Great Campaigns of the American
Civil War: 1863
To field a stronger group of scenarios, the Great Campaigns
tournaments were divided by year at this WBC, with the 1862 games
in one tournament and the1863 games (Stonewall's Last Battle
and Roads to Gettysburg) in the other. The format was
popular and will be retained for next year, when the publication
of Grant Takes Command will provide a brand new set of
tournament-friendly scenarios for the 1863/4 tournament.
This year's 1863 event featured 18 players, who started their
day near Chancellorsville and headed north to Gettysburg as the
rounds progressed. The first scenario, Salem Church, was dead
even, with three Union and three Confederate wins. The cavalry
battles at Brandy Station were similarly very close. To round
out the SLB scenarios, the Great Flank March was played. Despite
players in three of four games bidding victory points to choose
Jackson's Confederates, the Union forces surprisingly won all
four games.
The final three preliminary events were from Roads to Gettysburg
(First Day at Gettysburg, The Battle Continues, and Meade Moves
North). The tournament's Swiss format only required the players
to participate in four of the opening day's six events, letting
everyone pick and choose the scenarios best suited for their
play style. This approach was also well received and will be
continued in years to come. When the smoke cleared and night
fell, there were two undefeated players: Mark Booth and Chris
Withers. Scott Spurgeon and Bruno Passacantando were close behind
at 3-1.
Chris Withers, Paul Nied, and Jim Pyle graciously bowed out
of the single elimination rounds to run our Newcomer's Tournament
and Grant Takes Command grand campaign on Saturday. Thanks
to all three of them for putting a high value on introducing
new players to this game system! Their withdrawal left Bruno
Passacantando, a GCACW veteran, in the single elimination rounds
with five players who had never reached a GCACW final: Mark Booth,
Scott Spurgeon, Bill Cooper, Hugh Mater, and David Dockter.
The two quarterfinals featured the Sedgwick to the Rescue
scenario from SLB. Bruno prevailed over Bill in one, while Scott
used a strong attack by Jackson to prove that the Confederates
could succeed at Chancellorsville. The semifinals moved back
to Gettysburg, where Mark was able to prevail over David Dockter,
our GCACW "Rookie of the Year" for his strong showing
in this tournament. The other semifinal was a desparate struggle
between Bruno and our GCACW "Risen from the Ranks"
winner, Scott Spurgeon. Scott had failed in five previous attempts
to beat Bruno at WBC. This time he was able to get the Union
I and XI corps into Gettysburg before the Rebels. Bolstering
his line with hundreds of guns, Scott forced Bruno into a massive
grand assault against this massed artillery. Bruno's 21st Century
version of Pickett's Charge failed by one die pip, propelling
Scott past Bruno and into the finals.
For the finals, Mark Booth and Scott Spurgeon squared off
in the series' shortest Advanced Game scenario, Certain Destruction
Awaits from Stonewall's Last Battle. Things looked grim
for Scott's Union troops as rain fell on the first three turns
of the game. And shortly thereafter, Longstreet arrived with
critical reinforcements from Suffolk. However, Scott continued
to use his superior numbers to hammer away at the Confederate
position. He was able to unite the two wings of his army, establishing
a line from Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville. The combined
might of Hooker's boys in blue was then able to push south and
force Mark to concede.
Congratulations to Scott and all our players. We had a great
turnout of first time players this year and we hope that trend
continues in the Great Campaigns events in the years to come!
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