Pros: - Approachable. Simple enough but not too much - Massive map alloving freedom of maneuver (eastern front is cramped tho) - Manageable scale and quick turns - Forces you to think many turns in the future when you make decisions - Not that many civil war games that focus on grand strategy - Addictive - Free campaigns outside civil war Cons: - One unit per hex makes some situations unrealistic due to scale, mainly eastern front and naval war - Simple combat. Not that big of a con as it's not the focus of this game - Basically only to nations (UK, France, Spain and Mexico can join in some cases). In other SC games I enjoy putting my allies under AI command and then living with their decisions This game is an absolute gem. It forces you to think many turns in the future when making decisions on what to research and how much, what to build, what to deploy where. Everything takes time, unit you bought arrives several turns later, moving from deploy hex to front takes turns, research is slow and units don't receive upgrades automatically. This tickles my brain just the right way. Combat is simple and reminiscent of Panzer General, although with added supply, morale, readiness and HQ bonus. Simplicity is not that bad though as this is strategy, not tactics game. Biggest downside of this game, and whole Strategic Command series, is that you can only have one unit per hex. This simplifies matters but creates unrealistic situations like eastern front resembling WWI trench warfare. Naval combat suffers the most from this, though not as much here as in SC:WWI where one naval combat could have ships in line stretching from UK to Norway. These problems with stacking prevention is my main reason of 4/5 instead of 5/5. If thinking where to attack, when and with what is more to your liking than the actual battles, then pick this up.
