"I think this is my third try" Topic

Bit embarrassed to admit this but I have tried 3 times to get into the ACW. Its a war that fascinates me, I have listened to Kevin Burns many times and as a kid read the Red badge of courage so many times my father wanted me to look at other books (giving me the hobbit, that is a story for another time).

So after a windfall I had a splurge and got the battle in a box, a box of sack coat infantry and a metal gun and crew. Now I love the Perry 18 figure basing as it gives fuller looking units.

Now I am at a loss I have painted two units and one of the Generals and I don't know what to aim for or even if this is feasible. I have the Perry firepower rules but not sure where to go now. Perhaps a rules set may be a good aim? Suggestions?

I think there are two preliminary questions you must ask yourself:

1. What size of battle are you personally interested in (do you want to command a regiment, brigade, or division/higher formations?) and;

2. What are the people nearby playing if you are going to join a group?

If you have answers to those questions, you will have a lot of the riddle solved.

That said, in 28mm I use Black Powder with the Glory Hallelujah supplement for games where each player controls a brigade of up to half a dozen regiments.

In 15mm I tend to use either Fire and Fury (large scale games where the brigade is the tactical unit) or Fire and Fury Regimental if I want Regiments to be the tactical unit.

Note that Brigade level Fire and Fury is due for a new volume later this year.

Another set of rules that I have been looking at and which I may replace my regimental rules with is Picketts Charge.

Hope this helps a little, but really, figuring out your own interests is the key :)

There are a gazillion ways to go from where you are, actually. If I were in your place, I'd consider your local gaming community. Is there a club? Do people game at a local hobby store? Somebody's basement? It is WAY easier to dovetail into a group that is already doing 28mm ACW, than to try to Force Push a group into gaming what you want. If there is something like that, game with them to see if you like what they're up to. If you do, they're established format will answer a great many of your questions.

I found that Brother Against Brother was a great entry point for me. We play lots of games with a force comprised of 3 infantry units, 1 cavalry unit, and 1 artillery battered side. Lots of fun and easy rules to fully grasp.

I think LostPict (have you asked for directions, Pict?) has a good notion--simple rules and not too many figures. Might pick up One Hour Wargames for scenarios.

For myself,I think ACW works at the high and the low end, but not well in between. The Brother against Brother--or early Featherstone--works. So do games like Fire & Fury and On to Richmond where your basic units are brigades. But the options open to an ACW brigade or division commander strike me as limited, and I tend not to play the period at that level. This is in contrast to Napoleonics, where I'd rather command a division, or WWII, where I want a brigade.

Your mileage may vary, but what have you tried in the earlier attempts? Do something different.

If you want simple ACW, try Larry Brom's _A Glint of
Bayonets_. Units are 20 figures (infantry – 6 bases
of 3 and a 2-figure command base).

There is no provision for skirmishers in the rules,
however easy enough to improvise. A section of guns
is a gun and 2 gunners.

Cavalry is not provided for either, however again
easy enough to improvise (2 figures/base; 4 bases
to a cav unit).

These rules have been around a long time and make an
excellent 3-4 hour game. They were designed for
convention play.

They Couldn't Hit An Elephant is an excellent alternative, as is the newly released Pickett's Charge.

I think you mean Ken Burns not Kevin. Ken Burns' brother's name is Ric Burns.

You need to decide whether you want to do regiments or brigades. IMO regiments are the way to go. It is difficult to justify an entire brigade of Louisiana Tigers or an entire brigade of Zouaves.

For years our rules of choice was "JR2" but recently started using "Mr. Lincoln's War" which are not the best written rules. But we cleaned up some of the wording and organization them. They have turned out to be a decent set of rules. We do 15mm so we can do bigger battles.

Don't feel bad about your 3rd try. I have tried multiple times to get into Napoleonics only to disappointed with the rules each time.

Black powder, 20 figure rgts on 4 man stands in 2 ranks, 5 stands per rgt. This for an average size rgt, in black powder you can have large standard small and tiny, so that would probably be 8 tiny, 12 small, 20 standard, 24-ish large. Cavalry oughta be maybe 12? My two cents worth, three brigades, three batteries, 2 cavalry regiments. For your army this oughta do it, a brigade commander for each infantry brigade and one division commander to command everybody. Infantry brigades- should have at least 3 regiments (rare) 4 or 5 (common) or 6 (very rare). So say, 2 brigades at 4 regiments and one at 5? 2 cavalry and 4 generals. Just my suggestion.