Gettysburg- 1964 by Avalon Hill Game Review

 Gettysburg- 1964 from Avalon Hill

This is the first in a possible series of game reviews and adjacent topics with the intent to examine gaming culture of the early to mid-1970s.  With an ultimate goal of learning and understanding Original Dungeons and Dragons as it was played at its inception, before it was influenced by the new upcoming release of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, as well as broader pop cultural influences such as Star Wars.  I hope to look at mid 70s board wargaming mostly at games produced by Avalon Hill, but also at miniature wargaming at the time, the great sword and sorcery and science fiction literature of the time, and also the influence of things like chess, Diplomacy, and the early Braunsteins run by Dave Wesley to get a frame of reference as to what a gamers life was like in the mid-70s, and how they would have been informed and prepared to read the 3 little brown books of OD&D and interpret the intended way to play it.  But those conversations are for the future, right now I’d like to do a review of Avalon Hill’s 1964 version of the classic Gettysburg.  

In looking at some history of Avalon Hill videos, and in reading Jon Peterson’s Playing at the World, this seems a very popular and universally known and played game from the late 60s and early 70s.  It was common to see ads in The General, Avalon Hills newsletter, from gamers looking for opponents in their area to play Gettysburg.  Gettysburg was among the first releases from Avalon Hill, who basically started the board wargaming movement.  Prior to Avalon Hill and its founder Charles Roberts, wargaming was of the miniature variety, and required participants to figure out for themselves what ruleset, miniatures, terrain, and board they intend to use.  Board wargaming made all of this more accessible by giving players all of the components of wargaming in a convenient box.  

Gettysburg from a rules perspective is extremely stripped down, and I can’t help but imagine that there likely were some house rules added and agreed upon by players to sustain interest and playability in the game.  It has a beautiful retro looking map with lots of terrain features on it and many of the historically known sites from the battle of Gettysburg such as Little Round Top.  However, the terrain has almost no effect on the game, roads do not aid movement, crossing rivers does not hinder movement.  The only terrain effect is that defending from a hill or ridge in combat doubles the defender's combat value.  The other rule that affects combat is the game has facing, you can pivot your units facing at the end of each turn, and attacking a unit's flank or rear can double or triple an attackers combat value.  Other than that it is a game of positioning, planning the addition of reinforcements and the time it takes them to get to the battle, as you play out the order of battle over the 3 days of Gettysburg.  There is a standard Combat Results Table or CRT, this table is the crux of most board wargames.  You calculate the ratio of odds of attacker vs defender, reference that column on a chart, and a single die roll tells you the results of each combat.  You have the added tactic of “soaking off”, or intentionally setting up one of your combats to be at very poor odds, so that the remaining units can fight in such a way that they have very favorable odds.  These CRTs always favor the defender, so great planning on the part of the attacker is required to set up combats in such a way that the attacker has a chance of winning the combat.  

This is a game that I purchased off of ebay a few months ago, and I clipped the corners on the chits, and set it up a few times, but I found solo play to be impossible.  Perhaps with some kind of oracle you could solo play this, but it wasn’t until my wife agreed to play a game with me did it really reveal its tactical fun.  I let her pick what side she wanted to play since she was so gracious as to play a stuffy old wargame with me, and she picked the South.  I warned her that the South is at a bit of a disadvantage, explained the basic rules and that defending from a hill was a wise play, and she affirmed that she still wanted to play the South and was up for the challenge.  The game for the North is basically hold out in the early game as they over time receive a lot more reinforcements, then try to single out parts of their army in advantageous combats.  We found that with the South, castling units on ridges and hills and being aggressive early on when the South has their cannons but the North's cannons have not yet arrived are both good plays.  Our game did not develop into combat in several sections of the board, the South used the hills in the NW of the board to draw my troops who mainly were coming from the south and east into long marches across the board.  We played for about an hour and a half and 24 turns into the game, we both saw the inevitable end of the South as they just did not have enough reinforcements.  Despite losing, my wife said if we played again, she would want to play the South again, as she had some new ideas for different strategies.  

