Those who liked the scope and theme of Victory Game's Civil War or AH/GMT's
For the People should look in to Ageod's American Civil War (AACW).
Strategic level Civil War games on the PC have been notable by their absence
since the VGA era, and now Ageod has produced a serious contender for the
best game of its class.

The game has some shorter scenarios in addition to a campaign that can be
started at various points in the war.  The WEGO turns represent two weeks,
and the player is cast as commander in chief, moving and creating military
forces and making some basic economic and political decisions, keeping an
eye on national morale and victory points earned or lost.   The game has a
very respectable AI for solo play, with PBEM being an option.

AACW uses an area map with off-map boxes representing remote regions, not a
novel approach until you see how many areas there are.  The generous amount
of areas makes the map seem fittingly epic, and has plenty of room for
maneuver in the West while giving the player some options in the more
constricted space available in the East.  

Land forces are varied, with the usual infantry, cavalry and artillery
formations being the basics, with subtypes within those categories as well
as support units like medical detachments, engineers, etc. Naval units
include wooden and ironclad riverine and oceangoing warships and transports.

Supply is calculated based on available rail, river and sealift, with the
player being able to augment the overall supply picture with depots and
mobile supply units.  The ground can be organized in to divisions, corps and
armies, with the availability and ability of leaders being a major factor in
the game.

Combat is resolved without the player getting involved in the tactical
planning or execution of the battle, with the results being presented in a
popup box that declares a winner or announces a draw, lists the casualties
and presents the relevant modifiers as a list of icons with the results
expanded via tooltip if desired. 

Grognards will probably be pleased by the look of AACW, with the forces and
leaders graphics resembling standup cardboard counters.  It looks like well
designed  board game.  In that subjective field of artwork, I found AACW to
have hit the right note, with the colors and design of the game being
evocative of the time period covered and pleasing to the eye.  There is a
lot of information displayed on the counters and map, enough to intimidate
an extremely casual war gamer, but tooltips and a pretty decent manual help
a lot here.  The tutorials allow the player to veer off the scripted path,
care is needed or you will get lost.

I found AACW to be rich enough that listing all the options and details of
the game is impossible in a one page review, accessible enough that a few
short sessions left me feeling up to the campaign game, and it feels and
acts historical while delivering "just one more turn" enjoyment. Recommended
with enthusiasm. 

Dan Edwards