About
WargameReplays is an extension of two of my hobbies--wargaming and computer programming. I've always enjoyed reading a good replay in a game magazine or on the 'net and I hope you find the articles here entertaining as well. WargameReplays is a private website and is not affiliated with any wargame company. All information presented on this site is from or based upon games that I own. The graphics are pictures or screen shots from Cyberboard or VASSAL gameboxes. All information is presented in the spirit of the "Fair Use Law," however, if you own the copyright to any information or images on this website and would like such information removed, please contact me.
WargameReplays started out as GCACW Replays before being published to the internet (see below for more background on the genesis of GCACW Replays). Other games are and will be featured, though probably not to the extent of GCACW and EOTS. My hope is that you will enjoy reading the replays and they will inspire you to pull your old copy of the games off the shelf and give them a spin.
--Jay Meyers, creater/maintainer of WargameReplays
Below is the initial "designer's notes" I wrote for GCACW back when I first built it. About the time I was going to publish GCACW, we moved, added a new member to the family and the project got pushed back.
GCACW Replays Designer's Notes
I always find the designer's notes that accompany many wargames to be one of the more interesting aspects of the entire package. You get additional insight into design decisions and the genesis of the game system that is both interesting and useful in understanding the game. While this isn't a wargame, I thought you might like to know a bit about me and why I put together this site.
I've been playing the GCACW series off and on since 1997 when I purchased Stonewall's Last Battle. I had dropped out of the wargaming hobby for a few years until I jumped back in with SLB. I was immediately hooked on the system as I'm sure many were when SJW came out in 1992. I soon picked up the other four volumes in the series that were out at the time and was hooked. I was living in Virginia, so being able to visit the Battlefield National Parks and drive through the areas depicted on the beautiful maps only piqued my interest in the series more.
After playing OTR for a year or so, my interest in the series began to wane as I branched out into other games (my A3R period). I looked forward to GTC due to my interest in that campaign and anticipation that it would be a little more fun to play the Union than in other games in the series. I finally got around to buying GTC early in 2003 and it rekindled my interest in the system. As I started relearning the system and playing GTC, I thought it would be a good idea to post a replay to the GCACW Yahoo groups list and to Consimworld. This got me thinking that there were hardly any well documented replays of the GCACW on the net. The one aspect of information related to games on the Web that I enjoy the most is reading game summaries or after action reports and thus, I began creating such a site for the GCACW series.
Reading replays either on Consimworld or other gamer's sites has always been helpful to me in learning a game in addition to being entertaining. My goal is make this site both educational and entertaining for veterans of the system as well as newbies. I suspect that there are many gamers out there who have purchased all the games in the series but haven't had time to learn how to play them. This site is especially for you and will help you overcome the learning curve (not that it is very steep with this system).
The reason my site focuses on the campaigns, is that the scenarios get plenty of play time both at conventions and at game club meetings. They are relatively quick, many of them competitive and interesting. Indeed, one of the strengths of the system is its ability to simulate a 2-3 day battle in an afternoon's playing. While the scenarios are great, we don't hear as much about the campaigns and I suspect that the campaigns don't get played as much (time and space being chief culprits in limiting their play time). Thus, my goal here is to provide replays of the campaigns for your entertainment. If it stimulates you to try out a never before played campaign, all the better.
You might ask, why put out a GCACW web site now, over ten years after the inception of the series? While it is true that the popularity of the series probably peaked in the mid to late 90s, there are still several devoted fans of the series. Some of them might be like me in that they put the games back up on the shelf few years ago. Pulling a good game back down and relearning it can be as fun as it was the first time. There are also new gamers to the series out there. It never ceases to amaze me that the GCACW lists periodically get requests for which game or scenarios to start with.
I don't know what the future holds for the series...it could peacefully fade or be revived with some Western Campaigns. (There has been talk of a Chickamauga campaign on the GCACW site recently.) Even if a new volume is not released, the Skirmisher promises to provide new scenarios over the familiar eastern theater territory. Issue 2 of the Skirmisher, for example, has two great modules (Burnside Takes Command and Rebels in the White House) and it is plausible that future issues could explore other smaller campaigns as well (Sheridan's Valley campaign, Mine Run, Bristol Station, etc.)
Whatever the future holds, GCACW is a classic system that will remain part of wargame lore for some time to come. Enjoy the site.
Jay Meyers,
June, 2004