So maybe it's time for the ACW

[Gusington]

I am looking to take my family to Gettysburg some time this summer.

The battle there coincided with the most fascinating events of the ACW [to me]: the NYC draft riots.

Until very recently the history of NYC during the war was something that was totally swept under the rug. For example I did not know until just a few years ago that NYC almost seceded from the Union because of its tremendously strong ties with the cotton trade. I was obviously not going to learn about that in NYC public schools when I was a kid 25 years ago.

For those who have played Scourge of War, is it really like a Total War game set during the ACW?

[Grim.Reaper]

For those who have played Scourge of War, is it really like a Total War game set during the ACW?

I wouldn't say that.  No strategic map included, plus I believe the game feels much more "tactivally correct".  You can even choose what command levels you want to command (i.e. brigade, divison, corps, etc.).  To me the best tactical ACW game out there.  But you don't have to listen to me, try the demo and see what it is like:)  It is well worth the time!

[Gusington]

 I don't know if I could handle anything more than a brigade.

Without a campaign map are the scenarios locked together sequentially or somesuch?

[Fitz]

   I like the idea that I can read about the Bloody Lane at Antietam for instance and with just a day's drive, I can stand at that very spot, as number of the  battlefields have been preserved quite well. 

[Gusington]

^Congrats on your retirement, geezer.

[GJK]

Toonces, if the boardgames that you have are some of The Gamers Civil War Brigade Series of games, I did a number of VASSAL modules for those.  See:

www.vassalengine.org/wiki/User:Gjk

I enjoy that series of games and actually just pulled most of those out the other day as my son now has an interest in gaming some of those. 

[mikeck]

I don't know if I could handle anything more than a brigade.

Without a campaign map are the scenarios locked together sequentially or somesuch?

Gus, yes, the scenarios are sequentially locked. But, there is a mod to unlock then I believe. Also, once you play a scenario, you can then play it whenever you want. Frankly, I spend most of my time playing "sandbox" games where you choose a map, OOB, command level and whether you are attacking, defending or meeting engagement...think "skirmish"

Also, its not like total war. The AI is good and the movement of troops is slow and deliberate involving the use of couriers. Check out the demo.

[Toonces]

I like that the war was fought in our own backyard and I know where all of the places are.

I tried getting into Napoleon's Campaigns (Chandler) for like the third time last weekend and I'm bewildered by all the strange names and places.  I remember I was reading a paragraph and I finished a sentence, went back and re-read it again and realized that I had no idea who the three generals and three places mentioned in it were.  I don't have that problem with ACW.

Actually, I have to book right here, bookmarked where I stopped:

"After completing Cervoni's destruction, and leaving an adequate cavalry force to protect Genoa, Beaulieu's forces were to fall back on Alessandria, switch to the valley of the Bormida, and advance once more in support of Colli and Argenteau for the coup de grace." 

I was like, "HUH?!"

[MetalDog]

It's ancient, and I found the sequencing odd, but, Civil War Generals 2 was a GREAT play for me. 

[Barthheart]

^See now that's why I like WWII stuff... because I get to learn world geography. Always been a geography buff.
I guess I know. So much of NA geography it never interested me.

As for turning points in Canadian history we have the war of 1812, the Louis Real Rebellion, WWI, WWII, and the FLQ in the '70's. Gots lots of those in history in school... well except the FLQ.. got most of that from my dad who was mobilized with the rest of the armed forces....  :P

Thanks again for all the points of view.

[Seytan]

Slightly OT, but I have to ask. What do Americans find so interesting/fascinating about the ACW? I mean wasn't one of, if not THE, darkest periods in American history? I'm just surprised it isn't swept under the rug and forgotten. But maybe that's because I'm an outsider. Just curious....  :)

And believe it or not ever so often some unlucky soul digs up a civil war mine or artillery shell that still goes boom. As a aside to this, The Civil War also saw the first submarine to  successfully sink its target, the  40-foot-long Hunley , which was operated by eight men turning a hand crank attached to her propeller shaft. The Hunley sank and was recovered three times during trial runs before it was successful. On Feb. 16, 1864, under the cover of darkness, the Hunley sank the USS Housatonic off Charleston. Accounts differ as to the reason, but the Hunley sank soon after sinking the Housatonic . It was discovered in May 1995 off the coast of Charleston and was recovered in August 2000.

I watched the team clean this thing out in a television special, they actually found the coin that stopped a bullet carried by

A romantic legend concerning George Dixon and his gold coin has been told for more than a century. Dixon is said to have been given the gold coin by his sweetheart, Queenie Bennett. She asked him to carry it for good luck and as a token of her affection. Dixon kept the coin always with him, and at the Battle of Shiloh it was in his trousers pocket. During the fierce fighting on April 6, 1862, Dixon was struck in the upper thigh by a minié ball. When he examined the wound, he discovered the bullet had struck the coin directly in the center, bending the coin but saving his leg by absorbing much of the impact.

Following the recovery of H. L. Hunley, the story was partially verified by the discovery of the gold coin with Dixon's remains. Forensic anthropologist Diane France was hired to study the recovered skull of Dixon. Reconstructing Dixon's appearance, she found the man in a photograph Queenie Bennett's family had always presumed to be Dixon was not him. The inscription on the coin fails to mention Bennett, but it does confirm that it stopped a bullet at Shiloh. The United States $20 double eagle coin was minted in 1860 and is clearly deformed from the bullet's impact. Both the coin itself and a wound on Dixon's femur were found to have traces of lead. The reverse of the coin is inscribed with four short lines:

Shiloh
April 6, 1862
My life Preserver
G. E. D.

[MarkShot]

I've been thinking about putting CWC (basically SMG + SMA) back on my laptop while my desktop is in storage. That was my first ACW game and I still think it is a lot of fun.

[Nefaro]

For those who have played Scourge of War, is it really like a Total War game set during the ACW?

No.  Far Far better.   The pace .. the command restrictions.. all of it just blows TW's tactical battles away by miles. 

Download the demo.. you can play all of the Tutorial scenarios and check it out.  Do it now!  Because it's that awesome.

[Grim.Reaper]

Someone over at Matrix was discussing the old Frank Hunter ACW game, I forgot all about that one.  Actually found the game files at the following link.  Even back then then game had a pretty decent map and game concepts.  Would love to see this one updated someday.  Still runs fine on my win7 machine.

http://www.thurb.com/games/acw/intro.htm

[junk2drive]

Toonces, strange names and places? You don't find all the French, Spanish and Native American place names strange?