A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition

by

Flying Pig Games

 The big guy is back in the ring. Flying Pig Games has a Kickstarter for A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition coming out on October 26th. If you remember, this has a gorgeous map that is FIFTEEN SQUARE FEET in size. The unit counters are also very large at 13/16". Below will have the Designer Notes from Hermann Luttmann. I will also throw in some pics. Without further ado:

 "GAME CREDITS

Game Design: Hermann Luttmann

Publisher: Mark H. Walker

Game Developers and Testers: Claude Whalen, Stephen Poitinger, 

Zeke Conover and Fred Manzo

Map Art: Rick Barber

Game Counters and Aids Art: Jose Faura

Rules Layout: Guillaume Ries

DESIGNER’S NOTES

Thank you so much for purchasing and playing A Most Fearful Sacrifice! It has been quite a long, grueling process to get this project tested and finished … but it was indeed a labor of love. I have to first thank the individuals you see listed as the Game Developers and Testers. This group of gentlemen is the most dedicated, talented, and valuable team of gamers with which I have ever worked. They have been tireless in their efforts to test every aspect of this design and their contributions and observations have made this a much better game than I could have created on my own. So, my utmost thanks to all of them! I also want to thank Mark Walker and Flying Pig Games. They are a terrific company for which to design, and Mark is a wonderful guy who has also become a good friend over the years. 

I know many of you are saying … “Why another Gettysburg game?”. Well, honestly … why not? This is the iconic American Civil War battle and when taken in its entirety, it is a fascinating study in command, strategy, and tactics. It also tells some of the most heroic - and most tragic - stories to emerge from the annals of military history. The conduct of the battle and the myriad possibilities of how it could have evolved are fascinating topics to explore in a wargame. Overall, the consequences of the Battle of Gettysburg and its reverberating effect on the conduct of the remainder of the American Civil War cannot be understated and thus it has drawn warranted attention in the gaming world. 

Ultimately, the decision to do the entire battle was an easy one to make. We felt that we had a good core system with The Devil’s To Pay, which is essentially an upscaling of the Blind Swords system. But I did not want to do just an expansion to that game (which covers only the first day of the battle) for a number of reasons. Such an expansion’s footprint would have to be quite large in order to cover both the second and third days of the battle. In addition, the extra rules required to handle a multi-day battle would essentially have made the expansion larger than the original game. No – we needed one epic design to handle all three days and that’s what we set out to do. 

The system used for A Most Fearful Sacrifice is basically the same as used in previous games in the Blind Swords family, but because of the grander scope of the battle I needed to re-design the activation system, or the game would take way too long to play. Thus, was born the idea of converting from chit-pull to card-draw mechanics. Not only is it microseconds faster to draw a card than pull a chit, but more importantly, actual game information can be included on a card, and this results in a huge time saver – no more hunting for a rule or event effect on a chart or in the rulebook. Also, by switching to activating units by Corps, this cuts down severely on the number of cards that need to be drawn. Instead, an extra layer of player decision making was incorporated into the concept of the player needing to set up each Corp’s “Division Priority”. This certainly adds an additional element of command and speeds up gameplay at the same time. Other mechanics were also re-designed and tweaked to maintain just as much “crunchy” detail as before but with less effort. All in all, we feel that Black Swan is the ultimate ACW grand-tactical game system, and we hope you agree. 

Finally, we’ve designed thirteen scenarios of varying scopes so that players can explore every portion of the Battle of Gettysburg in detail. There are small and medium scenarios covering just snippets of the battle’s narrative (and these obviously require shorter swaths of playing time) or you can experience all three days in a “grand battle” extravaganza so players can explore all the strategic options for both sides. However, you choose to experience this game, we hope that you ultimately enjoy it. Once again, thank you for your kind support and good gaming!" 

Hermann

Flying Pig Games:

Flying Pig Games

A Most Fearful Sacrifice:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition/Reprint | Flying Pig Games

Kickstarter for the 2nd Edition:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice -Second Edition by Mark H. Walker — Kickstarter

 

 A Most Fearful Sacrifice

The Three Days of Gettysburg a Hermann Luttmann Game

by

Flying Pig Games

  Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Acquitaine in 'The Lion in Winter': "There'll be pork in the trees come morning".

 Do not ask why, but I love that quote and I believe I have put into every Flying Pig Games review I have done.

