Turn-based tactics meets muskets and militiamen.

Not everyone's a "Supreme Commander." The real-time genre may be pushing the envelope in PC gaming in terms of visual fidelity and creating crowded, chaotic battle scenes, but for more patient, paced strategy, gamers can look to titles like AGEOD's American Civil War: The Blue and the Grey. Turn-based titles get a mixed rap on the PC, but tactics enthusiasts shouldn't be dissuaded: as far as complex, deep war games go, AACW's leading the heap.

AACW digests the four-year conflict into a time scale where a single turn is equivalent to two weeks. Game types are divided into scenarios, campaigns and grand campaigns, which last as many as 10, 30, or greater than 30 turns respectively. Within each, you'll command Confederate or Union forces, including light infantry, sharpshooters, medics, calvary, marines and militia units, moving your army to snatch up territory across the eastern United States.

If you learned anything in middle school civics, you'll remember that control of domestic resources was a significant aspect of the war, and maintaining supply lines is equally a key to victory in AACW. Each faction is modeled a little differently in this regard: the Union having a bit more industrial power enables them better output of goods, but both sides will need to control supply depots -- points of distribution for war resources. AACW doesn't put much emphasis on fort construction or other city-building elements, but players can create rail lines to transport of supplies to remote regions.

Other aspects of the war, including troop morale, politics, and specific historical events also come into play. On the economy end, players pull war funds by enacting policies like income taxes. The game caters to history buffs throughout, but taking into account the political standing of generals during the war is a good example of the detail and research AGEOD's undertaken.

Generals in the game each have their own have political ratings, and if you lose one in battle or dismiss one, your overall morale will decrease. Your taxpayers won't be happy, for example, if you swap General Sherman for Ulysses S. Grant at the introduction of the war. For a non-American developer, the amount of historical detail is fairly impressive -- you can really tell AGEOD's passion to capture the conflict accurately, so much that AACW serves as a near-encyclopedia of everything from Civil War technologies to individual conflicts and notable servicemen.

Battles are displayed on a softly-toned, period-appropriate map. The interface is mostly a series of layered menus and tables that display troop positions, strengths, morale, and the amount of supplies available to your troops, overlaid on the game's regional map. With turn-based titles especially, having an attractive design and backdrop for battles makes all the difference, and Ageod's done pretty well to assure there's not much to dull the experience on this end. We would've liked to have seen a handful more animations to illustrate different command actions, but these wouldn't have necessarily fit in with the game's serious, accurate aesthetic.