American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

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Gen. Blake Strickler
Confederate General-in-Chief
El Presidente 2010 - 2012

The Gray.....It has to be Gray. I wasn't drafted or conscripted, I volunteered, and for the Gray. Why would I change now !

I lose playing the Gray, I lose playing the Blue so might as well wear the color I want to wear

Point to note: I play Royalist in the ECW, I play French in Napoleonics, I play CSA in ACW, I play French in FPW and I play German in WW2......is there a common trend there !

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Karl McEntegart
Major General
Officer Commanding
Army of Tennessee





Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.

Removing the fact that the Yankees are scoundrels ain't easy.

But all things being equal I still like playing for the underdogs. I agree the blue guns are sweet but the gray teams infantry is sweeter.

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LtC Thomas "Tex" McSwain
Kansas Raiders

I like playing the Rebs because it usually seems more challenging. When I win, I usually feel a sense of accomplishment.

Does depend on the scenario though!

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MG Mike Mihalik
Forrest's Cavalry Corps
AoWest/CSA

Sir, <salute>

I suggest your sense of accomplishment far surpasses your sense of failure, Sir

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Karl McEntegart
Major General
Officer Commanding
Army of Tennessee





Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.

Joined the yanks for two reasons,
I'm a ridge runner from south western Pennsylvania, got hooked on the Civil War thanks to a history teacher in high school. He spent a whole grade period on the era, the lead up, the war and the reconstruction period. 1/6 of the school year to cover a 20 year period and I've spent countless hours of my life since reading about it and walking the battlefields.
My wargaming buddy (we've been playing each other 46 years now, board, miniatures and pc wargaming) preferred playing the rebs, so I learned to deal with the reb class advantage in most games early in my wargaming days. Unfortunately he is not good with pc's and could not handle pbem gaming and his attempt in the club was short lived but we still play the occasional pc game hot seat.

Played the rebs a good bit too, was a training officer at the UMA for a number of years.

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Gen. Ken Miller



The McKeesport Union Guard

3/1/II
Chief of Staff
AotP

Sounds like an amazing high school experience and indeed, teacher. I would suggest that you could have spent those countless hours of your life in far worse ways too Sir.

<Salute> Sir

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Karl McEntegart
Major General
Officer Commanding
Army of Tennessee





Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.

Rebs!

It is analogous to playing the Brits in a Napoleonic Game.

In a recent game, I encountered for the first time a Reb battleline comprised of "E" quality troops. I assaulted this line with typical UA "C" units and had a truly exhilarating gaming moment watching that line rout away in mass. Since the usual UA advantage if there is one in a game is numbers, and generally speaking that advantage rests on "D" quality troops, and since the norm is to play with all the quality optional rules on, the bigger challenge in our games is winning with the Yanks, not the Rebs.

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Walter A. Dortch
Commanding -/4/V AotP
UA Cabinet Secretary
UA Operations Officer
UA Wolverine Team Leader

Walt, I can indeed imagine some glee on your part when those E quality troops routed - don't blame you at all, Sir!

As for the wider question, tough call - I prefer the Rebs because I prefer their organisation - ideally I like a division having 3-4 brigades, with regiments of 300-400 men. You seem to get this much more often on the Reb side. The infantry quality bonus is obviously baked into the cake. I also like the practice of naming brigades & divisions after their commander - I find it more memorable & easier to keep track of where everyone sits in the order of battle.

One thing which I am slightly surprised hasn't been mentioned yet is the Union cavalry, especially once you get into 1863 onwards - those numbers & carbines are very difficult for the Reb cavalry to deal with, in my experience.

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Major General TW Marshall

ACWGC President 2022 - 2025

Commanding Officer, 2nd (Gator Alley) Division, Stewart's Corps, Army of Tennessee

I don't have a preference. It's all fun. Have played both sides in any number of different scenarios, but certainly Union primarily.

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MG Robert Frost

Well said, Sir. It is indeed all fun, great fun too. I believe playing both sides gives great perspective, a valuable, if not little painful, learning experience, as time will doubtless tell

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Karl McEntegart
Major General
Officer Commanding
Army of Tennessee





Make my enemy brave and strong, so that if defeated, I will not be ashamed.

I enjoy the Rebs more because of the infantry quality. Once you figure out how to negate the Yanks' advantage of artillery by seizing the initiative and fighting on your own terms, you can rely on your infantry to outfight there's. CSA artillery isn't too bad either if you're able to get it close enough. However, I am playing as the USA against a friend and it's fun to have such a large army with good arty.

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Gen Treuting

I enjoy yanks now in a busy life. Playing yanks with bigger guns and bigger fault tolerance in tactics and strategy feels more easy and more comfortable. Usually, they don't need wonderful (risky) foresight to win like rebs and just need to force rebs to accept an open "fair" combat in their front. As Sun Tzu said, "In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, while indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory."(凡戰者，以正合，以奇勝). Yanks usually enjoy the joy of the direct method while rebs enjoy the joy of the indirect method.

But I am always more interested in rebs. I am always more interested in the loser sides of a war. Like, French in Napoleonic War and Franco-Prussian War, or Germany in WWII. I can't stop to think if their failures in a war or a battle are inevitable, and if all of what happened in history is what most likely happened in history. Wargames provide and extend such fun of thinking what-ifs!

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BG Ashdoll Ren
3rd Division
II Corps / Army of Northern Virginia

"Days and weeks of sheer boredom, interspersed with times of stark terror!"

I'm a Southerner, the great great grandson of an Alabama private who lost his leg at Gettysburg. I've done a lot of genealogical research and have identified some thirty-odd men who fought for the Confederacy in my woodpile, in regiments from Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. (My profile pic of one of them, Lt Francis Bradley of the 16th Georgia who died in Jan 1863; his brother was killed at Gettysburg). My people got here in the 1660s to Virginia and gradually spread south and west; I've never identified a single northerner in my woodpile. And I was brought up in one of those old Southern families where we told stories about what our people did in the war, about Sherman's march (my grandfather was from Ackworth and grandma from Statesboro, both torched by Sherman's troops) and didn't celebrate July 4 or pay much attention to Federal holidays. It would quite simply not be possible for me to play as the U.S. with any sort of good conscience; I've played a maneuver game as the Yanks and must confess a perverse pleasure when those units were cut to shreds by the Confederates. I sent General Banks way out in front of his troops for the pure pleasure of seeing him taken out.

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Capt James Holloway
21st Louisiana Brigade: Red River Lincoln Deep-Fryers
Army of Northern Virginia
Confederate States of America