Tactics In 'Gettysburg'
Scenario #1: First Day
By Doug McNair
June 2006

Our “Rectangles of War” series has always been my favorite tactical combat system because of its simplicity, speed of play and span of so many different historical periods. To illustrate the latter, today I follow my recent article on Rome at War: Fading Legions with one on War of the States: Gettysburg.

The main focus of fun in Rome at War is the huge variety of exotic troop types (legions, barbarians, phalanxes, elephants, horse and camel cavalry, etc.). Rome at War games give players numerous set-piece battles on flat, open terrain, that let them focus on combining the different strengths of their various troop types to defeat the enemy.

But in War of the States, the set-piece battle takes second place to maneuver and jockeying for the high ground on much larger, historically accurate maps. This is nowhere better illustrated than in Scenario #1 of our first War of the States game, Gettysburg.

In the First Day scenario, General Reynolds must quickly gather a widely dispersed force of Union infantry divisions and throw up lines of defense to prevent General Lee from storming the board and grabbing the high ground for the Army of Virginia. And because both armies enter the board piecemeal from several different directions, victory for both players hinges on the leadership qualities of each individual general.

Factors Driving Play

The main factors driving play in the First Day scenario are:

Terrain

The Confederate objective is to drive the few starting on-board Union forces out of the northern half of the board, and prevent the rest from advancing any farther north or west than Cemetary Ridge. The Union objective is to have at least three infantry divisions north or west of Cemetary Ridge by the end of the day. And each side must also try to inflict at least 20 step losses on the other while taking no more than 15 step losses itself.

For each of these three objectives, terrain is the key. Units on high ground or in town or woods areas get defensive bonuses and are hard to dislodge. The Union player must rush forward to grab whatever defensible terrain north and west of Cemetary Ridge that he can, while the Confederate player must push past such terrain quickly and place his forces where they can block the Union divisions from getting there, or force them off the hills if they do.

Leadership defined. Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine.

Leadership

Especially in the early going, each force that enters the board will likely be outside the command radius of its commanding general. This means that each subordinate general must roll equal to or less than his Initiative rating every turn to put his troops in command. Troops in command can attack and move normally, while troops out of command can’t attack and have their movement allowance reduced by one. This reduction in movement allowance is particularly bad in the First Day scenario, since both sides’ entering forces must march double-quick-time to link-up with their commanding generals and get to the high ground first.

On average, Confederate leadership quality at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, is superior to the Union’s. The Confederate player needs to use this to his advantage, sending his subordinate generals out independently to take on individual Union generals in the hope of blocking them from linking up with Reynolds.

By the same token, Reynolds must dash forward with as many forces as possible and put himself in a position to block the Confederate advance, so that the poorer-quality Union generals have time to move up and join him. Subordinate generals inside their commanding general’s command radius don’t have to put themselves in command — the commander does that for them. And once they’re with Reynolds, they can guard his flanks and extend the Union defensive line. But since the Confederates enter the board from the northwest, north and northeast, guarding the flanks of a line on the northern half of the board will be a very tricky affair.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em:

In all the Gettysburg scenarios, both sides must try to achieve their territorial objectives and inflict a certain number of losses on the enemy while keeping their own losses down below a certain level. Managing this last part is probably the issue that requires the most thought in Gettysburg.

There are several situations in which units could plunge in to outflank enemy units and do lots of damage — but they and other units on their side could end up taking much more damage than they dish out if they give up defensive terrain, break from their own line and/or expose their own flanks.

Conversely, when units take hits in combat, it’s a very careful balancing act deciding whether to stand one’s ground and absorb the hits (thus holding or maintaining progress toward geographical objectives), or to reduce hits against the units by retreating. Either choice has its pros and cons, but over the long term it’s best to retreat more often than not, because one or two extra losses each turn can add up to defeat over the course of the day.

A Matthew Brady photograph of the Gettysburg battlefield.

