"Feeding the beast--acw boardgame in lieu of miniatures?" Topic

Jind of an odd question to convey but…. There is a ton of ACW boardgames put out over the last decades by a number of companies. Besides something WITH miniatures like Battle Cry, is there an ACW boardgame that an ACW miniatures gamer might find enjoyable simply because it "played" like a miniatures game and wasn't too abstracted? I was thinking something regimental-level.

Look for a copy of Yaquinto's "Battles & Leaders". I still see it around on ebay. It was an excellent regimental-level game. It used rectangular counters to make up regiments. So many per regiment. 5, I believe for the average.

Anyway, the map was geomorphic and had large hexagonal-based counters for woods, hills,earthworks, etc. You could recreate actual engagements or make your own. It also included small round red counters for casualties. Separate counters for regimental and brigade officers and such.

VERY easy to play and a pretty nice game for those with no space for miniatures. In fact, you can easily convert the rules for use with miniatures if you so wanted to.

Regardless, Yaquinto,which later became Victory Games, made some of THE very best boardgames I've ever owned. Their "The Ironclads" is still, to my mind, one of the best ACW naval games ever produced.

But look around for Battles & Leaders. Stilla great game and lots of fun to play.

Here's a look at the game from Board Game Geek's site:

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I really enjoyed "Stonewall's Sword," which seems to fit your criteria.

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I always liked the classic SPI monster game, Terrible Swift Sword. I very loosely adapted some of its scenario ideas into miniature scenarios for my book, Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature. Some similar concepts to miniatures -- variable step-down unit strength as casualties are taken, supply rules, command and control with officers chain of command, etc.

Tim,

Thanks for the Board Game Geek's link. The idea of issuing an L.P. with the rules on it has made my day!

No Internet, no Tablets, no You Tube! OK, we will just go with vinyl!

In 1981, Fantastic!!

Talk about being ahead of the curve!

"Little Round Top"

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A different "Little Round Top"

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"Devil's Den"

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and "Charge to Glory"

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are all 'regimental level' games, played on hex boards with counters representing companies. I think "Devil's Den" was the first published in 1979, and the others came out in the early '80s.

By the way, Grubs. Besides the series of ACW games I listed, all published in the early '80s, I know of four or five recently published titles at a similar scale, in a couple of different series, on battles of the F&IW and AWI. They have the advantage of being currently in print. Let me know if you want to explore that tangent.

By all means--your tangent awaits you, sir!

I have not played it….but this look miniature like:

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I remember a board game for the battle of Shiloh where the card board counters were rectangular and could be flipped over, one side for line and the other for column. Each counter represented a brigade I think. Also had an interesting mechanic of attrition where as the Confederates advanced they would loose a strength point for stragglers. By stopping they could be gained back. I looked on boardgamegeek and couldn't find though. Maybe someone else could point the way. Always thought this could transition well into a miniatures game with figure removal.

I promised to go on a tangent, and tangent we shall go. But first, a digression.

There are a *lot* of boardgames where one counter represents a battalion with step reduction, fire combat is ranged, formations are represented, leaders are included…the whole "Great Battles of the American Civil War" series, "Shiloh: Fury in the West" (brigade level), hundreds of titles. I've sometimes seen these boardgames played with miniatures. I've also seen miniatures rules designed at this level, such as "Volley and Bayonet" and "Napoleon's Battles".

But. The boardgames never impressed me as 'miniatures-like', on the contrary, the miniatures rules struck me as 'boardgame-like', because of the high level of player perspective, i.e., army command. When I think of a miniatures game, I think of a game with a lower level of granularity, where so much detail is included that it's not practical to play the whole furgem battle of Gettysburg in one sitting. "Empire III" notwithstanding.

I know it's all been done with minis, I just cited "Volley and Bayonet", a practical rule set for gaming Gettysburg in an afternoon. But to me, those are 'boardgame-like' miniatures rules. Nothing wrong with that, I like playing them myself. But when you asked for 'miniatures-like' ACW boardgames, I listed a series where counters represent companies, with step reduction.

