Battleground Bull Run: Another Fun Game for the Civil War enthusiast.
Written: Oct 07 '02 (Updated Oct 09 '02)
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Pros: Historically accurate, cool computer game to play.
Cons: Takes eons to play, for dedicated players.
The Bottom Line: Another Civil War game for the dedicated Civil War gaming enthusiast!
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| Ironcladd's Full Review: Battleground 7 - Bull Run |
Battleground Bull Run: Another fun game for the Civil War Gamer.
Talonsoft’s Battleground 7: Bull Run is one of the popular battleground series this computer gaming company came up with in the late 1990s. It is a turn based hex game that seeks to reconstruct the two main battles of Bull Run, or Manassas, fought in 1861 and 1862 respectively. The first Battle of Bull Run, in July of 1861, was the first large-scale battle of the American Civil War. It pitted Union General McDowell against Confederate General Beauregard, and General Johnston. This first battle was a decisive Union defeat. The second battle was fought in August of 1862, and this time, the Army of Northern Virginia was headed by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Army Virginia (three divisions of Sigel, Banks, and Mcdowell, all later to be incorporated into the Army of the Potomac), and was headed by General John Pope. This battle of “Second Manassas”, was perhaps Lee’s greatest victory, except maybe Chancellorsville. Both battles were Confederate victories.
Battleground Bull Run is a computer strategy game that faithfully recreates this battle in the most minute of details, from the physical topography, landmarks, roads, as well as accurate roll calls, with the correct leaders, and historical arrival times at the proper places throughout the game and its scenarios. This is an in depth and involved game that has a lot of merit to it, especially for the avid Civil War gamer. What follows is a brief table of information on Battleground Bull Run, followed by a review of what I consider to be the highlights of the game.
Table of Information on Talon Soft’s Battleground 7 – Bull Run.
Originally Published by: Talonsoft, Inc.
Date of Release: 1998
Operating System: Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, and compatible with all further Windows Operating Systems.
CPU; 486DX33 minimum.
Hard Drive: 5 MB Minimum free space required.
CD-ROM: Double Speed( 2X) required.
RAM: 8 MB Minimum.
Input Devices Required: Microsoft compatible mouse.
Graphics: 256 Color SVGA. Supports 640X480, 800X600, or 1024X768 screen resolutions.
Sound Card: All Windows compatible sound cards.
Features of the Game:
Lavish 3-D graphics.
Full Color Re-enactment videos.
Head to Head Play via modem against human opponent.
Null Modem Play.
Play by E-mail.
Two-player hot seat.
Variable time for release of Union corps.
Multiple Scenarios.
Encryption keys.
Fog of War.
Variable command control.
Period music by Bobby Horton, contributor to Ken Burns Civil War series.
Game Play Manuals included, including a handy quick start sheet.
Game upgrades and updates are found at the website: www.talonsoft.com
Caution: Battleground Bull Run has been known to cause sleepless nights, loss of contact with family and friends, and a decreased interest in job-related activities!
Price paid: $50 new, but if you can get it for about $15-20 or less these days.
Review/Highlights of Battleground 7: Bull Run.
Battleground Bull Run is a historical strategy game that pits the Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General Irvin McDowell, against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of Beauregard. It also pits the Union Army of the Potomac, under the command of General Pope, against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee. It is a hexagonal, or hex, based game, with each hex representing 125 yards of scale on the accurate maps that are used for the game. It is also a turn-based game, with each turn representing 20 minutes of real time. There are multiple scenarios in the game, including a full 78 move historical Battle of Bull Run II, with historically accurate arrival times and geographically accurate arrival places for each army that are faithfully recreated by the animated icons for infantry troops, cavalry, artillery, leaders, etc. There is also a “toolbox” on the game screen, which is the “command center” for what you, as commander, will want to do, and how you will be able to do it. There is a red square or hexagon indicator that is the place where a unit is selected to move or to fire, or melee in its turn. In addition to this, there are different unit formations, in column, meaning the troops are in a marching mode, and in line, meaning the troops are in a line with rifles or muskets at the ready to fire at an enemy unit. There is also “unit facing” to think about, and this is important because if one has an infantry unit of let’s say 500 men facing north, and another unit of 500 men from the enemy side comes up from the south, the initial unit can’t fire or defend themselves against this unit who is behind them, so facing is very important. There are also different unit types, infantry, cavalry, artillery, and leader units. Movement is limited to a maximum of 12 hexes for infantry on a road to 24 hexes for cavalry and mounted leader units. Unit morale is another consideration in this game. A unit can become “disrupted”, and unsteady, and less effective. There are “fatigue levels” that a unit incurs when being shot at, from 0 to 9. When a unit reaches level 9, it usually becomes disrupted, or it can also “rout”, meaning unit morale has disintegrated, and the unit “runs away”. However, if a unit’s leader is nearby, the unit dialogue at the beginning of a player turn can “recover fatigue” by “rallying”. As you can see, this game is very involved in the number of variables surrounding events and situations.
