The cover of the Fall 2013 issue
Stephen Huckaby has released the second issue of “ACW Gamer – the Ezine” (Winter 2014). He’s done a fantastic job picking up the standard that was carried by “The Zouave” and Scott Mingus’ “Charge!” newsletters. The magazine is a “must subscribe” for anyone gaming the ACW. The Winter 2014 issues is full of 37 pages of ACW gaming goodness. Here is a breakdown of the articles:
* Trident Designs – A thorough review of Trident Designs new 40mm “A Nation Divided” miniature range. These are some great looking figures that will tempt you into collecting 40mm ACW if you aren’t doing so already!
* A Battle Report “Crossroads at Seven Pines” – An excellent AAR using the new grand tactical rules “Altar of Freedom”. There are some great pictures of the scenario and 6mm troops. These rules look like they have some very innovative ideas and I’m very interested in playing them.
* Weird Weapons of the American Civil War – A great article discussing how to use “weird weapons” when wargaming the ACW. The article focuses on the “Terrible Swift Sword” rules, but can easily be adapted for others. Some of the weird weapons include: Double barreled cannons, Gatling guns, hot air balloons, trains, explosives, and hand grenades. The article also includes a scenario that uses a few of the weird weapons!
* Return to Castleman’s Ferry – this is a classic Johnny Reb scenario from “To the Sound of the Guns”. Robert Sweeney and his gaming group have adapted the scenario for Johnny Reb 3 and have included a lot of information on playing this scenario. He also has a great link to a free deck of cards named “Ut Filious Mos” that he wrote. The cards create random events to add more flavor to the game. This article and AAR will continue in the next issue. He also has created some homemade JR counters for use with some of his house rules. This is a great article for any Johnny Reb fan.
* A book review of Potomac Publications book “Infantry Flags, Longstreets’s Corp, Army of Northern Virginia, Gettysburg1863”. Great information for the ACW historian and gamer.
One things I really like about this issue is that Stephen has included links in all of the articles. This really brings the text “alive”. I downloaded the pdf to my ipad and was able to click on the links to all of the minis, books and rules in the e-Zine. This is definitely a major advantage over the traditional paper form of publishing! So far I have really enjoyed both issues of this e-zine and I think Stephen has a lot of good forward momentum. If you enjoy gaming the ACW, you should definitely consider supporting the ACW Gamer by subscribing and/or submitting articles, pics and AARs.
To subscribe just click on the link on the CigarBoxBattle homepage.
Here is a link to an interview we did with Stephen: http://www.cigarboxbattle.com/acwgamer-magazine-editor-interview/
Take care and good gaming – Cory R.