Grand Havoc: Perryville, October 8, 1862 (2023)

Overview

A Blind Swords system game on the American Civil War battle of Perryville (Kentucky) in 1862. The Blind Swords system uses chit pulls and activation rolls to simulate the command confusion and difficulty of coordinating 19th century armies. Additionally, each turn a number of events can impact the ability of armies to carry out their plans. The basic units are regiments of infantry or cavalry and batteries of artillery which are rated for size, armament, and cohesion/morale.

Perryville was a short fierce battle between Buell's Army of the Ohio and Bragg's Army of the Tennessee. While Bragg thought he was facing only a small portion of the Army of the Ohio, he was in fact confronting almost its entirety. Buell thought he was facing all of Bragg's Army and possibly even Kirby Smith's Army of Kentucky. Instead Buell was facing only about 2/3 of Bragg's army.

After an early morning skirmish, both armies assembled on the battlefield just northwest of the crossroads of Perryville. What had been planned as a flanking attack against the Union II Corps instead turned into a frontal assault on the newly arrived Union I Corps, half of which consisted of new recruits. Despite a ferocious battle raging about two miles from his headquarters, Buell was unaware of the Confederate attack and was astonished that one of his corps had been smashed by the vicious assault. Only a few brigades were sent to assist the beleaguered I Corps and the Confederates claimed a tactical victory.

—description from the designer