A Hard Day's Work: The Battle of Droop Mountain, November 6, 1863

“It was a hard day’s work, but officers and men worked with a will, and did their duty—no flinching, no shirking.” –Correspondent “Irwin” comments about the conduct of the Union attack at Droop Mountain. A Hard Day’s Work is a moderate complexity level game on the largest battle fought in West Virginia during the American Civil War. On November 1st, 1863, General William Averell left Beverly, West Virginia intent upon destroying the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Salem, Virginia. The railway was a vital railway for the Confederacy, and following the battle of Chickamauga, it was imperative that Averell’s force sever the link to prevent any more support or reinforcements going west from General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. Opposing the Yankees were varied Confederate forces that were outnumbered by the nearly four thousand Union troops under Averell’s command. Falling back in the face of the Union onslaught, over seventeen hundred Confederates, under the command of Brigadier General John Echols, occupied a strong position at Droop Mountain that they believed would stop the Yankees in their tracks. Can you do as well or better? Players will also need a six-sided die (D6) and ten-sided (D10) dice to play the game (although two D6, one for each player, will help speed combat resolution). Each turn in A Hard Day’s Work represents one half hour of time. Infantry and Cavalry units represent Companies or 80-100 men per combat factor. Artillery units represent 2-3 guns (cannon and howitzers). A hex on the map is approximately 150 yards across. A Hard Day's Work is designed by Paul Rohrbaugh and features graphics by Tim Allen. —description from the designer