 So, we are looking at the 399th game on the Battle of Gettysburg, and why exactly are we? Many have made the argument that had Lee won the battle the Civil War would be over. This has to be taken with a grain of salt. Armies during the Civil War were never destroyed by battle. You must also add in the troops (50,000+-) that were in forts around Washington. Even with the horrific losses that both sides suffered during the three days of Gettysburg, the war still continued for two years. Yet, we wargamers and designers are pulled like a moth to the flame by the mere mention of this insignificant Pennsylvania town. There are three battles that have always been the highest on the list as far as games made about them: Gettysburg, The Bulge, and Waterloo. The one thing that Gettysburg has over the other two is the historical seesaw action that took place. Both sides have a chance to win the battle outright. A designer does not need to play with the victory conditions on a Gettysburg game. So, let us "Cry Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war" once more on these Pennsylvania fields.

 Most of us will have at least a few maps etc. that were made by Richard Neil "Rick" Barber in our game collection. What some people may not know is that Mr. Barber was also a very good game designer. He even designed his own magnum opus on Gettysburg called 'Summer Storm'. You can easily see that the map was one of Mr. Barbers. The other interesting thing about Summer Storm was one counter/artwork that he included with the game. He has a counter with a zombie looking dead Jackson for use in an alternative history scenario. The reason I mention Mr. Barber is because we wargamers lost a giant in our hobby with his passing. As a matter of fact, A Most Fearful Sacrifice is dedicated to him (very nice touch, Flying Pig Games). There is even a card with his portrait on it included with the game. The monster map that comes with AMFS is a testament to his genius and artistry.

Some of the beautiful map and counters

 This is what comes with the game:

1 – Full color rulebook

1 – Full color scenario Book with THIRTEEN scenarios. Nine use one of the two maps, four use both.

2 – Game Maps totally FIFTEEN SQUARE FEET of gaming goodness

4 - Sheets of a total of 352 13/16” (that's big) counters  

1 – 5/8” counter sheet (176 counters) for the admin markers

90 - Cards to activate corps, initiate planned events, trigger unplanned events and create fog of war.

1 – Player Aids

2 – large, 11" x 17" Command Displays 

6 – Dice (2 red, 2 black, 2 white)

Another map and counter close up

 This is a blurb about the game form the Portable Porcines themselves:

"A Most Fearful Sacrifice is an epic two-player wargame with over 15 square feet of playing area and 526 playing pieces depicting the fighting that occurred during all three days of this decisive clash. The game utilizes a new ACW operating system called the Black Swan system, which is closely related to the popular Blind Swords game system first introduced in the game The Devil’s to Pay! by Tiny Battle Publishing. This version of the system is specifically designed to handle larger-scale battles yet keep rules overhead low. Players can simulate huge encounters in a reasonable amount of playing time. This is accomplished in one way through the use of card draws rather than chit pulls. Also, players will trigger activations by Corps instead of by lower-level formations, but they still have tactical decision-making choices by needing to determine which Divisions get activation priority. Though at a grander scale, this system maintains a tactical feel about it and still emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of war … the Fortunes of War, the Friction of War and the Fog of War. Players will be challenged to deal with a constantly developing battle situation, never quite sure of what the Gods of War will throw at them, and thus they must always be prepared to deal with historically realistic “black swan” events."  

Confederate Cards

  The box itself weighs a good amount. I did not bother to weigh it, but you could use it for curls as a warmup weight, if you are in shape. Since the game was released, the map has garnered every form of adulation available in the English language, some others also. A mounted map this large is a rare breed indeed. A map that was done with such artistry is also exceedingly rare. Then add in all of the incredible details put onto the map and you have a map that you can only use the phrase c'est magnifique! about. There are some other things in the box, but who cares look at that map, said slightly in jest. The 13/16"counters are 'big huuuge' (a phrase one of my sons used to describe anything larger than himself). The pictures on them match the rest of the components, but do not hide any of the information needed for the player. The fact that the troop illustrations on the counters are historically correct does help with immersion. If they wore Zouave uniforms, it is there (Yay! for my Louisiana Tigers). The artillery also shows the correct cannon that the unit possessed. They come pre-rounded for those who have psychological problems with corners. They come off the sprues with no hint of cardboard tags on them. I think they hired Uri Geller to pull off that stunt. The 5/8" counters are your standard squares. The information on them is plainly visible for anyone but the most myopic. The game comes with three Command Display foldouts in hard stock (two Union, one Confederate). These are nice and large. The three Player Aids are also hard stock. They are: The Scenario Setup Guide, Terrain Effects Chart, Combat Results Table etc. They come on two sided sheets. The only real knock on the presentation of the game is the very small writing on the Player's Aids. Flying Pig Games has developed larger sheets that are available for download on their site. I will have the link below. The Cards have the cover picture on the front and the information needed is large and easy to understand. The Rulebook is thirty-two pages long with a full index. The rules are only just over twenty-four pages long. It is in full color and has plenty of large sized examples of play etc. The type is also large sized. The Scenario Book has thirteen scenarios in it. These have pictures of the map to help with placement. Again, it is in good sized type and easy to follow. The Confederates do not have a necromancer handy so there is no variant for a Jackson brought back to life. There is a 'Reynolds Lives' variant for the two Grand Battle Scenarios. 

