At first I was more than sceptical about these skirmish rules as my posts elsewhere will show. Mostly because of the large time frame they cover (1754 – 1865) and the knowledge that they use an "engine" from the authors other skirmish rules and I'm not a great lover of that style of approach.
However, noting that they are only $15.93 USD or £8.93 GBP via Amazon I had to admit that I have wasted a hell of a lot more than that on individual rule sets in the past, so I decided to take a look for myself.
A couple of read throughs later and I'm glad I did. Now I have yet to play but they look like they could provide some fun. I use that phrase advisedly. If you are looking for super detail and a totally correct representation of each of the ten American conflicts the rules are designed for, forget it!
On the other hand for a few hours entertainment with some basic but enjoyable systems that you can alter and build on these could be for you.
The 64 page content tells you all you need to know about creating the individual "units" that make up the "company" you command and there are dozen scenarios to try things out on with the playing rules taking up just twenty clearly written pages.
Somethings you may disagree with (why do skirmishers not shoot as far as troops in line, for example) but anything you find odd (not that much) can be changed in a moment with out detriment and a nod from the authors that it should be so.
The forces, like most skirmish games, may well benefit from single basing but this is not a requirement and I for one will be using my regular 28mm ACW, four miniatures to a stand setup. Giving me three stands to the 12 figure "units" plus the two figure stands I customary use to provide those six figure "Skirmisher Units" required.
I mentioned "companies" but this is really an arbitrary designation for the game in general. First Nation combatants are included for the earlier conflicts and I'd be surprised if any of those regarded themselves as such!
I personally will play a representation of a Regiment of fifteen stands which will be made up of five 12 figure "Units" of three stands each, that neatly corresponds with the five "divisions" an actual ten Company Regiment was split into.
The rules are basic IGUO with a straight forward five step turn and appear very easy to pick up. In addition there is a section on the Officer representation in the game with a character generation system for those who like this style of game to have a RPG element. This can also incorporate a mini "career mode" into your play. Be advised this is not a requirement and the overall game can function quite independently, so no one will be able to call you out as a closet D&D player, unless you chose to be such!
The rules have been questioned on the AWI board for a lack of depth in terms of their representation of that period and comments made that there are no Breachloaders, Repeaters or Pistols included for ACW but having seen them I think that misses the point.
Yes there could be acres of detail added but that's not what these rules are about. Its a level they are not built for. Squad Leader they ain't. More importantly, from a purely individual perspective, they ain't Sharpe Practice either!
So horses for courses, as always but worth a look and a modicum of player input in my view.