Gettysburg Scourge of War

[KG_SSpoom]

This is the long awaited (atleast by me) Multiplayer Civil war game.
Scourge of War is basically a "Take Command" (Bull run and 2nd Mannassas)
set at Gettysburg and containing Multiplayer online play. Both Co-op vs A.I. and Vs humans I have been in several 4v4s
The game mechanics and play are nearly Identical to TC2M (Take Command 2nd Mannassas) the command bar is different with a few different commands/formations.
I have been following the development of this game for nearly 2 years and it just so happened to come out near the end of my 1st week of a 3 week convalecence for hernia surgery, so needless to say I have played the hell out of it these last 2 weeks.

IM IMPRESSED the online play is really cool, not a click fest chaotic mess that most
Total War games come to but a game where you can really control a Brigade or even a division in combat
and it feels like you are there, in control, but make a few silly errors or get careless and things get messy quick,
It really is a riot.

I played in an online game this week using Robertsons brigade of Texans (Hoods Division).
The game was a Division sized battle with 3 human players on each side.
My troops started out in the right middle of our battle line. when the troops on my right started forward I held back and moved behind them and followed them in searching out enemy. when we found them they were lining up and we were near the right end (left flank)
of their army.
The brigade in front of me engaged the northerners as the came out of the forest and headed for a stone wall.
Following up and moving right I assumed the right end of our line, over lapping the Union troops and threatening to turn their left flank. Then a new northern brigade appeared
to stop my turning move. For the next 5 or so minutes we were both pulling troops and extending the line trying to turn each others line.
Then under the withering fire of the screaming Texans a Blue regiment cracked and started to waiver.......men slowly pulling out of line .....taking a few steps back......
then a few more...... Now was the time! I throw the last semi fresh regiment right at the men wavering and they break! Then the flanking troops turn and run and the route is on the Union line is Broken The Yankees are Running!
But my boys are dog tired it was a hell of a scrape up there on the wall and Strong Vincents boys are no light weights..... already I can see some of them re-forming on the far side of the woods. No time to tarry boys press onward!
After a quick regrouping a bone weary Brigade of Texans press forward keeping the Yanks
on the run, as they stream through the cannon holding the rear there are only seconds to decide....they cry goes up "To the guns! Take the guns!" a riotous Rebel yell pierces the air and the Texans surge forward ever closer to the retreating enemy and mingled guns.

Seconds later the unmistakable sound of cannon fire then horrible sound of cannister ripping my boy to pieces. The 1st regiment carries on taking a 2nd blast of cannister before seeing the futility of charging the guns. The next regiment thinks they have what it takes before they are rocked by more cannister and turn to fallback.
3rd and 4th regiments decide better than to go at the guns and form up at the edge of the woods and await their brothers limping back.
The line is stable but now we can see the Union line is forming up again.

Time to pull back to the main line, resupply ammo and come up with another plan =)

Close but no cigar =)

If this era of warfare even remotely interests you
You need to try it http://www.scourgeofwar.com/

The demo is the Game you just have to buy a activation code. You can play the demo online.
The code only needs a 1 time connection to the net to activate.
If you want to run the game on more than 1 computer you can seemlesly swap activation
deactivate 1 and activate the next.

The people who play this game are mostly middle aged history nuts like us and are
already working on mods. Fully supported by the Devs.
I have actually been playing games with the playtesters and devs
searching for any Issues. This game is very well made with very few Issues.

Any of the guys who played Rome, or the Napoleanic mod for Rome this game blows both out of the water.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT

It is NOT a highspeed click fest.

I know Soldier,Jag,Swampy,Kharkov,Koz and Im pretty sure Shreck and many others would all love this game.
Panther,AGcent,Cloughan,Cooper, Crimson,Armygroup this could really be something you guys might like.
Plus I know some of the others will really dig it also I just dont know you as well =) ....yet

[KG_SSpoom]

Some of the long time Take Command players who are playing Scourge of War
have started plans for a campain North vs South
Im going to command a Union Brigade. Not sure which =)
Plans are still skaking out but it looks like something we would/have tried with CM

http://cw21.forummotion.com

[KG_SSpoom]

The battles online seem to come to conclusion in under an hour.
Your guys are worn out fairly quickly by sustained combat and an hour is usually enough.
You can also blow through a brigade in minutes if you are foolish or rash.
You can set game time limits or replay historical scenarios with othe KG members online =)

Huge new recruit possibilities here or a chance for KG to make a big splash
in a new online gaming community.

