Simplicity in ACW

[chalimacos]

A variant for Simplicity in Practice (Battlegames issue 23) for the American Civil War

FIRING RANGES

• Infantry 15 cm
• Cavalry 10 cm (mounted or dismounted)
• Artillery 40 cm   

RELUCTANCE TO CLOSE-IN

All infantry and cavalry units that wish to charge must take a test (Elites +1). Roll a d6:

• 1. Unit advances half way to the target of the charge, stops and fires with 2 dice. There is no melee.
• 2. Unit advances half way to the target of the charge, stops and the target tests to see if they retreat 10cm (50% chance, 16.66% for elites and units in cover). There is no melee regardless of the result.
• 3-6 Charge normally

CAVALRY DUAL ROLE

• Mounted: They act for all purposes as LC in SiP
• Dismounted: They act for all purposes as LI in SiP except they cannot interpenetrate.

Movement deduction for mounting/dismounting 5cm. Only one change of status is allowed per turn. They may fire in the turn they dismount but with 2 dice (in successive turns 4 dice).

LIGHT COVER (rail fences, etc) For every score of 5-6 the hit is not registered.

ROLL FOR TACTICAL DOCTRINE OF EACH GENERAL (Optional)

• 1-3 Old school (Napoleonic): Cavalry can charge COI as in SiP
• 4-6 Firepower school: Cavalry cannot charge COI (not even on the flank) unless there's a 2 Demoralisation Points difference in favor of Cavalry. i.e. Cavalry has 0 DP and COI 2 DP, or Cavalry has 1 DP and COI 3 DP

All other rules as in Simplicity in Practice

[Ray Rivers]

If you are looking for simplicity (which some call "beer and pretzels" rules), the best I have ever used, and still use to this day is Rally 'Round the Flag, published in 1976.

For example:

The rules are pretty simple. Since almost everyone uses a rifled musket, the firing range is the same.

When a charge is called, the attacker and defender both take morale tests.

All the information you need, such as casualty tables (fire and melee), movement table, morale modifiers, etc. are all printed on one sheet of reinforced paper.

We used to play ACW battles on a ping pong table with 6 people (each commanding a division) and finish the battle in an afternoon.

 

[chalimacos]

Thanks for the recommendation, Ray Rivers! Not on my radar, but I've found a summary here:

https://deepfriedhappymice.com/html/rd_rally_round_the_flag.html