CSW Forum Boardgaming *INDIVIDUAL GAMES AND GAME SERIES Discussion Era: Gunpowder American Civil War Great Campaigns of the American Civil War series (MMP/TAHGC)
Preorder Thunder on the Mississippi here.
Avalon Hill and Multi-Man Publishing's operational level simulations of ACW campaigns. The system and games were designed by Joe Balkoski, Ed Beach, Mike Belles and Chris Withers. Games released so far are:
Stonewall Jackson's Way (2nd Manassas campaign) Here Come the Rebels (Antietam campaign) Roads to Gettysburg Stonewall in the Valley Stonewall's Last Battle (Chancellorsville) On To Richmond! (Peninsula campaign) Grant Takes Command (Overland campaign) Battle Above the Clouds (Chickamauga/Chattanooga) Stonewall Jackson's Way II (Reprint of first game; includes 1st Manassas) Atlanta Is Ours Roads to Gettysburg II: Lee Strikes North (Reprint of HCR, RTG and RWH
On to Richmond II
Hood Strikes North
Three GCACW magazines have been released by MMP also: Skirmisher 1 (introduces standard basic game rules and includes counters to upgrade first 4 games) Skirmisher 2 (includes modules Rebels in the White House (RWH) and Burnside Takes Command)
Skirmisher 3 (centered around the module Atlanta Is Ours)
Skirmisher 4 (centered around Stonewall Jackson's Way II)
Check out the new location for the official GCACW web site by clicking here
Learning GCACW for the first time? Look at Jay Meyer's GCACW site with a tutorial for newcomers (and a whole lot more) or at the Video series from Patrick Pence
-- GCACW Series Rules v1.5 -- AIO Errata -- RTG II Errata Battle Above the Clouds items of note: -- Playaids to help you keep your BAC stacks organized -- Here is the BAC Vassal Module -- And the Cyberboard Gamebox -- Charts & Tables card, errata incorporated (PDF) -- Finally, the Errata and FAQ (PDF)
Stonewall Jackson's Way II: -- Errata
Atlanta Is Ours items of note: -- Supply, Cohesion, Command Posture detailed explanation Long Roads to Gettysburg materials: -- First 4 items of 'New Campaigns' section on this page.
Players and Events: Google Map
GCACW page at Multi-Man Publishing
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The Atlanta Campaign: Opening Moves
Going to try to push through some of the Atlanta Campaign solo, and share the action with you guys. This is a true monster of a campaign game, so we'll see how far we get.
So here we go: May 10, in Northwest Georgia.
McPherson's Army of the Tennessee opens the game having swung around the Union right, through Snake Creek Gap and in perfect position to threaten the critical railroad bridge at Resaca.
The first initiatives of Turn 1 are given to Hood, who deploys Hindman, Walker, Cleburne and Cantey in line to stop McPherson.
Turn1-HoodDeploys
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The Atlanta Campaign: End of Turn 1
Cleburne holds off a probe by Dodge, and the Rebs clean out their depot near Dalton, but the turn ends early before Sherman can accomplish all he hopes for.
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Thanks Justin, appreciate the effort!
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The Atlanta Campaign: Turn 2
All out maneuver breaks out on Turn 2.
Johnston pulls off a night march to pull away from Dalton. Hardee forms a nice right wing to Hood (facing west against McPherson).
Sherman divides his forces.
Thomas takes Howard and Schofield down the east side of Rocky Face Ridge, while Sherman (with Hooker and Palmer) swing around to the right.
Turn2
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Are those pics from vassal playtest?
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Maps look good. I will be leading a tour of that area in just over a month...
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Yes - this is the VASSAL play test kit.
The maps are production art. The counters are not.
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The Atlanta Campaign: Turn 3
Turn 3 is another quick one, much to Sherman's chagrin. He did get his wagons moving along, and Hooker and Palmer are approaching the Oostanaula.
Turn3
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The Atlanta Campaign: Turn 4 - Strat Cycle!
Turn 4 was pretty much a Union disaster. The Rebs won the first few inits and shifted their lines - on the first few turns Hardee and Hood can activate interspersed units, but with that freedom ending, it's important to have the two corps sorted.
The Yanks then got two or three moves to try to tighten up their supply and cohesion, but double 1's forced an early end.
