Grand Tactician Headquarters.

Engineer Corps Log Book.

Engineers at Work.

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Gen’l,

For some time now, an eerie silence has surrounded the Grand Engineer Corps camp. The troops are wondering, what is happening inside the fog of war? What does this mean to the Grand Tacticians, present and future? Major changes have taken place in the background, with the Engineer Corps going through a reorganization. As the pieces are falling in place, it’s a good time to share some Engineering intel from behind the scenes.

The Greenhorn Volunteers.

Grand Tactician’s story began in 2016, with Oliver (a finance banker turned coder from Austria) and Ilja (a wargame enthusiast in the Finnish Army) deciding to develop a strategy game independently. The idea was to create something unique in the genre, the game taking place in the American Civil War – a conflict of great interest to us. Soon after Peter (a chemical industry worker and mod artist from Germany) joined the team as an artist, and since then our team of three worked hard to make our dream a reality. We started from zero, new game engine, new coding language, and a lot to learn…

The Civil War (1861-1865) has been a true independent “garage project”, being developed outside the working hours as a second job. It started as a very interesting (yet ambitious) hobby project, with no commercial expectations. The development didn’t have a fixed schedule, we worked as much on the game as we could, learning as we went. We have been blessed with many helpful and talented people with enthusiasm toward our project and the will to help, and this helped shape the game into what it is today – not perfect by any means, but something we’re proud of. We managed to create a unique game among its peers. 2000 reviews with > 70% score is high praise!

What we never expected was that so many players would find the game and enjoy it, providing us ideas and constructive criticism from the Early Access of late 2020 continuing all the way to this day. This of course caused immense pressure to deliver. The post-release development has been even more hectic than the time before. At times, there was exhaustion among the ranks, as all the work was still done after returning home from a day (or night) job, work trip or even military exercise. The COVID years and increased tempo at work for some left a mark in the development as well. This was especially true during development of the Whiskey & Lemons DLC. In these circumstances, while frustrating at times, it has been very flattering that our humble game has been compared to titles created by much larger developers with much larger resources at hand.

At the same time we knew we could not continue like this in the future. Demands at work, with family and with the game were taking an increasing toll. We’re not young guys anymore.

The Long Road Ahead.

We always wanted to make Grand Tactician a game series to portray multiple wars of the gunpowder and linear warfare era (17th to 19th Centuries). If for now we disregard the personal issues we had with resources to invest in game development, we also had reached a point in the Grand Tactician -engine where small fixing here and there no longer was achieving sufficient results. Like said, we know the game is far from perfect, and there are the shortfalls here and there we want to improve. These are mostly the ones the community knows very well and have been providing us feedback about (there are also some technical ones, that are not apparent to players). “Clunkiness”, performance, AI, battle balance, player onboarding, information…

Military minded people remember the approach to putting new wine into old bottles… In order to really improve the battle AI, as an example, working on the AI itself alone no longer helps – work is required in other areas as well, like the whole unit system, pathfinding, order of battle, parts of the combat systems. Tinkering with all these systems individually to help the battle AI a bit will cause issues in other areas, that in turn need to be reworked, and the butterfly effect continues. And still we would have the old unit system, pathfinding, etc. that we want to improve anyways, and that are affecting other areas (clunkiness, performance…) So, in some cases we need a new bottle for the new wine.

During the eight years we of course learned a lot, but also the tools available have constantly developed. Especially the battle layer we developed first during 2017 is showing age and no longer facilitates much improvement without a rehaul. So, we decided that in order to move forward we need to rewrite big blocks of the game engine. This of course takes a lot of time – it’s “revolution vs. evolution”, like game developers like to call it. At the same time it allows further changes like increasing modding opportunities and adding localization.

But, back to reality and the resources… If the volunteers are worn out from years of battle, to rally the Corps, veteran regulars are needed.

The Regulars.

Recently, the Grand Engineer Corps has gone through a major reorganization. As things were still in motion and results were foggy, we kept quiet about this, while already re-working hard the first elements of the game engine. At the same time we released multiple patches to fix the remaining major issues reported by players.

Now we’re very happy to be able to say that things have turned around for us in a major way. We have teamed up with a like minded publisher, the right one for us and for our project – a Grand Tactician -series. With this move we have been able to transform from exhausted garage-developers into professionals – volunteers into regulars – resigning our earlier jobs and now working as full-time game developers! To put it mildly, life is now very different and so are our development opportunities.

