The game covers many of the overall strategic considerations that arose in the American Civil War. It is playable, entertaining and instructive. Once the somewhat wordy and voluminous rules (together with the various proof reading errors) have been digested the game can come alive. The movement rules provide the usual terrain restrictions and a seasonal variation in the movement allowance together with realistic rail movements. The Union capacity for sea lifting land forces obliges the CSA player to guard ports and the South's long Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastline. The Union sea and river forces movement up tidal and navigable rivers in the South effectively limit and blockade the movement of CSA reinforcements to critical areas. Unlike many other boardgames the Zones of Control do not provoke combat but merely have a slowing up effect on the movement of enemy forces. Combat can be initiated at the choice of the player and then he can select approximately the amount of casualties he wishes to sustain. Historically combat resulted in similar casualty rates being sustained by both attacker and defender. The great consumer of resources to the attrition rule which reflects disease and desertion. It occurs in the Summer and Autumn quarters of each year and perhaps shows the numbers of young lads who drifted back to their farms to help with harvesting. The stacking of units causes high attrition rates symptomatic of the epidemics that could break out with high concentrations of people. The Command Control rules introduce an interesting aspect of the Civil War. It reflects the greater cohesion of the CSA forces and the lack of it on the Union side. The Northern player will perhaps share the frustration that Lincoln felt when as much as half the Union land forces fail to respond to strategic initiatives. The command figures introduce those leaders capable of welding forces into effective fighting units like Lee or Grant. However, the casualty rate of these command figures seems to be unduly high for there is 8 six to one chance of them being killed. The game designer must have had an affection for Admiral David G. Farragut who cannot be killed. Why shoula he be immortal? The greatest drawback to the command control rule is that land forces on an East West defence line can all be frozen whereas those on a North South defence line have a greater opportunity of moving. The sequence of play is useful in that it helps to sort out a complex game-into logical and clearly defined steps. This may detract from the playability and slow the game down. The mix of playing pieces is somewhat poor especially for the Southern player who needs to construct ports and garrison them with unit one combat pieces. There are just not enough to go round and the players must resort to using additional hand 'coined! pieces. The double match rule simulates accurately the steamroller effect of Sherman's march to the see. The various other rules place the game in its historical context such as the limited CSA supply capacity, the need for Union Railway conversion units to convert Confederate gauge railways to Union, the Kentucky Neutrality rule and the Union sympathetic areas in Virginia and Tennessee. Playability is a balance between historical accuracy and amount of mental effort required of the players. Each city has the intrinsic defence value of one combat unit. Each State which if its borders are violated by the enemy can raise a militia of one combat unit. Reinforcements are arbitrarily raised at certain points on the North and South. Surely some cities having larger populations could have larger intrinsic defence values? Are Richmond, Atlanta or Selina all identical cities? Also the States populations varied from one to another, hence the militias raised would vary. However, the game strikes a good balance between playability and historical accuracy and these inconsistencies are not too annoying. The scenarios could be more ambitious such as British military and naval intervention on behalf of the South. But this could be left up to the inventiveness of individual players. In summary the game is thoroughly enjoyable and worth playing. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 153 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Donald Featherstone. 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