Battleground: Collection 2

by Gathering of Developers

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002SFLA
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,423 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

If you are fascinated by the Civil War, you'll love The Battleground Collection 2, which includes four of developer Talonsoft's best Civil War games in one boxed set. Start with Battleground 2: Gettysburg, and if you ever exhaust all its scenarios you can move on to Battleground 4: Shiloh, Battleground 5: Antietam, and Battleground 7: Bull Run.

Although all the games are turn based, they do a marvelous job of re-creating the flavor of Civil War combat. Turns play out in a series of phases, making the game more realistic, and it's possible to arrange troops in several formations. In addition to re-creations of the historical battles, several "what if?" engagements have been thrown in for the historically curious.

The Battleground series is famous for its graphics, and these games shouldn't disappoint. Terrain is rendered with painstaking attention to detail from bucolic fields to stands of pine to cities complete with buildings and crisscrossing streets.

Our only quibble with the package is that no printed manuals are included--only some printed reference cards. These are complex simulations, and beginners will have a hard time understanding the ebb and flow of the game if they have to refer to an electronic manual all the time. On the bright side, one you've learned the mechanics of one game you've basically learned them all. If the Civil War has any appeal to you at all, it's worth the effort. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Four fun games in one box
• Mix of historical and hypothetical scenarios
• Talonsoft has been actively supporting these games for years

Cons:

• Newer games look better than the older titles in the collection
• Where are the printed manuals?

Manufacturer Description

This package contains:
* Battleground 2: Gettysburg: Experience unparalleled historical realism as you relive and re-create the most significant military action in American history.
* Battleground 4: Shiloh: A spectacularly rendered battlefield highlights the momentous and bloody struggle.
* Battleground 5: Antietam: Spectacularly rendered 3-D battlefield graphics highlight this struggle, the bloodiest single day in American history.
* Battleground 7: Bull Run: This game provides both epic battles fought at Bull Run.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Battleground Civil War Games in One Package!, February 14, 2000

By 

Michael P. Mihalik (Baytown, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battleground: Collection 2 (CD-ROM)

These award-winning games began coming out one at a time in theearly 90's, but are still simply the best Civil War games on themarket! Each game deals with a major battle on a regiment/battery level; Gettysburg, Shiloh, Antietam, and Bull Run (both 1st and 2nd). While this may appear daunting in scope, each game contains a number of scenarios, historical and hypothetical, of different size and balance, so you can start small. Shiloh also has scenarios for the smaller battles of Wilson's Creek and Prairie Grove, while Antietam has several scenarios dealing with the South Mountain battles. These are turn-based games with movement, defensive fire, offensive fire and melee phases. Scale is 125 yds/hex, which means rifles fire up to five hexes. Accompanying the game are period songs worth more than the price of the package itself! The graphics are still beautiful, and Talonsoft has patches that bring all games up to the latest level. It also has links to clubs that play these games by email, and to John Tiller's site for further optional upgrade. I paid well over $100 for these games over the years, and would do so again. These games aren't perfect recreations of the battles, but they are as close to it as I've ever seen. In fairness, though, I haven't played real-time games.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Civil War Battles recreated, September 22, 2003

By 

Richard Siehl (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battleground: Collection 2 (CD-ROM)

easy to play and based on historical fact - just plain fun and well conceived

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, August 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Battleground: Collection 2 (CD-ROM)

Personally I thought that this game could have been a lot better. The only thing that I thought was cool was the videos. You can't even tell the guys to move. Plus the video that they show at the begining of the game is just a tinny little square, most of the time it just gets messed up. If I were you I would get Sid Meier's Civil War Collection.