American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Recently received an email from this gentlemen asking my input on the HPS games. When I attempted to reply to the address on the email "Russ Daley" <nsr02@comcast.net> I got failuer to deliver notices from both my email services. Checked the ACWGC rosters and he's not listed on any of them. If any of you know the gentlemen or if he checks this forum I would be more than happy to reply to his email if he'll send me a valid address.

Lt.Gen.Ken Miller
Veteran's Divsion
VIII / AoS



Sgt.Ken Miller
899th T.D. Btn
9 ID / VII / USA

Hi Russ,

You are more than welcome to join the ranks of our righteous cause this fall or anytime that you wish.
After playing the AI, playing against a person will be like going from <font color="black"><b>black</b></font id="black"> & <b>white</b> to <b><font size="4"><font color="red">tec</font id="red"><font color="orange">hn</font id="orange"><font color="yellow">ic</font id="yellow"><font color="green">o</font id="green"><font color="blue">lo</font id="blue"><font color="purple">r</font id="purple"></font id="size4"></b> ......you won't be in Kansas anymore![:0]
When you join the club part of your cadet training will include all the necessary information to play by mail. Hope to see you in the ranks soon.

<font color="blue"><b>Brig.Gen. R.A.Weir</b></font id="blue">
<font color="yellow">-- CALVERT LINE --</font id="yellow">

<b>First--III--AoA CSA</b>

The HPS system takes some getting use too if you are a Battleground only user. You will think a lot of things aren't right like artillery fire and melees but once you get familiar with it you will find it fixed a lot of problems that were in the Battleground games.

And, if the only thing you have played is the game AI, plan on a lot of short scenarios and a long learning curve. Don't get discouraged when you lose a lot of your first battles. The AI gets a player into a lot of very bad habits.

Check the site at http://wc.kwhitehead.com for some information on how HPS differs from Battleground. Most of the site is closed to you until you join but I put in some general info that is open to all.

When you do join arrange to play another CSA player in a manuever (you play two games of same scenario, one as CSA and other as USA) and have them give you a running critique to help you learn the system. If you have trouble finding someone I will be happy to do it. I think all new players who haven't played live players should do this.

BG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
III Corps, AoM (CSA)

Mr. Daley,

I just want to echo the comments already shared. When I played the Talonsoft games against the A/I, I made the mistake of comparing the Talonsoft A/I to some computer chess A/I. Because of that, I came away with the mistaken notion that I was pretty hot stuff as a Civil War general. When I joined the club, I lost my first three battles and was scratching my head to figure out what had hit me.

That's not to say that you will lose your first games, necessarily, but if you do don't get discouraged. If you enjoy a challenge, you'll love playing against a human.

One of the (many) nice things about the club is that you can play at your own pace. If one turn a week is all you have time for, you won't have any trouble finding an opponent. On the other hand, there are many club members who will turn around several files a DAY.

There are no dues or initiation fees of any sort. Besides purchasing the games themselves and having your own internet access, there are no costs involved in joining the club.

When you first join, you'll be given the rank of Cadet and assigned to the Vicksburg Military Institute (VMI) to go over the procedures of play-by-email. You'll play a short game against your instructor, just to make sure you have the hang of exchanging files, etc. Your instructor will be happy to share some of the things to watch out for from humans (and from Yanks, too -- although we're not sure they're all human, we give most of them the benefit of the doubt [:D]), and give you some pointers on how to handle them.

Upon completion of your practice game, you'll be graduated, promoted to Field Lieutenant, and assigned to a brigade in one of the four CSA armies. Brigade command is the entry level in the club (yes, it seems a bit awkward to be commanding a brigade as a Lieutenant, but war sometimes forces us into strange situations [:)]!). As a brigade commander, all that will be expected of you is to have at least one club-sanctioned game going and to respond to 'muster calls' from your division commander. (We do muster calls once a month, just to find out who is still active. In an internet organization, especially one that doesn't charge dues, there is a tendency for people to just disappear. We've found this to be the best way to keep in touch.)

You'll receive points for playing the games (basically the same number of points whether you win or lose -- this club is based on the fun of playing, rather than winning at all costs). As you accrue points, you'll be promoted up to the rank of Colonel.

Club administration is handled by division-level (and above) officers. Promotion to the general ranks requires serving in an administrative position, in addition to having a minimum number of points. Many members are perfectly content to simply play the games and stay at brigade level. Most, however, take a turn helping out with the administrative tasks necessary in the organization.

I hope this answers many of your questions. We look forward to having you join our ranks when you are able.


Your humble servant,
LGen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

David W. Mallory
ACW - Lieutenant General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America
CCC - Corporal, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army

Russ,

Sent off the note that bounced back so you'd have the info anyway. If you have any other questions let me know. Not an expert by any means but more than willing to help someone out.

Lt.Gen.Ken Miller
Veteran's Divsion
VIII / AoS

On the front page http://www.wargame.ch/board/acw/default.asp, there is a link to join either army. Just select the army you want to join and fill out the form that comes up. Someone from that army will be in contact with you.

The Opponents finder board is part of the club, also and that is where we post challenges for games.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ernie Sands</i>
<br />On the front page http://www.wargame.ch/board/acw/default.asp, there is a link to join either army. Just select the army you want to join and fill out the form that comes up. Someone from that army will be in contact with you.

The Opponents finder board is part of the club, also and that is where we post challenges for games.

<b><font color="gold">Ernie Sands
LtGen, CO XXIII Corps, AoO

President, Colonial Campaigns Club
</b></font id="gold">

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Mr. Daley,

We do restrict the use of the Opponent's Finder site to graduated members of one of the training schools, just to make sure we know everyone can handle pbem procedures. You could leave a note for Gonder explaining that you're signing up and that you'll look him up as soon as you graduate. Even if his challenge has already been answered by then, he may be willing to take you on. (Many club members have several games going at once.)


Your humble servant,
LGen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

David W. Mallory
ACW - Lieutenant General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America
CCC - Corporal, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army