Devil's Den at Wargames Illustrated

Earlier this month Phil and I travelled over to Wargames Illustrated's Offices near Nottingham to spend a day refighting the combat around Devil's Den on 2 July 1863 during the momentous Battle of Gettysburg. For a number of years now Wargames Illustrated have staged a large display game at the Salute show in London, featuring beautiful handmade terrain by the hobby's leading exponents. For this year's game they have chosen to depict the fighting on the Union's left flank, around Devil's Den and the Round Tops. The terrain boards were made by David of TMTerrain and will be on display this year at both Salute and Historicon. To accompany the Salute event WI will have special features on the terrain and accounts of refights of aspects of the fighting which have been played out and photographed at WI HQ. I was invited to umpire and then write up the Devil's Den action, using my own Bull Run to Gettysburg rules published by Wargames Foundry. Dan has kindly provided me with a disc of photos he took during the game; so, without further ado...Devil's Den awaits!

Overall view of the Devil's Den table





The umpire consults the rules...

Phil moves the Confederates forward...

The Confederate attack strikes home.

 

Devil's Den falls...

We all had a great time refighting the action on splendid terrain! The game lasted seven moves before I had to break it gently to Dan that he had only come second that day, despite fighting heroically. Look out for the WI Salute special for a full blow by blow account of the game. If you are able to attend either Salute or Historicon then make a point of seeing the whole table featuring the iconic action round Little Round Top as well as the fight for Devil's Den. If you can't make the shows, then look out for WI with full reports and many splendid photos of the action.