Gettysburg 150 is a light wargame published by Worthington Games that covers the three day battle that took place in Gettysburg Pennsylvania on July 1-3 of 1863. This is perhaps the most well known battle in the American Civil War and Worthington's Gettysburg 150 is the latest in a very long line of board games covering the historic battle.
I won't go into the particulars of the battle; for those that wish to learn more about it, this is an excellent starting point:
http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/gettysburg.html
counter example images supplied by <PERSON>
Counters:
The game comes with double sided counters that represent the soldiers and equipment that participated in the battle. Union counters are blue with a lighter blue stripe at the bottom. Confederate counters are gray with a brown stripe at the bottom. They are of nice size, around an inch square.
There are leader, infantry, cavalry, and artillery counters. There is also an assortment of counters that serve as game markers that are placed on the board to keep track of various game elements.
Leader counters are two sided, one side showing the leader name, his command, and his rating. The reverse side shows his replacement if the leader is killed. The army leaders, <PERSON> and <PERSON>, cannot be killed.
The infantry and artillery counters show the name of the unit's officer and the leader the unit is associated with. Infantry units have a soldier pictured, artillery has a cannon pictured, and cavalry has a horse and cavalryman pictured. All non-leader units have a large morale number located to the right of the picture. This is all done on a division level for the Union and a half-division level for the Confederates.
Some divisional units consist of more than one counter. This is because the game uses a 'step' system to keep track of the battle-worthiness of each division. For instance, General <PERSON>'s division of the Union I Corps has three counters. A full strength 6 morale counter with a 5 strength on its reverse side, a 4 strength counter with a 3 strength on its reverse side, and a 2 strength counter with a 1 strength on its reverse side. Only the current strength of the unit is kept on board; the other strengths are left off-board. Wadsworth starts at a 6 morale strength, but as the battle wears on the unit morale may decrease to the point where the unit is no longer functional and is eliminated.
The counters are thick and well-made. Some counters have their starting side located physically on the back side of the counter sheet and their reduced side located physically on the front side of the counter sheet. This is not a big deal and does not affect play, it's just, I don't know... 993
disconcerting.
map image supplied by <PERSON>
Gameboard:
The gameboard is solid cardboard and not paper; no plexiglass is needed. You may need to back-fold it some to make it stay flat. The battlefield map is in as much detail as a light wargame requires; many things seem simplified and there are limited terrain features and affects. It looks very nice. Movement in the game is done by hexes, and the hexes are large enough to fit the counters. Everything you need to know is also shown on each side of the gameboard for both players by nicely presented charts. It is very functional and top-notch.
Rules
The rules are relatively short as wargames go. They are full color, have numerous examples, and nice illustrations. If you don't try to read into the rules something that's not there, they are not that bad. There are a few nebulous areas, but forum posts have cleared those up.
Dice:
The dice that come with the game are defective. They seem to roll sixes for my opponent all the time, while never rolling them for me.
Reinforcement charts:
There are two charts that show the entry hex and turn of units arriving on the battle field. One chart for the first day, and one chart for the second day. Gettysburg 150 has no units arriving on the third day.
Gameplay:
Gettysburg 150 uses a modified version of Worthington's 'Hold the Line' system. I thoroughly enjoy Hold the Line. It is one of my favorites and is a game that sees a lot of play. I am excited that Worthington is adapting it to other games. It really works like a much more sensible version of the Command & Colors system. In the 'Hold the Line' system, the player is still limited to the number of actions he can perform, but unlike Command & Colors, the player is not restricted in any way by area as to how to use those actions.
In Gettysburg 150, the game has been divided up into turns spanning the three days of the battle. 993