[KG_Swampfox]

Steve,

Thanks for the report, I will be looking strongly at this new game with the idea that my CM days are about to draw to a close.......

Swamp

[KG_Koz]

Steve - this does sound cool. I'm going to check it out this evening. I'm guessing that my ancient pc probably will not run it but I may be getting an upgrade in the next month or so.

thanks for the info!

Hey.....shouldn't we be planning another get together soon?

Jim

[KG_SSpoom]

Yeah Jim Im pretty sure (unless you have upgraded lately) you will need some
work. System specs are not outrageous but the better you have the better it looks.

And yeah trip/get-together planning sounds like a winner any ideas?

[KG_Soldier]

Well. . . I bought a new computer today

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+I...&skuId=9698836

And then I bought GSOW.

I played the 2nd Manassas game quite a bit, fun game. I've been looking forward to this one almost as much as Steve. 2nd Manassas is a great game, only lacking because it is single player only.

I messed with the first tutorial a bit, and it's very much like the 2nd Manassas interface.

Come on Koz, if I can afford $500 bucks for a new computer, you can afford 10.

This game is a great chance to get KG back in the gaming mode.

Steve and I will be lighting up Yankee Regiments starting tomorrow night.

Come join us, please.

[KG_SSpoom]

The Issue of the DRM has been brought up to the Devs and here is
one of (top I think) creators response

"Another quick note on the DRM. I have heard the concerns that people won't be able to use their game if NSD goes out of business. First NSD has no offices nor any other expenses besides webspace, it has minimal costs. It is the group of us around the world working on games. So I have no idea how it could go out of business. We've been working on this during our free time for years and these games have never made enough money to live off of, so how it could go out of business before I had a chance to remove the DRM I cannot fathom. But... if this did happen somehow, the company that does the activation has been around since the late 80s. All the DRM is done off of their servers. So even without NSD, the activation/deactivation could still occur. We are not their only customer, I know of another company that has been using them for a couple of decades. This is not to try and convince those against any form of DRM, but just to assure our customers that your purchases are safe."

Post from Norb of NorbSoftDev (NSD)

Hopefully this will help some people who are concerned about the DRM feel
a little more comfort.

[Palantir]

Still messing with the Demo:

I have yet once to see the mythical "red circle on the ground" that's supposed to be my location objective.

Captured a CSA messenger & read a message- that was cool.

Overran (Charged) a reb battery & captured 2 guns (also cool) but I could not control them in anyway that I could see. BTW- the arty can pick up & move quickly in this game.

Ran down (double-time) a reb supply wagon & captured that as well. All the wagon drivers are nuts, driving up & down the roads past the frontlines & sitting there between the firing lines...

Once the game "offically" ends I just run around attacking where I can find enemy units- most scatter to the hills & can not be caught up with.

Issues:

Routs- I've "surrounded" several reb regiments & broke them, which promptly flee (at high speed) right thru my regiments who didn't fire on them. What is the deal with that? To me it seems a win-win situation for the rebs- get out of trouble, run away fast taking no casualties & reform far far away instead of surrendering. Is that normal?

The funky chickens- friendly & enemy arty & HQ,s just going bonkers doing some funky chicken dance that lasts minutes on end or the whole game.

[KG_SSpoom]

Look for a floating Icon on the battlefield
or if you look at the map there should be a star

Sometimes the soldiers will surrender sometimes they will
flee, I guess it depends on the quality, physical condition
and surrounding circumstances.

As far as shooting at fleeing soldiers, you can do it
If you had total control of your guys they wont do things like that on their own.
If the ai button is not lit they will react to circumstances like routing soldiers.

The computer might have a issue keeping wagons under control but humans dont.
You can tell them exactly what you want them to do.