05 Oct 2025Developer post

DevBlog #5: Command and Control

In “GT2” (working title), in the reworked battle layer, we’ve adjusted the command and control logic a bit to allow further tactical flexibility in the gameplay. Like before, order delays (couriers carrying the commanders’ orders along the chain of command) are complicating thing

In “GT2” (working title), in the reworked battle layer, we’ve adjusted the command and control logic a bit to allow further tactical flexibility in the gameplay. Like before, order delays (couriers carrying the commanders’ orders along the chain of command) are complicating things, but there are more options on how to use the commanders during a battle and the units have a bit more initiative (when allowed).

Military Hierarchy and Order Delays

Like in The Civil War (“GT1”), an army is built into a military hierarchy, forming an order of battle. In the bottom are the units: these are the playable single entities on the battlefield (GT1: brigades and artillery battalions). Multiple units can be organized into a group, with its own commander. Multiple groups can be further grouped together with their own commander, and these placed under the army commander.

This hierarchy forms the basis for command and control. When an order is given to a unit, the order must travel through the organization and the appropriate commanders before reaching the unit for execution. So far nothing new.

The first change comes with the couriers delivering the orders. This time around they will avoid the enemy, which may complicate their journey. It is possible the courier does not manage to reach his target, which effectively can lead to part of your army being out of your control, at least for a short while. Trying to find the recipient in thick smoke or disorganized close combat may also slow down the delivery of your orders.

Command and Control

In the new system, commanders have their own small headquarters/escorts that not only point out their location and act as order delay nodes (as in GT1), but are combat elements. These elements are attached to units during the battle, and their positioning can be easily adjusted to enable improved command and control where needed.

When a commander is with a unit, he is able to give orders directly to the unit, which speeds up things considerably, eliminating the need for delivery of written orders. The commander can only embed himself in units under his command. And of course, if commanders are close to one another, orders are delivered faster. The unit the army commander is with reacts the fastest, as the orders don’t need to be distributed further.

This allows forming a point of main effort where order delays are shorter, if needed. Also, having the commanders in the thick of battle with their men will increase motivation (while also increasing the chance of commander casualties). Of course, if you, for example, have the commanders focus on running the battle of the right wing, the left wing will be slower to control. These images provide a comparison between two optional use of commanders, with their pros and cons:

Situation:

Your army (blue) is facing the enemy (red), and an opportunity presents itself: At the extreme right flank you have a cavalry brigade of a cavalry division, that is in position to turn the enemy flank. Time is of the essence before the enemy can reinforce this flank and empty your plans.

Option A: Central command.

Here your army commander is in a central, balanced location, deployed with the army reserves a safe distance from the front. In this situation, in total, we have 5 written orders, and 5 couriers covering a total of 2+ kilometers. This takes time. On the other hand, if the army commander needs to send orders to the brigade in the 1st echelon of the left flank, the delay would be similar.

Option B: Commanding from the front.

Here the army commander decides to command the flanking move personally. He has placed himself in the brigade in question, and also takes the division commander with him.

In total, we have 3 written orders, and 3 couriers covering a total of a few hundred meters at most. This takes very little time (in comparison to option A), the attack commences shortly, and the command and control of the wing during the attack is excellent. The con is, if the army commander would need to send orders to the units in the other flank of the army, there would be 4 kilometers to cover. And if the flanking move is successful, the army commander may find himself behind the enemy line, from where the courier would need to run a long detour, further increasing delay.

And of course there’s the higher possibility of lead poisoning for your brave commander…

Units’ Initiative

In GT1, stances are given to group commanders, who in turn will give orders to their units according to situation and instructions by player (like formation, etc.). In GT2 stances are moved a step down to unit level. This increases the initiative of the units and results in more appropriate and timely reactions to surrounding conditions during a battle.

Players can set a stance to each unit individually, or per group. There’s also an option to order the unit commander to “follow my specific orders”, which means the player can (and must!) control every aspect of the unit’s behavior, but this of course is subject to order delays. When given a stance, a unit will act independently.

This independent activity includes choice of formation, engagement range and firing system used, movement speed, limbering/mounting and detaching skirmishers. These are also carried over to any elements attached to the unit, such as supporting regimental guns.

