Gentlemen of the ACWGC,
It's our pleasure to bring you the first in a series of reports from the newly formed Signal Corps. The purpose of this is to keep the membership informed of activities going on within the club and to help people find places to get "plugged in" that they may not have been aware of otherwise. Initially we'll be including just basic info on the functions of the club, but as time grows the level of detail will increase. If you have comments or suggestions please feel free to submit them to us -
SC@hist-sdc.com
<b>Club Wide Stats</b>
In the month of June we had:
CSA recruits 13
USA recruits 13
New Games: 46
End Games: Data not yet available
<b>Army Overviews</b>
<b><font color="red">CSA</font id="red"></b>
Change of command reported within the CSA forces...Maj. Gen Chris Cross will be leaving for Command of the Western Theater. Col. Lloyd Cole, Commander of the 3rd "Virginia Cavalry" Division has stepped up to take Command of the II "Jackson's" Corps.
Maj.Gen. Mark Zapp has resigned from army command of the Army of Georgia. The commander of the III Corps, Lt.Gen. Andy Burke has stepped forward to lead the Army of Georgia from now on. Maj.Gen. Michael Smith, commander of the I Corps, has resigned from command also. Brig.Gen. Ricardo Bonachia is in the saddle again and will command the I Corps again from July 1st.
The ANV is running a competition where officers are awarded prizes for the highest Kill and Capture results from in their games. This is an interesting way to add a bit more competitiveness to the games, increase the activity within an Army, and give the boys a bit more to brag about.
This months winners were:
Capture - Maj. Gen. Dan Kurkimilis
Kill - Lt. Gen. Don Adams
<b>CSA Medal Awards:</b>
Maj.Gen. Chris Cross receives his first Ewell medal for leading the II Corps/ANV.
Maj.Gen. Mark Zapp receives his first Ewell medal for leading the Army of Georgia.
Maj.Gen. Michael Smith receives his first Ewell medal for leading the I Corps/ANV.
Upon special request of his army commander,
Lt.Gen. Dwight Conlan receives the AP Hill medal for outstanding service and dedication.
General Ian Rousell receives his Joseph E. Johnston medal with Star for attaining over 2000 OBD points.
<b>VMI</b> reports the following 8 graduations for the month of June:
Fd Lt Peter Dell
Fd Lt Oli Berli
Fd Lt Larenzo Brown
Fd Lt Mark Crawford
Fd Lt Dan Smith
Fd Lt Russell Daley
Fd Lt Mathew Ford
Fd Lt William Leotowski
Please welcome these new officers, and help them get active in the club. Remember how hard it was to get a good set of opponents when you first started...make sure these guys get some games and stick around with us for a while!
<b><font color="blue">USA</font id="blue"></b>
<b>West Point</b> reports the following 7 graduates for the month of June.
1st Lt Brett Kolcun
1st Lt Alexander Giles
1st Lt Paul Sharp
1st Lt Joe Sherfy
1st Lt Dwight McBride
1st Lt Chris Trog
1st Lt George Denney
Please welcome these new officers, and help them get active in the club. Remember how hard it was to get a good set of opponents when you first started...make sure these guys get some games and stick around with us for a while!
<b>Articles</b>
We will attempt to have an article with each posting, contributors permitting. In our first edition we have an article from Maj Gen Mike Kaulbars.
<b>TITLE: Using the WC ... </b>
That would be the "Union War College" reading of 'WC' of course.
Recently the Staff at the War College has been discussing the role of the War College in the Club given the many changes we have witnessed in the past couple years. I would like to share some of that discussion with you, and call for the Union Club members to help guide us in determining what directions the College should go.
First a context: once upon a time there was Battle Ground. To experienced board gamers the ability to play what had been monster games in an afternoon was a cause for joy. The ability to find and play opponents worldwide made it doubly so. Games that had been shelved due to the limitations of the AI were explored again, but now against dozens of different human opponents.
For the new gamer the initial joy was too often soon replaced by confusion and frustration. The sheer size of the maps, the scale of the armies, the mysterious 'rules' was all so overwhelming. "Why are all my units routing? why can't I move this unit? what am I supposed to do?" were questions that most of us had at some point.
In 2000 the War College was born. Over the next few years over 20 articles covering virtually every aspect of tactical play answered those questions. Even better, dozens of strategy guides answered that all important question "How do I win?"
BattleGround had five titles with a dozen or more variants and scenarios included with each disk. Various hard core gamers created variants, but the number of possible games was limited. Then the HPS Campaign series appeared. Corinth, followed by Ozark and Franklin added many dozens of possible games, and the freelance designers added some more.
The array off games and possible battles was impressive. Even so, this past year has seen the addition of Campaigns Gettysburg, Peninsula, and now Shiloh, adding hundreds more battles and scenarios to the play list. As Gen Walter has asked, "Who has time to play all of these?"
All of this is well known, but it puts the War College in a paradoxical position.
On the one hand it seems people are less willing to write articles for the War College. Some possible reasons include:
<ul>
<li>Not having time given all the new games to play as well as other demands on ones time;
</li>
<li>Not feeling competent to write an article or battle report after only one or two playings;
</li>
<li>The campaigns in particular are very long, meaning it could be years before one has played a particular battle even a few times;
</li>
<li>With so many games out it is questionable how many people will ever even be interested in the article. This is particularly true as many of the battles are the result of particular choices that one may not make again.
</li>
</ul>
The paradox is that now, more than ever, articles are needed. With so many new battles, and so many battles that one will fight only rarely, the need for some guidance, any guidance, is greater than ever. Who wants to blow the last battle in a 450 turn campaign? and how soon will you get a chance to do it over?
Further, it is not necessary for articles to be "the definitive guide to" based on dozens of matches. Most of us would benefit from a battle report based on a single match.
So the staff of the College is asking you to help us chart our direction. At the same time as this article is published we will be posting one or more threads at the ACWGC forum asking you your opinions and intentions.
If you have read this article, please go to the forums and answer the questions that apply to you. Basically we will be asking you whether you use the War College, and why (or why not). We will also be asking if you would consider to writing for the College, and if not, why not.
The more members who participate the better the War College can serve the Club, so please take a few moments to do this:
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acw/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=23
Sorry Rebs, the poll is in the Quartermaster's Depot; we figure you've seen enough already to maybe generate a little interest in helping out with that Reb War College.
<b>Hobby Wide Activities</b>
June saw the first Tiller Con take place in Richmond Virginia. By all accounts this event was a success, as everyone who attended had a great time. Be on the look out for details on Tiller Con II, which is tentatively scheduled for 2007 in Kansas City. For more details on the event check out these articles:
http://www.strategyzoneonline.com/artic ... e=1&cat=52
http://www.wargamer.com/articles/tillercon_2005/
LGen. Hamilton
II Corps
ANV, CSA
Signal Corps - Editor in Chief
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