What exactly we are working on will be disclosed at a much, much later date. What can be said this early on, is that we’re working on taking Grand Tactician forward in a way that earlier was not possible for us. While not much more can be said at this point, we’re planning on sharing a developer log regularly, approximately every 2-3 months, to give you a small glimpse into our upcoming game. While our vision for the next game is already set – and this takes into account the feedback we’ve received –, we do want to give you an opportunity to provide feedback, during development, at a more detailed level. We’ll start with some more technical matters, and – in full transparency – intend to hold back the major details, until there is a better opportunity to share them. We hope you share our ambition of making Grand Tactician into something greater, and that to do that we need to let the marketing machine have something to run on, when the time is right!

While our work continues, players of The Civil War 1861-1865 will be supported by the development team like before. The best way is to drop an e-mail to our message box info(at)grandtactician(dot)com, as we are deep “in the matrix” – there are only so many pairs of hands. We’ll do our best to help you with issues and questions you have. What is also fair to say at this point is that no new features or downloadable content are to be expected for The Civil War. We hope this is understandable, as large parts of the game’s engine are already cut open on our field surgeon’s table.

Having shared this piece of intel, we continue our long march toward what we hope and believe will be a bright future for Grand Tactician. Touch the elbow!

Very respectfully, your obedient servants
Oliver, Ilja, Peter
The Grand Engineer Corps.

Comments

  1. I’m only interested in a good civil War game. Why are you moving on from it? I wish you would just make it better or re-work it. Thanks.

  3. Well done, chaps, and awesome news on being able to make tour passion financially viable. Very much looking forward to seeing what the future holds (pleasbesevenyearswar, pleasebesevenyearswar, pleasebesevenyearswar…)!

  4. Still hoping a multiplayer version or mod comes about in some way even if it’s in a later date as I think that the game could improve 100 fold with human to human campaign.

  5. Please add in a multiplayer aspect to the game. for both head-to-head campaign but also allow you and another player co-op either the north or south. Not to mention head-to-head custom battles. I know not everyone would but I would pay for them features to be added. it would be such a new experience. a good one at that. not just for the main campaign and custom battles but for the whiskey and lemons campaign as well. I think it would be really exciting. I’d be willing to pay between 14.99 not with tax included up to maybe 29.99 with tax not included for the add-on. if you the developers think I’m over pricing and\or dreaming too big, I’m sorry. it’s just something I would really love added. y’all are legends.

  6. Great news! And very understandable with the engine limitations you describe.

    Whatever conflict the next project covers, I hope you keep the realistic, slower paced and logistic focused gameplay, and not “Total War-ify” the game. It is such a breath of fresh air with less frequent, but more impactful battles as TCW has.

  7. Good too here that there is mopre to come. I’ve only just found this game and I’m still playing through the first year of my Union 1861 Campaign. But I’m already hooked. Well Done!

  8. I am glad to hear this good fortune for your team. You created a very innovative game that deserves much laud, even though it’s not perfect. It seems your minds are already set on a different project, but I think a lot of us wished you would “revolution” the current Civil War war game with these new tools before moving on to another war. Especially since you yourselves have such passion for this war and have already created such a good foundation for it with this iteration.

  9. (Author)

    Multiplayer would be a huge thing, both for the players but also from the development point of view. Hopefully one day, but to get there one day would require learning a lot of stuff we’ve never done before. First we need to do a lot of other things we’ve never done before =)

  10. GTACW is a true labor of love, and I greatly appreciate everything about it. Sure, there are bugs and wonky “features”, but it is a desperately needed game in a fairly empty category of interest. I would love to see continued work on it, but I also understand the limitations imposed by the engine.

    I am very much looking forward to future development news. Keep up the good work, and much love from the other side of the Atlantic.

  11. This game has become a touch stone with others who share a real interest in the American Civil war. I am amazed at what you have created in this game. It is because this game like a great tasty dish of food, we want more and like anyone who finds themselves with a delicious dish we want to eat more than we probably should. My compliments to the Chefs!

  12. If more work is going to be done on Civil War, I would absolutely kill for more regiment level or smaller campaigns like the East 1861 campaign. I would also love to see more battle maps, regiment level scenarios, and possibly some alternate scenario where foreign powers join the war. This is currently my favorite Civil War game and I absolutely cannot get enough of it. Glad to hear more is coming from the series!

  13. I had a blast with this game. Absolutely amazing with its slow paced campaing. The only thing I wish for the future would be some multiplayer campaing added.

  14. I am glad the developers are finally turning for the better, my only regret here is that my favorite ACW game of all time will not be getting the dream multiplayer that I have been, for a lack of a better term, lusting over. However, this doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy the newer games to come out and hope for the better.

