"ACW Easy Start Rules?" Topic

Hello all:

I have read a lot of the topics and the rules sections several times. After a recent vacation my son has shown an interest in starting ACW miniatures games.

I need something that is easily available, fun, fast and will keep his interest. We play Bolt Action and some starter Flames of War games; he seems to enjoy them. I am trying to keep his interest in history and also give us something to do together.

I have had some recommendations from Face Book but I wanted to check here and see what people think.

I found a group that plays in 15mm a few hours from me so I want to go with that scale. I really enjoy painting the detail on 28mm but it doesn't seem as popular.

If I do this with him I would enjoy playing with "adults" also so I need to make my army usable other then just at home. Also need to find players in my area. I'm in central PA and finding it very difficult to find historical players that aren't 2 hours away.

Sorry to be so long winded.

See ya,

Skip

Honestly I would head down to Historicon Next week (July 12 – 15th) and look at some of the different rules in person – there are dozens of events with dozens of different ACW rule sets

link – look under events for the list of games

Personally I enjoy using Fire and Fury for larger games and for smaller battles Brother Against Brother

My son is performing three live band events next weekend so we can't do Historicon. I am hoping maybe an hour or two on Sunday but not sure if it is worth the 3 hour drive for just a short time.

I'm going to punt on rules. My opinions tend to be seriously minority ones. But if you're doing ACW in 15mm, I'd advise you to start with Fire & Fury basing--and especially the "Regimental F&F" three to a stand basing which I personally dislike. Except for the "Johnny Reb" series, most ACW rules use or can cope with such basing--as can, I believe, the Black Powder series. So this gives you a lot of options, and means you can use one set of rules for Gettysburg and another for Ball's Bluff without needing to rebase.

Scales. Much to be said for a mass army no bigger than 15mm for big battles and a few hundred figures in 28mm or larger, individually based, for smaller, more intimate battles and skirmishes. But don't start one until the other is ready to game.

Here is an earlier thread on the same topic:
TMP link

Skip2a, if it has to be Sunday, don't bother. Mind you, I love the Sunday flea market. But it's a bad day to sample games.

Larry: I have read over that already. All but one post are from 2012: I wanted to see if there was anything new/upgraded to look at.

Look at On To Richmond.
Review Here: link Scale Creep also sells them. Been around a long time, still viable. We have played them since they came out in The Courier, many, many years ago. They are simple yet do a damn fine job of ACW feel. Mind ya, IMHO, your milage may vary!

Before Mark bought the rights, I used to give away
copies of On To Richmond here on TMP via file transfer.

It is a good, fairly simple set of rules and could be
styled the father of Fire and Fury brigade, which gives
a somewhat more historical game with (IMHO) finer
granularity.

That said, if you can find anyone closer to you who uses
Larry Brom's 'A Glint of Bayonets', that's a GREAT
set of rules which I've used for years.

The back of the (short) rulebook includes scales for
converting to 15mm use.

For a fun, 2 player game to play with your son, I like Picket's Charge. And while I wouldn't call it simple it's far from complex. maybe a tad more complex than Bolt Action. It's also easily available from TooFatLardies. There are some nice counter / marker sets easily available as well. It's a good 2 player game. Some command decisions and some maneuver, also a forum to ask questions.

just for kicks, I'll add that my favorite multiplayer (2 vs 2 or more) ruleset is Regimental Fire and Fury.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Brother Against Brother if you can get it.

Look at Gettysburg Soldiers. My brother and I tried it and we liked it. We needed something that he could pick up from a cold start quickly and it fit the bill nicely. After about 10 minutes of play we were rolling along with about 18 regiments and four batteries of guns (about 120 stands total) and we finished in a leisurely evening. Is it the be all and all of civil war simulation? No, and I think that's a good thing. No overwrought command and morale rules here. It's a pretty basic set of rules with a focus on maneuver and combat. It could use a little more text to clarify some minor points but it plays cleanly if you approach things logically. I think it has a pretty good period feel and is in my opinion a good set to start with.

Best of luck to you

Like both Fire and Fury and On To Richmond

Another vote for Gettysburg Soldiers and Brother Against Brother.

Going a break away from the norm here.
You have not indicated that you game with a club/others.
If you are with in 3 hrs of Historicon you are in an area with a high population of gamers and game clubs.
One of those would be a great opportunity to get him " a taste of the period" and of perhaps a rule set ( that of the club) which would have/bring regular play, beyond that of just the two of you.
SO a research of the local/nearest gaming organization would be another direction to take and let that help determine a rule set to use

One great option so that you can play now, before you start painting and your son potentially loses interest, is to buy the Hasbro/WOTC 150th Anniversary version of "Battlecry".

A boardgame/miniatures hybrid in the Command and Colors family, you can pickup a copy on eBay for $50. USD You'll be playing a minis game within 30 minutes of opening the box, and will have time to ponder the other great suggestions that others have listed above.

Another vote for On To Richmond, it is the set that actually pulled me from my first interest (Napoleonics) into a genre that I had no interest at all in, simply because I was getting such good games.

That said, I think OTR is best limited to games with 2 to 4 players so the activation system doesn't leave anyone too bored.

I would probably base troops for F&F, and see if OTR grabs his interest. If it does, he (and you) may enjoy the extra details in F&F at some point.

Good luck!

Agree if going 15mm try basing for Regimental Fire & Fury, for 1 vs 1 games. Advantage is 2nd Edition Brigade Fire & Fury uses the same basing for larger scale muti player games. As has also been said these could be used for Black Powder too if required as that rule set doesn't care about basing as long as both sides are based roughly the same.

Have fun.

Yet another vote for On to Richmond, simple and loads of fun.

I would recommend Black Powder Rules and the Glory Hallelujah! supplement. Hope it helps.

As always, comments are appreciated.

Take care

Andy

Thanks for all of the input!

Ended up with the free download of Black Powder from Warlord games. Read through it and ordered the hardcover rule book. Waiting for my supplier to get Glory Hallelujah back in stock.

Picked up both 15mm and 28mm armies for my son and myself. He says he is going to paint his own.

Thanks again!

For other new players.

1. The "Firepower" rules that come with the Perry Battle in a Box Set are well written and can get you on the table very quickly. They are easy to learn and seem very new user friendly.

2. I ordered a "Gettysburg Soldiers" rule book. It is wonderful! Very nice, well made, easy to understand and a great size set of rules. I can't wait to give it a shot.

See ya,

Skip

Skip2a,

Depending on where in Central PA you live (I'm in Lancaster) you may want to attend Barrage 2018 in Havre de Grace, MD. There are two ACW games on Friday September 28. At noon I'm running a tactical ACW game with *Brother Against Brother* rules, with 28mm figures. At 2:00 Eric Schlegel is running a larger battle using a rather unconventional (for ACW) rules set, *Gaslight*.

In TMP, go to General Boards > Conventions and Wargame Shows and look for posts about Barrage 2018 from Buck Surdu. Or follow this link. hawks-barrage.org

As of today there are no ACW games listed for Saturday September 29 but there is still plenty of room for games to be added in the next 40 days.

Send me your email and I will send you Hex Command Gunpowder. contact me at imagineimage.org

Sent you a message on the site companycmd.

Thanks,

Skip