Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 & 1864

The Civil War Heritage Series Volume II

by

GMT Games

 

 The American Civil War was one of the largest wars to happen in the West since the Mongol invasions of the Middle Ages. Its scope, compared to the last few centuries of warfare in Europe, was tremendous. I do not think history readers fully grasp the magnitude of what Lincoln gave himself as a task. It was even more daunting given the United States propensity to shrivel its Armed Forces to almost nothing up until slightly before World War II. You also have to add into the fact that the war itself shrank the available trained manpower, officers, soldiers, and sailors, possibly up to one half. Lincoln needed to enlarge both the Navy and Army by hundreds of times. Most wars in the last few hundreds of years were fought over comparatively small pieces of land. The Northern Armies would have to conquer and keep subdued more than half the eastern part of the U.S. As the old adage goes "Amateurs study tactics and professionals study logistics". Both sides in the conflict would have to arm, clothe, and most of all feed hundreds of thousands of troops and animals. This of course would have to be done with almost no infrastructure in place. The fact that both sides, the South in particular, were able to create and keep their armies in the field speaks much to American ingenuity. 

 

 Almost every book about the Civil War lists its own milestone as the time and place that won and lost the war, be it Pickett's Charge or the fall of Vicksburg. A man who had great insight picked a totally different decisive moment. Porter Alexander who was an officer in the C.S.A."s Army of Northern Virginia wrote that, to him, the South lost the war when it did not crush The Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days Battles. Never again during the war would the forces be so close in manpower and elan. So, this leads from my diatribe to the game at hand. The gamer is given by Mr. Herman and his crew the ability to play out The Seven Days Battles in almost their complete totality. He has also given us the ability to play out most of the 1864 Overland Campaign. So, let us begin with what GMT Games has to say about the game:

"Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 and 1864 is the second volume in the Civil War Heritage series and the follow-up game to the innovative and acclaimed Rebel Fury. Army of the Potomac uses the same core rules as Rebel Fury, so players familiar with Rebel Fury will be able to jump right into the action. Each battle in Army of the Potomac is quick-set-up, quick-playing, and deeply interactive. The density of counters in each scenario is low, allowing you to see and experience the big picture of the battle.

Army of the Potomac covers the battles of Spotsylvania II, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, and the entire Seven Days battle (McClellan vs Lee), including the prelude Seven Pines (McClellan vs Johnston) when Johnston's wounding brought Lee into the command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Each battle places you, the player, in the role of the Army Commander (Grant, McClellan, Lee, Johnston). You maneuver your army to find the enemy’s flanks, concentrate your forces for an attack, and determine where to commit your artillery assets.

Units are portrayed at the Infantry/Cavalry division level. The Civil War Heritage series game system features a new Zone of Influence/Zone of Control mechanic that controls unit formation (March/Battle) based on their proximity to your opponent. As your units close with the enemy, your forces naturally break into battle formation, where they then maneuver the last distance to engage. Unlike most hex and counter wargames, this system allows you total freedom to move units in any order multiple times, unleashing the full range of historical tactics in a simple and clean format.

Combat features a differential combat system with few but significant factors that capture the key features of Civil War division level combat. Units are rated for quality, artillery support, supporting units, and terrain. The game features artillery duels with the occasional Exploding Caisson result. The Civil War Heritage series combat system accurately depicts the ability of units to launch multiple waves of attacks on the same position, capturing the back-and-forth nature of many famous combat duels.

Army of the Potomac also includes a set of campaign rules that allow you to conduct operations from Spotsylvania to Cold Harbor featuring logistics and attrition. Also included are two bonus scenarios to allow owners of Rebel Fury to also fight Spotsylvania II and begin the Campaign scenario from Wilderness to Cold Harbor using their original Rebel Fury map.

Four 22" x 34" Game Maps (A,B,C,D)

Three 11" x 34" map sheets (E,F)

One 11" x 17" map sheet (G)

One Small cardstock map (Map C extension)

Two Counter Sheets

One Civil War Heritage Series Rulebook

One Playbook

One 8.5" x 14" cardstock Union 1864 Off-Map Display

Two 8.5 x 11" cardstock Time Record Tracks (1862 and 1864)

Two Player Aid Cards

Two 10-sided dice (one blue and one gray)

One special die (with soldier & explosion icons)

PUBLISHED 2026

DESIGNER Mark Herman

DEVELOPER Jason Carr

MAP & COUNTER ART Charlie Kibler"

 As is my want, I will start discussing the physical properties of the game and we will start with the maps.

