Civil War is a strategic wargame covering the American Civil War. One player commands the Union forces while the other takes the Confederate side. The game covers the entire conflict at a strategic level, with players managing armies, supply lines, and political considerations across the Eastern and Western theaters. Victory requires both military success and maintaining political will.
Components
Strategic map of the Eastern United States (hex grid or area map)
Unit counters (Union and Confederate armies, corps, and leaders)
Combat Results Table (CRT)
Terrain Effects Chart
Political Will/Victory Point track
Turn Record Track
Dice
Setup
Place the map centrally.
Deploy Union and Confederate units in their historical starting positions per the scenario instructions.
Set the Political Will markers to their starting positions.
Place the turn marker on the first turn.
Assign sides (Union and Confederate).
Turn Structure
Each game turn represents a period of the war (months or seasons):
Strategic Phase: Both players assess the overall situation, receive reinforcements, and plan.
Union Player Turn:
Reinforcement placement
Movement
Combat
Confederate Player Turn:
Reinforcement placement
Movement
Combat
Political Phase: Adjust political will based on battles won/lost, territory controlled, and events.
Supply Phase: Check supply lines for all units.
End Phase: Advance turn marker, check victory conditions.
Actions
Movement
Move army units up to their movement allowance across the map.
Terrain affects movement costs (mountains, rivers, forests cost more).
Railroads provide strategic movement bonuses for rapid redeployment.
Combat
Attacking units must be adjacent to (or in the same area as) defending units.
Calculate odds ratio and apply terrain and leadership modifiers.
Roll on the CRT to determine results.
Results include retreats, step losses, and leader casualties.
Leadership
Generals and commanders provide combat bonuses and enable special actions.
Named historical leaders (Grant, Lee, Sherman, Jackson, etc.) have individual ratings.
Leader assignment to armies affects combat effectiveness.
Supply
Units must trace supply lines to friendly supply sources.
Out-of-supply units suffer attrition and combat penalties.
Cutting enemy supply lines is a key strategy.
Reinforcements
New units arrive on specific turns, reflecting historical recruiting and mobilization.
The Union receives increasing reinforcements over time; the Confederacy must manage with fewer replacements.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
Union victory: Capture key Confederate cities (Richmond, Atlanta, etc.) and/or reduce Confederate political will to zero.
Confederate victory: Maintain independence by surviving long enough for Union political will to collapse, or by winning decisive battles that shift Northern public opinion.
Political Will: Both sides have a political will track. Major defeats, territory loss, and attrition reduce political will. When one side’s political will reaches zero, they sue for peace.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
Naval power: The Union may have naval superiority allowing coastal operations and river control (the Anaconda Plan).
Blockade: The Union can blockade Confederate ports, reducing Confederate resource income.
Emancipation: Historical events like the Emancipation Proclamation may trigger rule changes mid-game.
Foreign intervention: Some scenarios include the possibility of British/French recognition of the Confederacy.
Guerrilla warfare: The Confederacy may conduct irregular operations behind Union lines.
Attrition: The longer the war continues, the more the Union’s industrial advantage matters.
Player Reference
Union Strategy
Superior numbers, industry, navy; slow buildup
Confederate Strategy
Interior lines, defensive terrain, morale; early advantage
Political Will
Key metric — battles and territory affect it
Supply
Must trace lines to sources; cut enemy supply to weaken them