 Flying Pig Games was nice enough to send me the Kickstarter add-ons to the game. These include three Union and three Confederate die. Next up is a large pack of Flying Pig Games card sleeves and a very nice mouse pad with some of the map around Gettysburg with some Union units. Then comes four 14" border strips. There are two Union and two Confederate of these strips. I spoke too soon about the absence of a necromancer. You get five cards to show Jackson at the head of the Second Corps. So, he is just replacing Ewell.

Jackson Cards

 We can talk all day about the other components, but there will still be the elephant in the room. Once the map is out on your table it immediately becomes the center of attention of the whole room. Yes, it is that good. However, you will not see a picture of the entire map in this review. You would need a cathedral ceiling and a drone to get the full map, but you would not be able to see any of the magnificent details.

Confederate Counters

 This is the Sequence of Play:

"A Most Fearful Sacrifice is played in a sequence of Game Turns, the actual number of which is determined by the scenario being played. Each Game Turn represents about one hour of time and is broken down into a series of consecutive Phases. Each Phase must be completed before proceeding to the next Phase. A Game Turn is played following the standard Sequence of Play:

1. Advance Game Turn Marker Phase

2. Command Decision Phase

3. Preliminary Bombardment Phase

4. Card Draw Phase

5. Activation Phase

a. Order Step

b. Fire Combat Step

c. Movement Step

d. Assault Combat Step

e. Rally Step

6. End Phase"

Union Counters

 I am a self-proclaimed Hermann Luttmann groupie. He could probably design a game about volleyball, and I would have to have it. As was mentioned, AMFS has been created around his new Black Swan rules. The rules went to cards instead of picking chits. Although, in actuality it pretty much serves the same purpose. The most important thing to remember about these rules for us budding generals, instead of just the complete hit or miss of chit pulls you can get a myriad of different outcomes. You might be able to activate an entire corps, or it will just sit there. On the other hand, you could get a result to be able to activate one division. You could possibly only be allowed to activate one brigade. Take a look at this from the rules:

"No Orders: No units are activated.

• One Brigade –or- One Hex of Artillery: The player may

activate only one Brigade of his choice from the Division

or all Artillery units from the listed Artillery Brigade that

are stacked in the same hex (this includes all Artillery units

arriving as Reinforcements at the same hex).

• One Brigade + One Hex of Artillery: The player may

activate only one Brigade from the Division plus all Artillery

units from the listed Artillery Brigade stacked in the same hex

(including all Artillery units arriving as Reinforcements at the

same hex).

• Division Group + One Hex of Artillery: The player may

activate all units of the Division but each Brigade must be

assigned the same Order (see G-2). In addition, all Artillery

units from the listed Artillery Brigade stacked in the same hex

(this includes all Artillery arriving as Reinforcements at the

same hex) may also activate.

• Division Group + Artillery Brigade: The player may activate

all units of the Division but each Brigade must be assigned

the same Order (see G-2). In addition, all Artillery units from

the listed Artillery Brigade may also activate (regardless of

where they are located).

• Division By Brigade + Artillery Brigade: The player may

activate all units of the Division but may give each Brigade of

that Division its own Order and activate it separately. Players

may opt to substitute the Division Group result (above)

instead if they would rather have the Division operate in

unison with one Order. In addition, all Artillery units from the

listed Artillery Brigade may also activate (regardless of their

location)."

 Like I said, a myriad of possibilities.

 The game has been described as card activated, but not card driven. Movement Points depends on the Order assigned to the unit/units. Learning to maneuver your troops by using the rules is probably the part of the rules that will take longer to understand or use effectively. Remember, when looking at this and some other rules, Mr. Luttmann was going for playability and not making a simulation game. I think he succeeds in juggling between historical accuracy and great gaming perfectly. 

