Remote Gaming: Call to Arms

Having survived the rigors of hosting the five remote wargames of the AWI battle of Shoemaker's Bridge (see: the various battle reports), I am sending out a call-to-arms for readers interested in giving an ACW remote game a try.

The ACW battle selected for this game with be the battle for Brawner's Farm set in the opening stages of the Battle of Second Manassas in 1862.  While the Battle of Brawner's Farm has seen action on my gaming table before (many years ago!), armed with new information and a new way to deliver the game, it is time to revisit the opening action of Second Manassas.  The archives from these earlier actions can be found at Action at Brawner's Farm.

These earlier battles were fought on a non-gridded table using Regimental Fire and Fury.  While I have yet to decide whether I will go the gridded or non-gridded table route for this game, the rules in play will be my adaptation of Field of Honor.  For those readers that participated in the Shoemaker's Bridge battles, these rules will be very familiar and not complicated.  As a bonus, the rules seemed to work well in a remote setting.

The battlefield may look a little different from these earlier games especially if the battle is translated from non-grid to grid.  Gridded gaming worked well in the AWI remote games, so I favor that approach for now.  The OB may be modified slightly too but enough to keep four players engaged with meaningful commands.  

So, if you participated in one of the Shoemaker's Bridge remote games, enjoyed it, and wish to tackle another remote game, I welcome you to sign up. If you are interested in giving a remote game via Zoom a try with no pressure, I encourage you to throw your hat into the ring as well.  The battle could handle more than four active players.  Since a number of commands enter as reinforcements, I think it better to have all players engaged in action from the start.  Therefore, I place a four player limit on the game.  Perhaps this limit could be expanded in a replay?  Players will command at least one brigade.  

The battle will be fought in 10mm, likely on a roughly 6'x6' playing area.  Tentatively, I plan the game for Saturday, October 9 at 10:00 Pacific (1:00pm Eastern and 6:00pm British) time.  The 1000-1300-1800 start seems to work well for my east coast and UK participants.  Of course, I may adjust the date/time to accommodate the four players' schedules.

So that I have email addresses from those wishing to participate and I have a list from which to draw a sample of four, please submit your request to participate to the email address on my Profile page.  State your preference for side and if you want to participate as an individual or join with a friend as a team.  Team play might be interesting.     

I plan to send out a scenario packet by 02 OCT providing game details.  Players should then have ample time to plan strategy and tactics, and ask any pre-game questions.

As in the Shoemaker Bridge series of games, enough interest may encourage additional replays of the battle.

Any takers?