Pea Ridge: The Gettysburg of the West March 7-8 1862 (1980)

Pea Ridge recreates the battle of the same name during the American Civil War in the West, using the Great Battles of the American Civil War system based on the award-winning Terrible Swift Sword monster game.

Pea Ridge is a meeting engagement of the battle on March 7-8, 1862 between CSA forces under General Earl Van Dorn and the Union troops commanded by General Samuel R. Curtis. This battle decided the fate of the trans-Mississippi region. Historically, the Union prevailed and Missouri was denied to the Confederates.

The game covers the two days of the battle, and creates rules for reorganization during the night. Rebels start the game with the initiative as Union brigades race to meet and slow the massive CSA advance, allowing later Union troopers to move into defensive positions.

Initiative passes to the Yankees on the second day, if the Rebels don't win outright on the first day. Victory is determined by killing units and capturing geographical objectives.

Each Game-Turn represents 30 minutes of real time, and each hex covers about 125 yards from hexside to hexside. Each Strength Point is the equivalent of 100 men or 1 gun. The system created a set of standard rules for all the GBACW games, and then added exclusive rules specific to that battle.

This is Volume 1 of the original SPI / TSR Great Battles of the American Civil War series.