"Joh Hill's New ACW Rules are Here!" Topic

See the following link from Amazon:

link

I think their possible development has been reported on via another thread, but out of the blue, here they are, by Osprey no less.

I'm shocked. I thought John's age and health indicated retirement from the hobby. And then, with no advertising or anything, this was a big surprise, to me at least.

Regards, Colonel Bill

Followup – to be released 20 May 2014???

Regards, Colonel Bill

…to be released 20 May 2014???

The world could end by then.

better not, that's my birthday.

Sounds great. Would sound even better if it said available 26 September 2013.

No offence but who the 'Sam Hill' is John Hill?

He wrote Squad Leader and Johnny Reb. link

He is also a gentleman and good guy, from the time I got to see him during Johnny Con in 2012.

Received the usual monthly email update from Osprey last week and they listed a 'new' set of ACW rules in the pipeline for '14 but no mention of John Hill as the author! Did not know he had health issues. Interesting.

Release date just before Johnny Con V, 6-8 June 2014. Would be nice if they could meet that May release date.

rmcaras,
I was gonna say that too!

Very interesting. 6mm ACW – perhaps with Bruce Weigle style terrain…

If these are what he showed at JohnnyCon a few years back they are Johnny Reb with a new ground scale and all regiments are 2 bases. But otherwise uses the same basic bones as JRIII.

He wrote Squad Leader and Johnny Reb

Ah Right! Suspected the latter, never would have guessed the former.

Thanks

If these are what he showed at JohnnyCon a few years back they are Johnny Reb with a new ground scale and all regiments are 2 bases. But otherwise uses the same basic bones as JRIII.

"Across A Deadly Field uses a scale that can be described as a "telescoped" version of Johnny Reb III – with twice the ground and figure scale, and has individual regiments and batteries as the base element of maneuver:"

- Ground Scale: 1" = 100 yards
- Time Scale: 1 turn = 20 minutes
- Regiment Scale: Two stands/bases per regiment
- Figure Scale: 1 figure = 60 men
- Gun scale: 1 gun = 1 battery

"The big advantage of this approach is that the gamer is not required to rebase any figures from his existing Johnny Reb army, allowing for much easier conversion from the older game to Across A Deadly Field. The existing four-stand regiments become two different regiments of two stands each – his miniature army has, for gaming purposes, just doubled. This will hold an appeal for many gamers – they can either recreate smaller engagements in half the space that would once have been needed, or can game huge battles on a table that would once have only accommodated a small skirmish. In essence, Across A Deadly Field offers two games with a single, consistent basing system."

Looks as if you are right – Don't know if that's good or bad never having played JR. I guess it depends on the mechanics to see if they give a higher level feel rather than just messing with ground scales.

It would appear to me that you would be stuck with using JR basing, or the Regiment/Battery relationship would be thrown off.

Which is a shame, as I might have been interested in an big battle set of rules.

If you want big-battle rules, mine are free. They can be found in various formats here:
link

I'm a huge "Johnny Reb" fan and I'm looking forward to these rules! It might even convince me to paint 6mm or 10mm figures specifically for ADF. I emailed John recently and I'm happy to report he is alive and kicking! Cory

Good news.

Same problem with JR3. How do you play with regiments larger than 480 men (2 stands with 4 figures each)? And no, I do not want to split larger regiments into 2 battalions. More figures per stand? More stands?

If the point of using miniatures versus a board game is to experience and enjoy the grand historical sweep of the era through the use of actual painted figures, how does having regiments of two stands (where do you put the flag) help that goal in any way? It won't look correct scale wise or historically.

I too am curious about Cleburne1863's question.

If 1 figure = 60 men, then how is a regiment of more than 480 men modeled?
More than four figures per base?
Or, more than two bases per regiment for these "large" regiments?

Not being critical – just curious.

My view would be that if you get down to two bases per regiment you may just as well go for one base of the same frontage!

Although two bases would at least allow some visual representation of a column or skirmish line by the placement of the second stand.

OK, column I can see but how would you show a skirmish line?

I recently talk to John Hill and here are a few new updates about Across A Deadly Field:

link

From the interview above:

I was worried that since the scale was bumped up for larger battles, the game might be simply a simplified version of JR III and that much of the detail might be "dumbed down". Well, John assured me that would not be the case as since JR was first published, miniature gamers have become much more sophisticated and in John's opinion they can easily handle a lot more detail and complexity than twenty years ago when Johnny Reb was first published by Adventure Games.

That certainly has not been my experience!

Nor mine.

Not mine either.

In my opinion, rules should have a basic version, to allow the players to learn the key concepts, then add detail/complexity in advanced and/or optional rules.

Agreed.

Hmm … you mean a programmed approach to the rules … like in Squad Leader! You would think Mr. Hill would be familiar with the model. ;)

If Mr.Hill was also the author of Advanced Squad Leader I think he should know about complexity – he invented it!

Come to think of it that probably holds good even if he just wrote Squad Leader as that came first!

I think John did the first three Squad Leader, nothing with ASL.

Correct.

Thanks for the update on my gaming Who's Who.

ASL must be one of the most complex rulesets of all time!

John Hill also produced his own board games under the name Conflict Games, IIRC, including 'Bar Lev,' an excellent game of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Bar Lev is one of my favorite games! I don't want to start an 'ASL thread' but when you consider it only took a few pages (original SL) to get into playing the first scenario via Programmed Instruction-the rules design was masterful imo.

Regards,

J. P. Kelly

I would recommend game designers take a look at the Bar Lev rules. I think that was one of the best rules for getting into play quickly. "You can do this during this sequence and this is how. Now start the next sequence." or thereabouts. I would not want to play the game under a black light but that is another story. John's Kasserine Pass is one of the best beer and pretzel games.

well, i've been playing johnny reb scinse jr1,and i'm looking forword o this new set of rules.

Here's a link to some ADF design notes from John Hill:

link

Thanks for the design notes. Very helpful!

Yeah, three x four figure stands – that I could do, might fit with one gun of my artillery stands on frontage too.

However, the real info on the link above and links from it plus elsewhere are pretty much just guff at this stage. Need to wait until next year before getting 'excited'.