Addressing Gettysburg

 If you only ever acquired one book on the battle of Gettysburg I reckon that Mr Adkin’s title would be at the front of the queue! I have his titles on Waterloo and Trafalgar and they are quite simply outstanding (the Western Front title is on my ‘to get’ list). The board game is a truly unique experience - for the reason why, read on!

Aside from the naval perspective, my interest in the American Civil War has been at best, erratic. It has been one of those periods of history that has always seemed like a good idea but has never really ignited the enthusiasm. Back in the day I had some truly horrible experiences with a number of rule sets that really turned me off the period. In fact it was only due the launch of the board game Battle Cry - which itself has a number of issues - that I made a modest attempt to revisit the period. 

The strangest thing though, is that whilst my interest tends to head towards the Western theatre, I have a fondness for the Gettysburg campaign. Along with Waterloo, I reckon that several rain forests have been expended in print over the years for this iconic battle between the States. To keep things simple I have acquired two titles on the battle specifically - the one you see above by Mark Adkin and another currently en route from the US of A. Naturally I have seen the film of the battle which I enjoyed enormously - the soundtrack grated though!

I plan to rebuild my ACW library in a measured way with some selective ‘high mileage’ titles (those that punch above their weight in terms of coverage and detail etc) but am not planning on embarking on a huge involvement in the period. A Battle Cry level will suffice although not with the game of that name.

So where is all this leading?

Every so often a game appears that really shakes things up in terms of how a particular period or battle is gamed. The Guns of Gettysburg is such a game. Take a look at the below and think to yourself - “that is right up Mr Crook’s street!”

Not a hex in sight! Areas and a really nice looking map with a stunning rendering of terrain elevation

Blocks and counters - what’s not to like?

A complete spare set of labels (and yes, I DO have a use for them!)

The back of the box

This game is the third in the series - the others being Marengo and Austerlitz - and the concept behind this is quite simply outstanding. It has a Kriegspiel feel about it in many ways which means it has that ‘being-a-general-moving-units-around-on-a-map’ feel to it.

There was never any doubt that this would appeal to me and if they ever produce a Waterloo version I will be all over it like a cheap suit!

I am really excited about this and even better - the rules are quite modest, the basic game weighing in at a mere 13 pages! Of course one could readily swap the blocks for figures but for me that would defeat the object of the game. It looks like a 19th century battle map come to life.

Really, really pleased!