Why the Great Campaigns of the Civil War is the best Civil War simulation series around

[@steveoh9285]

Excellent short video Gilbert, and for the record I fully agree with you.

[@charleslatora5750]

Yes. I concur.

[@Scout1134]

A very helpful video that shows the comparison of older and newer systems!

[@charleslatora5750]

Very insightful sir. I always love your videos. I have been mostly a World War 2 gamer and have stayed away from American Civil War and Napoleonics. They always just seem too complicated but I've got three Civil War games coming and I'm going to dive into them and I'm going to figure them out no matter how long it takes me. Shiloh from Worthington, across five April's victory games and Stonewall Jackson's way Avalon Hill. Thanks again for another great video.

[@strelnikoff1632]

Serious open invite Gilbert - if you come to Atlanta I will give you a complete tour of all the battlefields , whichever ones you want, in the Atlanta area or N Georgia.

[@2000spqr]

any game that uses the mechanics of equipment breakdown/repair. fatigue etc.. is a promising feature!

[@e-4airman124]

you are correct as usual Mr. Collins thank you again

[@strelnikoff1632]

Absolutely correct Gil! Makes me wanna break out my copy of Atlanta is Ours. I live almost right on top of the New Hope Church battlefield

[@bmen6401]

Great video, thanks sir!

[@strelnikoff1632]

You are so right Gil. Fired me up to get my copy of Atlanta is Ours out!

[@WilliamKing-hf8lc]

Man the good ole days!!! I had tons of Squad Leader campaigns! I had a nice set up...

[@sstewart116]

thanks for the comparison

[@LawrenceLong-m2d]

Interesting. Wouldn't mind playing.

[@Jubilo1]

As always, an interesting video. The difference between a game and a simulation.

[@SessionsDave]

Nicely done!

[@josepha9313]

Bought Here Come the Rebels on eBay a number of years ago. The game seemed too beautiful to actually open and play it so I just left it in the shrink wrap. S&T Cedar Mountain is also a well-designed game that I couldn't bring myself to punch. I prefer mounted maps vs these folded paper maps you get today. I suppose I could have mounted it myself, but another game that I decided not to play.

[@spr5858]

Bit late to the party. But i am a wargamer both miniatures, PC and board games. And mostly ACW now a days. I love this series and looking to collect

[@johnsy4306]

Another thing you could cover is the initiative system. How does that make GCACW a great system to simulate ACW campaigns?

[@harrygoatleaf4032]

The trade off is that the map gets littered with markers

[@lousheehan9825]

No new videos as of late? What’s up?

[@johnsy4306]

Have you played Great Battles of the American Civil War (GBACW) from GMT? I know the scale is completely different but I'm curious if you have and what you think of it if you have

[@XLEGION1]

Hey John. Yes, I played these to death back in the 70's. Unfortunately, each designer felt compelled to 'add' or 'change something' so that by the end of say the last 5 titles or so I barely recognized it. At one time I had owned them all. I think I have only two left. When a successful 'system' comes out, I wish to God they would leave them alone. But they never do, and end up 'breaking it' in my opinion.

[@johnsy4306]

@@XLEGION1 GBACW from GMT? They have a series rule book now.

[@XLEGION1]

@@johnsy4306 Yes, I know that but when they went with the 'chit pull' system, I bailed out.

[@warrenbruhn5888]

I owned 14 of the earliest GBACW system starting with the SPI ones and getting into the TSR games. Played about 7 of them in the 1980's. Introducing chit pull and changing the strength points from 100 men to 50 men changed the feel of the games. The modern GMT series is very well produced, and has many small battles available. I watched a couple in playtest January 2023. But the modern GMT system is more complicated, with more to do to execute combat.

[@jeffhale2982]

I love the system and have the first six games, but watching your march/fatigue example, it makes me wonder, 1864 Civil War veterans become triple-fatigued and disorganized after walking only 14 miles in three days? I wonder if there could be some minimum mileage for fatigue purposes, like 1 to 4 miles no, 5 to 7 miles yes. Even I can walk 14 miles in three days without becoming disorganized, and I’m 73!

