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Chancellorsville (game)
Encyclopedia
Chancellorsville is a two-player board wargame
produced by Avalon Hill
which re-enacts the American Civil War
Battle of Chancellorsville
. It was originally published in 1961
, and republished in 1974. The game was designed by Wargaming Hall of Fame designer Charles S. Roberts
.
Chancellorsville was a sister game to the award-winning Gettysburg
board game. Both were issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Cardboard counters
represented brigade
s and artillery
battalion
s (blue for the Union
Army of the Potomac
and pink for the Confederate
Army of Northern Virginia
). Strength points were in scale with the relative strength and firepower of the actual brigades represented by the counters. As with the Gettysburg game system, Chancellorsville gives each unit an orientation, and an attacker can improve his odds by attacking a defender from the side or from the rear. The defender, meanwhile, can improve his odds by entrenching himself atop a hill.
The original game included a heavy cardstock game board, over 300 die-cut counters, dice, rules sheet, and a pamphlet on the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. It was game #507 in the Avalon Hill catalogue.
The 1974 reprint spawned another variant (which required Chancellorsville to play), which included three additional scenarios for battles that occurred in and around the Northern Virginia area, including Fredericksburg
(December 1862), The Wilderness
(May 1864), and Spotsylvania
(May 1864). In addition, the Avalon Hill gaming magazine, The General
(Volume 12, #6), included unmounted counters and rules for four new scenarios ("The Rappahannock and Battle of Fredericksburg," and three new scenarios for "Chancellorsville").
Board wargame
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer, or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The hobby around this type of game got its start in 1954 with the publication of Tactics, and saw its greatest popularity in the...
produced by Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
which re-enacts the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Chancellorsville
The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...
. It was originally published in 1961
1960s in games
This page lists board games, card games, and wargames published in the 1960s.-Significant games-related events in the 1960s:* Parker Brothers is bought by General Mills ....
, and republished in 1974. The game was designed by Wargaming Hall of Fame designer Charles S. Roberts
Charles S. Roberts
Charles Swann Roberts was a wargame designer, railroad historian, and businessman. He is renowned as "The Father of Board Wargaming", having created the first modern wargame in 1952, and the first wargaming company in 1954...
.
Chancellorsville was a sister game to the award-winning Gettysburg
Gettysburg (game)
Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. It was originally published in 1958, and was the first board wargame based on a historical battle....
board game. Both were issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Cardboard counters
Counter (board wargames)
Boardgame counters are usually small cardboard squares moved around on the map of a wargame to represent armies, military units or individual military personnel. The first modern mass-market wargame, based on cardboard counters and hex-board maps, was Tactics, invented by Charles S. Roberts in 1952...
represented brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s and artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s (blue for the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
and pink for the Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
). Strength points were in scale with the relative strength and firepower of the actual brigades represented by the counters. As with the Gettysburg game system, Chancellorsville gives each unit an orientation, and an attacker can improve his odds by attacking a defender from the side or from the rear. The defender, meanwhile, can improve his odds by entrenching himself atop a hill.
The original game included a heavy cardstock game board, over 300 die-cut counters, dice, rules sheet, and a pamphlet on the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. It was game #507 in the Avalon Hill catalogue.
The 1974 reprint spawned another variant (which required Chancellorsville to play), which included three additional scenarios for battles that occurred in and around the Northern Virginia area, including Fredericksburg
Battle of Fredericksburg
The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...
(December 1862), The Wilderness
Battle of the Wilderness
The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...
(May 1864), and Spotsylvania
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania , was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged...
(May 1864). In addition, the Avalon Hill gaming magazine, The General
The General Magazine
The General Magazine was first published in 1964, as a bi-monthly periodical devoted to supporting Avalon Hill's line of wargames, with articles on game tactics, history, and industry news...
(Volume 12, #6), included unmounted counters and rules for four new scenarios ("The Rappahannock and Battle of Fredericksburg," and three new scenarios for "Chancellorsville").