Game Summary

Here’s what happened in a recent game:

Setup

At 0700 hours on the morning of 1 July, General Buford and his cavalry have just spotted Confederate General A.P. Hill coming up the Chambersburg Pike from the west with Heth’s 1st Division of 3rd Corps. Buford’s cavalry has taken position on the road east of Hill’s advance, on top of Herr Ridge. General Reynolds has recently entered the board from the southwest with Wadsworth’s 1st Division of I Corps, and Robinson’s 2nd Division of I Corps has just entered behind him.

0700 hours

The commanding generals of both sides each have an initiative of 4. General Lee rolls higher on the first turn and wins initiative. He rolls again against his initiative and can activate one formation, which will obviously be Hill’s. Since Lee hasn’t entered the board yet, Hill must roll against his own initiative of 4 to put his troops in command, and he rolls a 2, doing so.

The two 3rd Corps artillery units with Heth’s division open fire on Buford’s position up on Herr Ridge and roll two 6’s on four dice! The cavalry and artillery unit in the same zone with Buford both take one step loss each, and Buford himself is killed on a roll of 11 (11 + one step loss beyond the first = 12 = death)! This is NOT a good start for the Union, which immediately gives Buford’s second in command (Wesley Merritt) a brevet promotion to Brigadier General.

Hill moves the first half of Heth’s Division laterally south so the second half can enter behind him (Confederate divisions are huge and take up two counters), and then they advance together across the stream and attack Buford’s cavalry on a broad front.

The northern half of Heth’s division does two hits to the sole full-strength cavalry unit left in Buford’s force (on the rise north of the road). The cavalry rolls less than its morale and is able to retreat to reduce the hits on it to one (thus surviving the attack). The cavalry also fires on its way out, getting one extra die for being on the rise. It does one hit to the Heth/1 division counter, which takes the step loss and advances to take the high ground the cavalry vacated.

Then Hill attacks the cavalry and artillery on the road where Buford was, doing one step loss. The units try to retreat to avoid the loss but roll higher than their morale, meaning they still retreat but take the step loss anyway. The Union player assigns the loss to the weakened artillery unit (he wants to keep both his cavalry units alive), which gets its revenge by hitting the Heth/2 Division once before it dies. The Heth/2 Division takes the loss and advances, and now Hill holds Buford’s old position on the road at Herr Ridge.

Reynolds rolls versus his initiative and can activate one formation. He and his two divisions charge northeast on the road, with the lead division reaching a rise just even with Cemetary Ridge to the west. The Confederates have all activated, so Reynolds rolls again and can activate what remains of Buford’s cavalry. The new Brigadier only has an initiative of 1, and he rolls a 6 and can’t put himself in command. So, he keeps his cavalry where they are, blocking the road to the east but leaving the Confederates’ way south offroad wide open.

Cavalry step losses count double, and artillery step losses count as 1/2 step each. So at the end of the first turn, the Union has taken four and a half step losses, and the Confederates have taken two.

0800

Lee wins initiative again but rolls higher than his initiative for activation and can’t activate any formations yet. Reynolds rolls a 1 and can activate both his on-board formations. His two divisions continue double-timing it northeast on the road.

Then the new brigadier rolls a 1 and activates himself! He shifts his two cavalry one zone to the southwest each, blocking any movement Hill might contemplate to the south, and also hitting his division in the front and flank. The 3-strength cavalry unit on Heth’s flank gets a 25% bonus for the flank attack. Heth gets no bonus for being on the rise since a cavalry unit is there with him, but he does get a bonus for higher morale and Hill’s leadership.

Both sides roll 6 dice. Heth/2 takes one hit, and would like to retreat to avoid it but would give up the ridge and the road in the process. So he takes the hit and hopes that his artillery on the road behind can activate and blast the flanking Federal cavalry off the hill. Heth gets no hits in return.

