Ultimate General: Gettysburg

[Viking]

I can't order my calvary to mount or dismount, Gamble's skirmishers remain skirmishers. In reality, once the infantry arrived, I would order them to mount up and guard the flanks or scout the north or west, but I can't do that again denying me important tactical decisions.

What the hell?  That is fucking stupid you cannot order your cavalry to mount up or dismount?  I mean I get we are not going for Simulation: Gettysburg for training 19th century army commanders but come on now.

I can't recall a single instance of an army commander deciding when a regiment mounted or dismounted.  The whine that the game is badly designed because it doesn't give the army commander enough control over unit tactics is lame.  The problems with the command system are that it gives too MUCH control and information.  Its just another manifestation of the 1000-foot-tall general.  Anything that takes that away is good.

We few, we happy few will fight dismounted.

[Habbaku]

Another game where you order calvary around.

What would Jesus think?

[Berkut]

I can't order my calvary to mount or dismount, Gamble's skirmishers remain skirmishers. In reality, once the infantry arrived, I would order them to mount up and guard the flanks or scout the north or west, but I can't do that again denying me important tactical decisions.

What the hell?  That is fucking stupid you cannot order your cavalry to mount up or dismount?  I mean I get we are not going for Simulation: Gettysburg for training 19th century army commanders but come on now.

I can't recall a single instance of an army commander deciding when a regiment mounted or dismounted.  The whine that the game is badly designed because it doesn't give the army commander enough control over unit tactics is lame.  The problems with the command system are that it gives too MUCH control and information.  Its just another manifestation of the 1000-foot-tall general.  Anything that takes that away is good.

I could not care less about ordering cavalry to mount or dismount, as long as they do so in some rational manner on their own.

I certainly do care if the orders/choices/decisions I make seem to have some actual correlation to Civil War tactics and realities on the battlefield. And given the review, it would seem that they do not, or do so in only a very superficial way.

I get the impression it is a game with all the trappings and theme of the Civil War, but the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with the Civil War...

[FunkMonk]

I get the impression it is a game with all the trappings and theme of the Civil War, but the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with the Civil War...

I wouldn't say that. Battle lines move back and forth and flow as each scenario develops. Artillery placement matters and holding the heights is integral. It feels like a civil war game.

Think of it as the offspring of a Sid Meier's Gettysburg! - Total War union. It's never going to be a hyper realistic simulation but it's not supposed to be. It does what it wants to do pretty well. For $10 I've had a lot of fun with it and it's not even finished yet.

[Ed Anger]

I'd love to have a game on Civil War cavalry battles. Custer charging the reb cavalry at Gettysburg, Brandy Station, etc.

[Valmy]

I'd love to have a game on Civil War cavalry battles. Custer charging the reb cavalry at Gettysburg, Brandy Station, etc.

Yelling 'Come on you Wolverines!' while a brass band played 'Hail to the Victors'

[Ed Anger]

I'd love to have a game on Civil War cavalry battles. Custer charging the reb cavalry at Gettysburg, Brandy Station, etc.

Yelling 'Come on you Wolverines!' while a brass band played 'Hail to the Victors'

Grumbler just got a hard on.

[Razgovory]

I get the impression it is a game with all the trappings and theme of the Civil War, but the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with the Civil War...

I wouldn't say that. Battle lines move back and forth and flow as each scenario develops. Artillery placement matters and holding the heights is integral. It feels like a civil war game.

Think of it as the offspring of a Sid Meier's Gettysburg! - Total War union. It's never going to be a hyper realistic simulation but it's not supposed to be. It does what it wants to do pretty well. For $10 I've had a lot of fun with it and it's not even finished yet.

I'm not going to try to sell this game to Berkut.  Clearly he's interested in a simulationist game.  That's cool, I fully understand that.  This is not that game.  I wouldn't go so far as to say the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with civil war battles, but the game is meant for quick exciting battles.

[Berkut]

I get the impression it is a game with all the trappings and theme of the Civil War, but the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with the Civil War...

I wouldn't say that. Battle lines move back and forth and flow as each scenario develops. Artillery placement matters and holding the heights is integral. It feels like a civil war game.

Think of it as the offspring of a Sid Meier's Gettysburg! - Total War union. It's never going to be a hyper realistic simulation but it's not supposed to be. It does what it wants to do pretty well. For $10 I've had a lot of fun with it and it's not even finished yet.

I'm not going to try to sell this game to Berkut.  Clearly he's interested in a simulationist game.  That's cool, I fully understand that.  This is not that game.  I wouldn't go so far as to say the underlying mechanics have nothing to do with civil war battles, but the game is meant for quick exciting battles.

I don't think the game has to be a simulation to appeal to me at all - I don't mind simplification in the least.

But it IS important to me that it still be a "Civil War" game. It can be a simple civil war game, nothing at all wrong with that.

