Thunder in the Ozarks: Battle for Pea Ridge, March 1862

About this board game

Thunder in the Ozarks: Battle for Pea Ridge, March 1862 is a 1–2 player American Civil War wargame with a listed play time of 1500 minutes. It examines the Battle of Pea Ridge, fought on March 8 and 9, 1862, between the Confederate Army of the West and the Federal Army of the Southwest.

After Confederate forces in Missouri were driven into the Boston Mountains of Arkansas, Major General Earl Van Dorn took command and planned a new offensive into Missouri. Despite freezing weather and exhausted troops, Van Dorn force-marched his army north and placed it across the Federal army’s line of communications in a classic Napoleonic maneuver.

The Confederate position appeared to offer a decisive advantage, but the rapid march left the Rebel troops frozen, fatigued, and barely more than an armed mob. Brigadier General Samuel Curtis recognized that the Federal army still had a chance. Perseverance and hard, intelligent fighting by officers including Colonel Grenville Dodge helped turn a potential disaster into a major Union victory.

• Historical setting: The Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862
• Opposing commands: Earl Van Dorn’s Confederate Army of the West and Samuel Curtis’s Federal Army of the Southwest
• Strategic stakes: The battle secured Missouri and northern Arkansas for the Union

The victory placed approximately 85,000 square miles under Federal control, making Pea Ridge a critical engagement in the western theater of the American Civil War. Thunder in the Ozarks is the second game in the Revolution Games/GMT American Civil War series, following Stonewall’s Sword, which covers the Battle of Cedar Mountain.