American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

'She who must be obeyed' has given me the go ahead to order a game for my birthday[:D]. But which one to buy next? I have HPS Gettysburg and Corinth already but need help deciding which of the other HPS titles is the best to get next. I'm sure they are all great but is there one that stands out? I'm very much interested in the campaigns as well as the individual battles. Any comments or advice would be appreciated. Many thanks[:)]

[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/acw/acw.htm"]General Antony Barlow[/url]
[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/aoc/XXAoC.htm"]Army of the Cumberland[/url]

I'd suggest Peninsula. You've got all the individual Seven Days battles to fight, the Campaign to fight, or you can fight the whole thing out as one huge scenario. The latter is what I find fun to think about.

General Mark Nelms
6/3/IX/AoO
"Blackhawk Brigade"

Or there's Shiloh, which has plenty individual battles and campaings.

Respectfully,

Lt. Col. Gery Bastiani
Fightin' Carolinians
II/2/4 AotM

"Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees" -Stonewall Jackson

<font color="beige"><b>For my money Campaign Shiloh would be the choice.
Rich Walker did a bang-up job on this package, included are lots of smaller 20-40 turn scenario's and plenty of larger ones along with choice of six campaigns, a generic map that can be used for custom scenarios and even an all water map for some custom ship to ship combat. There are "what if" scenarios out the wah-zoo from street fighting in Frankfort to river naval combat.

Rich has included several features in patches that (in my mind) improve game play, such as;

"Leaders, supply wagons, and limbered arty will not prevent a defending unit from retreating after a lost melee."
"Defending units will now fire at 100% as a result of melee"[^]
"A/I Artillery will only fire at valid targets"
"Additional of new optional Target Density rule which causes increased fire value against targets with more than 2/3 maximum stacking in hex."[^]</b></font id="beige">

<font color="blue"><b>Brig.Gen. R.A.Weir</b></font id="blue">
<font color="yellow">-- CALVERT LINE --</font id="yellow">

<b>First--III--AoA CSA</b>

Peninsula or Shiloh. Peninsula gets my nod just because I'm waiting for the day my Union cavalry can ride through the streets of Richmond![:D]

(Even if I have to play against the AI, it WILL happen...[:I][;)])


General Jeff Laub
Union Chief of the Army
ACWGC Cabinet Member
http://www.geocities.com/laubster22/UnionHQ/

Shiloh gets my vote, for all the reasons General Weir listed. You have all the major Western battles that took place in Tennessee and Kentucky in the first half of 1862: Belmont (actually in Missouri), Fts Henry and Donelson, Island #10 and new Madrid, Mill Springs, and of course Shiloh. There are usually a number of variations of each battle, including rain versions. As General Weir points out, there are a lot of medium and small size battles and a host of battles that could have happened but didn't. Even the music is better, imho. My glance at some of the campaigns left me less than enthralled; seemed like there were a lot of single choices. But that's what the campaign editor is for.The designer, Rich Walker, is receptive to input and very conscientious. I think he has done a wonderful job of adding new features to the game. I only played one Peninsula game, which was the whole battle. My (Rebel) army was destroyed by a concentrated Union army before Stonewall Jackson even arrived. Since you are a Yank, that might appeal to you. I enjoyed Campaign Ozark, but the campaigns seemed to be slanted the other way. I don't know if there is any way for the Yanks to win at Wilson's Creek, and I think they face an uphill fight in Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove. But the campaigns are short and the armies manageable.

MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA

Thanks for your advice gentlemen. Much appreciated[:)]

[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/acw/acw.htm"]General Antony Barlow[/url]
[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/aoc/XXAoC.htm"]Army of the Cumberland[/url]

Sure am glad I am single....

or... maybe this is why I am single [:D][:D]


Lieutenant General John Corbin
Commanding officer
Army of The James
USA

Gents,

your proposals involve you own HPS Gettysburg and Corinth as General Barlow, but what would be your choice to buy your <u>FIRST</u> acw HPS, as it's my case ?[?]
I own all BG, so my first idea would be one not covered by Talonsoft.

My wife has nothing to say home [}:)]( aemh ... regarding that point for sure [:I][:D])


1st Lt Valère BERNARD
1st "Belgian Volunteers" Brig. , 3d Div. , VIII Corps , AoS

As a first, I would have to recommend Corinth, for the following reasons:
- It has an enormous breadth and depth of scenarios, campaign choices, and maps, far more than any other game in the series. Very simply, nowhere do you get that much for your buck. [:)]
- It was the first, hence it is the one that practically everyone owns, and the one that practically all custom scenarios are based on. (In the 1.01 version.)
- It has medium sized armies (3-6 Divisions per side) and scenarios, hence it is excellent for learning a new system. Gettysburg and Peninsula, for instance, have almost exclusively very large scenario with mass armies, and some tiny ones, but very little in the medium range.
- It is by the most experienced designer in the series, the one who has also given us Ozark and Peninsula. Solid, well-researched stuff.
- It is a nice compromise between the infantry-heavy mass armies of the Eastern Theater and the frontier strife by tiny bands in the Ozarks.

Other games in the series are very well worth getting - Gettysburg is a marvel in my opinion, even though I don't necessarily agreed with some design choices such as the extremely overpriced cavalry and artillery that practically prevents the use of these arms in combat - but as a first and maybe only game, I think Corinth it by far the best choice.

Gen. Walter, USA
<i>The Blue Blitz</i>
Reserve Artillery, AoS

I'd certainly agree with Gen Walter's comments on Corinth. I've played two thoroughly enjoyable campaigns and will certainly play another one in the future. I really can't fault the game. Gettysburg is superb too. Sorry I haven't played the others yet so can't give a broader perspective.

[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/acw/acw.htm"]General Antony Barlow[/url]
[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/aoc/XXAoC.htm"]Army of the Cumberland[/url]