Civil War Simulation Games

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph. To allow a student to better understand the way a battle develops into either a victory or a loss, simulation games are often used. In fact, the military academies usually use them as tools in the classroom to aid in the instruction of tactics and battlefield theory, as these games provide a dimension of involvement that mere lecture cannot duplicate. One such system, the Blue & Gray series published by Simulations Publications, allows for such objectives to be met. With generally accurate geography and terrain, and easy to learn rules, a player is able to either re-enact the historic battle as it actually occurred, or try a different strategy to see if a different outcome is possible. Focusing on the battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), both the good and bad points of the rules, geography, and the people involved in the game will be discussed in depth by making reference to the actual battle, which took place on 17 September 1862. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol2/iss1/10 Civil War Simulation Games By: Dan Brown To allow a student to better understand the way a battle develops into either a victory or a loss, simulation games are often used. In fact, the military academies usually use them as tools in the classroom to aid in the instruction of tactics and battlefield theory, as these games provide a dimension of involvement that mere lecture cannot duplicate. One such system, the Blue & Gray series published by Simulations Publications, allows for such objectives to be met. With generally accurate geography and terrain, and easy to learn rules, a player is able to either re-enact the historic battle as it actually occurred, or try a different strategy to see if a different outcome is possible. Focusing on the battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg), both the good and bad points of the rules, geography, and the people involved in the game will be discussed in depth by making reference to the actual battle, which took place on 17 September 1862. Today, military simulation games have taken on more than just an entertainment role. The military academies use them as educational tools to instruct cadets in their studies of military theory and battlefield tactics. The main reason for the implementation of these games as teaching tools is the fact that they provide a new perspective to the student that cannot be achieved through lecture and reading alone. These games immerse the student into the role of a commander and teach them through experience what it is like to command. Also, these games provide insight as to the people involved, the tactics that were used, and the results that were achieved. Despite all of these good points, simulation games often leave out details that could further enhance the experience of recreating a historic battle. This is true for the game of the battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg) from the Blue & Gray series published by Simulations Publications, where these omissions of detail could change the entire way that a player pictures the battle in their mind after playing. One cannot study a battle, especially the battle of Antietam, without having to study the people involved. The setup of Antietam allows the players to gain a little knowledge as to who was there when the battle was fought, but there is no discussion as to what was going through their minds. For example, General George B. McClellan felt that his reconnaissance reports were incorrect, and he proceeded with caution 1 although he outnumbered Lee's Confederate army by almost two to one, or 87,000 soldiers versus 41 ,000 soldiers, respectively.2 In short, the players only learn who was there for the purpose of fighting, but not why they were there, the politics they subscribed to, or how they felt about the war. These points should be examined, but the impact of the war on the lives of the civilians must also be studied. In the area surrounding the town of Sharpsburg, there were several farms and homesteads that held families that would be greatly affected by the events of the 17th day of September 1862. For instance, the Murnma's would have no home to return to following the fighting, as the Confederate troops burned their house to the ground to prevent Federal troops from assuming sniping positions. In another example, the Pry household, situated between the Boonsboro-Sharpsburg Turnpike, and Antietam Creek, possessed an excellent view of almost the entire battlefield. The result of such a good command view: McClellan's officers simply informed Phillip Pry and his family that their home would serve as the Union command center for the coming battle. 4 In other cases, townspeople were driven from their places of safety (such as the Nicodemus farm), crops were trampled by maneuvering formations, fences destroyed by advancing brigades, and livestock confiscated to feed the armies. These actions all but destroyed the lives of those