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scream at the monitor fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: April 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I can not say enough about this game! There are times when I am waiting for reinforcements to come up the road behind me and I actually turn in my chair to llk for them! Where is AP Hill! I have yelled at the monitor to implore some tardy general to hurry up, I need help! Several others have commented on the tactical planning need to win a battle on this game and they are all spot on. What clinches the deal is the heart pounding emotion that you feel in this totally emersive game!

A Truely Outstanding game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 17
Date: May 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game has it all; action, replayability, endless outcomes, modability, historical fun, realistic strategy and top notch tech support in the MMG forums! I highly recommend this game for fans of the Civil War, war gamming and history buffs in general. Contrary to what one reviewer said, there has been a ton added since the first game, more uniforms, linked scenarios, more modability, lots more commands and the list goes on! There is a free demo version available and the demo only scratches the surface of what this game can do.
I have played the SM's Gettysburg and Antietam, and while those are fun games, they are limited compared to CWBR & TC2M and nowhere near as comprehensive. I think those old SM games will be offered up at my upcoming garage sale. I look forward to the future MMG release "Shiloh".

Best Civil War Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 16
Date: April 24, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I love this game! (this is the only game I have even thought of writing a review about, I love it that much!)
I have been playing board and computer wargames for 20 years. This is by far the best Civil War PC game on the market today.
In the game you command Civil War armies during the 2nd Manassas campaign, fought in the summer of 1862.
You can command anything from a small Artillery Battery, Cavalry Squadron, Infantry Brigade, Division, Corps up to an entire Army.
If you chose to command a smaller unit, the amazing computer AI handles the rest of the army, it even sends you orders via actual message couriers! You are a part of the much larger battle that is taking place around you. As you are attacking with your small command, you also watch as your AI controlled peers are moving to attack on your flanks. Their success or failure will affect you and you will affect them. If you are defending, then you pray that your peers will be able to hold on your flanks, if you need help you send a courier to your superior asking for reenforcements (and pray that they arrive in time, if ever).
At higher command levels (Corps and Army) you send couriers to your subordinates with orders to attack or defend. Once your plans are in motion you do what Commanders have done throughout the ages, wait and hope that your subordinates carry out your orders and are successful. If something goes wrong then you ride to the critical point in the battle and can "Take Command" of the units there. But don't get caught up micromanaging every regiment in your command (there can be hundreds in the larger scenarios) or you'll find yourself with to many holes in the dike and not enough fingers.
If there are any downsides to the game it would be the graphics. Which although are not state of the art 3D, are well more then adequate and actually to an excellent job protraying the units, leaders and battlefields of the era.

[...]
Give the demo a try. If you like the Civil War or challenging games you won't be disappointed.

Easily the best Civil War game ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: April 23, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have actually played this game, so I will not call the other reviewers liars like Honest Abe did. This game is a complete masterpiece and really captures what it must have felt like to be a commander during the Civil War. And in response to Abe's snide comment, it does not pretend to be an RTS. It is a Real Time Combat Simulator (RTCS). It is tactical, not strategic. No silly base building or resource gathering, no tank rushes, etc. It is very deep with a challenging AI that will beat you if you are not at the top of your game.

This game is produced by MadMinute Games, and it is only published by Paradox so, disregard the rantings of rabid Paradox haters and jugde this game on its own merits.

Easily the Best Civil War RTS Ever Made

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been a civil war buff for as long as I can remember. I played civil war board games, and when the first games for the computer came out, I was playing those too. I was a huge fan of the Sid Meier's series, and played those games into exhaustion. When I heard TC Second Manassas was being developed, I was ecstatic. I am proud to say I was not let down. The accuracy of the battlemaps is amazing, down to the smallest detail such as a fenceline or a small bump in the land, and this is coming from a guy who grew up right down the street from the battlefield. You have full camera control so you can see the battle at any angle. The game graphics can be cranked up with high detail units and effects that give you a sense that you are actually in the midst of this enormous battle.

I would like to set a few facts straight from what I've read in other reviews. You can take control of any unit you wish from the AI by clicking the "Take Command" icon on the unit's toolbar. If you want to control an entire army, corps, division, brigade, regiment, or even a sole battery, you can do that by simply "Taking Command" the the leader of that unit. Once you 'Take Command,' the AI leaves the unit alone and it is 100% under your control. The only reason the AI would march off with your men is if you didn't 'Take Command' of them (Kind of funny how the title of the game describes so well one of its biggest staples).

Anyway, the game is excellent, and anyone who was a fan of the Sid Meier's series would LOVE this game as a modern-day replacement. Good luck on the field!