Lee rolls a 1 and can activate Hill, whose 3rd Corps artillery does fire at the cavalry on the hill but scores no hits. Then both counters of Heth’s division wheel south and hit the cavalry, which both roll less than their morale and are able to retreat one zone southward before the Confederate attack, thus avoiding combat and also getting outside the Confederate artillery’s range. Heth’s division advances southward, hoping to keep the Federal cavalry away from the road it is open for the Confederate reinforcements which will enter next turn.

At the end of Turn 2 the Federals are holding steady at four and a half step losses and the Confederates have taken three.

0900

Reynolds wins the initiative roll but then rolls a 6 and is unable to activate any of his formations. Lee rolls a 1 and can activate three formations, and since the only one that’s on board (or will enter this turn) is 3rd Corps, he activates them.

Hill’s two on-board 3rd Corps artillery units move east down the road to a flanking fire position on the Federal cavalry to the south. Then Pender’s division enters and heads eastward down the road while the two remaining 3rd Corps artillery units enter and head south of the road to a firing position on the Federal cavalry’s other flank. Next, Heth’s division attacks the cavalry, which once again rolls less than its morale and retreats south before combat, putting the rise between it and the just-entered Confederate artillery.

Reynolds rolls a 1 and can activate three formations. He advances northwest offroad with Wadsworth’s division to take the Lutheran Seminary on Seminary Ridge as a command post. He orders Robinson to keep moving his division up the road northeast to Gettysburg and then move northwest next turn to take up position on Reynolds’ right flank. Then Doubleday’s division enters the board close by to the west and moves to join the cavalry on the road south of Hill’s advance.

Finally, the brigadier fails to put himself in command, but is able to spread his cavalry out to screen the flanks of Doubleday and Wadsworth’s divisions. The Federals now have a line (of sorts) on the road running west/southwest of the Lutheran seminary.

The Confederates have all activated, so Reynolds rolls again and gets a 1, meaning he can activate General Howard and Barlow’s 1st Division of XI Corps, which enters the board on the road at the far southwest corner. All reinforcements are considered to be in command on the turn they enter, so Howard sprints up the road to the northeast at full speed. Reynolds rolls one more time to try to bring in Schurtz’ division of XI Corps at the south end of the board, but rolls a 6 and fails, ending the turn.

No losses were inflicted this turn, so step losses stand at Union: 4 1/2; Confederates: 3.

1000

Reynolds wins initiative again, and all his units plus the new brigadier are in his command radius. Only General Howard and Barlow’s division are outside command radius and must put themselves in command. Reynolds rolls a 1 for activation and can activate three formations.

For the first activation, he pulls in Doubleday’s division to join him on his left flank on Seminary Ridge, and then brings up Robinson on the right. Robinson sends his artillery ahead to take up position on Reynolds’ right flank on the ridge while his division prepares to slog up the hill through the woods there. Reynolds moves his artillery left down the ridge to a better firing position with Doubleday. Finally, has the Brigadier’s cavalry stay put on the road to screen Doubleday’s left flank, telling him to fall back to the ridge when attacked.

For the second activation, Howard fails to put himself in command, so he moves up the road from the southwest at half-speed, bringing in his other XI Corps Divisions under Schurtz and Steinwehr on the south road.

Lee rolls a 3 and can finally activate one formation. All the Confederate units on the board are 3rd Corps under Hill, and Hill puts himself in command so they all attack. The advance artillery on Hill’s eastern flank fire on the cavalry screening the western Federal flank, but fail to hit. The remaining two artillery units move south to take up a position on a rise flanking the Federal line. At the same time, Hill has Heth’s division move south and attack the screening Union cavalry, and Pender’s division moves east on the road to attack Robinson’s advance artillery on the ridge. The cavalry retreat south and up the ridge as ordered, and Heth’s division advances.

Then the Pender/1 counterattacks Robinson’s artillery, which is in the woods on the next rise. After modifications the Confederates attack with six dice and the Union artillery defend with five, and both sides hit on a 5 or 6 (infantry attacking artillery alone, and artillery defending against assault). Each side scores only one hit, and Pender chooses to fall back rather than take the hit since he’d be in danger of being outflanked if he stayed and the Union activated first next turn. The artillery take the hit and stand their ground so Robinson’s division can join them on the ridge next turn.