  15. Thanks for all the hard work on GTACW. Please try to focus on the singleplayer experience for the new game.

  16. I got nothing but high praise for this game I’ve loved it since it’s release. I really have nothing negative to say about it. The only improvements I would make to the game is being able to manufacture out of date firearms to use as backups in a pinch and adding Signal Corp units to add in a layer of communication bonuses and give greater detail of enemy troop movements on the campaign and battle maps. Also the addition of US and Confederate Marine and Naval Landing Parties to carry out ship to shore raids and give troops bonuses when conducting naval landings. Other than that you guys should be very proud of the hard work you’ve put in I will always recommend this game to all my friends in the Sons of Union Civil War Veterans and other American Civil War community groups.

  17. Tengo el juego desde el primer día que salió en steam, y le he dedicado más de 500 horas, me parece un juego increíble y con unas ideas fantásticas, está claro que los recursos de desarrollo eran muy limitados, eso lo hace aún más grande, espero que ahora con recursos podáis hacer una auténtica joya de juego de la guerra civil americana o Napoleónico……. Un saludo desde España.

  18. Sounds good. GTCW has some issues which you’ve covered but still manages to be an incredible experience. I look forward to the next entry in the series. Hopefully putting my email in here will ensure I receive an email when the next blog entry comes out?

    I hope especially that this go round you put the W&L experience front and center as it is massively preferable to the “whole of country” gameplay in GTCW.

  19. Please can you possibly make the historical battles multiplayer? I have a cousin that I would love to fight against in the battle of First Bull Run or Gettysburg

  20. My Esteemed Developers,

    <3

  21. Well if you guys decide to move on then it would be a great news, we as fans will wait for the new game (hopefully napoleonic wars) but I also hope that with a new engine, you guys can revisit the civil war, this game is good but with the new engine, maybe you guys can finally make the game you all wanted to make, and give us that ultimate civil war experience we all waited for, but now guess we fans will have to wait a long time.

  22. Look guys, I am ECSTATIC to hear you all will be in continuing forward!
    The elephant in the room needs addressed though. The Majority of players are history and mainly civil war buffs. Moving away from the civil war is not the right move. Make a sequel. Create the game you really dreamed about in the beginning before it had to be watered down due to realistic expectations. You made this amazing game with FIVE people. Imagine what you could create with a team. If you turn your back on the civil war it will turn many off. If you want to be profitable too, it isnt the way to go. Please reconsider, and do the right thing

  23. I am glad to hear that you are working on a new game. I only wished that y’all would add true navel battles into the game and be able to be in command of a fleet of whiskey and lemons. Glad to hear from yall.

  24. Gentlemen! Fantastic news, you are all hear-by awarded the diligence medal! Stand proud.
    -
    Being an artillerist as I am, my pet peeve was the way the artillery was handled. I hope you can get a handle on that with this new effort.
    -
    Also, in the 3D map views of the armies, artillery was sadly lacking in formation. Occasionally artillery pieces were drug on their trails, but not permanently as they are in the game. I would love to see the expansion of the artillery to include for starters, all guns and horse teams, harnessed and hitched to limbers with the required ammo chest for the gun. Later, I would love to see the artillery expanded to include caissons and limbers per gun for spare ammunition. Of course, no battery camp is complete without auxiliary equipment. Each battery, (6 or 4 guns,) will also require a traveling forge, and a battery wagon to complete the camp. And when I say each battery, I hope that you can flesh out the design of the game to show each of every gun listed in the battery, or the battalion, or eventually, the artillery corps.
    -
    Yes, I know it is a lot to ask for, and I am asking, I am not demanding. Please bring a little truer organization to the fielded armies when it comes to artillery.
    -
    And on a completely different topic, I would love to see the Quartermaster corps fleshed out so that armies can worry about what they actually worried about. That long line of canvas covered conveyances that brought food, clothing, tentage, and every other necessity to the field. There doesn’t need to be hundreds if not thousands of quartermaster wagons, (to start.)
    -
    Here’s to hoping!

  25. I would like to recommend that you start on a game based in the American Revolution Era, or maybe even the Seven Years War. I would be so grateful to enjoy a game, similar to GTCW, but somewhere in those era. After 1700 hours playing GTCW, I bid you farewell dev team!

  26. This is spectacular news, and though I, like so many of my piers, am saddened to hear of the coming end of GT TCW development, the void is filled thrice over by the joy of a new beginning. I look forward to whatever great field of conflict you chose to develop, tho I certainly share Mr. Andy’s sentiment about a 7 Years War game (perhaps if not the 2nd, the 3rd installment in the series?).
    That said, as a last addition to the current game and as something that may prove good in the future, if its possible I believe we would all be served well by some sort of built in ‘debugging’ menu that the player can interact with. Just last night I came face to face with a quite literally invincible artillery battery (15 minutes of being bombarded, a charge by regulars, and 3 infantry all billowing into it, without loosing a single casualty is, well, rather impressive) and it would have been nice if I could have, say, pause the game, open the debug menu, see if I could fix the invincibility, and if not, just move it to the other side of the map.
    All said, the direction we are headed, even with some loose ends, is a wonderful way to go, and I expect nothing but the best from our now battle hardened veterans.

