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It's early on July 1st, 1863, and Union Brigadier General John Buford’s 1st Reserve Cavalry Division is deployed to the west of the town of Gettysburg battling unidentified Confederate infantry advancing on the town. All morning long, the men in gray have pressured the Union cavalry. Help finally arrives in the form of I Corps commander Major Gen. John Reynolds. He rides up to the Lutheran Seminary, where Buford is directing the battle from its cupola. Reynolds calls to Buford, "What goes, John?" The cavalryman simply points to the long lines of advancing Confederates and says, "The Devil's to pay!" Reynolds then asks, "Can you hold?", to which Buford responds, "I reckon I can." Reynolds ends the exchange with, “Let’s ride out and see all about it." And with that rather brief, mundane conversation began one of the most important and iconic military engagements in history – the Battle of Gettysburg.
A Most Fearful Sacrifice is an epic two-player wargame with over 15 square feet of playing area and 526 playing pieces depicting the fighting that occurred during all three days of this decisive clash. The game utilizes a new ACW operating system called the Black Swan system, which is closely related to the popular Blind Swords game system first introduced in the game The Devil’s To Pay! by Tiny Battle Publishing. This version of the system is specifically designed to handle larger-scale battles yet keep rules overhead low. Players can simulate huge encounters in a reasonable amount of playing time. This is accomplished in one way through the use of card draws rather than chit pulls. Also, players will trigger activations by Corps instead of by lower-level formations but they still have tactical decision-making choices by needing to determine which Divisions get activation priority. Though at a grander scale, this system maintains a tactical feel about it and still emphasizes the three “FOW’s” of war … the Fortunes of War, the Friction of War and the Fog of War. Players will be challenged to deal with a constantly developing battle situation, never quite sure of what the Gods of War will throw at them, and thus they must always be prepared to deal with historically realistic “black swan” events.
—description from the publisher
- Won many awards
- Stunning map
- Magnificent card pull system
- Works well in solitaire
- Spawns great narrative
- Deeply rooted and connected to historical battle
- Beautiful, spectacular gameplay experience
- Hasn't played the full big scenario yet
- Battle of Gettysburg
- Gettysburg, American Civil War
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Driven System — Gameplay rule system with its cards and its card pull system.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- these are the games that I played in 2024 they could have been released in 1978 the games that I enjoyed over the past year.
- I Define War Games somewhat broadly so some of these games are more conflict simulation than they are necessarily tanks battering against each other.
- this is I think the best educational game I've played in the past two years.
- I think that's where a lot of the richness of alliances and deception and kind of the tabl talk would really really level up this game.
- the mechanics the rules and how to get those two things to work together just all clicked and the game transformed and that magic of the coin experience it was like this epiphany.
- it's got a nice mix between complexity and accessibility so not as hard as like an advanced squad leader or perhaps a lock and load tactical combat system but but still got a lot of meat to it and good decision making.
- this game is both simple it matches it molds in Euro Concepts hand management so you're managing your deck of cards messing up your opponent's cards and yet it's got this tactical accessibility and subtlety of depth that gives it really The Best of Both Worlds.
- this might have been one might very well have been my most singularly enjoyed wargaming experience over the past year.
- it's a gritty complex tactical combat system that takes a while to play into but there's just so much there and yet once you get it down the gameplay seems to really really flow.
- the map is one of the most stunning maps in all of War Games.
- an absolutely beautiful spectacular gameplay experience.
References (from this video)
- strong thematic immersion in chaotic Civil War conditions
- engaging flow of decisions under pressure
- steep learning curve
- availability/print status may vary
- chaos management, leadership under stress, battlefield decision-making
- Civil War era wargaming context; focuses on chaos and command under pressure
- scenario-driven, narrative-forward wargaming
- Holland 44
- France 40
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Asymmetric objectives — Forcing players to pursue different goals or partial objectives leading to tension
- chaos/uncertainty management — Mechanics that simulate disruption, delays, and confusion during action resolution
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- March was a good month for the channel
- I want to play more games and I want to be able to accelerate that pace
- two-table setup has worked really, really well
- asynchronous gaming on digital platforms has ramped up the number of games I can play
- I can't recommend this game more highly
- I'm curious for everybody out there: how do you create time to play games in your busy days?
References (from this video)
- Explores a wide range of gameplay features even in a small scenario
- Dense, tactile simulation of Civil War battle dynamics
- Good introductory exposure to core mechanics
- Rules heavy and potentially overwhelming for new players
- Long, detailed turns can be time-consuming
- Civil War battle tactics, uphill assaults, defensive holds
- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1863, action around Little Round Top and Big Round Top
- scenario-based tactical simulation
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- assaults and close combat — hand-to-hand close combat with cohesion and 'scadaddle' penalties
- Combat: Damage Based — hand-to-hand close combat with cohesion and 'scadaddle' penalties
- defensive fire and return fire — defenders may fire back during firefights and if possible return fire with penalties
- divisional activations / activation priority — players designate and execute activation of divisions or brigades per turn
- event deck with fog of war and activation events — deck built from a mix of fixed events and randomly selected events that drive actions each hour
- Events — deck built from a mix of fixed events and randomly selected events that drive actions each hour
- fire combat and cohesion checks — combat uses strength points, column shifts, terrain modifiers, and cohesion tests
- fog of war — mandatory fog of war mechanic that reveals limited information
- fortunes of war — random die results and card effects can modify outcomes
- Hidden Deployment — mandatory fog of war mechanic that reveals limited information
- leader casualty and rally — leader down events that may shake or rally units
- movement and altitude/terrain modifiers — units incur movement costs and altitude/terrain penalties (Rocky Woods, uphill climbs)
- Movement Points — units incur movement costs and altitude/terrain penalties (Rocky Woods, uphill climbs)
- rebel_yell and breakthrough — special events that modify odds and allow breakthroughs or reinforced assaults
- reinforcements and timing — reinforcements arrive on fixed hours, adding more units into play
- shaken and rout effects — units become shaken, may scadaddle, and may be rallied or flee
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we're going to play this scenario a Slaughter pen which is the introductory scenario
- it's going to show almost all of the gameplay features
- there is a ton of gameplay even in these very very small scenarios
- the Confederates push up the hill and take big Roundtop
- we're going to start out here with the 4:00 turn
- this is good for the Confederate side to go first
References (from this video)
- considered as a potential collaboration
- not yet defined or announced with details
- historical tactical engagement
- Civil War, Gettysburg
- concept discussion; not yet formalized
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- historical simulation — potential future project exploring Civil War battles
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we are going to see what other goodies we can fit in there.
- Queen of Spies is a solo game that I did with David Thompson, uh, about running a spy ring in World War I.
- Night Witches is in print at the factory. And I've been waiting to share it with the world for a long time.
- The game is literally about traveling around the country and trying to see as many bird species as possible.
- I want to recommit to my YouTube channel and we'll kind of see what that looks like.