At the end of the fourth turn, the Union has take five step losses and the Confederates have taken three.

1100

Lee wins initiative, but rolls a 6 for activation and can activate nobody. So does Reynolds, and there’s a massive communication breakdown on both sides and the turn ends with nothing done! This is bad for both sides: It’s one hour closer to game’s end with no Confederate advance, but the Federals can’t bring up their reinforcements so the Confederates can keep pounding them next turn while they’re weak.

1200

Lee wins initiative again, and rolls a 2 this time, meaning he can activate two formations. The Confederate 3rd Corps artillery opens fire on the Union left flank. Units 1 and 2 on the road to the north finally hit, eliminating the cavalry unit in the woods on the south end of Seminary Ridge.

Then units 3 and 4 on the rise west of Seminary Ridge shoot over Heth’s division and destroy the last of Buford’s cavalry on the plain next to the ridge. This leaves Doubleday’s flank open, and Heth’s division charges up the ridge to attack him. Pender’s division moves laterally to the southwest to form a line with Heth’s, hitting Wadsworth’s division and Robinson’s artillery at the same time.

Heth’s division (two counters) attacks Doubleday’s division and artillery (plus the artillery Reynolds sent down) in the flank and rear. The attack is at 16 dice to eight, with the four artillery dice hitting on a 5 or 6. Heth scores 3 hits while Doubleday scores two.

Doubleday’s division takes a hit as does one artillery unit, and then Doubleday retreats off the ridge to extract himself from that outflanked position. The artillery try to retreat as well, but both roll more than their morale of 4 and are eliminated instead! That’s 2 1/2 more step losses for the Union.

Heth’s division takes both hits as step losses (Hill ducks to avoid being killed on a roll of 10) and takes the ridge, gaining Reynolds’ and Wadsworth’s flank. Pender’s division then holds the line against Reynold’s strong position at the Seminary, but attacks Robinson’s artillery on his right again to try and gain his other flank. Both sides score two hits! Pender takes them both and holds his ground, as do the artillery. That’s two step losses on the Confederates and one on the Union.

All of 3rd Corps units have activated, so for his second activation Lee brings in his belated reinforcement, Rhodes’ 3rd Division of 2nd Corps. It enters on the north board edge and charges south toward the Union right flank.

Reynolds rolls a 2 and can activate two formations. Hill and 3rd Corps have him outflanked on the left and can cut him off from his reinforcements if he doesn’t get off Seminary Ridge fast. And 2nd Corps has started entering the board on his right, so he’s got to fallback to the south so his reinforcements can catch up and make a new line north and west of Cemetary Ridge. The three Union Divisions pull back off the ridge and make a defensive semicircle with their right rooted on Gettysburg, sending riders south post-haste to tell Howard to bring up XI Corps. Howard is still out of Reynolds’ command radius but rolls a 2 to put himself in command. The units with him go north at full speed and he heads off-road to put the other XI Corps divisions on the south road in his command radius for next turn.

Lee rolls a 4 for one more activation and brings in his 3rd Corps reinforcements, which consist of himself and a bunch more artillery on the northwest road. Lee himself comes up to join the Pender/2 division on the northern Confederate flank. Then Lee fails to activate his remaining reinforcements, and the turn ends. This gives the Union a break, as General Ewell and 2nd Corps failed to enter, and Rhodes’ half-division of 2nd Corps infantry bearing down on the Union right flank will be out of command next turn.

At the end of the Noon turn, the Union has taken 12 1/2 step losses, and the Confederates have taken seven.

1300

Reynolds wins initiative and can activate one formation. He activates Howard, who rolls a 1 and puts himself in command. Barlow’s division moves up to extend the Union line south while Steinwehr and Schurtz charge north on the road.

