Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

This might be the best all around civil war game on the market right now. Very detailed, very deep, can be complicated but there are plenty of youtube guides to get going. Once you understand the mechanics, the game is very addictive. The devs are still active, rpg dlc planned and looks really fun. The devs have created a unique game engine that could be used for other historical periods in the future. Like for example, imagine a Grand Tactician Crimean War ? Love the Game, and the devs have done a good job bringing it to it's full potential. Only thing missing I'd like to see, would be a quick battle generator. An interface where the user could set up quick tactical battle and pick his troops. Would be good for some quick fun, and it would showcase the insane amount of units in the game. Like you could have British vs french as they are already in game, you just only encounter them in the campaign.

Leider immer noch nicht auf deutsch. Schade

A hidden gem, a mixture of "total war and paradox interactive".

My benchmark for Civil War games is 1997's Civil War Generals 2. CWG2 you fought both major and minor battles of the Civil War, with some flexibility with things like advantage and armament. Grand Tactician Civil War scores well against this benchmark. At its core, it's an alt-history game in the vein of the Hearts of Iron series, and simulates everything from economic development and industry, down to the fine details of battle. There are no set battles, rather, you form your units, maneuver across the continental US - from the Indian Territories to the East - and battles occur organically. The management side is quite complex, and overwhelming, if I'm honest. Mostly I put it to AI mode, that's what your cabinet is for, after all, and only step in when they're going to do something stupid like print more money. This can be tricky, since it's not straight forward to, say, put rifles in the hands of your troops - as opposed to those Springfield muskets half my damn troops have. But the complexity adds to a sense of realism. Does not shy away from the reality that the war was fought over the rights of states to determine whether you could own other human beings as property. The battles are more straight forward, brigade level, top-down maneuvering on old-timey maps that can be zoomed in to a 3-D rendering. This is where the game has both its strength and weakness. The maps are detailed and historically accurate, so you're fighting on the banks of Bull Run, or with the hill overlooking Chattanooga to your backs. The problem is there are a finite number of maps - so you often find yourself fighting the 3rd Battle of Manassas, and and 2nd Battle of South Southeast Bull Run, and oh, here we are on that map again because the battle is happening somewhere in Virginia. While I do like the historical maps for historic battles, to be truly great, this game needs a map generator. Bugless as far as I can tell, and the music is annoyingly catchy. Many games I've left with I Wish I Were In Dixie for drum and fife or Oh Susanna for twangy banjo playing in my head. Solid tactical and strategic wargame.

Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861 - 1865), ist wohl das umfangreichste und akkurateste Wargame zum amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg. Dieser Gigant wird von nur 4 Leuten entwickelt, was zutiefst beeindruckend ist. Leider fällt der Einstieg nicht leicht, allerdings belohnt es einen mit einer Tiefe, die auf Augenhöhe mit einem War in the East rangiert. Anders als War in the East ist Grand Tactician jedoch auch was für das Auge. Ein stimmiges und wunderschönes Artwork, gepaart mit zeitgemäßer Musik und einer tollen Atmosphäre auf dem Schlachtfeld, zieht einen das Spiel förmlich in diese Zeit und es vermag für diese unglaublich interessante Epoche zu begeistern. Das Spiel bietet zwar ein Tutorial, allerdings hat es den Charme der Tutorials alter Paradox-Titel, was nicht sehr ansprechend ist. Man braucht schon ein paar Stündchen, um in das Spiel reinzukommen. Das Spiel geht an einigen Stellen andere Wege als die hierzu eher arkadig anmutende Total War Reihe. Dadurch fühlen sich die Gefechte anfangs etwas sperrig an, und auch auf der Kampagnenkarte ist nicht alles so eingängig wie beim Flagschiff von Creative Assembly. Hat man die ersten Stunden auf dem Buckel und das Tutorial abgearbeitet, dann wartet auf einen eine gigantische Sandbox, in der wir den amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg so bestreiten können, wie wir wollen. Obwohl historisch akkurat gearbeitet, engt einem das Spiel dennoch nicht ein und ermöglicht unterschiedliche Spielweisen. Auch die Asymmetrie des Konflikts wird hervorragend abgebildet und beide Seiten spielen sich komplett unterschiedlich, was einen unglaublichen Wiederspielwert hat. Alles an dem Spiel ist Artwork. Man bekommt quasi nie einen schnöden Text präsentiert, sondern eine mit der Feder geschriebene Depesche auf altem Papier. Zoomt man von der schicken 3D-Grafik raus, so sieht man eine historische Karte aus Papier, die mehrfach gefaltet wurde, auf der die Einheiten mit Buntstift eingezeichnet sind oder man entdeckt historische Zeichnungen am Rande der Karte - großartig. Jede Einheit wird von einem Offizier geführt, der mit Name, Foto, Herkunft und verschiedensten Fähigkeiten und Traits daherkommt. Hunderte kolorierte Fotos der Protagonisten dieser Zeit bringen einem die interessanten Personen unglaublich nah. Die Fähigkeiten der Offiziere haben großen Einfluss auf die Performanz der Verbände. Aber auch Kommunikation, Ausrüstung, Armeegliederung, Nachschub, Moral, Verluste, Gefechtserfahrung, Zustände im Heimatstaat der Soldaten und vieles mehr, haben einen teilweise großen Impact und machen den Unterschied zwischen Sieg oder Niederlage aus. Die Vorgänge auf der Kampagnenkarte haben einen direkten Einfluss auf die Taktikschlachten und während der Taktikschlacht läuft die Zeit auf der Kampagnenkarte weiter. So lässt sich etwa Verstärkung während der Schlacht, die über mehrere Tage gehen kann, heranführen. Auf der Kampagnenkarte erwarten uns zwar die üblichen Verdächtigen, also Forschung, Wirtschaft, Gebäudebau etc. Allerdings geht das Game auch hier andere Wege, die der Zeit und der Moderne des Konflikts Rechnung tragen. So wird die Wirtschaft, wie wir es aus kapitalistischen Systemen neuerer Art kennen, über Staatsschulden betrieben. Eine Ratingagentur stuft unseren Staat in seiner Kreditwürdigkeit ein, was den Handlungsspielraum unserer Investments limitiert. Gebäude und größere Projekte werden über Subventionen finanziert oder von privaten Investoren gebaut und betrieben. Auch politische Entscheidungen sind an das amerikanische System der Acts angelehnt. Dazu kommt ein hinreichend komplexes Warensystem, was lokale, nationele oder internationale Märkte bedient. Um eine moderne Einheit auszurüsten, bedarf es entsprechender Ausrüstungsgegenstände, die in unseren Fabriken produziert oder aus Europa importiert werden müssen. Den freien Handel stellt die Marine sicher. Hier gibt es die üblichen Funktionen, wie Blockaden und Handelskrieg. Aber auch auf den großen Flüssen, wie dem Mississippi, können unsere Dampfer fahren und großen Einfluss nehmen. Taktikschlachten mit Schiffen gibt es jedoch nicht. Ich könnte hier jetzt noch ewig weiterschreiben, denn das Spiel wird nicht müde, den Spieler mit tollen Mechaniken und Details immer wieder neu zu überraschen. Ist das Spiel ein Kauf? Ganz klar, ja! Ist es das für jedermann? Vor allem richtet sich das Game an passionierte Wargame, allerdings kann ich mir vorstellen, dass es auch den ein oder anderen Total War Spieler abholen kann, wenn derjenige dieser Perle nur eine Chance gibt. Ja, es dauert ein paar Stündchen um sich da reinzufinden, aber das Spiel belohnt einen mit unglaublichen spielerischen Momenten und eine Rückkehr zu Total War, fällt dann echt schwer. Ich habe mir immer einen Nachfolger von Total War Napoleon und Empire gewünscht. Creative Assembly, behaltet euer Casualgame von vorgestern, ich habe meine neue Heimat gefunden, sie heißt Grand Tactician: The Civila War (1861-1865) Tipp: Die Kinofilme "Gods & Generals" und "Gettysburg", sowie die Dokumentation auf ARTE "Der Amerikanische Bürgerkrieg" ergänzen dieses Spiel perfekt und maximieren die Immersion - unbedingt dazu anschauen! Schaut auch gerne bei meine LP zu Grand Tactician Vorbei: https://youtu.be/1nmcRh04sCk

This is what a total war should have been.

The game is full of bugs, lag and crashes. From what i see not a single patch has come out to fix issues with the game since the whisky and lemon dlc came out. It takes for ever to learn how to play the game since there is a lot of game mechanics that are not intuitive. Which makes it even more frustrating when bugs and crashes sprinkle your gaming time. Plain and simple dont buy the game its not worth your money unless it drops to $5.00 than i would say go for it. If the game gets patched and fixed than i would change that comment but since it does not look like they will be patching the game any time soon my review stands.

