Take Command - 2nd Manassas is a well rounded game and fun to play. I recommend it to those who enjoy playing Civil War games. Commanding your troops in the field can be a bit problematic at times until you get use to how to send your troops across the battlefield and how to complete orders you want to give to them. But the learning curve is quick and worth the trial and error it will take. Patience is a key in playing this game. I recommend trying to keep a reserve of troops to send into the battles later during missions as well as make sure not to let your troops group too closely together really can make a huge difference in the outcome of your battles. Keeping a reserve group just outside of engagement, then finding a way to use those reserve troops to surround or flank your enemy after the engagement has begun and both sides have taken losses really can turn the fight in your favor, even when you are outnumbered.

This is a perfect game for hardcore Civil War buffs. Playing this for half an hour will show you how dumbed-down for the masses the Total War series is. Best Civil War game since Sid Mier's Gettysburg/Antietam series.

Entertaining, interactive, and a fun little historical game. Great for wasting time. Graphics are good, ability for alot of control in battles was exceptional.

Enjoyed this game very much.

Holy Smokes! If you have ever wondered what it would be like to command an entire army of the civil war this is your game. I love the way you can delegate command to subordinates and focus on other engagements that need personal attention. I play this game all the time..never gets old.

Very solid game and with the mods made by the community you can increase the experience ten fold. Highly recommend this title to anyone interested in Civil War battles. This is a thinking mans game.

The first and decidedly finest Civil War game I've played, TC2M boasts such an impressive attention to realism and yet so much fun that even a wargame amateur like me can still enjoy. Lead an unit of your choice, either a brigade, a division or even a corp in this series of exciting battles of the first truly modern war ! And be sure to check out the awesome Rebels and Redcoats mod that turns the clock back to the American Revolutionary War for 100% more fun !

Very dated game of a typical Total War style game of today.

If you are very much into the Civil War, with a book on your night stand, and don't mind dated graphics, you may like this game.

Graphics aren't that great...but the historical aspect behind the game is dead on, even down to the maps. You can get lost in this game for hours on end but there are a thing or two that I would change. The artillery isn't all that great for one and the fact there is no campaign play really sucks. But if you are looking for a Civil war game that is truly a work of art, then this it.

Take Command: 2nd Manassas is a wonderfully fun game. You play the part of a historical commander in either the Union or Confederate army who fought at the 2nd Battle of Manassas. You command their men in real time on the field and as would be expected are given your orders to complete. However, what surprised me was that while you were doing your thing your command there is actually a battle going on around you. It’s not just you verse one opponent it’s you plus the rest of the army verse the entirety of the enemies army. The scale of the battles which take place in this game truly took me back and I loved it. Some of the battles which are featured are so large and you personally command such a small number or your side’s forces that at times you will be unable to change the outcome of a battle, and this is not a bad thing. It truly adds an element of unpredictability to the game. You can play the same scenario ten times and get ten different results depending on your actions, the actions of the rest of your side, and the actions of the enemy. Great for replayability.

On the technical side the game runs smoothly and is very stable. The graphics do look a little outdated but in my opinion it doesn’t take away any of the games appeal. At times I do get strange graphic glitches with the terrain in game but it is nothing severe enough to limit my enjoyment.

You remember that excellent chain of command system they developed for 'austerlitz/waterloo'?

You remember the excelent true-to-scale system they developed for 'combat mission', in everythig that concerns distances, reaction times, terrain modifyers, lines of sight and etcetera?

You remember the excellent and detailed treatment you would get in "age of rifles", as far as movement, formations, rears and flanks were concerned?

Yep, it's all there. The graphics are a bit (just a tiny bit) old-looking but that does not get in the way of a full enjoymentof this excellent - and I mean EXCELLENT - strategy game.

What I liked the most is that you actually are there in the battle field. Sure, your vision can hover over the terrain a bit, but with some limitations - particularly, the position where you actually are, making it impossible to see as far as a regular person in a battlefield could. This gives you a feeling that you are actually there standing in the middle of the fight, instead of being everywhere at the same time, as most (or all of the) games portraint command visibility. For instance, the commanding officer (you) can give direct orders for units as far as 50ft, but over that distance, you may very well issue orders but a courier will be sent to the unit and the latter will only start fulfiling the orders whet it actually get them from the courier. Fantastic. I have never seen anything alike in any game.

Simply a must-have.