 The first thing you will notice after opening the box is something that a grognard would find to be very strange. The contents are made up of mostly maps. Usually in wargames the maps are shrunken in size to be able to fit the area of fighting into its box. Here you are given a plethora of maps and not really much else. The amount of mileage on maps is almost always accompanied by a huge stack of counters to be punched, cut, and clipped (if you are so inclined). The number of counters you are given here are awash in a sea of maps. 

 The maps themselves are definitely a labor of love. They are not works of art solely on their own. However, they are most assuredly works of wargaming art. They are a bit subdued in color. They also belong squarely into the less is more category. Everything the gamer needs is plainly laid out on them. The player does also not have to guess or toss a coin to decide what terrain is in each hex. They are a study in simplicity and usability. Which is, after all, what we wargamers are looking for.

There are a total of five hard cardstock player's aids. Two of them are exactly alike. So, each player has all of the charts and tables needed for the game with the obverse being the Terrain Chart. There is a small foldout that is the Union Off-Map Display. Next up, there is the turn record track for the Sevan Day's Battles and 1862 Campaign the remaining Moves/Attacks track, and on the back is a large printout of the Sequence of Play. The last has the Turn Record Track for the 1864 battles and Campaign along with its own Moves/Attacks Track. 

 The Rulebook is 24 pages long. It is in full color, and the print is in two-column format. The pages are made of paper compared to the magazine type pages you find in most new Rulebooks. Between all of the notes, explanations, and examples of play the rules look to be only about 14 pages long. The Rulebook's shortness does not in any way represent the depth of the game. Then we have the 56-page Playbook. It starts out with five pages of important information that will either make your life easier or is compulsory reading. The last tidbit explains the four changes to the series rules. These are also meant for the first game of the series Rebel Fury. Two may be used and two have to be implemented. Pages 6-39 hold the setups and victory conditions etc. for the different battle and campaign scenarios. The rest of the Playbook is filled with expansive Designer's Notes and other ramblings from Mr. Herman. The piece on the Battle of Chancellorsville and the scenario creation of that battle in Rebel Fury is excellent. The Playbook itself is, as usual, manufactured in the same way as the Rulebook.

 We finish up with the two countersheets. One thing about the countersheets is that they come with the counters separated in blocks for each Battle/Campaign. The counters also are marked in the upper right-hand corner to which they belong. However, this just makes separating and bagging them in the beginning so much easier. Again, you will probably be amazed at the number of counters compared to the map sizes in each battle/Campaign (especially the Campaigns). The 5/8" size of the unit counters make them easy to read and for placement. There are also 1/2" counters for keeping track and detachments among other things. These are naturally a little harder to read then their larger ones. 

 All in all, these represent the wonderful artwork and manufacturing that GMT Games gives its customers. The game components would also give you a very short unboxing, unless you wanted to pore over the marvel of simplicity and style that the maps are.

 The game is sort of a "two mints in one" proposition. The Battles are designed to be elegantly and easily played with simple rules. The Campaigns up the ante by over 50% in their listed complexity. To be fair, upon opening Rebel Fury I was at first a little miffed that the game seemed so easy. I finally wrapped my head around Mr. Herman's less is more style for this series. Instead of drowning the player in minutiae he was trying to encapsulate the actual feeling of commanding an army in the Civil War. It is a magnum opus of a game that uses the KISS style. The ruleset not only works but it has been lauded by grognards and newbies alike. It has also won numerous awards. 

 With so many accolades and praise from people who know their way around a wargame, I am somewhat at a loss for words. I will endeavor to do my best. One of Mr. Herman's greatest gifts to those of us who read military history is in the visual field. The game shows you exactly how much you are adrift in a sea of mileage. It also knocks out of your head all of the "Grant should have gone around Lee's left" ideas that people have. For purely logistical reasons Grant is always going to go to Lee's right. At least, in major moves and not short movements like the North Anna etc, you get to see how both sides are like movie monsters and shuffling toward each other. 

