Board Games Before computer games we had Avalon Hill Civil War board games.

If you're ever inclined to give Vassal a try, I would be happy to walk you through how to use it. You will be amazed at how easy it is to use, and best of all, when you want to play you can jump right in because all of the units and counters will be at their starting positions! I make this offer to anyone on here that would be interested.
I appreciate that, CT. And I will take you up on that when I do.
 
Leigh, I own all of the GCACW titles, from the first "Stonewall Jackson's Way in 1993 to the just-released "Hood Strikes North." This is easily my favorite game series of all. As for the lack of players local to you, have you ever tried using Vassal, which allows you to share a board either real time with someone any where in the world, or to send files back and forth? Here is a screenshot from a multiplayer campaign of 'Long Roads to Gettysburg:

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We had 8 players gathering online every week using Vassal for the mapboard, and Discord for the voice channel. It was a blast and we will be starting up another game in a month or so.

I just started playing around with Vassal recently since there are a number of interesting, old board games available using that system. Once I have time to play around with the program a bit, I may join in as well.

Ryan
 
I just started playing around with Vassal recently since there are a number of interesting, old board games available using that system. Once I have time to play around with the program a bit, I may join in as well.

Ryan
Any time, Ryan. The old AH Bull Run game (1981) module was recently updated so that the map and units look just like the physical board game. I used to play by mail with a gent from Maine and we'd use the stock market system to resolve combat. I need to start playing that one again.
 
OK, James, you shamed me into it. Here's my wargames closet...

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Here's why my CW boardgames mostly stay in that closet. When do have the time Johnny Reb III beats them out. Her are a few pix from a recent weekend of gaming near Nashville. First four Pea Ridge, then two Port Gibson.

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I´ve always been a miniature gamer at heart. I played more boardgame simulations when I was in college or the few years right after, when I didn´t have the space to store or play big miniature games. Funny, now that I certainly have the space, I rarely play anything bigger than a skirmish game of up to a dozen figs on a side. A couple of brigades with the ¨Black Powder¨ rules is about as big as I go. I do still love a good game of Richard Berg´s ¨Battle Cry,¨ though. That will take care of the big battalion itch.
 
Here's why my CW boardgames mostly stay in that closet. When do have the time Johnny Reb III beats them out. Her are a few pix from a recent weekend of gaming near Nashville. First four Pea Ridge, then two Port Gibson.

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Excellent terrain, Limberbox - would love to have you do a tutorial to learn how t oget up to this level. I'm working on terrain for a Fire and Fury regimental scenario of Leetown. What figures are you using in these pics?
 
I´ve always been a miniature gamer at heart. I played more boardgame simulations when I was in college or the few years right after, when I didn´t have the space to store or play big miniature games. Funny, now that I certainly have the space, I rarely play anything bigger than a skirmish game of up to a dozen figs on a side. A couple of brigades with the ¨Black Powder¨ rules is about as big as I go. I do still love a good game of Richard Berg´s ¨Battle Cry,¨ though. That will take care of the big battalion itch.
I'm the opposite, 7th Wis - ever since my 6th grade teacher introduced me to the Blue and Grey Quad series, I've had a thing for hexes. Monster games like Terrible Swift Sword or Bloody April regularly took over my family's ping pong table. But in recent years, I've been more drawn to miniatures. Between fielding a decent looking army, and building out terrain, its been a time commitment I couldn't afford until the kids got older . . . .
 
Excellent terrain, Limberbox - would love to have you do a tutorial to learn how t oget up to this level. I'm working on terrain for a Fire and Fury regimental scenario of Leetown. What figures are you using in these pics?
Haha! I wish! None of that fantastic terrain is mine. It is all the work of Gary Mills and Steven Bachelor from Kansas. They have painstakingly built three 3' x 6' sections that fit together into a 9' x 6' 3-D battle board to provide the entire battle (both the Leetown and Elkhorn Tavern halves). They will be putting on the battle at the Nashville "Nashcon" (nashcon.org) in late August. We were playtesting Gary's Elkhorn Tavern Day 2 scenario. (The Nashcon always has one large separate room dedicated to Civil War miniatures gaming, primarily Johnny Reb III, but also other rules systems.)

The figures were 15 mm, on unique magnetized trays also built by Gary, but I do not know the brand of the figures. There are many more pictures on the Johnny Reb Gaming Society's FaceBook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/59212167693/

Here is a picture I took looking up Tanyard Hollow as the Telegraph Road climbs up onto the plateau near the tavern. Spooky realistic!

Let me know if you need any OB help. I have quite a lot of research on strengths, armaments, etc., for Pea Ridge. Spent a week once at the National Archives pouring over the regimental order books, bimonthly reports and other materials related to the battle.

