Wheelman | 20 May 2016 4:12 p.m. PST |
I have been wargaming for several years but never in the historical eras. Mainly bc no one in my area is into it. Ive always been intrigued with ACW and now that my son is old enough to play war games I was looking for advice as to which rule set to start with. Ive read several reviews on some of the rule sets and was looking for some expert advice, which is why I joined in hopes to prick your guy's brains. Thanks in advance Kenneth |
Northern Monkey | 20 May 2016 4:39 p.m. PST |
Start small with Sharp Practice. You can always build up to larger battles later. |
Rich Bliss | 20 May 2016 4:58 p.m. PST |
Who,do you want to be. General Grant, Genral McClernand, Col Chamberlain, or Captain Adams? |
Dan 055 | 20 May 2016 4:58 p.m. PST |
Start with the free wargames rules site (wiki) and check through the different offerings there until you find the style of game you like. Once you've had some experience then you can go looking for professional rules – you'll know what you want by then. |
Major Mike | 20 May 2016 6:05 p.m. PST |
This was just discussed recently, read here TMP link |
Navy Fower Wun Seven | 20 May 2016 6:29 p.m. PST |
I would recommend Black Powder, with the brand new ACW supplement 'Glory Hallejulah'! Speeds up play by putting all the prep in before the game, so that game play itself is ridiculously simple, leaving you to concentrate on tactical decisions. Its aimed at Divisional level games, with each player handling a Brigade of 3-6 units easily. Figure scale is flexible, either side of 1:20. |
McWong73 | 20 May 2016 6:29 p.m. PST |
Keeping in mind you're playing with your son (congrats btw, mine are still too young ) I'd suggest suggest the Battlecry board game. It's a simple game with 1/72 minis that you could both paint, treat it as a stepping stone to more fully fleshed minis gaming. link |
coopman | 21 May 2016 8:31 a.m. PST |
Battle Cry is a great suggestion. After that gets old, you can graduate to more detailed rules sets. |
vonLoudon | 21 May 2016 9:18 a.m. PST |
Simple brigade level rules, On to Richmond. |
vonLoudon | 21 May 2016 9:33 a.m. PST |
Simple brigade rules, On to Richmond. |
cwbuff | 21 May 2016 6:06 p.m. PST |
If you live close to Nashville, TN come to NASHCON at Franklin next weekend and browse through several different games. Go to any convention and try out a set of rules. |
Wheelman | 22 May 2016 2:20 p.m. PST |
Thanks fir the replies! Battle Cry might be a good start to get him into the era. I have seen good reviews here of F&F and it seems simple enough to be the first detailed ACW rule set we use. Also seen Johnny Reb get lots of love but seems very detailed orientated. Also found a company named Kallistra that has a beta rule set for ACW played on a hex board, anyone familiar with this? As far as Cons go I am on the MS coast and nothing ever happens down here, its hard enough to find other games to play which is why I am glad my son is old enough to understand and play, means I always have an opponent. Plan on attending GenCon this yr as I have family in IN we will be visiting around that time. |
ACW Gamer | 22 May 2016 7:01 p.m. PST |
Wheelman, how far are you from Baton Rouge? Bayou Wars is coming up. |
Wheelman | 22 May 2016 8:02 p.m. PST |
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Wheelman | 23 May 2016 3:28 p.m. PST |
Anyone have any experience/review with the GHQ rules? |
Wheelman | 24 May 2016 6:05 p.m. PST |
Junior General had a couple nice scenarios in order to start with. My son and I are big into history so keeping him/myself engaged wont be an issue. With my vast background of other types of war games I am not to worried about rule sets but for this case so not want to start with something like JR in the beginning. F&F seems to be a strong consideration for a place to start. Other posts mention V&B and I'm still looking into those. Any major differences in these rules? |
Old Contemptibles | 25 May 2016 9:48 a.m. PST |
Their have been several recent discussions on this very topic. Search around they are not that hard to find. |
Wheelman | 26 May 2016 1:43 p.m. PST |
Thanks for all the advice. With the mass amout of searching and reading I think we are going to start with Rank & File + the ACW supp. they have. Rules seem simple and can be had for quite a nice price. Probably will scale up to one of the F&F rule sets in the future. |
dice gunner | 11 Jun 2016 7:38 a.m. PST |
I have been using the rank and file full set for the past 2 weeks and love them. Perfect for what I want. |