My coworker Terri Frazier asked me if I would be interested in writing this column about a new board game she had heard about. Two locals, Bryan Green and Jack Greene had told her that they had been playing Thunder on the Mississippi, a recently released strategic wargame based on the Vicksburg Campaign of the Civil War.

My wife and I have a substantial board game collection, so I was eager to learn more about a game that takes place in my proverbial backyard.

I met Green and Greene at Greene’s home in Vicksburg. Laid out on a dining table was the large game map, a rendering of the surrounding area stretching as far west as Vicksburg and as far east as Jackson, and all of it overlaid with a hexagonal grid. The entirety of the map measures about 32 inches by 44 inches.

Greene has had an interest in wargaming since 1959.

“Three or four of us would get together almost every Friday and play at our friend’s house down the street. And then when I was in sixth grade, again on an overnight with some friends, I saw this. My friend and his brother had set up a game on Gettysburg,” Greene said. “And I was mesmerized by it. I was like, ‘Oh, this is wonderful’,” Greene said. “I was always into military stuff. I was always into history. So, it was a natural.”

Greene has released several variations of a board game of his own design called Iron Bottom Sound, a series of tabletop wargames based on naval warfare in the Pacific theater during World War II.

He also runs his own gaming company, Quarterdeck International, in which he produces and imports games.

Green and Greene gave me the rundown on Thunder on the Mississippi. They described a game based on historical accuracy and realism as well as detail. This looked complicated, and fun.

After interviewing Green and Greene, I was talking to a good friend of mine about Thunder on the Mississippi. I was apparently enthusiastic about it because my friend then purchased the game for me as a birthday gift. So now I have it. And so I will play it.

Players pick a side, Union or Confederate, and face off in one of 12 scenarios. 11 of those scenarios represent a different battle in the campaign. The twelfth and longest scenario encompasses the entirety of the campaign.

I’m currently reading the instructions, which are, to be honest, a bit overwhelming, having never played any sort of war game. The main rulebook is a fairly dense 21 pages.

I am encouraged by Green, however, who said that once players understand the rules, a single scenario can be played in an hour or less.

I’m struck by the granularity of detail regarding the game’s mechanics. Moving a unit, such as a regiment, a single hex involves taking into account several aspects of the situation and terrain. The player receives an allotted portion of movement points according to a die roll and various modifiers. Types of terrain cost varying amounts of movement points to traverse.

Loess soil, common around Vicksburg and unique to this game, is a terrain type that makes it difficult for troops to move through. The side of the hex the unit crosses also has attributes that affect movement. A road might cost fewer movement points than a ferry. Etcetera.

The unit’s fatigue level is then impacted after movement, which affects its ability to march and fight… I think. Look, I’m still getting the hang of it. On the back end, Thunder on the Mississippi is a game of charts, tables, and numbers. Information is kept track of using small, printed cardboard pieces called counters.

Green said that despite the intricate ruleset, keeping track of one’s troops and their status is quite manageable. “The point is there are very few game counters on the board,” he said.

Again, the rules can be daunting at first, but I can also see how they would become second nature after a bit of study and playtime.

The interesting bit inevitably comes after understanding the rules. This is a strategy game, and maneuvering your troops is, apparently, key to winning.

“The way this game is played, it’s really a movement game. It’s all about your movement and getting in a position and taking into account that terrain,” Green said. “To put yourself in a position so that you can force an outcome or achieve a victory.”

Each turn represents one day during the campaign.

Forces also don’t necessarily fight when they make contact with each other. Retreat is also an option.

“You can force retreat because you took some piece of key terrain, or you blocked the rail line or you cut off their supply,” Green said.

Furthermore, the winner may not necessarily have to destroy the enemy to win. In one scenario, Confederate forces achieve victory by preventing the Union from holding key positions. Details tend to decide fates in this game.

I did not know my gaming hobby would take this turn, but here we are. I am genuinely excited to dive in.

Thunder on the Mississippi is published by Multi-Man Publishing and can be purchased online.