Now, for 'miniatures-like' boardgames set in the tricorn era…

It's interesting that you dismissed "Battle Cry" from this topic, even though this boardgame is literally played with miniatures. Most ACW battles are big enough that the "Battle Cry" 'flexible scale' units of 2, 3 or 4 miniature figures represent brigades or even divisions for most scenarios. That's too high a level for me to feel like i'm playing with minis. I have the same feeling for "Command and Colors Napoleonics", which is the same system played with small wooden blocks in place of minis. The units are so big that I feel I'm playing a boardgame. I like both games very much, as boardgames.

Now. A kickstarter has been announced for "Command and Colors Tricorn", which will present flintlock warfare in Borth America – F&IW and AWI. I expect that some of these scenarios will be small enough that the 'flexible scale' units will represent battalions or companies, giving a more 'miniatures-like' feel to the game.

Taking a break. Another post to follow.

Worthington Games has published a series of titles for the flintlock era that have been compared to the "Commands and Colors" games. IMO, there is some physical resemblance, but differences in design. I find the Worthington games to be more 'miniatures-like' than any C&C game currently in print. The first two published, which I own, currently OOP, are "Clash for a Continent" and "For Honor and Glory":

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These games resemble C&C in that players lay out hexagonal terrain tiles on a clear terrain map with 3" hexes to set up the various battle scenarios, and the game pieces are wooden blocks with stickers applied. The tactical land battle rules also resemble C&C with ranged musket and artillery fire, close combat, leaders and a flexible scale for unit sizes, depending on the size of the engagement being modeled. These games differ from C&C in that players' actions are limited and determined by 'activation points' that they receive each turn, rather than by a command card deck. As in DBA, players must spend activation points to make units take any action. The wooden pieces also function for step reduction like the blocks in Columbia games (Quebec 1759 and others), although they lie flat and are visible to both players. These pieces could be replaced with multiple blocks, such as "C&C Napoleonics" uses, or with miniatures, as in "Battle Cry". Because the flintlock era battles in North America are so much smaller than ACW battles or Napoleonic battles in Europe, units in these games' scenarios are often companies or even squads, sometimes battalions, which gives these games a more miniatures-like feel to me.

Worthington let their first two titles go OOP and replaced them with a slightly revised version called "Hold the Line", with all scenarios of AWI battles:

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And they came up with an F&IW scenario pack for "Hold the Line":

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And an expansion set for the Jacobite Rebellion. I'm not sure whether this is a complete game, for the price I doubt it:

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The 1812 game "Honor and Glory" with its unique rules for naval battles has not yet been reissued.

The system has also been ported to Europe for the SYW:

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All but the Jacobite pack are currently OOP, but don't despair. There's a Kickstarter pending for a "Remastered Edition" of "Hold the Line", featuring 3-D plastic miniatures, all current AWI & F&IW scenarios and more goodies to be determined:

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Looks like a good place to start this series.

A different solution to the same wargaming problem is offered by Two Buck Games:

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While most Two Buck titles actually cost five bucks, they deliver high gaming value for a remarkably low price. This series adheres to 'folio game' production standards. Each title includes one sheet of 88 X 5/8" cardboard counters. Terrain for multiple scenarios is provided by including with each title up to a dozen printed maps on heavy stock paper, with 1.25" hexes – most maps comprise a single 8 1/2" X 11" sheet, and many are printed two per page. Graphics are state-of-the-art for the materials used, attractive and clearly conveying game information.

Rules are simple IGO-UGO with non-phasing defensive fire coming after phasing movement and before phasing fire. There is step reduction for unit. Infantry combat is adjacent only but artillery fire is ranged. Leaders are included in the F&IW set, but not in the AWI titles. There is an F&IW set, an 1812 set and four X sets of AWI battles,
besides the battle of Brandywine, which is big enough to rate it's own publication.

I have the Two Buck F&IW and one of the AWI packs, and am enjoying working my way through them.

The Worthington vs. the Two Buck titles cover many of the same battles. Most scenarios in both series play out in an hour or less. The scenarios are also a good source for proper miniatures games, since most can be readily adapted to your favorite set of minis rules.

8 of the Decision Games' folio series titles that are related to the ACW were published in two ACW Quad battle games by SPI originally. A co-worker and I had a lot of fun playing those during our lunch hours in the late 1970's.