by Billy Riley, 15 June 2023 ~ #UnboxingDay
Ever since I fell in love with the map on A Most Fearful Sacrifice, I wondered how I was going to justify buying it knowing I do not have the space for the map.
As usual, the most helpful people on AD Forums suggested this – Longstreet Attacks. A smaller portion of the Battle of Gettysburg. This focuses on the 2nd day at Gettysburg.
So, I took the plunge.
Box Art – Sets a scene…I do believe I see cavalry!
click images to enlarge
The back has a look at the map, some counters and a nice quote with a snippet informing the player about what’s ahead
Die – The smallest dice I’ve ever seen.
Player Aid Cards
There are 2 CRT cards, double sided, a turn record card with a Victory Chart and a double sided Union PAC and a double sided Confederate PAC.
A mathematical looking CRT and on the other side, Terrain Chart and some Cohesion tables
Then there are two other double sided Player Aid Cards – one for the Union player
and one for the Confederate player
And, finally, the Turn Record Track card
I do think it’s a pity there’s no Sequence of Play card
The Manual
The manual is 32 pages front to back with 20 pages of rules and the rest dedicated to Designer Notes and 5 scenarios
It’s text heavy – apart from 2 small (and the back pages with some counter layouts), greyscale images of a counter, there’s not a single graphic in the book.
The text is clear enough and seems well laid out in two columns. Honestly – I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a bland manual…which will be forgiven if indeed it turns out to be useful, informative, clear and concise.
The Counters – There are 2 sheets of counters. These are standard cardboard and 5/8”
The Map – The map is a work of art
That’s it. I’m not really sure, in detail, what it’s about…I know it’s the Second Day of Gettysburg – but I’m ashamed to say, even though I know some basics about the American Civil War and even though I’ve watched the series by Ken Burns (twice) and watched Gettysburg (twice) – I don’t know the details of the second day and I don’t even know whether Longstreet was a Confederate or a Unionist (I’m going out on a limb to say I think he was Confederate).
But one of the reasons we do this – spend large amounts of money on cardboard – is to learn, right?
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With trembling hands and eager zeal,
I unbox a wargame with great appeal.
Countless components I behold,
Strategies yet to unfold,
In this box, a battlefield surreal!
“I don’t know the details of the second day and I don’t even know whether Longstreet was a Confederate or a Unionist”
Soooooo painful to read… not sure how to respond. Might start some day-drinking…
he’s a Scot living in the UK, they’ve had plenty of their own civil wars we don’t know anything about 🤣
My apologies then Billy! I thought Brant wrote this. Wouldn’t put it past him, to be honest….
Also take the opportunity to comment on just how gorgeous the map is. Top knotch!