The Civil War Battleset is a shareware program by W.R. Hutsell for IBM-compatible PC's which simulates grand tactical (brigade/division) combat in the American Civil War for the solo wargamer in the style of the old SPI Civil War Quad boardgames. The shareware version is DOS-based with maps formed solely of characters, and the system requirements are minimal (I have run it on a 2Mb 286 machine with no problems whatever, but a colour display is a must.). Scenarios for Shiloh, Gettysburg and Stone's River are included. Registration costs US $10 and registered users are mailed an upgrade which includes extra rules and scenarios, and also a version with unspectacular but adequate VGA graphics in place of the character maps. The product comes as two distinct programs.

Firstly there is the Scenario Editor. This allows the player to define the features of a battle map by typing characters representing the various terrain features within the confines of the PC screen, and to type in the identity and characteristics of the units which will take part in the battle. The flexibility is such that scenarios can be defined for virtually any battle of the Civil War which involved at least a division per side. The scenarios are saved as separate files.

Once a scenario has been defined (or a scenario file obtained from another source), it may be loaded into the Battleset proper and play commenced. Movement and combat are accomplished simply with a couple of keystrokes per unit per tum, the computer moving all enemy units, and sometimes yours as well ! There are five levels of difficulty and other factors such as visibility and enemy aggression can be altered to give variation to the games once you get the hang of the rules. Apart from the rather quirky behaviour of isolated units, the way in which movement and combat are handled seems realistic. In maybe 20-30 games of an hour or two each, I haven't found a bug worth reporting, which is a pleasant surprise in a game so cheap.

It's not Disney, it's not multi-media, it won't keep your kids amused for hours, but it gets my _ recommendation as a well-conceived and I executed little piece of code no computerised ACW fan should be without. As it is shareware, I have supplied Steve Foster with a copy for the SWA library. [Have already tried it out, and lost, but I learn fast. Will be posting my $10 bill poste haste an excellent piece of software - Graham]