Today, we have the luck to interview the head of ACWGamer Magazine Mr. Stephen M. Huckaby. His incredibly successful Ezine has been arriving in email boxes all over the world for the past few months! The orders have proven that gamers all across the world appreciate the American Civil War. If you appreciate the ACW and like to game. You really should consider ordering this magazine. It’s an incredible value, and unlike many other publications, you get to keep the .pdf documents you get sent and can put them on any device you want as many times as you want. Stephen has been very thoughtful in this way. Many publications out there require an app that will need an internet connection to load the issue you want to see. ACWGamer will be ready to view on any device with or without an internet connection. All for only $12 US dollars a year!

Now for the interview:

CBB – Please Tell us a little about yourself.

SMH – I retired from the military and live in Erie, PA with my wife. I have two kids, both grown, and I am currently working on developing a small business and I spend evenings and weekends preparing the next issue of ACW Gamer: The Ezine.

I am particularly proud of the Ezine, not in a small part because I have had to teach myself how to use publishing software in the last few months. I was surprised with how much you can learn today using online resources.

CBB – How and when did you get involved in the hobby of miniature wargaming?

SMH –  Around the time I was 11 years old and my father brought home Avalon Hill’s Kriegspeil. We played AH classics for a few years and I even created a Civil War board game complete with ‘standee’ figures that I drew myself. I didn’t really discover the hobby of miniature gaming until I was in college. Painted figures battling across a railroad style layout? Yeah, I was hooked.

Since those days I have dabbled in all kinds of periods and scales, but I invariably come back to the American Civil War. I have not been seduced by computer or online games because I love miniatures and I like the interaction you have with friends across a table top. In between games you will find me painting figures for the next conflict.

Our local group in Erie, PA is called the Misery Bay Gamers. We named ourselves after the local cove that Oliver Perry used to build the fleet that won the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. As you may guess from the name, Misery Bay was not a fun place to winter over in those days.

CBB – What attracts you to the ACW period?

SMH – Growing up in the South gave me a special connection to this period. The Civil War was something you could still go and ‘see.’ Confederate Memorial in most town squares, numerous battlefields to be walked and ancestral connections to the veterans of the Civil War.

As an amateur historian, it is a fascinating period filled with fascinating personalities; there is still so much more to be learned about those times. As a gamer, I love the long battle lines of miniatures, the fast pace action and the character of the miniatures themselves: hardened, scruffy Confederate veterans, no-nonsense Western Federal Generals, smartly clad Zouaves, and cavalry harkening back to the days of the Cavaliers. The period has naval action, sieges and great battles of maneuver – and I think that is why it continues to be a popular period among war gamers.

CBB – What are some of your favorite ACW Battles, campaigns and Generals?

SMH – By far the General I admire most is General Robert E. Lee. Lee was a gentleman and a professional. He may have been the last of the 19th century grand maneuver generals. In recent years, many historians have called for a re-evalutation of Lee and his leadership without the prism of ‘the Lost Cause’ – and I think he has proven to be much as he has been portrayed: honorable, compassionate and highly devoted to his native state. Some have cited the quality of his opponents as the reason for his early successes, but I would counter that he had a talent for sizing up his opponents and planning his strategies accordingly. His stand at Sharpsburg during the Battle of Antietam was epic, and I am not sure any other Confederate commander at the time could have pulled it off.

In the interest of balance, for the Union I would have to say General Ulysses Grant is also admirable. Here is a man who, in civilian life couldn’t sell his firewood to support his family, but during the Civil War became one of the greatest generals in military history. His strategic maneuvering and logistical planning is worthy for military officers to study 150 years later.

I enjoy studying the battles fought around Atlanta and the Gettysburg campaign. Again, the Civil War has no shortage of engagements to study and war-game; Shiloh, the assault on Fort Wagner, Grierson’s raid, the duel between the Alabama and the Kearsage all have the ability to capture my attention.

CBB – What is your favorite set of ACW rules and why?

SMH – I have been a  fan of Fire and Fury for larger scale battles for a number of years. I like the way the rules adds an element of uncertainty with the ‘Brigade Movement Table’, the method used to portray unit fatigue and the period flavor of the rules. For the last several years our local gaming group has been Brother Against Brother for our skirmish games and we are currently testing Ganesha Game’s 61 – 65. That last rule set has some interesting concepts that we are exploring. In general, I have to say that I prefer a rule set with a minimum of charts and the ability to reach a conclusion in an evening’s session.

CBB – What scale do you prefer to game with and why?

SMH – I really prefer 25/28mm scale. Although this scale can limit the size and scope of battle as compared to the smaller scales, I enjoy the ‘personality’ that figures in this scale convey. The scale is also very well supported by many fine miniature manufacturers.

CBB – What are some of your favorite miniatures manufacturers?

SMH – I have to say my hands down favorite is Sash and Saber Castings. I conducted an interview with the sculptor/owner, Chris Hughes, in ACWG, Issue 1. Chris has a talent for sculpting figures with individuality and that are conducive to painting. I also like plastics that Perry Miniatures continues to develop. These plastics offer gamers a chance to “customize” their regiments and even convert figures to create regiments not currently offered by miniature manufacturers.

CBB – What other periods and games do you like to play?

SMH – Colorful uniforms, variety of troop qualities and historical relevance for our country make the American War for Independence another favorite of mine, and I like 25mm as well for this period. I am currently working on 15mm modern forces for Force on Force conventional battles such as modern North Koreans and East German troops for the Cold War. Our local group has also been steadily building forces for Flames of War Vietnam. Besides miniature games, I also enjoy war-games such as Academy Games War of 1812 and the various “Command and Colors” series such as Battle Cry and Memoir 44. Outside of wargaming, I also enjoy playing ‘Euro Games’ such as Settlers of Cataan with friends and family.

CBB – Tell us a little bit about your new e-zine, ACW Gamer.

SMH – I decide to launch this project after a discussion with Scott Mingus, a gamer buddy, and publisher of Charge!, the magazine of the Johnny Reb Gaming Society. Scott had recently decided to cease publication of his magazine due to the fact that his publishing career as a Civil War author had begun to demand more of his time that he could spare to the magazine. Scott has published several books in the last few years (see amazon.com) and is researching his next work even now. Scott encouraged me to ‘pick up the torch’, so to speak, and launch ACW Gamer. As I looked into a the possibility of creating a Civil War Gaming Magazine, I quickly realized that I did not have the access to the publishing resources, nor the funding to produce a printed publication. I also realized that I am reading more and more rules sets and articles on my iPad. This lead me to conclude that way to produce this magazine was as an Ezine. Lower overhead for myself, easier to deliver, possibly a “greener” way to publish, and able to be enjoyed on the user’s iPad, Kindle, or other device when it is convenient.

CBB – How do you envision ACW Gamer evolving and what do you have planned for the future?

SMH – I hope to utilize the Ezine format to provide a more interactive magazine for Civil War Gamers. As technology evolves and become more readily available, plan to incorporate these advances into the Ezine and make them available to subscribers.I also hope to use the Ezine as a spring board to offer other products such as scenario or tutorial books; all in digital format.

If you would like to SUBSCRIBE, or PURCHASE BACK ISSUES, CLICK HERE

Cigarboxbattle.com would like to thank you for letting us interview you! It’s been our pleasure. We hope to bring our readers more detail and other content from ACWGamer Ezine!

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