From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Three reviews Gettysburg (Vae Victis 8) The game in the eight number of this fantastic French magazine is dedicated to the American Civil War, more precisely to the turning point of the entire conflict, the battle of Gettysburg. The game boasts the usual great graphics (even if a little less glamorous than usual), with a point to point map of the zone of the campaign. The units are at division level for both the armies, with the Confederates using even corp leaders, while the Union has only the army leader (Hooker at the start, then Meade). Units have two ratings, a tactical factor and an artillery value (that could be 0). The leaders have a commanding factor and a tactical bonus (if any). Both players have to photocopy a roster sheet, as the real strength of the units is written on these sheets and may be reduced when units take combat or movement losses (stragglers). The system is very reminiscent of Avalon Hill’s Great Campaigns of the Civil War, with a point to point map ( a la House Divided) and roster sheets instead of strength markers, but there are a few twists. Each turn starts with weather determination phase (the Confederate player rolls a dice; if he obtains a six, that turn is a rain turn, with a few limits to movement); then the same player decides or rolls to decide who will be the first player in that turn (the Confederate player moves first, if so decides, 5 out of 6 times). The first player, then, rolls a die, add to the result the commander value of his army leader, and has that total as activation points for that turn (up to 11 for Lee – from 8 to 9 for the Union player). With each activation point he may explicate several different functions, from movement, to raids against railway stations, to blew up bridge, to entrenchment. When two units from both sides share the same square, a battle results. There are several different factor to take in account: tactical ratings, the tactic chosen (3 different for both attacker and defender), terrain and other significant modifiers. The result is often one or more strength losses for both players (each one rolls the die separately) or retreat (often decided by the tactic chosen or by a failed morale check). There are two different scenarios (one 5 turns, the other 11 turns), with victory decided especially by territorial objectives (the losses inflicted on the enemy count normally for less than half of the total). For the two players game there are also several rules to add fog of war to the campaign (dummy units, force marker, etc.), while the solitaire game is severely impaired and certainly less fun. Having played the first scenario, I think that the game is not very balanced and it’s not easy for the Confederate player to obtain anything more than a draw (I think that too many times a decent Union player may easily reproduce the historical outcome, i.e. Confederate defeat, at least in the judgment of Nicolas Stratigos, the designer of this game). Anyway, even this game has several of the peculiarities which make the Vae Victis games so interesting and enjoyable for the players who have not much time and space to dedicate to a wargame: fast and colorful play, a decent system (even if very derivative), a good situation. This Gettysburg falls short, in my opinion, to obtain a clear success, as it’s certainly inferior to his ancestor and model (GCACW), perhaps on par with Ben Knight’s Across the Potomac (Command 31). I rate this game 6 ½ out of 10.