Hoping folks in here could give me some advice.  End of last year I started to look at getting into this hobby.  I went with the ACW period as it was interesting to me and I had a few friends who were open to trying tabletop gaming of this. The 6mm scale allowed for the ability to recreate battles on a grand scale which appealed to me and selecting Baccus was a no-brainer as their miniatures looked so much better than the other companies.
My issue is that because of when I started to try to get into the hobby and Baccus being in such demand I have 0 miniatures. I did place my first order for part of the union army but based on the information shared today by Peter, which was helpful and appreciated, it will likely be another 1 -2 months before my first order gets to me in the USA and I still need to order the confederate side and wait for that(plus the rest of what I need to fill out the union army)
I am trying to be patient but failing and need to find a Plan B to tide me over until I can get what I really want from Baccus.  So based on availability/interest I was looking at trying either ACW in 10mm(using different rules) or WWII desert (German/British) in 6 or 10mm. 
Does anyone have any experience with these periods or scale?  Any thoughts on a good ruleset for doing WWII desert warfare(company or higher command level)?

If you need minis take a look at Rapier Miniatures - which also has ACW figures, 4 to a 20mm strip, and seem comparable in size to Baccus.  Adler and H&R are other options but are slightly bigger/way smaller than Baccus, respectively. 

If you want to get gaming, consider using the empty bases for now.  The figures are just for show, any way.

For WW2 rules the three common choices are Blitzkrieg Commander, Spearhead, and Fistful of TOWs.  BKC seems pretty popular, though I personally don't like how there's a test to see if you can do anything that can fail.  Fistful of TOWs is focused on armored warfare but infantry are portrayed well.  It's pretty fast and clean.  Spearhead has an interesting mechanic where you assign a battle plan before the game begins (e.g. attack the hill, hold for 3 turns, then attack south), and can only change them when you make contact with the enemy.

You could also try Peters Paperboys for a low cost plan b until you can start with bacchus :) Maybe texan war of independence? Would also give you a low cost option to quickly get into a few test games with your buddies to find out if they like wargaming at all :)

(he also did ACW but that is not on the website but a book that you just copy the armies from. Although I think the publisher also has them for download by now)

Mixing bacchus and other brands is something I try to avoid because they all very much have their own style at that scale...

Use cardboard stand ins for bases, start playing (even if against yourself) and you can start making terrain.  This will get you started with some buildings and other great terrain ideas.

https://www.6mmacw.com/icons-building-set.html

Decorators caulk makes great roads and streams.

You can make your own woods.  I use chicken wire type mesh to support a cannopy of foam trees using hanging basket liner as the undercanopy.  I thought I had posted a how to on here but can't find it.  If you are interested I'll post one into terrain.

Have you decided on a ruleset?  If not now is a good time to experiment with some that are out there without the dreaded fear of rebasing.

I really would be patient and wait for the ACW to be available, and use them with Altar of Freedom, as mentioned above, for spectacular ACW battles on a domestic tabletop. I can't comment on WWII as it is still too contemporary for my taste, but would suggest that you start with that and wait for the ACW figures to become available.

For WWII desert, you might consider "Command Decision: Test of Battle". Bob Mackenzie's website has lots of good historical scenarios, including a number for the desert, and very nice photo-AARs.

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!

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For WW2 desert you could get some GHQ minis, they are a US based company. Very expensive though, but if you buy "just" 100$ worth of minis (50$ for German and 50$ for the allied side), you could have enough minis to play a decent skirmish action until you get hold of the ACW Baccus. Baccus is way more convenient then GHQ, and now they are also expanding in WW2, switching to their new range will be natural for you. 

In alternative, buy a couple of rule set or historical books to research in the ACW period, so you don't waist time and money in collateral projects. 

Thanks,

Luca 

Two other WW2 rule sets aimed at Battalion level gaming are O Group by Too Fat Lardies and War on the Ground by Anscluss, avaliable through Victrix in the UK. Both these rulesets are supported by You tube videos should you want to know more.

Another recommendation from me for Altar of Freedom  .

Happy gaming!

Thank you all for the feedback.  It is very helpful.
For the 6mm ACW I was planning on using the Alter of Freedom rules so glad to see those being recommended. :) 

I did buy 2 starter army sets on eBay yesterday for $30 each(Perrin Mini's) thinking I could use them with Fire & Fury or I guess I could base them for Altar of Freedom.  would look odd but could hold me over until I get my 6mm.

Thoughts?

Lot of suggestions for WWII so I have some research to do there before making a decision so thank you all for that.

I was nearly like you. I'm back in wargame since September 2020. I only receive my first order from Baccus in december but I was able to find some figures on ebay and with  wargaming facebook group