Sid Meier's Gettysburg for Windows

Real Time Strategy

I really enjoyed Sid Meier's Gettysburg. It is a real time, strategy based game. It can be played single or multi-player. The Music in the game is really neat (fife drummers). The video clips in the game are genuine footage of civil war reenactors. It gives you a real feel of the Civil War before you even start the game. It also provides you with video clips between battles. If you did well in a battle as The Confederate Commander, you will hear General Lee commend you and your troops as it shows a camp full of happy ,content Confederate soldiers (opposite if you play as Union). If you didn't do so well you hear your commander explaining how devastating your defeat was.

On to the game...
The controls take a little bit to figure out. You have to click on the unit and drag them to where you want them. This is sort of awkward at first. Once you get the hang of the movement commands the rest of the controls are real user friendly. The game is played on a topographical map. You can zoom in and out at will. This makes it handy to go right into a particular part of the battle and check things out. It is also convenient to zoom way out to get the big picture of how the whole battle is going. At the bottom of the map (playing screen) in a menu. You can click on a single unit or an entire brigade, by clicking the Brigade commander. Now that you have clicked on that unit or brigade you can give them orders from the menu;


Form column (marching formation)
Form line (fighting formation)
Skirmish (fighting formation)
Wheel right, left or reverse (adjusting angles)
Advance
fall back
Charge
Retreat
Hold
Double Quick
Rally (for gathering up a routed unit)


Morale
Now you have your army and all of your commands. So you march right into battle. You will get a quick lesson on getting flanked and the importance of cover and concealment.
Forming lines of units, battalions and brigades that support each others flanks are very important! So if you expose your flank to enemy fire without some cover and a commander close by, that unit will rout! Then your entire line could collapse. The realism is pretty good. If your troops are in trees they get morale points for cover. If the brigade or corps commander is near them their morale will raise. If they the unit sits idle they will fortify and morale will increase. There are also several ways to decrease the troops morale. Put them in heavy cannon fire, out in the open, combat in the wrong formation or fighting up hill. Morale is a very important part of this game, so watch your flanks and carefully coordinate your attacks!

Infantry-Cavalry-Cannons

These are the three different types of units at your command in the game. The main being infantry. These are simply groups of men that you will line up and send into battle. They will fire automatically when they have the enemy in sight. Some units will fight better than others. There are five levels of troops;

Green (they will rout fast and are difficult to rally)
Some experience
Experienced
Veterans
Elite (these men will fight like hell and are hard to rout and easy to rally)

Cavalry are another type of unit you will command. They are not as effective as a veteran infantry unit but can reap havoc on enemy artillery. Cavalry can move and dismount fast. They are great for holding an area until infantry arrives or taking limbered (moving) artillery. They can be over ran quick by advancing infantry units.

You will also command two different types of cannons.
The three inch rifled cannon. This cannon is good for long range targets. The other cannon is the Napoleon. This cannon is used for closer combat. Both of these cannons will only fire at what is in there line of sight (LOS). So you'll want to find a hill to put your cannons on. This way they have a nice line of sight.

Other Features
When you start the game you pick which side you choose to fight for. Then you choose a difficulty level(there are four levels). You can then play a scenario or the entire Gettysburg campaign. You can play a single scenario in about 1/2 an hour. A campaign can take up to three hours. The game map is real accurate. It starts out at McPhersons hill, just like the real Gettysburg battle. How the battle turns out is now up to you sir :) You can also adjust the game speed if you are feeling quick on your feet. It is fun to be able to have a chance to change history here in your own little world. They have also took a long debated theory and incorporated it into the game. What would have happened if General Stonewall Jackson would have lived? They have a scenario with Stonewall Jackson in command if you want to try it.

After any battle, you are given the option to watch the battle replayed, literally re-fight the battle or move on to the next battle.

A typical campaign fighting for the Confederacy.
You set up your cannons and advance your troops an Mcphersons hill. After fierce fighting and skillful
commanding you take McPhersons Hill. Assuming you keep winning as the Confederate commander;

2. Then you fight for McPhersons Ridge

3. Seminary Ridge

4. Lutheran and the town of Gettysburg

5. Cemetery Hill

6. Culps Hill

7.Then finally Spanlers Knob... (This is an entire campaign)

If you win you get to listen to General Mead Surrender to you, General Lee. If you are defeated, you get to listen to General Lee (you), surrender to General Mead :)

Conclusion

I would recommend this game for any strategy or war gamer. It is a little complex but can be mastered with very little effort. After this is done you can try upping the difficulty. Once you get to be a competent commander you can also fight online. I whole heartedly enjoyed this game.

~Mac