I was expecting Ultimate General: Civil War to be a simplified Total War experience. In some ways it is; there's technically only four unit types although the units themselves are very versatile and customizable. There's also no statecraft type gameplay like managing cities, but that is a positive for me since battles are typically what I want from this type of game. The real kicker though is that the gameplay of Civil War type musket/rifle battles is what I would describe as a Meatgrinder. Total War games tend to be very decicive. If a large portion of your army routs, that's more or less the end of the battle. In UG: CW, routing is just a part of the game, and even rookie troops will quickly return to battle to be thrown back into the Meatgrinder. This is brutal, tactical warfare at its best. Because routing and has been made into something that is easier to happen but less destructive when it does, battles "flow" better than any Total War game I've played and are a constant dance of routing, overstretching, counterattacking and redrawing battle lines. Furthermore, the battles often have interesting objectives, can continue over more than one engangement with both enemies and allies reinforcing the battlefield from different sides and will take place on multiple maps before the battle connects all the maps together for an absolute drawdropping scope of battle. Think the Historical Battles of the Total War games, but with units you have rectuited, leveled up and equipped over many consecutive battles. A must play for people who want a Total War experience that captures the brutality of Civil War combat where your poor troops routing is just another chance to throw them back into the Meatgrinder.