There are two map views, a full screen map that can be 2-D or 3-D in perspective, along with a real-time miniature map that is in the bottom corner and can be accessed with a mouse click. There are “objective points” that have a certain value that add to the point totals one needs to achieve victory in a game, or a scenario. Game victory is achieved based on the number of points one accumulates, and this is also tallied by the point totals for losses or captures of individual units. 25 infantry equal 10 points, while the same number of cavalry equals 25 points, 1 artillery piece equals 20 points, and the leader units, from colonels without names to General Lee or Pope, range in value from 3 to 80 points each. At the end of the scenario game, the points you have as opposed to your opponent have, determines the victory or defeat level.
Game Play.
Battleground Bull Run is a turn-based game. One turn consists of two separate sets of four moves each by the two opposing sides, resulting in actually 8 separate movements in total. Game play itself consists of a movement phase, a defensive phase, an offensive phase, and a melee phase, followed by the same from the opposing side. This aspect of the game makes it very time consuming, and a little bit like chess in a way, as one can see the map and devise strategy from here. Basically, to win at any of the battleground games, one has to be intimately involved with the strategy of attack or defense, and a little familiar with the historical patterns in which these battles were fought. In the Civil War, many of the victories were actually defensive victories, with the winners the ones who could hold the “high ground”, and defend it by digging in and massing his troops, and hence, his firepower. Battleground Bull Run is no different in this aspect. There were horrendous casualties of killed, captured, and missing in the American Civil War, and in this game, the casualties are even more exaggerated than in the real life situation. The problem that most players of real-time gaming will have with this game is the length of time it takes to learn, and the extremely long time it takes to play this game. However, there is some degree of merit and fun to playing and winning a game like this. Again, it is like chess in many of these respects, being a well thought out, and well played game.
Further Game Highlights.
The two-player game against a human opponent is the best way to experience this game. I like play by internet mode, as one can play with a real life opponent at one’s leisure, and there is usually a day or so that goes by in which to think about your moves, and your execution. There is an encryption feature that allows the player to make his move under “fog of war”, so that the opponent can’t go and see if he is planning a “sneak attack” out of his “line of sight”. I have tried the live “modem-to-modem play, and it is fun, but the games actually take hours and hours to play, and it is difficult to find someone who has the same free time as you do.
The A/I feature is very dynamic in this game when playing against the computer. The A/I has various levels of difficulty and the computer can whip the raw recruit without further ado. The A/I method of fighting against the computer is great practice for the time one evolves to play a human opponent. On the toolbar, there is also an A/I button one can press if you want the computer to take over for you if you have to leave the room, and it will move units for you, fire, attack, melee, etc. There is also an “automatic defense” button that is useful in Play by Email mode. This allows the game to proceed a little faster when you send a set of “moves” to your opponent, and he can then move, and the computer fights the auto defense for you, then the opponent has his offense phase and melee, and sends back his half of the moves.
The scenarios included in the game are the Battle of First Bull Run, the entire historical battle, as well as the Battle of Second Bull Run, plus alternative "what if" scenarios of variable entry times for different units. Subdivided sections of each battle are included as well, such as Cedar Mountain, Ox Creek, the Stone Bridge, Henry Hill, and more.
Battleground Bull Run was originally made with 16-bit technology. However, the game designer has upgraded to 32-bit graphics, and this upgrade is available on the Internet at the “unofficial battleground page”, whose URL eludes me at the moment.
Updates to the game that fixes the “bugs” in the game are available at www.talonsoft.com, and are necessary for smooth game play. I always wondered why computer software companies sell games that aren’t fully tested, could you imagine if auto companies did this, and you had to go in for an “upgrade” from time to time? It’s just a little annoying that there are so many “bugs” in games like this, and that it is a hassle to go and get them fixed.
Other things I like about the game are the music and the video effects. The music is period music by Willie Horton, who did lots of the music in Ken Burns Civil War series. There is an opening video sequence of re-enactors accompanied by a cool Civil War era song. The music can be turned off, as it will play constantly during game play in the background, along with the sound effects of the game. The video effects are simply a little movie that will play when you command your troops to fire or melee, and a video of a line of union troops or confederates firing their muskets, appears and then disappears, as the animated effects of the fire on the 3-D figures happens. Again, this feature can be disabled too, but I usually keep it on for fun.
All in all, Battleground Bull Run is a very good strategy game for the American Civil War enthusiast, the student of history, and the computer gamer alike. However, it is probably considered primitive today, in light of the wonderful graphics of the real time strategy and action games on the market. But, it is still a good game is a very good war gaming series, and is a must for the Civil War gamer!
Recommended:
Yes
Version Played: Released
Operating System: Windows
CPU: Intel Pentium III
CPU Speed (MHz): 501-600
RAM (MB): 128
Graphics Card Family: ATI Rage 128
Best Played With/Intended For: Multiplayer
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Ironcladd
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Member: James Zaworski
Location: Shenzhen, China
Reviews written: 507
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I am an English teacher, Archeologist and Anthropologist.
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