American Civil War Rules for an Army Level wargame with 2mm or 6mm miniatures

ACW does not use a turn sequence. It has a “variable length bound” instead of fixed turns. ACW uses an order system. Each command -brigade, division and corps - operates under orders. Orders should contain reference to a ground feature or specific enemy force. They may not be conditional or contain the word “if”. A Change of Situation (COS) may be enemy forces appear, you are fired upon, you receive a message etc. COS happen at every level, so a COS for a brigade is also a COS for every higher level formation. The rules list 13 kinds of COS and provide for each a set of possible responses. Responses include sending a message, taking defensive action, etc. Movement is simultaneous. There is no “movement phase.” Players simply begin acting on orders until a COS occurs.

This is a very interesting set of rules. There are major “gray areas” but I guess given the nature of the rules that is to be expected. They are clearly meant to be more of a skeleton. For example, they do not spell out if you remove strips or just track casualties on a roster. They refer to many events but do not spell out how they are to be handled - that is left up to the ruling of an umpire or to be worked out between the players.

These are especially tempting for playing big battles in small spaces. At 22 cm to the mile, Gettysburg would fit on a 6x6 table!