Confederate Border Strip

Union Border Strip

 This is the epitome of a 'playable monster'. There are games that are meant to recreate the battle of Gettysburg down to every Minie Ball. This is not one of them. You do not have to keep track of spent ammo. There are no printed off sheets to keep a tally of casualties. Hell, there aren't any facing rules. Sometimes it is great to lose yourself in a twenty-pound rulebook. I know the feeling well. If you cannot play a wargame without minutiae, then this game is not for you. If you have to count every artillery shell on hand, again you can live without this game. However, if you want to play a really big, beautiful game and actually remember your first moves without looking at your notes, do I have something for you. The game rules and cards give you more than your fair share of 'friction'.  The action is tense and furious. Can your troops make that one more charge, or are they truly spent? It seems to the player that behind every enemy unit there is a Chamberlain waiting to pounce. You will make grandiose plans to see them dissolve like sand at the beach. The game has leaders' abilities, or detriments, but they are not present on the field.

Union Counter up Close

 Thank you, Flying Pig Games for letting me review this modern masterpiece. Some games are beautiful, and they just sit on your shelf. Some other games will get played all the time. The fact that nine of the scenarios only use half of the map will help a lot of players with having the game on the table. Despite its size, you will not need to have it sit there for three months before you finish playing it. If you have looked at the game and said, "I do not have the room", or "I do not have the time", guess what? You have both. It has actually sold out, but they are going to do another Kickstarter for the game. Do yourself a favor and buy it this time. It deserves every bit of the hype the game is getting. Please take a look at the rest of Flying Pig Games offerings while you are at the website. 

Robert

Flying Pig Games:

Flying Pig Games

A Most Fearful Sacrifice:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice | Flying Pig Games

This is the opening scenario of the recently published A Most Fearful Sacrifice, the latest development in Herman Luttmann's Blind Sword system for fighting ACW battles.  Though billed as a learning scenario, it gave a dramatic first outing with this superlative game.

 

The Slaughter Pen : Scenario 1

Gettysburg July 2^nd late afternoon around 5 p.m.  Confederate forces seem to have made ground in their desperate assault on the Round Tops.  If successful this could unhinge the whole Union defence.

Events were soon to unfold an even more dramatic scene, as both sides witness their strongest units shaken by the loss of a colonel.  The first to recover seem to be the Union troops, as an element of Weed’s brigade suddenly appears on the lower slopes of Little Round Top.  This is rapidly followed by sight of Martin’s small artillery unit struggling to join them, while the strong, but shaken unit of Vincent’s brigade first moves onto the crest of Little Round Top and then recovers good order.  Offsetting this is the failure of Ward’s units to do anything and they’re soon to pay the price for their dilatory lack of action, as one group are fired on and fall back from their position.

A blizzard of bullets looks like a leader must surely fall, but when the smoke clears amazingly no one has been hit!  Hard on the heels of this comes the arrival of a Confederate courier.  Goodness knows what news he has brought, but all of Hood’s valiant troops, as one after the other the men of Law’s brigade surge forward. A new unit attempts the first assault on Little Round Top, but is forced back.  This is followed by a stronger unit crashing into a weaker Union force on the lower slopes and putting it to flight.  Heartened by this success they press on to attack the strongest of the Union units defending one end of Little Round Top.  Surely this is courting disaster!

To all the Union troops’ horror, this powerful unit is shaken and forced to retreat.  With part of the hill taken and Big Round Top already in Confederate hands from the previous hour’s fighting, Union hopes are looking slim.  To add to their woes, Ward’s small detachment of Sharpshooters is roughly handled and sent packing too!

A final renewed Confederate assault adds to the bill of slaughter and leaves the Confederates in what looks like an unassailable position with an hour of battle still left.

Can the Union still  snatch a pyrrhic victory by regaining full control of Little Round Top?  As 6p.m. arrived, Union artillery fire at last came into play and the strongest Confederate unit of Law’s brigade becomes battleworn.  This seems small consolation as in swift succession the remaining Union unit defending the peak of Little Round Top is first depleted and then shaken and forced to retreat.  Little Round Top is totally in Confederate hands.  Meanwhile Law’s battered Confederate force that suffered at the start of the hour sees its colonel hit and down, but against all the odds stands firm. Subjected to more fire it still holds, but a final assault forces it to retreat, but it does so by retreating onto the very peak of Little Round Top adjacent to its fellow unit.

Exhausted men everywhere can do no more and the remaining drama stutters to a close.   The Union force is well nigh destroyed and the Confederates hold the crucial ground.

