OSL2000 | 17 Dec 2013 7:28 p.m. PST |
I am looking to game a ACW campaign, but really have no idea how to start. Is there any resources on the internet or products that are worthy enough to purchase that can assist me in this matter? Thanks |
Extra Crispy | 17 Dec 2013 7:42 p.m. PST |
I have a friend who is thinking of launching his campaign as a product. Strategic moves are online, battles on the table top. We're just wrapping up a double one now – Peninsula and Shenandoah theaters. A lot of people use a board game for the strategic and then fight out battles with figures. |
vtsaogames | 17 Dec 2013 8:56 p.m. PST |
Complex: get a copy of the board game "A house divided" and game large contacts on the table. Simple: look up the free WWII desert war game named "KISS Rommel". Copy the card system (and anything else you wish) and use it with the miniatures rules of your choice. |
The Traveling Turk | 17 Dec 2013 9:04 p.m. PST |
Longstreet is of course built around a campaign system: link |
Rich Bliss | 17 Dec 2013 9:22 p.m. PST |
Do you want the whole war or just a single theatre/ year? What TableTop rules are you using for battles? |
T Callahan | 17 Dec 2013 9:51 p.m. PST |
Here is a link to a Civil war Campaign system. It was used for a ACW east campaign but you can adapt it to the west with maps etc Terry link |
OSL2000 | 17 Dec 2013 11:56 p.m. PST |
Rich looking for smaller campaign not whole war. Using house rules |
CATenWolde | 18 Dec 2013 3:15 a.m. PST |
The Columbia Games "block" boardgames make good campaigns, and their Valley Campaign game is available for free download from their website. |
bgbboogie | 18 Dec 2013 4:29 a.m. PST |
I have every thing in place if your that interested
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drummer | 18 Dec 2013 5:54 a.m. PST |
The best campaigns I ever participated in were run by a friend who was well versed in the period (he actually owns a complete set of the Official Record). This friend simply assigned each player a role, told them what they knew about their situation, challenges, and resources, and then asked them what they did. So it pretty much ran as a role-playing game, except that he carefully kept players from learning what the others heard or said. We always had great games. If you go in this direction, select your players carefully. You don't want "win-at-any-price" types in key roles. Make sure everyone understands this is for fun. Naturally learn all you can about your subject. Experience in the "office-politics" of an army/government/big-business is very helpful in making judgments. Then sit down and write a plot and develop characters, as if you were writing a novel. Assign players to roles, give them their motivation, and then ask them, "what do you do?" To get them into their roles, as much as possible, make them receive and send orders in the style of the period and describe things as they would see it. "You see dust clouds approaching from the road to the north." Here are some resources to help: the atlas of the official records: link and the OR text (great for learning the style of orders): link |
DukeWacoan | 18 Dec 2013 2:45 p.m. PST |
I ran a few campaigns back in the old GEnie message board days. Lots of fun. I agree that the role playing aspect is one players seem to enjoy. I would suggest a few basics. 1. Pull a map from the Official Record Atlas of the campaign area and send to each player. That way they are forced to use period maps for their planning. Thus they are always a little unclear about things. They don't know that their forces are in an exact location (or hex), but rather "5 miles north of New Market on the Valley Turnpike". 2. Don't allow players to directly communicate unless actually together (and then still require they copy you). Otherwise players email you letters and orders and you transmit on to the recipient after whatever delay is appropriate. Requiring things be in written orders and encouraging players to write them in period style is also something I believe they enjoy. 3. Use about 3-5 turns per day, say Dawn, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night 4. As the person running the game, get something like the Campaigns of Robert E Lee, Look Away boardgame maps, or the Great Campaigns of the Civil War boardgame maps, and use those to keep actual troop positions on Vassal or Cyberboard. There used to be some miniatures campaign system that would run combats for you for engagements that you were not going to do tabletop, including straggler recover, etc. Can't remember the name. But that is what I used for my GEnie campaign. 2. |
drummer | 18 Dec 2013 7:05 p.m. PST |
I almost forgot. Always make the campaign rules very simple with absolutely minimal book keeping. |
OSL2000 | 18 Dec 2013 9:25 p.m. PST |
Wow thanks for all the info. I will read and examine all. |
DukeWacoan | 19 Dec 2013 9:54 a.m. PST |
Simple rules are indeed important, however, if you GM it, then there are no rules for the players. You make them issue orders and you run it all. You calculate the movement rates, etc. So the players have nothing to worry about but being in the role of a commander. If you are using a Vassal module, then a lot of the record keeping is kept there, at least in terms of unit placements, etc. You even use the boardgame rules and just not tell the players, leaving them only experiencing it from a historical viewpoint. |
Cleburne1863 | 19 Dec 2013 7:30 p.m. PST |
