Assault on Cold Harbor

Assault at Cold Harbor simulates part of the Union assault taking place at the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia on June 3, 1864, during the American Civil War. It is a solitaire design, where the player controls the Union forces, and the game system controls the Confederate forces. The object of the game is for the player to initiate a breakthrough in Kershaw’s portion of the Confederate defensive line. In game terms, this means controlling one or more victory hexes by the end of the game.

Assault at Cold Harbor comes with a small map, set of unit counters, and digest-sized rule folder.

As happened in the actual battle, your Union troops stand against long odds in this little game. This solitaire game that focuses on Kershaw’s portion of the line, and ends at the end of eight turns, or until the Federals have uncontested control of at least one victory hex. As you peer out toward the enemy from your own position, there is but a single objective: pierce the Confederate line and leave it to those following to facilitate a breakthrough. One observation will stand out from setting up and playing this game: frontal assaults like this were very costly, and invited slaughter on a terrible scale. Can you pull off a victory?