 The simplicity of the rules, especially in the battles, allows the player to really think what has to be done. The game has just enough chrome to immerse you. However, what it does not do is try to drown you in 50 pages of rules to force you into historical play. Does some of the game take off in ahistorical moments? Absolutely not. At least nothing out of the plausibility spectrum. Do you get real Civil War outcomes in the scenarios? Most definitely yes. Its name is not Panzers in Virginia. 

 As you can read in the copious Designer Notes the game was designed to be an accurate depiction of the battles and campaigns it represents. Due to the designer's ability the game also has a simple set of rules. For those of us who are mentally glued to the CRT in games you might have a problem. The Civil War was a brutish affair, as Mr. Herman shows, with most engagements being somewhat similar to the push of the pike. The design is meant to force you into the mindset of a Civil War general. The abundance of field fortifications in the 1864 battles/campaigns put an even more brutal twist to the game. 

 The logistics/supply rules add so much to the already excellent game system. These and the other rules on zone of control and forcing attacks really takes this game from just being a normal Civil War game where you are just trying to beat the CRT to an award winner.

 Thank you, GMT Games, for allowing me to review this game. I also want to thank Mr. Herman for a design that is as historical as it can be given the constraints of board wargaming. The physical situation of both the 1862 and 1864 campaigns are spread out in a wonderful vista for you. I am slightly singular in that I play wargames for their inherent historical information instead of their merits as an actual 'game'. This is also why my reading at the time has such a bearing on what game will appear next on the table. The more that a game goes into the historical range of design is also my meat and potatoes. That is why I am so taken with both Rebel Fury and this game (and the series). The next game in this series by GMT Games appears to be 'Lee Moves North' simulating both the Antietam and Gettysburg battles/campaigns.

 No AI was harmed or even touched during the making of this review.

"It was an Abyssinian maid

And on her dulcimer she played,

Singing of Mount Abora." *

Robert Peterson

GMT Games

Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 & 1864

Rebel Fury: The Civil War Heritage Series Volume I

My Review of Rebel Fury: The Civil War Heritage Series Volume I

* If you need to know who and what your education is severely lacking.

FORGED BY FIRE: A Napoleonic Grand Strategy Game

Forged by Fire is a 2–4 player grand-strategy wargame spanning the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars across 12 rounds. One side commands France and its alliance, while the other leads Britain and the Coalition powers. But these alliances are never set in stone.

Both sides compete for historically inspired victory points, which generate diplomatic power. This power can be used to negotiate armistices, forge alliances, or declare war on other major powers of the era, constantly reshaping the political landscape.

BUILT TO WORK WITH TWO PLAYERS

One of my key goals with Forged by Fire was to capture the massive military scale and unpredictable political landscape of the Napoleonic era without requiring five or six players to make diplomacy work.

Traditional diplomatic wargames often rely on each major power having its own player, creating memorable experiences but requiring a large, committed group.

Forged by Fire takes a different approach. France and Britain anchor their respective alliances, while other nations can shift allegiances throughout the game. This creates a strategic chess match—or sometimes a poker game—where military positioning, political influence, and bluffing all come into play. Unlike traditional alliance-based wargames, the opposing sides aren't fixed, and victory isn't simply a race to capture Paris or London.

1793: EUROPE ON THE EDGE

The game begins in 1793, just before the French victory at the Siege of Toulon. Revolutionary France is surrounded by enemies, plagued by internal rebellions, and facing a Coalition determined to crush it. Napoleon has yet to become Emperor, and much of what defines the Napoleonic Wars is still to come.

From there, players shape their own version of history.

France might dominate continental Europe—or be defeated before it gets the chance. Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, and other major powers may remain loyal to the Coalition, leave the war, or even join France. Rather than following a scripted history, the game recreates the military and political pressures of the era and leaves the outcome to the players.

Achieving historical objectives and major military victories, such as capturing enemy capitals or winning significant battles, generates Diplomacy Tokens. These can be saved or spent during the Diplomacy Phase at the beginning of each round to reshape alliances and influence the course of the war.

After 12 rounds, the alliance with the most Victory Points wins. The game features over 30 historically inspired objectives, each rooted in the real strategic ambitions of the era. Achieving an objective for the first time also awards a Diplomacy Token, which can be spent at the beginning of future rounds to influence the allegiances of major powers.

