Barren Victory II

 

Barren Victory II
The return of a classic.

The time for maneuver is past. For weeks, Union and Confederate armies have played cat and mouse in the mountains of North Georgia, vying for the prize of Chattanooga. Union Major General William S. Rosecrans’ Army of the Cumberland feinted north, swung south, and leveraged the Confederate Army of Tennessee, with General Braxton Bragg at its head, out of the city.

But Bragg is not yet defeated. Rosecrans, sure of success, has divided his forces and plunged headlong into pursuing a beaten foe, intent on catching the enemy before he retires behind the next mountain range and has to be out-maneuvered all over again. Within Rosecrans’ dispositions, Bragg has seen the seeds of his own dazzling opportunity. If the Confederates can turn and strike before Rosecrans can gather in his own scattered troops, Rebel fortunes can yet be redeemed.

In 1991, the Gamers released Barren Victory, a brigade level game that examined the hard-fought battle in Georgia. With two maps, the game covered three days of action, from September 18-20, 1863: full coverage of the battle that locked 130,000 men in combat and left 35,000 of them casualties.

In 2007, we return to that battle. Barren Victory II is a complete re-design of the original game: new graphics, new order of battle, an expanded map area, and most importantly, a host of new scenarios. We incorporate the optional forces that appear in our regimental treatment of this titanic battle: This Terrible Sound. In addition to expanding the campaign coverage to include actions from September 17th to the 21st (Could Bragg have struck earlier? Were the Rebels remiss in not pursuing immediately on the 21st?) the new map space allows us to examine one of the campaign’s important might-have-beens: Lieutenant General Leonidas Polk’s “lost opportunity” to strike at a lone Union Corps near Lee & Gordon’s Mill on September 13th and 14th, 1863.

As befits a deluxe version of this great game, Multi-Man Publishing will be going all out to make the quality of the components match the quality of the history and game play. Including in the box will be 4 maps to cover the entire field of battle, 528 5/8ths inch counters and a full color rulebook. As the 16th game in the very successful Civil War Brigade series, old vets of the game system will not be forgotten. The game will be fully playable with the current CWB series rules plus a small Exclusive Rules booklet as any other Civil War Brigade series game can be – or, you can use the new and updated rules set created by Adam Starkweather and David Powell that covers the unique aspects of the battle of Chickamauga more comprehensively. You can choose how you wish to play the game.

Take a look at the map!

For the time and space challenged, you too haven’t been forgotten. Backprinted on two of the maps will be the old Barren Victory game battlefield. Gamers will be able to play the most dramatic moments of this great battle with a game footprint that matches the first version of the game. Lastly, as an added bonus, Brent Easton will be providing his talents as a VASSAL programmer to make the computer aid to this project second to none.

We at IGS hope this is just the beginning of a wonderful partnership with The Gamers and look forward to much more excitement in the future.

Designer: David Powell
Developer: Adam Starkweather
Graphic Artist: Mark Mahaffey
Rules Writer: Jon Gautier
Vassal Support: Brent Easton