Williamsburg 1862

Another excellent brigade-scale game by Ivy Street Games, that like the Cedar Mountain game, is a fine mix of chit pull and assigned orders that I really like. A bit more dynamic than Cedar Mountain, although in retrospect I think that the optional rules on Union command dynamics (to restrict them) would probably improve this one.

A game set in one of my favorite places in the country. I was worried about the scale, and I still am. A regimental scale would make for far better coverage/experience of the complex terrain, but the game plays well and is still exciting, although it is difficult for the Rebs to stop the Feds--too easy to get outflanked if the redoubts are used as your line of defense.

I bought this game on the Battle of Williamsburg twenty years ago when it first came out as a DTP, but did not get around to playing it until yesterday when I was able to get in a solitaire game on the 155th Anniversary of the battle. This game system is a real gem, eminently playable solitaire with a combination of chit draw activation of formations and a simple but effective orders system which serves to dictate what units can do when they are activated. Combat is also handled quite elegantly and simply, but nevertheless seems to model Civil War combat reasonably well showing the difficulty of successfully attacking defensive positions. In this replay of the battle the Union was on the offensive trying to break through the Rebel rearguard to Williamsburg and beyond, but they were bloodily repulsed, with five of the 12 brigades engaged eliminated and two more reduced. The Rebels by contrast were on the defensive most of the game, and only saw three of their ten brigades reduced with none eliminated. The Union was able to push the Rebels back a few hexes from their initial positions and meet their secondary objective of taking Fort Magruder, but did not seem to have a realistic chance of reaching their primary objective of putting three Union infantry units in or near Williamsburg. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the game and system, and I'd like to see the system applied to new games as it is a refreshing contrast to some of the more complex treatments of Civil War Battles currently being published.