"Because, Just Because: The Great Snow Fight of 1864." Topic

"…However, one day I decided to do something I've always wanted to do and that is write some rules for and run a game of The Great Daulton Snowball Fight of 1864. Just a quick historical synopsis. In 1864, the Confederate Army of Tennessee, disastrously ejected from Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge by U.S. Grant, was encamped at Daulton, Georgia in winter quarters preparing for the 1864 spring campaign. Under new leadership by veteran general Joseph E. Johnston, the soldiers awakened to a snowfall of 5-7 inches and snowball fights broke out across the encampment. Eventually, the skirmishes spread into company, regimental and even brigade level clashes. Generals Cleburne and Polk both appeared at the head of their troops as snowballs whizzed by. I learned of this fun-sounding clash while reading Steve Davis' wonderful article ("The Great Snow Battle of 1864") in the June 1976 issue of Civil War Times Illustrated many years ago…"

A Gamer's Tales

link

Armand

My great-aunt used to subscribe to Civil War Times Illustrated and would pass copies down to me after she had read them. I remember reading about this snowball fight.

Grelber

Thanks

Armand

I remember a magazine had a scenario for this, maybe Wargames Illustrated.

As I remember it a very similar "action" took place in the ANV in the winter of '63.

Major Mike, your memory is excellent! The article is in issue #87 of "Wargames Illustrated" (Dec 1994), by Andy Callan, and it's a corker. He describes assembling his armies of snowball-armed Confederates thusly: (1) he bought bags of Chinese Airfix knock-offs from the "cheap and nasty" shops – Africa Korps and Japanese since they were wearing caps; (2) trimmed off as many rifles and swords as possible to produce wildly-gesticulating snowball throwers; and (3) gave 'em a quick grey and brown paintjob and mounted them on white bases.

Ginning up rules was straightforward, especially since command and movement were straight out of standard ACW-land (the whole charm of the episode, he points out, is that the battling Rebs are fighting "along the lines of a contemporary battle" and should use standard formations, try to capture prisoners and flags, etc). For randomizers, he hit upon the happy thought of using dominos, whose white dots can easily be read as "snowballs on target". (I stole the idea for my own "Snow Day" game about an Indiana suburb draped in a new heavy snow, where little kids and big kids engage in snowball fights, raids on snow forts, dares and double-dog dares, etc.)

Thanks also…

Armand