Forged in Fire: The 1862 Peninsula Campaign

About this board game

Forged in Fire: The 1862 Peninsula Campaign is a strategic-level block game for two players, with an approximately 180-minute playing time, covering the Civil War campaign in Virginia during 1862.

It is spring 1862, and the conflict has reached a stalemate in the east. Following the Confederate victory at Bull Run, McClellan prepares his large Union army for a campaign beyond training and drill. His bold flanking maneuver carries the army by boat to Fort Monroe, at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula, beginning a slow advance westward toward Richmond.

That advance forces Johnston to react: fight to defend the Confederate capital or risk losing Richmond. The campaign includes the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill, where the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac are forged in battle.

The game features a mapboard depicting the area from the Virginia Peninsula to Richmond. Players can recreate the full campaign, from McClellan’s advance to the emergence of Lee, or explore three focused scenarios.

• The Union advance from Fort Monroe to the Chickahominy River
• Johnston’s attack at Fair Oaks
• Lee’s emergence during the Seven Days’ Battles

Published by Worthington Games in 2006, Forged in Fire gives players the opportunity to explore a campaign that, according to the publisher, might have ended the Civil War three years earlier. The box includes a map, hardwood counters, labels, rules, dice, and necessary player aids.