In GT1 the stances are Screen, Defend, Attack and Assault. In GT2 the toolbox is expanded, and the available stances are to Skirmish, Hold ground, Counter-charge, Attack, Assault and Reserve. Examples of such initiative, when ordered to attack:

when moving out, the unit may deploy skirmishers to mask the movement
crossing difficult terrain, the unit may adapt formation accordingly, for example from a line to column where alignment is easier to maintain and movement generally faster
at long distance the unit may engage enemies with volleys by sub-units (like platoon) to maintain pressure and control ammo consumption since accuracy is limited due to range
closing up with the enemy, the unit may form line and start firing by rank or even full unit volleys to maximize shock effect
if the enemy is weak, the unit may choose to charge into melee to break the enemy line, and to do it using an attack column if the enemy formation is fragmented
if the charge fails, the unit may fall back and switch to defensive if morale falters, or to try again once recovered

in case the charge succeeds, and if in condition to still do so, the unit may press on and pursue the broken enemy, inflicting further casualties or even forcing it to surrender.

Most Respy,

Gen’l. Ilja Varha

Lead Designer - Grand Engineer Corps

Original post

23 May 2025Developer post

DevBlog #3: Combat Systems Pt.1.

In this third dev diary of the upcoming Grand Tactician sequel, as well as the next ones, I’ll discuss the main changes made in the game’s combat systems. In short, this will bring a lot of further detail in the way battles play out, while also providing opportunities for multipl

In this third dev diary of the upcoming Grand Tactician sequel, as well as the next ones, I’ll discuss the main changes made in the game’s combat systems. In short, this will bring a lot of further detail in the way battles play out, while also providing opportunities for multiple interesting historical settings in the GT-series.

Unit and Soldier Levels

Like already mentioned in a previous dev diary entry, with the new unit system, we were able to move much of combat calculation to single soldier level. This includes both ranged engagement and melee combat.

In GT1 (The Civil War) combat system, combat resolution takes place mostly on unit level. In ranged combat, the possibility of engaging an enemy unit is checked on unit level, taking into account terrain and own units (to avoid blue-on-blue, ie, friendly fire). If this check returns positive, a volley is calculated, using a complex formula (taking into account everything from terrain, formation, cover, weapons, morale, training, experience, etc.). The volley is calculated from soldier models, each aiming at a target unit in its possible firing arc. This allows the unit to fire at multiple enemy units at the same time. A number of casualties is calculated for the target unit(s), and the visual layer shows the casualties in the nearest “coy platforms” (the unit is broken down to multiple smaller blocks, as per previous blog).

Melee in GT1 uses a very simple model - hand-to-hand combat during the Civil War was rare. In this model, the unit engaging in melee will place itself next to the target unit, slightly overlapping, to visually communicate to the player there a melee is ongoing. The actual combat resolution takes into account unit conditions and stats, and from this, casualties are inflicted on both sides. The abstraction takes into account formation, so formation A is 10% more effective in melee than formation B, which, on the other hand, may suffer further casualties from small-arms fire. Once one unit's morale falters, it will fall back or rout, while the winning unit will continue combat according to orders.

The resulting model is quite good and believable, especially if the values in the formulas are well balanced, but it still lacks detail. In ranged engagement a part of a unit will not be able to fire if the unit level check for line of sight fails, and units can only engage enemies in their front sector (except in infantry square formation, where four front sectors are calculated). Melee on the other hand is much more heavily abstracted.

Organic Combat from Soldier Level

In the rebuilt combat model, unit level is still a factor. Calculating everything on a single soldier level would be too much in terms of performance. Things like morale, cohesion, fatigue, cover, concealment, line of sight calculation (for fog of war, i.e. are units spotted or not), movement in terrain, are tracked per unit. These values are then passed on to the single soldier level for the actual combat and casualty calculation.

