July 25^th, 2006 (2:48pm) - Matrix Games and Western Civilization Software have announced that later this summer they will release a new American Civil War strategy game based on the Crown of Glory engine, called Forge of Freedom.

As the leader of the Union or the Confederacy, you will be faced with historical decisions on the military, economic and diplomatic strategies to pursue. The diplomatic and economic systems have been streamlined and improved since Crown of Glory to be more user-friendly and also suited to the period. Rather than multiple minor nations, each state has its own Governor and they will make demands on you and shift their attitudes according to events. In addition, you will have to manage diplomacy with the European powers to try to sway them towards or against intervention. Over 1,000 historical generals are included along with an option to know their abilities ahead of time or have to find out the hard way, as happened historically. Railroads, rivers and cities all play important roles, as do elections which occur at both state and national levels.

The turn-based structure of Forge of Freedom moves the game at whatever pace the player decides. Forge of Freedom gives complete control over military and developmental policy making.