BULL RUN

Situation

On July 21 1861, the first major battle of the American Civil War occurred when Gen. Irwin MCDOWELL led 37,000 Union troops against 32,000 Confederates under Gen. BEAUREGARD. Beauregard had been reinforced on July 20 by about 10,000 men from the Shenandoah Valley under Gen. Joseph E JOHNSTON.

The Confederate defended along the Bull Run river, but were outflanked by Union forces on their left via a night march. Confederate troubles are compounded when a courier went missing that morning.

The game starts with the Union forces about to ford Bull Run river at Sudley Ford. In addition, a large portion of the Confederate forces are frozen in place unless unfrozen by advancing Union forces.

Victory

In the game, the Union forces are on the offensive. If they can capture and hold one of three objective hexes at the end of the game, they win. Otherwise, the Confederate player wins. In addition, both players win immediately if they are able to get a combat unit into the enemy base city.

Game System

The game makes use of the standard movement/combat turn. In addition, there are special rules for artillery. Artillery may attack from long range, either along, or in conjuncture with other ground units. Artillery when defending in a hex containing infantry will pair up with the infantry. This will provide some protection against soak-off attacks.

To simulate the initial Confederate indecision after an important courier went missing with the morning orders, many Confederate units are considered "frozen" at the start of the game. When frozen, units cannot move and do most things. This pretty much limits what the Confederate player can do until the Union player initiates his attacks, at which point frozen units are unfrozen.

A key aspect of this game is the immportance of leaders. Leaders allow infantry to form brigades. Brigades have higher attack factors have derive defensive advantages as its components cannot be attacked seperately. Leaders also allow units to maneauver to get into battle.

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