Great Battles of the American Civil War

The Battle of New Market Heights

“To Surprise the Confederate Forces and Get Possession of Richmond”

September 29, 1864

By Scot A. Rohrer © 2020

Sample section of the game map.

The Battle of New Market Heights is a simulation of the battle, on 29 September 1864, between Union General Benjamin Butler’s Army of the James and the Confederate forces of Brigadier General John Gregg. The object of this offensive north of the James River by the Army of the James was:

“To surprise the Confederate forces in our front here, and, passing them, to get possession of the city of Richmond. Failing that, to make such serious and determined demonstration to that end as to draw re-enforcements from the right of the enemy’s line in sufficient numbers so as to enable the Army of the Potomac to move upon the enemy’s communication near Petersburg.” – Benjamin F. Butler, Major-General, Commanding.

Each Game-Turn represents 20 minutes, each hexagon represents 125 yards from hexside to hexside, and each Strength Point represents 100 men or 1 gun.

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SOPO Editor’s Note: Scot Rohrer created this scenario for the September 29, 1864 Battle of New Market Heights for his own private use.  After he showed me the details, I encouraged him to share it here, free for anyone’s use. The only caveat is that in order to play, you MUST own a copy of the 1980 game rules from one of the following games in Richard Berg’s Great Battles of the American Civil War series of board games created by SPI Simulations in 1980-1981: Pea Ridge, Drive on Washington, Wilson’s Creek, Cedar Mountain, Jackson at the Crossroads/Battle of Corinth. The newer rules by GMT Games WILL NOT WORK!. Please do not ask us for a copy of these rules.  We do not have any available, and we do not wish to break any copyright restrictions.

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Items Needed to Play this Free Game:

ORIGINAL GBACW GAME RULES BY RICHARD BERG/SPI

A copy of the original games rules from one of the following Richard Berg GBACW series games (links below allow you to buy those games). These rules are copyrighted by SPI and Richard Berg, and will NOT be offered here. Buy one of the games! Click here to see the first page of the correct rule set.

• Pea Ridge
• Drive on Washington
• Wilson’s Creek
• Cedar Mountain
• Jackson at the Crossroads/Battle of Corinth

EXCLUSIVE RULES FOR THIS GAME BY SCOT ROHRER

Exclusive Rules for The Battle of New Market Heights, written by Scot Rohrer. Download and print off these exclusive rules.¹

• Download the Exclusive Rules for The Battle of New Market Heights (Rev. 1) (2.6 MB PDF file)

CHARTS AND COUNTERS BY SCOT ROHRER

Charts and Counters Needed to Play The Battle of New Market Heights, created by Scot Rohrer. Download the pages below, print them out, and cut out the unit and admin counters.²

Samples of Union and Confederate Counters

• Download the Charts for The Battle of New Market Heights (108 KB PDF file)
• Download the Admin Counters for The Battle of New Market Heights (1.3 MB PDF file)
• Download the Union Unit Counters for The Battle of New Market Heights (655 KB PDF file)
• Download the Confederate Unit Counters for The Battle of New Market Heights (Rev. 1) (390 KB PDF file)

GAME MAP BY SCOT ROHRER

A New Game Map for The Battle of New Market Heights, created by Scot Rohrer. Download the sections below, print them out, and join them together.³

Sample Terrain and Elevation from the Game Map

• Download the North Center Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (6.8 MB PDF file)
• Download the North East Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (3.8 MB PDF file)
• Download the North West Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (6.5 MB PDF file)
• Download the South Center Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (7.7 MB PDF file)
• Download the South East Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (3 MB PDF file)
• Download the South West Map for The Battle of New Market Heights (11.5 MB PDF file)

QUESTIONS?: Please COMMENT BELOW and Scot Rohrer, the scenario’s designer, will be in touch.

Notes: