Altar of Freedom (PDF)

Altar of Freedom allows you to play the biggest battles of the American Civil War with multiple players, in one evening, on limited table space. Your role as a player will be to step into the boots of a corps or army general, fighting real historical battles like Antietam or Shiloh. Operating at the highest levels of command, you will not bother yourself with micromanaging regiments or interfering in the affairs of your colonels. Your challenge will be coordinating your divisions to be in the right place at the right time and wrestling with the outsized personalities of your corps commanders. The rest, as Robert E. Lee might say, is in God's hands.

 

Altar of Freedom is a turn-based game, although the duration of each turn is determined by a variable Turn Clock. At the start of each turn, players secretly bid Priority Points for the opportunity to maneuver their divisions before the enemy. After the secret bidding, players reveal their highest bids and begin maneuvering divisions in order of priority. After each new bid is reached, players roll to remove time from the Turn Clock. The Turn Clock is the strategic center-piece of the game, since players vie for control of the clock throughout the battle. He who controls the clock can manipulate the speed of the countdown. When the clock does expire, the turn ends immediately and players complete some minor adjustments before proceeding to the next turn. Because all games are based on historical scenarios, every battle has a defined end with victory conditions for each commander.