| Rainsford | 21 Jul 2020 7:43 p.m. PST |
I recently dug out my collection of 1/72 plastic ACW figures from my middle school days when ACW history was my second hobby, adjacent to model railroading. I have been watching Little Wars TV on YouTube and the operational/grand tactical game they played of the Marengo campaign on five different tables using the "Snappy Nappy" rules really intrigued me. So, I am looking to see if there are any rules at a similar scale/ease of play for the ACW, but "grand tactical" seems to be the upper limit I have found, with what is available crossing over into board games for operational level. Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone adapted Snappy Nappy to ACW? |
DisasterWargamer  | 21 Jul 2020 8:44 p.m. PST |
Russ Lockwood is on here and can answer the question about Snappy Nappy being adapted to ACW Over time I have found the Fire and Fury (1 version is Brigade Level and the Other Version is Regimental) easy to use and easily adaptable. |
| GROSSMAN | 21 Jul 2020 10:44 p.m. PST |
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| Dexter Ward | 22 Jul 2020 1:57 a.m. PST |
If you want rules to do really big battles:
Volley & Bayonet
Horse, Foot & Guns
Chamberlain (ACW version of Blucher) |
| Bede19002 | 22 Jul 2020 4:27 a.m. PST |
Altar of Freedom is hands down the best set of rules for fighting entire historical battles. If you want something more granular there are many, many options. Most notably Fire & Fury Regimental. |
 Stosstruppen | 22 Jul 2020 5:21 a.m. PST |
I have used Fire and Fury Brigade for years. It is a great rules set and provides a good outcome. If you want to do big battles with less figures Volley and Bayonet is a great option. |
| Ed Mohrmann | 22 Jul 2020 6:05 a.m. PST |
Brigade F&F is the way to go for the level in which
you're interested. For a more tactical level there
are too many good options to list here. There are two editions of BF&F – either works, but
the second is somewhat better IMHO. |
| Thomas O | 22 Jul 2020 6:25 a.m. PST |
Second vote for Altar of Freedom for big battles. |
 Extra Crispy  | 22 Jul 2020 7:25 a.m. PST |
Altar of Freedom. You might also look at Bloody Big Battles which covers many more periods besides. |
| It is good to be King | 22 Jul 2020 7:43 a.m. PST |
I still like Johnny Reb 3 |
| PJ ONeill | 22 Jul 2020 1:13 p.m. PST |
My favorite rules for grand tactical level is Johnny Reb III |
| Stew art | 23 Jul 2020 7:54 a.m. PST |
When I think of grand tactical I think of a player controlling a corp. For that I would use Brigade Fire and Fury (version 2) but you need about 100 bases of infantry at least. I've also heard great things about Alter of Freedom, but I've never played it. |
| ChrisBBB2 | 27 Jul 2020 11:41 p.m. PST |
Extra Crispy, thanks for the kind mention of "Bloody Big BATTLES!". BBB is built to handle multi-corps battles, fit them on a 6'x4' table and make them playable in a 3- or 4-hour evening session. (We've fought all 3 days of Gettysburg in 4 hours including set-up and break-down and still made it to the pub for a pint after.) Rainsford, I don't know if that's quite streamlined and fast enough for your requirements, but if you want to learn more, there are plenty of reviews out there, all quoted or linked to from the BBBBlog:
link Good luck with finding the ruleset that suits your need! Chris Bloody Big BATTLES!
groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles |
| WarEmblem | 30 Jul 2020 10:19 p.m. PST |
I played Fire and Fury years ago and while it was a decent set of rules, I never fell in love with it. Altar of Freedom sounds interesting and I like the idea of one base being a brigade. Some of the reports I've read about it though make it seem like combat can take a while to get into. Has this been other people's experience? I'm most interested in something that looks good and "feels fun" rather than something rules heavy trying to be historical. |
