American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Fellow Grognards,

New recruit (USA) here, but I’ve been wargaming since the 70s (1st game was Squad Leader, 2nd Gettysburg) and before that I was playing with 1/72 Airfix miniatures since as long as I can remember. Now retired and currently living in Dublin, Ireland (and some of the year in Toulouse, France too), but most of my working life was as an IT Consultant/Contractor in the USA (Tri-State area but also lived in PA for a while).

So I'd recall SPI/AH from the 70s/80s, mostly WWII and ACW, at one point I had about 50 titles! Of ACW interest- boardgames: Gettysburg 77, The Battle of Shiloh (1984), A Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam (1983), The Civil War 1861-1865. Dropped out of the hobby with real life/work commitments during the late 80s and 90s, returned in c2000 to look at some PC Games: Sid Meier’s Gettysburg and Antietam, Ultimate General: Gettysburg and Civil War. I also read extensively on both the ACW and WWII, and am always interested in new material- most recently I finished Grant’s autobiography, which I found fascinating.

I picked up a bunch of WDS Titles during the last 2 sales (along with some PzC titles) so I have:

Campaign Antietam
Campaign Chancellorsville
Campaign Chickamauga
Campaign Corinth
Campaign Gettysburg
Campaign Peninsula
Campaign Shenandoah
Campaign Shiloh
Campaign Vicksburg
Civil War Battles Demo

So far have only touched the Demo. But recently retired I’ve finally bitten the bullet- it’s been on my to do list for years- and put the time in to get to grips with the mechanics and in particular the UI, which I struggled with (and rejected) when I looked at earlier iterations of the series from Talonsoft, HPS and Matrix (well done WDS!).

Currently getting thrashed by my instructor- he shall remain nameless and I eternally grateful- in the demo, there sure is a lot to learn here!

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Cadet Chris Horn
USA

Chris,

Welcome to the club. I'm likewise fairly new here as well. Our stories are very similar with regards to gaming in the 70's leaving and returning to the hobby. It did take a bit of time to gather in the mechanics and the system for these WDS titles but it is certainly attainable. Personally, I think the AI is great for that purpose and for doing some testing. Best of luck sir.

Regards,

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Loudscott
Lieutenant
Army of the Tennessee

Welcome, I love Dublin and France.

A few free tips:

1) Don't be too concerned about VP hexes. Destroy the enemy and take the VP hexes if needed.
2) Manage your unit integrity. Meaning, avoid being detached.
3) Watch your artillery ammo. Some scenarios will cause you to come up short if you blast away at every opportunity. You can set you AI fire to Min/Med/Max. If ammo is plentiful, fire at max.
-One example of artillery ammo being short, the historical Chickamauga scenario. Bonne Chance!
4) Flank Flank Flank- Enough Said on that.
5) Be sure you understand the chosen optional rules. I played a recent game and didn't realize that the alternative release rule had been chosen. That really screwed me up. The enemy was gone when I charged. Merde!
6) Be sure to discuss what house rules you will play with or there could be a misunderstanding later.
7) Be careful when using speed move options. You can bump into the enemy when it could have been avoided.
Keep your artillery on a tight leash and well protected.

These are just a few items. The list could go on and on!

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)

3. Yankees don't usually need to concern themselves with such things. They generally have a plentiful supply.
5. LOL.

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Welcome! I'm sure you'll find a lot of great information and opponents here.

In my first multi-player game now and loving it. Maybe we can join up some time.

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Lt. Col. Jim Pyle
3rd Div
XVII Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Welcome from another Rookie to the club. Hope you will enjoy your time with us!

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Cadet Mathias Schulte
USA