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I held off this game waiting for early problems to be addressed which the developers seem to have been addressing. And along the way they appeared to add new conflicts as well ....

Am curious as to those who have been playing this game relative to general impressions, likes and dislikes ....

I've always been a fan of this period but found many of the games lacking though I know its a tough period to get right .....

Thoughts ?

I can only speak to the ACW aspects of the game since I haven't purchases any of the add-ons. The game is certainly easily learned, fast and playable. My biggest gripe is that it still doesn't have that American Civil War feel. The personalities are lacking for one thing. You never get that feeling of Sherman facing off against Johnston or Grant vs Lee. The general commanding on the other side is always an unknown unless you get so lucky in battle that you chance to uncover whoever is lurking in the enemy rear. Plus all HQs no matter how good or bad the general is in charge is, command the same number of units. So, no sense of army hierarchy either, since all HQs whether commanded by Lee or Longstreet or Polk work the same number of units. They feel more like WW I front section commanders. You don't get the sense of regional armies for that matter. You just go down the line east to west pitting this division versus that one brigade or that corps versus that one division.

At least they toned down that General Garibaldi event. Having an European superstar come over and decimate the South really seemed out of step with the period.

Well, I like the strategic feel of ACW having waited for years to see a game of this conflict and scale in a computer war game. I played Victory Games Civil War board game for years, which is strategic in scope, and this design is fine for me.
I can understand hard core American Civil War fans having some gripes with this, particularly the stacking limitations. Still, the epic size of this conflict and how its portrayed here feels absolutely right to me.

As for creating 'Armies', there is no mechanic in game to make one, but you have to abstractly create them. Image attached to show what I mean. When playing in an MP match as the CSA, I had to form 'Armies' centered around key leaders and geographical areas that operations were going to occur. Simple task as I had a notebook on the side and organized that way as the war progressed.

The leaders in this game are key to success. While playing with FoW on, granted (pardon the pun) you may not see the name or even the opposing Hq on the map. However you would know that Grant was opposite you after a few battles by observing the readiness and morale of the troops your contending with for example.

I think the Wars in the America's DLC is great. Each scenario in that pack is completely different both in scale, geography, and game mechanic wise. Also, the scenarios cover a lot of very important conflicts that shaped the Americas into the 21st century.