Pages

Sunday 11 April 2021

The Portable American Civil Wargame book: Work has begun!

Some time ago, I mentioned that I hope to publish a PORTABLE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR book in the not too distant future. It will be a cooperative effort, with David Crook providing the naval wargame rules, Gary Sheffield the land warfare rules, and me acting as editor and compiler of the background information that the book will contain.

I had already prepared to template for the book's manuscript, and very recently David provided me with the draft of his rules. I am currently proof reading them as I add them to the manuscript, and this will take me a couple of days to do as I don't want to rush this. Once this is complete, the manuscript will be passed back to David for him to check.

I hope that I will receive Gary's contribution in the not too distant future, and once that has bee added to the manuscript, I will be able to add my bits.

The plan is to publish the book sometime around August or September this year, but the timescale is not fixed and may well stretch by a month or two. In the meantime, I will keep regular blog readers up to date with the progress I am making.

18 comments:

  1. Just in time for my birthday. I eagerly await ordering a copy of the ACW rules to take some 2mm models for a spin. I've had my eye on the period for a while!

    All the best,
    Steven

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steven,

      The American Civil War has been a period that I have dipped in and out of ever since I bought my first boxes of Airfix ACW figures. I am sure that you will enjoy using the PACW rules ... once the book is published!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. I only dabbled with this conflict (and don’t wargame anything other that WW2 these days) but I will no doubt put scorch marks on my credit card when this comes out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve8,

      I’m hoping that the next book will be as good as the previous ones. You never know, it might well tempt you to dabble in the ACW again!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Looking forward to this - have to make a bit of space on the book shelf though. A long term fan of ACW but sure I can use a different slant on the period. Also, glad to see you are obviously feeling better. Best wishes. Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim Walkley (Jim),

      The book will include both land and naval wargame rules so that players can fight a range of battles.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Will the land rules include different levels, like those in your Napoleonic book?

    It will be interesting to see how PACW fares in the American market. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arthur1815 (Arthur),

      The land rules may well include several different levels ... and will probably include a Snakes & Ladder campaign.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Forgive my ignorance Bob, but will it stand alone or do I need to purchase the original PW book in order to play?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jfidz,

      Like all my previous books, the rules in this book will be stand alone and won’t require the purchase of earlier books.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Interesting though certainly for land combat I have been making my own attempts to devise a good PACW rule set for each level of command based on the Portable Napoleonic Wargame. Probably something I will return to soon as I have been rereading Paddy Griffith and a number of history books about the American Civil War.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dave,

      Funnily enough, I have been thinking of doing something similar ... although my initial thinking was to only have a divisional-level set of rules in the book.

      Paddy Griffith’s book is one of my main sources of inspiration, even though some Americans think that he undermined some of their deeply-held views about the war.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Bob,
    I am really looking forward to this one. I "dabble" with the ACW, but always feel like I'm missing something, so I put it down and come back later. There are some good rulesets out there, but maybe ACW it just needs your perspective to make it more interesting. It's always good to look forward to your next book.
    Dale

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dalethewargamer,

      I’ve been dabbling in ACW wargaming since the late 1960s, and I hope that my take on it will take your fancy.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  8. Bob,

    I'm extremely happy to hear about your next book! Ever-helpful as I am, I would like to ask about an extremely little-known aspect of the ACW: Our recent former Idiot-in-Chief said something to the effect that the Patriots seized airfields during the Revolution. Surely by the time of the Civil War the Union alone must have controlled MANY more airfields; but whether the Confederacy had any at all is still a matter of dispute. Will your book cover this explosive issue?

    An enquiring mind wants to know, and sends his best regards,

    Chris Johnson

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris,

      Funny that you should mention it, but I’m trying to interest Osprey in publishing a book entitled AERONAUTS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. It will cover the use of air power by both the Union and Confederate forces, and besides detailed uniform details, examples of the aircraft they used, and details of the airfields used by both sides, it will have a short introduction written by Mr, Tronald Dump, the well-know historical expert. ;^)

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. Please note that any comments that are spam or contain phishing messages or that come from Google Accounts that are 'Unknown' will be deleted.