Drferling | 12 Feb 2014 6:13 a.m. PST |
Solo wargamer and painter finishing up a largish 28mm Napoleonics project. I am looking for the next project and wanted some input from folks who game ACW and/ or AWI. Finishing Napoleonics, I want to do a project closer to home. This would be 28mm scale. Game scale would be inline with Longstreet, British grenadier, or field of battle. Given the option to collect, paint , and game one, which would it be and why? How do these periods differ in terms of gaming potential and 'flavor'? |
Texas Jack | 12 Feb 2014 6:22 a.m. PST |
John the OFM will be along soon to say I am full of , but for me I would choose ACW. My reasons for gaming it are mostly personal- my family had a rich history in that war, and my grandmother was the last child of a Civil War veteran, so I grew up with it. And then it seems to me that you have a much wider variety of actions to choose from as well. Also, as someone who hates to paint horses, you can have a perfectly respectable army with only a small amount of cavalry Of course, you may get tired of painting blue and gray all the time, even with some zouaves mixed in. I think both eras are well-served with figures at your scale, so that shouldn´t be a problem. |
Drferling | 12 Feb 2014 6:26 a.m. PST |
@texas jack. Total agree re: figure potential. The perry plastic ACW options make building a core relatively in expensively look quite good. |
John the OFM | 12 Feb 2014 6:57 a.m. PST |
John the OFM will be along soon to say I am full of Bleeped text, I would? News to me! If you have to ask, you are not really interested in either. For me, I like the fact that you can game in 1:20 scale and do actual battles on a 9'x5' table. |
Texas Jack | 12 Feb 2014 6:58 a.m. PST |
John, sometimes you disappoint me in your OFMness. |
Extra Crispy | 12 Feb 2014 7:00 a.m. PST |
Te ACW obviously has a much larger pool of major battles to pull from. The AWI has plenty of smaller actions, but if you want grand battles, ACW. AWI wins for uniform variety, hands down. And, as OFM says, even at 1:20 the armies will be pretty small so you get to gaming sooner. |
Ochoin One | 12 Feb 2014 7:01 a.m. PST |
Easier to paint ACW: does that impact on your decision? |
Frederick | 12 Feb 2014 7:07 a.m. PST |
I would go with ACW – for many of the same reasons Texas Jack has stated; while AWI has lots of good figs I like the scale of the ACW; some of the first figs I ever had were Union infantry in their blue coats and forage caps, and they just stuck with me – plus my great grand-pa was in it |
StCrispin | 12 Feb 2014 7:30 a.m. PST |
whatever captures your fancy. for me, its AWI all the way. I love the look of disciplined redcoats, ragged militia, fierce native warriors, hessians, riflemen and all the other cool things about the period. I live in the heart of ACW territory, right in old Richmond Va, but it just doesn't grab me. maybe I'm just bombarded with it. |
Who asked this joker | 12 Feb 2014 7:36 a.m. PST |
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Texas Jack | 12 Feb 2014 7:36 a.m. PST |
Joker has the best answer! |
79thPA | 12 Feb 2014 7:43 a.m. PST |
If you are going 1:20 in 25mm, AWI might be the way to go since the battles were much smaller. That said, you can do some good games with a division of ACW troops per side. With AWI you get a variety of troop types such as grenadiers, lights, line, militia, loyalists, Indians and "Germans," all in more colorful uniforms than their ACW brothers. It really depends which period captures your imagination more, how many figs you want to buy and paint, and what size battles you want to fight. Personally, I have both periods in multiple scales. |
John the OFM | 12 Feb 2014 8:06 a.m. PST |
As for painting uniforms, I will put up the Volunteers of Ireland, Fusilier regiment alt von Lossberg, Lee's (no, not THAT Lee
) Legion or Hamilton's Artillery against the Stonewall Brigade any day. |
Dan 055 | 12 Feb 2014 8:07 a.m. PST |
If you want "big" I'd go with ACW, if you want colour and variety I'd go with AWI. Saying that, AWI may seem/look a lot like napoleonics. |
cavcrazy | 12 Feb 2014 9:22 a.m. PST |
