Kernstown

About this board game

Kernstown is a one- to two-player, regimental-scale simulation of the fighting around Kernstown, Virginia, with scenarios lasting approximately three to ten hours. Published in 2019 by Revolution Games, it recreates clashes from March 23, 1862, and July 24, 1864.

In the First Battle of Kernstown, Stonewall Jackson attacked a superior Union force after accepting scouting reports at face value. Colonel Nathan Kimball, with Union commander James Shields wounded and unable to lead from the field, managed the battle independently. Although Jackson’s troops eventually ran out of ammunition and withdrew, the action became a strategic success by causing Union commanders to overestimate his strength.

The 1864 battle presents a different command challenge. Union commander George Crook attacked what he believed was a small Confederate force, while Jubal Early and John Breckinridge directed a Confederate victory. The failure of Confederate cavalry to cut off the Union retreat prevented Crook’s army from being destroyed, leaving players to explore how leadership and troop placement could change the outcome.

Kernstown uses the Blind Swords chit-pull system to highlight the three “FOWs” of military conflict: fog of war, friction of war, and fortunes of war. Each chit pull creates a changing situation in which players must assess incomplete information and make difficult decisions.

• Two Civil War battles in one game
• 20-minute turns and a 140-yard-per-hex map scale
• Regimental-scale units for one to two players
• One 22×34-inch map, 352 counters, rulebooklet, player aids, and two dice in the boxed version

With complexity and solitaire suitability both rated 6 out of 10, this is a focused battlefield study for players who enjoy historical decisions shaped by uncertainty and changing battlefield initiative.