American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

I am looking for some insight on specific scenarios that seemed to have worked best ( or not ) and what seemed to be a good number for each side. Thanks in advance!

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General Frank DiNola
2/1/XVII AoT USA

I played a 7 Pines "version I" game a few years back that was great (it is a version where the full Yankee army releases). However, the 7 Pines scenarios have issues if you allow bridge repair (that was added in after the testing was done) and the one on one battle of this game that I played with the bridge rule in effect radically changed the scenario...

Being a fan of the Perryville Battefield I have thought that the 009 Perryville (Chickamauga disc) v.4 meeting scenario would lend itself nicely to a MP experience. I have never fought it that way though and cannot recollect having heard of anyone mentioning having fought it that way either so I cannot speak with MP knowldege of that scenario.

The Union side would be Buell's three Corps commanders and the Confederate side would be Bragg's left and right wings and Kirby Smith's army to complete a triad. I think 3 to a side would work very well in this scenario. I like 3 to a side in a MP. Turn around times are reasonable with 3 per side. When real life intrudes which it almost always does then with 3 per side there is usually someone who can do the absent commanders turn for him as well.

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Yr. Obdt. Srvt.
Lt. Gen. R. Sickbert
First Division, Fifth Corps
Army of the Potomac

One historic battle that gets short shrift when it comes to MP games is Shiloh. That is because, on the reb side, of their faulty battle plan where their corps went into action in waves (Beauregard's grandiose, Napoleonic thinking) and they quickly got all mixed up. The federals pretty much kept some division integrity, so no problem on their side.
The thing to do in a Shiloh MP is just what the rebs did--improvise. Once the battle is joined, let the commander direct where the various brigades go, and who should command them. With everybody clamoring for reinforcements, he would have to make the hard decisions. Try it. It could be cool. Three reb players would basically end up commanding left, right and center. Four Yanks, playing Sherman, Prentiss, McClernand and Hurlbut to begin with.

For those inclined to a short, sharp contest with just four players, you might look into one of the eight "Equal Force" (EF) scenarios within HPS Campaign Antietam (HPSCN). In particular, Scenario 188 EF_Battle for Union, Virginia, August 15, 1862. This is a 15-turn, What-If scenario by Rich Walker.

"(What If, 15 Turns) Jackson sends Johnston's and Taliaferro's brigades to secure the crossroads at Union. Pope's scouts have detected this move and sends Schenck's division to counter this move. (A small two brigade level scenario, though the Union has about 400 more men, their quality is slightly less than the Confederates.)"



The two Union brigades are those of McLean and Julius Stahel (Schenck is also present), and Johnston's Brigade is commanded by T. S. Garnett.

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General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

Frank,

I'm currently in a multiplayer game using the Battle of the Ridges (200 XX_Battle of the Ridges (v.1)) scenario from the HPS Shiloh Campaign. Both sides are pretty evenly matched and the forces split pretty evenly for both players on both sides (roughly 48K per side). We are currently on turn 25 of 40 and its been a lot of fun so far. Seems somewhat historical how both forces slowly moved into position and were hesitant to engage or take too many casualties at first. Now that we're faced off and are finally engaging one another, the battle is really starting to heat up and the causality are starting to climb.

If your looking for an evenly match scenario, I would say this is a good one for a multiplayer game.

Note: It may not be a historical battle but it is really hard to find an evenly match scenario where the Union forces don't have a numerical or weapons advantage over the Rebs. This scenario offers an even playing field to test the skills of both side. The map is decent size with enough forces to experience a large battle with a co-commander.

Lt. Col. Derek Hampel
Fifth Infantry Brigade
Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

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Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee