"Difference between Regimental and Brigade based rules" Topic

Hey all, I have been an ACW history geek for a long while and am just now beginning to look into gaming the period. I am interested to find out specifically what the difference in the two levels of games that I have found: Regimental and Brigade.

To illustrate, which would be best to use for:
1st Bull Run
Antietam (whole thing)
Gettysburg (whole thing)
Gettysburg (Devil's Den)

I have heard mention of a few different rule sets (Altar of Freedom, JRIII, F&F and RF&F, but want to get the distinction down before getting into any specific one. I would be gaming in 6mm and want to see how many stands I need to plan to paint if I were to go with either

I would largely be playing solo until my son gets old enough to play – too many schedule conflicts to try and game with my local community for now – that being the case, what my local group plays (i am not even sure to tell you the truth) wouldn't come into equation.

Regimental would be good for Devil's Den but you'd have a very, very big game on your hands trying it with the others. We play an abstracted game with large stands of 28mm figures representing 1000 (ish) people and can do a big action like Antietam in the course of a day, but only because I set it up the day before.

A lot depends upon you available table space and the number of players you expect to be participating in the game.

Old wargamer's rule of thumb:
A competent player can manage about 8 to 12 maneuver elements and those elements should ideally occupy a frontage no greater than convenient arm's reach from the players position at the table (say 3-4 feet).

If you intend to focus upon large battle scenarios involving multiple corps on the tabletop, with each corps being commanded by an individual player, the rule of thumb mathematics pretty much dictate rules based upon the brigade as the elementary movement unit (even a very small corps of two divisions, with each division of three brigades, plus artillery, HQ, supply train and perhaps a cavalry squadron will be plenty for a beginning player to manage.

To get a sense of how the different command levels play, I suggest that you test-drive the original Fire and Fury brigade level rules versus the later Fire and Fury regimental level rules.

FWIW

B

Aside from the number of figures needed, the major difference between regimental and brigade rules is the amount of detail that goes into handling the units. With regimental rules, you have to deal with stuff like formations and formation changes and so forth. Most brigade rules assume that that stuff is handled automatically and the brigade is basically just a counter that you move around.

Not all brigade-level is like that, however – standard F&F has relevant formation rules. So if you do go brigade-level (necessary for those larger battles), decide what level of tactical detail you want.

I once participated in a Gettysburg – the 2nd day – game. Each player commanded a Corps or parts of a Corps. Using F&F it was fought out in a few hours. That convinced me that F&F was the way to go for big battles. Each guy had enough brigade sized units to push around and losing a fight would not result in your being out of the game.Lots of fun.

Thanks for the info guys. It sounds like – if I am understanding it well enough – that Regimental is more if I wanted to do a specific section of a larger battle – say the Sunken Road or Corn Field at Antietam, Devils Den, Culps Hill or McPherson's Farm at Gettysburg etc, go with RF&F or JRIII or other "Regimental" rule sets.

For Full battles, 1st Manassas, Fredericksburg, Shiloh, use JRII or F&F or that ilk?

Putting my Baccus order in shortly.

JRII is a detailed regimental set; more detailed than JR III in fact.
For medium sized battles the original F&F is good. It struggles for the biggest battles unless you have a weekend and a lot of players. You are better off with Volley&Bayonet at that level, where each *base* is a brigade.