Yes folks, I did it again. I couldn't resist when my daughter came into the computer room with those doe eyes of hers and asked in her innocent voice, "Daddy, will you set up a Civil War battle for my class like the Romans and Barbarians you did last year?" Naturally I immediately agreed and began organizing the 2nd Annual Keene Mill Elementary wargame event.
First, I sent a letter off to Hillary's brilliant and saintly teacher Mrs. Allen to ask her permission. I spelled out my intent to refight an ACW battle, my need for about two hours of time, a gaming table(s) of at least 4' x 6', and my intent to assign some reading homework. She happily agreed and off I went.
I considered several battles, but since the kids were going to see Gettysburg on a field trip I thought fighting that battle would be best. I painted up a few more units to round out the forces, and labeled all the units and leaders using a color printer with blue and gray tags. Unit ID tags listed their name or unit and the number of starting stands; i.e. Doubleday Div, I Corps, 7 while leaders had tags telling name, leaders bonus, and command radius; i.e. Longstreet, +3, 7".
I had fought Gettysburg before so I already possessed the terrain I would need to cover the table, including all the key features. I just touched up some of the foam hills and laid the whole thing out, then drew the layout on paper so I could set up quickly later in the classroom. I numbered the hill pieces on the paper and the bottom of the hill so I could set up quickly and not spend too much time thinking, "gee, I wonder whether it's this hill or that hill?"
Having recently participated in Pete Panzeri and Jodie's Campaign '99 refight of Gettysburg, I was current on the order of battle and historical background, but I had to tune it to the kids. The rules I used (included elsewhere in this magazine, I think) where a collage of On to Richmond and Fire and Fury. I wanted the rules to be simple enough for inexperienced players to learn by reading, yet still give the flavor of the period. I fudged the numbers of troops (and their arrival times) and leaders used to fit the number of kids playing (14 boys and 12 girls), with my daughter as helper once again.
I playtested the rules and scenario three times. It was going to be tough for the Confederates depending on the tactics of the Union, but assuming nothing really bizarre, I expected a fairly historical outcome. Since I couldn't be fancy and use night turns, I essentially ran Days 1 and 2 of the battle together into one large fight—though I did stop play at the time it would have been nightfall and told them how they were doing relative to their predecessors.
The tables turned out to be perfect giving me a 5' x 8' table, which fit well with my flocked, felt mat and the terrain I brought. Setup went quickly and I was ready as the kids came back from lunch. Controlling their enthusiasm and hence the noise level is the toughest part. That's why I enlisted my daughter's help as she ran one side of the table while I ran the other. Worked great.
Opening Battle
The opening battle on Herr Ridge and McPherson's Ridge were bloody. Heth's Division died quickly to combined carbine and artillery fire followed up by melee. However, the Union battery was lost, and the follow up assault by Pender and Anderson's Division swept the cavalry off the table. The Union 1st Corps decided to retire rather than fight. Meanwhile Howard and Schurz's Division took one volley from Early and his artillery and suffered 33% casualties—this precipitated an immediate retreat to Cemetery Hill. He (she) would loose another 17% during the retreat from artillery fire.
Then began the race—the Union swiftly pulling back, protected somewhat by two batteries firing at long range, and the Confederates massing their forces and probing slowly ahead looking for weakness in the Union lines. As the Union II and XII corps came up, rather than forming on Cemetery Ridge and Little Round Top, they passed through the position and moved forward to plant their left flank on the Seminary and the woods, with their right anchored on Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill. Very interesting. Meanwhile, JEB Stuart showed up early (played by Danila-—a recent Russian immigrant) and sneakily began trying to turn the Union right by moving down the board edge into the woods.
Finally, the initial Confederate assaults on the Union position hit home on the last turn of our game. Both sides suffered bloody losses, but part of the Union line on Cemetery Hill was driven back, and the left flank of the Union line was turned. But the Confederates had paid a price, and several units were pretty badly mauled. At that point, since the Union turn would have been next, and they could refuse their left flank and pull back, as well as reoccupy the positions on Cemetery Hill, I gave the Union a marginal victory. However, given 4 to 6 more turns, I think the Confederates would have made life very difficult for the Union. No reserves had been kept fill in holes that might develop so any breakthrough would have been disastrous. Nevertheless, the commanders of both sides did very well—kudos to Liz Hicks (Meade) and Massoud Nezam (Lee).
Everyone seemed to have a good time, and the kids eyes really popped out when I gave out the "trophies." Last year I gave out colored ribbons. But this year, since we are moving to Washington state and I wouldn't get to play with this very nice group of kids again, I wanted to do something special. I couldn't afford real trophies, but I got an idea. I pulled out 26 15mm USA and CSA unpainted figures, including two mounted generals, and spray-painted them gold. Then I mounted them on 1" square bases and painted the 1/4 inch edges blue or gray, and using an indelible marker wrote "1999" on them. I also mounted three other bases for the first one killed (labeled "Bummer" with a casualty figure), best fighter (labeled "Top Gun" using a sharpshooter figure), and "Helper" with a general and an aide . The effect was quite striking and very popular with the kids and the teacher.
Would I do this again? You bet. The kids are fun, if rambunctious. And many showed a keen interest in the history, tactics, or rule mechanics that could lead them to more historical gaming in their future. Many boys already had experience with Warhammer Fantasy and 40K, and this might be the thing that sparks their historical interest. I highly recommend it to anyone.
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© Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum
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