  27. Just had a feeling we were about to get an update. Checked out the Steam Discussion page and was stoked to see this post. I am glad Oliver and Ilja found a publisher who cares about their vision and supports the future of this title. Look forward to the future. Cheers!

    P.S. Love the back story as to how an Austrian with a background in finance and a Finnish soldier became so passionate about the American Civil War. Pretty cool to see such dedication outside of North America.

  28. Excellent. Everything you said is completely understandable. Even with the issues, it is still a thoroughly enjoyable game that I replay and replay and replay. Of course I am, very much, looking forward to the improvements and the other games.
    You have our full support and understanding.
    Keep up the great work and very nice to hear of this.

  29. Excited to see you progressing. This has been a great game. Hope you every success for future endeavors: I’m in!

  30. Ho comprato W/L lo stesso giorno che é uscito e non ci ho mai giocato. La campagna (standart) 1861 è una fottuta droga. Un poco come uno che va allo stesso ristorante e ogni volta si ingozza col l’antipasto … e non arriva mai a mangiare il primo piatto. Con tutto rispetto non sono sicuro che il capolavoro che avete fatto sia stato “voluto e pianificato dall’inizio”, forse come lo scassinatore che indovina alla prima un codice di 3 numeri. Sono un hard-gamer di vecchia data (molto vecchia) e vi dico che siete riusciti ad unire i miei amori di gioventù (SSI games … ex. “Gettysburg: the turning point”) con la bellezza di un gioco moderno, grandi.

    L’unica cosa che mi ha dato fastidio é la mancanza di un pulsante per creare profili di ufficiali rapidamente (nel mio modo di giocare formo parecchie unitá e consumo rapidamente tutti gli ufficiali disponibili; é vero che le nuove unitá (dopo che sono finiti gli uffciali storici) automaticamente arrivano con un “nuovo” ufficiale, ma la mancanza di un ufficiale in reserva, non permette agilmente di fare nomine e promozioni corrette … é vero che si puó manualmente creare un ufficiale … ma odio perdere tempo col creatore di avatar.

    Per il futuro, come gia vi scrissi su STEAM, faccio il tifo per un CIVIL WAR II.
    La mia paura circa un gioco su Napoleone come molti chiedono, é che succeda ció che successe al primo TOTALWAR ossia SHOGUN nel 2000 (mi sembra ieri): il sistema di venti unitá del gioco era perfetto per il Giappone Medievale … ma quando portarono lo stesso sistema in altri contesti fu un disastro ex TOTALWAR-ROME … provate a repplicare la battaglia di Cannae con 20 unitá manovrabili (uno schifo assoluto). Fino al momento nessuno, dico nessuno si é anche solo avvicinato a fare un gioco decente che coprisse l’INTERA CAMPAGNA Napoleonica 1795-1815 … perché il contesto strategico e troppo variegato (i giochi su Napoleone li ho TUTTI … forse il migliore é l’ultimo di AGEOD … ma non esiste una singola campagna generale). In questo senso la GUERRA CIVILE AMERICANA é molto piú concentrata e abbordabile, e farne una 2.0 avreste tutti i giocatori che hanno comprato la 1.0 … più i nuovi.

    Rispetto al prezzo, sopra c’é un utente che ha scritto che pagherebbe un’espansione dell’attuale tra i 19,90 e i 29,90 USD. Col massimo rispetto e capendo che molti qui sono giovani e quindi con risorse limitate, mi permetto di far questo ragionamento: sei abituato a uscire con ragazze da 6 o 7 spendendo 100 USD per invitarle a cena … un giorno ti capita un “bona” da 9. Che fai ? Te la lasci scappare o ci “investi” un 500 USD ?
    Se i signori a cui scrivo, mi fanno un gioco o espansione (vecchio o nuovo), che mi tiene incollato 1000 ore … mettetelo pure a 120 USD … ma chi se ne frega !!! (Se vai al cinema con una “pischella” … 1 volta, solo 1 … tra cinema, pop-corn, etc … non ti partono 60-70 USD ? (2 ore di divertimento … forse)

    Complimenti e buona fortuna, ve lo meritate

    I bought W/L the same day it came out and I’ve never played it. The (standard) 1861 campaign is a fucking drug. A bit like someone who goes to the same restaurant and gorges himself with the appetizer every time … and never gets to eat the first course. With all respect I’m not sure that the masterpiece you made was “wanted and planned from the beginning”, maybe like the burglar who guesses a 3-digit code on the first try. I’m a long-time (very old) hard-gamer and I tell you that you managed to unite my youthful loves (SSI games … ex. “Gettysburg: the turning point”) with the beauty of a modern game, great.

