Matrix Games Unveils Gary Grigsby’s War Between the States!

[Alex Fiedler]

The latest project from the people who created War in the Pacific heads to the American Civil War!

Matrix Games and 2 by 3 Games (www.2by3games.com) are thrilled to announce Gary Grigsby’s War Between the States, an innovative turn-based grand strategy game set during the American Civil War!

David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “2 by 3 Games have brought us some timeless wargames that people will be enjoying for years to come. Now that they’re taking their talent in grand strategy games to the American Civil War we can look forward to another masterpiece of wargaming!”

Taking gamers back to the American Civil War, Gary Grigsby’s War Between the States allows players to experience the trials and tribulations of the role of commander-in-chief for either side. Historically accurate, detailed and finely balanced for realistic gameplay, War Between the States is also easy to play and does not take months to finish.

Promote and cultivate talented young colonels or brigadiers to build Corps and Army commanders that will help you fight and manage the war effort from battles to training of recruits with the utmost efficiency and success. An innovative multi-faceted rank promotion system allows leaders to gain in abilities and power based on their successes, while also simulating the historical progression of leaders during the war. Each decision you make must be weighed carefully, as promoting and demoting leaders, entering neutral states, raising troops and many other actions cost you the political capital that will determine your ability to achieve victory.

Explore the historical tactics of the day to find the best way to win. Use cavalry to raid the enemy supply depots and conduct reconnaissance to determine the best place to strike and then engage the enemy head on and watch the epic push and pull of battle unfold in front of you. In between battles, the mighty Union navy or brave Confederate raiders can strangle and disrupt supply flow at critical times in your campaign. Build river gunboats and transports to exploit the strategic value of the Mississippi and entrench and fortify key locations to deny passage to the enemy.

Test your mettle and strategic vision in one of the most bitterly fought contests in history – the War Between the States.

Features include:
[*] Use wisdom and strategy to appoint the best leader for the job – With an innovative new system, units train and function best with the right leader. Weigh the strengths and weakness of the men commanding your armies to maximize unit attributes like attack, defense, movement, initiative probability, and training.
[*] Play on the edge of your seat with a suspenseful battle resolution system – Watch the push and pull of forces as the battle unfolds that will make or break your plans resolve.
[*] Master critical Cavalry Scouting and Raiding and penetrate deep into enemy territory - With the optional Fog of War rule, cavalry scouting becomes even more important. The Confederate early war cavalry advantage is accurately simulated.
[*] Achieve naval superiority with a realistic and complete naval war model – Harass and interrupt critical trade routes with a Union blockade and or Confederate commerce raiders. Build river gunboats and transports to control the “Father of Waters” and conduct amphibious assaults by river or sea.
[*] Fortify and Entrench – Entrench your armies and build permanent fortifications to protect strategic locations and interdict river movement.
[*] Conserve your Political Capital – Use it prudently to call for new troops, change leaders and enter neutral states. Build it up through successes and keep it high enough to secure final victory.

Get more information on War Between the States from its product page and check out the brand new screenshots!

[kingwanabee]

I'm probably buying this. Please "unveil" the price and the release date.[:)]

[Crimguy]

LOL no s**t!  It looks interesting, but I'm a sucker for anything with Zouaves (in Poland or elsewhere!).  Trying to figure out how much WitP is in there, and how much AGEod is there . . .

Best thing I've heard from 2x3 in a long time?  "Play in Windowed mode with the ability to resize the window from 1024x768 up to any size."

[Erik Rutins]

I can't announce price yet, but it's scheduled for release before Origins this year (June 25th - June 29th).

[PyleDriver]

Guys, this game is like nothing you ever seen before. The importance of leaders is unbeliveable. The research is fantastic. A death or wounding of a key leader during a battle can crumble you plans...I've been wargaming for 38 years, and have never seen a game with more options, or outcomes. I've been a tester for WBTS now for 16 months, and I still have the fever...I will say it's not a easy game to learn, but once you get it, it is an easy game to play (and very fun). Gary, Joel and Keith have got a game you guys will play for years. You won't regreat adding this to your collection...

[8D]
Jon

[Hertston]

Not on my proposed list of purchases as I already have both FoF and the AGEOD game. PyleDriver has made a good start, but I'm going to take rather more convincing to buy this one.

