Which Civil War title would you recommend?

[bob.]

As the title suggests, as someone who wants to play both. Which game should I start with, ie which one is easier to play, the Russian or the American War?

[Ethan]

I don't own RUS, but I'll say you that AACW is a safe bet and one of the best games of all times. Trust me. You won't regret.

[Carnium]

Get both you won't regret it

RUS is a bit easier to play, but the pace of action and battles are huge. It also has more than two factions really and you need to plan your moves carefully, because there are many surprises in store.
AACW is a really classic. Some parts of its engine are a bit outdated, but this is still THE BEST American Civil War game by a large margin!

My list of "advancing through" AGEOD games is as follows:
1. Wars in America - great introduction to AGE engine and fairly simply to learn, harder to master
2.Napoleon's Campaigns - it has no real grand campaign, but a lot of scenarios where you can learn a lot. A few scenarios have a feel of a campaign (Spanish Peninsular scenario is HUGE)
3. Rise of Prussia and Alea Jacta Est - ROP is similar to WiA with WAY larger battles and longer campaign. AJE is something fresh with the engine that feels like WiA updated with a few Pride of Nations features, but in Roman age
4. AGEod's American Civil War and Revolution under Siege - HUGE and bloody battles, long campaigns and both really fun to play. On the bad side - those two are a really time consumers... just one more turn is a frequent phrase here
5. Pride of Nations - the only AGEOD game where you have real diplomacy, research, REAL multiple factions and its global. Really complex, not that easy to learn and hard to master. Turn processing is not as quick as in other AGEOD games and the map is more suited for strategic than tactical wargaming.

I have all AGEOD games, but no time to play them as much as I wish I could

[Leibst]

Maybe its easier AACW as yankie. Both are fantastic games.

[Franciscus]

AACW

- maybe the best gaming experience I had so far!
- and IMHO easier to get into than RUS

It also depends on your interests, of course.

Regards

[Prussian Konig]

AACW...play it again and again and again and again...see the point

[bob.]

Thanks. By the way there's one thing which really makes me enjoy Wars in America a lot less. It has become better with the later AGEOD games, but since American Civil War is older I hope it isn't the case so much there either:
that you really just have NO idea what will happen next and thus can't really actually plan a strategy.
For example, in Wars of America often it just happens that you get an event that just gives you an army.. but you have no idea that it will happen if you play the first time! Or in the War of Independence scenario at first I tried to scramble basically all generals I had in the American army around Boston so it wouldn't have a command penalty - what happens two turns later: Washington gets promoted to a 4-Star-General making all my efforts a waste.

I really like how they solved it in Alea Jacta Est where all armies that will become later are - at least 90 % of the time - already there but just locked so I KNOW that they will possibly become available later.

By the way, Alea Jacta Est and Russia Under Siege are developed by "modders" and not the creators of all the other AGEOD games right? Not that it matters to me who created it, just curious.

[Carnium]

Thanks. By the way there's one thing which really makes me enjoy Wars in America a lot less. It has become better with the later AGEOD games, but since American Civil War is older I hope it isn't the case so much there either:
that you really just have NO idea what will happen next and thus can't really actually plan a strategy.
For example, in Wars of America often it just happens that you get an event that just gives you an army.. but you have no idea that it will happen if you play the first time! Or in the War of Independence scenario at first I tried to scramble basically all generals I had in the American army around Boston so it wouldn't have a command penalty - what happens two turns later: Washington gets promoted to a 4-Star-General making all my efforts a waste.

This is the old and tricky debate of "historic events vs re-playability". AGEOD is trying to please players of both camps, but it is hard to please everybody

By the way, Alea Jacta Est and Russia Under Siege are developed by "modders" and not the creators of all the other AGEOD games right? Not that it matters to me who created it, just curious.

True. But modders have a really good understanding of AGE engine and both games were supervised by AGEOD, so no worries about the lack of quality there

[dpt24]

Personally I prefer RUS over American Civil War even though I'm a big history buff especially of American Civil War era. I just really got into RUS's era and stuff. I've completed more campaign's in RUS than any other AGEOD game. BUT, there is one issue and that's that the AI feels a bit weaker in RUS than any other AGEOD game I've played.

[ERISS]

Personally I prefer RUS. I really got into RUS's era and stuff. I've completed more campaign's in RUS than any other AGEOD game. BUT the AI feels a bit weaker in RUS than any other AGEOD game I've played.

I don't really know the developpement history of other Age games, but
RUS seems the Age game which has changed the deeper since release, to adapt the more to the exciting political complexity of this war.
The AI may be improved when the game is at last stabilized.

[charlesonmission]

I haven't played Rus, but I've been playing AACW again with the new patch, and I'm amazed at how great the game is.

Charles

[Boomer]

I haven't played RUS either, but from what I hear the scope of the game is huge and can be a bit overwhelming to new players. But AACW is one of the greatest civil war games ever, so you can go wrong there.

[Ethan]

Well, bob, the solution is easy: You acquire both games but you start playing AACW.

[bob.]

Well, bob, the solution is easy: You acquire both games but you start playing AACW.

That's exactly what I did and right now I'm having a blast with AACW. Awesome game, it makes me scratch my head why this older game feels so much more thought-through than Rise of Prussia
Maybe this Civil War is just perfect for a game because there are so many different possible strategies.