Civil War: The Game "Great Battles"

Well, this game is the first one I ever owned, so, it's the game I am most familiar with.

You start out with getting to choose which side you are, how much money you have, if you have borders or not, and year (if you play a historical setting). If you don't use a historical setting, you pretty much bypass the year.

Then, you come to the main map. There are four forts that you must control in order to win the game. You cannot win if you destroy every force on the field; you must own each fort. Each fort produces troops for the side that owns it. That is why you must have them all, or else, you will be forced to fight armies that come out of nowhere.

You cannot attack another force unless you have a general. Same goes for your opponent. When you do attack, they will give you a trivia question, then go into an actual battle with your armies. You have a limited amount of turns. The larger your army, the longer it will take to lose. The larger your enemies army, the harder it is to win. If you run out of turns, it is a draw.

Borders have a massive effect in your game. If you have borders, you have only two points of access into a state. If you have borders, you want to get to these passes before your enemy can block them. If you have no border (which you can't have in historical mode) you don't have to worry about access points, which means that you can go anywhere.

You buy generals, troops and artillary at forts. Troops are cheap, artillery is pricey, but generals are expensive. You can only buy three generals, and only once every 14 turns.

Sea power. The sea does not come into effect during this game. As a matter of fact, this is a purely land war game. The Sea has nothing to do with it, which helps you by not forcing you to worry about the sea also.

Another major thing is railroads. They cross several states and have two train stations. If you can capture both stations of a railroad, you can transport troops to where they are needed. However, if you only capture one, you cannot transport your troops by rail, but your enemy can't either.

Last but not least, territory. Every piece of territory that you capture places money in your bank. Every turn, you are given money for every territory you have. The more you have, the more money you have. The less you have, the less you get.

My Score: Out of 1-10, I give it an 8. This game has it's drawbacks, such as, you are only limited to three generals, and you cannot name armies and such. But, it is a worthwhile game. It is very easy to play and does not need a genuis to use. I certainly enjoy playing it.

Civil War Games

For the next few posts, I'm going to ver away from Civil War History, and into games created on this war and my thoughts about each game.

Fall of Fort Donolsen: Grant Wins His Spurs

During early 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant came up with a plan to drive Albert Sydney Johnston and his Army of Tennesse out of his army's namesake state. It required an attack on Forts Henry and Donolsen. Grant packed up 27,000 men and marched them south, striking for Fort Henry first. The Union River Fleet got there first, and leveled the fort to the ground. Grant never even got his army on the scene. But, since Grant was the mastermind behind the operation, he got the fame and glory. Grant, seeing the way open, struck next towards Donolsen. Once again, the fleet got there first. But, they weren't able to elevate their guns enough to strike the fort. So, Grant got up to the fort, and settled down for a siege. The Confederates commanding the fort decided to cut thier way out. So, they struck for a small gap, and burst open a gaping hole to freedom. Then, suddenly, they fell back, thus effecetivly closing the gap. Why did they do so? I don't know. Don't ask me. Floyd and Buckner (two of the three generals at the fort) bailed out, fleeing the responsibility of surrendering, and left thier comrade to do the honors. This is cowardly. Nothing more can be said. Nothing in thier defense. But, they weren't the only ones to leave. Bedford Forrest followed after them with about a thousand cavalry.

Don't Count Your Eggs Before They Hatch, Or Else You Get Scrambbled Eggs

The Army of Tennesse is the Confederate version of the Army of the Potomac. Its' men deserved better then to be led by men who were too slow and to timid to give victories. By then end of the first day of the Battle of Stones River, Bragg, thier commander, proclaimed a mighty victory to Richmond. He was sure that God had handed them a mighty victory. Boasts do not win battles. And his opponent knew it. General Rosecrans, Braggs' opponent, knew that he was not whipped. He soldified his battered line, and stregthened it. When Bragg came at him again on New Years Eve, it was no whipped opponent or cleaning up operation. Rosecrans was clearly willing to stay and fight. Bragg did meet with some success. But, in the end, he was outfought. He fell back to Chattannoga. As a famous historian once said, "The Battle can be described as a staring match, and Bragg blinked first.

The Miserable Creatant Gets Thrashed by the Gentleman

If there is one man who I despise in the Civil War, it is John Pope. He was not a man to be placed in the top spot of command: controlling an army. Pope got his position for the lamest excuse ever; for capturing a single island. Not a good enough excuse in my book. Pope had little military vision as he went into Second Bull Run. He would end up suffering 16,000 losses for his inability to plan. He refused to leave an adequeat force to defend his left flank, and went so far as to pull a division from that duty to help in his attack. Lee, on the other hand, knew what he was doing. Alot of his strategy was based on the fact that Pope was arrogant, and wouldn't bother with anything else once he saw his target. Pope was like a horse with blinders on. Well, for all my dislike, Pope was one of the first man in the Union Army who knew that it was aggression, not timidness, that would win the day. But, in the end, he suffered a humiliating setback.