Forge of Freedom Receives Gamesquad Editors' Choice Award
2008 JAN 2
"Forge of Freedom is the best and most complete game of the American Civil War on the market. By elevating economic, political and infrastructure consideration to the same level as military operations, the designers correctly portray this conflict as a prototype of total war. The solid AI guarantees a challenging game..."
Major Update: New Video and Holiday Sale!
2007 DEC 4
Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software are pleased to announce a special anniversary event for Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865. This event, coming one year after Forge of Freedom was initially released, includes another major free update with many improvements to the game, a new video to showcase Forge of Freedom as it is now after a year of post-release development and a 25% discount on new purchases of Forge of Freedom as part of the Matrix Games Holiday Sale.
Major New v1.10.10 Update!
Since the original release, the development team has been listening carefully to customer feedback and improving all areas of the game to improve historicity and gameplay. Several significant updates have been the result and this latest fine tunes the historical accuracy and game balance as close to perfection as is possible while also improving the already excellent strategic and tactical AI even further. The dozens of improvements range from better balance between camps, population and replacements to more realistic diplomatic percentages, two siege phases instead of one, improved scenario orders of battle and more realistic detailed battle frontage rules. Quick battle resolution was also carefully adjusted to bring into better balance the effects of forts and terrain. In addition, we now have over 250 brief historical biographies included in the game for the many generals on both sides, thanks to the diligent work of many biographers. One of the improvements in the orders of battle includes the ability to now have generals start already assigned to their historical divisions right from the first turn of a scenario, minimizing first turn reorganization chores.New Showcase Video!
A new 4+ minute high quality video released as part of this anniversary event walks gamers through the scope and detail of Forge of Freedom, showcasing the incredible ability of this game to re-create the American Civil War and everything that still fascinates us to this day about this terrible conflict where brother fought against brother. We encourage everyone who has not considered Forge of Freedom to give this video a look, you might be surprised just how much it has to offer!Holiday Sale!
For the first time since it was released, as part of the Matrix Games Holiday Sale, Forge of Freedom is currently available direct from the Matrix Games Online Store at a 25% discount off the regular price through the entire holiday season. See the Matrix Games website for more details. The version now available for download is fully updated to the latest 1.10.10. There has never been a better time to try this grand strategy masterpiece.David Heath, Director of Operations at Matrix Games, said “Forge of Freedom is an outstanding game and is a remarkably realistic simulation of the American Civil War. Western Civilization Software has once again elevated this title to a new level. If you have an interest in the American Civil War, you owe it to yourself to give this game a try. The new video and sale should make that decision even easier!”
Eric Babe, Lead Developer at Western Civilization Software, stated, “We’re very proud of how far Forge of Freedom has come since its original release one year ago. Virtually every aspect of the game has been improved in response to player feedback. We hope everyone enjoys the new upgraded Forge of Freedom as much as we enjoyed working on it.”
The v1.10.10 Update is a Comprehensive Update which can be applied to all previous versions of Forge of Freedom.
Download the Full Resolution Version of the Video
The low-resolution version of the promotional video is embedded below. The high-resolution version available above is recorded at the same resolution at which Forge of Freedom runs during game play.
Forge of Freedom Update V1.2.23 Released
2007 MAY 30With a Rebel Yell, Forge of Freedom Gets an Update!
A Major Update Released for American Civil War Grand Strategy Game Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software are pleased to announce that the long-awaited new update for Forge of Freedom, The American Civil War 1861-1865, is now available for download. This major upgrade includes improvements to the game normally reserved for an expansion pack, free to all owners of Forge of Freedom....
Forge of Freedom Wins
Two Wargamer.com's Readers' Choice Awards
Bronze Game of the Year
and
Bronze Wargame of the Year !
2007 MAY 5"Giving gamers both strategic and tactical gameplay, Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865 took players to a turn-based Civil War that included diplomacy, politics, and economics in addition to combat; a mix that clearly won fans and brought it to third place for 2006’s best wargame of the year."
Forge of Freedom Released for Sale!
2006 NOV 29
Forge of Freedom Goes Gold!
2006 NOV 21The American Civil War strategy game is completed and will be available soon
Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software (www.west-civ.com) are pleased to announce that Forge of Freedom has reached gold status and will be available soon. Based on the robust and versatile Crown of Glory engine, Forge of Freedom allows players to refight the American Civil War from either side in this grand strategy wargame. By combining area movement on the grand scale with optional hex based tactical battles when they occur, Forge of Freedom provides something for every strategy gamer. However, Forge of Freedom is not limited solely to military action, you can also control economic policy with governors and use diplomatic tact to win the support of foreign nations during what was to be the bloodiest battle in US history.
Full Story
Matrix Games Announces Forge of Freedom!
2006 JUL 25Western Civilization Software Revisits the American Civil War
Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software (www.west-civ.com) are pleased to announce that later this summer they will bring a new American Civil War strategy game based on the Crown of Glory engine to gamers around the world. More than seven-score years have passed since the start of this conflict that pitted state against state, brother against brother and broke the chains of slavery. Forge of Freedom gives you a chance to relive history from either side in a work of grand strategy.
Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War, 1861-1865 is the newest game from Western Civilization Software that combines grand strategy with battlefield tactics in one game. Forge of Freedom puts you in command at every level of the Civil War, from the mobilization of the resources of the nation to the control of individual brigades during the fury of battle. Relive the days of America’s greatest struggle: a time of blood, smoke, and glory.
Features
GRAND STRATEGY
• Game covers the entire American Civil War
• Strategic turns represent one-half month
• Organize your brigades into divisions, corps, and armies
• Raise legendary units such as Iron Brigade and Stonewall Brigade...more than 100 in all.
• Control the careers of more than 1,000 generals....every general from the Civil War!
• Politics with your state governors and European powers
• Multiple resource management. Recruit regular units, impress resources, raise the muster, and impose conscription
• Research new tactics and technology in five different areas of research
• Manage troop supply, control unit training, build railroad infrastructure, allocate economic development
• Control brigade details: raise Zouaves, assign balloon scouts, deploy sharpshooters, allocate engineers and pioneers, and much more!
• Maneuver raiders and blockade runners
• Declare emancipation
• Beautiful strategic map: based on 1860's cartography combined with terrain from modern satellite imagery
TACTICAL SIMULATION
• Resolve battles quickly, or fight battles in detail with a turn-based set of rules on a hex map at the brigade level
• You experience all the details of combat: supply, weather, morale, field fortifications, fog-of-war, lines of supply, zones of control, unit formation, panic, fatigue, facing, leadership, time of day, command-and-control, smoke, terrain, sieges, and fortifications are all modeled in depth
• You must adapt your tactics to the evolving capabilities of units and their firearms
• Luxurious terrain derived from thousands of hex images, with more than 2,000 frames of character animation.
• Powerful artificial intelligence will force you to push your troops to the limit
MODES OF PLAY
• Control game complexity: shut off rules you don’t like
• Play against the computer, or play multi-player by LAN, Internet, e-mail, or hot-seat.
FORGE OF FREEDOM will be available in Fall of 2006 from Matrix Games. Forge of Freedom is based on the engine for Crown of Glory, which won Wargamer.com’s Bronze Award, War Historical’s Game of the Year for 2005, and Gamers Hall’s Silver Award.
