Ultimate General: Civil War
X
Forgot password? Recovery Link
New to site? Create an Account
Already have an account? Login
Back to Login
0
5.00
Edit
Ultimate General: Civil War is a tactical war-game. Experience the bloodiest period of U.S. history – the American Civil War of 1861-1865. Full campaign: Fight in the American Civil War campaign and participate in 50+ battles from small engagements to massive battles that can last several days over hundreds of square miles of terrain. Campaign fully depends on player actions and battle results. Historical battles can also be played separately.
Steam User 93
I finally finished both campaigns on Legendary difficulty and seeing I’ve put in over 1200 hours I thought I’d leave my two cents here. As someone who is a huge fan of the American Civil War and grew up playing Civil War Generals 2 and Sid Meier's Gettysburg, this title fulfilled my need for a contemporary Civil War game. There just aren't a lot of titles to choose from and the ones that I have played were lackluster or just mods for existing games such as Empire Total War. This game combines the best of Civil War Generals 2 and Sid Meier's Gettysburg as well as having that Total War franchise feel to it - but without the bugs (mostly). I can tell that the producer was a fan of both of the aforementioned titles, especially Civil War Generals 2.
The game starts in 1861 near the beginning of the War and allows you to command a small force to either capture a fort (South) or a small city (North). Depending on difficulty, this is either a trivial first mission (colonel difficulty) or nigh-impossible (Legendary difficulty). You have time frame to capture and hold the objective points. After the first battle you are brought to an army camp screen where you train new brigades and equip them with weapons based on how many you captured from the enemy in the last battle(s) and how many you can afford since you are awarded supplies/cash after every victory. Once you equip your small army, you move onto another small battle and then to the first Battle of Bull Run. In this “Major” battle your recently raised troops form a portion of the army and the rest of the troops are historical units that actually fought in the battle. On legendary difficulty, this battle is far easier than the previous smaller battles. For some reason, there is an extremely long time limit on this battle. Since I had almost infinite time, on both my playthroughs I hunted down and wiped out the entirety of both armies to get as many captured weapons as possible. I more or less followed this strategy until the late-game battles where it was either too costly or not enough time is available. I think there are rough 15-20 major battles that get progressively more challenging, especially as the south. Finally, the last major battle is fought at either Richmond or Washington where you face a horde of enemy troops desperate to defend their capitol.
The Union Legendary campaign, while challenging, was far easier that the southern campaign. As the South, after Antietam you really start to have difficulty in replenishing your troops as you face better equipped and increasingly large union armies. You really have to start playing cautiously and smart as the South as taking too many casualties will be a catastrophic mistake which will snowball and lose you the game. The first playthrough I made it all the way to Cold Harbor but I had to restart because I simply didn’t have enough troops to hold back the union onslaught. The second time around I played conservatively through every single battle and even kept a detailed excel grid of how many losses I suffered and how many casualties I inflicted. I managed to grind my way through the last few battles and made it to Washington with an army of over 100,000 troops which I was ecstatic about. However, even though I managed to capture the city I didn’t realize that I then needed to HOLD the city including all the forts in which I just captured. I ended up quitting and I almost quit and uninstalled the game because my troops had taken horrendous casualties taking these forts and I now had to face an army of OVER 200,000 union troops! I was outnumbered 4 to 1!! Finally (yesterday) I managed to calm down and ended up saving the game six separate times during the battle to minimize casualties to I could then be prepared to fight the endless waves of Union troops. After several restarts and over ten hours of grinding and min-maxing, I barely held on the city and finally won the south campaign. What a ride! I will say that I got so frustrated so many times that I had to quit for weeks or months at a time. I almost gave up on winning as the South on Legendary because it was just too hard to replenish causalities, especially in my veteran brigades. In hindsight I would say that this is a very necessary problem for the south based on history and adds a great deal of immersion.
The Union Campaign is difficult early on as you struggle to take positions that are heavily entrenched. Oddly enough though, I think the hardest battle on the Union side was Malvern Hill where you face a horde of Confederate soldiers who rush and quickly overwhelm you. Only timely reinforcements kept me from losing this battle as I clung on for dear life. The latter battles become easier as you slowly but surely amass greater number and superior firepower. The union artillery is especially effective and as you gunners gain experience they can tip battles in your favor with a few rounds of deadly canister shot. By the time the last battle at Richmond came I had a massive army of almost 200,000 troops and I simply grinded down my foe whom I outnumbered by almost 50,000. General Grant would be proud!
