PREVIEW
1999 has not been the best of years for computer wargamers. At E3 wargames were few upon the ground, and with the exception of SSI’s newest Panzer General and Close Combat iterations, none of the major companies had anything to hand that looked anything like a grognard-pleaser. Even Talonsoft came up short; though their upcoming Hidden and Dangerous and Jagged Alliance 2 both look good, they’re not wargames. That’s why it’s such a relief to see HPS’s announcement that they will be publishing Campaign 1776, a tactical/operational level game covering the American Revolution, an up to now unjustly neglected historical period.
Designed by John Tiller, renowned for his work on Talonsoft’s Battleground series, the game will allow you to play out the entire war, from the early skirmishes at Lexington and Concord to the American victories at Saratoga and Cowpens to the final siege of Yorktown. The game will combine a detailed tactical engine (one suspects it will be a modified version of the BG series) with an operational campaign game. This means you can fight either single battles (over 40 historical and what-if scenarios will be included in the game), campaigns made up of several battles, and even the entire war. The campaigns will include Green vs. Cornwallis, Washington vs. Howe, and–my personal favorite—Gates vs. Burgoyne. If this isn’t enough, the game will also include a scenario and campaign editor. The game will also include a whole suite of multiplayer options, including hotseat, modem, LAN, internet, and PBEM.
From what we’ve seen and heard, the game looks like and seems to have the flavor of the Talonsoft Battleground series. For instance, Campaign 1776’s units look a lot like BG units, it includes period background music (always a welcome Talonsoft feature), and it also provides the standard BG option of 2D or 3D views. As far as we’re concerned, this is all for the good. We’re big Battleground fans, and have high hopes that the BG engine will translate successfully from its Civil War and Napoleonic settings to the 18th century.