Review by: Pete Hines
Published: November 27, 1997

The Battle of Gettysburg was perhaps the most pivotal moment of the Civil War. In July 1863, Lee was marching his troops into the North for the first time. The Army of the Potomac scrambled to keep from being outflanked and was forced to fight a bloody battle in an effort to slow Lee’s progress. If the North were to lose, it would allow the South to march unopposed into Philadelphia, New York, and basically wherever else they wanted to go. While it was not a planned conflict, Gettysburg was the site of the largest battle ever waged in the Western Hemisphere and the bloodiest conflict of the war, with more than 51,000 soldiers being killed, wounded, or captured.

Sid Meier’s Gettysburg! is a real-time strategy and combat simulation game where you assume control of Confederate or Union forces and attempt to repeat or change history. You can choose to play a single scenario or the entire three-day campaign. A scenario can be either one part of this major conflict, or a randomly generated one that proposes more of a “what if?” situation. The campaign can be played in three ways. The first is a historic version, which essentially recreates the battle and gives you a chance at each of the important scenarios. The second is a completely random, non-historic campaign that presents you with unknown challenges. This allows you to play the game without knowing what waits for you in the next battle. The third option is a mix of historical and random “what-if?” scenarios.

When looking at the list of potential scenarios, you’ll see a quick description of what is involved and when/where it took place in the battle. Once you choose a scenario, or begin a full campaign, you’ll see a map that gives the relative positions of both sides at the beginning of the scenario and what the strategic objectives will be. Once you move to the game screen, you will once again see the key locations for that scenario that must be under your control at the end of the scenario. The game also points out which of your regiments is the most experienced and combat-ready. When you’re ready, the battle begins and the fate of your troops rests in your hands.

You will see your men grouped together in units, called regiments. Several regiments together form a brigade. These are the two fundamental groups that you need to be aware of during the game. Once the action begins, your task is to determine where the objectives are in relation to your troops and how you plan on capturing and holding onto these strategic points. You can choose to issue commands to an entire brigade, through a brigade commander, in order to keep some cohesion amongst your men. On the other hand, you may issue orders to individual regiments if you feel that the men can be more effective by being used separately.

Commands are issued to your men by clicking on the flag that represents either the regiment or brigade they belong to. Flags, in addition to marking the location of your units and allowing you to issue commands to them, also give an indication of what is happening in the game. For example, if a flag is hopping up and down, it means that those men have been ordered to hold their positions to the last; this usually means they are guarding an important piece of property. The condition of a flag also is representative of the status of the men serving under that flag. If you see a flag that is sagging and tattered, it is a good indication of the status of those men and what they’ve been through.

Moving troops around the map isn’t as simple as saying, “Go there; fight them.” First, you want your movement to be orderly and not stressful for your men. So, when moving them over long distances, it’s probably a good idea to take them out of fighting formation and put them into columns. This allows them to move faster and more orderly, but also makes them more vulnerable to attacks (i.e., artillery). While the commands for regiments and brigades are different, the result is essentially the same. Brigades offer the extra choice of moving in columns over the countryside or sticking to roads, which is even faster.