Give Us Victories

About this board game

Give Us Victories is a 1–2 player wargame about the Chancellorsville campaign of the American Civil War, with a listed playing time of 480 minutes. Players command the Union Army of the Potomac or the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in a tense simulation of the April 1863 campaign.

The game begins on April 30, 1863, as the Army of the Potomac moves beyond the Rappahannock and Rapidan toward Chancellorsville. General Joseph Hooker commands the Union army, while General Robert E. Lee leads the much smaller Confederate force. The title comes from the closing words of Abraham Lincoln’s engagement letter: “Give Us Victories.”

Its central command system creates uncertainty without complicated procedures. Players check their available points, choose formations to activate, and place them in a cup. After both sides have selected their formations, the counters are mixed and drawn, determining who acts next.

Activated formations can move, attack, entrench, bombard, and perform other actions. Confederate divisions and Union corps are handled through the command system, while special rules cover skirmishers, trench building, and bridge building. Alternating actions and random activation produce a changing battlefield marked by chaos and uncertainty.

Give Us Victories includes four distinct ways to play:

• Main game: Two standard maps, two counter styles, four scenarios, two variations, and a 6–8 hour campaign.
• Strategic game: An A3 map and approximately one hour of play at low difficulty.
• Solo game: An AI system simulates the Army of the Potomac using the main-game maps.
• Skirmish game: Paper toy soldiers, landscape elements, and counters for a low-difficulty game lasting about 30 minutes.