Don't listen to whining naysayers

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 12
Date: August 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

After years of gaming I found this to be the best title of its type I have ever played, bar none.
Well designed, very playable, educational, historically accurate, and best of all, fun!
And not very expensive either.

Works just fine on older computers!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: August 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Not sure what's going on with the previous reviewer who can't get the game to run on his "2 year old" computer, but I have no problems at all running the game on my 4 year old computer!!! I've even installed both patches for the game with no problem. Sounds to me more like user problems than problems with the game.

Speaking of the game, I have nothing but good words for the game, and for the developers. After having spent 5+ years as a die-hard TotalWar fan and forum administrator I was a bit disappointed with Creative Assembly's shift from gameplay to graphics. MadMinuteGames managed to restore my faith that there are developers out there who are more interested in gameplay than in eye candy.

If you want your ACW soldiers as fully rendered 3D objects then this is not the game for you. If on the other hand you have no problem with well done sprites, and are more interested in great gameplay, great AI and a game that offers a high replay value, then TC2M is the game for you.

Many people judge the quality of a game by the immersion factor. In other words, how easy is it for you to feel like you're really there. As a long time player of strategic wargames (computer and otherwise) and former ACW re-enactor, I can say with absolute confidence that MMG have hit the mark here.

If you want multiplayer or a full-blown campaign, you'll be disappointed because MMG has not yet implemented either. The Open Play feature however is as close to MP as you can get. I'd rather that the developers take their time and get both of these aspects done right the first time, than rush an incomplete product out the door.

This game deserves all 5 stars for fun factor. The only reason the overall is 4 stars is because they haven't yet implemented either the campaign or MP. I have no doubt that their next game will get the full 5 star treatment.

Take Command 2nd Manassas

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: May 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Played the demo yesterday and loved it! This title deserves the backing of a large company so multiplayer can be added and so we can see it in stores. In my town it is only available online. I am ordering it now.

The graphics are great, and even the sound effects were awesome. Put your regiment in column and march to the battle and listen to the marching drums and flutes. Push some enemy pickets out of your way as you go, then get them to their required location, after receiving your orders from a messenger on horseback, and go into the fight. I love it!

It gives you a taste of what it must have been like to be a commander maneuvering your regiment or division during the fascinating American Civil War. Can't wait to get the actual game in the mail soon.

I would love to see multiplayer and more battlefields added soon. If the online version could keep track of player scores and have rankings online, it would fuel interest among clans and this game would go through the roof. I can see clans adding mods similar to what happened with Battlefield 1942 going in the direction of the Desert Combat mod and entertaining thousands of people across the world. Hopefully the clans associated with Desert Combat would not see the same fate as what happened when Battlefield 2 came out and required players to play official servers for rankings to count. Clans died out at that point.

To the creators I say, well done! I hope you get rich, because you saw the unmet need for a game like this and stepped in.

It's like being there!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: July 27, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is an extraordinary game, the most immersive war game I have ever played and the most accurate to how Civil War battles were actually fought. You find out why elaborate flanking moves usually go wrong and you sweat while you wait for the support on your left that has not shown up yet. Sid Meier's Civil War games are good, but this is far surpasses them.

One of the innovations is that you get to decide whether to command the whole army or just a part of it -- a corps, a division, a brigade, even an artillery unit. If you command a large unit, such as a corps, then the division commanders receive orders from you but follow them according to their own personalities, which are historically accurate. Some generals are bold, some are cautious, etc. If you command a smaller unit, you have to follow orders and you depend on units to your right and left not to leave you hanging out to dry.

Weapons, maps, formations, etc., are all historically accurate. The game is real-time and you are always racing against the clock as you adapt to changing situations. The graphics are attractive, though not lush or splashy. Some people reviewers found them below the standards of games like Rome Total War, but I find them very satisfactory. While it does not look like a movie, you get the feel of being in the middle of a real Civil War battle.

This game is not so much for the casual gamer (but why not try the demo just in case?) as for someone who has a real interest in the Civil War or wargames generally. There is a forum on the MadMinutes Games website where you can see what other players say. Play the demo and you'll be hooked!

Amazing! Simply amazing!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: August 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most realistic wargames I have ever played. In the game, you play as one of many real American Civil War commanders and fight on the acual battlefields of the Second Manassas campaign. The game provides a good tutorial. There are scenarios available, where you pick a commander and fight in the same way that commander fought, with the same objectives, at the actual battle. There is also an excellent Open play mode, where you select the commander, the objectives, and the size of the armies and have at it.

The historical accuracy of the game is incredible. Almost everything is accounted for. The formations, the ammunition supplies, fatigue, morale, and even the types of weapons that your soldiers are equipped with have an effect on the battle. The AI is great! I heartily recommend this game. Any wargamer will want it!

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