Gettysburg

This classic battle from the Civil War has been gamed many times before.  Gettysburg is now under development in an all new Pub Battles format. 

It feels very daunting to me to take on a project like Gettysburg.  I’ve actually been avoiding it.  It is a big title.  This is the big leagues for wargaming.  There is lots of competition for Gettysburg games.  No other battle has been looked at so carefully and scrutinized by designers, companies and wargamers.

Why yet another Gettysburg game?  How many more do we need?  What can we possibly offer that hasn’t been done before?  There are already several excellent games on this battle.  What can we do better than them?  Is there anything new, fresh and worthwhile that can be done?

We’ve thought long and hard about this.  First of all, why make anything new?  Well, why not?  Is there ever a definitive anything?  After Ford came out with the Model T, why make any other cars?  It’s already been done. 

There are always new products:    New editions, improvements, variations, perspectives.  The Model T was great for the day but look at all the cool options we have today!

What can Pub Battles offer that is new?  Well first we have the obvious:  graphics.  Just a beautiful Pub Battles style canvas map and blocks would make the game worthwhile.  -even IF the game was a complete bomb.  (An early version of this is already in a museum display!)

The Pub Battles has proven itself to be very versatile and accurate at modeling ‘extreme’ battles.  Our premise has always been that if you can model the impossible, (Little Bighorn, Chancellorsville, Brandywine) then you have a solid foundation for any battle. 

I’ve been most worried about the entry and development of the battle on the first day.  As a meeting engagement, timing is huge.  In most Gettysburg games, the arrival of every piece can be critical.  Won’t the chaos of Pub Battles trash this delicate balance and ruin the game?

Our play testers have been arguing that this is exactly what will make this the BEST Gettysburg game ever.  Many Gettysburg games settle into a boring and set opening.  The same moves.  The same arrival.  The same attacks.  The same result.  The random move order in Pub Battles will break all of these molds.  Every game will be different.  Every move will be critical. 

Are my worries unfounded?  Are the play testers correct?  Time will tell but we are now entering into development on this classic game:  Pub Battles Gettysburg. 

-Note the map graphic is an unfinished, rough draft.  We’ll post more pix as we get further along.