ACW rules help

[Norm]

I have forces similar to what you describe and I think Black Powder and Valour & Fortitude work fine, just keep your brigade sizes small. I would go for 3 regiments rather than 5. For Black powder just increase the point at which a brigade breaks. For V&F use second edition, they are kinder to the smaller table / army.

I recently gave the Perry Valour & Fortitude ACW rules a spin and did a write up on my blog, which may be of interest.

LINK

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2024/02/valour-fortitude-rules-for-acw.html

For a One Hour Wargame scenario from Neil Thomas, last week I put down a 6 units V’s 3 unit game of napoleonics on a 4x4 with 28mm. That also has its own blog report.

Link

https://battlefieldswarriors.blogspot.com/2024/04/one-hour-wargames-in-1809.html

[Vette114]

So i'm in a similar situation in that i'm easing into the miniature hobby and would like to push some mini's around. I did have a question though for those that might know, it seems that fire and fury requires a HUGE number of bases for the scenarios in their books. Does this mean the rules are not as effective with smaller games? Or can the Fire and fury rules be just as effective with lets say a brigade and some artillery on a smaller map?

just curious what folks had to say.

[Dice Roller]

Honestly?
No. I'd say they can't. Truth is, Fire & Fury is based on big games.
Whether it's the Brigade version or the Regimental version, the base count is just the same (if you like, in the Brigade version a base is a regiment, and in the Regimental version a base is a company - not exactly, but more or less).
I'm sure someone will say you can play F&F with a low number of bases but, truth is, you won't be getting the best out of the experience. It would be leading you astray.

One option might be to try Osprey's 'Rebels & Patriots'. That has a figure count of about 50-60 per side. Can be played with either 15mm or 28mm. Figures are individually based, mind you. But you could multi-base them and mark casualties or, as your collection grows, you could just ping them off whatever bases you have and re-base them as units?
That'd get you going nice and quickly.

[vtsaogames]

How many bases are too many? Bloody Big Battles which has similarities to Fire & Fury but is stripped down and leaner could work for you. Each base can represent 1,000 - 2.000 troops. I have a First Bull Run scenario at the 500 troops or 12 guns per base level, uses about 40 bases per side. The rules cover various 19th century wars and have been stretched outside that boundary in both directions.

My review of the rules can be found here: http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2015/03/deep-fried-happy-mice-another-review-of.html

[ChrisBBB]

Cheers, Vincent - that's a much more substantial review of BBB than the AI managed:
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2024/05/just-for-fun-ai-review-of-bbb.html
Seriously, though ... collected reviews can be found here:
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2016/10/collected-reviews-of-bbb-bloody-big.html
And there are 15 ACW scenarios freely available from the BBB group files:
https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles

Good luck with finding the set of rules that meets your needs.

[General Lee]

not wanting to self promote here too much but this could be what you're looking for

[rumacara]

Folks, thanks again for your feedback and ideas and sorry for the late answer.
I also came across these rules wich i started reading and they seem nice and simple.

https://wofungames.com/

Lots of rules to explore.

[Vette114]

https://wofungames.com/

Lots of rules to explore.

The "mini's" are pretty interesting on here. might be a quicker way to get some stuff on the table.

[vtsaogames]

Folks, thanks again for your feedback and ideas and sorry for the late answer.
I also came across these rules wich i started reading and they seem nice and simple.

https://wofungames.com/

Lots of rules to explore.

I haven't played any of these rules but Andy Callan has been a prolific rules author and these look pretty good.

[Vette114]

Well I think the bigger problem is how easy it is to become a rules "collector." Not only are there fantastic older rules but there are tons of new rules with varying levels of support from the publishers, not to mention very usable free rules.

some of the rules I would love to play
1. guns at gettysburg
2. on to richmond
3. longstreet
4. pickets charge
5. fire and fury
6. Piquet Field of battle
7. hot lead cold steel
8. one hour wargames
9. brother against brother

and the list could go on and on. Since I will typically play solo I am leaning towards games with card driven mechanics like longstreet and piquet.

Spoiled for choices.......