After having played this game more; I wanted to revise my original review a bit and add some additional context. I wish there was a "mixed" recommendation. On one hand, the dev(s) are active responding to feedback and emails when sent bug reports and save files. Patches are semi-frequent; it's clear the dev(s) have passion and want this game to be great. I can't deny that I have had some fun playing this game, and have had some memorable moments and battles. The game-breaking issue I outlined in my original review below has only ever happened that one time; so either it is exceedingly rare or whatever underlying causes existed have since been fixed. However, I must also be upfront and say that there are still some jarring issues, primarily with the strategic and tactical AI, that can severely detract from the overall experience. I would like to eventually change this review to a positive wholehearted recommendation. I believe that eventually I can do so in good faith if the dev(s) keep up their work and keep fixing and improving the game. As I mentioned earlier, I wish there was a "mixed" recommendation. This game definitely has its fun moments, and currently there are no other Civil War titles that come close to matching the scope and features of Grand Tactician. If you are okay with the possibility of bugs or weird/bad AI potentially torpedoing a campaign that you have sunk hours into, I'd say go ahead and give it a shot because when it works, it works really well. But, every time you enter a battle, every time you start the game, you never know if the AI is going to decide to derp out or if some morale or ammunition bug might cause you to lose a major turning point battle. -------------------------------------------------- ORIGINAL REVIEW: I just picked this up despite some of the reviews, and I can confirm that game breaking issues are still present that have not been fixed despite a paid DLC coming, despite the game having been out for nearly two years now. It would not surprise me if I came back in 3 years to check up on the game again only to find that the major issues have outlasted the Confederacy IRL. I encountered a plethora of game-breaking issues in my latest CSA campaign that caused the whole campaign to "soft-lock". Time could still move forward, but the union AI stopped doing anything at all, towns/depots would not switch control, I could not physically save the game, subsidy and policy progress were stuck despite time moving forward, etc. I don't even know how to describe how broken the game became, and due to the fact that the game would not let me save (it seemed to be stuck on autosaving?) I cannot even share the save for troubleshooting. I physically couldn't quit either, the game gave me an endless black screen when I attempted to quit, so I had to kill it in task manager. All in all, hours of progress lost. I could forgive the lackluster AI but the fact that this game still has such game breaking issues that have not been fixed but yet there's a paid DLC coming does not paint a good picture. All of that isn't even mentioning the terrible performance; 12-14FPS during larger battles with 100,000+ men. I have an i9-13900K, 3090Ti, and 64gb of DDR5 RAM. Although this isn't a "twitch" game or one that requires high actions per minute, that kind of performance is frankly inexcusable. I will update this review accordingly for future patches and what not, but nearly two years after release and there still being such major issues is not very reassuring. I cannot recommend the game in its current state. There are hints of greatness marred by bugs, poor design decisions, and sub-par AI that bring the game down significantly.

Hours Played: A lot. And still learning. As a lifelong Civil War buff, this is the game I’ve always dreamed of playing. Grand Tactician: Civil War offers an unparalleled level of depth, freedom, and historical authenticity that puts it in a league of its own. As someone coming from Ultimate General: Civil War, this game takes everything to the next level. It’s deeper, more complex, and gives you far more control and customization over your campaigns. From army organization to officer assignments, strategic planning, supply management, and tactical battles, you’re in full command. And with that freedom comes real historical immersion, especially if you already know your McClellans from your Longstreets. What sets it apart is the sheer amount of control and customization available. You're not just clicking troops around a map, you’re managing officers, interpreting 19th-century tactics, and making decisions that feel like they could genuinely alter the course of history. If you've ever thought about how terrain, morale, and supply lines shaped real battles, this game will scratch an itch few others can. That said, this isn’t a casual experience. The complexity and steep learning curve might overwhelm those unfamiliar with the Civil War or military strategy. But for players like me who love the intensity, that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding. Every playthrough feels fresh thanks to the near-total freedom you're given in planning and executing campaigns. Yes, there are a few glitches here and there, but they’re small bumps in an otherwise rich and ambitious experience. The upside far outweighs the rough edges. The Whiskey & Lemons DLC is another standout, it adds even more tools, scenarios, and options to fine-tune your playthroughs, making a deep game even deeper. Grand Tactician: Civil War isn’t just a game, it’s a Civil War sandbox for the truly devoted. If you love the era and want full control over how the war unfolds, this is a must-have.