Chancellorsville (game)
 Chancellorsville (1961) by Avalon Hill | |
| Players | 2 |
|---|---|
| Age range | 12+ |
| Setup time | 15 minutes |
| Playing time | 4 to 6 hours |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skill(s) required | Tactics, Strategy |
Chancellorsville is a two-player board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War Battle of Chancellorsville. It was originally published in 1961, and republished in 1974. The game was designed by Wargaming Hall of Fame designer Charles S. Roberts.
Chancellorsville was a sister game to the award-winning Gettysburg board game. Both were issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. Cardboard counters represented brigades and artillery battalions (blue for the Union Army of the Potomac and pink for the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia). Strength points were in scale with the relative strength and firepower of the actual brigades represented by the counters. As with the Gettysburg game system, Chancellorsville gives each unit an orientation, and an attacker can improve his odds by attacking a defender from the side or from the rear. The defender, meanwhile, can improve his odds by entrenching himself atop a hill.
The original game included a heavy cardstock game board, over 300 die-cut counters, dice, rules sheet, and a pamphlet on the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville. It was game #507 in the Avalon Hill catalogue.
The 1974 reprint spawned another variant (which required Chancellorsville to play), which included three additional scenarios for battles that occurred in and around the Northern Virginia area, including Fredericksburg (December 1862), The Wilderness (May 1864), and Spotsylvania (May 1864). In addition, the Avalon Hill gaming magazine, The General (Volume 12, #6), included unmounted counters and rules for four new scenarios ("The Rappahannock and Battle of Fredericksburg," and three new scenarios for "Chancellorsville").