"What is a good simple set of rules for 10mm civil war?" Topic

I would like to start a civil war army in 10mm. Using the GHQ minatures most likely. What is a good set of rules that can be used for 10mm. I don't want to do a lot of math or converting from another scale. Are there any good, fun to play rules out there suitable for this scale? Examples of various army levels would be ok, regimental, brigade, corps, and skirmish. What are my options? I haven't played any rules other than Johnny Reb 2, many years ago. I like that set, but am looking at other ideas as well. So I guess you could say, i'm going to need a set a novice like me could learn as well. Thanks.

Black Powder works well for ACW and for 10mm without any conversions.

Gettysburg Soldiers is a great simple rules set.

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First off, take a read though the summaries at my Rules Directory project – this should help:

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Polemos might suit you. Element based so works with any scale figure. The same basing lets you play tactical and grand tactical and the rule book has both version in it.

Also, be sure to check out the 19th century section. You might like Volley & Bayonet (big 3" sqaure bases, not fiddly formations).

They Couldn't Hit An Elephant would also be worth a look.

Fire and Fury using 10mm figures on the stands. It's a stand-based system with the brigade as the basic maneuver unit. Easy to play large scale battles.

I don't have a rules recommendation, because I made up my own for a large army to play quick and fun! I love GHQ figures. They are the best, but not for wargaming. That's just my opinion. The rifles and bayonets bend so easily when handling them because they are very thin and so close to actual scale! Maybe some people have a solution for that, but I think it's pretty difficult to not bend them and then they look silly, all curved in different directions.

Great rules directory, Mark!

I'm painting up 10mm ACW minis as well (I'm going with Old Glory). Fun stuff.

I'm also collecting 10mm ACW (primarily GHQ with some Starfort), and the two rules I have eventually focused on are:

1) Rank & File, by Crusader Games. This is a straightforward horse & musket period set with a great ACW supplement that provides both a period overview and nice amendments specific to the ACW. Although familiar and simple to get your head around, the mechanisms work very well and the scale is also adjustable, so you can fight both small regimental-scale battles and large brigade-scale battles. They are available as inexpensive pdf's as well as print.

2) Fire & Fury Regimental. This new set is a bit more complex than R&F, but not overly so by any means, and is certainly well focused on regimental scale ACW games. There is also discussion about how to use the same game engine to run brigade-scale games, thus updating the original F&F game with the improvements of this version. Like the original F&F, its heart is the combined activation/morale system and the streamlined combat system.

After much internal debate (also considering Peter Pig's "Civil War Battles" which has a great pre-battle sequence), I will probably go with F&F over R&F for the ACW, but either would certainly work well, and both have forums you can ask more pointed questions on.

Cheers,

Christopher

PS – although Black Powder will be recommended as a currently popular catch-all, I have to say I didn't find it particularly convincing for the ACW, and you have to do quite a bit more work yourself to nudge and define the various special rules for the period.

Fire&Fury with 10mm figures on 15mm bases is my choice.

Fire & Fury or Volley & Bayonet.

They both use based elements so just put more figures on them.

Fire & Fury

The old SPI board game rules work very – very well for regimental games, we have tweeked them to fit figures and not counters, they have the best feel about them we have played so far. The other best thing is they do not have lots of pretty pictures just to bulk them out.

Another vote for Fire & Fury!!

We use Fire and Fury

We also use Fire & Fury – the conventional set plus the regimental set, depending on how large a game you want to play

Volley & Bayonet and Polemos are good as well if you want to fight a really, really big battle

I have become a recent fan of They Couldn't Hit an Elephant. If I had to start over w/ ACW I would replace my 15mm with 10mm or 6mm but keep the same base size to get a more troop heavy look.

I used to be a diehard Johnny Reb II player, even rejecting Johnny Reb III to go back, but the simple systems, nice command control aspect, and sublime nature of the "decisive combat" concept have won me over to TCHAE.

Plus I feel like it gives me a better feel of having individual regiments, while still being able to command a division in one session.

You can easily use any set of rules for any scale miniature, so the suggestions will be for the posters' favorite set of rules regardless of scale.

I play 10mm ACW using GHQ figures with Black Powder. Here is my review of the rules, which several people have found helpful:
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Each unit would represent a regiment, and you can play division sized forces pretty easily. With 10mm miniatures, I just change all measurements from inches to cm and it works great for a normal sized table.

And if you're interested, I have a lot of pictures of my 10mm GHQ Civil War miniatures up in the Civil War section of my blog, including some step by step guides on how I painted them:
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A Union So Tested is written for 10mm. It is the ACW version of Look Sarge No Charts and has been fun so far.

Field of Battle
A Union So Tested

Thanks all, I do have Regimental Fire and Fury, and Black Powder. The suggestions on using 15mm bases for Black Powder may work. The Too Fat Lardies title,Couldn't Hit an Elephnant, I have been considering for awhile. I have their WW2 rules(I ain't been shot mum), and their Vietnam rules. I like their rules. Fire and Fury is a set of rules i've been looking at since they first appeared. Just never bought them. Johnny Reb 2, was my favorite at the time. Gettysburg Soldiers is another interesting looking set. I have the original Volley and Bayonet. Is the new release better than the original ? Unfortunatly I did not get the Civil War supplement for the original rules. I may end up getting several of these rules suggersted, and reading through them to see what suits me best. Polemos is available as a pdf from Wargames vault at a nice price. Fire and Fury are looking like a must. So many people on the boards have endorsed them. Thanks for all your input everyone, if anyone else has other suggestions, id like to hear them. If my question on original Volley and Bayonet could be answered by someone i'd be appreciative. Is version 1 of Volley and Bayonet still playable?

Joe, you are welcome to browse our Forum with FAQs about the Gettysburg Soldiers ACW Rules.

forum.gettysburgsoldiers.com

Larry GettysburgSoldiers.com

My free Easy Civil War Rules should work with 10mm. Get 'em here in your choice of format:

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Fire amd Fury..

The old SPI board game rules work very

I agree with this, i have converted several SPI boardgames into a hexless figure game format and it works very well. I have converted the modern battles quad and the napoleon at war quad and am in the process of converted Blue & Grey quad into a hexless figure game format. In my case i am using 10mm as well. I am trying to work out the best basing, but using SPI boardgames any basing system can work.