Blue and Grey

Computer Game Review

reviewed by Graham Empson

When my much loved, but aged Atari, was consigned to the scrap heap I got myself a PC and my collection of computer wargames went down to nil. Chatting to our friendly editor, he suggested that, ACW being my favourite period, the above would be a good choice. The game may seem expensive, but for your money you get an excellent game ( in my humble opinion ), a user manual, campaign manual, battle manual and a short history of the ACW. The program is basically a refinement of Impressions Micro Minatures strategy / tactics system first seen in 'COHORT'. In the standard game you control either the federal , or confederate forces, for the duration of the war, managing all the different aspects except individual leaders and political events. You are in effect deciding the destiny of United and Confederate States of America.

At a strategic level play proceeds in weekly turns, with reinforcements / recruits becoming available at monthly intervals. The game allows for division size units organised into corps, allocated to different armies ( optional ). The structure operates along realistic lines with manpower accounted for down to the last man. Infantry, cavalry and artillery are all modelled with appropriate weaponry and type in the correct proportions. A minor irritant for me is the standard lists of armies and generals available at day 1 which, for example, has Grant commanding the Army of the Potomac when he wasn't even a general yet and the army had not been formed (I just like accuracy).

Forces are moved around by normal march, forced march, river transport and rail system. It takes a turn to embark /disembark a division on boat or train. To increase the level of difficulty there are options for fog of war and supply. If you select the supply option you become responsible for maintaining a viable logistics network. For the federals this is relatively easy, since they had the industrial base, but it became increasingly desperate for the confederates as the blockade tightened and production centres were lost. The player must allocate forces to the job at hand, while keeping a careful eye on troop ability, most of whom start as green recruits gaining experience over time and through combat.

As units move towards objectives, they inevitably bump into the enemy, at which point the game goes into battle mode. The battle system defaults to a scale of 200 men per figure, which are organised into brigades and must be controlled by the player. Formations can be altered, changing the groupings as required. You can operate at a purely strategic level and have all battles resolved by autoplay, but I have found this costly in terms of forces, since whichever side you play loses more than it wins, unless you have overwhelming force! The game comes with First Bull Run as a battle scenario and other battle disks are planned. Despite the detail it is an easy game to grasp, even for the inexperienced. This game is somewhat addictive. I am very impressed with this format which does allow you to move from the grand strategic overview down to actually ordering individual pieces on the battlefield. The graphics are excellent with the cannon firing, infantry firing and fighting plus the cavalry charging, which all in all is the best thing I have yet seen on computer to match a tabletop encounter. Highly Recommended.

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