Near the same battlefield of a year earlier, Union commander John Pope's Army of Virginia skirmished repeatedly with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. In the late morning of August 29, 1862, Pope found his army in a classical position: Lee's force was split into two wings, and Pope's army lay squarely between them. With aggressive action, Pope could destroy each Confederate force in turn.
Pope hurled two corps against Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's men, dug in along an unfinished railroad cut. Soon many Confederates were reduced to hurling rocks at Pope's men. But while Pope ignored the other Confederate wing and failed to concentrate his forces, Lee had quickly gathered his other corps, led by James Longstreet, and sent them into Pope's flank in a crushing attack that nearly destroyed the Union army. Only Union Gen. "Fighting Joe" Hooker's sharp rearguard action kept Lee from ending the war in what many historians call his finest battle as commander.
The game lasts 15 turns. The Union player is the first player.
Players set up their units in the hexes noted on the map for Second Bull Run set-up.
During his movement phase, the phasing player may place any of his units due to enter play as reinforcements at the location noted.
Reinforcements may not enter the map in a hex occupied by an enemy unit or zoc. If their entry hex is occupied by an enemy unit or ZOC they may enter play at the nearest map-edge hex which is not.
Each reinforcement expends one MP to enter the map.
The Union player may receive two groups of conditional reinforcements. Beginning with turn nine, he rolls the die at the start of his player-turn to see if his II Corps will arrive on the battlefield. On a result of 6, he receives the following units at hex 0116:
Beginning with turn 12, the Union player rolls the die at the start of his player-turn to see if his Kanawha division will arrive. If the II Corps has not entered play, make separate die rolls for each group of reinforcements. On a result of 6, the Union player receives the Scammon infantry (3-6) at hex 1827.
The Union player may not decline to bring his conditional reinforcements into play.
The level of victory is determined by the ratio of Confederate VPs to Union VPs.
| 3:1 or greater | Confederate Decisive. |
|---|---|
| 2:1 but less than 3:1 | Confederate Substantive |
| Greater than 3:2 but less than 2:1 | Confederate Marginal |
| 3:2 or less, but greater than 1:1 | Union Marginal |
| 1:1 or less, but greater than 2:3 | Union Substantive |
| 2:3 or less | Union Decisive |
The Confederate player receives two VPs for each Union SP eliminated and one VP for each Union SP which at the end of the game cannot trace a line of hexes free of enemy units or ZOCs (unless the hex is occupied by a friendly unit) to a road which leads off the east edge of the map.
The Union player receives two VPs, for each Confederate SP eliminated.
Either player receives 10 VPs for each of the following hexes if his units occupy them at the end of the game or were the last to pass through them: 2009 (Sudley Ford), 1207 (Groveton) and 1925 (Centerville).
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