So, when a soldier fires his weapon, the hit probability is modified with unit-level values. Is the soldier tired? Is he well-trained in the use of his weapon? Is he familiar with the stress of combat, fighting in close order with other guns blazing right next to his ear and enemy firing back? Is he blinded by smoke? On the soldier level, does this soldier see an enemy in his dedicated sector? Does the weapon he carries reach that far (a single unit can have different weapons, so some may fire while others may not)? Can he fire at will, or is firing controlled per rank, for example? Are there friendly soldiers in the way? When pulling the trigger, all this is taken into account, plus also external effects like weather: will the weapon misfire? When the weapon fires and a hit on target is achieved, what is the impact of the projectile? Will it penetrate possible armour, and if so, will the target become a casualty? In case of artillery, how much energy does the round still have? Will it hit another soldier?

All this makes more “organic” combat outcomes possible, as the different outcomes don’t need to be artificially adjusted.

In this pair of images, on the left we have the GT1 engagement system and on the right the rebuilt engagement system:

In GT1 the red unit is within range of the blue unit, inside the front sector fire arc. First, the line of sight check returns positive: the unit can engage. Then the actual firing is calculated from the soldier models, which allows firing at multiple units simultaneously or limiting the number of soldiers firing (due to no enemies being in the soldier’s firing arc). Casualties calculation is done on unit level, taking into account direction of fire and creating the casualties in the nearest coy platforms. This calculation is modified with flanking fire value (simulating the higher chance of hitting a soldier further back, which is not the case if engaging from the front), which increases the effectiveness of the volley. In the end, 5 casualties are inflicted, and models on the left flank of the unit change to casualty animation and then “die”. The red unit cannot return fire, as its unit-level fire arc is pointing in the wrong direction. (What is not taken into account here is that in GT1 ,the average scale in visualization is 1:25, meaning 1 soldier model stands for 25 soldiers in the unit. To increase the visual impact, we kill more models than the calculated casualties justify. After a short time, a few more models spawn and move to “fill the gaps”.)

In the new system, each soldier (model) is constantly checking whether it sees enemy soldiers within assigned engagement directions (a soldier can have multiple, for example, as 1st priority front, and 2nd priority to left). Depending on the unit’s firing system, the single soldiers have permission to fire or are part of unit-level controlled fire, where permission to fire is given per rank. The per-rank firing to priority direction can happen as a part of single or multiple ranks firing a simultaneous volley, and may include rotation of the ranks to move soldiers with reloaded weapons to the front. Each shot by a soldier at a soldier is calculated separately, and the outcome is decided. For example, two soldiers fire at the same enemy soldier; the first one misses, and the second one hits. The rightmost soldier picks a target further back. (Also marked is the possibility for the red unit to fire back, as in the new unit system, the left flank soldiers can turn and fire at different targets than the rest of the unit.)

Even if the result in both systems is the same, 5 casualties in the red unit, the result in the new system comes through an “organic” calculation, as we like to say. There is no separate bonus from firing from the flank, as the increased effect comes directly from the soldier-level engagement modelling. In case the blue unit was in open order or the red unit had a bigger number of ranks or density of soldiers, the result could change drastically. In the left model, this comes from a separate single unit level modifier (casualty modifier per formation for red, firepower modifier per formation for blue), in the new model, such modifiers are not used and the result will be more realistic through organic means.

Like written previously, GT1 is very heavy on CPU usage due to a lot of calculation ongoing at all times, especially with large armies fighting. While the detail of combat has increased tremendously in the rebuilt combat system, the new engine handles the required calculations much more efficiently than in GT1, and performance is much better in similar size battles, even with 1:1 model per soldier scale vs. the old 1:25 scale.

In the next diary, we’ll take a look at the new melee system, which is very much a different beast in its own right - and there the soldier level approach has the most advantages.

Most Respy,
Gen’l. Ilja Varha
Lead Designer - Grand Engineer Corps

Original post

21 Mar 2025Developer post

DevBlog #2: New Unit System.

This is the 2nd blog in our new series, which discusses developing our updated engine that will power the next title in the Grand Tactician-series. We're keeping some details, like historical setting, vague on purpose to discuss at a later stage. But, we’ll keep releasing these p

This is the 2nd blog in our new series, which discusses developing our updated engine that will power the next title in the Grand Tactician-series. We're keeping some details, like historical setting, vague on purpose to discuss at a later stage. But, we’ll keep releasing these peeks behind the scenes to let you know what to expect in terms of game play and improvements.

