ORIGINAL: chicago227
Thanks. Anybody have a review?
I posted some impressions elsewhere - copy & paste job in here :
Let me start by saying that it's the first time in 2 years that I've posted a "Totally unavailable for testing this week due to all my game-time going to another game" in the Panther beta forum. Birth of America didn't move me much because I really couldn't care less what flag is waving over Boston, but in a funny kind of way the ACW as a wargaming period has always captured my imagination, it's got soul and atmosphere.
And these two words, "soul" and "atmosphere", capture for me the essence of AGEod's ACW - does it have a few niggles ? Sure - which wargame hasn't ? - but it manages to suck me in Big Time and that's no small achievement given the jaded seen-it-all wargamer that I am.
I tried to analyze what made it so special because if you just look at all the constituent parts there's nothing particularly unique about this game - apart from the graphics which make it stand-out from the competition imho - but the rest of the items on the feature list are just of the "seen it before" category. ACW - Strategic level - regional movement - emphasis on supply and command & control - politics & events - buying & training units - economy management - naval elements etc.
What makes it so special - I think - is that the apparent design philosophy of "zero hassle, maximum focus on commanding, not bookkeeping" so neatly matches my wargame desires. You don't have to explicitly tell a freshly raised unit that it should start collecting equipment and man or start training : when you raise a unit, it'll automatically start doing that and it will tell you when it's going to be ready to fight. What I want to get across is that decisions you make in this game are commander's decisions and the whole game is geared towards giving you the "Big Chief" perspective of the war not the "Chief Accountant"'s one.
I like games like that, and when all the pieces of the puzzle fit so nicely as in AACW I *really* like it.
Wargame of the Year so far for me - and a very worthy target for Panther Games to go after
Greetz,
Eddy Sterckx