”I have been wargaming for thirty years and can safely say this is my top wargame system. There is a place for miniatures, hex games etc, but If I have to pick one, this is it. Fairly simply to play, yet feels like the most realistic experience of being a General during a battle. I spent 20 years as an Army officer and this is the only game that felt more like a real wargame vs. fun wargame. Coupled with the new Brigade pieces and quality of the components, this is the ultimate scotch and cigar game for me. Hurry up and get the Bull Run brigade blocks made!”
What are all the small or thin slope lines on the Antietam map? Are these hills or not?
–I wouldn’t call Cemetery Hill a ‘hill’ at all.
Those were on the historical base maps we used as a reference. We decided to include them on ours as well.
I’ve walked this battlefield. Everything from Antietam creek to the west is all up hill. The whole thing slopes up from there.
We almost considered a rule that says that if you are attacking west, it is up hill. Another approach would be to count the small slope lines. That is basically what they are trying to show: that everything west is uphill. It is a minor rise though.
So what is the official answer for the game? We ignore them. We only count the big hill slopes. We included the small ones for historical reference, so players could house rule them. I’d recommend just using the big ones.
This is consistent with Kriegsspiel. Slopes lower than 5 degrees don’t have any impact.
By that measure, Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg is also not a ‘Hill’. I’ve walked that battlefield too. I’ve walked and jogged the route of Pickett’s charge to the high water mark. I was shocked at how flat it all was. I wouldn’t call it a ‘hill’ at all. It’s nothing like the Round Tops or Culp’s Hill. Look at the famous painting: Cyclorama of Pickett’s Charge:
Yep, looks pretty much like that. Pretty flat, huh?
From a strict game modeling perspective, I would count Cemetery Hill at Gettysburg as clear terrain. That would be most accurate. We almost decided to go this route. Why didn’t we? Marketing and consumer’s expectations.
It is counted as a ‘Hill’ in almost every other game on Gettysburg. Gamers expect to see it. They look for it. Fight over it. Where is Cemetery Hill on the map? What?! It’s not on here?! It’s called a ‘Hill’, right? You expect to see it that way on the map. Imagine the howls of protest from trolls and critics: “They actually made a Gettysburg game with no Cemetery Hill on it.”
Well, it is easy to remedy. Just house rule it. Play the battle ignoring that hill. What happens then? It would be an interesting play and see how it impacts the game.
How do we play it? As shown and written in the rules. We do count it as a hill. That’s our official answer.
