American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

My fellow brothers in arms and beloved traitors,

I was asked to introduce myself to you:
My name is Mathias Schulte from Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. I'm 45 years old working as a teacher of history and social studies. My hobbies are gaming (digital and boardgames), painting miniatures and playing them using many different kinds of rules (mostly Bushido - Risen Sun, some Black Powder, Valor and Fortitude, Bolt Action, a bit of Warhammer 40k).
I like many historical eras and am happy to try games experiencing these times (and even wars).

One of my favorite games besides WDS games is War in the Pacific AE (which is really complex simulation of the Pacific war).
I also like the ANNO series (1800 and the new 117) for its build up idea and graphics.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Happy to be with you here.

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Cadet Mathias Schulte
USA

Welcome Yankee Invader (go back north peaceable, or at the point of a bayonet. Your choice)

Have you PBEM'd WDS ACW games? Do you have a favorite title or scenario?

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)

I just have Gettysburg and Atlanta right now. It would be a great help to gain advice which titles are played most or are the most popular of the series (x-mas sale may be a chance to expand my number of games).

I already played some battles with the Napoleonic Wargame Club. So PbeM are no foreign territory for me.

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Cadet Mathias Schulte
USA

Most Played Title: Gettysburg.
Next Most Played: Shiloh then Chickamauga.
Best for Newcomers (my opinion only): Shenandoah.
Least Played: Forgotten then Petersburg.

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Best title to own is Antietam. I may be biased, but there it is. But as always, it depends on what battles interest you.

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)

Here's a correction to my earlier post regarding most played titles [I stupidly didn't check them all and used an old version of the DoR]. Here's the full list (according to the latest version of the DoR) with the count of recorded plays.

1. Gettysburg - 3,638.
2. Antietam - 2,038.
3. Corinth - 1,727. [This was a big surprise to me.]
4. Shiloh - 1,642.
5. Chickamauga - 1550.
6. Ozark - 1,032. [Also a surprise to me.]
7. Peninsula - 950.
8. Atlanta 948.
9. Vicksburg - 846.
10. Chancellorsville - 709.
11. Shenandoah - 514. [I feature in 35 of those, LOL.]
12. Franklin - 498.
13. Overland - 454.
14. Petersburg - 146.
15. Forgotten - 100.

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

The above is "slightly" misleading as some titles have been out much longer than others. Corinth for example was the first title, and it is over 20-25 years old. Albeit upgraded many times as have them all. Forgotten was the most recent title, maybe 2-3 years old. It might be more interesting to have the same information but only for games played since 1/1/2020. Can you do that?

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)

I agree, it is somewhat misleading and naturally favours the older titles rather than the newer ones. I'll look at a comparison from beginning of 2022 to now when I get the chance. That should equalise things a bit across titles and not disfavour the newer ones (Shenandoah [late 2019], Forgotten [late 2021]). It'll still be a little skewed because from 2022-2024 the Club ran a lot of tournaments and certain titles were favoured over others (in the interests of balanced scenarios and the theme of particular tournaments).

My best guess of the Top 5 2022-2024 (in order): Gettysburg; Chickamauga; Antietam; Shenandoah; Shiloh. I'll be interested to see how close my guess is to the final answer. [Petersburg will probably be at, or very near, the bottom. It contains many gloomy scenarios for one side of the Club. It's disturbing to see entire brigades with less than 1,000 men. True, but disturbing.]

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

Mathias,

Welcome to the club. As a recent recruit myself I can tell you I've had nothing but fun in this community. I lived in Kitzingen am Main for a couple years back in the 80's. I also enjoy Gary Grigsby's games. I have WitP AE but I've never really dug down into it. However, I've played quite a bit his War in the East titles.

Pleasure making your acquaintance and good luck!

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Loudscott
Lieutenant
Army of the Tennessee

The results are in for recorded plays 2022 to now.

1. Antietam - 312.
2. Gettysburg - 237.
3. Chickamauga - 190.
4. Shenandoah - 161.
5. Vicksburg - 132.
6. Shiloh - 106.
7. Overland - 95.
8. Forgotten - 91.
9. Chancellorsville - 78.
10. Ozark - 57.
11. Atlanta - 54.
12. Corinth - 52.
13. Peninsula - 41.
14. Franklin - 38.
15. Petersburg - 36.

Well, I got four out of five right (wrong order) and my fifth choice came in at #6. So, no cigar for me. No surprise that Petersburg came last (probably for the reasons stated earlier). Vicksburg at #5 was quite a surprise to me. I'll have to have another look at that title as I've only played one game there and that was a custom-made MP game. It looks like I've been missing out of something.
I suspect Shenandoah and Forgotten are a little bit higher than they would be if this was analysed in a few years' time; they probably got a small bonus from 'the lure of the new'.

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Paul Swanson
Lieutenant-General
First Division
First Corps
Army of Northern Virginia

I was right about Antietam and Gettysburg being #1 and #2

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Brigadier General Richard Walker
II Corps, 4th Division, 6th Brigade
Army of Tennessee
(JTS/WDS Scenario Designer)