The game is very historically accurate, you get an order of battle that is the same from the historical record, troops arrive from the correct road that they historically were at, and there are chits in the game representing all of the generals that commanded the different units.  However, the HQ chits have no bearing on the game, they do not fight, and have no zones of control.  At one point in the game some of the HQ chits were kind of in the way on the board, blocking the best paths into combat, and we wondered if that was the intent of the pieces, but no it clearly states in the rules that they have no effect on the game.  There are certainly areas where some simple house rules could enhance gameplay such as more terrain effects, and doing something useful with HQ units.  I have seen in other iterations of the rules that HQ units can defend only and they defend on a 1, so it is possible that there are some minor rules changes in other versions of the 1964 release.  This game was redone several times, once in the late 70s, and again in the 80s, and from what I’ve read both of these updates are vastly different games with a lot more complexity than the1964 version, so take note if you are in the market for this game.  

Nappendixia Campaign 2.0- session 83

 Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #-  83 Session Date-  5/15/24

Time Passed-  4 days (5/15-5/17, rest 5/18)

Roll Call-  Stigr- F5

Harry- T6

Finnigan- T5

Anjar- R1 hench

Kenny- M/U5

Boyo- C3 hench

Mayfly- M/U1 hench

10 Lt Cav

Adventure Log-  Downtime Activities-  Rust and the party of casters and troops arrives at North Station to train on the Cubic Gate modules.  Rust trains to level 2 by night, and the lower level casters train to level 1.  They remain in the upper levels of the station and have no encounters while training which completes on 5/21.  Godhard continues training and after that works to get all of the map knowledge he received onto a physical paper map.  That will complete on 5/26.  The party discusses plans to build an archery range and hire a proper archery teacher.  They get some estimates on how the range will allow for better acquisition of ranged troops.  They begin costing out the structure.  They also do more research and investigate the Ford Bronco and realize that they think they have identified 2 engine pieces that they still need to rebuild the engine, and they begin to think about the liquid fuel and how they may recreate that.  They consider the liquid inside the tank of the flame thrower and how that combustible liquid may be related.  They plan to get help from Master’s engineer or perhaps find their own to complete the Bronco and make a fuel source.  They hope to find the car graveyard that the merchants told them about.  They know it is in the vicinity of the Crevasse Dungeon, so they decide to head there to possibly find a temporary base to search for the car graveyard from.  They gear up and the available PCs head out on the 15th.

