Without having too much time to get ready for this game, and having a few players who are not very familiar with the rules, I decided that the easiest thing to do would be to play a meeting engagement. This would allow most of the troops to begin off the table, and allow the newer players a chance to get their feet wet with the game mechanics while only having a few units to worry about. By the time more and more forces arrived, hopefully the players would be comfortable enough to be able to handle things by then.
The Situation
The scenario is set in June 1863 and uses the historical order of battle from the Gettysburg campaign. Initial Federal forces would include Buford's cavalry division (Me), John Reynolds' 1st Corps (Ryan), and Oliver Howard's 11th Corps (Mike). The Confederates would have parts of both James Longstreet's 1st Corps (Anthony) and AP Hill's 3rd Corps (Dave). The picture below, taken from the East looking West, shows the initial deployments. Buford's two cavalry brigades are in the center, one holding the nearer crossroad facing south and one holding the more distant crossroad facing west. The Confederates will be entering the battlefield from the west and southwest, crossing the stream in the distance. Union forces will be entering from the north and northeast. McLaws' division of Longstreet's Corps is advancing on Buford in the far distance. Lead elements of Howard's Corps are moving along the road in the near right of the picture.
Turn 1: 8:00-8:30am
The first turn was mainly movement, with more of McLaws' troops arriving and deploying to engage Buford. Buford's artillery immediately put a casualty on the lead Confederate brigade, but went low on ammunition in the process. The yellow bead indicates low ammo. The small orange beads that can be seen in this picture are 3 of the 7 objectives that the players are fighting for control over - these are typically high spots on the battlefield or road junctions. Control of the locations will go a long way toward effectively controlling the battlefield.
On the southwestern side of the field, lead elements of Harry Heth's division of Hill's Corps file toward the bridge crossing.
...To be continued...
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