Designed by Hampton Newsome for Ivy Street Games. This is the third game in a series, its predecessors covering Cedar Mountain and Williamsburg, and among the many excellent titles being published in DTP format. Units are mounted, through not die cut, and the rules laid out in a clear and concise way. The graphics, whilst not up to professional standards, are nonetheless very good. All in all each of these titles is a first class little package. Chantilly, with its two 11" by 17" maps and 220 back printed (yes back printed), counters, is the largest in the series thus far. Its subject matter is the battle of Chantilly, known also as Ox Hill, which I was unfamiliar with before reading the games historical notes. I can also recommend John Hennessey's Return To Bull Run (Simon & Schuster, 1993) for additional reading. Following the second battle at Bull Run, Stonewall Jackson was ordered to take his force around the right flank of Pope's army as it recovered at Centerville. The idea was to cut off its retreat to Washington's defences. The resulting battle is the subject matter for this game. A game turn commences with the orders phase. Formations can be given orders to advance, attack, hold or retreat, each restricting or obliging formations actions in some way. These are all straight forward and common sense, i.e. units with a retreat order will not advance and assault. Divisional leaders have to be within 18 movement points of their commander in order to receive orders. In addition, the actual distance between them can result in a delay of a turn or two before the new orders are received. Consequently, the successful player needs to be looking at least two turns ahead if he is to make the most of the limitations the command system may place on him or her. Otherwise, just when the enemy line weakens, the formation best placed to break it receives an order to retreat. It may have made sense two turns ago but now it has you tearing your hair out. A leader can attempt to ignore a new order via a die roll with his own effectiveness rating influencing the outcome. The entire orders system is very simple, takes no more than a minute as these are small battles with few leaders, and best of all involves no paperwork. We then move on to the aptly named Random Selection phase. As you may have guessed by its title, during this phase the familiar selection chits are placed in an opaque cup and blindly pulled out, one at a time, at random. Orders willing, the selected formations units indulge in movement, combat and rally as required. Movement is standard except opposite sides of an infantry unit counter represent the unit in either battle or line formation. The owning player can switch formation at a cost in movement points with line offering a higher movement rate but much reduced combat strength. Artillery units are either limbered or unlimbered whilst Cavalry have only one formation. There are also some very simple facing rules. All combat units have reduced strength due to combat represented by replacement units held off map. These are simply exchanged with one another as required. Combat is mandatory between adjacent units and is not odds based but determined by die roll. Odds, terrain, and facing all act as modifiers with retreats, routs and reductions resulting. Artillery is able to barrage at a range of up to six hexes, provided they have a line of sight. This is also resolved via a die roll with modifiers, through seldom results in losses. Each unit has an effectiveness rating, with the Confederates, on average, being the best. This rating is used, again with a die roll, to attempt to rally routed units. Those that fail retreat a further two hexes towards a friendly map edge. Cavalry can retreat before combat, rain slows down movement and reduces Artillery's effective range. A rest marker among the chits, when drawn, reduces the next formations Infantry to a one hex move with no combat. This represents the effects of fatigue that both sides were suffering at the time. Victory is based on a mixture of inflicting losses and holding victory hexes at games end. As well as the campaign game there is a shorter battle scenario, (the campaign allows for pre battle manoeuvre as well), and a short training scenario. Chantilly is a simple game with high elements of chaos and a reasonable playing time, two afternoons or evenings should be sufficient. In addition it does not suffer from high wristage or computer looping. It is well balanced, playable solo, and gives each side the opportunity to attack and defend. My favourite scenario is the campaign game, which sees both sides racing to occupy victory hexes prior to the start of battle. This results in battle lines somewhat different to those found historically and allows players to experiment with different strategies whilst giving good replay value. I like this game and would highly recommend it to all gamers. Those who fancy something smaller and more manageable first would be well served by Ivy Streets previous title Williamsburg. Back to Perfidious Albion #100 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. 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