The Talonsoft company came up with a nice series called Battleground. I picked this game up shortly after it came out, and right after I got my first computer. I am very interested in the American Civil War, and especially interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. This game satisfies both of those curiousities, plus gives you the added bonus of computer war gaming.

The game has many scenarios, including the full Battle of Gettysburg, plus subscenarios like Little Rountop and Pickett's Charge. The game is turn based with, for example, a Union move phase, then a Confederate defense phase, then Union Offense and then Melee phase. This would constitute one half of one turn. The Battle of Gettysburg has 149 turns in all! It is also a hexogonal based game, with infantry, cavalry, leaders, and artillery units that move over the various terrains.

The game makers did an excellent job on the sheer history research aspect of the game, as far as geography, roads, time of arrival of units, the actual regiments names and leaders names, etc. Slow playing, this game is for the most dedicated war gamers. A movie of each firing phase can be watched as you control the fire phase(for example if you are firing a canon, a small movie of re-enactors firing one is shown).

The A/I(artificial intelligence) program has 4 levels of difficulty, easy, normal, hard and hardest/impossible. The A/I can be a formidable opponent on this game! Still, more formidable I have found, are human opponents. The strategies and tactics that one uses will determine the outcome in this game, leave no doubt. Victory is determined by points, one gets points by occupying certain objectives on the map, capturing and killing artillery, leaders, infantry, cavalry, etc.

I recommend it highly to the dedicated player who is up for a challenge, and has lots of time on his hands! Many patches and upgrades followed the initial release, and the latest patch is 1.34, and 32 bit play.

Recommended: Yes

Version Played: Released
Operating System: Windows
CPU: Intel Pentium
CPU Speed (MHz): Under 200
RAM (MB): 32
Best Played With/Intended For: Multiplayer
Graphics Card Family: Don't Know