General Benning's brigade (all are fire class B and reg vets) 17th Georgia 2nd Georgia 20th Georgia 15th Georgia POTENTIAL UNION REINFORCEMENTS Colonel Vincent's brigade 20th Maine elite 83rd Pennsylvania - elite 16th Michigan - regular vets Brigadier General Weed's brigade 140th New York - elite 146th New York - elite 91 st Pennsylvania - regular vets 155th Pennsylvania - regular vets Hazlett's battery D 5th U.S. (2 section 10 pound Parrots) R.V. PLACEMENT OF FORCES UNION: Ward's brigade should be posted facing west along Devil's Den hill (some could be in reserve along the eastern slope). Two sections of Smith's battery should be posted in small clearing between boulders and woods on Devil's Den hill. (3rd section in reserve on eastern slope) An officer figure, General Warren, should be on Little Round Top. All other Union forces are off the field and may only enter when "sent for" by General Warren. CONFEDERATE: Law's brigade enters the field from the western edge heading toward Round Top. Robertson's brigade enters along the western edge, just north of Law, advancing toward Devil's Den hill. Benning's brigade is not on the field and might not arrive at all! No southern artillery is used in this scenario as they supplied little support in this area (through no fault of their own) and no batteries advanced with the infantry due to the nature of the terrain. REINFORCEMENTS UNION: Vincent's brigade, Weed's brigade, and Hazlett's battery must be "sent for" by General Warren. This is done by his leaving the field down the northern slope of Little Round Top on one turn and returning with them two turns later. He may do this any time after the fourth game turn. It should be noted here in the interest of realism that this shouldn't really happen until Warren actually "sees the need". Order of arrival would be Vincent's brigade followed by Hazlett's battery and lastly Weed's brigade, all up the northern slope of Little Round Top. CONFEDERATE: Benning's brigade is in reserve behind Law's Brigade but may only enter the field 11 and when Vincent's union brigade does. This is to simulate his actual accidental arrival on the battle line 116 years ago. Victory conditions are quite simple. To win, the confederate forces must take Little Round Top within 20 turns. This is when darkness falls and terminates practical operations. The union forces must prevent the confederates from aquiring the aforementioned piece of real estate. A FEW NOTES 1. If uncomfortable as to why the confederates enter field so close to the union line on Devil's Den Hill...woods and undulating terrain actually allowed them to advance quite far unmolested (unlike Picket's unfortunates the following day). 2. Be prepared for agonizingly slow going through the woods which are present in abundance. 3. Although there are no trees on most of Little Round Top it should be strewn with rocks and shrubs as should the other hills. 4. Warren exercised no control over Ward's brigade and minimal control over any of the other troops. (He had aquired the reinforcements through convincing logic and a little bit of begging and not through his rank). Do not award him the field commander bonuses as outlined in JEB. This may at first seem unfair considering his contribution to the real battle but this he has been given the power to recreate. I simply can't see him leading an infantry charge or having much of a steadying effect on troops who don't know him. 5. I won't go into my own refight in any great length but I did experience having Warren arrive in the nick of time, a reincarnation of the countercharge of the 140th New York, and Alabaman troops getting a heck of a beating by the 20th Maine at the southern base of Little Round Top ... all unfudged by human hands. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. 1 #6 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1979 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com