Field Commander Lee

Field Commander – Robert E. Lee builds on the design and gameplay of Field Commander – Napoleon (currently ranked #97 in the Wargames category on BGG!!) to put the player firmly in control of the Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War, with the Union forces controlled by an AI.

Fight in 5 Campaigns:
To keep the campaigns decision-heavy and focused on the critical aspects, some of the dates for the games noted may be different to the historical dates of a longer campaign.

Seven Days Battles (June 25 – July 1, 1862)

After Lee replaced Johnston as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he aggressively pushed back against McClellan’s Union army, which had advanced along the Virginia Peninsula to threaten Richmond. Starting with the Battle of Oak Grove, the Rebels clashed again and again with the Army of the Potomac, panicking McClellan and causing him to withdraw his forces until the final stand in the Battle of Malvern Hill.

Second Manassas (August 22 – August 30, 1862)

With Richmond safe and McClellan in retreat, Lee marched north, hoping to take advantage of the divide that separated the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Virginia, commanded by the more-aggressive Pope. The Northern Virginia campaign started properly on July 19, but in the game we focus on the final days.

Despite some early, inconclusive skirmishing starting on August 22, heavy rains had swollen the Rappahannock River, making it impossible for Lee to cross and engage Pope directly. Instead, Jackson, along with JEB Stuart, led his divisions, comprising the Left Wing, north at a rapid speed to destroy the Union supply station at Manassas Junction. Pope, now outflanked and in danger of having his supply line cut, raced back to engage Jackson. Though arriving later, Longstreet’s Right Wing was able to pivot into Thoroughfare Gap, unite with Jackson’s Left Wing and drive the Army of Virginia from the battlefield.

Antietam (September 14 – September 17, 1862)

This campaign covers McClellan’s fighting advance through the gaps of South Mountain, the siege at Harper’s Ferry, Lee’s concentration of forces outside Sharpsburg, and the bloodiest single day of fighting in American history at the Cornfield, Bloody Lane and Burnside’s Bridge.

Chancellorsville (April 30 – May 3, 1863)

Considered widely as Lee’s masterpiece, the Confederate general took the risk of dividing his forces to befuddle and defeat the larger Union army. The Battle starts shortly before Lee and Jackson have their fateful meeting at the Orange Plank – Furnace Road crossroads, where the decision was taken to send Jackson on a long, flanking march to catch Union forces ‘in the air’; that is, not anchored to a defensive point. With special rules to capture the drama of the Hidden March, the player must simultaneously hold back the Union advance from Fredericksburg to Salem Church, east of Chancellorsville.

Gettysburg (July 1 – July 3, 1863)

Over three days of fighting the doom of the south was sealed. Outnumbered and outgunned, and with seemingly endless Union reinforcements arriving regularly the player must maneuver carefully and pick the weakest part of the Union line to launch an overwhelming attack. The player will need all his skills that he has sharpened in the previous campaigns to emerge victorious at Gettysburg!!