Apologies for the lack of more pictures, as it was only the enjoyment of the game that led me to write it up as an AAR from the notes that I took during play. In the first photo, the yellow markers peeking out from under two of the counters indicate Shaken status.

 

The Devil's To Pay!

The First Day at Gettysburg

by

Tiny Battle Publishing

 The first day of Gettysburg was a great Confederate victory, but also a great failure. Lee had wanted to attack the Army of the Potomac as it was strung out on the roads trying to catch the Army of Northern Virginia. Unfortunately for Lee, he had the Army of the Potomac right where and how he wanted it, but he didn't know it. Both A.P. Hill's and Ewell's Corps converged on the town of Gettysburg almost by design. The Federal Army was straggling bit by bit into the Confederate forces. While it is true that Hill's Corps was roughly handled in the morning, in the afternoon the remnants of several Federal Corps were streaming toward the heights to the east of Gettysburg. Once the Confederates were poised beneath the heights, where the Federal troops were expecting the next attack, nothing happened. To history's amazement, the blow never fell. This is the story of the 1st day of the Battle of Gettysburg. So, let us look at Tiny Battle's take on it using the 'Blind Swords' system to game it.

  This is another game designed by Hermann Luttmann. I have seen some strange postings about this game. So, let us try to straighten this out right now. The company is called 'Tiny Battle' for a reason. The games they sell are 'Tiny Battles'. You see, there seems to be a theme here. This is the third game I have reviewed for them. It is by far the largest or theirs that I have reviewed. However, the game is 'tiny' compared to other games I own. It is also good to remember that good things come in small packages.

 This is what you get with the game:

1 - 17” x 22” map 

176 – Counters

3 – Player Aid Cards (1 Union and 1 Confederate) 

Multiple six-sided dice (Black, white and red)

1 – Full-color rulebook

1 -box

 This is the sequence of play:

1. Advance the Game Turn Marker

2. Command Decision Phase (Pick 2 Events + Randomize 2 events)

3. Special Artillery Phase (Fire Combat/Move 8MPs/Rally)

4. Chit Draw Phase

5. Activation Phase (Order/Fire/Movement/Assault/Rally)

6. End Phase

 

 The map was designed and drawn by Rick Barber, and if you are familiar with the game 'Longstreet Attacks', it looks very much like it. The hexes are 250 yards wide. The map is very colorful and makes it easy to see each hex's terrain, while still keeping its unique charm. The counters are strange and are a mix of high grade and low grade material. They are a bit 'busy' and the color choices make it a bit hard to read some of them. They do seem to be coated unlike any other counters I have seen. They feel almost like a thin coat of clear plastic is on them. However, in more than a few of them the top layer of the front of the counter is pulling up away from the rest of the counter. Strangely, the backs of the counters do not seem to have this problem. The Player Aids are well done, but again a bit small and busy, in keeping with the Tiny Battle theme. While reading this, keep in mind the words 'Tiny battle'. You could easily scan and redo the Player Aids to a larger size if necessary.

 I will use this snippet from Tiny Battle to describe the system:

 "Units are multi-counter brigades, with each strength point representing about 100 men, and these brigades are organized in
groups of regiments as they were deployed at the battle. The system is a new version of the Blind Swords system, with this implementation emphasizing ease-of-play and accessibility while maintaining the popular spirit of "historical chaos" represented by the other games in the Blind Swords family. This system utilizes a unique chit-pull mechanic that will keep players on their toes and engaged throughout the entire game."

 There are two scenarios that come with the game. The first is the 'Tutorial Scenario' that is named 'Ewell be Coming 'Round the Mountain (But not Early Enough), I love their quips. This scenario is only four turns long from 3:00-5:00PM. The "Main Scenario' called 'An Unexpected Encounter' is the full first day of fighting.

 I am a big fan of the Blind Sword system. So, in that regard there is not much else to say. I feel that it gives you, to quote Tiny Battle, the right amount of "historical chaos" for a nineteenth century battle. You and your opponent's plans will be in shambles at times, and just when you are ready to strike at his jugular, the moment slips away. 

 The rules are well done, and if you are used to the system you can start playing immediately. The only real problem I see with the game is the counters if they get too much playing time racked up. Other than that, it is a good representation of the first day of Gettysburg. Thank you Tiny Battle for allowing me to review another of your games.

Game Link:
https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/the-devils-to-pay-the-first-day-at-gettysburg

Robert