More on Battle Cry 150th Anniversary Edition

Robert Cordery's Wargaming Miscellany blog (it's on my reading list to the right) often features a number of Richard Borg games in his projects.  He has recently reviewed some of the contents of the 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition of Battle Cry. Check out his posts on the board and some terrain pieces and figure comparisons. I posted about the new edition of the game here. 

Also, I should add, the cards look great and their artwork really fits in with what you see on the board and terrain tiles. 

Battle Cry 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition

Wizards of the Coast recently released a revised edition of Richard Borg's Battle Cry to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. 

I stumbled across this game today and caught it on sale and had to get a copy. Lots of new artwork on the box, rulebook, map board, and terrain tiles. The map and terrain colors are washed out and look more natural. Don't get me wrong - I thought the old version looked good.

Another bonus - the game includes a Jackson campaign and 13 new scenarios in addition to the now "classic" scenarios. There's a lot of 1861 battles and some more western theater scenarios. Another plus - they changed 'The Battle of Chickamunga' to 'The Battle of Chickamauga'. I always wondered how that one slipped by the editor. 

I copied the scenario lists from Board Game Geek's page on the Battle Cry 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition and posted them below:


Classic Battle Cry Battles

* First Bull Run--21st July, 1861
* Pea Ridge--7th March, 1862
* Kernstown--23rd March, 1862
* Shiloh--6th April, 1862
* Gaines Mill--27th June, 1862
* Brawner's Farm--28th August, 1862
* Antietam--17th September, 1862
* Fredericksburg--13th December, 1862
* Murfreesboro--31st December, 1862
* Gettysburg--2nd July, 1863
* Gettysburg--3rd July, 1863
* Chickamauga--20th September, 1863
* New Market--15th May, 1864
* New Hope Church--25th May, 1864

Jackson Campaign

* McDowell, Virginia - May 8 1862
* Winchester, Virginia - May 25 1862
* Cedar Mountain, Virginia - August 9 1862

150th Civil War Anniversary Edition Battles

* Falling Waters, West Virginia - July 2, 1861
* Wilson's Creek, Missouri (Bloody Hill) - August 10 1861
* Greenbrier River, West Virginia - October 3 1861
* Belmont, Missouri - November 7 1861
* Dranesville, Virginia - December 20 1861
* Fort Donelson, Tennessee (Confederate Breakout) - February 15 1862
* Little Sugar Creek, Arkansas - February 17 1862
* Williamsburg, Virginia (North of Fort Magruder) - May 5 1862
* Oak Grove, Virginia - June 25 1862
* Richmond, Kentucky (Union Final Position) - August 30 1862
* Ox Hill, Virginia - September 1 1862
* Perryville, Kentucky - October 8 1862
* Prarie Grove, Arkansas - December 7 1862

Black Powder: ACW

We played Black Powder using the Battle Cry game (hexboard terrain and plastic figures) and it seemed to go well. As much as it would have been nice to have seen a 4' x 8' table with about 200-250 figures per side, this was not a bad way to get our heads around the game mechanics.

I'm not sure yet what level of command is right for Black Powder in an ACW game, but the rather generic order of battle (general and 'brigade' commanders) gives them some versatility. We tried a scenario and set up straight from the Battle Cry rules: The Battle of Kernstown. This essentially gave the CSA three generals (Jackson as CIC plus two large brigades) and the Union two generals (no CIC and two large brigades). We will handle things differently when we base a game on historical accounts instead of just taking the pieces and deployment from Battle Cry, but it did what we really wanted to do - give us a better feeling for Black Powder.

We thought we should start out each army's infantry regiments in march column, which might have been a bit much considering their proximity. We learned that forcing troops to begin a scenario in march column can be really ugly - it only takes a failed command roll or two to leave them as sitting ducks even for long range fire. This is a very useful thing to keep in mind for certain ambush scenarios.

We used the Black Powder ACW sample scenario stats for our troops - ie. Rifled Muskets for infantry, Skirmish Order for dismounted cavalry, etc. One thing I think that might be worth adding to ACW scenarios for line infantry muskets is the use of First Volley (ie. the first volley is the best and later volleys tend to be less drilled affairs). Black Powder tends to assign that rule to earlier armies, but not ACW. Granted, my research into the period is limited compared to serious students of the period, but this is one of the things that leaps out of historical accounts I've read, lectures I've heard, and discussions I've had.

