Chattanooga -- an atypical ACW battle

Panoramic view of the battlefield looking east past Lookout Mountain

Today is the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Lookout Mountain, the first day of fighting during the Battle of Chattanooga.

Chattanooga an odd duck by Civil War standards. it feel less like the usual Napoleonic style set piece battle seen so often in that war and more like a 20th Century battle. For one thing it was very terrain-centric. It involved a series of engagements and much of the real decision-making seems to have devolved on rather lower-level commanders. Indeed, reading Grant's account of the fight, one definitely gets a sense that he didn't have a tight rein on what was happening.

The battle

It's not a real popular topic for wargames, but it's not ignored. The old SPI quad game, which I've played quite a bit on Hexwar, does a reasonable job of depicting the fight despite it's ancient design techniques. Like many SPI Blue & Gray quads, the design limits the number of pieces the Union player can move each turn -- a crude but effective way of depicting command control problems without a lot of rules.

Hexwar map

Most historical accounts seem to paint a picture of an inevitable Union triumph, but it surely didn't seem that way to those present. I think Grant was confident, but then confidence was probably his defining trait. Despite the fact the federals had elements of three different armies on the field and outnumbered Bragg's troops, the Confederates did have a significant advantage in terrain.

Hexwar units

Aggressive CSA play, combined with a little luck, can see the Federal command restrictions become a game-losing liability, so it's an interesting contest. The game isn't enough of a simulation to be confident it paints an accurate picture of the relative chances of the two sides, but I think it may come surprisingly close to the mark.

Chattanooga

Chattanooga is a detailed wargame of the namesake battle on the regimental level. It was the issue game in Command Magazine No. 43 in 1997, following right on the heels of the similar Hell Before Night game of issue No. 42.

Using a variation on the game system first seen in Fateful Lightning, Chattanooga is heavily weighted towards morale effects, rather than factor counting or numbers. Units are rated for “Intensity” which measures its willingness to enter into close combat, and “Morale” which measures staying power.

In addition to the standard historical scenario, there are two other scenarios. One assumes that Bragg had followed up his success at Chickamauga and pressed the pursuit harder. This results in a low-counter-density scenario that makes a good introduction to the entire game system. The second scenario covers a smaller preliminary night battle on 28 October.

The battlefield is very open, with some prodigious slopes restricting maneuver in some key spots.The game system is unusual, and is a departure from the usual XTR/Command style. While a “mini-monster” the game does not use standard wargame mechanics and instead uses an uncommon and rather intricate game system, by Command standards. Every hex represents about 176 yards, units are regiments of infantry and artillery batteries. The game uses the universal color scheme of Civil War games, blue for the federals and gray for the confederates. Units show iconic representations of the soldiers on each side, in a variety of poses and uniforms. Unlike Fateful Lightning, however, which depicted each unit in its correct uniform, Chattanooga does not. Turns represent two hours during daylight, plus an overnight turn. Each turn comprise player “couplets,” which might be considered turns in most other games. How many couplets make up a turn varies. After each couplet a die is rolled. Depending on the result play proceeds to another couplet with the same side going first, or to another couplet with the player order reversed or the end of the turn.

Combat is handled in an unusual way. Ranged fire combat is possible, but tends to be indecisive and long ranged shots are hard to set up because of the amount of woods. Surprisingly, firing units can suffer adverse results when they shoot. The number of firing factors is added up and a 10-sided die rolled. Results tend to be disruptions and morale checks. Much of the combat will consist of assaults. Assault combat is resolved by selecting a column on the CRT based on the attacking units’ intensity and then rolling a 10-sided die. Both intensity and the die roll can be affected by a number of modifiers. I found this system rather burdensome and even arduous, because it meant a large number of repetitive calculations. There are likely to be dozens of combats in each player couplet, each one involving adding up modifiers, which will generally tend to be very similar.

The games includes a number of other unusual subsystems, such as "extra strength" which is used to recreate units from the dead pile. Units can also be recreated without using extra strength, but risk being permanently eliminated at a victory point cost. The game does appear to be a reasonable simulation, but its level of detail and the work required of each player will restrict its appeal to hard-core gamers with a particular interest in the topic.

Recommendations

(Conditional Yes) For Wargamers: A large and detailed replication of the Battle of Chattanooga for Civil War and tactical game buffs. It’s of limited interest to others.

(No) For Collectors: Nothing special.

(No) For Euro gamers: A very hard-core hex-and-counter wargame.