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I'm the opposite, 7th Wis - ever since my 6th grade teacher introduced me to the Blue and Grey Quad series, I've had a thing for hexes. Monster games like Terrible Swift Sword or Bloody April regularly took over my family's ping pong table. But in recent years, I've been more drawn to miniatures. Between fielding a decent looking army, and building out terrain, its been a time commitment I couldn't afford until the kids got older . . . .
I´ve always had an odd wargaming philosophy. Sometimes less is more. It seems I want to game with fewer pieces while everyone around me is buying and painting hundreds more. It might be because I solo a lot (even when I have opponents I tend to have a solo scenario set up in some weird setting others don´t want to game in). When you solo, how many units you physically have to move matters. I set up a modest guerilla action last week that involved 3 figures on one side - and 2 on the other! And it was a very close thing with a lot of surprises!
 
Haha! I wish! None of that fantastic terrain is mine. It is all the work of Gary Mills and Steven Bachelor from Kansas. They have painstakingly built three 3' x 6' sections that fit together into a 9' x 6' 3-D battle board to provide the entire battle (both the Leetown and Elkhorn Tavern halves). They will be putting on the battle at the Nashville "Nashcon" (nashcon.org) in late August. We were playtesting Gary's Elkhorn Tavern Day 2 scenario. (The Nashcon always has one large separate room dedicated to Civil War miniatures gaming, primarily Johnny Reb III, but also other rules systems.)

The figures were 15 mm, on unique magnetized trays also built by Gary, but I do not know the brand of the figures. There are many more pictures on the Johnny Reb Gaming Society's FaceBook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/59212167693/

Here is a picture I took looking up Tanyard Hollow as the Telegraph Road climbs up onto the plateau near the tavern. Spooky realistic!

Let me know if you need any OB help. I have quite a lot of research on strengths, armaments, etc., for Pea Ridge. Spent a week once at the National Archives pouring over the regimental order books, bimonthly reports and other materials related to the battle.

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Thanks for the offer - I may take you up on that. My intro to the battle was playing SPI's Pea Ridge game way back when - always amazed at Van Dorn's negligence and Curtis's nimbleness. I spent my 50th birthday walking the battlefield - the board really captures the terrain of the Hollow/Tanyard area.
 
I´ve always had an odd wargaming philosophy. Sometimes less is more. It seems I want to game with fewer pieces while everyone around me is buying and painting hundreds more. It might be because I solo a lot (even when I have opponents I tend to have a solo scenario set up in some weird setting others don´t want to game in). When you solo, how many units you physically have to move matters. I set up a modest guerilla action last week that involved 3 figures on one side - and 2 on the other! And it was a very close thing with a lot of surprises!

I've found it totally depends on your audience\mates. A skirmish game with 6 players each having 10 figures can be just as great as a 2-4 person megabattle with 20 units per side. It's all about the comraderie (and the tales retold for years afterward, of course!)
 
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Thanks for the offer - I may take you up on that. My intro to the battle was playing SPI's Pea Ridge game way back when - always amazed at Van Dorn's negligence and Curtis's nimbleness. I spent my 50th birthday walking the battlefield - the board really captures the terrain of the Hollow/Tanyard area.
Unfortunately the time of my visit was a little later in the year after the trees had leafed out, but I agree!
 
I've found it totally depends on your audience\mates. A skirmish game with 6 players each having 10 figures can be just as great as a 2-4 person megabattle with 20 units per side. It's all about the comraderie (and the tales retold for years afterward, of course!)
Oh absolutely! And if you are trying to introduce beginners, keeping the numbers down helps them not to be intimidated. ¨Always leave ´em wanting more!¨
 
Any time, Ryan. The old AH Bull Run game (1981) module was recently updated so that the map and units look just like the physical board game. I used to play by mail with a gent from Maine and we'd use the stock market system to resolve combat. I need to start playing that one again.
I bought that game awhile back. It is still unpunched. Good game, I take it?
 
I bought that game awhile back. It is still unpunched. Good game, I take it?
Yes. It didn't get alot of love when it came out - could be that the graphics were just average. But AH's General ran a Series Replay on it over 2 issues and I got hooked on the game after reading through the replay. Since it is an I Go - You Go turn system, it would be ideal for PBEM or Vassal file exchange.

Activation requires 'active' leaders, and there's only a handful of those - they're especially scarce on the Union side so you have to plot your moves with that in mind. The Combat Results Table is fairly bloody, but another nice feature is the ability to rally units that have been eliminated, a regiment at a time.

The Consimworld topic for Bull Run doesn't have a bunch of posts (741 to be exact), but the ones from the last year or so include replays with screenshots of the board...makes me want to get a game going via Vassal.
 
You can find quite a view overview and review videos of these old games on youtube. Especially look for Gilbert Collin's posts as well as The Players Aid. They did a review that convinced me to buy "Lincoln" which I still haven't yet played. And MarcoOmnigamer has done some really good reviews of Civil War games (and much more). A video he did prompted me to buy a Shiloh game that came out a few years ago.
 
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