Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

I recommend this game along with its DLC Whiskey & Lemons. Lets talk about the positives. This game has a massive map spanning from Texas to Maine just about which for some could be a positive or negative as it could be overwhelming. This is a large game and by that standard yes the whole game could be for players who are newer to Grand Strategy games. You have ultimate control over EVERYTHING. From building up your navy to naming the individual regiments within the game. For any total war players out there its a mix between a total war game and Hearts of Iron. Playing real time 3D battles is pretty fun and can be challenging no matter what side you decide to play as. As the Union you can't go into a campaign expecting to steam roll the rebels but as the CSA you can't underestimate the power and might of the Union Army and Navy. In this game your actions have consequences. If you decide to auto-resolve a battle it could be the difference between winning the war or losing it just like real life. It has a good research system and even with about 1,000 hours I still don't know exactly how the economy works. I do love getting to decide what rifles I want to give to who etc. It's pretty much Ultimate General Civil War, HOI4, and Total war. The Whiskey & Lemons DLC is very very fun. Getting to start out as a officer of a small regiment and climbing your way through the ranks is very enjoyable. Your actions can negatively affect the way your men look at you and it adds more a bit more to the game... Do i think you should buy this full price???? No. Wait to get it on sale and get the DLC with it trust me you'll save a More money that way. Now onto the negatives. This game is one of those trial and error kind-of-games. It takes a lot just to do one campaign. The enemy and friendly AI can be, well, brain dead. But in other times you'll find yourselves scrambling to do something about the enemy force. This game is also complicated. If you're a veteran of these games you'll have a better time than someone who wants to throw themselves in the deep-end. There are bugs which I haven't came across but am aware about and recently the developers have decided to move on from this game so take that as you will. If you have further questions let me know in the comments and I'll gladly respond.

Best large-scale civil war game on the market. The combat feels incredibly immersive despite some AI goofiness. You'll thoroughly enjoy seeing the casualties mounting as the battle rages on and objectives shift back and forth. Feels like a more complex version of a total war game - but lacking the polish. If you're anything like me -- an avid Paradox addict -- then you'll easily move past the rough edges and eagerly study the campaign map, plotting for each and every battle that comes your way.

dead game devs left it for dead

Solange die Deutsche Sprache nicht da ist, kann ich es nicht empfehlen.

Abandoned game

I enjoy the game. It has far more strengths than weaknesses. Perhaps the most frustrating for the hard core strategic war gamers is the inability to verify the economics mechanics are working as intended and that the game may not even allow for enough time for those mechanics to have a meaningful effect. But, the vast playground and openness to do as you want more than makes up for its limitations. If you just want to fight pre-determined and historical battles along a linear path, there are other games that may be more appealing to you. Those who have the time and are willing to invest it in can mitigate most of the game's limitations with relatively simple modding, while recognizing the potential consequences in terms of balance and historical feel. Comparatively, the game offers the freedom to plot the course of whichever side you are playing like AgeOd's Civil War while providing the option to fight the battles in the Diet Total War graphics that have become more common today. There are very few public mods (I only know of one), but the game is extremely moddable in terms of how things are calculated. For some, if not many casual gamers, this one might be complicated or at least more time intensive to do well than games like Ultimate General Civil War, but it is far simpler and more casual-friendly than Gary Grigsby's Pacific War type games.

I really wanted to like this game. It is very nice looking. Also very ambitious in the way it covers all aspects of the war. But it is so buggy it is unplayable, and this has been the case for years. I have come back to it multiple times hoping it would be better, but it still isn't. For example, credit rating is one of the most important aspects of the game, but when you re-load a saved game, your credit rating could be anything (i.e. saved as AAA but same save file reloads as AA or A+ or even A-). Another example: I built and garrisoned forts so that they bleed sieging forces and sap their morale. When I counter-attack with a field army, the fort immediately surrenders. So, even when I defeat the formerly sieging forces, I now have to lay siege to my own fort. The economy is and always has been massively hosed and opaque to the player. To the developer's credit, the economic management features have actually changed a lot over time, but they still don't work. The game tries to balance investment in many areas (industry, economics, politics, agriculture, diplomacy) but any investments you make in the economy and industry are ineffectual over the course of a typical game time. Investments in buildings, railroads, and projects never pay off. So, it is best to simply ignore these and play only the military aspects of the game, accepting the fact that your economy is simply going to crash and trying to win before your credit rating tanks and you can no longer borrow $. Also, some of the economy features are bugged and don't even work. For example, spending subsidies to implement market reforms only APPEARS to work (says so in the front end) but there are no actual changes to the flow of goods. All of the bugs I mention (forts surrendering upon being relieved, market reforms not functioning, and issues with saved games) have been reported to the dev team long ago but not fixed. Yes, I'm playing the latest version - 1.1420.

I wish I could offer a great review for this game. On the surface, it sounds fantastic. You get the opportunity to lead armies across the fields of battle during the Civil War. You can control different economic and political decisions that offer benefits to you on and off the battlefield. The problem with this game for me is the AI. It is awful. It does things that I find baffling. The main game is acceptable, but the DLC is terrible. I have to save scum until friendly AI does something that makes sense. I've watched battles where the friendly AI needs to be on the attack, but instead decides to politely wait until the entire enemy army is united. It chooses to attack enemy forces that vastly outnumber it, but then cowers when the enemy numbers are few. I've reinstalled this game multiple times to see if the situation improved, but it never has. I was really excited for the DLC when it came out, but it's so disappointing. I'm not irritated because I dislike the game. I wish it could be so much better than it turned out to be because it has so much potential.

Conceptually great game, but just way too buggy. Units ignore orders and you don't know why. Economics system is even more of a mystery and you usually do better by not messing with it. Whiskey and Lemons is another great concept but your success relies on commanding units that won't do what you tell them to, or do it facing the wrong way, or not give movement options like fall back, retreat, ect. If they actually work on making game functional it will be great.