With all of that said, this is a great game. I think this is probably on of only five games that I’ve put over 1000 hours on in my life. I found brigadier General difficulty to be too trivial and Legendary difficulty to be too challenging at first, so I decided to “get good” and figure out how to win on Legendary. I would say in terms of challenge this game is S Tier. I had to restart battles and even campaigns several times because I either took to many casualties, got overwhelmed, or lost valuable units that got stranded and either shattered or surrendered.
The game is not free of bugs, there is this super-annoying one where enemy cavalry will become un-targetable and just run through your lines and end up reforming in your rear and start wreaking havoc. There is another one where feeling troops will get stuck in rivers and sit there taking shots until they shatter. The AI itself is fairly competent and will attack weak points but is prone to over-committing and doing these “highland charges” where entire divisions will just run at you en-masse and take massive casualties if you know how to counter it. Another “bug” is where if you scale your troops down to smaller brigade sizes the enemy armies won’t be as large. Personally, I tried to exploit this at first but then thought it was too much cheese. It also lowered the enjoyment factor as I like to fight massive armies and capture lots of weapons. The AI units also tend to stand out in the open and take fire instead of seeking cover.
Overall, this is a solid game that has kept me entertained for the last five years. I would recommend it to anyone who is either a fan of the civil war or a fan of the horse and musket time period. It’s FAR superior to Empire Total war as the units don’t bug out on terrain and fire when you tell them too (for the most part). The Legendary difficulty is no joke and was one of the most challenging RTS experiences I’ve ever had. It was extremely fun and rewarding although it was also very frustrating at times. I’d give this game a 4.5/5 and would highly recommend it. Be warned though, it’s addictive and might keep you up late at night!
Steam User 48
This is a style of gaming that is unfortunately being lost. I wish the creators would apply their energies to some other wars throughout history. It's an excellent way to become intimately familiar with what was going on in each battle. And it's gangs of fun.
Steam User 36
Maneuver was a very important principle in 18th and 19th century warfare and this game captures that importance extremely well. Ai is smart enough which makes it challenging, but not overwhelming. I strongly suggest watching tutorials on youtube created by experienced players to learn how to manage your army in camp and on the battlefield.
I can't wait for Revolutionary War to be fully released as it looks great too. I'd LOVE to see an Ultimate General based on the Napoleonic Wars and those campaigns!
Steam User 24
This game has a lot of little features that Total War has failed to implement despite its long list of games that make this really fun despite its simpler graphics.
• Semi-autonomous units. Unit officers will adjust and engage threats on the march and in the field on their own and are not completely brain-dead like Total War units who will just walk into danger without question (don't get me wrong though they still sometimes need help). You can also delegate instructions to division-level officers and they will do their best to complete your orders. The drag-a-path movement feature allows you to create more complex maneuver orders when you want.
• The battles can be really dynamic sometimes. Instead of simply eliminating the enemy or holding a bunch of static objectives the battles often change or develop in real-time. Suddenly, you might find yourself performing a fighting retreat or a glorious assault on newly decided objectives. Reinforcements or ambushes can really shake up the battle. The AI in this game is also fairly aggressive and competent and will attempt to envelop you when possible so you need to always be paying attention to your flanks and for spooky business.
• The campaign-specific features like your career points and unit progression are really cool. I can level up my stats that benefits my army in different ways. You can also equip your units with different weapons between battles. It's pretty cool that I can give my battle-hardened 1st and 2nd Infantry brigades lever-action goodies and watch them go crazy. You can also spend reputation points from winning battles on getting other bonuses but if you spend too much your public support becomes weak.
• Supply wagon system for logistics (ammunition). You need to make sure you not only bring enough supplies for the battle but also know how to position your supplies and when to bring them to your depleted units. In longer battles the need to properly manage your logistics becomes really important.
• The line-of-sight and terrain system is pretty good. Heavier terrain slows you down, provides more cover, and makes you more sneaky. Open terrain lets you move faster and fire more effectively but you are very vulnerable.
Steam User 19
Great game, especially if you have civil war history autism, and still a good game even if you don't. Just beware that the campaign isn't a free-form total war style campaign that gives you freedom of movement across a campaign map but instead a fixed chronological set of battles.
Steam User 35
its fine I guess
Steam User 12
Excellent game.