American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

At a knoll just behind the forward picket line, the US general surveys the terrain through his binoculars. A small staff is gathered directly behind the general, ready to pass along his orders to his command. "Ah, those cowardly rebs has once again stuck the tail behind their legs." the general muttered. "Now we have been out here for several days and not even a single reb has dared to make a stand. Wonder if they are training for the Richmond Marathon..."
The staff laughs loudly at this joke, as all they have seen of rebs lately has been their jumping rucksacks, as they have fled at first sight of the advancing Yankees.
"Is there not a single reb commander who dares to take up an online fight?" the general thinks... Ol' Bobby Lee must have very few field officers left....

Well, who dares to pick up an on-line fight? Up to some 12-15 GT's and any engine?

Gen Lars W
1/XIV
Army of the Cumberland
USA

<font color="beige"><b>The General slowly rises from his slumber...the sound of laughter off to the west. Looking around at the rest of his command lying in various poses...as if stuck down in full charge....the ground littered with canteens, ammo boxes, haversacks and various tools of war.....[xx(]

ahh now he remembers...that was one heck of a New Years party![;)][:p][B)]

The Confederate General looks over the trenches towards the west....A Federal officer stands there....looking like he's looking for a fight. The Confederate officer kicks the young corporal lying on the ground next to him and as the boy gets to his feet the general places a note in his hand...to be delivered to said Federal officer. </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>

A courier arrives at the general's CP and declares loudly:" General, the rebs have halted! It looks that they are going to fight -finally!"
The old general from the Army of the Cumberland straightens his back, rises his binoculars and make a sweep over the fields and the woods in front of him. "Who can that reb commander be? Not many I can think of... the general utters in a low voice to himself. Maybe it is the gallant Gen Weir? We have met before and he's a skilful opponent, so this promises to be a hard fight."
"Corporal, to the lead brigade - deploy in line, throw out a picket line towards Pittsburg Landing! We'll advance as soon as he's ready!"
The courier salutes and returns at the gallop to the commander of the lead brigade... Soon the popping of the muskets of the pickets will be heard.


Gen Lars W
1/XIV
Army of the Cumberland
USA

<font color="beige"><b>The battle occurred today;

<font color="blue">(HPS Shiloh #078jk A Divisional Clash 18 turns)</font id="blue">

It was slow to start, both generals jockeying for an advantage, about midway though as the union advanced the battle began in earnest, the rebels gaining a minor victory for several turns but as the sun began to set the union regained the impetus, the battle ending in a draw.

A direct play game, which for any of you that have not tried it, is a fast and fun way to play a game over the internet. We did the 18 turns in a little under 3 hours, that's about 5 minutes per player turn and that was with a good bit of banter via msn messenger (the game provides a message interface) but we had started talking on msn before starting up the game so we just continued to use it during the game and all while we sat facing each other from clear across the Atlantic Ocean.

Direct play is a whole different experience from play by mail...as you move your troops across the field your opponent sees yours movements and fire as they happen, there is no replay. We played in phases with manual defense fire so there was plenty of back and forth action during each turn. I normally play by e-mail in "turn" mode but doing phases with manual defense fire went really quickly with direct play.
Games can be saved and started up at a later date so even large scenarios can be played without having to dedicate a large block of time at one sitting and games can also be played with multiple players. The game interface allows players to be assigned troops which can then only be moved by that player. The message interface also allows messages to be sent to your opponents or only to friendly players.

I highly recommend trying a direct play game...it's the closest thing out there to actually playing a face to face board or tabletop game. More information about how to start one can be found here http://www.hist-sdc.com/help/mp.html </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>

Uh-oh...

I took a look at that link and see that the HPS games allow <u>multi-player</u> via Direct Play. [:D]

So, if Gen Weir would care to team with me and Lars finds a partner...dare we think of such a thing?!


Maj Gen Sean Turner
3rd Cavalry Division, "The Bishop's Men"
I Corps
Army of Alabama

It's an enjoyable experience alright. If it could happen on a Sunday afternoon (I am in GMT+1, so this would be forenoon in North America), I am in.

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

Of course that would be feasible - am CET +1 too![:p]

Gen Lars W
1/XIV
Army of the Cumberland
USA

I'm on GMT; could start on Sundays around 1 but would have to end around 5 or 5.15.

Maj Gen Sean Turner
3rd Cavalry Division, "The Bishop's Men"
I Corps
Army of Alabama

<font color="beige"><b> Gentlemen I would be more than happy to be in a Multi-player with the likes of such fine officers.[:D]

I would be the forenoon (GMT -5) part of this equation and next Sunday (the 15th) morning would work for me if you guys want to play in that afternoon.
A scenario of 18 to 24 turns would work...I'm partial to HPS Shiloh V1.02, IMHO the changes Rich made to defense fire are a marked improvement over the previous HPS releases..
But I'll play any of the HPS games you guys want to pick.</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>

HPS Shiloh on Sunday Jan 15 could make a good game!
Suggest we go for it as a preliminary time and if anyone wants to play something before, don't hesitate to send a mail so can we play a direct on-line match![:)]

Gen Lars W
1/XIV
Army of the Cumberland
USA

I hope it's acceptable that I would prefer Corinth, Ozark, Gettysburg or Peninsula. I am not really crazy about Shiloh.

Sunday the 15th would work. Time frame would be, it seems,

1300 to 1700 GMT (1 PM to 5 PM)

which equates to

1400 to 1800 GMT+1 (2 PM to 6 MP)
0800 to 1200 GMT-5 (8 AM to Noon)

Hm, maybe a bit early for General Weir? Start at 1400 GMT? Still three hours.



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

This is where I have to say I do not yet have Shiloh. Any of the others will be fine.

The 15th would work fine during either of those times!

Maj Gen Sean Turner
3rd Cavalry Division, "The Bishop's Men"
I Corps
Army of Alabama

<font color="beige"><b>Gentlemen,

The game choice is up to you....Corinth, Ozark, Gettysburg or Peninsula are all acceptable to me as is 8AM Sunday morning start time. Would the Union partners like to make a scenario offer(s)

Gen. Walter...we will have to talk sometime about your aversion to Shiloh</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>

How many players are ya lookin fer? I could be up to this. Looks like the Alabama Gang is in force.


Colonel D.H. Smith
3rd Cavalry Divison,III Corps,AoA

http://sapper99.com

Sir,

as many as would like to are welcome - a Direct MP battle indeed sounds likea lot of fun!
Will post scenario choice during the week - but Gettysburg seems to be a good choice of engine![:p]

Gen Lars W
1/XIV
Army of the Cumberland
USA