5/15-  The day of travel north to the Crevasse dungeon goes uneventfully and they camp within sight of the tear in the earth.  The following day they approach the narrow graded path down into the crevasse, Harry in the lead checking the path as they move forward.  He detects a span of the earthen path that has lost its integrity, the rocks beneath it having broken off and tumbled away into the watery bottom of the crevasse.  He skillfully uses his rope of climbing to prepare a series of handholds above the path, and a loop back to walk across to support their weight but still allow them to lightly touch the ground for balance.  It takes time to set up and prep the PCs for crossing but it goes smoothly and safely.  They re-enter the dungeon and find it still stinks of ogre in the front set of rooms where they recently defeated them.  However they do notice a strange creature standing on the upper landing where the ogre chief had his bedroom.  The creature is a shimmering bluish camel-like creature with a long snout.  It seems to skittishly be lingering on the stone floor above the stairs leading down from the landing.  Harry approaches cautiously, unsure if the creature is a threat or more animal-like, but a little clouded by the idea of possibly capturing a strange magical creature.  He drapes the Rope of Climbing over his shoulder and with open hands and calm demeanor approaches the beast.  It allows him to approach and even pet him, but then it turns on Harry, its snout becomes alight with magical energy and it clamps down on his rope with its long snout.  Harry sees the magical force of his prized magic rope get sucked into the creature's snout and is horrified, he turns to run back to the party, as they begin preparing battle plans.  Kenny theorizes it's some type of magic eating creature and that mundane weapons only should be used.  They fire off bullets, fire, and dagger attacks, many expertly hit, but they seem to do no damage.  They Mayfly casts his magic missile spell and the creature recoils and is wounded.  He remains focused on Harry and strikes out at his magical leather armor and clamps down on that before Harry can run, sapping it of magic.  The next volley of magic spells and weapons do significant damage, and a retreating harry fires off a magic arrow as the creature tries to flee, slaying it but not before losing 2 very nice magic items.  They rest and regroup and find no treasure connected to the Disenchanter.  Finnigan then takes the lead for a while and they take the passage north, to a double set of stairs that continue a wide passageway supported by large square pillars.  Finnigan finds a series of pressure plate trap triggers on each set of stairs, and some corresponding small holes in the walls that could shoot out a dart or spike.  He places a copper coin over each plate and points out a good route for the party to take to avoid the trap.  He does some listening on the upper level which ends in 2 doors heading north.  He hears the sounds of troops training and discerns the language to be goblin, but not from small creatures, too big and booming voices to be goblins.  He slides a mirror under the door to try to get a look but is only able to tell its is a large long east-west room, and he sees several sets of large feet waiting in ambush on the other side of the door.  Hoping they did not see the mirror, they quickly devise a plan to open the door, pepper the ambushers with missiles, and drop a fireball amongst the training troops, despite not being sure quite where in the large room they are located.  Stigr successfully kicks the door open and the party gets initiative, seeing 4 snarling bugbears at the threshold.  Kenny guessed correctly and was able to engulf the majority of the troops in his fireball, who all perished, but 4 bugbears that were laying the ambush by the double doors came charging out after using the door frames as cover     from the arrows and sling bullets.  Stigr holds them back from the rest of the party and takes several heavy wounds from their halberds, but they are taken down and the party finds a bit of treasure on each of the 22 bugbears, along with a heavy sack of platinum and electrum.  They also take a large heavy tapestry of fine quality from the far wall in the large hall.  There are a series of 5 doors at that end of the hall and they map it all, rest and scout around to check for more enemies, then rest and head back out of the dungeon laden with treasure.  They return on the 17th and rest the 18th.

Session Notes-  So the Disenchanter was a purely random roll off the Fiend Folio Tables.  I use FF for certain areas of the campaign, and it came up as an encounter just as they were entering the dungeon.  It’s just another resource management element in the game.  Not one I was thinking about at all, but like a rust monster can seriously affect a party’s resources, apparently so can a disenchanter.  At least once, it’s unlikely the party would allow that to happen again.  Overall it was pretty superior play.  They negotiated both traps/hazards well, and used good tactics in the bugbear combat.  Also we’re at a point where the PCs are all 5 level and above, and they are starting to be more tactical about using henchen.  Also they are attracted to deeper dungeon levels, where men at arms won’t go, so there’s starting to be some recognition that the large mobs of troops can’t buffer the party in every situation, plus troops are expensive to raise and maintain.  It has been however, quite some time since the random tables have produced a very powerful monster, it has been some time since the red dragon roll.  Large amounts of orcs etc. can be a huge threat and potentially kill PCs/parties, but there’s something else that goes on when you get those dragon-level random table rolls.  Only the dice know what the future holds for the campaign.

Treasure and XP-  Monsters- Disenchanter 350xp, 22 bugbear 3938xp Treasure- tapestry, 352cp, 198sp, 66ep, 66gp, 1000ep, 450pp= 7547xp/ 4 PCs= 1887xp each. Finnigan gets 1604xp, Kenny gets 1321xp, and each hench gets 283xp. add % bonus if appropriate.