    The only thing that bothered me was the lack of a button to quickly create officer profiles (in my way of playing I form several units and quickly use up all the available officers; it is true that new units (after the historical officers are finished) automatically arrive with a “new” officer, but the lack of an officer in reserve, does not allow you to easily make correct nominations and promotions … it is true that you can manually create an officer … but I hate wasting time with the avatar creator.

    For the future, as I already wrote to you on STEAM, I am rooting for a CIVIL WAR II.
    My fear about a game about Napoleon as many are asking for, is that what happened to the first TOTALWAR, namely SHOGUN in 2000 (it seems like yesterday), will happen: the system of twenty units of the game was perfect for Medieval Japan … but when they brought the same system to other contexts it was a disaster ex TOTALWAR-ROME … try to replicate the battle of Cannae with 20 maneuverable units (absolute crap). So far no one, I repeat no one has even come close to making a decent game that covers the ENTIRE Napoleonic CAMPAIGN 1795-1815 … because the strategic context is too varied (I have ALL the Napoleon games … perhaps the best is the latest one by AGEOD … but there is no single general campaign). In this sense the AMERICAN CIVIL WAR is much more concentrated and approachable, and making a 2.0 you would have all the players who bought 1.0 … plus the new ones.

    Regarding the price, above there is a user who wrote that he would pay between 19.90 and 29.90 USD for an expansion of the current one. With the utmost respect and understanding that many here are young and therefore with limited resources, I allow myself to make this reasoning: you are used to going out with girls of 6 or 7 spending 100 USD to invite them to dinner … one day you get a “hot” of 9. What do you do? Do you let her get away or do you “invest” 500 USD in it?
    If the gentlemen I am writing to, make me a game or expansion (old or new), that keeps me glued for 1000 hours … put it at 120 USD … but who cares!!! (If you go to the cinema with a “chick” … 1 time, only 1 … between cinema, popcorn, etc … don’t you get 60-70 USD? (2 hours of fun … maybe)

    Compliments and good luck, you deserve it

  31. Finding Grand Tactician Civil War was a dream for me. It was exactly the style of game I had been searching for. I’d been medicating myself with things like the Total War Series, the Ultimate General Series, and even some hex-based games. Nothing brought all the elements I liked about those games into one place the way Grand Tactician did. Whiskey and Lemons made me love it more. I know the game isn’t perfect, but I loved what you guys were able to deliver.

    The American Civil War is my historical period of choice. Ever since the old Sierra Games’: Robert E. Lee Civil War General and Sid Meier’s Gettysburg, I’ve snatched up ACW war games. I’m not exaggerating when I say Grand Tactician shot straight to the top of my list even from the early days. I’m glad you guys have been able to take a step further towards your professional goals. Thank you for giving this labor of love to the world. If nothing else, you gave a fellow American Civil War fan hours and hours of very happy entertainment.

    I’ll be watching out for the next period being tackled by the team. If it is done with even a fraction of the enthusiasm and love that was put into ‘Civil War’, it will be another masterpiece in my book. Thank you for all your work! Best of luck! Congratulations!

  32. Damn i was really so excited when i saw that you guys posted i was so hoping to see an update on the civil war but like so many other games you guys are giving up on this one to try another on this game was so unique and the idea for the DLC was so freakin awesome i even had fun playing it broken i really wish youd finish this game before another then id happily buy another and im sure it would be amazing as well

  33. Just wanted to add my praise to the developers for this great work of a game. I bought this game way back when, right at the release of early access, and I labored to play this game despite all of its initial “jank” because the sheer promise of it was so impressive. The scope, the detail, the sheer passion poured into it by the devs, I could tell right from the outset this was destined to be a game changer if the developers followed through on the vision and continued this model as a franchise. That passion for grand strategy and war gaming by the devs was obvious, and the love that I could tell this game was made with enabled me to suffer through countless hours of some of the most enraging gaming I’ve honestly ever experienced to have now netted hundreds of hours of playtime. Seriously, despite how that may sound, that’s not meant as an insult but as real praise, and I hope it’s at least somewhat encouraging, because any other game I just wouldn’t have put up with the frustration, I’d have put it away and not come back, and yet here I was totally gripped by this game even with all of its issues. That really says something about what you guys have created, the recipe your team has cooked up works so well and has me totally hooked, it outshines so many others in the genre and has the promise to go even further. I think that bodes very well for your future endeavors with this series, all it needs is continued refinement and as it’s clear you know the limits of the game and the issues it has I am confident it will get that in future games.

