History Channel Civil War: The Battle of Bull Run

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Product Features

• Experience the intensity of the first battle of the American Civil War
• Deploy troops at Bull Run with 14 different battle scenarios
• 3 modes of game play include open play, bull run, and custom battles
• Control generals, infantry, cavalry, supply wagons, and weapons
• 4 accurately depicted battlefield maps

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006OC0WG
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: January 11, 2005
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,568 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

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Product Description

From the Manufacturer
On July 21, 1861, 35,000 Union and 22,000 Confederate soldiers took to the battlefields along the banks of Bull Run at Manassas Junction, Virginia. You are now in control of your command... will you flank like Union commander McDowell, or is it an all-out charge to secure the rail station?

Feel the intensity of the first battle of the American Civil War as you deploy your troops at Bull Run. Your strategic skills can mean the difference between life and death, victory or defeat! Immerse yourself in the battle that divided a nation and separated families! Will you change the course of history, or follow the exact plans of the Civil War Generals who shaped our nation and wrote the "who's who" among strategic battlefield leaders?

Features:

• Four gigantic battlefield maps accurately depicted from historical records from the Library of Congress
• 14 different battle scenarios
• Three modes of game play:
  • Open play
  • Bull run
  • Custom battles
• Control 1000s of options:
  • Generals
  • Infantry
  • Cavalry
  • Supply Wagons
  • Weapons
• All weapons are historically modeled based on their range, accuracy, rate of fire, and reliability

Product Description
In the History Channel: Take Command - Civil War brings you into America's bloodiest war as it's underway. Carnage and chaos are everywhere and the destiny of a country is in your hands. Withering fire cuts down your best regiments, as the screams of the wounded are deafening. Rally the troops and organize a counterattack -- Your strategic decision and talent as a commander will decide if the Union is preserved or if Dixie wins its independence.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Civil War Computer Game Ever, January 26, 2005

By	M. King - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

I strongly encourage any strategy gamer or wargamer to pick this game up. I enjoyed Sid Meier's Gettysburg and think Sid is an absolute genius. But I honestly like this game more. (And besides SMG won't run on my XP system) Some reasons:

1. It is not a clickfest. Unlike SMG and most RTS games, the pace here is closer to reality. It exists in a space between real time and turn based strategy games. You have the time to create a strategy and make plans (rather than just click things madly) but you don't have unlimited time, and you can find yourself surprised and forced to make quick decisions.

2. Is is immersive. The graphics are better than any real wargame I know--better even than Combat Mission. You really feel like you're there as you see the troops marching into place, see the puffs of smoke as they open fire, and off in the distance--whose troops are those? Reinforcements or a flanking movement. In this game you really feel like YOU ARE THERE.

3. It is accessible. The tutorial is excellent and gives you all the info you need to play. Best of all, it is in-game, just like SMG, not like the printed tutorials common in computer wargames. Also, the interface is reminiscent of SMG, so your learning curve will not be that steep.

4. It is historically accurate.

5. It is scalable. You don't have to play at an insane difficulty level just because the designers want you to. Play at the level that provides the right balance of challenge and accomplishment.

6. It is fun. Unlike some historical games, it doesn't feel like a history lesson, or like the deck is stacked to force you to just recreate the actions of history. You have choices and it is exciting and challenging.

7. You won't regret it. I haven't been this fired up about a game since...well I better not say. I play non-wargames and I don't want to hurt my credibility by naming an uncool genre.

Buy this game. I've been gaming since 1970 or so, and this is up at the top of my list of great games

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Civil War Combat Simulator, January 18, 2005

By	Ronald Stakelbeck "Civil War buff" (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not simply a game. It is a simulator for Civil War Combat (the whole 19th century with mods). I have never seen command and contol issues implemented so well. When you play, you can place yourself anywhere in the chain of command from brigade commander all the way up to army commander. The units in your army not under your command are controled my the computer AI, and each unit commander is has his own personality that affects the way he behaves. These behaviors range from the cautious plodding of McDowell, to the daring boldness of JEB Stuart.

This game is not for those who want to be in complete control of everything that happens. Sometimes things get completely out of control, and that is when the fun really begins. There is nothing like watching, and pulling your hair out, as one of your flanks is getting savaged, and some dolt of a brigade commander will not advance to support you. On the other hand, you will want to cheer when unexpected help arrives, and through brilliant manouvers and troop handling, the enemy is routed.

The graphics, while not exactly Half-Life 2 quality, are quite good. It is really cool to pull back to a wide angle and get a panoramic view of the battlefield. It is then that you understand what Lee felt when he said, "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it".

All the other details that you would expect from a battle simulator are included, such as unit morale, quality, fitness, weapon types, etc. Terrain and positioning also play a vital role in dertiming the outcome of a battle. Watch your flanks!

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just a little bit of info, January 13, 2005

By	R. Norb Timpko Jr. (US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

The developer's website for this game is www.madminutegames.com, if you have questions or comments, please try their forums.