Forum Host- Joined
- Oct 8, 2013
- Location
- “...somewhere between NY and PA”
BREAKING NEWS FROM GAMES AT CivilWarTalk!!!
"June 28, 1863"
3 AM
A staff officer enters the tent of V Corps commander, Major-General George Gordon Kennedy, followed by a War Department aide who looks much too alert and serious for this time of morning. The officer gently awakens the general. The aide informs him that he comes from Washington with trouble. As Kennedy wonders what he could have done or said in the past few days to get himself fired – or arrested – the aide tells him that "by order of President Lincoln, you, sir, are now the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac."
Kennedy's swirling mind comes to focus on a single thought: 'I hope Hooker didn't leave before he could tell me where the rest of the d----d army is…'
5:30 AM
General Robert Edward Muskett sits at a camp table, sipping the best coffee he has had in a long while. A young courier, truly looking as if he has been in the saddle for days, is ushered into his presence. He announces that General Stuart sends his compliments and that Federal forces are preparing to cross the Potomac into Maryland. He adds that, rather than risk being hemmed in between that river and the Blue Ridge by Yankee columns, the cavalry chief has opted to cross further east, warning that he may be out of touch until he reaches Pennsylvania but promising to move up as swiftly and quietly as possible. Muskett thanks the man, then glances at the sky, praying Stuart will be able to resist the temptation to make a splash, and get his butt into Pennsylvania with all possible speed...
Forum members @pmuskett and @rpkennedy , known to many of us here as the presenters of some excellent studies of the men in the brigades which clashed in the historical battle of Gettysburg, will test their wargaming skills - and the worth of my quirky "double-blind" strategy system - in a simulation (with a sprinkling of alternate-history twists) of the 1863 Pennsylvania campaign. I will be communicating with each commanding general by PM. Deputies sworn to secrecy may be admitted to the respective PM HQs upon the approval of the commanders. This thread will be a report of game progress after a suitable delay, though there may be news of major events soon after they happen. Polite (!) commentary, banter, and the second-guessing loved so much by those of us not in the hot seat will be welcomed– what better way to simulate the political side of the conflict!
All interested are cordially invited to check in for some belated 160th anniversary fun.
-- Pat Answer (and his oodles of chipboard tiles, buckets of dice, and... OCD)
Pennsylvania citizens, with major Rebel forces on their doorsteps for the first time, anxiously ask 'where is our army?'
Virginia citizens, tired of playing host to marauding Yanks, are generally more in support of a move north than they were last year.
Game map from "The Campaigns of Robert E Lee", Clash of Arms Games, (c) 1988
"June 28, 1863"
3 AM
A staff officer enters the tent of V Corps commander, Major-General George Gordon Kennedy, followed by a War Department aide who looks much too alert and serious for this time of morning. The officer gently awakens the general. The aide informs him that he comes from Washington with trouble. As Kennedy wonders what he could have done or said in the past few days to get himself fired – or arrested – the aide tells him that "by order of President Lincoln, you, sir, are now the commanding general of the Army of the Potomac."
Kennedy's swirling mind comes to focus on a single thought: 'I hope Hooker didn't leave before he could tell me where the rest of the d----d army is…'
5:30 AM
General Robert Edward Muskett sits at a camp table, sipping the best coffee he has had in a long while. A young courier, truly looking as if he has been in the saddle for days, is ushered into his presence. He announces that General Stuart sends his compliments and that Federal forces are preparing to cross the Potomac into Maryland. He adds that, rather than risk being hemmed in between that river and the Blue Ridge by Yankee columns, the cavalry chief has opted to cross further east, warning that he may be out of touch until he reaches Pennsylvania but promising to move up as swiftly and quietly as possible. Muskett thanks the man, then glances at the sky, praying Stuart will be able to resist the temptation to make a splash, and get his butt into Pennsylvania with all possible speed...
Forum members @pmuskett and @rpkennedy , known to many of us here as the presenters of some excellent studies of the men in the brigades which clashed in the historical battle of Gettysburg, will test their wargaming skills - and the worth of my quirky "double-blind" strategy system - in a simulation (with a sprinkling of alternate-history twists) of the 1863 Pennsylvania campaign. I will be communicating with each commanding general by PM. Deputies sworn to secrecy may be admitted to the respective PM HQs upon the approval of the commanders. This thread will be a report of game progress after a suitable delay, though there may be news of major events soon after they happen. Polite (!) commentary, banter, and the second-guessing loved so much by those of us not in the hot seat will be welcomed– what better way to simulate the political side of the conflict!
All interested are cordially invited to check in for some belated 160th anniversary fun.
-- Pat Answer (and his oodles of chipboard tiles, buckets of dice, and... OCD)
* * *
Pennsylvania citizens, with major Rebel forces on their doorsteps for the first time, anxiously ask 'where is our army?'
Virginia citizens, tired of playing host to marauding Yanks, are generally more in support of a move north than they were last year.
Game map from "The Campaigns of Robert E Lee", Clash of Arms Games, (c) 1988
Bringing the