Last Chance for Victory is the next entry in The Gamers’ Line of Battle series (LoB) which simulates the Battle of Gettysburg. It is the second game in the series, following the well-received None but Heroes about the Battle of Antietam.

Last Chance for Victory attempts to allow players to find their own answers to these questions and points as well as many others. The added depth and nuance makes for a very different and, in my opinion, more accurate rendition of the battle than you’ve ever seen before.

Aside from showing the history in a way that will be both entertaining but make you thirst for more and better reading on the topic, multiple variations are provided to explore the battle. Sure, there are the usual “extra troops” variants, but more importantly, options that allow players to tweak the various historical behavior ‘knobs’ I assigned. If you think my ‘setting’ for Howard (to pull a name out of a hat) are all wet, you can change him to be better (or worse) so you can see how your version ‘plays.’ Likewise, a number of rules simulate activities that were pretty much out of the players hands (such as Buford’s need to screen the town yet keep his losses very low), these can be ‘turned off’ as desired to see what effect they really have on the battle. There is a matrix of the various ‘control’ rules and the possible ‘settings’ for each one that players can use before starting if they disagree with my decisions. The results of your choices might surprise you and spur your understanding of the battle to new levels.

As with None but Heroes, Last Chance for Victory is designed to bring all of this and much more to your table in the most historically accurate and informationally jam-packed game possible. Like any LoB game, it was designed with twin goals: the most insight possible and a game with maximum playability.

Enhancing the already popularly received and streamlined Line of Battle rules, Last Chance for Victory comes with the v2.0 series rules. These rules incorporate the refinements and suggestions of hundreds of real players which make the smooth system even faster to play. Make no mistake, this is the only regimental level Gettysburg game that can be played to completion at a respectable clip—yet it is a large game. A pair of reasonably fast players could play the campaign game to completion at a convention like ConsimExpo. I’ve completed campaign games with three players in a week of rather relaxed play time.

Scenarios abound of various sizes. The campaign uses a 4-map ‘box’ layout, but the game comes with two additional maps, one covering just the 1st Day’s fighting and the other the 2nd and 3rd Day’s. The big game scenarios can be played on one or both of those maps plus, with those two linked together, it is possible to play the entire battle on 2 maps.

Components:

LoB Series v2.0 Rulebook
Game Specific Rulebook
Two Order of Arrival Booklets
Scenario Booklet
Two Charts and Tables Booklets
Six Full Color Game Maps (Check out some samples here and here and here!)
Three Full Color Play Aids
2,240 Counters (Check out some samples here and here!)
22 Scenarios… with up two three size variations each, one of which is one map for each!
Box and Dice