AWI, it has everything you could want, Nice uniforms for the British and Continentals, ragged militia, painted Indians,Loyalists,Hessians,and French. The war was fought from North to South, and you don't need huge armies like you would in Napoleonics. |
WarWizard | 12 Feb 2014 9:47 a.m. PST |
I prefer ACW myself, but probably much more variety with troop type, size of battles, etc in AWI. I still would like to do a small Battle of Trenton skirmish in AWI. |
Doug MSC | 12 Feb 2014 10:21 a.m. PST |
Don't forget the Spanish in the AWI. Often overlooked but they fought the British in LA, MS, AL, FL and the Islands. |
Iowa Grognard | 12 Feb 2014 10:34 a.m. PST |
I'd recommend AWI, for that scale and ratio. Plus perry miniatures have such a lovely range of figures for it and more coming on their workbench. King's Mountain has some lovely additions and there are Foundry and others for niches, vignettes, etc. For ACW in that scale, I prefer skirmish games such as TFL's. |
Disco Joe | 12 Feb 2014 11:30 a.m. PST |
I would say both because that is what I have done. Doug, I don't believe anyone produce Spanish in 28mm for AWI or is there a company that you are aware of? |
vtsaogames | 12 Feb 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
Do what I did: both. My ACW is 15mm (though I have another set of 1/72 in plastic) and my AWI are 20mm Frying Pan & Blanket. |
Gnu2000 | 12 Feb 2014 1:12 p.m. PST |
AWI all the way. God's own period; if God was a wargamer :-) |
Drferling | 12 Feb 2014 1:49 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the input. I wonder bough if anyone can speak to how they play differently? Sure different actions, but what else differentiates them from a play perspective? For example, gaming SYW feels very different than napoleonics due to the differences tules model in maneuverability and c&c. P.s. I appreciate everyone who hasn't missed the point of the question- I don't have local cons to try both periods or local gamers to try them out with. I'm interested in your opinions of what the differentiation is. |
Doug MSC | 12 Feb 2014 3:47 p.m. PST |
Disco Joe, I don't know anyone as of yet who is doing the Spanish in 28mm for the AWI although we are planning to do them for our Trident 40mm AWI range. |
79thPA | 12 Feb 2014 4:37 p.m. PST |
You will have a lot more artillery in your ACW armies (both rifled and smooth bore), if you get past early war most of your troops will be armed with rifles, and your troops can function as both line and light infantry. |
Doug MSC | 12 Feb 2014 5:47 p.m. PST |
I love the ACW but I think the AWI offers many more unique scenarios besides all the various forces and uniforms. You can do pitch battles with regulars, small skirmishes with militias, Indian raids on settlements, attacks on wilderness forts and major forts, raids upon British forces, even battles in the islands, battles at sea, etc. Lot of variety to choose from. Most of the ACW battles are blue against gray/butternut in pitch battles of some kind. Not that the ACW isn't fun, I game both, but if I only had one to choose from it would be the AWI. My opinion of course! |
epturner | 12 Feb 2014 5:58 p.m. PST |
Yes. I do both periods, with different rules, but YES. Both Periods. Eric |
Drferling | 12 Feb 2014 7:26 p.m. PST |
@Doug – thanks for the insight from someone with experience gaming both. I had suspected that ACW was along those lines and might not be too different from the large pitched battles often seen on the napoleonic table. I am definitely leaning towards the AWI given your comments and the others that highlight uniform variety, etc. It seems that at the core, given the game sizes I highlighted AWI provides a bit more potential for variety. |
Doug MSC | 12 Feb 2014 10:11 p.m. PST |
Drferling, I noticed you are a solo gamer. We do have a house rule set for the AWI which can be used as a solo rule set too because of the way we have it set up. I can send you a copy if you send me your e-mail address. You can reach me at msc1d@aol.com |
nevinsrip | 13 Feb 2014 1:23 p.m. PST |
I do both, but my heart is in AWI. French and Indian War is right up there also. |