The New Unit System

One of the first things we developed for The Civil War (during 2016-17) was what we call the Unit System. This is how units are created and handled in the battle layer, and it has a big impact on a multitude of other things: visuals, controls, performance, AI, to name a few.

Re-building the Unit System is a key part of improving the battle layer for the upcoming title. The results are very encouraging and we’re excited about the possibilities it brings to the table, both for game play and also for performance and clunkiness (or lack of, this time around) of the battles. This will of course work hand-in-hand with terrain and movement, group-system, combat system(s), AI, and so on.

The Old System

In the old system, we built the units from what we call “company blocks”. These are sub-elements of the units, and platforms, that are moved depending on the unit’s formation and positioning. The 3D models (or as the game originally featured, sprite soldiers!) are attached to each platform.

In The Civil War (1861-1865), or GT1, each platform has 4 soldier models in 2 ranks. This is to show line formations in 2 ranks and marching columns in 4 files. Only 1 model type is supported, and all special situations are “hardcoded” (a word we use to determine something that is non-adjustable by editing the game’s preference files). Such special situations include the officer model and the artillery units’ model arrangement. The different unit formations (line, assault column, column, square) were built by determining how the company blocks are placed side by side or behind one another.

Tracking each platform allows curving and quite OK-looking column movement (“snaking”) for each unit. When resizing the unit in battle, due to changing game settings or due to casualties, the number of platforms per unit changes. In the system, the more platforms there are, the more severe the performance hit, as the company blocks are used for many combat and terrain placement calculations. The end result could be described as “clunky”, and it also limited the performance being rather CPU heavy (like the game is, in general, instead of many modern games that stress the GPU more.)

Image 1: Here you can see how the units are built in the system. The “company blocks” are highlighted in red. Each contains a set number of 3D soldier models (2x4), the officer is added as a separate block, and the 3D unit flag simply floats in the air in the coordinates where the unit is calculated to be stationed in. When giving a movement order, the positioning of each company block is calculated, as seen in the terrain (right).

With the tools we had when developing the old unit system, we had many restrictions. For example, each unit shows only one type of soldier model (except for hardcoded special situations mentioned above), and the number of soldier models in the battle is limited to a few thousand in total due to performance. This means a regiment of 1000 soldiers is normally visualized by way less than a hundred models (in the above image the unit shows some 40). This means a 1:25 scale (one 3D model = 25 real soldiers). Not very “grand”, right?

The Rebuilt System

Just tinkering with the old unit system would have improved the situation in general by a limited degree. For that reason, we scrapped the old system completely and rebuilt the new one using the knowledge we’ve gained and also modern tools that have only become available more recently.

In the updated GT engine, units are built differently. Instead of using set coy blocks like Legos, we determine the composition of whole units, soldier by soldier. Each unit can contain many different soldier types including special ones such as officers, and drummers, each with their own 3D models and animations. The per soldier data also contains info for combat simulation. What this allows, for example, is units engaging in multiple directions depending on the combat situation and using different kinds of firing systems, such as different numbers of ranks firing simultaneous volleys or in succession.

The units now have more flexible formations for different combat situations they can assume depending on conditions around the unit, the situation of the unit itself, and the training level. As an example, a cavalry unit may use different formations for marching, battlefield movement, ranged engagement, skirmishing, and a few different for charging. Together with the more flexible firing mechanisms and ability to fight in multiple directions the battle micro-AI will have fewer difficulties in countering player’s moves on the lowest, i.e. unit, level. (The battle AI is divided into unit-level “micro-AI” that reacts to surrounding conditions and a “macro-AI” that handles moving groups of units and assigning stances.)

From a management point of view, drill is more important than before, as raw troops cannot perform the more complex maneuvers as a cohesive unit. This limits their effectiveness even more compared to GT1.

Image 2: This is a sketch of a Civil War Infantry Regiment in line. With the new unit system, a more detailed unit deployment such as this can be created, including positioning of the flags, officers, NCOs, musicians, and so on.