Graveyard- 1 Lt Foot- killed by the Werebear at the rail supply depot NE of Bartertown (session 79)

2 Silver Spearmen, 4 Kazarians, 4 Shortbowmen, 3 Hvy Hobilar- killed by wereboars and wild boars 1 day outside of Bartertown. (session 80)

5 Silver Spearmen, 1 Bowman- killed by by werewolves and a weird blood thing at Outpost 31 North of Bartertown (session 81)

1 Lt Cav- killed by Ogres at the crevasse north of Bartertown (session 82)

Nappendixia Campaign 2.0- session 82

 Nappendixia Campaign Session Report

Session #-  82 Session Date-  5/1/24

Time Passed-  9 days (5/1- 5/8, rest 5/9)

Roll Call-  Stigr- F5

Kenny- M/U5

Boyo- C4 hench

Mayfly- M/U1 hench

Finnigan- T5

noname - R1 hench

10 Lt Cav

Adventure Log-  In the days before the previous session’s party returned to Bartertown a band of merchants 160 in number, including their troops rolls into town.  Stigr and a few others from the Iron Company engage then and it turns out they are the very same band of merchants they had encountered in the field twice before.  One time they met in the wild and shared water and a camp for the night.  They reconnect and show their wares, mostly mundane but they do have 2 things of quite unusual note.  The first is one of the 4 wheeled metal vehicles the party has seen in many of the sci-fi magazines.  They also have seen a few of these in operation at the site of the Marauders outside of Papagallo’s new fortress.  The vehicle does not run on its own, but it has been fitted with a double horse harness, and wheels and axles are well-maintained and free of rust.  The also see inside the hood of the vehicle that many of the engine parts are intact and it is possible with a little more learning on the subject that the vehicle could be repaired.  This vehicle is large and white and has the marking Bronco on its rear panel.  The 2 merchants looking to sell it introduce themselves as AC and OJ.  They also have a pile of other vehicle parts in a separate wagon they are looking to sell.  They want 5000gp for the Bronco and another 1500gp for the spare parts.  Stigr begins to cultivate a relationship with the merchants and over the next few days finds out they would be willing to stay in Bartertown for a while to sell their wares if the Iron Company would offer them lodging in some of the abandoned buildings in their quarter if they agree to fixing them up a bit.  They also throw in their remaining Battlewagon as a trade-in.  The preliminary deal is set, and on the 5th after all the active PCs have arrived in Bartertown and agreed to the deal and money is pooled, they make the purchase of the Bronco and the parts, and the merchants begin moving into the Iron Quarter for a 6 month residency.   With that settled, Godhard seeks a trainer and begins for level 7, as others take heed of a rumor the merchants give them of a crevasse in the ground to the north about 30 miles from Bartertown.  They spied a cave opening down an accessible grade into the crevasse, and the party is eager to earn back in treasure some of what they just spent on the Bronco.  Stigr, Finnigan, Kenny, and their assembled party head out on the 6th.

5/6 - Within just a few hours of  departing they come across a large warband of orcs, over 200 in number.  Fortunately the keen eyes of the ranger spots them from a distance and they manage to get initiative on the orcs and the party's light horse are much faster than the marching orcs so there is no possibility of pursuit and the party goes around, but not before sending the ranger back to Bartertown to quickly warn the town them catch back up to the group.  The rest of the day they see no signs of orcs or large armies of any kind.  It seems the troop activity from several months ago has not fully elapsed, and there may be a reckoning in the near future between Bartertown and the Headhunter Orcs.  They rest that night a few hours march from the crevasse.  In the night the ranger catches back up to the party as Bartertown defenses prepare for the orcs.  

