How Well do the Scourge of War games hold up :: Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) General Discussions

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GandalftheBlack has Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

Oct 11, 2020 @ 3:59pm

How Well do the Scourge of War games hold up

Hi all,

Bit off topic but while the game is in development I'm looking for something to scratch my tactial ACW itch. Looking for something a little deeper than UGCW

How well do scourge of war gburg/antietam hold up? Graphics look a bit dated but I'd like to get some thoughts re: gameplay

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Showing 1-13 of 13 comments

Davinci

Oct 11, 2020 @ 4:02pm

I have played that Game for years.

The Sprites are dated as noted, but the game play is pretty good, and there are a lot of Maps to play on.

Horcerer

Oct 11, 2020 @ 4:03pm

Take Command: Second Manassas and SoW:Gburg are interesting, but not at all worth the money or effort once you've played GTCW. This game simply does everything they do but far better. The only thing they have going for them is multiplayer, but if that's not what you're looking for I'd say just settle with GTCW.

GandalftheBlack has Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

Oct 11, 2020 @ 4:08pm

Originally posted by (WTH) Horcerer:
Take Command: Second Manassas and SoW:Gburg are interesting, but not at all worth the money or effort once you've played GTCW. This game simply does everything they do but far better. The only thing they have going for them is multiplayer, but if that's not what you're looking for I'd say just settle with GTCW.

Ideally I'm looking for something with decent battle AI, GTCW doesn't really scratch that itch right now.

Horcerer

Oct 11, 2020 @ 4:12pm

Originally posted by GandalftheBlack:
Originally posted by (WTH) Horcerer:
Take Command: Second Manassas and SoW:Gburg are interesting, but not at all worth the money or effort once you've played GTCW. This game simply does everything they do but far better. The only thing they have going for them is multiplayer, but if that's not what you're looking for I'd say just settle with GTCW.

Ideally I'm looking for something with decent battle AI, GTCW doesn't really scratch that itch right now.

I agree, but unfortunately neither do those other games. GTCW overall does better in that regard by sheer better design, namely being at the brigade level rather than the regimental one. In SoW you will see the AI doing lots of incredibly uncoordinated attacks, bunching up its units nonsensically, and failing to actually face its units properly.

rogersdrums has Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)

Oct 11, 2020 @ 6:05pm

Originally posted by Davinci:
I have played that Game for years.

The Sprites are dated as noted, but the game play is pretty good, and there are a lot of Maps to play on.

Agreed....Scourge of War Gettysburgs graphics appeal to me personally....if you play a heavily modded SOWG it is a real treat.....it has so many well crafted battlefields in it when modded....it even has a battle creator/generator mod....however, we all know that SCOWG has no grand strategic element to it....the battle ai is just adequate inmho....but you can be in command of an entire army all the way down the command chain to a single regiment within a single battle scenario.....kind of a role playing element to it which is nice if you like that kind of approach to war gaming....if you want a comprehensive Civil War experience then Grand Tactician is the way to go.

Last edited by rogersdrums; Oct 11, 2020 @ 6:08pm

Benmilam

Oct 11, 2020 @ 8:28pm

Scourge of war single player is not that fun. A bunch of us have been playing multiplayer for years. We have a site where you create your own divisions. Last year we were playing 10-18 player battles. Some have taken a break and we are down to 6 player games. We play at 4:15 US central time. Here is our website, we also have a discord channel. https://ngcmsow.com/

GrayGhost

Oct 12, 2020 @ 8:17am

Originally posted by Benmilam:
Scourge of war single player is not that fun. A bunch of us have been playing multiplayer for years. We have a site where you create your own divisions. Last year we were playing 10-18 player battles. Some have taken a break and we are down to 6 player games. We play at 4:15 US central time. Here is our website, we also have a discord channel. https://ngcmsow.com/

I'm one of those taking a break but I vouche for this mod its a great one and hope to return soon just been so busy!

Marshall

Oct 12, 2020 @ 10:49am

You guys should try Kriegsspiel.

I run Civil War KS games in person, and I am working on a module to run them using Tabletop Simulator. They can also be played old-school by email. It isn't a tactical experience so much as a strong fog of war experience with limited communications and not knowing what your human enemy is up to.

We have a group on Facebook, Southern California Kriegsspiel Society. It may scratch some of that itch, especially for people looking for the corps-division size command level experience.

You don't need to know any "rules" just basic tactics and micromanagement is not permitted because a general would not normally command units at that level.

Just a thought.

richfed

Oct 12, 2020 @ 12:44pm

I used to play Take Command: Manassas & loved that game. Can't get it to work properly on Windows 10 though - mouse visibility issue. Though I have the complete Scourge of War Civil War game [Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Antietam, Brandy Station], I could never really get immersed in it. I don't know why. My 3 favorite American Civil War games of all time; Sid Meier's Gettysburg, Ageod's Civil War 2, and Take Command. Hoping that Grand Tactician surpasses them all.