Hello, and welcome to War Between the States!

This a forum game beginning at the beginning of the American Civil War in the Summer of 1861. You, the player, will play as a General fighting for your side North or South, Union or Confederacy in the American Civil War. As a player in this game, you will have very little to worry about; most of the work will be done behind the scenes by me and my friend DoomBunny, who will act as Co-GM (as well as mapmaker). I would also like to give credit where credit is due; this game was, in part, inspired by the wonderful forum games World in Revolution: 1861 and Crisis in the Union, both created by Frymonmon. He also has another forum game up and running called World in Revolution: 1900. It's an extremely enjoyable game, so I suggest you check it out! It can be found here. Also keep in mind that you may join this game at any time. It is NEVER too late to join! The only prerequisite is that you have at least a minimal amount of knowledge in regards to the American Civil War, including its causes, origins, beginnings, and general important events throughout the war. The Setting The setting, you ask? The game starts in the Summer of 1861 in the United States. The Deep South has seceded from the Union and Fort Sumter has been fired on by the soldiers of the new Confederate States of America. Abraham Lincoln, newly sworn-in President of the now weakened United States, has called for 75,000 Union volunteers to retake Fort Sumter and all other federal property. The war between the states has begun. Now, this is where you the player comes in. The Procedure & Rules As a participant in War Between the States, you will take the mantle of a General in either the United States or Confederate States Armies. Coordinating with your fellow Generals and field commanders, you will lead your nation's war effort in your attempt to win the war and ensure the survival of your nation as a sovereign state. For each combatant in the war, there will be a general chain of command; each side will have a Chief of the Army, followed by the commanders of each separate army in each different theater. Lastly, there will

be the separate corps commanders in these armies, who will make the tactical movements during battles. There will be spots open for each belligerent for theater commanders and corps commanders; these will be filled in on orders of the Chief of the Army. However, there is a twist to all of this: you will all be playing your own personal generals, save for the first Chief of the Army, who will be a preset historical figure played by whoever chooses that spot first (as opposed to all other spots in the Army, which are "handed out" by the Chief of the Army). Once each side has an adequate amount of commanders, the Chief of the Army will assign posts to each of the commanders, along with a number denoting the amount of troops under each general's command. It should also be noted that the Chief of the Army may also place himself in command of an army, personally. At the Chief of the Army's whim, generals may be relieved from command due to poor performance in the field, insubordination, ill health, or, obviously, death. If there is a shortage of generals, however, the CotA may simply reduce the size of the general's command. As time goes on, all command reassignments and replacements on both teams must be announced in the thread. Shortly before the first turn begins, the Chief of the Army for each side will announce the position of each general in each army. Each side the Confederacy and the Union can support up to four separate armies at any time. There are no exceptions to this rule. There are also no troop limits for each army; if one so wished, they could make an independent army of 5,000 troops or 200,000 troops (though both are inadvisable for obvious reasons). At the beginning of each turn (except for the first), three maps will be created. There will be an overall strategic map, showing the known locations of each army per side, which will be posted after every turn in the thread. Then, on the other two maps, there will be the approximate location of each army under their command, as well as the estimated location and size for enemy armies. These "team maps" will be PM'd to the Chief of Staff, whose job it is to filter this information down to his respective Army and Corps commanders to give them strategic/tactical awareness of the war effort up to that point. At the end of each turn, each side will receive a set amount of new troops. The number of troops received will depend on that side's performance during that turn. For instance, if a 40,000 man Confederate army defeats a 70,000 man Union army in eastern Virginia, the Confederates will receive approximately 10,000 new recruits from the success of that battle alone, while the Union will receive roughly 10,000 as well (this is taking into account population and industrial differences). For the orders of the next turn, these 10,000 troops can either be detailed to the Confederate army in Virginia, or to an army in another theater. Of course, these numbers will vary on the scale of the victory/defeat and the numbers involved in the battle, as well as the time period during the war (early/mid/late war). It will be the Chief of Staff's job to equally (or not equally) distribute these reinforcements among the armies of his side. On a smaller scale, it will be the army commander's duty to then distribute his reinforcements into each individual corps. Should the Chief of the Army prove incapable of performing his duty on multiple occasions, he may be relieved of command by the leader of the country. The person who played as the Chief of the Army may no longer play as the Chief of the Army, but may create a new character serving either side of the war. Once the nation's first Chief of the Army is relieved of command (the historical general, that is), the leader of either nation (Lincoln or Jefferson) may choose a new character to promote to the position of Chief of the Army. However, do know that the maximum amount of generals per army is limited at seven (this means

