Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) News

The most ambitious American Civil War game ever hits early access this week

What may well be the most ambitious treatment of the American Civil War in videogames hits Steam's Early Access this week. Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865) combines real-time tactical battles with a huge strategic and political layer, putting it in a league of its own in the historical strategy games genre.

It's in development by Oliver Keppelmuller, who's known among wargamers as the creator of The Seven Years War (1756-1763). Grand Tactician, however, is a war game on a wholly larger scale. In the campaign mode, you'll take command of either the Union or Confederacy, and you'll be in charge of ordering your unit commanders just about anywhere in the eastern United States using a period-accurate map.

When armies clash, you'll have the opportunity to give the orders in formation-based 3D tactical battles. While these might look a little like old Total War dust-ups, Grand Tactician makes you think about things a military commander in 1862 would have had to consider: is the unit you're trying to move within earshot of a bugle call, or will you have to send a messenger on horseback? Does William Tecumseh Sherman hate my guts at the moment? Why are my clothes so itchy?

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Grand Tactician: The Civil War is shaping up to be the definitive American Civil War strategy game

Whoa! Let me say that again, whoa! Oliver Keppelmuller's long awaited American Civil War project (the term 'game' just doesn't do it justice) is now due for a 21st August 2020 Early Access release on Steam. However, some lucky folks - that would be me - have been playing the Beta for at least a couple of weeks now, and while the software is still buggier than an ant colony, we could truly be looking at the definitive computer game on the American Civil War.

There are 2 ½ reasons for this. The first is the way the game redefines the concept of 'real time strategy', or RTS. Say the term 'RTS' and most people think of the giant tactical ancient battles from the Total War series or the click-fests of Command & Conquer or Ultimate General Civil War. Draw a box around 10 formations from different commands, point them in the right direction and let them go. Not so in Grand Tactician: The Civil War (GTCW).

Second is the reality that GTCW is not one game but two, and I am serious about this. It has both a strategic game (national and campaign level) and a tactical game (battle level) in the same package. Yes, some other games like Total War have both tactical and strategic play, but one is usually subordinate to the other. For example, Field of Glory II does have a strategic campaign system, but it's obvious it exists only to set up tactical battles. In GTCW, however, both portions are so comprehensive and complex as to count as separate games, and I seriously think a separate, formal review on each is in order when the product is finally dropped for real (What!?-ED).

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Grand Tactician Releases in Early Access on the 21st of August.

A Very Special Dispatch, July 21, 2020.

Gen'l,

Sir, we know you have patiently waited for the order to attack. Now it's the time to make the preparations, as the attack is imminent!

On the 21st of August Grand Tactician: The Civil War 1861-1865 will be released on Steam, in Early Access, at the price of 39,99 (EUR/USD), some 10% less than the final release price (44,90 EUR/USD).

This version of the game will include three different campaign starting points (1861, 1862, and 1863), plus eleven (11) stand-alone battles.

CLICK TO ENTER GRAND TACTICIAN STEAM PAGE

[h2]Why Early Access?[/h2]

Though the game is playable, we are still hard at work to make the players' experience the best it can be. Specifically, due to the complexity of the game, bugs are still there, and the campaign game-play is not yet balanced well enough for us to be completely happy with it. A save option during battles is also one of the main improvements that the team aims at introducing as soon as possible.

For players waiting for a more refined and complete game play experience, waiting for the final release is recommended.

The game will be in Early Access for approximately the rest of the year - until we are happy with it. The time will be used for bug-fixing, balancing, adding more battle maps, and an 1864 campaign scenario.

Finally, during the early access period, players' feedback will be carefully monitored to improve the game-play experience.

After the final release, a post-release roadmap will be published, including additional features, maps, and playable content – which will be free to all owners of the game.

The soundtrack of Grand Tactician is a feature we are particularly proud of. Including only thematic songs of the period and performed by Wasel and the Weasels, the soundtrack will also be sold separately and in a special bundle with the game. This will allow listening to the songs also outside of the game, and supporting the talented volunteer musicians.

In case you want to know more about the development of Grand Tactician, don't hesitate to contact the team.

I am, sir, Your very ob't se'v't,

O. KEPPELMÜLLER, Gen'l. Engineer Corps.

Upcoming American Civil War wargame Grand Tactician releases next month

Grand Tactician has been on our radar for a number of years now, and we've been looking forward to the day it will finally release. Sure, it's covering one of the smallest, most boring conflicts in the history of mankind but the design principles involved look incredibly promising.

This is a real-time strategy war game that will combine a strategic map covering the entire USA, as well as detailed tactical maps that can be loaded separately (or auto-resolved).

It now has a release date of August 21st, 2020, although it will be released into Early Access initially.

The steam page hasn't updated yet, but here's the confirmation tweet:

ANNOUNCEMENT: Grand Tactician: The Civil War will be released in #earlyaccess on #Steam on the 21st of August. The price will be 39,99 EUR/USD (10% less than the price of final release).

Wishlist now: https://t.co/Lh2vL0glog #indiegames #indie #pcgaming #strategy #StrategyGame pic.twitter.com/PEYbGb8DvV
- Grand Tactician (@Grand_Tactician) July 21, 2020

Here's another look at the beta footage they released a couple of weeks ago, which shows off the campaign gameplay:

Another thing they've done is team up with a production company LionHeart FilmWorks for live reenactment footage. I could have lived without this personally but I've always had the impression our American friends appreciate things like this a bit more than we Europeans do, so hopefully you appreciate the addition.

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Starts with B and has an ETA.

A Very Special Dispatch, July 4, 2020.

Gen'l,

Sir, news from the development front of Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865)! We're happy to announce to all our followers, that the game has reached Beta-stage during June. To celebrate this, we've released a new game play video on our YouTube channel, showing the historic battle feature in the game. See the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dslT5bE-Bo&t=1772s

We have also released a wealth of behind the scenes information about the game in our developer's blog http://www.grandtactician.com/thecivilwar/blog/articles/who-are-the-grand-tacticians

The forced march towards release has started, but the morale is still holding. During the coming weeks we will be sharing information about the game's initial release!

We thank You for the continuous support! Fix Bayonets - and Happy 4th of July!

I am, sir, Your very ob't se'v't,

O. KEPPELMÜLLER, Gen'l. Engineer Corps.