This means no two games are likely to unfold the same way.

Launch the Egyptian Campaign. Fight the Peninsular War. Use French diplomatic influence to bring Austria into your alliance and conquer Prussia. Build a powerful French navy to dominate the Mediterranean. Or align with Russia and challenge Britain in India.

My goal was to let history set the stage while giving players the freedom to write their own story. Rather than following a scripted timeline, Forged by Fire offers a wide range of historically grounded strategic ambitions, with diplomacy and military decisions determining how the era unfolds.

A MUCH BIGGER WAR

Although Europe is naturally the center of the game, the map extends far beyond it. North America, the Caribbean, North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and India are all part of the strategic picture, along with the sea routes connecting them.

Control major ports to receive additional income and shipbuilding capability. Establish naval blockades and protect important trade routes.

DIPLOMACY IS YOUR SHARPEST WEAPON

There is also a bluffing element to the system. Both sides can accumulate Diplomacy Tokens and may choose at times to save them for something bigger. An opponent sitting on a large reserve of political influence becomes a threat in itself. Where are they planning to use it? Which nation are they targeting? Are those armies massing near a neutral country because an alliance is coming—or because they want you to think one is?

That uncertainty is intentional. You win battles to gain political leverage. Political leverage changes the alliances. Those new alliances create opportunities to pursue entirely different objectives.

ARMIES ARE MORE THAN STACKS OF COUNTERS

I also wanted land combat to involve more decision-making than simply assembling the largest possible stack and rolling dice. Battles are divided between the Center and the Flank, and the composition of an army matters.

Infantry, artillery and cavalry each have different battlefield roles. Concentrating powerful cavalry forces on a flank may allow you to break through against the enemy center—but doing so can leave your own center weaker.

Artillery and infantry provide tremendous power in the center, while cavalry can create opportunities elsewhere on the battlefield.

Players therefore have to decide not only how large an army should be, but what that army should actually look like.

Generals are particularly important because they are the primary drivers of large-scale military operations and logistically supersede the movement values of the units they command.

Generals command the largest concentrations of troops, provide greater operational mobility, and can acquire Advanced Tactics that specialize them for different styles of warfare. Rifling, Corps System, Grand Battery, and Fieldworks are just a few of the options players can equip their Generals with.

Napoleon is naturally the most formidable General, starting with four free Advanced Tactics. But even the strongest commander needs the right army behind him—and the right positioning to make it count.

THE WAR AT SEA

Naval warfare operates on a smaller scale than the armies marching across Europe, but control of the seas can have enormous strategic consequences. Fleets protect overseas territories and trade routes, contest strategically important waters, transport armies and threaten enemy possessions far beyond Europe.

Britain in particular has reasons to think globally. A player focused exclusively on continental warfare may suddenly discover that their opponent has been accumulating Victory Points through overseas possessions, trade routes, ports or naval objectives. Britain’s navy is one of the key linchpins to Coalition success or failure in Forged by Fire.

This creates one of the dynamics I wanted most from the game: there should almost always be more desirable objectives than either alliance can realistically accomplish. Players have to decide where the war matters most.

NATIONAL SPECIAL ABILITIES

Adding historical flavor to this strategic sandbox was equally important. Britain's economic strength and global influence are represented through Special Abilities such as British Subsidies, Far East Trade, and even an Admiral Nelson unit. Most nations possess unique abilities, with France featuring the most, including Levée en Masse, and Napoleon, while the Spanish Revolts, Russian Winter, and many others are featured for other major powers.

Ultimately, Forged by Fire was designed to offer far more than one or two paths to victory. Dominate continental Europe, expand overseas, control the seas, dismantle enemy alliances through diplomacy, capture capitals, protect trade routes, or combine multiple strategies to achieve victory.

After two years of development and numerous playtests with overwhelmingly positive feedback, my goal is to take Forged by Fire beyond the prototype stage and bring it to gaming tables everywhere.

Help make Forged by Fire a reality—and get it onto your game shelf! Follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page using the link below to support the campaign.

Kickstart pre-launch:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fxf/forged-by-fire-a-napoleonic-grand-strategy-game

Forged by Fire promo video: