Civil War Generals

[HansBolter]

While I have only a passing interest in the Civil War era I have played a few enjoyable CW games throught the years.

I enjoyed Talonsofts old Gettysburg game, but have not made a move to purchase the rereleased Matrix version.

The CW games I enjoyed the most were Civil War Generals and CWG2. They had a real flavor to them that I enjoyed, especially fighting the campaigns and getting an oppurtunity to upgrade the equipment of various brigades. I found the brigade level of these games more enjoyable than the regimental level of Talonsoft's games.

Are any of the current Matrix CW games anything like the old Civil War Generals games?

[jkBluesman]

I do not know the Civil War Generals games. But I can tell you something about Forge of Freedom.
Tacctical HW-battles in FoF are fought on brigade level. And you get generals. They make your troops fight better and you may demote an dpromote them.
You do have to manage upgrades, supply and plan campaigns. You also control the economy of either North or South and you deal with European diplomacy.
So it is both tactical and strategical.
I hope that helps.

[terje439]

I know them both. Played Cwg2 to death and then some, still sad they canceled Cwg3 [:(]. I will say that FoF is a great game that to me feels pretty much like Cwg. You get to fight detailed battles, and then you have a strategic part that is way better than Cwg ever was.
In Cwg you could buy new weapons for your brigades between battle for the cash you got from captured enemy weaponry, in FoF you get to control your sides entire economy. You get to do research, as previously mentioned you get to promote and demote generals, you get to buy new skills and abilities for your units etc.
Look at the FoF-forum, absolutley worth a look at least.

[Erik Rutins]

I would agree that of our current games, a fully updated FOF with the option to play Detailed Battles on feels the most like CWG to me.

[HansBolter]

Thanks guys, I'll have a look.

[Obsolete]

I absolutely loved the CWG series.  Even though it was baby stuff compared to my other hex games, I still liked the mechanics.  Let me remember, you had Moral, Organization, health, and the fourth was strength or something?  I can't totaly remember, but I loved the simple dynamics which at least had just enough complexity to make things interesting.

Unfortunately I didn't like the new gimmicks in part II.  The boats thing just didn't cut it for me, perhaps that part was TOO simple.  Also there was a nasty bug with attacking those new Corps General units, or whatever they were called, and you'd get ghost duplicates. 

But I was very upset too when they canceled the third one.  Everyone who had played the earlier ones were definitely going to make the purchase.  One minute it was all a go, and then the next I hear that Sierra decided to pull the plug before completing it.  I am not too sure why, but I guess they thought it wouldn't sell unless it was some 3D RTS since that's where the market seemed to be heading at the time.  Of course, Civ III was out around then and dominated sales over any of the 3D stuff.  So you can't bank too much on market trends in the software industry.  It changes too fast and often is quite misleading.

[Gem35]

I have Sid's Antietem and gettysburg, they are ok but Forge of Freedom is one of the best Civil War games out there along with Ageod's ACW.
Different styles but each has it's own charm.

[Missouri Rebel]

Agreed, FoF is excellent on so many levels. I highly recommend it. My advice would be to not get daunted by the amount of detail and only add depth as you learn. Your time will be rewarded.

[General Quarters]

I'm glad to hear that folks are enjoying FoF, which in my judgment is a terrific game.

Sometimes one hears complaints about complexity but rarely mentioned is the fact that the game has about three dozen options. Turn them all off and you have a very basic game. Turn some on, and you really get to design your own game, emphasizing the elements you happen to enjoy playing. I don't know any other game that gives the player that much freedom.

[JudgeDredd]

Forge of Freedom is definitely up there with my favourites
 

[Obsolete]

I remember there was at least an older thread somewhere about asking Matrix to do CWG III.  I'm not sure if there was an answere given or what it may be.  Maybe MG could ask Seirra about taking over the abandoned project?  Come to think of it, I do not believe I ever did get sick & tired of those in-game movie-clips always poping up.  I wished they would update them with more.

[Obsolete]