Scourge of War Boards

Gentlemen,

For those of you unaware, we are on the edge of great peril, greater than any I feel we have ever faced before. That scoundrel Lincoln has acended to the Presidency, and riding on his coat-tails is most surely the end of our cherished way of life. Make no mistake, gentlemen, Lincoln is an abolitionist sure as any other figure in the North bent on impinging upon all we hold dear. He may not show it today, nor perhaps tomorrow, but be assured that it will surface, and when it does, he will bring utter ruin upon the South. You thought you knew the extent of Yankee greed? You were mistaken! You have not yet begun to feel the sting of the government's suffocating grip! They will tax us into oblivion and slowly grind our economy to a halt that they might swoop in and claim it for themselves to fill their own coffers while our women and children starve! Gentlemen, we must not allow our homes, families, and way of life to be thusly threatened! We must act now, and show the North and their president that we have no intention of be trampled below their dastardly designs!

We may only achieve security and relief from their oppressive, despotic rule through secession. For only free of their claims to our lands and our property may we continue to exist in harmony and prosperity. The time has come! We must secede, and woe unto them that try to stop us!

I am personally issuing the call for volunteers to defend our great new Confederacy. We will not be caught unaware by the Union, who are sure to challenge us and try to force us back under their yolk! To arms, gentlemen, to arms!

I encourage any and all interested men to fall in behind our glorious banner: www.theshenandoahclub.net You may there fill out the necessary papers to enlist in the Confederacy and support our righteous cause. I shall lead you forth to victory myself.

Enlist now and secure your place in the annals of history!

I will receive all able-bodied men if they will present themselves at my headquarters by the twentieth of February. I wish none but those who desire to be actively engaged. My headquarters for the present is at www.theshenandoahclub.net. Come on, boys, if you want a heap of fun and to kill some Yankees.

Allow me to explain a bit further, if I may. Though in the past we have had several abortive attempts at a renewed campaign, we have, I believe, hit upon a very successful model. With the help of forum members Cleburne and Little (apologies if I have their names wrong here), we have introduced and adapted a campaign model and rules that was successfully used for some time with Sid Meier's Gettysburg. As such, we have reorganized and moved the website, although it retains its basic layout. I encourage anyone who is remotely interested to at least go have a look, read the rulebook, browse the forums, etc. as it suits you. We also have some very adept administrators to help keep things on track.

We would all be delighted to have anyone and everyone interested sign up to play with us. We will be utilizing a strategic campaign map outside of SoW and then the game to play out the battles as they unfold. We expect to be able to be very flexible about scheduling, so that anyone who wishes can lead their very own troops into battle (from a brigade on up).

So please, consider this an open invitation to stop by, have a look, and sign up. I suppose you could sign up to be a Yankee, but with my flawless rhetoric above, why would you?