    If I can love a game this much, which simultaneously gives me a near aneurism every time I play it, I can’t imagine how much I’ll love another game where some of these pesky issues have been ironed out a bit. Seriously, despite my complaining I’ve loved this game every step of the way, and my positive review on Steam from the EA days says much the same, it’s been a real pleasure to watch this game grow and to see this team find success and I’m just super excited to see what the future brings. Warm regards from the US, I’ll be eagerly following future dev blogs!

    All the best

  34. I have logged 1736 hours on this game; it is one of the best ever. Whiskey & Lemons was the best move you could have made. After playing it, I couldn’t go back. Multi-player doesn’t interest me.
    I am looking forward to whatever you are working on and you have my confidence that it will be work buying.

  35. Thanks for all the great and hard work Peter, Ilja and Oliver!
    I bought the game back in August 2020 and you have come a long way!
    That you stuck with your guns and worked on the game for all these years is amazing.
    And I hope you guys are aware what a great start for your potential Game series it is.
    This game is truely unique in it’s scale, scope, size AND detail.

    Thanks for the many hours of joy and excitement and best of luck with your future projects! :D

  36. Great to hear you folks are back on the chain gang. The game does want a few tweaks and hopefully that happens. Good luck with the new endeavor you all clearly would have leant a lot from the previous game. thank you.

  37. Very happy to hear you will be moving to other theatres of wars in the gunpowder era. I hope you cover the 1870-1871 wars, Crimean wars or the Taiping rebellion. I think you’ve done everything you can with the civil war and I am looking forward to your next game.

  38. I loved GT:ACW until I realised that there is no way to avoid the naval system and I was stuck building and organizing and moving dozens of dinky little boats in which I had absolutely no interest. Please provide a simplified naval system on your new creations

  39. I hope you are bringing your vision to do what you’ve done for the American Civil War to the Napoleonic Wars.

  40. I had no idea about your backgrounds guys. Now I’m even more impressed with a game that I absolutely love, esp. since the Whiskey and Lemons DLC. Thank you for all your hard work on this. For what it’s worth, like a few others I’d love to see a Napoleonic game in the series. Stay positive, keep the faith, and know that this fan is definitely looking forward to what the future holds =)

  41. Y’all’s work on this game has brought me hours and hours of joy. I’m happy for y’all, wish you the best, and look forward to your continued work!

    Your faithful servant,
    Boogie_Red

  42. I was just thinking to myself the other day, “I Hope this isn’t dead” And I am pleased to hear today that it is not! I am an avid fan of the game and the history of this time period. As a Virginian myself, I have quite the collection of books, artifacts and various items from this period and others. I am glad to support you all in any way I can!

    Sincerely Yours,
    James

  43. I hope future games build on the already deep economic side of the game. I think that’s what makes GT:CW so different and good. I love that the economy responds to things automatically and that it behaves in a generally realistic way.

  44. This is great, for both you and the players.

    Crack this thing open, expand it through American Revolution, Napoleon, Seven Years War, Age of Sail ect. And when you perfect it us Civil War buffs you brought on will clamor for CW2. Sounds like a great start to a great series.

    Just dont sell yourself too far down the river, like a certain CA series. This is a great product. Hurah!

  45. Boys, I pray that you succeed

  46. I’m not very knowledgeable in regards to game development. I was wondering if it is realistic to request having the regimental level of unit available on the full map grand campaign? I loved the regiments in W&L and would love to use them in the western theater

  47. After the ACW, I’d recommend doing the Mexican-American war. It’s an almost untapped conflict in gaming. The French & Indian War would be another good one that has been lightly used. Cheers.

  48. Thank you for the update. This is great news! Looking forward to an updated American Civil War game and a series of similar games from the time period from the musket era – French/Indian, American Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Mexican/American War and others.

  49. Saw a history YouTube channel playing this game which made me want to play it and its now become one of my favorite games of all time. I can’t wait to see what comes next and I fully expect it to take its time, as all good games do.

  50. I thought your game was easily the best linear warfare game ever made. I can’t imagine how good a Napoleonic game would be and how in depth the devs would need to go to make it. Good luck guys.

  51. Napoleon is calling!!!!

  52. Oh man, I had no idea conditions were like that. It’s incredible that you guys have created what you have under those conditions and I’m hella excited to see what you can do now that a publisher is backing the team up.

    I’m not nearly as learned on European history as I am American history, but I love this game so much that I’m totally down to buy whatever you make next. Napoleon sounds like a pretty logical choice, but my own bias swings me towards the American War for Independence.

  53. Thanks for the update! Great things take time. This is the best Civil War game I’ve ever played and I’ve played basically all of them from the old VGA Civil War Strategy, Robert E Lee Civil War General, Ageods Civil War II, Sierra’s Civil War Generals 2, and many others. I can’t wait to see the future developments y’all have planned!