[Razgovory]

Well, if you like there are some videos on youtube that show game play.  I'd use that to judge.

[FunkMonk]

The biggest drawback for me with this game is that there is currently no multiplayer. Multiplayer fits this game perfectly and I hope they add it in the finished product.

[Razgovory]

Yeah, I think they said they will be adding Multi-player.  I've never tried an "Early access" game before.  But this one was like 10 bucks and isn't bad.  I've gotten something like 20 hours out of it, so that's not a bad deal.

[Lettow77]

 Got the game; even on the higher levels the AI isn't that challenging. Won the battle of Gettysburg on the second day as the Confederacy with 2:1 losses inflicted, and on the replay as the north the South's losses were even worse.

The choose-your-adventure campaign system is pretty fun,  but doesn't apply to the multiplayer. A campaign feature for the multiplayer, as well as multiplayer beyond 1vs1, would be needed to make this a solid game worth putting lots of time into, but it's not clear if it will receive that support.

[Syt]

Instead of starting a new thread I'll put this here:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/502520/

Ultimate General: Civil War

Ultimate General: Civil War is a tactical war-game. Experience the bloodiest period of U.S. history - the American Civil War of 1861-1865.

MAIN FEATURES

Full campaign: Fight in the American Civil War campaign and participate in 50+ battles from small engagements to massive battles that can last several days over hundreds of square miles of terrain. Campaign fully depends on player actions and battle results. Historical battles can also be played separately.

Early access edition includes the following battles in the campaign:
Battle of Aquia Creek
Battle of Philippi
1st Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Gaines' Mill
Battle of Malvern Hill
2nd Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
+ 10 minor engagements different for each side

The following battles will be added when the game is fully ready in a couple of months:
Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Stones River
Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Cold Harbor
Battle of Richmond
Battle of Washington
+ 13 minor engagements different for each side

Army management: You are the general. You have full control over the army composition. Based on your successes and reputation you might get access to more corps, divisions and brigades. Keep your soldiers alive and they will learn to fight better, turning from green rookies to crack veterans. Lose a lot of your soldiers and you might not have enough reinforcements to deliver victories. Your reputation will suffer, army morale will drop and you will be forced to resign.

Innovative command system: You decide which level of control you want. Command every unit individually or just give them a main goal with one button click and watch if they can take that hill. Army divisions commanders can make decisions on their own and help you control the largest army. Draw a defensive line and allocated brigades will defend it like lions. Or design a deep flanking maneuver by just drawing an arrow and send the whole army to the enemy flank or the rear. Your generals will try to fulfill your orders, although "no plan survives contact with the enemy".

Officer progression: Historical unit commanders progress and become better fighters together with the player. The Officers rank up based on their units' performance, but its war and they can be wounded or even get killed in action. New ranks open new possibilities and allow officers to lead bigger units without efficiency loss. Winning battles also opens new possibilities for you as a general, increasing skills such as reconnaissance or political influence.

Historical weapons: There is huge variety of Civil War weaponry from mass produced Enfield pattern rifles to rare Whitworths. Historical availability has also been implemented. Certain weapons can only be captured by raiding supplies or taken from the enemy on the battlefield.

Enhanced unit control: Detach skirmishers to send them to scout those hills ahead. Or merge several brigades into one bigger division if it's needed. Dismount the cavalry to become less visible to the enemy or mount for fast flanking charges and supply raids. Supplies are extremely important and you have to plan and defend the provisions otherwise the battle might end for you early.

Advanced Artificial Intelligence: You will face a strong enemy. AI will flank you, will hit your weak spots and undefended high ground, will chase and cut your supplies and will try to destroy unguarded artillery batteries. AI will use terrain and will take cover and retreat if overwhelmed.

Terrain matters: Trenches, lines, fences, houses, fields – everything can help to achieve victory, if you know how to use it. Hills will allow you to see enemy units earlier. Rivers and bridges can become natural obstacles that will help you to defend. Forests can help you hide your movements and flank the enemy.

Beautiful maps: We believe that modern technology allows hardcore war-games to finally stop being brown on green hexes. Hardcore, deep war games can be beautiful. In our game, every historical battle landscape is accurately hand-drawn, utilizing data from satellite and historical maps. The topography plays immense strategic role and helps to understand how battles were fought and to learn history.

Currently in Early Access.

The Historical Gamer has a few video playlists:

Union: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTGFcT0l8dvALcs_jcnEldRZdwq5dgOoe
CSA: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTGFcT0l8dvD7KgkFsGjVL4QIxQgTMFHT

(He also has a few Rule the Waves Let's Plays - https://www.youtube.com/user/thehistoricalgamer/playlists )

This might be a nice modernized beer & pretzels version of Civil War Generals 2.

[Lettow77]

 The AI is a bit terrible at the moment, unless it is reasonable for the yankees to have taken a couple gettysburg's worth of casualties at second manassas.