From Wargamer#35

KILLER ANGELS

Killer Angels is one of the finest simulations
that I have ever had the pleasure to play. This
game of the Gettysburg campaign, designed by
Helena Rubenstein of West End Games, covers
the strategic situation facing Lee and Hooker /
Meade in the summer of 1863. This game was
developed in lieu of a senior thesis by Ms.
Rubenstein, and from the amount of work that
has been done on the game, I can only
conclude that a senior paper would have been
less work. It is a true piece of love and
devotion.

The game is played on a 22 x 34 inch map
covering most of Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and
southern Pennsylvania on a scale of 5 miles to
the hex. There are three rules booklets
containing 76 pages of rules, including three
basic, six advanced and one campaign senario.
The basic game, however, is not difficult to
grasp and can be played after reading about 20
pages of rules.

There are 800 pieces, but counter
density is kept low by using only seleted
leaders, headquarters, pickets and unit
type (i.e. infantry or cavalry) markers on the
map, with Struggle of Nations style strength
point tracks on the side to hold the combat
units. This system also allows you to keep your
opponent guessing, and allows you to use most
of the principles of warfare, especially surprise,
maneuver, mass, security and objective. The
objectives of the game are mostly territorial,
especially for the Confederacy, which must
invade and maintain a force in the North.
Richmond and Petersburg are not on this map,
so Lee does not have to worry about them, and
the Rebel leader can do what Lee did best:
administer the army and take the war to the
enemy. Victory points are also awarded for
destroying enemy units.

Administration points are used in this
simulation. Most leaders have some
administrative ability an hence obtain
administrative points (AP) when activated.
Leaders are activated by orders from a superior
officer, upon their own initiative or, in the
case of the army commanders, automatically.
They in turn expend these AP as needed to
activate subordinates, move units or
headquarters, cut rail lines, entrench, skirmish,
engage in battle etc. It can be a bookkeeping
problem at times, but it does not get too out of
hand, as you use the point tracks on the map
to keep a record of APs.

The main bookkeeping problem, however,
consists of trying to recall just how much
strength you have in your combat units. The
designers suggest that the players keep a
running total on a piece of paper so you can
quickly find out the status of your maneuver
elements. Divisions have a maximum strength
of 20 and a minimum of one. Corps and larger
are the sum of the units attached to them.
Confederate cavalry brigades can have up to 8
strength points. The weakest but possibly most
important units are the pickets, which have a
mominal strength of one (in the basic game).
The pickets form your screens, can probe and
feint for you, and will provide a cheap means
of leader activation. The counter mix limits
the number of pickets, but this can be
fudged by having your tail end units absorb the
rearmost pickets as they advance, and then
using these counters to create pickets for your
forward divisions to screen their move.
Movement is a bit complex. Movement is
ordered by activated leaders using APs. Free
movement only occurs upon a shift in answer
to the "call of the guns" i.e. response to a call
for support by units in an ongoing battle. This
is one advantage of consolidating or attaching
units to headquartes. One order to the HQ can
move a whole mess of units. Units can only
move two hexes on each order, and can move
once per phase (instead of just once per turn).
HQs get only one hex per order. All units get a
road bonus if they stay on the roads (1 for US,
2 for CSA).

The turn sequence has several phases in
which a unit may receive an order to move,
including the Movement, forced march, battle
and reaction phases. The turn sequence is both
unique and, at first, awkward, Keep the
summary of play handy. The Confederate
player decides who goes first (a real advantage).
The first player can choose either "A. Battle
Continuation" (which means use must skip
phases B, C and D and go right to Phase E:
Battle) or "B. Movement." Your opponent will
get a chance to react to any move by your
units that comes too close to his with
interception, retirement, or a free leader
activation during your move. Phase "C" is your
opponent's "Free Reaction" Phase, followed by
your phase "D. Forced March," which again
allows your opponent to react if he didn't do so
the first time. After that, you might go the
phase "E. Battle."

The second player's turn is identical,
followed by an interphase for Union politics,
victory point calculation (there is an
immediate victory rule), leader restoration (for
APs) and the removal of "Possessor of the
Field" and "March" markers.

If you choose to go with "A. Continuation of
Battle" instead of "B. Movernent," you
basically forfeit your move. Battle, however,
lasts three rounds, and Ms. Rubenstein has
included several subroutines (a la a computer
program) to make it more realistic and more
interesting. These routines include a "contact"
routine that allows inspection of enemy
counters, cavalry withdrawal, skirmishes etc.
You may not get to use the full strength of
your unit in combat if either you or your
opponent chose to skirmish because of the
limited scope of the engagement. In each of
three rounds of skirmishing players can fire,
pass, escalate ' entrench or withdraw, after
which you determine if the skirmish has been 
elevated to a battle. Escalating to a battle 
will cost you the rest of any possible movement 
you wished to make. Battle is not decided by a 
single die roll, and each player has several 
decisions to make that can affect the outcome.

I would like to say something about some of
the nice little touches I noticed. The Rebels
have a great advantage in deciding who gets to
move first. He might get a free leader
activation via a reaction, or he could freeze his
opponent's movement by escalating a skirmish
into a battle. Care must be taken to decide
where and when to engage in battle, but the
contact and skirmish routines provide some
alternatives. Entrenchments cost APs, and are
only completed 2/3s of the time.

The Confederates have the better leaders and
more APs, and since there are no supply
worries, the South can and should invade. They
should usually skirmish rather than fight and
must keep their forces like Napoleon kept his:
separate but within the sound of the guns. The
Union player must protect Washington and
Baltimore, and should seek a battle with its
movement freeze, even if it means a lopsided
battle of attrition, a la U.S. Grant, preparatory
to a Union invasion of Virginia.

If you are a beer and pretzels gamer, you will
not want to invest in this game. If you are a
solitaire gamer, you could find an easier game
to play, although this is worthwhile if you want
to see the difference Stonewall Jackson could
have made in the Gettysburg campaign (one of
the many "What if' rules). A better game,
however, cannot be found if you trust your
friendly opponent and you have an interest in
strategic Civil War campigns where the South
is not overwhelmed by superior Northern
forces.

Neal Muir