Sounds rather performance consuming, right? On the contrary: with the new tools and much improved coding magic, instead of showing a maximum of a few thousand soldiers in a battle (GT1 upper limit), we are talking about tens of thousands - and this with better performance than in GT1!

And much of this is moddable.

How this is technically pulled off, shall remain our secret for now, so let’s not dive deeper into details. You may read between the lines we’re quite excited about the opportunities this new unit system brings to the table. But that’s not all! In the next blog we’ll take one step deeper into what it means when we use the new system to simulate ranged and melee combat on the single soldier level - as part of the improved combat model!

Most Respy,
Gen’l. Ilja Varha
Lead Designer - Grand Engineer Corps

Original post

02 Feb 2024Developer post

Patch 1.14 Released!

Patch 1.14 Out Now! Gen’l, A new major Patch 1.1402 is now released. During the two-week beta period we were able to further improve the patch - Thank You all, who contributed in the beta! Patch 1.14 provides: - rebalances to the camp feature (Whiskey & Lemons DLC), incl. W&a

17 Dec 2023Developer post

Patch 1.13 Released!

Patch 1.13 Released! Gen’l, Patch 1.13 is a major update to Grand Tactician (base game) and Whiskey & Lemons DLC. It contains many fixes and rebalancing to the game, and a new Camp-feature for the career mode. Main changes in the main game include changes in campaign AI, reba

26 Aug 2023Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons Hotfix Out!

Whiskey & Lemons Hotfix Out! Gen’l, Unfortunately the AI had a bit too much Whiskey on release and fell from the saddle, giving players undeserved lemons. With the first hotfix, the AI gets a slap in the face. Work on further fixes, balancing and patches is ongoing. All bug/o

25 Aug 2023Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons Release Info

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Out Now! Gen’l, Whiskey & Lemons DLC has just been released on Steam , with Epic Games and GOG following very shortly! If you buy it just after release, you will get a 10% discount . WHISKEY & LEMONS STEAM STORE PAGE At the same time, we've releas

01 Aug 2023Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons Release Info

Whiskey & Lemons DLC to be Released on 25th of August! Gen’l, We're happy to announce, that the DLC to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), Whiskey & Lemons, will be released on 25th of August, 2023 (17.00 UCT / 10.00 PDT)! On the same day we will also release Volu

Whiskey & Lemons DLC to be Released on 25th of August!

Gen’l,

We're happy to announce, that the DLC to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), Whiskey & Lemons, will be released on 25th of August, 2023 (17.00 UCT / 10.00 PDT)! On the same day we will also release Volume 2 to the game's Soundtrack, and a major update to the main game. Details below:

Whiskey & Lemons.

Whiskey & Lemons DLC introduces a new career mode, where you can play any campaign in the game starting from a low position, caring only about your unit and your career, with the AI taking care of the rest. With prestige and promotions you may rise all the way to the top of your nation's military leadership, which will open up more options to influence the war effort. Career mode includes role playing elements for character development. The possibility to take only a smaller role in the campaign may also suit players that feel the main campaign is too overwhelming. In addition to the career mode, W&L DLC introduces a new regiment scale Eastern Theater focus campaign.

Whiskey & Lemons will sell for USD 24,99. On release, the DLC will have a 10% discount.

For more details and wishlisting, visit:
WHISKEY & LEMONS STEAM STORE PAGE
GAME PLAY VIDEO FROM CAREER CAMPAIGN

Soundtrack Vol.2.

Volume 2 of the game's Soundtrack features 20 more old time and traditional tunes from the Civil War era, hand picked & recorded live by Wasel and the Weasels. Like with Soundtrack Vol.1, the music will be included in the game, even if you don't own the Soundtrack or any other DLC. Buying the Soundtrack will allow you to enjoy the music also outside of the game - it's also a good way to support Grand Tactician -project, and especially the talented musicians!

Soundtrack Vol.2 will sell for USD 9,99.

For more details, including the track list, and wishlisting, visit:
SOUNDTRACK VOL.2 STEAM STORE PAGE

Bundle.

We will also update the Bundle option for the game, which includes all the content for 10% off.

Major Patch 1.21.