5/7- In the dawn hours of rest, the party is set upon by ogres.  Fortunately they are spotted form a distance, and at 80 yards, they win initiative and Kenny is able to get a fireball centered to hit 13 out of 16.  The magic form his fireball is particularly powerful, and 12 of the 13 perish as the remaining 4 charge into the party.  Stigr stands to take the brunt of the attack and is seriously wounded but the party prevails and cuts down the remaining.  They easily see the tracks of the ogre band that lead down the navigable ledge into the crevasse.  They take it single file down about 6 levels to a place where there is a wide cave opening in the side of the crevasse.  There are also 2 square pillars inset in the cliff wall adding support and also several square pillars broken off but jutting up from the bottom of the crevasse which is filled with water.  Finnigan inches forward into the cave opening and finds what appears to be the ogre clan’s lair and also the beginnings of a larger dungeon complex that seems to be both ancient and well-carved.  In the ogre area Finnigan spies the massive ogre chief and several females and younglings.  He sees their meager living area and a set of stairs that lead up to a landing and a door and a further corridor.  Unfortunately Finnigan is not that silent and the stone shifts and alerts the chief who charges off after the noise, causing Finnigan to run back to the party on the narrow ledge, calling them into the lair to avoid the combat on the precarious ledge.  They move in and the combat ensues, with 3 females engaging to aid the chief.  A well placed web spell gets the chief and 2 females, but the massive chief quickly breaks through and continues to be a threat with his massive club.  He targets Finnigan mostly, who is hit several times, but dodges many others.  Eventually the chief falls to melee blows, and the females are incinerated when the webs are ignited with flaming oil.  The final female surrenders, and the party graciously lets her leave with her younglings and some food and clothing.  They make it back to Bartertown after resting and policing up the meager treasure of the ogres, over 900gp plus a hefty pile of copper and silver.  They party lately has been eyeing copper and silver more for their industrial uses rather than their use as a a precious metal.  They figure out a way to distribute the over 900 pounds of copper and silver plus the gold and travel back, arriving on the 9th.  The party marks the crevasse on their map, noting that there is still much to explore there.

Session Notes-  So as stated above, the players have become interested in silver and copper not as precious metals, but as industrial metal, they have crafted silver spear and arrowheads with their last haul of silver, and now they want to try smelting down their new haul of copper to make wire.  It certainly is a productive use of the lesser coins, however I wonder if coins used in this way should grant xp.  It was always my understanding that you get xp for treasure because you are basically liberating it away from some monster or dungeon, and putting it back into the current money system.  Not a huge deal either way as copper and silver generate xp at such a high ratio.  Also just noting that lately the party has been generating lower than average treasure, but have recently hit it several times on the magic items column.  They also have been generating a fair share of their xp in monster kills, with no big hauls of treasure in recent sessions.  This is why I do offer a cheaper way of paying for training, because otherwise many PCs would be jammed up at their next level, not earning xp but having to grind for treasure to pay for their next level.  It’s the only thing I offer intentionally not RAW, although several players have opted to pay for the RAW method in the dmg.  I just feel the game would get stagnant if PCs felt there wasn’t adequate treasure.  The campaign is at session 82 and we have our first PC about to hit level 7, I feel that is a good pace, if not a little slow, but that PC did not start at the first session, there has been a bit of turnover in the Nappendixia Campaign.  

Treasure and XP-  Monsters-  16 ogres and chief 3433xp  Treasure- 960gp, 8000cp, 2000sp (1140xp)= 4573xp/ 3PCs= 1524xp, Stigr gets 1524, Finnigan gets 1295, Kenny gets 1066, and the henchmen each get 229.  The party gets an additional 1000gp for the ogres bounty, treasure only- no xp.

Graveyard-    1 Lt Foot- killed by the Werebear at the rail supply depot NE of Bartertown (session 79)

2 Silver Spearmen, 4 Kazarians, 4 Shortbowmen, 3 Hvy Hobilar- killed by wereboars and wild boars 1 day outside of Bartertown. (session 80)

5 Silver Spearmen, 1 Bowman- killed by by werewolves and a weird blood thing at Outpost 31 North of Bartertown (session 81)

1 Lt Cav- killed by Ogres at the crevasse north of Bartertown (session 82)