  54. I also want to bring up that with the logistics representation in 3D, let’s put some ambulances in the game too. There doesn’t have to be thousands, or even hundreds, but a fair sprinkling of the ambulance corps would be good, Size of the corps would depend on the size of the army it is serving. (Yeah, I know, I ask for a lot, and I’m a dreamer.)
    Maybe we can get a 1:1 correlation of the 3D world to the 2D world too?

  55. As a trained historian of the horse and musket time period, especially of the US Civil War, (And someone who has been playing war games since Avalon Hill issued it first historical game.) I have too many questions as to the whys and wherefores of this game to be asked here. I also have too many suggestions to submit here. All I can say is that I hope you can compile, and collate, then evaluate, then incorporate the many good ideas submitted by so many committed gamers. Perhaps more pre-testing before issuing. I do hope that you folks will offer a newer version of this came when you issue your next game and not one on a different time period.
    Too Much said. Good Luck

  56. I am sad to hear that there aren’t any planned advancements to Civil War, but, it seems necessary. The very foundation of the game is outdated, and you built it with three people, now you have a team.

    Whatever is next is going to be HUGE and I can’t wait! I wonder if it’ll be another Civil War game, or a different Era. There are so many options.

    Whatever it is, the biggest thing I hope you guys do, is add a “decisions” or “national focus” feature, similar to Paradox Interactive’s Hearts of Iron 4, where you have a “tree” of different national paths to take. GC Civil War already has a similar feature, so I hope it is expanded on.

    One other big piece of advise I have as a huge fan and lifelong gamer, is this: Add modding capabilities. Mods make old games last forever.

    Whatever you do, I look forward to the next update!

  57. Great to hear from you guys. I have loved and enjoyed this game a lot. The AI does however limits its replay-ability. I hope you will consider expanding into the Napoleonic period in the future. I will certainly be a buyer

  58. Glad to hear that you guys are still making games! I have enjoyed Civil War quite a bit; it’s been fuel stoking a fire for diving into more of the blackpowder era of warfare. I’ve also noticed a decided lack of coverage for games in the French wars of Revolution, as opposed to just Napoleon as Emperor. I know there would need to be many more mechanics than CW had to go from the War of the First Coalition to Waterloo, but I hope you tackle the era at some point, because I think the way you’ve handled the CW has promise. Best of luck, team!

  59. Would love to see GT: TCW improved and a MP implemented, though i remember you guys mentioning it wasn’t in the cards.

    Though for a future installment, a Napoleon game would be great, plus you could include Multiplayer as a core concept. maybe even have up to 4 players on the map(wishful thinking on my part). MP is such a great move for the Nap-wars as the battles are bigger, the politics are grand and everything culminates in a 20 year period of warfare and destruction. I think making a new title singleplayer would be a big misstep. Ultimate General does well as a singleplayer game as the design of the game itself is very singleplayer oriented, but Grand Tactician clearly has vision for a more multiplayer oriented game, not that singleplayer GT should be shelved, but myself and many others clearly saw that MP could have made GT:TCW even better, player on player combat would change the dynamic

    Now for my thoughts on a new title:
    1. Fortifications on battlemaps need to be reworked, i don’t know about anyone else, but i found it quite easy to bait the AI into attacking dug in positions on a near constant basis, leading to some very lopsided victories. Perhaps only certain fortifications can be built and that they don’t provide such a big defense bonus. like engineers being the only ones able to fortify effectively for redoubts and whatnot, while the infantry can make loose fortifications that increase defense slightly, but isn’t a game changer overall, kinda like a last line of defense.
    2. AI needs to be better, i found all to often on not just battlemaps but the overall campaign the ai could be tricked into doing something that would be disastrous for it. I.E. like attacking st.louis, so the Union decides to move 4 of the 5 corps in virginia out west. it should have clear recognizable goals to defend and attack and should weigh and balance if it should go out to defend territories that aren’t as important as others. (No i’m not saying Missouri wasn’t important in the civil war, just that D.C. was far more important than st. louis, which it was)

    i have some more, but thinking on them I found it was more personal pet peeves, that the Devs did a good enough job of fixing by allowing AI to take over so it’s not something i can complain too much about.

    Overall i’m excited for a new title.

  60. Might be making a big leap here but the comment ‘in the matrix’ combined with a big announcement from slitherine due on 10th december makes me think I know who they have partnered with.

  61. The Crimea war never gets a mention. Reasonably small area for map coverage, weapons very similar to the US Civil War, redcoats, Charge of the Light Brigade and these pesky Russians. Plus you have the other major European Powers, Germany, France the Ottoman Empire all ready to jump in. Just a thought.
    That being said US Civil War II would not go amiss.

