Let me begin by saying that it is very easy to imagine and create endless rules for this simple system, but in doing that you are more likely to lose the best part of the game! It is a simple and quick playing game and yields a very authentic feel. When I modify the rules, my basic guideline is, "How can I make this even more authentic and fun, for me?" I attempt to pare away every rule that isn't absolutely necessary.
What this means for Gettysburg: Shall I advance is this:
FoE is reduced to 3/8" and if you move into an FoE you are automatically placed in contact.
3/8" is the thickness of the blocks. 3/8" is almost 200 yds. The original intent of this rule was to prevent the gamey tactic of a defender edging back and being safe, in other words, it was to nerf defense a bit. In reality, more frequently, it prevented the attacker from getting close enough and involved a lot of measuring and re-positioning of attacking units. The opposite of what was intended! 1/3 of an infantry move is almost 1/2 mile, and that is too much. In fairness, this was done because it was a simple and common unit of length in the game. In that same spirit, 3/8" is the next smallest unit of distance that is easy to measure.
Only artillery units can rally every turn, all others can only rally during night turns.
The system originally was for Napoleonic and earlier black powder warfare. By the ACW, rifled muskets had become much deadlier and units were unable to recover as quickly from heavy musketry. The nearly identical size and composition of the two armies at Gettysburg saw decimated armies recovering every turn and this led to low casualty stalemates in my experience. The proof is in the pudding, and numerous play tests have proven the game yields a much more authentic feel. Night Turn - During the night turn at the end of days 1 and 2, follow these steps:
1. All spent units whose Corps are not exhausted, flip to fresh.
2. One half (rounding down) of all eliminated units are recovered and placed spent on the map within 1/3 of any of their parent Corps units, and not closer to an enemy unit. For this reason, even if a Corps loses all of its units during the day, players should leave the HQ in play.
3. Draw chits and move as per a normal night turn (only artillery rallies).
Victory Conditions - To win, a side must be the sole occupant of both Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, by the end of any day.
Although the intent of each commander was to "Whup the enemy," simple casualties as victory conditions do not yield the right feel. Also, this game frequently sees close casualties, intelligence that would have been beyond the ability of the actual participants to gauge. Ultimately and naturally, the battle revolves around those two elevations. If the Federal troops lose their hold of both those objectives, the battle is pretty much over. This seems a reasonable goal and yields the right feel for the battle.
