Games in the TSS/Great Battles of the American Civil War
Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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A complete look at the original games in the Great Battles of the American Civil War series, started by SPI almost 30 years ago!
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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(GBACW -3): The game that started it all. Created in the era of the multi-map monster, Terrible Swift Sword changed everything. Exisiting monsters which were mostly 'move-fight games' - very large but rather simple. TSS was only three maps, but the level of detail - ranged fire, regimental level units and leaders for command control - was a surprise to many. It was dubbed a 'grand tactical' system, and it was a huge hit. (Even better when the 1977 errata gave units a fixed morale). It started a system that had games with a direct lineage of 11 more games, a second edition, and another 8 games in an updated system that is still in evolution!
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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(GBACW -2): SPI knew a good thing when they saw it, and in 1978, while Bloody April moved through the production chain, they rolled out a small one map, 200 counter game to the 30,000 subscribers of Strategy & Tactics. The rules were close enough to TSS that those who had experienced TSS could play the game with little difficulty. While the game is not all that exciting, a series is born! (This picture shows the original answer to the TSS morale issue - units were assigned a letter for morale. Later games printed the number on the counter.)
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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(GBACW -1): ALmost there! Bloody April was the first real attempt to follow up on great success of TSS. (BA started production before Kernstown.) It wasn't critical that they got it out too quickly - TSS had enough action to keep players busy for three years - and more! BA moved the system forward and gave people another big game - but it wasn't Gettysburg, and BA would be the last big TSS game from SPI.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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The first actual game in the "Great Battles of the American Civil War" series. The rules are a boiled down version of the TSS rules, and with four years to refine the system, the game worked. Exclusive rules are used to augment the basic rules for the specific system, adding individual flavor. The single map is acknowledged as one of the best of the series, as is the game. Still fun 25 years later.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Drive on Washington is the odd man out in the system, with a late war battle and more about movement than battle as Early's troopers headering toward Washington run into the Yankee's holding the bridge. This game starts the running joke that the "Great Battles" series should be renamed "Not so Great Battles".... Still, a fun game.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Wilson's Creek is Volume 3 in the GBACW system, and originally published in S&T 80. This game covers the surprise attack on the Confederates in southern Missouri, and required a lot of additional rules to simulate the sleeping Rebs. Also, it is clear the requirement for a strict deadline means this game started before some of the refinements of the system had become standard. (It is likely the first game in the series that most people saw.) Good game of a very different type of battle.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Cedar Mountain, Volume 4 in the system, is the second real winner in the system. Stonewall gets a surprise, and the battle is constant and always in doubt. Lots of action and lots of fun for both sides. The Exclusive rules are short and nothing stands between the players and starting the game. The second game in the system to arrive in S&T, and the only game in the original run of the system NOT to get a box version!
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Volume 5, Jackson at the Crossroads is actually two games, Cross Keys & Port Republic. This continues the dominance of Stonewall in the system, and was published in a box with Volume 6. Lots of fun, but SPI's business problems were starting to interfere with the distribution. Plus, SPI's underpricing of the previous games made the combined box set of V5 and V6 seem like a big jump in price - and it was. The skyrocking inflation of the late 70's and the resession of the early 80's made this set of smaller games the price of the original monster TSS. Still great games, but far fewer players.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Volume 6, The Battle of Corinth, was released in the same box as Crossroads. The game offers lots of play as the sides battle for the important railroad crossroads! Little did we know this would be the last of the games from SPI, though the next releases still show the creations of their design and development.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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Volume 7 of the system finally returns to the monster status of TSS. Multiple maps and many counters, this is the battle of Antietam/Sharpsburg, and feels and acts like a GBACW system. (And it looks better than TSS 2nd edition. Brown tones make their way into the map, and while the odd colors are still around, the Day-glo look is gone!) Using the basic rules, it does add an extreme number of exclusive rules. Those include a change in the combat results table, and the scale of the system. But the play of the game is the thing, and Gleam proves the GBACW system is study enough to take major changes - a harbinger of things to come...
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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The first not to claim GBACW status, Rebel Sabers is a series of cavalry battles that replace the simple cavalry rules of the system. The battles are Kelly's Ford, Brandy Station and Trevilian Station, plus a side battle at Gettysberg. In fact the only claim to fame on this release is the connecting map to TSS, which allows you to put the cavalry on the field. An ignoble end to the system.
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Russell Gifford
United States
South Sioux City
Nebraska
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The Battle of Pleasant Hill in S&T 106, arrived in 1986, 10 years after the original TSS. TSR held the game for over a year. (The rules actually list this as a GBACW game, unlike Rebel Sabers.) Counting Rebel Sabers as volume 8, the final original GBACW game is volume 9. But the story does not end here!
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