Matrix Games

Forge of Freedom: The American Civil War 1861-1865 combines grand strategy with battlefield tactics in one game, putting you in command at every level of the Civil War, from the mobilization of your nation’s resources to the control of individual brigades during the fury of battle.  Relive the days of America’s greatest struggle: a time of blood, smoke, and glory.

Forge of Freedom is packed with historical detail.  Control the careers of more than 1,000 generals – every general of the Civil War era.  Equip your units with one of more than 50 types of period firearms and artillery.  Field armies containing the Iron Brigade, the Orphan Brigade or 100 other legendary units.  Choose your units’ standards from a collection of over 700 authentic flags.  Allocate resources toward research in order to gain improved technology and logistical support in five different areas of research.  Engage in diplomacy with European powers and in domestic politics with historically accurate state governors.  Command your navy to hunt blockade runners, blockade ports, launch amphibious assaults, and bombard forts. Customize your brigades by adding personnel and equipment: train sharpshooters and Zouaves, equip reconnaissance balloons and horse artillery, deploy raiders and scouts, manage engineers and signal corps, and much more! 

Forge of Freedom allows you to customize the game rules: play with just the amount of complexity that you enjoy.  The turn-based game structure allows you to play at your own pace.  Battles can be resolved quickly or fought on a detailed battle map using a comprehensive system that models fatigue, morale, supply, facing, formation, time of day, reinforcements, command-and-control, weather, and even battlefield smoke. 

Forge of Freedom is a unique game combining strategy and tactics in one design to offer you the chance to grab the reins of history.

Check out this great introductory video on Forge of Freedom to see how much this game has to offer:

• Over 700 authentic flags to customize unit standards
• Over 1,000 historical generals at your command.
• Control the Iron Brigade, the Orphan Brigade or 100 other legendary units
• 50 types of period firearms and artillery
• Train sharpshooters, equip reconnaissance balloons and host of other personal and equipment to customize your brigades.
• Chose between detailed and quick combat to resolve battles.
• Challenging AI
• Customizable complexity

The Wargamer Review
"Forge of Freedom was unquestionably developed by people with a rare love for historical based wargaming. The folks at Western Civilization Software put forth extreme effort in researching 1860s economic, diplomatic, and military systems and transformed all that raw data into a venerable piece of gaming software."

Out of Eight PC Game Reviews
The combination of grand strategy and classic detailed tactical battles gives Forge of Freedom a leg up on most of the competition in terms of game features. Forge of Freedom is a highly enjoyable title that’s recommended to anyone who wants to take his or her shot at commanding the Civil War.... A Civil War grand strategy game with flexible complexity that’s friendly to new players while still maintaining strategic variety: 7/8

Armchair General Online Review
A fan of richly detailed grand strategy games, or the American Civil War era will be greatly rewarded for spending time exploring Forge of Freedom.

Armchair General (September 2007 issue)
Forge of Freedom re-creates in abundant detail the strategic challenges the Union and the Confederacy faced, including the issues of weapons development, economic management, state politics and elections, and the possibility of international intervention. With so many factors to consider, players’ management skills are thoroughly tested. However, Civil War buffs in particular will appreciate the comprehensiveness of this strategy game of the War Between the States.