American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

A recent player made a statement " these games are completley non-historical" I am taking him out of context here as he was referring to tactics but I was wondering- Do your battles turn out looking like the actual battles? I have most of my experoence on the fields and hills of Gettysburg and I would say 80% indeed come out looking very similer to the actual battle. The Rebs may take and hold Cemetery Ridge, the Yanks may hold the town and other variations but still the basic battle strategies seem almost always to hold true to History. What is the experience of other players in BGG or HPS GB or all the other battles-do they indeed "feel" like the actual battles? After they are over, do you feel like you indeed fought the paricular battle?

Field Lt. Tony Best

An interesting question.

For the most part, especially in the BG system, the games are mostly played historical, as they are very limited in scope. In BG, you are almost forced to adhere to a (close to) historical track, as the scope of the games are limited to that aspect. Sure, you can do some odd things with Longstreet or Doubleday (in BGG), but the main forces are pretty well structured.

In the HPS system, like Corinth and Franklin, again you are mostly set to play a historical slant. However, in Campaign Gettysburg and Peninsula, the maps are so large, that you can take any course you want to. You can play historically or you can take a completely ahistorical course. I find that aspect very appealing, although I have nothing against playing a stricly (as much as you can) historical game.

As for a particular game giving you the "feel" of battle, I have to say that they do. They don't have the "feel", though, of real, actual battles, as I do not think that "feeling" can be portrayed adequately in ANY game system. HPS comes the closest to doing that portrayal, in general, IMO.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

ACWGC Cabinet member
</b></font id="gold">

I think that General Bowman on another thread put it in succinct terms.

"The simple truth is that we are playing a game that represents an event – not the event itself. Some compensation for the “god modeâ€

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Pierre D</i>
<br />I think that General Bowman on another thread put it in succinct terms.

"The simple truth is that we are playing a game that represents an event – not the event itself. Some compensation for the “god modeâ€