My favorite campaign also involved a moderator/referee who handled all the movement behind the scenes. Us players just played the part of generals and issued orders. When there was contact, we took it to the table. Lots of fun. I've also played point-to-point campaigns. The old Shenandoah Maps come to mind, I don't remember the publisher. I enjoyed those too, but not as much as the refereed ones. |
Bandit | 20 Dec 2013 10:14 a.m. PST |
If you can find a copy of the Shenandoah Campaign System it works very well. Simple, low overhead and bookkeeping, doesn't require an umpire. I can share more about it if you're curious say so. Cheers, The Bandit |
donlowry | 20 Dec 2013 10:23 a.m. PST |
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Bandit | 20 Dec 2013 12:10 p.m. PST |
donlowry, There is no line-of-communication or supply rules. Movement elements on the map can't be smaller than a brigade, a good road dot can hold a division (regardless of the number of brigades in it) or four brigades, a poor road dot can only hold a single brigade. Movement is a number of road dots per turn, a turn is 2 hours. Options for activities are: fortify rest move fight Forced marches come in two varieties, 1) go faster, your troops drop a quality level, 2) go longer, you risk losing 20% in stragglers. Both can be "fixed" by resting. Units can only do "work" for 6 turns max per day. 4 is normal, 5-6 result in a quality drop due to fatigue. Each side gets one patrol per brigade, patrols have no combat value, they are just used for scouting. If two opposing patrols contact a skirmish is resolved by a 1D6 contest. If a patrol contacts enemy formed troops then 1D6 tells you how much intel you get about the troops. When formed troops contact each other it is resolved with a tabletop battle using your rules of choice, the loser retreats one dot. The stacking limits noted above do not impact battles, you can always move more reinforcements in and from any given direction where there is a road, thus flanks are only secure if you secure them. Tabletop battle losses are rolled off, 25-50% of losses remain, the rest return to the ranks. There are bridges which can be destroyed or rebuilt, takes a turn to destroy one, two turns to rebuild one. Victory conditions are taking specified towns and points are awarded for each day they are held. The campaign duration is 30 days. My group has been running this campaign since about October. My wife commands the Confederate Army and one of the other guys the Union Army. We've got three Confederate Divisions plus some cavalry on the map fighting parts of three Union Corps plus some cavalry. I'm the umpire and the two commanders send turns to me via e-mail, I verify the movements and then send them back an updating with any intel they received. This is a modification of the system as it is designed not to use an umpire. As designed both sides sit in a room, each with a map the other can not see. The location of patrols is announced to the other side as are troops that are traveling unscreened by friendly patrols (though no details about them). Playing it in-person as it was planned plays very fast, you can play through days of map movement in a short evening. Playing by e-mail with an umpire as we are is slow because it adds a lot of overhead but it is more convenient for our group thus far. The expectation of the rules is that the two sides start within 10% of each other and it provides a system for random force creation. We skipped the random creation and I just wrote two OBs then checked to make sure neither had more than 10% on the other, mixed up the weapons and troop qualities some and went with it. We use Johnny Reb 2 for the tabletop but honestly you could use anything you wanted, heck you could resolve tabletop battles with a die roll contest if you liked. Originally the set had two maps, one for the VA peninsula and one for the Shenandoah Valley, very few rules are specific to those locations though and if someone was industrious enough to make another map they could easily play other campaigns with it. What else would be helpful for me to tell you? Cheers, The Bandit |
donlowry | 21 Dec 2013 12:04 p.m. PST |
Thanks! I'll have to study those for a while. |
OSL2000 | 22 Dec 2013 3:19 a.m. PST |
Bandit thanks for that info. That should help me! |
Old Pete | 30 Dec 2013 5:50 a.m. PST |
Zouave magazine produced the Shenandoah campaign system in the early 1990s with maps for the Virginia peninsula and one for the Shenandoah Valley. As Bandit explained the system works very well, we skipped the random creation of forces and I just wrote the Order of Battle for each side using 'Battles and Leaders'. We re-fought the Peninsula campaign of 1862 using Fire and Fury it was excellent fun with the Union coming out on top! OSL2000 I do not know if it is still under copyright but I can look up in my loft and try to find the stuff which I could send to you? |
madcam2us | 01 Jan 2014 7:13 a.m. PST |
I have those from the Zouave and will echo others, its a real clean system with minimal overhead. Now that being said, I lent my maps to a mate who has promptly lost them! Does anyone have a pdf of them? Madcam. |
Bandit | 01 Jan 2014 9:57 a.m. PST |
Madcam – drop me a line via public@falcontechnologies.org Cheers, The Bandit |
madcam2us | 04 Jan 2014 5:11 a.m. PST |
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Mac1638 | 06 Jan 2014 3:31 a.m. PST |
There is a nice little Shenandoah Valley Campaign (1862)using Fire and Fury in Battlefields (volume 1, Issue 4,)April 1996. We find this as a good little starter campaign and good fun! |
TheDesertfox | 23 Mar 2014 8:59 a.m. PST |
Hi, I am also looking for this campaign game from the Zouave magazine! Any help is very welcome! Thanx |