Update News
Ultimate General Civil War on Steam Early Access
November 17, in the year of our Lord 2016 --
Game-Labs, the developers of the strategy game “Ultimate
General: Gettysburg”, have just released their next game on
Steam Early Access. The new game is called “Ultimate General:
Civil War” and is a tactical wargame, set in the American Civil
War 1861-1865.
The campaign in a few words
Ultimate General: Civil War offers a fascinating campaign system
that covers the whole American Civil War 1861-1865. Player
begins with his character creation that determines his initial
abilities and affects his early career as a Union or Confederate
General.
At the start of the Civil War the player has a few units and
fights small scale battles. He will continue to raise his army
from battle to battle by using his available recruits and
weapons. As the campaign progresses, the challenge increases and
player will have to win epic historical battles, such as the
“Battle of Antietam” and the “Battle of Gettysburg” involving
many thousands of soldiers! The goal of the campaign is total
Victory, to capture Washington for the Confederates or Richmond
for the Union.
Early Access Version of the campaign
The campaign is split into stages. Each stage consists a
historical grand battle and multiple side battles (minor
engagements). Player must fight the grand battle to proceed to
the next stage. When the game will be fully finished, the whole
campaign will package more than 50 unique battles combined for
both sides.
In Early Access version of the game, the campaign is not yet
finished and includes the following:
Battle of Aquia Creek
Battle of Philippi
1st Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Shiloh
Battle of Gaines' Mill
Battle of Malvern Hill
2nd Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Antietam
+ 10 small battles unique for each side, summing up to 20
different engagements
The following battles will be added when the game is fully ready
in a couple of months:
Battle of Fredericksburg
Battle of Stones River
Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Cold Harbor
Battle of Richmond
Battle of Washington
+ 13 small battles unique for each side, summing up to 26
different engagement
Army progression
According to the battle results, the player is rewarded with
supply, recruits, rare weapons, legendary officers and units.
The rewards help to upgrade his army and continue fighting the
war. Additionally, the army gains experience and progresses in
skills.
There are 3 main layers of progression simulating a Civil war
army organization:
Army General
Officer skills
Unit abilities
The Units have several abilities that level up as they do
specific actions in battle, like shooting, marching, melee,
inflicting casualties and so on. Their officers earn experience
by participating in battles and gain special skills that further
boost units’ performance. As the officers gain rank they can be
promoted to Division or Corps commanders and enhance many
subordinate units. Finally, the player earns General Skill
Points after winning critical battles that he uses to improve on
various categories. For example, decrease recruitment costs,
enhance reconnaissance level, increase healed casualties etc.
Therefore, player’s performance and decisions about his army
greatly affect the campaign flow.
Custom and Historical battles
Probably the most exciting aspect for Civil War fans is Ultimate
General: Civil War historical battle list. Player can play
independently all the historical battles included in the
campaign and explore all their historical units and important
events. Battles can unfold far differently in each play, because
they are semi-sandbox. The battle map expands dynamically,
keeping track of casualties and units’ condition. So, the
outcomes and army positions will always differ, increasing the
replay value. Alternatively, in the final version of the game
there will be multiple custom battles, ideal for a short play
session.
Advanced tactics and AI
Ultimate General: Civil War offers a unique battle experience
due to the many tactical factors involved. Hills, Trenches,
fences, houses, fields – everything on the terrain affects
cover, visibility and therefore… the winning tactics. Player can
detach skirmishers from large infantry brigades and send them to
scout ahead. Cavalry can be dismounted and fight on foot. Supply
wagons deliver valuable ammo to troops but must be protected by
raiding attacks. Moreover, the player will face a strong enemy.
AI will flank, hit the weakest army spot and undefended high
ground, will chase isolated supply wagons and will try to
destroy unguarded artillery batteries. AI will use terrain
wisely and will take cover and retreat if overwhelmed. All these
not only add up to the challenge but help the player to be
involved more with the game and try different tactics in the
many battles he has to fight.
Beautiful maps
We believe that modern technology allows hardcore war-games to
finally stop being brown on green hexes. Hardcore, deep war
games can be beautiful. In our game, every historical battle
landscape is accurately hand-drawn, utilizing data from
satellite and historical maps. The topography plays immense
strategic role and helps to understand how battles were fought
and to learn history.
Early Access Release
Game-Labs released Ultimate General: Civil War on 11/16/2016 in
Steam Early Access. The game has passed a Two-Month Closed Beta
period and is fully playable and stable. Early access campaign
ends at the Battle of Antietam, because we want to receive
players’ feedback on the AI and the campaign flow to make the
bigger, more important battles even better. More custom and
historical battles will be added as the game approaches
completion. We hope to finalize the game within 2-4 Months and
will utilize Early Access phase to polish the game and perfect
it for a full release.
No word on a physical copy of this game on this system at this time. Families
are required to pay for Internet usage fees to download this
game. For more information click
here.