  62. A Napoleonic game with multiplayer would be the tits!

  63. I have logged many hours playing GTCW. Thank you for providing us a game that was great from the start and only got better. It has depth, replayability, and historical relevance. Wish you the best with your new creations. You have a fan right here and I’ll be on Steam regularly looking for new titles from GT.

  64. I love GTCW and while I had hoped it’d get more updates I see now that it would not work out. So, I wish you luck in all your future developments and projects! I will for sure be keeping a look out for them and buying them! I hope to see an American Revolution or Napoleonic game next (Possibly a game set in the same time frame as Shogun TW)? But one thing I do hope is for GTCW to get a remaster or 2nd version in the future with all the updated software and developments you make!

    Again, thank you for a wonderful few years and I’m excited to see what you come out with next!

  65. Your game is incredible…..thank you for this unique gem…..if I had my way, I’d prefer that you update the present day Civil War game with many new innovations before moving on to greener pastures…..all the best in your new endeavor!

  66. Loved this game! Totally understand the overhaul problem – very common in any large software. Don’t mess with something great to try and make it perfect. While I will probably buy anything new you do, I would ask you consider doing something with either a new angle, or something we don’t see a lot of, like the War of the Spanish Succession (though that would be hard to go from the carnage of the Civil War to one where all the commanders didn’t want to lose their troops because they were so hard to replace).

  67. I’ve been a fan of the Grand Tactician potential since 2020 when I first heard about the development. It’s exciting to hear of a totally new game engine on the way, I’m very much looking forward to the next in the series. Grand Tactician The Napoleonic Wars is what I think a large majority of us are looking to!

  68. Good evening gentlemen, you have achieved a foothold, it’s time to press on!

    I personally love what you accomplished as volunteers and look forward to seeing what can be achieved as professionals. I have been in the ranks since early access and loved the whisky and lemons DLC, the training aspect for me was great and my only complaint being the staff you hired seemed to make little difference, and as the guy in charge of the army you wouldn’t be expected to take charge of every aspect of drilling, logistics, sentry ect ect.. you would delegate, but it seems we have no one to delegate to unless we get a random friend.
    I am excited at the possibility of a series. I feel like games largely miss out on Scotland vs England conflicts from the anglo-saxons all the way up to the last jacobite rebellion in 1745. If you were able to look at something like this you would make me a very happy man.

    I love what you have done, others have already mentioned aspects I think could be improved i.e artillery and control of economics, so I won’t harp on about it, but simply offer a salute to your work!

  69. I am exceptionally excited for a new game from you people. While I love the American Civil War, I believe you people have discovered something truly remarkable with how the map and battle play out. It was refreshing to finally play a Civil War game that held the taste of the battles, but that truly allowed for alternate history. It is impressive how you managed to create new battlefields with a depth that far outlays previous games. The closest one obviously being the Total War series, of which you have proven far superior and I believe have caused a revolution in the gaming community.

    I would particularly love to see you develop a game in the era of the Napoleonic Wars or go to the early modern period with the Great War from 1914 to 1918. I would particularly love to see the latter as there are few if any games that cover that period. Ultimate General attempted to mimic what you did with their new American Revolution game, but it still does not compare in many ways. I will look forward with anticipation to what you are doing next.

  70. This is awesome news. This game is great, especially W&L DLC which has been a dream play style of mine for DECADES!! I love the Civil War but I love ALL wars of the 17th to 19th century and branching out to other wars is the perfect thing to do for longevity and for keeping up interest in fans of this era of warfare. One thing though:- Please don’t waste your time with multiplayer. These games should remain single player. I know people ask that for EVERY damn game but this is type of game should remain as is and any time taken away from the single player experience will just delay everything. Can’t wait to see what the engineers conjure up next.

  71. While I am somewhat disappointed to hear that the Civil War will no longer be the focus of your efforts, it is gratifying to hear that the game will not be abandoned. It’s great to hear that you guys have reached the point where you can work on development professionally, and I believe that your future endeavors will benefit from this. Good luck, and thank you.

  72. Lmfao. Half-bake a game. Give up. Move on to another entirely different game. You are full of so much shit if you think I’m going to believe that nonsense about limitations on your engine. Engines MUCH OLDER than yours have been refined and refined again and again. You are a LIAR. You better at least give a discount to the people that supported you this long and held out SO MUCH hope that you would finish your first game. What an absolute slap to the face. You guys dropped a half-baked DLC, then walked away. Don’t give us that crap. Complete pump and dump. If you do not at least offer a temporary discount for the next game for the people that supported you, after completely fucking them, I vow to pirate and seed every damn thing you ever release.

  73. Nice. I too like screwing my customers over as well. Fingers crossed that you pieces of shit go bankrupt.

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