American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

No forward movement of infantry line, units in contact can fight unless one side withdraws;
Surrounded forces can attempt to break out and may be assisted by other units within four hexes (twilight visibility limit);
Units in contact at nightfall, and those within twilight visibility of the enemy unit in contact, may continue to engage during night;
Lateral movement behind the lines, supply, reinforcements permitted;
Cavalry can probe, scout on roads (and trails etc.) only, pull back on contact; and
Units may dig-in.

Reason: My understanding is that during the Civil War units did not advance beyond their front lines once night fell. Occasionally fighting would continue as night fell and I feel that the above rules allow for that possibility by permitting units in contact at the time to continue to fight. Sometimes a unit may have found itself behind enemy lines at nightfall and they would generally do what they had to to return to the safety of their own lines; I feel the rules above also provide for that possibility.

Note: Edited on 10 October 2025 for clarification and shown in italics.

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

Hi Paul!

I've never been a fan putting prohibitions on night attacks in our games as in fact they did happen. There are indeed countless examples of both big and small night actions with varied results (please give the link below a read). I live close to Chickamauga Battlefield, and here we can find the perfect example of an attack that started around 6pm in the darkening sky when Bragg ordered Cleburne's Div to attack across Winfrey Field - the fighting went on for an extended period of time in the complete dark with terrible results for both sides. All this to say it did happen. I do wonder though if the game engine penalizes a commander for ordering such action.

Thoughts?


https://civilwartalk.com/threads/night-attacks.80093/

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Lt. General Tim Reneau
Army of Tennessee
Commanding

ACWGC Academy Instructor