that it is limited to the army commander the lieutenant general and six corps commanders, major generals). However, I may start the game before there are seven generals per individual army. This will allow for relatively lower troop numbers early in the game, similar to actuality during the early months of the war, and will allow more players to fill in the gaps as more generals (and troops) are required. If he so wishes, the Army commander may place himself in command of a single Corps in the army he commands. It will be assumed that this corps will act as a sort of reserve (think General George McClellan's personal command at the Battle of Antietam or otherwise). Also included will be an equipment level, which will be a rough estimate of the quality and amount of equipment and supplies in each separate army; this will be a percentage. Battles, and particularly major defeats, will have obvious effects on the losing army's equipment. Equipment will improve at roughly 10% per turn, but may not go over 100%. Equipment levels will determine the amount of losses of each army following a battle. Armies with somewhat lower equipment levels may raise their equipment levels by securing a victory against the enemy. Weapons, cannons, ammunition, and supplies, which will be left behind by the enemy, will help increase the victor's equipment. All armies, upon formation, start off with 100% equipment. Lastly, in order to speak in-character (in response to updates or statements by the President) in in-thread conversations with one another, one must use either bolded, italicized, or text colored to their nation (blue for Union, gray for Confederacy), to denote between out-of-character and in-character text. One may also, but is not required to, label out-of-character text with OOC: in front of it. The Orders Each order in the game will constitute as 2 months. This means that each year of gameplay will be composed of 6 separate updates. These updates will include detailed plans from both sides, battles, pictures and maps, and the outcomes of each separate battles that are fought. As each separate army in each nation will be allowed one order each, these orders may include general rules of engagement, strategic movements, etc. However, these orders must at least be cohesive, coherent, and to the point. Orders may be specific and detailed, but it is preferred that they are simple and easy to understand (preferably, but not manditorily, they should be limited to 3 sentences). Upon convening with his generals and commanders, the Chief of the Army for both sides will submit these orders to me via PM. For example, the United States' Army orders for July-August 1861 would be titled United States Orders Jul-Aug 1861. Battles will be determined using dice. If, say, the Army of the Potomac meets the Army of Northern Virginia in battle in early 1862, a die will be rolled for each army. Taking into account the orders for each respective army, a battle will take place in a location that suits the region the two armies are fighting in as well as their orders. However, orders will affect the result of the battle just as much as the die rolls. If, given the previous example, the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate) rolls a 2, and the Army of the Potomac (Union) rolls a 5, the Union will win the battle. The difference in the roll numbers will also provide a reasonable estimate as to the amount of casualties in the battle. In between updates, I shall occasionally roleplay as either Union President Abraham Lincoln or Confederate President Jefferson Davis. I will also include mini-updates, including news from around the world that may or may not affect the war effort of either fighting side. The Statistics

Lastly, there will be statistics. The overall statistics will be divided into two groups, although only one group - the commanders of each individual corps and army - will show up in updates. The first, and probably the most important, part are the general's skills. These skills are split into eight categories: Reconnaissance, Leadership, Maneuver, Tactics, Logistics, Siege, Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery. In order to accrue different numbers for these skills, I (or DoomBunny) will roll a total of 10 dice per player; the total number resulting from this will be the maximum amount of points you can spend on your general's skills, with the lowest amount of points allotted to one skill being 1. Perhaps your general will be skilled in artillery, siege, infantry, and logistics, being a skilled besieger able to pound even the strongest and largest forts into submission with ease? Or maybe he will be skilled with cavalry, leadership, maneuver, and reconnaissance, becoming a dashing and charismatic cavalry commander. The choice is yours. However, to prevent cheating when it comes to your general's statistics, I ask that, as your first post, you simply announce that you are playing and what team you will be siding on. It may be worded something like this: "I will be playing for the Union/Confederacy." Once we have an adequate amount of players for a first turn, I will roll dice for each participant, whereafter they can then go about creating their character, and, once this is accomplished, they can begin planning against the opposing team. Another component of your general's statistics will be a mechanic called Prestige. Prestige will start at 0 for all generals. Prestige is, obviously, a rough representation of a general's fame and popularity with both the troops and with the folks back home. Prestige can be accrued by securing your army's victory in a major battle, making a brave final stand or holding a rearguard action, buying your army precious time to escape. As each individual general gains prestige, their respective Chief of the Army will also gain a small percentage of prestige, as they are (supposed to be) the one commanding and organizing their war effort and making the general plans up. However, this is where the powers of the Chief of the Army can become a problem. If an arrogant or incompetent Chief of the Army relieves a general with particularly high prestige, he will likely receive high amounts of criticism from both his staff, his own generals, his troops, and the civilian government, while also inadvertently assisting the enemy side by removing a highly skilled and prominent commander. Secondly, statistics will include the so-called "Army Status". This will compose of the Chiefs of the Army, Army and Corps commanders, who they are played by, etc. It will also include the amount of men in each corps and army, as well as the total amount of soldiers on each side of the war. Once you are given the go-ahead to create a character, you should follow this basic [rough] template: Name: the name of your character Born: date of birth and [optional] location of birth Allegiance: the side they are fighting for; Union or Confederate Bio: a brief description of your character's life ** The game begins in early July, 1861. The first turn will be July through August of 1861.

State of the Armies of Northern America (Jul. - Aug. 1861)

Army of the United States of America

Army Chief of Staff: General Winfield Scott Army of Northeastern Virginia* (35,000): I Corps: II Corps: III Corps: 40,000 men to assign to command 75,000 men total

Army of the Confederate States of America

Army Chief of Staff: General P.G.T. Beauregard Army of the Potomac* (34,000): I Corps: II Corps: III Corps: 28,000 men to assign to command 62,000 men total *Until early 1862, these were the official names of both armies fighting in northern Virginia. For the sake of clarity and a lack of confusion, the Army of Northeastern Virginia (Union) will become the Army of the Potomac, and the Army of the Potomac (Confederate) will become the Army of Northern Virginia after the first update.