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⬅️ Previous capture (2023-03-20)
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A fan capsule for the highly enjoyable tactical war sandbox-simulator by W. R. Hutsell.
If virtue there be to binary distribution on the smolnet of our era, surely it must include the editorial highlighting of underappreciated works from days of yore. And certainly one must say W. R. Hutsell’s Civil War Battle Set (CWBS) is not as well known today as it ought to be. This elegant DOS war game still easily holds it’s own, fighting above its class for enjoyability.
CWBS concerns itself with the American Civil War (the War Between the States) during the mid-19th century. So much is common for tactical war games. If you’re interested in that historic struggle between Union and Confederacy, arguably the first truly modern war, CWBS is as enriching an aid as any. What truly sets apart this game are two dimensions:
Primo, CWBS comes with a rich map editor, a feature well ahead of its time. One can modify or create topography and initial unit placement. At least half the fun in Civil War Battle Set is the pure sandbox pleasure of creating these board maps.
Secundo, the gameplay is especially lucid, both in UX presentation and balance of play design. With relatively simple elements, and an AI primitive for our era, Civil War Battle Set provides a more ready appreciation for the field of battle. This, where other simulators often bog down in menus and options. Even a novice game is challenging and engaging from the start.
I hope I have intrigued the DOS shareware game afficionados on smolnet to give Civil War Battle Set a go. Whether you maintain fond memories of the game from BBS’s 3 decades ago or are new to such fare, I hazard the reader will appreciate this classic gem.
A few years ago I scoured the web for surviving copies of Civil War Battle Set. I located two lurking on now long forgotten pastebin web boards. Frankly, the obscurity of this game today came as a shock. Let’s change that.
Version one’s vintage is about 1991. I seem to recall a pre-1.0 copy floating about circa 1989 or so. This version deploys pellucid ASCII escape colour graphics in VGA mode. One of the battle maps in this copy holds some error I haven’t traced, but the game is quite playable.
EgaCivilWarBattleSetV2.3sw1993W.R.Hutsellstrategy.zip
Version 2.3 of CWBS from several years later holds much the same quality of gameplay, but deploys raster images in lovely bright EGA. This version also provides more verbose information on strength & morale, which affect unit performance.
CWBS should be rough and ready as binaries straight from the zip files.
Unzip in a folder using 7zip or such software.
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As most of us don’t have a working version of MS-DOS (PC-DOS) today, an emulator is recommended. The go-to option for this is DOSBox.
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CWBS works well on Raspad 3 using DOSBox and an OnBoard numpad keyboard. Occasionally one uses a main keyboard shortcut, such as for ordnance movement and firing solutions. Split keyboards in OnBoard are apparently forthcoming; these might quite help DOS games on Linux tablet. But I find that the game fits well into the half screen with OnBoard. CWBS is quite enjoyable as a tablet game.
The key to limber and unlimber ordnance units is L. Forward positioning artillery to high ground as quickly as possible helps, especially to herd and eradicate generals or cavalry. Playing Gettysburg as the Confederates is a good case in point. Ordnance also provides “shock and awe” to slow down charging enemy infantry. Decapitation of enemy generals is a helpful chore for artillery if they can secure high ground.
Unit automatic wayfinding is primitive. Best to not use “go to” if a unit must needs ford or go around water. Dave Mackey’s updates to the game are working on this, I believe.
The Confederate forces are usually the underdog. This extends to both unit strength and paucity of artillery support. The result is that Confederare morale more quickly exhausts as units must race to find cover from Union shelling. Confederate units thus ought to depend more often on the inspiration of nearby generals. CWBS palpably reveals the asymmetric nature of the American Civil War; the difficult strategic imperatives of the Confederacy at times nearly approach a guerrilla struggle.
I’d like to here introduce the Tennessean dev of Civil War Battle Set, with gratitude for hours of interest. Perhaps this might spur further development: a smolnet multiplayer version with procedurally generated maps?
It seems someone else has finally curated an internet presence for Hutsell’s fan base. Huzzah! Dave Mackey has set up a site for Hutsell’s games, which are indeed now freeware. Hutsell is apparently rather reclusive. Mackey’s site acts as an internet presence proxy for Hutsell. Updates to several games are in active development. Boundless thanks to both Hutsell and Mackey for the continued support of this marvellous game.
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