Sid Meier

[rustler33]

How about Sid Meier's Gettysburg, Antietam and those games? They were fun, although they are more battlefield oriented. Also the History Channel's civil war game?

[frank7350]

never played the hist channels game... loved sid meiers... esp gettysburg...with all the hands pointing at the maps, explaining the background of the fight to you...great stuff.

[soccercw]

Take Command - 2nd Manassas is the second volume of a great real time ACW series. Takes into account giving orders, which have to actually be hand carried across a battlefield by a courier (which, as in real life, can take time depending on the locations of units). VERY accurate in terms of fighting tactics and weaponry.

[General Quarters]

Yes, Take Command is an absolutely extraordinary tactical game. It is amazingly immersive, and each game seems just like a real Civil War battle.

You play at any level -- commanding a whole army, or a corps, a division, etc., or even a battery of artillery. When you command a whole army, you depend on your corps commaners to carry out your orders -- in their own, sometimes frustrating way. When you command, say, a regiment, you are given orders and try to follow them (or not, as you see fit).

In one game play as the Union, I was commanding a regiment and was ordered to some woods along the road. After a while, I could see the battle raging in an open space beyond, and our forces being hard pressed, and wondered if I shouldn't go help them.

But I stayed put and, after a time, here comes AP Hill's forces down that road, and I have a heck of a fight with them, my forces small but in an excellent defensive position. I can't beat them, but slow them down enough that they never join the main battle in the open field.

Another good thing -- a battle takes about 45 intense minutes.

[frank7350]

yup...thats a great game! esp with all the options for open battles, etc....its never ending

[soccercw]

Back to Sid though, it was the first real time war game that was fun. It has its inaccuracies/quirks, such as only being able to aim at one unit (which allows you to put regiments in column and run around the enemy). Units also get into formation and move too fast, making it more of a speed dominated race than a real battle (something the Take Command series eliminates via orders and slower unit movement). The game is ALOT better if you get art patches, especially ones that triple or quadruple the amount of men shown in the lines (a MUST have for this game). You can get all those add ons from http://waterloo.strategyplanet.gamespy.com/smgdownload.shtml