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Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862
1995
Rules assistance for Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 120 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
Rules assistant for Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862
For 2 players
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 is a board game released in 1995 for 2 players and 120 minutes per game. It was designed by Peter Perla and its main mechanics are Area Movement, Dice Rolling, and Simulation.
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About the game
Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam, from Spearhead Games captures the essence of this crucial engagement. Bloodiest Day's unique approach to simulating Civil War battles uses alternating-impulses and an area map to capture the ebb and flow of Civil War battle as attack and counterattack build to a crescendo of combat. 17 September 1862, Sharpsburg, MD: The bloodiest single day of combat the North American continent would ever witness draws to a close. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, outmanned but not outfought by McClellan's Army of the Potomac, barely adverts disaster along the banks of the Antietam Creek. Heavy but uncoordinated Federal attacks had stretched the gray-clad lines to the breaking point. Only the nick-of-time arrival of Hill's Light Division blunts the final Union assault. McClellan refuses to commit his reserves to grasp the war-ending victory that lies within his reach. Lee's first invasion of the North ends - but the war drags on. Yet McClellan's imperfect victory would lead to Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and change fundamentally the nature of the conflict. System is loosely based on the area movement games from Avalon Hill (Storm Over Arnhem, Thunder at Cassino, Turning Point: Stalingrad and Breakout: Normandy) and sister game to They Met at Gettysburg. Game Scale: Game Turn: 2 hours Area: 1" / 2.54cm = 285 yards / 260 meters Units: Brigades Game Inventory: One 22 x 34" full color map One dual-side printed countersheet (176 5/8" counters) One 30-page Bloodiest Day rulebook Two single-side printed Player Aid Cards Two single-side printed Order of Battle charts Four 6-sided dice Solitaire Playability: High Complexity Level: Low-Medium Players: 2 or more Playing Time: 1.5 - 2.5 hours
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Spearhead Games
Questions and answers
Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 has a complexity rating of 2.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 belongs to these categories: Wargame, Post-Napoleonic, and American Civil War. Its main mechanics are Area Movement, Dice Rolling, and Simulation. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 are: Peter Perla. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Bloodiest Day: The Battle of Antietam September 17, 1862 as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.