"Eastern Theater vs. Western Theater?" Topic

I am thinking about diving into a new area of gaming. Its going to be either AWI or ACW. It's been ages since I've studied either period of history. Can anyone tell me what, if any, would be the difference between the Eastern Theater and Western Theater of the ACW in gaming terms, other than units present?

The first distinction I look for is the style of flag the Confederates are carrying. If it is the ANV, then after the first months of the war you are going to see large numbers of square Confederate battle flags. For other commands a different style of flag would be carried. Even later in the war when battle flag style flags were being used elsewhere, they would often not be square.

Not much, in my opinion. I do my ACW gaming at the Army level, so the battles are what matters. The only difference i can come up with is that the Western Battles tend to be more heavily wooded, The Battle of the Wilderness to the contrary.

I game primarily western theatre due to the prevalence of battles involving both naval and land forces. Vicksburg, Shiloh, Island No 10, the Red River Campaign, to name but a few. The land area covered runs from the coast all the way into Kentucky and Missouri. There are battles fought on Mountains such as Chattanooga and in all Seasons such as Stones River and Ft. Donelson.

For my 2 cents, the Western Theater has the better options as far as armies and campaigns upon which to base games. For the Union you have:

the Army of the Tennessee (Grant and Sherman) with its actions ranging from Shiloh through the Vicksburg and Chattanooga campaigns down to Atlanta and the to the Atlantic and into the Carolinas

The Army of the Cumberland (Rosecrans and Thomas) with its actions in central Tennessee and Kentucky culminating in Chickamauga-Chattanooga then down to Atlanta and finishing up at Franklin and Nashville

The Army of the Ohio with its actions in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee then down to Atlanta.

And many raids and minor campaigns throughout the region.

For the Confederates you have:

The Army of Mississippi (A. S. Johnston, Van Dorn, Pemberton) at Shiloh and its subsequent actions against Union forces at Iuka and Corinth before it goes to Vicksburg.

The Army of Tennessee (Bragg, J. Johnston, Hood) with its many actions in Tennessee and Kentucky through Chickamauga-Chattanooga then back down to Atlanta before finishing up at Franklin and Nashville with remnants ending up in the Carolinas.

Plus cavalry raids (Forrest and Wheeler) and minor campaigns throughout the theater.

There were naval actions along all the rivers, especially the Mississippi, that included Eads ironclads, tinclads, and the CSS Arkansas, not to mention Farragut's deep water fleet.

Back in the east all you can do is slog around northern Virginia with occasional forays into Maryland and Pennsylvania until Grant comes east to solve all of the army of the Potomac's ills.

Of course I'm slightly prejudiced since I grew up in and live in Mississippi.

Jim

As Rich says, western battlefields tend to be more wooded. I recall a geographic analysis of Shiloh that basically summed up the terrain as a critical influence on the conduct of the battle.

The rivers tend to dominate many of the battlefield choices. For combined actions, Ellets ram fleet was engaged in constant patrols and raids along the Mississippi and it's tributaries.

If you go with historical command ratings for your generals, then Lee was brilliant, Bragg not so much. Over-all, Confederate oompetence and morale was significantly higher in the east than the west, although there were some talented commanders and steadfast troops in the west too, but their efforts were often squandered by inept high command.

general lyon was a great commander for the union. untill he got killed. then the rest were average except grant and sherman. confederate forces were on par in early war. Don't forget the indians(native americans).

All the above are good points and I like reading about and gaming the Western Theater too but there's just something about the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac.

Top contenders in a crowded field? Great books and authors starting with Bruce Catton? Characters beyond fiction? Mystique? Square battle flags?

What ever the reason The Eastern Theater comes in just ahead of the West for me.

Paint what you like and do both. None of my guys ever complained that the figures were painted for the wrong theater. We play Eastern and Western.

vtsaogames hit it on the head dead center. Paint and play both theaters with the same troops.

Thanks for all the advice! Now I have to decide whether or not to take the plunge.

Generic troops and play any field.

If unit frontages are of a concern you should be aware that the ANV cavalry fought mounted in two ranks whereas the western Confederate cavalry generally fought in a single rank.

I believe by war's end all Union cavalry went to single rank, though even more often they fought dismounted.

It just occurred to me: paint up the XI and XII Corps for the Union. They went west in late 1863 to take part in the Chattanooga campaign. Then they organized into the XX Corps and took part in all of Sherman's campaigns, marching back to the eastern theater through Georgia and South Carolina. So you can legitimately claim them as correct for both theaters. Longstreet's Corps fought in both theaters too.

Artillery in the West generally had a few different guns mixed in, for example the six pounder smoothbore had generally disappeared from the East by Gettysburg but continued in the west more guns like the James rifle, etc. as well in the West. More battles included things like naval gunfire support. But remember, the East is much more than just VA, MD, and PA. It extends all the way to Florida, you have battles in every state from PA on south. It's much more than just Lee vs. The Army of the Potomac.

If you really want to walk on the wild side, there's always the Trans-Mississippi!

Definirely the West. A vast theater of Operations, many large armies. Undeveloped land with fewer settlements away from the Rivers. Vast river networks with steamboat transportation. River Ironclads. River Rams. Large fortifications. Great sieges. Rail networks streached to capacity. Raids and skirmishes can happen anywhere at anytime with any type or size forces. Almost everyone wearing slouch hats. Mixed batteries of every shape and size from 6 lbs smooth bores to 20 lbs Parrot rifles or 24 lb howitzers and everything in between. Rough country boys on both sides who didn't always know when they were beat. How can the AoP and ANC and their few hundred square miles of battlefields compare to that?