That left most of Sherman's right flank out of supply, as he was unable to build a forward depot.
The supply state, in turn, is going to lead to four passive turns for the Yanks - it's not the worst thing, as it should buy Sherman time to reorganize for a push over the first river.
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The Atlanta Campaign: Turn 8
Turns 5-8 flew by, with Sherman in a passive posture. The Yanks intended to use the cycle to regroup and organize the supply lines.
But on Turn 7 - on the first attempt - Butterfield's division got a bridge built at Liberty Church (needed a 1 or a 2 on the die).
Polk slid Loring over to block the crossing to start Turn 8, but Hooker led a +2 attack for a net +3 result, winning a spot over the river.
The turn - and the strategic cycle - ended just after that.
Sherman didn't pass his cohesion check - no additional command points this turn - but he did manage to get the boys active for the coming cycle at a reasonable cost. The entire army is also in supply.
Lots of action coming in the upcoming four turns - with Sherman across the river, Johnston is either going to have to scrape together a line to block, or he's going to have to pull back from Resaca.
The rail bridge at Resaca is key. The Rebs for sure want to put it to the torch to gum things up for Sherman's supply line, but Johnston can't do that until his entire army is safely across the Oostanaula.
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Turn8.png (1033 KB) (910 Downloads) |
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Ideally the Rebs build a pontoon bridge at Resaca (historically they did that as I recall). That allows them to destroy the RR bridge early on. If they don't have a pontoon then it can be very dicey/lucky to destroy the RR bridge after they cross. It can be tough to have the units in the right spot & turns though to do that.
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The Atlanta Campaign: Turn 9
The May 18th turn sure felt like the first one where the Yanks were able to accomplish all they hoped to do before the dice ran out.
The Rebs opened the turn with a string of inits - that allowed Polk to gather Canty and Loring - along with Jackson's cavalry division - and build a line to oppose Hooker.
Thomas arrived with reinforcements, though, and the bridgehead seems secure. It's really tough to work up good counter attacks for the Rebs, and you certainly feel like you're risking your defensive position if you dare stick your nose out to attack.
Makes one feel for Johnston.
With Hooker's one-hex crossing feeling pretty secure, Sherman has several other divisions poised to make bridging rolls. Getting Palmer's XIV corp across would be helpful.
On other fronts - Howard and Schofield continue to stare at Hardee.
Wheeler for the Rebs and McCook and Stoneman for the Yanks reorganized their lines a bit on the far left flank.
Turn9
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Re: Ideally the Rebs build a pontoon bridge at Resaca (historically they did that as I recall).
It's been on Johnston's to-do list. He had freed up one of Polk's guys from the main line to work on it, right before Butterfield got across the river ... so that guy got sucked away to emergency duty.
The Rebs just added two manpower to the guy in Resaca, so they'll start making bridging rolls on the coming turn.
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Ideally the Rebs build a pontoon bridge at Resaca (historically they did that as I recall). That allows them to destroy the RR bridge early on. If they don't have a pontoon then it can be very dicey/lucky to destroy the RR bridge after they cross. It can be tough to have the units in the right spot & turns though to do that. Correct. They built the pontoon bridge after the RR and the Federal Road bridge were taken under Union artillery fire. this has been interesting.
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This is great! Thank you for posting it. I am just reading of this part of the campaign in the Official Records.
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I have had 2 books on my shelf for many years, Army of the Heartland by Thomas Connelly.
What's the ruling on these?
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Army of the Heartland by Thomas Connelly essential reading if you want to get a handle on the CSA Western theater.
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Seeking a scanned copy of SJW I rulebook please
Hello all
I just picked up a cheap copy of Stonewall Jackson's Way (1) at Cancon 2017. On opening it up, I've discovered that it doesn't have a rulebook. Silly me for not checking before purchasing.
I've had a look at the GCACW online resources linked to in the forum's header. I can find the standard rules v1.2, but not the game-specific rules for SJW1. If someone is able to provide me with a scanned set or hardcopy, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks!
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Andrew, I just emailed you a link to a scanned copy of the rules.
Steve
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CSW Forum Boardgaming *INDIVIDUAL GAMES AND GAME SERIES Discussion Era: Gunpowder American Civil War Great Campaigns of the American Civil War series (MMP/TAHGC)
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