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While I was sitting in Afghanistan planning some Flames of War forces, I started getting the itch for a similar game based on the American Civil War. I scoured the interweb and found some, but the associated rules were either outdated, unintelligible, or both. Armed with a bit of internal motivation, I began devising and writing my own Civil War based tabletop game that I've named "Hold The Line". I've spent the last several months editing, painting, making terrain for and play testing my brain child. The goal was the make the rules somewhat historically accurate, but still retain enough simplicity so people could pick it up and play quickly. I haven't decided whether to actually patent and market the game or just keep it for me and some friends but, all the same, here are the first few tabletop action shots for your enjoyment.

Hold The Line is written for the use of 15mm figures, and all the figures used came from the range made by Stone Mountain Miniatures. I'll apologize up front for the image quality. After two tours to The Sandbox, my old Cannon isn't quite "fully mission capable" anymore.

The cover for the Basic Rule Book
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572266-RuleBookCover.html?m=2

Some photos from a recent play testing
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572269-TabletopAction1.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572270-USAInfantryBrigades.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572271-CSAArtilleryBattery.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572272-USABrigadeCommand%20Section.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572267-TabletopAction2.html?m=2

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/572268-TabletopAction3.html?m=2




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[[Image:HTL COVER]]

Nice models! Have you put them on sabots for brigade movement?

The world may be ready for a new ACW rulebook, as Fire & Fury has been OOP for a decade.

I think you should also cater for 25mm models, since Perry Bros do such a good range of plastic figures. It should be easy to convert all the linear distance to match.

Glad to see you found a constructive way to keep your mind occupied.

There are a number of rules development groups on the web who may be able to help if you wanted to take the project further. If you were to find one to your taste they could be useful for play testing, bouncing ideas around etc.

First off thank you for your service sir.

A fun and simple ACW 15mm game that I've played for years (in fact it as my first mini game) is Fire and Fury. I would give it a look they also have a Napoleonic rule set as well.

Any chance of contacting you for a download of the rules?

Wow, thanks for the responses guys. It's nice to see that there are at least a few people still interested in ACW gaming. My dad and I tried Fire and Fury several years ago, but found its complexity really took the fun out of the game.

I actually used left over 25mm figures from our FnF excursion for the initial play testing and they worked out fine. You could use whatever scale you want, which would allow you to use those great Perry figures. I opted for the 15mm Stone Mountain figures due to the increased variety. I've written additional special rules that allow players to field iconic ACW brigades -- the Irish, Iron, Stonewall and Texas Brigades, plus Zouaves and Tiger Rifles -- that just aren't available through Perry.

I've recently posted some new pictures in my gallery for your perusal. Even painting to just a rapid tabletop standard, I think the 15mm figures give enough opportunity for detail without driving yourself crazy. As Kilkrazy pointed out, it didn't take long to realize that some homemade movement trays would make life much easier. You may notice some "frosting" on some of the trays, which is the result of a spray varnish catastrophe. The moral of the story is: shake your spray cans THOROUGHLY!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-search.jsp?u=43780

As for a download of the rule book, I'm in the process of redoing some of the books' graphics. Hopefully I can get it squared away and uploaded in the near future. The thing just keeps growing. It's already up to 50 pages, with an attached expansion for the use of cavalry.

Sounds great, I play 20mm (1/72) scale AWC and WWII, and I am always looking for easier/better rules. F&F is fun, but needs a refresh. Best of luck to you, and thanks for your service.