"Best Ruleset for an ACW Tournament?" Topic

Which ruleset would you recommend for use in an American Civil War miniature gaming tournament?

I myself like Fire & Fury but that might be just me

Johnny Reb in its various incantations has been used by some folks I know for tournament play – has been a while since I gamed it

There is a such thing as an ACW tournament?

I would have thought "Longstreet" would be ideal for tournament play.

There is a such thing as an ACW tournament?

There was that one, back in the day. I forget who won …

wait a minute guys. Check out Black Powder "Glory Alleluia" set of rules. They could be tournament minded.

Seems like ACW would be perfect for a tournament.

Why would you want to spoil a good historical game?

Civil War Battles from Peter Pig

I'm thinking it would be a bad idea unless it was some kind of single player DB-ACW rules set….which must have been someone's experimental project by now. Much more likely to run across Big Foot playing Seekrieg than an ACW tournament.

Battle Cry

DBA-HX (Humberside Extensions), or a specific Hordes of the Things variant would work well.

I think Longstreet or Black Powder would be ideal.

Mr. Lincoln's War would be ideal. In the rules there are instructions on how to have tournament games.

Any rules the players already know.

Tournaments need rules that are specifically set to produce a binary result in 60 minutes or less. Almost no dedicated ACW rules will do that. I agree with miniMo, you need a DBA like game to do a tournament. Here is one specifically for ACW.

PDF link

Not sure it really matters as long as players are familiar with the rule set. Ran one using JRIII and it worked well. Designed to play in a four-hour block and resolution was reached well before that.

Corp Commander wrote:

Tournaments need rules that are specifically set to produce a binary result in 60 minutes or less.

How do you figure? Warhammer Ancient Battles (WAB) was a popular tournament ruleset and took at least 2 hours to come to a decision. Flames of War is a very popular WWII tournament ruleset normally with 2 hours allotted per game. At the upcoming Siege of Augusta convention there will be a Kings of War tournament – 2 hours per round, 5 rounds (3 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday) ( link ). I think DBM also took around 2 hours as well….

I can't think of any rules that would work in the typical DBx type of fast-turnaround tournament format. Most good sets are too slow (relatively) or assume larger games, and more recent games are simply too random.

If I had to pick, I would run Volley and Bayonet.

Yes I took part in a Peter Pig "civil war battles". 2 divisions a side. 2 hour games. the games cretae their own scenario each time as there is a pre game scenario generator. Great fun!! I used early confederates with a fair few muskets, no cavalry and poor artillery.

martin

I would say Fire and Fury – It was used in the ACW tournaments that I was in .
Corps Commander :Why only 60 minutes for a tournament ?
I actually am just wondering ?
I have never seen a gaming tournament with games that only were 60 minutes each round . ok I did forget Heroclix MechWarrior -45 minute rounds. Lead to a lot of stalling for time .

Rank & File by Crusader is a good set. The rules are written specifically for conventions and about a division or so per side can be done in around 2 hrs

Check out 'DBACW' on youtube it shows a battle of Gettysburg where one unit represents about 900men. normally DBACW is 1 unit = 450 men approx

Well "Rifle Wars vol. 1" by War Artisan is explicitly NOT suitable for tournaments. And I LOVE if for that.

ugh, why would someone do an ACW tournament? Frankly, I like ACW games because such things as tournaments don't exist.