Battleplan: American Civil War

Clunky system that in entirely too fast paced to enjoy. The AI is pretty terrible. On the Bull Run scenario the entire Union army tried to cross a single bridge and one regiment killed 20,000 men, I lost 400. The battle ended in a draw because I did not have a unit sititng on the victoy point that was way behind my lines. The over emphasis on victory point over casualties inflicted make it a game of chase the flag rather than fighting the enemy. The artillery mechanics need a lot of work. The game had potential but falls flat on its face. The campaign is less a campaign and more a string of skirmish scenarios that have no correlation to each other. Nothing is carried on as far as I can tell from battle to battle. They simply progress linearly.

[h1]A simple scratch for that strategy itch // Recommended for the more casual of strategy gamers*[/h1] [h1]*You'd likely prefer it at sale price[/h1] + Includes a multitude of mechanics that showcase the uncertainty of combat; depending on various factors, for example, units can refuse orders, or delay their implementation + Many small, impressive attentions to detail, such as troops' refusal to build pontoons too close to bridges, or that units will not move until messenger horses arrive with your orders (from the 'C-in-C') + One can pause game-time to take stock of a situation and give orders + Effectiveness of artillery takes elevation and wind into the account of its effectiveness + Unit controls are simple, efficient, and smooth in practice + Tutorials are more than sufficient to acclimate the player to the game's mechanics + Pace is somewhat lively; enough so that the player is consistently engaged + UI is practical and easy to navigate + Seems to run smoothly with no obvious ...

I'm leaning more towards Battleplan ACW rather than Ultimate General Gettysburg. Battleplan keeps its promise adding depth and realism while keeping a managable fast paced tempo. The formations in Battleplan have their own character, something I see sorely missing in Ultimate General. For example, Leaders are sorted as either agressive, steady, or cautious folk. An agressive subordinate will be instrumental in conducting an assualt where as a cautious one might delay or flat out refuse the order. In addition, it also features a decent take on command and control amongst other features here and there. For example, choosing where you move your HQ isn't only about the bonuses it applies to troops. The effects of longer or shorter distances from HQ to ordered unit affects the uptake of said orders. All in all Battleplan ACW is a meaty pocket sized wargame that trades graphics for depth of gameplay. I think it's a fine game for strategy game fans but may be too easy for hardened wargamers....

What a fun little no-frills real-time Civil War Game... that doesn't work. The graphics are kind of bare bones, which is fine with me, and the interface is very simple and easy to use. But it is damn near impossible to consistantly get units to do what you want them to do. (This is as of 1.3). The major problem with this game is getting units to move is an uncertain affair. There is a kind of cool mechanic where sometimes your orders don't get through, simulating the communication difficulties of the second world war. I can go with that. What I can't go with is when you give an order, it get's accepted, and the unit doesn't move. Even after you repeat the order. Again. And again. And again. And again. Units will just randomly "stick" in spots and will be essentially worthless for the rest of the battle. Worse are river crossings. I played Chancellorsville as the Union. Most of my force started across the river. There are several bridges. I must have re-issued my orders three dozen ti...

The game is very similar to a wargame from the mid-late 70s that was for the Napoleonic period. That game was strategic and used rectangular counters, similar to the ones in this game, to depict forces. The game that I played almost 35 or so years ago may have, in fact, been made by Avalon Hill. I purchased the Battleplan ACW game after playing the demo. I was glad that the developer had released a demo as I always like to try before I buy. The demo proved a couple of things to me: first, to see if it ran under Windows 7-64bit, and second, to see if I like the way the game played since I read a lot of goods & bads on the forums. So far, I like the game. I also saw that the developer had released a patch today so players could slow the game down if you wanted to. It is a strategic wargame so you should be commanding large units (battalion/regiment & above) and not a tactical game where you command squads, platoons, and companies. I went through the tutorials and found them t...

Battleplan: American Civil War could get by with its minimalistic graphics if, upon closer inspection, it had some real depth in the gameplay by the way of ultra historically correct maps and commander and unit details. It doesn't have any of these elements, and so I'll go ahead with the only two positives I can think of: 1) One interesting function that this game has, that I wish others did, is that all commands issued by the General must be received by a messenger. If the messenger dies, the message is not received and the unit you're attempting to move stays where it is. Sometimes unit commanders will refuse a command -- no reason is ever given, but both of these elements add some character and unpredictability. 2) The Steam wallpapers are pretty cool. Yep. The flaws are manifold, but I will go for the chief hang ups that I have with this game: it rarely works, and it has zero support. I have an ASUS G73jh that cannot run this game, and yet a low-end Dell at work, that barely r...

I moved a line across a bridge, it was next to another line and then I got bored. I will stick with Ultimate General.

Nice game for a good price. The messenger system for conveying orders is very realistic for the time period and type of warfare. Great for anyone looking for a a good strategy game, but not somtheing as big or complicated as Total War.

Cut the crap, let's get straight to the point: Pros: - easy to learn, not that hard to master to on two first levels of "easiness". (militia and regular) - nice ui - nice movement system. You just draw a line mith a mouse and units follow it - fast battles (win or lose in 5-10 mins for each battle). It can also be a cons. - civil var flavour with historical units - terrain bonuses - some small things like adjutants who carry general's orders (they may become lost/intercepted and the orders get lost with them), hidden personalities of unit commanders - cautious may ignore some of your orders, agressive may charge needlessly into action, etc. - basic logistics (artillery runs of ammo and must be resupplied by a wagon train) - decent AI. Cons: - absolutely no graphics to speak of. Units are represented by rectangles composed of little squares. If such squares are in disarray you unit ir broken/routed/not in good order. See screens above and that's the battle in its entirety. Environm...

A fun little game for the casual armchair general. Playing out the great battles of the civil is kind of fun when you stick to the tactics that were actually used. The AI has a number of battleplans that they use against you in any given battle, and while that is where the depth ends, it is still enough for replayability. It is a very easy game to learn without taking much time to figure out the controls and it has a great tutorial. I really like the messenger system to give out orders, so it make you have to move around your commanding general in order for the messengers to not be intercepted by the enemy's formations. There are some problems: -AI pathing, units walking into the rivers and drowning, or just getting stuck on the riverback, unable to move, when selecting multiple units, they take the route of the unit being dragged around, not taking into account obstacles. -the aforementioned lack of the AI's ability to adjust to your strategy (which as the battle unfoldes, you adj...