The game starts on the 10:30 AM turn. The slugfest in the Union center began fairly quickly with Logan's and Hovey's commands moving quickly into contact with Stevenson's division. All three divisions were bloodied, Stevenson's practically to the point of no return. Tom was able to hold the hill, though, by stacking his infantry with unlimbered artillery. This allowed him to ignore retreat results and thrash the Federal troops thrown against him.

The Pause. The Union 13 Corps received a Corps Attack Stoppage. The Confederates received an Emergency Corps Retreat. Neither side could capitalize on the other's misfortune.

At 11:30, on the Confederate right, one brigade routed. The Union troops moved as quickly as possible to take advantage of the situation, but rough terrain prevented what might have been a Confederate disaster.

Tom tried to do what I thought he would, moving Bowen in to help Stevenson, but his die rolling prevented prompt execution of the plan. He managed to throw me back from the hill, though. This game is a race against the clock for the Union. I started to worry about my chances when my assault stalled around mid-day. My big flanking move wasn't helping, either. Most of those troops, by noon, had still not gone into action. Daylight was burning. The "effusion of blood" became unbearable.

Most of this game came down to tremendously costly fights that neither side could capitalize upon. The bloody fighting continued though, until both sides were near collapse. Then the game system took over at 1:30, disaster took a swing at the Union ... and I dodged.

My Union troops were really starting to show some wear and 13 Corps failed its Corps Attack Stoppage. Carr, though, on a divisional goal, overran the Confederate HQ, triggering an army-wide Emergency Corps Retreat for the Confederates. That put both of us in No Orders Status. Tom was going to hold the all-important hilltop, but he was forced to retreat. I needed to move or lose the game.

After the Corps Attack Stoppage, I used the time given me to retrieve some stragglers, realign everyone and get ready for the opportunity I knew would eventually present itself. Tom was doing the same thing.

I was fortunate rolling for order acceptance and got the Big Blue Machine rolling again, this time with everyone assembled. It even looked like I would be able to get those southern victory points. At 4:00, McPherson accepted orders to move a division along the Jackson Road to take the Ratliff house. In the end, they never made it, but, for a while, there was a chance.

For the final three hours of the battle, both sides smashed away at each other. I tried to push over the top of Champion Hill; Tom tried to prevent it ... and almost succeeded.

In the end, the Union took the hill and the Confederates maintained their retreat route. The game was a draw on points. (Draw is defined as a differential of +4 to +10.) After a game that lasted three months, that's a good result in my book. Victory Points broke out like this:

Side	Casualties	Terrain	Wrecked Brigades (casualties)	Wrecked Brigades (stragglers)	Totals
Union	16	6	2	2.5	26.5
Confederate	13	4	3	1.0	21.0
Differential					+5.5

Historically, the dead and wounded on both sides were comparatively equal. The sides differed in the number of prisoners taken. The Confederates lost almost 1,800 men, the Union only 187. The CSA got no victory points for terrain historically, so, in that respect, Tom really hammered me.

More Two Hard Weeks

Introduction
Champion Hill Set Up
Champion Hill Strategy
The Armies Clash
After the Battle