American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

I agree with the statement:



I also want to add that the primary purpose of this club is to encourage and promote the playing of the Civil War games our club supports.

While we need some rules and methods for maintaining membership rolls, they should be minimal and not something that discourages membership. Anything that makes it more difficult for people to join and stay in the club is detrimental to our purpose as a club.

We are a dying club, mostly due to death.
Don't make rules just to make rules. Our purpose isn't bookkeeping.

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General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)

Hi Kennon,

I agree, sir. Unfortunately we are a shrinking club. Historically one of our chief advantages to gain and maintain members was that there was no other place which offered a free and available Opponent Finder to Civil War gamers. Very long ago the Club admin made the Opponent Finder a private area reserved for those who join the ACWGC. It was the incentive for people to join - the chance to join a club with an active Opponent Finder.

In the last five years we have seen WDS launch an open Opponent Finder on their forums which allows gamers to find Civil War opponents without joining the ACWGC. This has undoubtedly damaged our brand and has siphoned off some people who might have otherwise joined to find opponents. Facebook Opponent Finder groups have, likewise, cut into our numbers as people can now find opponents easily without ever joining the ACWGC.

Our calling card these days is that we offer a fun atmosphere with some roleplaying and advanced gameplay opportunities and intel for those who really want to get into the weeds with the Civil War series. Whether this will be enough to sustain us long term is debatable. We are also able to offer tournaments and MP games to people which are pretty unique to the ACWGC.

Bookkeeping is always a necessary part of the Club - and one that probably gets a bad reputation. But it is crucial as we all know. That being said, I think we maintain our friendly club atmosphere and I believe those in admin know everyone in their units by name and rank. I, for one, literally can sit down and write out the names of every member (or probably 90% or more) just from memory. I know others in admin can do the same because we interact with so many people on a regular basis. This is another thing which an open Opponent Finder on WDS or Facebook can’t offer - the personal touch. I get that bookkeeping sounds cold and aloof but really it helps us in admin to maintain our personal connections to the membership by keeping things organized and maintained.

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

Not being as conversant with Club Rules as I was at one time, I'm just a bit confused about the difference between "Inactive" and "Discharged".

The way I understand it, even officers in the Reserve Corps (who aren't actively gaming) are expected to muster. Is that correct? And if ANY officer (whether "Active" or "Inactive") fails to muster they can be Discharged.

Is that a correct synopsis?

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General 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

Yes, one of the reasons.

Your reference earlier to the NWC led me to see that they recognise that "members have a wide variety of interests ... Active membership can be achieved in a variety of ways". In the ACWGC, we do this via Rule 1.1.2 imposing "no minimum gaming frequency".

The ACWGC should remain true to its "no minimum gaming frequency" Rule.
The proposed rule 2.5.5 it far too expansive because as I said before it provides "GinC's with dictatorial powers to create entirely new types of Members, or non-Members, at a whim without reference to the Membership or Cabinet". Who is to say what new type of Member, or non-Member may be invented in the future? The sky is the limit with that rule.

People should be encouraged to join and remain in the Club for however they gain enjoyment from it. If they muster regularly, that should be enough to demonstrate that they desire to remain with us. I welcome them for their earlier contributions to the Club and their continued commitment to it.

I'm also annoyed at the regular changes to the Rules. In the earlier days of the Club, it seems from a search of the Forums that the Rules were fine. However, in recent years they appear to be under constant change [March 2019, December 2020, March 2022, May 2022, March 2023, and now June 2025]. The only Rule change I could find prior to 2019 was in September 2008.

Many of the recent Rule Changes were for similar reasons:
2019 - due to "a decline in Membership";
2020 - a retrospective rule change to permanently exclude some Members;
2022 March - Various changes including those to support two new Cabinet Protocols (1 - Personal Actions, 2 - Cheating - both have since been removed from general view);
2022 May - Reduction in Cabinet size (due to declining membership);
2023 - Massive changes too numerous to list here (the open discussion on those changes has been removed from general view);
2025 - Said to be "mainly administrative" yet it was mentioned that "the Club is smaller than it has ever been". One senior Member posted that the changes "go hand-in-hand with the club's new direction" yet there is no explanation to Members what is this "new direction".

As I have said in private discourse to Cabinet and Cabinet Members, and also publicly, the main issue is what it has been for some time, Recruitment and Retention. Or as the then President mentioned in 2019 "a decline in Membership". As another Senior Member said in protest to the Rule changes in 2020 "We are a welcoming ACW Gaming Club that is now 23+ years old". That is how it should be.

Please do not change Rules to restrict participation, reclassify Members or open up an entirely new avenue to reclassify Members or create non-Members. Be a "welcoming ACW Gaming Club", attract new Members and take care of our existing ones.
Recruitment (seek and welcome new Members) and Retention (take care of those that remain with us).

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

Yes. Members in the Reserve Corps are required to muster. Indeed, those that I reviewed regularly mustered and desired to remain in the Club prior to their transfer to the Reserve Corps.

There are many senior Members in the Reserve Corps (Major-Generals, Lieutenant-Generals and even 8 full Generals [including a former CSA GinC]).

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

Every member in the Club is listed in the Records as one of two things - Active or Inactive. This goes back to the creation of the old DOR in 2001.

A member who is Active is someone who is currently in the Club and mustering. This includes all members whether they are new or old or in the Reserves or not. All are "Active."

A member who is Inactive is anyone who is no longer a member for any reason. This can include death, resignation, or discharge. Anyone who is no longer on the army rolls is "Inactive."

These two terms are meant to be very black and white in their simplicity - you are either an Active Member or an Inactive Member. I didn't create the terms but they have been in use for about 25 years now.

I have no desire to add various new terms to the Records to differentiate varying degrees of membership. And no such rule has been sought nor has anything like that been proposed. We are keeping it as simple as it has been since 2001 - a person is either Active or Inactive. If you want to read that as "Present" or "Absent" you can do so. Why the exact words Active and Inactive were chosen is something that happened long before I was a member.

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

<Salute> Sir,

A most excellent response I suggest.

Your points are well made and very valid. In particular your points regarding tournaments, MP's and the personal connection within the Club are noteworthy.

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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.