''Civil War'' is an early strategic
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 modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, o ...
published by
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...
in
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
that simulates the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. Unlike other games produced by Avalon Hill during this period such as ''
Gettysburg'', ''Civil War'' did not sell well and was dropped from production two years later.
Description
''Civil War'' is a two-player wargame in which one player controls Union forces and the other controls Confederate forces. Like other wargames produced by Avalon Hill, ''Civil War'' uses a
hex grid
A hex map, hex board, or hex grid is a game board design commonly used in wargames of all scales. The map is subdivided into a hexagonal tiling, small regular hexagons of identical size.
Advantages and disadvantages
The primary advantage of a h ...
map and a
Combat Results Table
A Combat results table or a CRT is used in wargaming to determine the outcome of a clash between individual units within a larger battle.
The attacker and defender typically compare the relative strengths of the units involved in the clash and ...
to adjudicate battles. But unlike other wargames, it uses plastic tokens rather than cardboard counters.
The game covers the entire period of the American Civil War from April 1861 to March 1865. Critic Joe Scoleri noted that "Victory generally depends on the control of replacement centers located at the north and south ends of the mapboard."
The game included a heavy cardstock game board, a rules sheet, advertisements for other AH games, and a pamphlet on the historical setting. There were two cardboard trays with sixteen blue plastic pawns, nine red pawns and one six-sided die.
The game board displays the eastern part of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
from
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
and eastern
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
at the top to northern
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
on the lower half. The map itself is white, with blue rivers, black railroads, brown rough terrain, and various cities and ports.
Six of the blue
Union army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
pawns begin on the board, as well as six of the red
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...
pawns. Reinforcements arrive much faster for the Union, with a total of fifteen pawns eventually in play versus nine for the Confederates.
Each game turn represents a month of time (1861 through 1865). Only one pawn may occupy a square at a time, and all pawns may move 1 or 2 hexes per turn, plus a bonus of 8 hexes if using the railroads.
Union pawns may move 8 hexes via rivers or the sea, while the Confederate pawns may only use rivers (and only get 2 hexes for that movement). All, any or none of the pawns may move each turn.
Publication history
In 1961, the
centenary
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at ...
of the start of the American Civil War, Avalon Hill published a trio of Civil War games designed by industry pioneer
Charles S. Roberts
Charles Swann Roberts (February 3, 1930 – August 20, 2010, Baltimore, Maryland) was a wargame designer, railroad historian, and businessman. He is renowned as "The Father of Board Wargaming", having created the first commercially successful m ...
: a reissue of ''Gettysburg'' with a new hex-grid map; ''
Chancellorsville''; and ''Civil War''. Unlike the first two, which were marketed under Avalon Hill's "Tournament" line of wargames, ''Civil War'' was grouped with the "Family/Social" game line. The game failed to find an audience, possibly because it was too simple for wargamers but too complex for social gamers,
and it was dropped from the Avalon Hill line in 1963.
A 1980 company history noted that the game was "A very abstract strategic game using a hex grid and plastic pawns. It is remembered primarily for its value to the collector due to its relative scarcity."
Reception
Writing in the inaugural issue of ''
The General'', Carl Knabe admitted that he disliked ''Civil War'' because it was unbalanced, saying, "If he plays his cards right, the North can always win."
In a retrospective review in Issue 12 of ''Simulacrum'', Joe Scoleri commented on the relatively quick failure of this game, saying, "I wouldn't be surprised if that was because it was too complex for social gamers yet too simple and abstracted for the Tournament gamers."
Computer version
In 1988, Avalon Hill released a computer version of ''Civil War''. It was not well-received. In a 1993 survey of pre 20th-century strategy games ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' gave the game zero-plus stars out of five, stating that it "shows how one can take a highly playable boardgame and turn it into an unplayable computer 'product'
ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
incomplete rules, incomplete graphics and incomplete programming". The magazine noted that Avalon Hill did not ship a promised update.
References
External links
*
{{Avalon Hill
American Civil War board wargames
Avalon Hill games
Board games introduced in 1961
Charles S. Roberts games