With the DLC release, there will also be a major new patch for the main game. The patch includes bug fixes, some new features, balancing, performance & AI improvements, and the new music.

For more information:
SEE THE FULL PATCH NOTES

Most Respy,

Grand Engineer Corps

Original post

07 Jul 2023Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Store Page is Open!

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Store Page is Open! General, The sound of guns can already be heard over the horizon. Soon you and your men will join battle to make history. We're heading for a Summer 2023 release for the upcoming Whiskey & Lemons DLC, that adds role playing element

09 Jun 2023Developer post

Quiet before the Storm?

"While the citizens have been anxiously waiting for news, it seems like there's a suspicious calm at the frontlines. The reporters of Grand Herald say, it's because the generals of the recently formed Grand Engineering Corps are developing plans and testing them in preparation fo

"While the citizens have been anxiously waiting for news, it seems like there's a suspicious calm at the frontlines. The reporters of Grand Herald say, it's because the generals of the recently formed Grand Engineering Corps are developing plans and testing them in preparation for the advance."

It's June, and Whiskey & Lemons DLC has enetered internal beta. During this phase we will test, balance and finalize the DLC game play, while all the new playable content is already in. While testing, there's still work going on with giving finalizing touches to remaining art, like maps and music. While we were aiming for a Q2, 2023 release, it's fair to say, that "Summer 2023" is more accurate at this point. Of course we will give more information, when further details are available. With the DLC, we will also release the latest patch to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), which includes fixes and improvements to the base game.

The DLC will bring an all-new Career-mode, where player will start the campaign commanding a single unit. With success and promotions, player can climb to more important positions with more influence in the course of the war. While following AI commanders' orders, players can manage their unit(s), staff, and personal activities.

The Career-mode brings many role-playing elements to the game, allowing a different kind focus in the game, without the need to manage the whole war.

The Career-mode can be used in all the campaign scenarios. In addition, a new Regiment-scale focus campaign can be played in the Eastern Theater. This campaign starts in June 1861, before the start of the large scale fighting. Will the war drag on for years, or will the blue troops march irresistably On to Richmond?

While the DLC development has been ongoing, we have also consolidated our development team's future: from now on, the development team goes by name Grand Engineer Corps e.U. This change was made to register the name for our future projects, which means we are going to continue further developing Grand Tactician. What the future brings, though, is another story. More about that later...

Most Respy,
The Grand Engineer Corps

Original post

21 Mar 2023Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons

Gen’l, There were many legendary generals in the American Civil War, like “Stonewall” Jackson, “Old Pete” Longstreet, “Grumble” Jones, “Bull Head” Sumner… each with their own unique stories. In the Grand Tactician DLC, it’s your story. The Way to the Top – or Not. Whiskey & L

Gen’l,

There were many legendary generals in the American Civil War, like “Stonewall” Jackson, “Old Pete” Longstreet, “Grumble” Jones, “Bull Head” Sumner… each with their own unique stories. In the Grand Tactician DLC, it’s your story.

The Way to the Top – or Not.

Whiskey & Lemons will introduce a new career mode. You will start by creating your character, determining your Civil War personality via a questionnaire, and taking command of a regiment.

As a regimental commander, you are but a small gear in the huge military steam engine. You will have very limited influence over the war, and you will receive orders from your AI commanders. According to your actions and performance, you will generate prestige and get promoted to higher places, where your actions will matter more.

As the DLC campaign will be regiment level, on a zoomed in campaign map, divisions will be the smallest units moving on the campaign map. Single brigades can also be used as garrisons to protect important terrain.

Once commanding a division, you will be able to control the unit on the campaign map. With increased prestige you will be able to influence politics or projects, but this is very limited before rising to the top, commanding the armies of the Union or the Confederacy – provided that you will ever make it that far. Or want to – you can play the whole campaign without accepting any promotions, if you so wish.

Your Story.

There are many things that can get in the way. Your previously mentioned personality could be one of them. Personality is determined on six axes: Loyalty, Piety, Social Life, Heroism, Stress Control and Political Views. These may provide positive and/or negative traits to your career.

