Not War But Murder

About this board game

Not War But Murder is a two-player American Civil War area-map game about the week-long operation at Cold Harbor, designed for an approximately 240-minute playing time.

Set during the final stage of Ulysses S. Grant’s 30-day campaign begun at the Wilderness, the game portrays the moves and countermoves that brought Grant and Robert E. Lee to this brutal confrontation. The situation is dangerous for both sides: Federal attacks face well-entrenched Confederates, while Lee has no regiment in reserve and knows that a false move could end the war quickly.

This is a historical contest of leadership, positioning, and difficult choices. The game presents Cold Harbor as a bloody chess match in which both players face meaningful challenges and must decide how to respond when a situation turns desperate.

Designer Michael Rinella’s first American Civil War battle game also introduces his “diceless advantage” system. Instead of using an advantage chit to reroll a die, a player spends it to gain specific benefits automatically. The advantage can therefore move back and forth as each side seeks the right moment to alter a critical situation.

• One 22 by 34 inch area map
• 176 five-eighths-inch counters
• Sixteen pages of rules and charts
• Extensive examples of play, designer notes, and variant rules

With its focused two-player format and stark historical setting, Not War But Murder asks what each commander will do when every decision carries weight. Published in 2007, it offers a detailed tabletop interpretation of one of the Civil War’s most costly operations.