So, why is this worth adding to collection as well? What does it do differently and better? I'm open to persuasion but nothing in Alex's list of features isn't included in one, or both, of the other two games.

[PyleDriver]

Well Hertston, you don't miss what you never had. This game won't gather dust, been there, shelved that... I get bored easy, and I've been at it 16 months, and still going. The only other thing I've played during that time is Chess, and some Holdem Poker. It is so complex, I dare you to buy it and play me by E-mail...Ask Bill, he still loves it after a year...I've seen the other games, do you want to replay the Civil War with all the options, or play some cheesy game thats easy, and makes you feel good?

[8D]
Jon

[Crimguy]

Herston - I'm a big sucker, mostly because of a need to be away from my wife as much as possible [;)] I will get this, and probably plunk down the kopeks for AE to boot, giving Matrix and 2x3 some $75-100 dollars (better them than my 2 year old, eh?).

I'll be your guinea pig and write a full review and comparison. I'm a big fan of AACW and did like FoF as well. I faulted both games not on playability (they're a lot of fun) but on weird battle results.

[PyleDriver]

Crimguy, you won't be disapointed with battle results here. Gary and Joel have recreated the battle conditions of the time so well. Sometimes you throw your shoulders back and you head up, then the next month you bow in dispair...lol...Gaining initiative is another big key to the game also, Gary's genius is so apparent in this game...

[8D]
Jon

[Bo Rearguard]

*Sigh* Roughly two more months to wait. Looking forward to it. Do they take Confederate dollars at Origins?

[Cmdrcain]

 humm looking at the  Page putup for its release this  generates a question:

OS: Windows 2000, XP


Will it play nice on Vista? Has it even been playtested under Vista?

Also I noted no Game editor... what a shame... no possiable  modding "what if"
scenarios then

[Bo Rearguard]

Gary Grigsby's World at War, A World Divided game was fairly easy to mod and change without a built in editor. This game uses much the same system, so it stands to reason you should be able to mod it.

[PyleDriver]

Bo, Vista runs fine...I think Bill (Red largo) runs it...

[8D]
Jon

[Joel Billings]

Gary has Vista as well. It's run fine on Vista. Seems like an oversight that it got left off the OS list.

[Cmdrcain]

Good to know,  I still have my XP box and a newer  Vista  Home Premium  box (given as a Christmas gift so wasn't my choice )

So far no problems with my Vista Pc other then its litscribe capable Dvd burner notb reading some Cdrom's... forcing me to use with external cdrom burner drive..I've had.

I think its defective Dvd burner not Vista...  

Otherwise so far no problems with many games.

Civil war looks interesting...

[GShock]

tic tac tic tac....

[wurger54]

Well I'll be picking it up based on GG's rep alone. Loved PacWar, and Russia at War. By the way, where the hell have the detailed strategic level East Front games been in the last 15 years??? [:@]

.... OK, apologies are in order... I digress. [X(]

FOF was a yawner (I felt violated with the offering)... bye! AGEOD's offering was a very near miss... a very... near... miss.

I don't much like the scale of the WBtS map. I like hexes and I like detail, this game reminds me of FOF in scale ((strike one)). Other than that, I'm game and waiting with credit card in hand. After June, the rest of the year should be very good. [:D]

[beevor_fan]

Will get this, if nothing else because I consider GGWaW-AWD to be the best computer game. Ever. No, really. Eat your heart out GTA IV!

[R.E.LEE]

You are so rite FOF could of owned the acw world if they got the battles rite,the game had so much great stuff and then bam why work so hard to produce and create an army to no avail so very sad.i bought it but rarley ever play,how much ram will garys game need as i only have 512.thanks

ORIGINAL: Crimguy

Herston - I'm a big sucker, mostly because of a need to be away from my wife as much as possible [;)] I will get this, and probably plunk down the kopeks for AE to boot, giving Matrix and 2x3 some $75-100 dollars (better them than my 2 year old, eh?).

I'll be your guinea pig and write a full review and comparison. I'm a big fan of AACW and did like FoF as well. I faulted both games not on playability (they're a lot of fun) but on weird battle results.

EDIT FOF rules been playen all month with the patch,battle results are much more in line now.[8D]

[Erik Rutins]

Just wondering, did you guys try the latest version of FOF? A lot was changed in terms of battle results since the original release.