Another thing worth revisiting is how Black Powder handles woods and the ability of line infantry to traverse it. I think the sample scenario allows line infantry to temporarily assume skirmish order while in woods but resume regular formation upon exiting - I really need to double check that. We used that in our game, but there might be better ways of working this out. Maybe this should come from the terrain side of things - ie. the woods provide cover, slow movement, and block LOS, but they aren't thick enough to force skirmish order (with its inherent combat bonuses and penalties).  Regardless, the game is made for tweaking and I'm sure we'll come up with something that feels historically 'right' that can be played with minimum fuss.

Black Powder & Battle Cry

I have  strayed somewhat from my beloved Ancients and Dark Ages periods. One ruleset that I anxious to get more experience with is Warlord Games' Black Powder. 

I probably don't have to say a whole lot here about this ruleset - it's not like it hasn't been one of the biggest events of wargaming in recent years. It's got Rick Priestley and awesome production values. There's plenty of in-depth reviews to be found. This isn't one of them.


I don't have the resources (time, money, patience) to collect a bunch - or even a few - 18th/19th Century armies to play this game in the way it is magnificently described and illustrated in the rulebook. However,  I am going to give them a tryout using some nice hexboard terrain (probably from Battle Cry and Memoir '44) and some relevant 1/72 scale plastic figures.

While I'm going to start with the American Civil War, I'm going to take a look at some other wars. Right now the East India Company (especially 18th Century), the Seminole Wars, the American War of Independence, and late 19th Century colonials are of interest. For anyone interested in exploring the world of the soft plastic soldiers, I have included Plastic Soldier Review in the links section. I'll post some (very brief) battle reports, orders of battle, and that kind of thing on the blog once we get started. 


Oh yeah - Warlord Games offer some free Black Powder PDF downloads of a Quick Ref Sheet, Army Roster, and FAQs, which may be found on the Black Powder gaming page.

Wilder's Brigade in Wargames Illustrated 273

My thanks to the WI team for believing in my vision for the 1863 campaigns for Chattanooga, which included the Battle of Chickamauga and the siege-breaking battles on Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. 



One of my favorite pieces is the review of Wilder's Lightning Brigade. The brigade was mostly armed with Spencer repeating rifles and had an over-sized battery (commanded by Eli Lilly, whose pharmaceutical company exists to this day). The article also includes some guidelines for choosing and converting figures for these soldiers. Frankly, they look more like Confederate troopers than Union cavalrymen. They will stand out one the tabletop. The article backs up the conversions with some great black & white photos. I highly recommend Richard A. Baumgartner's Blue Lightning, which I used a primary source for the article.

Missionary Ridge: WI Online Bonus

I submitted some guidelines for playing Missionary Ridge to Wargames Illustrated, with the intent that the bonus material might appear somewhere in the magazine or as an online bonus. It has the hallmarks of a tricky battle to portray, even if you have enough troops for the tabletop: lots of terrain that will make a different game based on ground scales and movement rates.

Take a look at the online article and see what you think. You can also download a PDF of the article there.

Of course, there's some good gaming still in the magazine article for the siege of Chattanooga - and that focuses on Sherman's less than orderly attack against Cleburne's position on the right flank of Missionary Ridge. I think that part of the battle often gets overlooked in light of the heroic Union actions that took place along the main line. In actuality, Sherman's assault was supposed to be the big victory.

Preview: Wargames Illustrated 273: Campaign For Chattanooga

I pitched the 'Campaign For Chattanooga' as a theme to Wargames Illustrated back in January; Dave and Dan gave it the greenlight and we did a fairly quick turnaround. As it turns out, I also wrote most of the articles for the theme, too. I am looking forward to seeing the Chickamauga piece - it's my understanding that it evolved from a very nice game presented at Cold Wars or Fall In. You can see a preview on the FOW site here.

I believe this is my first venture into a historical period outside of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. I'd love to see your comments on the issue.

The issue also includes Part Two of 'Wargaming the Roman Army'. I'm eager to see how it turned out. I relied a lot on Guy Halsall's Barbarian Migrations, which I have reviewed in prior posts, to bring out some subtle points on the nature/character of the Late Roman Army.