You may also attract companions that will be part of your staff. For example, if you are known for lack of loyalty, you may be followed by a Committee Investigator, reporting to the military brass, who may end up limiting your freedom of action by giving political guidance you cannot ignore.

There are also other new features. You will be able to choose to buy your own equipment, recruit your own staff and carry out actions that all will influence your, and your nation’s Civil War journey. You may also get injured in combat, with some of your injuries becoming permanent disabilities.

When you start to gain fame, you may end up with a grudge with some of your fellow officers. This may have a serious impact on your performance in the battle-field, like what happened between Bragg and his lieutenants. And getting rid of them may prove difficult, as it will require further prestige to overrule choices made by the President.

It will be very different, if you become known as “Old Tippler” due to your drinking habits, keep falling off the horse during battles and get into drunken fights with your fellow officers, or as “Skedaddle Joe” due to lack of courage and losing the respect of your men.

Everything you do and experience during the campaign, will be recorded into a Biography. When the campaign ends, you may read your whole story, and see how you compared with historical civil war commanders.

The Other Things.

We’re looking to release Whiskey & Lemons during Q2 of 2023. The plan and development has suffered some real-life related delays, mainly caused by a war in Europe, where the development team is from.

But, while on some fronts there have been delays, on others extra progress has been made. We’re constantly working on the game engine even if the DLC content has not proceeded as earlier planned.

Also the band is recording new music to the game. Along with the DLC release, we will also release the new music as a Soundtrack, the same way we did with the game’s original music – meaning buying the soundtrack is not mandatory to hear the music in the game. The Soundtrack II (working title) allows listening to the tunes outside of the game, and the revenues will go to support our great band, Wasel and the Weasels.

With the DLC release, we’ll also release the next major patch, which is focused on fixing reported issues, implementing some player wishes (like different color fire arcs on paper map), and some performance improvements.

Most Respy,
The Grand Tactician -Team.

Original post

05 Jan 2023Developer post

Patch 1.11 - AI, Fixing, Rebalancing, Quality of Life

A New Year, a New Patch! Gen'l, Patch 1.11 has been released. This update focuses on improving the game play experience by fixing bugs & improving the AI. In addition to this, there is also something new added, like: Number of ships limited in fleets depending on the commande

31 Dec 2022Developer post

Whiskey & Lemons

We wish you all a Happy New Year 2023! ...a year during which the DLC "Whiskey and Lemons" will be released, bringing to the game: Regiment level game play on a new campaign map covering the eastern theater, Career mode: start as a regiment commander, earn prestige and promotions

30 Oct 2022Developer post

Patch 1.10: Fixes, Community Wishes & AI

Gen'l, We are happy to report, that the most recent Update to Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), Patch 1.10, has been released to the wider audience! This shipment contains a hefty load of fixes and improvements, big and small, as well as a few notable changes, of which

10 Sep 2022Developer post

Patch 1.09: AI, Rebalancing & Fixes

Gen'l, Patch 1.09 has just been released! The focus this time is on the AI, once again. The campaign AI will coordinate its forces more carefully, especially in defensive situations. In battles the AI will redeploy during the night also when attacking, and will react better in s

15 Aug 2022Developer post

Patch 1.08 - Commander Avatar & Co.

Gen'l, Patch 1.08 is out! The main new feature is the ability to add new commanders, along with custom portraits, to the campaign game. When starting a new campaign, you may choose which of the custom commanders will be activated, and they will appear in the pool of available co

Updates & announcements

Military Hierarchy and Order Delays

Command and Control

Units’ Initiative

Stages of Close Combat

The Charge and Impact

The Melee

The Counter-charge and the Pursuit

Unit and Soldier Levels

Organic Combat from Soldier Level

The New Unit System

The Old System

The Rebuilt System

Patch 1.14 Out Now!

Patch 1.13 Released!

Whiskey & Lemons Hotfix Out!

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Out Now!

Whiskey & Lemons DLC to be Released on 25th of August!

Whiskey & Lemons.

Soundtrack Vol.2.

Bundle.

Major Patch 1.21.

Whiskey & Lemons DLC Store Page is Open!

The Way to the Top – or Not.

Your Story.

The Other Things.

We wish you all a Happy New Year 2023!