[@XLEGION1]

I think that is too narrow a view Jeff. The fatigue does not just represent marching and nothing else.

[@philhatfield2282]

And to clarify, all of the activations in GCACW that he demonstrated was ALL IN ONE DAY. At the end of the day each division recovers 3 fatigue levels, but those divisions that got to high fatigue levels become "exhausted" which can diminish their ability to do things until they rest for a day. So there are multiple activations during a single day in GCACW.

[@nathanwailes]

Are there any other significant differences in the system other than the way movement is simulated?

[@XLEGION1]

Yes, actually there are quite a few. The combat system is as comprehensive as the movement. There are different 'levels of attack'. You can have attacks on the march that can be 'hasty', 'prepared' or in the case when you are in position, an all out attack. To get a co-ordinated 'army level' attack you need the army commander nearby in order to attempt it. And I say 'attempt' because in this game nothing is automatic. It really puts you in the 'command seat'. You may give the orders but they won't necessarily be carried out the way you desire. It is very good as a solitaire game because of this. It also provides a 'wonderful narrative' and I think that is why I really like the series.

[@poMocnyMichal]

I do like manouver aspect of GCACW, but I HATE (with capital letters) the combat. It's convoluted, with too many "free ride results". I hate it so much that I'm working on a set of home-made changes. PhD dissertation is slowing me down, so there's nothing serious at the moment, but it's my big gaming-related goal ;)

[@XLEGION1]

That's a curious comment. If you mean there are battles where one side gets away 'scot free' as to casualties I agree with you. I think the combat system has evolved over the years (making it more complicated) than it was. That isn't necessarily a good thing. In their zeal to make changes and cure abuse in the original system they have complicated the combat quite a bit and it still can give lop sided results. But I play this game for the 'maneuver' which is the games 'strong suit'. The best player usually wins, not the luckiest.

[@poMocnyMichal]

@@XLEGION1 True. And while the "end game" losses are roughly plausible, way too many combat results are not.

[@XLEGION1]

@@poMocnyMichal True. But no game 'can be all things'. It CAN'T be an excellent simulation for tactics AND an excellent simulation for strategic battles. There has to be simplification or abstraction somewhere. For the GCACW it is the tactical battles. Personally, I would have liked to see a tad more simple system for the battles but the game has changed and been altered over the years. Not necessarily a good thing in my opinion. But, since it does so well in the strategic aspects, it's my game of choice for simulation campaigns. I still maintain that the narrative is excellent and it is usually the 'better player' that wins the game. No game is lost by a single die roll.

[@poMocnyMichal]

@@XLEGION1 True (this word seems to be our lait motif!). But I think the system would work better with Fire Tables based on SPs with couple of modifiers due to artillery, etc.. You roll in your's chart, opponent rolls in his and voila. You both suffer losses, the charts are simpler than default ones, etc. That's the simplified reasoning behind my homerules. They do need more tests with my gaming group, but so far so good.

[@wfhdad]

I do like the games, but have to agree, its a lot of steps for combat - probably no worse than ASL but lets not go there

[@skippen]

Your audio is very quiet.

[@dilladinbutler5811]

Just out of curiosity, where did your fascination with the War of the Rebellion start?

[@XLEGION1]

That started back in 1961, when my dad (who owned a grocery store), brought home those Fleer bubble gum cards on the Civil War. 88 cards in the set and I still have them today. Back in 1961 was also the 100th anniversary of the war, so there was lots of TV shows, specials, comic books etc around. That's what did it.

[@dilladinbutler5811]

That sounds like a great time to be alive. I'm interested to see what happens when the 200th anniversary comes around.

[@dilladinbutler5811]

Did you see that Worthington games is putting out a 2nd edition of the Seige of Qubec? Looks really good. I'm glad to see that they went back to it

[@cadjebushey6524]

@@XLEGION1 I recall in designer notes for the second edition of Axis and allies 1942, Larry harris Jr mentioned how his father/grandfather was watching American civil war veterans on parade. A month ago my dad came to me with a couple American civil war books left behind by my late grandfather.

[@XLEGION1]

@@cadjebushey6524 Cool!