"The Battles That Every ACW Gamer Needs to Play?" Topic

What are the "top 10" battles of the Civil War, for gamers?

Gettysburg and then the others. :)

Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Brandy Station loads of cav want to play that one bad, Groveton, 7 Pines, maybe Fredericksburg just for the number of troops on the table(wouldn't want to be the yanks),Chickamauga and I would like to take a shot at the Wilderness playing a game with those numbers on a heavily wooded table would be a nightmare in a good way. To be honest I just enjoy pick up games for farmer Joe's farm. That would be my ten.

Gettysburg of course. The others can be debated, but I think 1st Bull Run should be somewhere in the top 10.

Assuming you want a decent battle that could go either way, avoid Fredericksburg and other one-sided massacres.

My list includes, in no particular order

First Bull Run
Gettysburg
Shiloh
Chickamauga
Antietam
Seven Pines
Chancellorsville
Chattanooga
Hampton Roads (for a taste of salt water.)
Brandy Station (for the cavalry)
The Wilderness 1864
Cedar Creek

The ACW presents a number of interesting campaigns that historically produced the battles named above. By running a campaign you can produce new clashes that will be more challenging than refighting known actions.

It's also worth looking at the smaller and less well-known western theatres, which offer some good fights for small numbers of troops.

Oh, yeah. Chancellorsville. You be the yanks….

Shiloh (Come on, Tyler, Lexington and A.S. Johnston)
Fredricksburg (It can be won easily by the Feds on thier left)
Murfreesboro/Stones River
Perryville
Vicksburg
Chattanooga
Franklin (I have played many times and CS wins often)
Sharpsburg/Antietam
Second Manassas (Great Fun)
Cedar Creek

Gettysburg
Antietam / Sharpsburg
Chickamauga
Bull Run / Manassas (1st)
Shiloh
Chancellorsville
you pick the rest…

Dave

The most fun games I've had have been:

Gettysburg
Stone's River
Champion's Hill
Antietam
Chickamagua
Shiloh
Fort Donelson
Perryville
Seven Pines
Malvern Hill

Brice's Crossroads.

Glorietta Pass, just to play in a different scale.

Malvern Hill, Spotsylvania Court House…..Oh yeah!

Here are my top 10 and the reasons why:

Gettysburg (especially McPhersons Ridge and Wheatfield)
Stones River (both sides have the same battle plan)
Iuka (nice smaller action in the west)
Shiloh (can Grant hold on for one day?)
Groveton (Iron Brigade comes of age)
Chickamauga (you get to use Wilder's Lightning Brigade)
Champion's Hill (sealed the fate of Vicksburg and the west)
Antietem (break it down into a number of smaller scenarios)
2nd Bull Run (it's fun for the USA until Longstreet arrives)
Wilderness (the last battle before trench warfare)

in no particular order after Gettysburg and Stones River.

It seems to me Chencellorsville would be difficult to game because the essence of the battle is hidden movement and even with some game mechanics that allow for it, the Union side will not be adequately handicapped. I have alwasy felt that one of the key factors was that at a critical moment, Gen'l Hooker got himself 'blowed up'.

I remember playing the Avalon Hill board game version years ago and it was very hard to win as the Confederates.

"Groveton (Iron Brigade comes of age)"

Isn't this sometimes referred to as "Brawner's Farm"?

Or am I completely wrong?

Many ACW battles (and many other historical battles) depend on hidden movement. Obviously armies don't just pop into existence in the start positions, they have to move there.

It is one of the key problems of wargaming, if you care about such things.

This is why I don't believe in replaying historical battles.

Gallowglass

You are correct sir! About Brawners Farm, that is . Not about being completely wrong!!

Grand. That's one I've wanted to game for a while.