At the request of a colleague and fellow
miniature wargamer, I decided to recreate Herbst Woods at Gettysburg, July ,
1863 for our next game. Using the excellent base maps which cartographer
Stephen Stanley generated for my newest Gettysburg project, I developed an
Heroscape version of the battlefield.
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| The Trees and fences are Marx reproductions. Unless otherwise noted, the figures are by Conte. |
Each hex represents 50 feet of terrain and
each infantry piece, officers excepted, represent 50 men in two ranks with file
closers. The two Confederate regiments are the 26th North Carolina
and the 11th North Carolina. The Iron Brigade from left to right are
the 19th Indiana. 24th Michigan, 17th
Wisconsin, and 2nd Wisconsin. Interestingly enough, the length of
the regimental lines are to scale according to the descriptions left by the
veterans of the four regiments. Based upon the frontages and the actual western
face of the woods, the 2nd Wisconsin would have to have faced north
to secure the brigade’s right flank and still be covered by the woods.
The ravines are steeper in the model than
on the contour map because it was physically impossible to reproduce them
exactly with the Heroscape pieces The distinct ridgelines, however is to scale
with the Stanley maps for the distance between each ridge.
The creek hexes represent the creek bans
on both sides. It was not possible to make it to scale using Heroscape.
Movement can be anywhere from 1 – 9 inches
(50-450 feet), which reflect lock step to the double quick. The flexibility of
the rate allows the players to deduct distance from each move for ascending and
descending contours, jumping of wading the creek and slogging through the
marshy creek bottoms. (Gettysburg gets very soggy.)
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A deduction of 1 inch applies per layer of the Heroscape.
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Over the next several blogs I intend to
present my informal rules set, By the
Left Flank! In stages. This is the introduction to the basics of the scale
for movement and organization. Future posts will address Turn Sequence, Firing,
Hand to Hand Combat, Casualty Recording, Skirmishers, Role of Officers. I
intend to explain the game through annotated photographs as I play the game
solo.
I thank you for your patience with this
experiment and genuinely encourage constructive questions and observations.
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