Good game. I keep coming back to it when ever I get jazzed about the civil war. BIGGEST FLAW - cavalry. I want the cavalry to run down routed troops but they ALWAYS dismount and shoot.

Best ACW game there is or at least was at the time of the release. I played through all the scenarios there are and this is something that I can't say I've done in most other computer games. The AI is one of the best you can find in strategy and wargames and it's also quite unpredictable. Any armchair general can spend months with this game so looking at the current pricetag it's a must have for any wargamer.

Wow.

This is simply the BEST simulation of horse & musket warfare, bar none. While Empire Total War may be more "fun" as a game, it's somewhat like saying that Risk is more fun as a game than chess. One is fast, furious and light-weight, while the other requires serious dedication and learning.

Take Command 2nd Manassas strives to be a historically accurate and realistic simulation of what it would have been like to "take command" during the American Civil War, and I believe that it has achieved that aim.

While the graphics may look dated, it gets the job done and has the added bonus of being able to run on ancient computers. In fact, it's one of the few games that run perfectly on my aging 1.6GHz laptop!

I think the highest praise I can give this game is the fact that it has successfully kindled my interest in the American Civil War - a conflict in which I had absolutely no at all before playing this game.

I really love this game. The gameplay is easy enough to learn, the tutorials are great and the Mods that the talented gamers have created doubles the enjoyment of this game. I think the graphics are okay but then I'm just grateful that the game runs smoothly on my not-so-expensive machine. all in all -a wonderful and satisfying game.

This game lacks in graphics - but makes up for it wholly by its in depth and detailed engine. You can take command of anything from a brigade (800-2200 men) to a division (2-4 brigades) to a corps (2-4 divisions) and control them in the 2nd battle of Manassas as well as a variety of other user made maps and campaigns.

One innovative mechanism is the fully realized command structure - you give orders to your subordinates, and they will do their best to fulfill them for you - or you can if you wish take command directly. This works on all levels - you can give a command to a division, as a corps leader, and the division general will place his division as he sees fit. This means you can choose how tactical/stratigic you want your gameplay to be - will you be a brigade general, fighting for control of a small crossroads, or a bridge? Or will you take command of a division, defending a large farm or wood, or a corps, responsible for anything from an entire wing of an army through to a corps on corps battle.

A very good game, worth getting

This game is THE reference of serious operational-level wargaming in the age of American Civil War. Of course, there is a learning curve (but not that steep). But come on, you would not expect to know how to correctly direct the maneuver of a full division or virtual army corps without some sweat and effort!

Ample scenarios complement, more than what is necessary for any history fan. And the lack of a multiplayer mode is not penalizing - the IA being really challenging.

(4/5) This is a great deal for $20!! It is the best tactical civil war game I've played. I was hesitant at first because what did I care about Manassas? And so put off buying for several years. The AI is capable, and non-scenario battles are a great way to kill an hour or two. The downside is there is no campaign. There are a couple of nuances, as with artillery, but it is far from broken. Like the title suggest, one has to "take command". The AI, probes, assualts, regroups, strikes again, it is above and beyond any experience I've had vs an AI. As another post pointed out, MMG has moved on/split//reform to form Norbsoft, and has a game under development. If this game had a strategic layer like ageod's ACW, it would arguably be the best game ever in terms of historical wargaming. One of my favorite details in this game is the messengers that get sent out. And yes, one can kill the messenger. The orders of battle are easily moddable. So with some creative thinking, one doesn't miss the campaign all that much.

The first and possibly only 3d game on the CW period. MMG has done a great job with leaving the whole mechanics tweakable by any average modder through .csv files.

There's only one flaw, which unfortunately is a HUGE one: Artillery is totally bugged which is a true pity for such a marvellous 3d world and i am 90% sure it's a hard coded malfunction, not fixable by the modder attempts so far.

It looks like MMG has ceased to exist as DEV house but the community is still active. I suggest any player getting this game to get the community mod pack (currently 3.0) and enjoy it.

Be on watch for Norbsoft DEV...the natural evolution of TC2M is scheduled to be released sometime late in 2009 and i strongly advice GamersGate to hook up with the new War3D engine whose creator is the TC2M lead DEV.

Guess this is as good as it gets as far as civil war games go.With so many really bad games out there covering the civil war ,this one really stands out .Very replayable. Graphics are so-so,sound is ok also ,Gameplay is where the thing shines though , If your a civil war buff and a gamer this is just as essential as sid myers gettysburg, A step up i think ,