# American Civil War Boardgames?



## Whitemouse (Sep 14, 2008)

My son is starting to learn about the American Civil War in grade school since I am going to be having him next weekend I'm curious to know what board games there are based on the time frame.

Something not too war-game centric would be best.


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## Klaus (Sep 15, 2008)

Fiery Dragon has "CSA - American Civil War": FDP5016: C.S.A. America's Civil War


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## Whitemouse (Sep 15, 2008)

How do I go about buying this?


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## Klaus (Sep 15, 2008)

Link to online store: Fiery Dragon Productions : C.S.A. America's Civil War


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## Whitemouse (Sep 15, 2008)

Klaus said:


> Link to online store: Fiery Dragon Productions : C.S.A. America's Civil War



Many thanks Klaus!


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## scitadel (Sep 15, 2008)

Phalanx Games also has a war game called 'A House Divided'

And if you can find it, Avalon Hill has one called 'Battle Cry' that is considered pretty good. Uses the same system as Battlelore and Memoir '44 so it's easy to learn.


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## MerricB (Sep 16, 2008)

I've just ordered "For the People", a GMT card-driven wargame of the civil war, which is very well regarded. However, it's probably too involved and long for your son. 

If you can find "Battle Cry", that'd definitely be my choice of a good game that you could play with him. Alas, it's out of print.

Not really surprisingly, most civil war games are wargames! 

Cheers!


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## Whitemouse (Sep 17, 2008)

MerricB said:


> Not really surprisingly, most civil war games are wargames!



I figured as much, I just din't want the game to be too 'minis heavy.'

Thanks for all the responses everyone.


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## mikelaff (Sep 17, 2008)

Well - -this is a fantasy/comical Civil War game - so it might not be your cuppa.

But I'll throw it out there because it looks like a lot of fun...

Yetisburg


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## MerricB (Sep 18, 2008)

Whitemouse said:


> I figured as much, I just din't want the game to be too 'minis heavy.'




...wait one moment. When I talk about wargames, I rarely mean miniatures. I was playing _For the People_ last night, and there wasn't a miniature anywhere!

Cardboard counters and cards, sure! Minis - not a one!

Here's part of the map:






and a close-up of the map with counters on it





and one of the cards...





It's probably still a little too complex, but one nice thing about the game is that you can play shorter scenarios - one year of the war... any year of the war - as well as the full campaign. I'd expect most scenarios to take 1-2 hours depending on which year (1st year shorter, of course). Full game is probably 6 hours.

Cheers!


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## Sabathius42 (Sep 18, 2008)

I second (or third or whatever) BattleCry by Avalon Hill.  I am sure you can find a copy on Ebay.

Its fun, replayable, and able to be played by a higher graded grade schooler.  I think that most counter/map wargames would be too hard for anything other than an uberhardcore young game nut.

DS


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## MerricB (Sep 18, 2008)

Sabathius42 said:


> I second (or third or whatever) BattleCry by Avalon Hill.  I am sure you can find a copy on Ebay.
> 
> Its fun, replayable, and able to be played by a higher graded grade schooler.




Indeed. I have the other three games in the series (BattleLore, Memoir 44 and Command & Colours), and it's definitely worth getting if you can find it.

Cheers!


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## Meloncov (Sep 18, 2008)

I'm fond of Eagle Game's American Civil War. Unlike many wargames, it pays attention to the political aspects of the war, which were fairly essential.


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