Lee then fails to activate, and Reynolds rolls a 2 meaning he can activate two more formations. He brings in General Hancock (who doesn’t seem to have II Corps with him) on the southern road, has his artillery in Gettysburg fire on Rhodes’ division on the northern road (no effect), and then advances Doubleday’s division toward the ridge for a combined assault with Reynolds on the Heth/2 division counter.

The Federals have a general and superior morale, while the Confederates just have the high ground, so the Union attacks with 14 dice to the Confederates with six. Both sides score three hits, an incredible showing from Heth’s men! Wadsworth’s division takes two hits and retreats back toward Gettysburg, while Heth’s men take two hits and retreat off the ridge. This leaves the Union line broken in the middle while the Confederate line is intact, but Hill has his flanks exposed on the south end.

Lee then rolls a 1 and can activate three formations. He advances the Confederate line to Seminary Ridge, where Heth and Pender’s divisions attack Doubleday and Robinson’s exposed divisions while the Confederate artillery moves up to join them. Heth’s division does three hits on nine dice while Doubleday does only one. Doubleday takes two hits, shrinks to a small counter and retreats to try to make a new line. Heth’s division takes the one hit and advances.

Lee and Pender’s division attack Robinson’s at 15 dice to six, but score only one hit while Robinson scores two. Robinson retreats to Gettysburg to avoid the hit, while Pender’s division takes one hit and an artillery unit takes another.

For his other two activations, Lee brings in his Noon and 1300 Hours reinforcements, which consist of the rest of 2nd Corps. They enter on the north and northeastern roads, and the turn ends.

At the end of the 1300 turn, the Federals have now taken 16 1/2 step losses, while the Confederates have taken 10 1/2.

1400

Reynolds wins initiative and can activate one formation. He has a big problem: The Confederate artillery is all lined up on Seminary Ridge now and can blow him to smithereens. The Federal line has a hole in the middle, two Confederate divisions are ready to advance from Seminary Ridge, and two more are closing on his right flank. At this point, he’s got to fall back south while his reinforcements try to establish a new line just north and west of Cemetary Ridge. So, he starts a slow retreat from Gettysburg with I Corps. His artillery acts as a rearguard, shelling the incoming 2nd Corps to the north, and will help slow the movement of incoming Confederates.

Lee then rolls a 1 and can activate all his onboard formations. The artillery line on Seminary Ridge opens fire, doing one step loss to Wadsworth’s division and three (on just four dice) to Barlow’s on the southern Union flank. Barlow lets his own artillery take two of the three hits (his weak division would be shrunk by three hits).

Third Corps then charges off the ridge and attacks the Union line. Heth’s division does another three hits to Barlow’s, which does no hits in return but successfully retreats, taking only two step losses. Lee then hits Reynolds with Wadsworth’s division at a strength of 13 to 7, doing two hits vs. none. Wadsworth retreats up Cemetary Ridge and takes only one step loss, and Lee advances to gain Robinson’s flank.

Then Ewell moves south and assists Rhodes’ division in attacking Gettysburg at a strength of 9 to 1. The artillery unit is destroyed and the Confederates take the town.

Reynolds rolls a 6 and fails to activate, and the turn ends without Reynolds bringing in his reinforcements.

At the end of the 1400 turn, the Union has taken 23 step losses while the Confederates have still taken only 10 1/2.

1500

Lee wins initiative next turn and can activate all onboard formations before the Federals. At this point, it’s all over. The Confederate artillery can blast away at the Federals and force them to retreat up Cemetary Ridge and beyond, and 2nd Corps can come down from Gettysburg and occupy the hills and woods northeast of Cemetary Ridge, outflanking both Reynolds and Schurtz.

With their reinforcements delayed, the Federals will be lucky to hang onto Cemetary ridge, let alone keep any units west or north of it. The Confederates have fulfilled all three of their objectives (kill 20+ Union steps, take less than 15, and have no Federals north or west of Cemetary Ridge), so Robert E. Lee has won a major victory!

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