Most fun Civil War battle to game?

[Bellerophon]

I'm thinking of building a big terrain board - what battle should I do? Looking for a battle that is interesting to play for both the CSA and US. Gettysburg is not an option.

[Jemima Fawr]

I do like 2nd Murfreesboro (Stones River).  It's a very interesting battle that invariably starts out with a massive collapse of the Union right wing, but it's then a real challenge for the Confederates to try and maintain the momentum of the attack.

Here's the demo game I did about two years ago:  http://www.jemimafawr.co.uk/2021/12/12/the-battle-of-murfreesboro-at-warfare-2021-the-game/

Last month we also did a small 'what-if' scenario of the northern flank, seeing what would happen if the Union pressed home their planned attack on the Confederate right flank, ignoring what was happening to their own right flank.  That'll be on my blog sometime soon.

I also re-jigged the overall Fire & Fury scenario slightly, to give the Confederates a bit more staying-power, as in the original scenario (from the 2nd Edition Great Western Battles scenario book) they always tend to run out of steam someway short of the historical high-water mark.  We played that a couple of weeks ago and it worked really well, so will also be up on my blog soon, together with some revised unit labels for players of F&F.

[Ray Rivers]

I do like 2nd Murfreesboro (Stones River).

Stones River is an excellent battle and makes for an interesting and I would say pretty balanced battle. The amount of terrain needed to replay the battle is also not overwhelming.

My preference is the Battle of Antietam. There is a central area of the battle which includes a wood (occupied by the confederates) and the Dunker Church. This was a major area of fighting. Next to it was the Sunken Road also referred to as the Bloody Lane. A lot of open territory here and the fighting was furious. This central area of the battlefield could be fairly easily reproduced on a table top. The battle, known for being the bloodiest day in the Civil War, was considered a tactical win for the Rebs but a strategic victory for the Yanks. Because McClellan failed to coordinate his superior army, all sorts of "what if" scenarios can be created as well, of course, as the actual battle itself.

[FierceKitty]

2nd Newbury, of course.

[ChrisBBB]

My favourite ACW battles to game are all huge ones on heavily wooded battlefields. Paradoxically, the apparently difficult terrain actually promotes maneuver, because the limited fields of fire nullify artillery. The battles in question are Chickamauga, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania and (my current favourite) Chancellorsville - the biggest battle of the ACW, I think.

Of these, The Wilderness and Chancellorsville are the best because both sides have so much maneuver to do and so many decisions to make. Spotsylvania is less radically mobile but still challenging for both sides. Chickamauga is more a straight attack-defence, though the US still has to move around a bit.

Here are some After-Action Reports of our games of these, including a few pics of our battlefields:
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2015/07/battle-of-wilderness-1864-acw-bbb.html
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-wilderness-1864-wild-wild-acw.html
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2016/02/more-nice-reviews-of-bbb-and.html
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2023/01/bigger-than-gettysburg-chancellorsville.html
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-acws-third-most-bloody-battle.html
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2023/07/bash-day-iv-brief-report-leeds-2023.html

Hope this helps!
Chris

[SteveBurt]

Apart from the ones mentioned, 1st Bull Run, Shiloh, and Spring Hill all make for great games.

[Inkpaduta]

Brandy Station. You can actually use all that cavalry you have painted.

[Jemima Fawr]

2nd Newbury, of course.

 

[armchairgeneral]

Champions Hill. Really great scenario.

[olicana]

Ever since collecting 6mm Heroics & Ros to fight Wilsons Creek at 1:10 (Featherstone has so much to answer for) back in 81, I can't get over that one. Raids on sleepy camps (possibly), a small flank (actually rear) attack that might shift balance but not the whole game. Bluffs, creeks, cornfields (all a must for the UK player - so exotic) and a single building (for those with limited terrain resources). It even has lancers, and not much artillery. It's not a huge battle and in consequence fits most gamers idea of a single table-top game.

I no longer collect ACW, no longer have a collection even but, if I did....

Sorry, showing my age and (probably) lack of ACW knowledge.

[vtsaogames]

One of my favorites is Stones River. I have a scenario for it in the Bloody Big Battles groups.io site.

Can the Rebs keep rolling up the Yankee right flank?

[MaleGriffin]

I've always been fascinated with Antietam/Sharpsburg. So many, many ways it could have gone differently. So many events that could have changed the entire war.